Cavs try to finish season strong on the road
With seven wins for the first time since 2011, Virginia is happy, but not content.
After a 45-24 win over Liberty on Saturday, the Cavaliers still have a slim chance to win the ACC’s Coastal Division but will need to win their final two games on the road and have Pittsburgh lose their remaining two games — also on the road.
Step one comes Saturday when Virginia (7-3, 4-2) travels to Atlanta to take on Georgia Tech (6-4, 4-3).
Virginia has won just one road game this season and will need to make that number two in order to stay alive for a Coastal Division title.
“Collectively, we had a lot to take away from the Liberty game,” Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall said on Monday. “We still have things to work on in terms of consistency. Overall it was a really good game and a nice launch point for the final two ACC games.”
The Cavaliers have won two of the previous three games against the Yellow Jackets but haven’t won in Atlanta since 2008. Georgia Tech’s powerful option running attack makes preparing and beating them difficult, but not impossible.
“You do the best you can to take away what a team does primarily, then your next best to take away what a team does to compliment that,” Mendenhall said about the Yellow Jackets.
Georgia Tech averages over 362 yards on the ground per game while Virginia surrenders just 136 per game. The Cavaliers have had success against the run for most of the season but have allowed 459 yards on the ground over the last two games.
While stopping the Yellow Jackets’ offense will be critical for Virginia, the ability to put points on the board will be just as important as quarterback Bryce Perkins looks to add to his already impressive debut season with the Cavaliers.
Perkins and running back Jordan Ellis will need to find success on the ground to allow Virginia’s offense to become two-dimensional.
