Would like some input on this game. UVA is gonna be pretty bad this year, predicted last in ACC. I know I am biased, but I went to the "spring game" this year and our offense is just god awful. Even if our defense keeps us in the game at first, I feel we will get worn down by this top 10 team. I plan to place a sizable bet on UCLA -21... I don't know anything about UCLA but UVA football has continued to underperform year after year and do not have much of a home advantage. Thoughts?
The line is up to 22 in most Vegas shops now. Why is Mike London still the HC at Virginia? Is it a race thing? Can there be another explanation? He has one 8-5 season and people think he is great. His record is 18-31 S/U at Virginia, with just that one winning season in 4 tries. Last season his team returned 14 starters. They started out a very respectable 2-1, and then managed to lose every game for the rest of the season. They also went 3-7 ATS. He is 6-18 S/U in the past two seasons. That record gets you fired at just about any other school.
If UCLA does not cover this spread, then we will have to take a much harder look at UCLA. They do have problems with their ground game. Anytime your QB leads the team in rushing and TD's, you have a problem. Tht certainly makes life eqasier for opposing defenses.
London is terrible, and I don't know how he is keeping his job.
Only problem I have with playing UCLA is that UCLA is likely to take UVA lightly in view of how each team ended the season against the same opponent -- Virginia Tech. UVA ended the season by losing to the team that UCLA beat 42-12 in their bowl. UVA did lose 59-10 at home against each of the two best opponents they faced last year, Oregon and Clemson, so I may be worrying too much.
Former HC Tom O'Brien and a couple ofhis former assistants are now on staff at UVA. What does that tell you? It tells me that if London cannot get 6 wins this season, he is gone. I'm not real sure that he wins a game in the ACC, much less 4. He should be able to handle non-con opponents Richmond and Kent St. at home. Games against UCLA and Lousiville at home, plus away games at BYU, Duke, Ga. Tech, Florida State, and Va. Tech add up to 6 losses, and we have not discussed their home games against Miami, UNC, and Pitt yet.
To answer several of your questions, UVA has a knack for keeping coaches around wayy too long for wayyy too much money. Remember Al Groh and his $2M contract we kept for consecutive losing seasons? Mike London is turning into a similar scenario. The guy can recruit, but his coaching is god awful. The VT game last year was just unwatchable as he burned 3 consecutive TOs to "ice" a 30yd FG with a couple mins left in the 4th.
21 points is a lot of points, but we have lost big to all of our first game opponents the past few years (Oregon, USC)
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