Grading the keys

Grading the three keys
(D) Rattle Jacory Harris - Miami's quarterback was sacked twice, but on the whole, his offensive line gave him all the time he needed. He finished with 18 completions for 232 yards with two touchdowns - not spectacular numbers, but enough to compliment the 303 yards of rushing the team's backs had. Cam Johnson was the most effective pass rusher for Virginia, but he wasn't able to get inside the head of Harris, outside of offsetting personal foul calls when the two tangled.

(F) Finish strong - The fourth quarter was once again a dead zone for Virginia, though this time, the Hoos faded in the third as well. Coach Al Groh specifically emphasized keeping the offense on the field and the defense off, but it made little difference as Miami won the time of possession battle by 12 minutes. It's unfortunate for a defense that, on the whole, has played well but has little depth and can't hang on late in games when the unit is overused.

(D-) Find the hot hand - Virginia enjoyed a solid game out of running back Rashawn Jackson, who carried eight times for 77 yards. Less impressive was Mikell Simpson's 7 carries for 14 yards. It's hard to tell exactly when to start going exclusively with one of the two backs, but it was clear that Simpson got too many second-half carries. Freshman Torrey Mack got a handful of carries, but is hampered by the fact that he seems to take the field only when he's going to get the touch - a dead giveaway to the defense.