Winning college football games is a little like knocking down dominos. Set up 11 in a row and then go out and try to knock them all over. If the dominos -- or games -- are set up correctly and properly prepared for, all 11 will get knocked down. If any of them are out of place, the chain halts and must be restarted. While knocking over 11 dominos in succession is rather easy, winning 11 straight football games -- unless you're USC -- is nearly impossible.
Virginia didn't have too much trouble knocking over the first three "dominos" of its 2005 season, but the Cavaliers found the fourth one, a 45-33 loss at Maryland last weekend, to be a little out of place.
Now, with Virginia staring down the barrel of games like No. 18 Boston College (4-1, 1-1 ACC) Saturday, No. 4 Florida State (4-0, 2-0) and at much improved North Carolina (2-2, 1-1), the first losing domino that fell at Maryland could prove to be costly to the Cavaliers' postseason hopes.
Saturday, Virginia hopes to restart its domino chain of victories enjoyed early in the season against a Boston College team that is as big and physical as any Virginia has faced. Since starting quarterback Quinton Porter injured his ankle in a 28-17 loss against Florida State on Sept. 17, the Eagles have leaned more on their punishing offensive line to clear paths for sophomore running backs L.V. Whitworth and Andre Callender, who combined have rushed for 627 yards through five games. The Eagle's hulking offensive line starts three players who are 6-foot-7 or taller, a fact that has caught the attention of the Virginia defense, as well as head coach Al Groh.
"Boston College -- they're some big boys," redshirt freshman linebacker Clint Sintim said. "I've seen a little bit of tape on them already -- they're big physical kids. I know from what I've seen that they like to run the ball at you. They're not scared from contact. They're a big physical team. But at the same time, I do think we're a big physical team as well."
Groh also focused on BC's physical nature.
"One of the biggest [BC threats] is just size and power," Groh said. "That's the nature of their game. That's how they're geared ... to play with size and power, to try to overwhelm the other team physically with size and with numbers."
The line also has been counted on to provide protection for incumbent sophomore quarterback Matt Ryan, who in Porter's absence has led the Eagles to two straight victories. His first victory also happened to be BC's inaugural ACC win, a 16-13 overtime victory at Clemson two weeks ago. Ryan had no trouble functioning in raucous "Death Valley," nor did he struggle last week playing at home in the friendly confines of Alumni Stadium, directing a 38-0 trouncing of Ball State in which he threw for 206 yards and one touchdown while rushing for two more.
Even so, Virginia's players look poised to knock over the next domino in line.
"This is going to be a very exciting week for us -- it's going to be a bounce-back week," Sintim said. "Me personally, I'm going to need a better performance, and I'm sure a lot of other members of our defense are going to do the same."
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