Virginia vs William & Mary: Three Storylines for Saturday's Game

Virginia is going to be a big favorite in this game and for good reason. The Cavaliers have the superior roster and are at home this weekend. While they should certainly win, will it be a crisp performance?

We have seen time and again teams sleepwalk through these kinds of games and not play the kind of game that is needed from start to finish. Virginia needs to come out strong in this game and handle business early, then let the backups get reps and finish things off. UVA's offense should be able to name the score in this game and get rolling early.

No opponent should be taken for granted and while the Hoos have the superior team, that does not guarantee they will play like it.

2. Can the defense rebound?

Virginia's offense racked up over 500 yards of offense on Saturday, but a late interception from Chandler Morris and a failed fourth down conversion failed the Cavaliers upset chances. They were the only real missteps for the offense though.

Defensively, it was not a good day for the Cavaliers, as they gave up over 400 yards of offense and never were able to disrupt Wolfpack quarterback CJ Bailey, finishing the day with zero sacks. After the game, head coach Tony Elliott spoke about the performance on that side of the ball:

"Yeah, I think going back to the first half, I think it took us two drives and then we got several stops that allowed us to, you know, have a 10-point lead at half -time. And then, in the second half, we got a little bit more, you know, pressure on the quarterback, just moved them around a little bit. We tackled a little bit better later in the game, you know, found a way to get their running back on the game, on the ground, and not give them seven, eight-yard gains, so that they have very short conversions on the next play. And then, guys just made a couple plays there at the end to give us a shot. So, the football team, they're hurting, they want to win, but we're going to learn from them, we're going to get better, go back to work. It's only game two. We got everything we want in front of us. Even though this is a non-conference, I wanted to win it, it doesn't knock off any of our goals. All of our goals are still ahead of us as a football team."

While William & Mary is quite the step down in regular competition, the UVA defense needs a bounce back.

3. What does J'Mari Taylor do for an encore?

While Taylor had a pair of touchdowns against Coastal Carolina in the opener, the rushing yards were not quite there. He exploded against NC State, totaling 150 yards on 17 carries and scoring three touchdowns. He looked like he might lead UVA to a win, but was stopped short on fourth and one late in the game.

Was this the start of something for Taylor? Elliott spoke highly of his performance after last week's game:

"He's a good football player, you know, and I think what you see in college football nowadays, there's really good football players at all levels, just because of the way recruiting is. He's played four years in college football prior to coming here, was a starter for several years. He's very talented to begin with, he's got a great temperament, demeanor, team first guy, hard worker, doesn't say much at practice. He's a pleaser, wants to do it right, so all those qualities and characteristics I believe is what allowed him to make the transition."

Taylor has a chance to continue his string of good play on Saturday and I think it might be the start of something big this season.