It didn't take long for UVA's first-year coach to infuse the Cavaliers with a missing ingredient. Mike London has brought back the pride (we won't go so far as to call it swagger -- yet). The Cavs battled Southern Cal toe-to-toe on their home turf and nearly pulled off an upset. During his Monday press conference, London talked about Virginia's next hurdle. Here are the highlights.
London: "This game, first conference game, BCS opponent -- very, very good team with a Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback – a program with national championships and all that type of stuff. This will be another game to try to see where we are right now. I've always said we're a work in progress, and we're looking to improve and to get better. This game will also have an opportunity for me to see ‑‑ for our team to see how far we need to go…But it's what you play the games for, and I know our guys are excited about it."
What makes Christian Ponder more elite than some other QBs?
London: "He's a guy that's very accurate. I think his passing efficiency rating is very good, and he's very, very athletic in terms of escaping a rush. I think in terms of attempts, he's the second guy on their team with rushing attempts. Now, I don't know how many of those are his quarterback runs or some QB scrambles, but I'll tell you what, he's fast. When he gets out to the second level he does a great job because he's hard to bring down…so we've got to definitely shore up our rush lanes and our quarterback landmarks. But if we can tie the rush into the coverage, I think both of them will benefit each other, and if we can do that on both sides, then again, we'll give ourselves a chance."
On injured CB Ras-I Dowling (pre-season All-American) and Safety Rodney McLeod being at full strength for FSU.
London: "Ras‑I played close to 30 plays (against VMI last Saturday). Rodney didn’t play as many plays as Ras-I did, but after the game he felt really good…and we're looking forward to him being with us here on Saturday’s game with Ras‑I. I think they'll be back to being close to 100 percent."
Virginia hasn't run the ball particularly well against FSU even during your time as an assistant. What's the importance of the running game this weekend and not relying on QB Mike Verica to throw it 35 or 40 times?
London: "Well, not a whole lot of teams have run the ball very well on them, particularly this year. But I think that you have to be able to run the ball or at least create running lanes or cracks or crevices that hopefully a guy like Perry Jones can slip through. I don't know if Keith Payne is going to slip through any crack or crevice. He'll have to be more of a power game.
"If we can't run the ball, it'll be difficult for us. But if we can run the ball then do some play action passes off of that and do some other things through game planning, then to be able to move the chains - I think that's important. Our first downs are going to be important, not just the third down conversions - but how many first downs we can get...Being able to move the ball on the ground will be important, and then take the opportunities when you can to throw the ball deep or throw the ball to the intermediate routes or throw the ball to whatever they're giving us."
On Florida State's team speed, especially defensively, 19 sacks already, and plans on protecting QB Mark Verica.
London: "I remember when I was with the Houston Texans, our first round draft pick was Travis Johnson from Florida State, and just having a chance to talk to him, the whole mindset is they get up the field. They rush the passer…So it's going to be a challenge to provide protection for Marc. Whether that means some out‑of‑pocket stuff or whether that means - quick passing game, we've got to find a solution to try to do something to help us because those ends, and the two guys inside particularly, they get great push up front. They were doing a lot of blitzing and scheming the first couple games, and I've heard the comment made that they decided to just let those guys play.
"I'll tell you what, they're playing pretty well when you keep it kind of basic and let your four guys rush, everybody else back there cover...You want to make sure that if you're in a situation where you're being harassed that if you can throw the ball beyond the line of scrimmage and make sure you're not throwing it to their guy, then instead of taking a sack -- you've got a chance to live to see another day or maybe perhaps punt.
"But if it dictates that it's not there and he can find a crease or a crevice - rather than taking a sack or going backwards...sometimes you look at Ponder when you're playing man coverage and guys are turning and running with their back to him - it's engrained in him, he takes it and he goes. And he's a fast guy that can add some yardage that way.
"Marc has got to be kind of like that a little bit in that if there's a lot of pressure and they have guys covered that you can be a runner yourself, get as much as you can, go down, don't try to be a hero, take what you can get and live to see another down instead of trying to rush things."
Is the offensive line, ready for the challenge they're going to face on Saturday?
London: "I'm quite sure they'll be sky high, they'll want to play. This is a conference game for FSU, also. We've got to play above whatever level that they bring in order for us to be successful. If those guys can do that up front, it'll give us a chance…Everyone is going to have to play their best game without a doubt this Saturday. That's going to be important."
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