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GuestForgive my absence, I was in the DC area for about a week, keeping to an extremely aggressive tourist schedule so I haven't had the opportunity to post until now.
I'd like to share a few of my observations from being on the ground.
The DC area is hot and humid in late August, early September, but the hottest and most humid day was Saturday. Because there is no nearby parking to the Virginia stadium, you'll have a good hike to get there, a minimum of a mile, we were further away.
The UVA stadium is very pretty, it's a horseshoe shape with student seating on the open grass hill. They also know their weather pretty well. They started announcing the lightning storm evacuation while it was still somewhat clear skies. All the UVA fans left the stadium, while the BYU fans loitered the longest. Of course, UVA fans had somewhere to go when they were told to evacuate. BYU fans didn't have as many options, and typically had the furthest parking spaces, not being familiar with the area.
The game had a definite rhythm to it. BYU came close to clicking offensively into rhythm twice, but didn't quite get the time to do it because of the lightning delay and then the later rain/downpour without lightning.
Play calling was frustrating to those in the stands. How many times were we going to run it up the middle? But I think the strategy may have worked if we had played the game straight. The UVA defense was getting gassed and pushed around by our big guys, but the long break helped them regain their breath. It also didn't help that Hill was very inaccurate with his throws, meaning our only chance to get yards was on the ground.
Speaking of Hill, I admit that I was shocked by how inaccurate he was. His passes were all over the place. But even worse than that, his reads were terrible. There were a number of times BYU had wide open receivers across the middle of the field, I don't know if it was viewable on TV or not, but there were guys with no defenders within 10 yards of them, and Hill would throw to the double covered guy on the edge.
Another problem that may not have been visible on TV was Ross Apo's effort level. I was excited for him to get a new start, with a new QB, for him to finally put the level of work in required to be a top WR. But it just doesn't look like he fights for any balls or runs his routes as hard as Hoffman, Ridley, or the others do. I'm not even sure deserves to be 2nd string.
The rain delay was pretty miserable for fans. A good number of us didn't leave the stadium because we had no where to go. The problem was there was no where for us in the stadium either, they wouldn't let fans sit in the bleachers, so we stood crowded in the walkways outside the stadium. All the concessions shut down, the TVs and radio stopped playing, we really didn't have any idea what was going on except when people from home would text us about what they were saying on TV. A lot of people had to stand for 2 hours on the slanted walkway, which is more difficult than you might think.
UVA fans were extremely gracious and friendly. Walking to the game we didn't get any one swearing, yelling or degrading BYU or Mormons. At the game everyone was polite and friendly. During the rain delay was when UVA fans really shined. We had several long conversations with UVA fans and they treated us like we were old friends. I have been to a lot of away games and they were the most friendly I've been around. Notre Dame comes close, they were more outgoing in providing helpful information and welcoming us to the stadium, but UVA fans felt more genuinely friendly.
I'd like to share a few of my observations from being on the ground.
The DC area is hot and humid in late August, early September, but the hottest and most humid day was Saturday. Because there is no nearby parking to the Virginia stadium, you'll have a good hike to get there, a minimum of a mile, we were further away.
The UVA stadium is very pretty, it's a horseshoe shape with student seating on the open grass hill. They also know their weather pretty well. They started announcing the lightning storm evacuation while it was still somewhat clear skies. All the UVA fans left the stadium, while the BYU fans loitered the longest. Of course, UVA fans had somewhere to go when they were told to evacuate. BYU fans didn't have as many options, and typically had the furthest parking spaces, not being familiar with the area.
The game had a definite rhythm to it. BYU came close to clicking offensively into rhythm twice, but didn't quite get the time to do it because of the lightning delay and then the later rain/downpour without lightning.
Play calling was frustrating to those in the stands. How many times were we going to run it up the middle? But I think the strategy may have worked if we had played the game straight. The UVA defense was getting gassed and pushed around by our big guys, but the long break helped them regain their breath. It also didn't help that Hill was very inaccurate with his throws, meaning our only chance to get yards was on the ground.
Speaking of Hill, I admit that I was shocked by how inaccurate he was. His passes were all over the place. But even worse than that, his reads were terrible. There were a number of times BYU had wide open receivers across the middle of the field, I don't know if it was viewable on TV or not, but there were guys with no defenders within 10 yards of them, and Hill would throw to the double covered guy on the edge.
Another problem that may not have been visible on TV was Ross Apo's effort level. I was excited for him to get a new start, with a new QB, for him to finally put the level of work in required to be a top WR. But it just doesn't look like he fights for any balls or runs his routes as hard as Hoffman, Ridley, or the others do. I'm not even sure deserves to be 2nd string.
The rain delay was pretty miserable for fans. A good number of us didn't leave the stadium because we had no where to go. The problem was there was no where for us in the stadium either, they wouldn't let fans sit in the bleachers, so we stood crowded in the walkways outside the stadium. All the concessions shut down, the TVs and radio stopped playing, we really didn't have any idea what was going on except when people from home would text us about what they were saying on TV. A lot of people had to stand for 2 hours on the slanted walkway, which is more difficult than you might think.
UVA fans were extremely gracious and friendly. Walking to the game we didn't get any one swearing, yelling or degrading BYU or Mormons. At the game everyone was polite and friendly. During the rain delay was when UVA fans really shined. We had several long conversations with UVA fans and they treated us like we were old friends. I have been to a lot of away games and they were the most friendly I've been around. Notre Dame comes close, they were more outgoing in providing helpful information and welcoming us to the stadium, but UVA fans felt more genuinely friendly.