The Cardiac Cavaliers are still here. They just haven't won as many games as they did last year.
Virginia suffered a heartbreaking 19-16 loss against Duke Friday night, failing to earn revenge for last season's ACC title loss. Here are instant takeaways live from Scott Stadium:
Beau Pribula and this offense were wildly inconsistent again
Pribula lost a fumble for the second game in a row. Also for the second game in a row, his offense failed to score 20 points. To his credit, he did surpass 35 rushing yards for the first time since August, but he was generally unable to elevate this offense aside from a handful of highlight plays.
Time and time again, the Cavaliers defense shut Duke down. Virginia's offense almost never capitalized on it. In Virginia’s first drive of the final quarter, Pribula fell down while trying to escape the pocket and surrendered a big sack. He also lost yards on a few third-down scrambles over the course of the evening.
The final offensive play was an interception on fourth down. Pribula had two turnovers and zero touchdowns. He only led his team on one touchdown drive (Jekail Middlebrook punched in the socre). It is long past time to consider a quarterback change.
The Cavaliers have an elite defense
When Virginia isn’t missing tackles, it has a formidable defense. It forced six punts, half of which were three-and-outs. That impressive effort came against a Duke offense that features Nate Sheppard, the best running back in college football. Sheppard was held to under 60 rushing yards, a rarity for an otherwise dominant season he is authoring.
Holding Duke under 20 points should be viewed as a success. Even though Sheppard delivered a haymaker in the form of a passing touchdown, he was far from elite as a runner Friday.
Jekail Middlebrook starred, and needs the ball more often
As it turns out, Jekail Middlebrook can be a fantastic player when he gets the ball. Offensive coordinator Des Kitchings inexplicably abandoned the run game last week — but not this time. Kitchings stuck with the run, and Middlebrook ended up setting a new career-high in rushing yards with 117. He averaged just shy of five yards per carry.
Middlebrook won the starting job for a reason. He needs to receive a boatload of carries, and especially targets. Middlebrook had the fifth most catches by a running back in college football last year. He has not been utilized in that way this season with the Cavaliers.
Kam Robinson is back
Virginia’s star linebacker came to play. He had a sack, and an incredible interception. Both plays killed promising drives by the Blue Devils. For the first time this season, Robinson looked like his former aggressive self. He had previously been half a step behind many plays.
The Cavaliers should celebrate Robinson's return to dominant form.
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