Virginia Cavaliers Nick Jackson Grades
Virginia linebacker Nick Jackson leads the team in tackles. ~ Photo courtesy Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics Media Relations

The Virginia defense has gotten off to a solid start so far in 2022.

The Hoos rank 37th nationally in scoring defense (19.3 points allowed per game), 50th in total defense (350.0 yards allowed per game), 61st in run defense (133.0 yards allowed per game), 60th in pass defense (217 yards allowed per game), and tied for 11th in turnovers forced (9). While only the takeaways rank among the statistical elite top 15 or 20 programs, every single category is an improvement from the end-of-season numbers from last fall’s defensive nightmare. The Hoos’ rankings in 2021 in each of those categories finished at 103rd (31.8), 121st (466.0), 123rd (225.8), 88th (240.2), and t-93rd (14).

In the weekly grades column, Greg Waters pointed out one other interesting stat so far for UVA this fall. The run defense has improved within the games during the first four contests of the season. Check out the data from Greg’s Grades:

Quarter Carries Yards YPC TD LNG 1D 10+ 20+
1st 38 216 5.68 2 20 9 8 2
2nd 35 110 3.14 0 36 5 3 1
3rd 45 131 2.91 0 14 8 3 0
4th 32 75 2.34 0 18 4 3 0

Virginia senior linebacker Nick Jackson, who leads the team and sits third in the ACC with 41 tackles so far this season, was pleased to hear that stat this week. He pointed to the summer workouts as the time when a ‘get stronger as you go’ mentality was fostered for the defense.

“I think it’s just mindset,” Jackson said. “As the game goes on, we’ve always prided ourselves, even when we were working out in the summer as the run goes on, we want to get stronger. We want to get faster. We want to increase our time. That’s what the mindset’s been so I’m glad those numbers are correlating right there.”

Jonas Sanker On Tackling

Another interesting stat from Sabre articles earlier in the week came from the Pro Football Focus (PFF) report. Sophomore safety Jonas Sanker initially received an 89.4 tackling grade in the data (it since was adjusted to 88.9), the highest number since Quin Blanding notched an 89.5 in 2014 against Georgia Tech. Blanding had 13 tackles in that game, while Sanker posted 10 against Syracuse this past game. Of note, Sanker also had a fumble recovery and an INT.

Sanker had not seen the PFF report, but he immediately pointed to consistency as the key. The 6’1’, 204-pound safety received a 64.6 (average) mark against Richmond followed by a 41.5 (poor) at Illinois, an 82.1 (above average) vs. ODU, and the 88.9 at Syracuse (elite). For a player at the front end of his career, that’s a pretty good start.

“That’s cool. I really had no idea,” Sanker said. “I definitely try not to miss any tackles. Going back to Illinois, I felt like I personally had a rough game bringing the guy down and not missing tackles. That’s been an emphasis for me going through this whole season - I don’t want to miss any tackles, I want to be reliable. ... That’s one of the things I put in there was just to be a consistent tackler.”

Blanding, of course, finished his career as the all-time leading tackler at Virginia with 495 stops. As a local product at the Covenant School, Sanker was familiar with Blanding’s days in orange and blue. He said being a good tackler is all about the fundamentals, which clearly fits in with what UVA defensive coordinator John Rudzinski preaches wit the Hoos.

“What makes a good tackler isn’t about how crazy of a play you can make, but it’s how well you can do the little things right consistently,” Sanker said. “Not missing tackles and just being in the right spot - how well you can do that consistently, I think makes you a great tackler.”

Virginia 3 Stars

The Sabre’s Instagram channel continues to provide updates on the Hoos too. Make sure you follow us there for quick and fun content. There’s a weekly “3 Stars” segment to borrow from the NHL world, for example.


 


 


 

 



 

 


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Hey Remember When ...

With Hurricane Ian being in the headlines and potentially bringing rain to Wallace Wade Stadium during Saturday night’s game with Duke, it stirs up memories from 2018. The Cavaliers moved their home game with Ohio to Vanderbilt to make certain it got played while Hurricane Florence crawled up the coast. Virginia won 45-31.

Here are the Virginia Sports TV highlights.