The Virginia Cavaliers' disappointing season continued on Saturday, with the Cavaliers dropping a crucial road test to SMU and their hopes of getting back to the ACC Championship diminishing greatly in the loss. At 4-3 overall and 2-2 in the ACC, it would take a big turn of events for UVA to get back into the conference race, and now the goal should be to get to a bowl game and get another win over Virginia Tech at the end of the season.
After the loss to the Mustangs, an ACC Championship Game rematch at home vs. Duke is next on the schedule for the Cavaliers. For the game next Friday night, UVA is opening as a small 2.5-point favorite against the Blue Devils at FanDuel Sportsbook, and the over/under is set at 46.5.
Can UVA get a win?
A year can make all the difference between these two teams.
After playing in the ACC Championship against each other last December, both the Cavaliers and the Blue Devils already have a pair of conference losses. While the ACC can turn itself upside down at any moment, it would take quite an effort for either team to make it back and have a chance to win the conference.
For UVA, they need to focus on trying to fix their biggest issues and get back to a bowl game. The offense continues to disappoint every week, with Beau Pribula not being able to effect the game on the ground, and the rushing attack as a whole has disappeared.
It was surprising to see UVA abandon the run game against SMU and UVA head coach Tony Elliott provided answers for that after the game:
"Just trying to stay fresh," Elliott said. "You ride a guy like that, and so [we wanted to mix] it up, next man up. But again, we also didn't get much rhythm. I think we only had what maybe like eight to nine possessions total, right? And again, that was part of our our strategy, which meant that if we were going to to be able to work it to to the level we wanted to, we were going to have to maximize every possession that we had, and I think we lost two there in the first part of the other third quarter."
Duke began the season 4-0, but has suffered back-to-back losses to Georgia Tech and North Carolina to dampen the enthusiasm after the hot start. The Blue Devils have one of the top running backs in the country, Nate Sheppard, and Manny Diaz's defense always attack and try to create havoc.
Can UVA bounce back and get win No. 5 next Friday?
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Add us as a preferred source on Google