My take: we scored a lot of points.

“We went into the game feeling that the first field goal, in a certain field position, we were going to call [the fake]…. We went with the plan that we had.” Al Groh, on calling a fake field goal to score a touchdown late in yesterday’s game against Pitt.

Just got home, and I’m catching up on the upsets on College Football Final before I dive into the message board posts from the game. The game and everything that surrounded it: Plenty of good, a teeny tiny bit of bad, and a few head scratchers. More in my Notes and later post on the blog. For now, time to drift into 44-14 land.

Okay, Hoos, because of the site problems, my game day post is a little later than usual. Of course, the kickoff is a lot later than usual, so I guess it all works out. And because I want to hit the road to make some tailgates and/or account for ridiculous VDOT-related lane closures, this week’s entry will be a quick one.

To make a long blog-entry short, the Hoos win tonight. A true freshman is starting for Pitt, and he won’t be able to overcome our blitzing D and the charged nighttime atmosphere. And Sewell and Cedric have shown enough improvement to get the points needed to pull this one out.

Pitt has enough positives to keep this one competitive. And the Hoos seem to always be susceptible to dropping a game they should win immediately following an upset victory. So, don’t get me wrong. I’m certainly worried enough about tonight.

But, this is a game the Hoos should and will win. If last year was Groh’s rebuilding year, he better not lose to a team now in the middle of a rebuilding year of its own.

Last week I was wrong in predicting a Wahoo loss. Let’s hope I’m right this week in calling for a win.

Hoos 21, Pitt 10
Prediction Record: 3-1

“This Saturday’s night test against Pitt (Groh! Wanny! Caliente!) should go a long way towards determining the trajectory of the Virginia season, and for all of Groh’s faults, he usually takes care of business at home.” – Ian Cohen, assessing tomorrow’s game in his quarter-season report on the Hoos.

Greg pops the hood and kicks the tires of the Panther’s offense (). While Wanny hasn’t dropped Al Groh’s infamous line, it’s clear that he’s mortgaging this season as a rebuilding year now that he’s at this place:

Pittsburgh has had four players complete a pass in just four games this season, including quarterbacks Bill Stull, Kevan Smith and Pat Bostick, as well as running back LeSean McCoy. The Panthers are expected to start their third QB of the short season in Bostick, a true freshman, at Virginia.

Bostick has played in two games and is 27 of 42 (64.3%) for 230 yards with one TD and four INTs. He played the final two quarters vs. UConn and went 27 of 41 for 230 yards with one TD and three INTs.

Yikes. If our DBs can learn to catch the ball, it might be a nice day for them. It’s not like Pitt’s wide receivers should be striking too much fear in the hearts of our corners and safeties (though the reverse is probably true as well).

The key is their impressive freshman running back LeSean “Shady” McCoy — who has kept their offense in games (in between all those interceptions). But if Pitt keeps struggling through the air, they might be in for a long night of box stuffing (get your mind out of the gutter) from the Hoos.

… that is not speaking to the offense right now. Greg Waters serves up a profile of the solid Pitt defense (), which has been run ragged by its own turnover-prone offense. Regardless, Jameel Sewell and his boys will have their hands full this week facing a strong run defense and blitzing linebackers.

Rushing hard inside (to avoid Pitt’s speed to the edges) and utilizing the tight ends and backs in the underneath and screen passing games (to take advantage of Pitt’s aggressiveness) could be the way to go. Plus, a taste of Sewell’s scampering would be a smart move against a D that struggles against mobile QBs.

Or maybe we can just confuse them by calling plays where Sewell rolls the wrong way and throws across his body? Yeah, nobody would expect that!

Nice! Welcome Sylvan! Here’s the report from Chris Horne. And here’s Sylvan’s recruiting card () too.

I’ll be joining ACCNation’s show tonight, available on podcast and radio soon after the taping, to discuss our surprising but-shouldn’t-be-surprising football team.

So, like last time, feel free to toss me some “feedfront” on any thoughts you might have on where we’ve been, where we’re at, and where we’re going on Al “The Pilot” Groh’s magical mystery airplane ride.

Jerry: You can’t give something and take it back that makes you an…..
Winona: A what? An indian giver?
Jerry: I’m not familiar with that term

Want to see the type of disparity we’re dealing with at Virginia? You’ve got cheating scandals all over the place, but we’re so gunshy that we’re forcing players to give back their game balls. Are we really worried that the NCAA interprets their rules to prohibit giving away game balls? What’s next — the Hokies have to take away the lunch pail?