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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