Instant Takeaways From Virginia’s Bounce-Back Victory Against Cal

Virginia is back to treading water. The Cavaliers broke out of a 1-4 slump by beating Cal 36-7 at Scott Stadium.

Here are instant takeaways live from Charlottesville, from the second the clock hit triple zeroes:

Minus a few stinkers, Virginia does have an elite defense

The Cavaliers entered Saturday with the ACC's eighth-best scoring defense. That mark includes three game during which Virginia allowed 38-plus points. Two of those games, however, were fueled by missed tackles galore (and a few other mental mishaps). Overall, this defense has performed quite well.

Kam Robinson and Brandyn Hillman both made cases to earn a SportsCenter Top 10 spot with highlight interceptions returned for touchdowns. That duo outscored the entire Golden Bears team, and accounted for nearly half of the Cavaliers' total points.

Virginia welcomed the slumping quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele by holding him under 150 passing yards, and snagging two interceptions.

Cavaliers offense still very sluggish

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Beau Pribula missed a few throws that could have been touchdowns to Da'Shawn Martin. He missed a few other throws as well. And when pass protection broke down, Pribula often scrambled up the middle for little to no gain. Factoring out a 43-yard run and an 18-yard run, he averaged one yard per carry.

Virginia's offense has scored 15-plus points exactly twice since September 27. That second occasion was tonight, and it didn't happen until deep into the second half.

Tonight, the Cavaliers offense scored one touchdown in the first 56 minutes of play against the ACC's third-worst scoring defense.

Sloppy mistakes continue to hurt this football team

In Virginia's defense, there were certainly a few extremely questionable penalty calls. Regardless, eight penalties for 99 yards is not a recipe for victory. There were also a few missed blocks, a bad snap or two, some soft coverage on occasion, plus a series of mundane play calls. Those mistakes should not be happening on a team with this much experience.

Virginia might stand a chance against North Carolina and Virginia Tech...?

It is still difficult to evaluate this team. The Cavaliers are 5-5, still lacking a second signature win. They are 3-4 in ACC play. Can Virginia win one (or both) of its rivalry games? That's the big question looming over the next two games.

The Cavaliers can still salvage this season by winning out. A 7-5 record with wins over the Tar Heels and Hokies (plus a decent bowl game) is grounds for a successful campaign, to some extent. Defensively, Virginia could very well crush North Carolina, at least. However, this offense is going to have to do some real lifting.

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