Analysis: Cavs have the fire, lack the firepower

By Aaron McFarling

CHARLOTTESVILLE

Wlecome to the referendum on rah-rah, the ultimate indicator of how much emotion matters in college football.

Even the most ardent Virginia fan can't argue that the Cavaliers are as talented as Virginia Tech. The evidence doesn't support it. The only question today is whether U.Va. can pull an upset fueled by desire and a craving to win that nobody doubts resides in Charlottesville.

How big is the talent gap? Every week, the ACC ranks teams in 30 statistical categories covering offense, defense and special teams. Tech is ahead of U.Va. in 26. The Cavaliers ranked better in three areas,

• Coming away with points in the red zone.
• Stopping opponents on fourth down.
• Drawing penalties on the opposition.

The teams are tied in extra-point conversions.

In everything else, the Hokies are superior.

But if the league charted competitive fury, the Cavs might lead the conference this week.

"One word: Badly," U.Va. linebacker Denzel Burrell said when asked how much he wants a victory over Tech to soothe the disappointment of the season.

Senior linebacker Aaron Clark went a step further.

"I don't think you could give me any amount of money to trade for beating Tech," he said.

He hasn't done it, and neither have U.Va.'s other 29 seniors. Five straight losses to Tech weigh heavy on their shoulder pads.

To which the Hokies say: Great! Here comes a big dose of Ryan Williams to try to make it six.

And that's all Tech should have to do today: Ship the ACC rushing leader toward the line of scrimmage and watch him work. Then do it again. The Cavaliers' strength lies in the secondary. They rank 10th in the conference against the run.

As match-ups go, that's bad news for U.Va.

But can ambition and adrenaline somehow raise that mediocre level to something special? Coach Al Groh and his players have to hope so.

"I love games like this," Groh said. " The better the opponent, the bigger the game, the more juice."

Juice has been largely absent from Blacksburg ever since the Hokies fell out of the conference race, but that hasn't seemed to matter. The Hokies have since destroyed Maryland and N.C. State with ease.

Tech now faces a team on a five-game losing streak, including a 25-point home loss to Georgia Tech and a 35-point setback at Miami.

Any trepidation, then, will have to be manufactured.

"You can't assume anything," Tech coach Frank Beamer said. " They've had some tough injuries that's set them back a little bit, but I think they're very relentless. They went down to North Carolina and won, and I don't think a lot of people would have bet on them that week."

Most won't this week, either.

But as those U.Va. seniors spoke this week, they labeled this match-up as their bowl game. There are no goodie bags, no free PlayStations, no trips to the beach, but this is it for them.

Beware the team that wants it more.