Virginia
Five Keys to a Virginia Victory Against Wake Forest
The Virginia Cavaliers roll into week two against a much more formidable opponent in ACC foe Wake Forest, who pulled off a 45-13 win over NC A&T. With UVA looking to improve to 2-0, here are our five keys to a Virginia victory on Saturday night.
Hank Bachmeier commands the slow mesh offense for the Demon Deacons, which hinges on the offensive line that ranked 8th last year in FBS football, allowing their plays to develop. If the Cavaliers want to leave Winston-Salem with a win, it’ll be essential for the defensive line to put pressure on Bachmeier, something they struggled with against Richmond last week. The Cavaliers only recorded one sack against the Spiders, and it came towards the end of the game. Against Wake Forest, Virginia needs to get pressure early and often.
Wake Forest loses four of the five members from their starting secondary in 2023, and it will be critical for the Cavaliers to take advantage by exposing one-on-one matchups and testing the integrity and chemistry of this group. This will come down to quarterback Anthony Colandrea seeing openings in this defense, making pre-snap adjustments, and trusting his wide receiver corps to make catches in tight spaces. This involves throwing the ball more in the middle of the field on quick slants, something the Cavaliers showed little of last week against the Spiders.
Winning the turnover battle will be critical for the Cavaliers to get their first road win of the 2024 campaign. Avoiding turning the ball over starts with Colandrea protecting the football and making no careless hero plays that could jeopardize possession. Defensively, it is about making a play similar to the forced fumble by Corey Thomas Jr. last week that shifted the momentum of the game early on in favor of Virginia. Since 2001, teams that have won the turnover battle have won more than 75% of the time, according to the football perspective.
The Cavaliers rushed for 200 yards against Richmond. To give Colandrea some help, the Virginia backfield, which was outstanding last week, will need to continue to complement the passing game. The lead tailback, Kobe Pace, rushed for 93 yards and one touchdown while averaging over eight yards a carry, and it will be critical the Cavaliers lean on Pace in addition to Jack Griese and Xavier Brown once again against the Demon Deacons.
Wake Forest’s Taylor Morin had a 73-yard punt return last week. The Cavaliers ranked 90th in special teams in 2022, allowed two blocked punts for touchdowns, and had only 58 touchbacks (second-fewest in the ACC) in 2023. Luckily for the Cavaliers, Daniel Sparks looked good during kickoffs, allowing only one non-touchback in game one. If Virginia wants to defeat Wake Forest, reversing the trend from last season and winning the special teams battle will be critical.
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CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (WBOY) — West Virginia has plenty of state symbols, be it the black bear as the state animal, the cardinal as the state bird or the rhododendron as the state flower, but did you know that the Mountain State also has its own official gun?
The Hall Flintlock Model 1819 was first manufactured in Harpers Ferry by John H. Hall in 1811 and was adopted by the United States Army in 1819, making it the first breech-loading rifle ever adopted by a country’s military.
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Model 1819 Hall Breechloading Rifle presented by Congress to Gustavous A. Bird for his participation in the Battle of Plattsburgh 9/11/1814 by John C. Bird via the Smithsonian Institution -
Model 1819 Hall Breechloading Rifle presented by Congress to Gustavous A. Bird for his participation in the Battle of Plattsburgh 9/11/1814 by John C. Bird via the Smithsonian Institution
All of this information is listed in Senate Concurrent Resolution 7, which was introduced and passed during the 2013 West Virginia Legislative session, and officially recognizes the Model 1819 as the official firearm of the State of West Virginia.
On top of being created in West Virginia, the resolution also points out that the rifle saw use during the Civil War, an event that directly led to West Virginia’s statehood.
While having an officially recognized state firearm may seem far-fetched, West Virginia is not the only state that has one. As a matter of fact, a fifth of the states in the country have officially designated a state firearm, including West Virginia’s neighbors in Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — In this world of college football, with the transfer portal and recruiting battles, bad blood is present more than ever before between head coaches.
