Taking A Closer look At Virginia’s Elite Defense During The Bye Week

Virginia has one of the least talked about defenses in the country, but have been a strong component of the success for the Hoos this year, and a 9-2 record. The Hoos currently rank No. 28 in the country in total defense giving up 322.1 yards per game.

Virginia is also ranked No. 37 in scoring defense, giving up an average of 21.18 points per game. The Hoos are also ranked No. 18 in the country in rush defense, giving up just 107.5 yards per game. They also only give up 3.3 yards per carry this year.

Some standout players defensively this season have been Devin Neal who leads the team with an 86.9 PFF (Pro Football Focus) grade. Neal is graded an 80 or above in rush defense, tackling, pass rush, and coverage. Neal has 66 tackles, six passes defensed, and a half-sack. He’s been a versatile piece on the backend all year, and made has made his presence felt

We saw against Wake Forest, Virginia held the Demon Deacons to just 64 yards passing and nine points in the loss. An even better stat that hammers this home is that Virginia turned the ball over three times, but the defense held Wake Forest to just six points on those turnovers. This defense has also ended games going back to their interception to knock off then-ranked No. 8 Florida State at home. Also against California in a tight game, Kam Robinson read the pass beautifully, getting the interception and returning it for a touchdown.

On Saturday against Duke, Virginia held the Blue Devils to just 17 points (a season-low). They shut down the Blue Devils in the running game, limiting Duke to just 42 rushing yards. The Hoos also held Duke to season lows in total yards (255), pass completions (18), and first downs (11). In the pass game, Virginia didn’t allow one wide receiver to have over 50 receiving yards in the game. They also held Duke star QB Darian Mensah to 213 passing yards and forced a fumble. A key standout was Mitchell Melton, who registered two sacks, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.

"I think you've seen over the last several weeks that that group has been coming into form and really starting to gel on all three levels. And so super proud of those guys and just play complementary football, which, you know, helped the offense to be able to go out and know that they don't have to be perfect,right? They got their brothers on the other side of the ball who are going to be there with them and play complimentary football. We knew coming in that we hadn't seen really anybody get to the quarterback, right? Their offensive line and their scheme had done a really good job, but we felt like we had to stop the run first and foremost,” said Elliot. “I think everybody knows how great 10 the quarterback and very experienced offensive line, but I thought what really made them go was their ability to stay ahead of the chains and run the football, which allowed them to be, you know, allowed them to have the playaction stuff and, so I thought they did a really good job from from a staff standpoint putting together a good plan and then the guys, man, they owned itand they went out and they executed. So, I think when we talk about the middle eight, that's what we talk about. So, those three points right there at the end of the half are huge. We were hoping that it was seven, but we said we had to come away with points, right? So, that put us up, I think that put us up 10 right there.”

“And then we talked about when we came in at halftime, I said, "Hey, we're not talking about going out and playing the next 30 minutes. I'm focusing on the next four minutes, right? Winning that second half of the middle eight, starting with a defensive stop, special teams maintaining field position, and then the offense going and scoring. And I think right there that kind of let them know that we're, man, we're not letting up and that that it was going to be a fourth quarter game and then we were able to kind off from there progress and there was a little bit of a low right there in the fourth quarter but I thought that they turned it back on and finished the right way."

Without the defense playing at such a high level, Virginia wouldn’t be in a spot where it can clinch a spot in the ACC title game next weekend against Virginia Tech.

More Virginia Football News:

•Postseason Projections For Virginia Football After Blowout Win Over Duke

•Virginia-Virginia Tech Rivalry Game Kickoff Time Put On Six Day Hold By The ACC

•Where Did the Virginia Cavaliers Land in This Week’s AP Top 25 Rankings?

•PFF Grades and Snap Counts From Virginia's 34-17 Win Over Duke