Virginia Cavaliers at Indiana Hoosiers
Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Indiana
Saturday, September 10, 2011, 7:00 pm Eastern, TV: Big ten network
Opening Line: Virginia -7
Current Line: Virginia -7
Opening Total: 55 1/2
Current Total: 52 1/2
Opening Money Line: Virginia -275 / Indiana +235
Current Money Line: Virginia -275 / Indiana +235
Virginia and Indiana meet for the second time ever Saturday night. Virginia won 47-7 in Charlottesville in 2009. This season Virginia, coached by Mike London is 1-0 after a 40-3 victory over William & Mary. Indiana, coached by Kevin Wilson, in his first year as Hoosiers’ coach, lost 27-20 in Indianapolis to Ball St.
Virginia beat William & Mary 40-3 last Saturday. They were up 40-0 late in the fourth quarter when the Tribe kicked a meaningless field goal to avoid being shut out. Virginia had 496 total yards in the rout, including 240 rushing yards. Quarterback Michael Rocco was 21 for 29 for 174 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Rocco had one carry for 3 yards. Back-ups David Watford and Ross Matheny also saw action in mop-up duty but were a combined 5 for 7 for 86 yards, and had 5 carries for -12 yards. Running back Kevin Parks had 16 carries for 114 yards, and 3 touchdowns, along with 2 catches for 14 yards. Clifton Richardson had 7 carries for 57 yards and a touchdown. Junior Perry Jones had 12 carries for 56 yards and 2 catches for 17 yards. Receiver Tim Smith had 7 catches for 72 yards. Darius Jennings had 4 catches for 61 yards. The star of the offense besides Parks was kicker Robert Randolph who was 4/4 on field goals including a 48 yard kick, and made all 4 extra points he tried. Virginia did have 8 penalties for 56 yards in the win.
William & Mary was so inept on offense it looked like Mary was the only one that showed up. Sorry, I know that was very corny but I couldn’t resist. Virginia held the tribe to 169 total yards including 48 yards rushing. W&M had 10 first downs and was 2 for 15 on third and fourth downs. Virginia forced 2 turnovers and a sack.
Former Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson took over as Indiana’s coach this season. His tenure got off to a rocky start with a 27-20 neutral site loss to Ball St in Indianapolis. The Hoosiers and Cardinals were even statistically with Ball St holding a slight edge in total yards 383-375. There were no turnovers in the game. The main difference in the game was Ball St had 210 rushing yards, and was 10 for 14 on third down conversions. Ball St dominated the time of possession 36 minutes to 24 minutes. Whatever happened, middling teams from the MAC aren’t supposed to physically dominate schools from the Big Ten even if they are rebuilding like Indiana. It just proved Wilson has a lot of work to do to even make the Hoosiers competitive.
Hoosier quarterback Edward Wright-Baker had a good day going 20/32 for 272 yards and a touchdown along with 10 carries for 12 yards. The running game never really clicked with only 103 yards. Stephen Houston had 9 carries for 43 yards, and a catch for 6 yards. Matt Perez had 12 carries for 41 yards and a touchdown. Perez also had 2 catches for 18 yards. Receiver DeMarlo Belcher had 4 catches for 101 yards and a 65 yard touchdown catch. Dre Muhammed had 6 catches fro 68 yards, and one carry for 7 yards. Kicker Mitch Ewald was 2 for 2 on field goals including a 49 yarder and made both his extra points. Indiana gave up 9 tackles for loss including 4 sacks to Ball St.
Virginia is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 non-conference games, and 5-0 ATS in the last 5 September games. The Cavaliers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 as a road favorite. Indiana is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 as an underdog of between 3.5 and 10 points. The Hoosiers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 non-conference games, and 0-4 ATS in the alst 4 against ACC teams.
Neither of these teams are likely to make a bowl game this year, but they are improving. Indiana has a lot farther to go than Virginia. It doesn’t bode well for the Hoosiers that they gave up over 200 yards rushing to Ball St and now face another good rushing team.
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