That’s not the case between the Virginia Tech head coach and Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, however. In fact, Franklin revealed at ACC Kickoff on Thursday that the two are actually close friends, dating back to their time at the Nike trip that various coaches take over the summer.
“Dabo’s my guy,” Franklin said on Thursday. “We go way back. We’ve been on the Nike trip for a long time. His wife and my wife are friends.”
The long-time Penn State head coach is making the move to the ACC after being fired from the Nittany Lions in October. 12 seasons of being with the program had Franklin hold a 44-21 record against top 10 opponents, an impressive record for a new conference foe of Swinney’s.
But when that trip comes around, there’s a camaraderie between Swinney and Franklin and both of their wives. In fact, the two hang out with each other instead of the other coaches at times. It simply comes to an “edgy” time in college athletics that raises tempers.
“I’m going to be honest, I wouldn’t say we’re necessarily like the type of people that love a lot of other coaches and a lot of other programs,” Franklin said. “It’s hard when you just compete year-round.”
On Swinney’s end, there are a few who could immediately come to mind among Clemson fans. Perhaps the most recent would be Ole Miss coach Pete Golding, who played the most significant role in the tampering of former linebacker Luke Ferrelli.
It’s a select list of coaches who make the good side of the Tigers’ head coach, and Franklin is certainly on that list. On the other hand, Hokies’ head coach has Swinney on his own shortlist.
“Obviously, tremendous respect for what he has built at Clemson and what he’s done at Clemson, and what he’s done for the ACC,” he said.
The two will see that close relationship face off at Memorial Stadium this upcoming season. Clemson will host the Hokies on Oct. 24 in what could be a potential title-eliminator for the ACC Championship.
Of course, the last game that we’ve seen the Tigers play in was against Franklin’s former team in Penn State at the Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl. That game ended in a 22-10 contest that saw a foundation of Franklin players end Clemson’s season in disappointment.
Swinney will see many of those players once again in October, including starting quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer, in that contest. The anticipated Hokie starter recorded 260 yards and two passing touchdowns on the Tigers in the Bronx that day.
Although friends become foes, another ACC coach has given Swinney his flowers for what he’s been able to do for the conference. In the upcoming moments, Franklin will look to prepare his team to prove itself on one of the biggest stages in the ACC, while Swinney looks to put his team back at the top of a conference he’s dominated for over 15 years.
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MARTINSVILLE, Va. (WSET) — Extreme drought conditions in parts of Virginia have prompted an emergency drought warning for a wide swath of the region, including Bedford, Campbell, Charlotte, Franklin, Halifax, Henry, Mecklenburg, Patrick, Pittsylvania and Roanoke counties, along with the cities of Danville, Roanoke, Salem and Martinsville.
The governor has warned that if conditions worsen, she will activate mandatory nonessential water-use restrictions.
In Martinsville, city leaders have issued a voluntary water conservation notice and are urging residents and businesses to cut back where they can. The request comes as local businesses that rely heavily on water say the drought is already affecting day-to-day operations.
SEE ALSO: Botetourt County residents adjust daily routines as voluntary water restriction continues
John Hughes, owner of John’s Car Wash, said the dry conditions have hit his business hard in recent weeks. “For the last 3 weeks, it’s been hitting pretty hard. We done three yesterday and haven’t done anything today with the drought and hot weather. Yeah, I’m really concerned about it,” Hughes said.
Restaurants are also feeling the strain. David Kitzmiller, an owner of Be Wiched, said water is essential for routine tasks such as washing dishes and preparing some menu items.
“We use a lot of water for washing dishes and some of our recipes if they limit us in anyway defiently can’t produce and its a scary aspect,” Kitzmiller said.
Kitzmiller added that cutting back is not always realistic for businesses that must meet sanitation needs. “Not really feasible for a business that depends solely relies on water to wash their dishes, so that can’t definitely be an impact there,” he said.
City leaders emphasized that the conservation request is voluntary for now, but they are encouraging everyone to do their part by taking shorter showers, turning off the faucet when it is not in use, washing only full loads of laundry, and limiting outdoor watering whenever possible.
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