I generally have very little use for, nor do I get much enjoyment from, 7 – 0 games against an outgunned opponent. And despite stocking up on three of four of these teams a year, Virginia generally doesn’t explode so prolifically. (The Cavaliers haven’t had an outburst like this since 2021 against Richmond.)
But this game was different, heralding not just a superior Virginia team but rather a different Virginia team. We’re just three games into the season, small-sample-size territory to be sure, but head coach Steve Swanson’s new 5 – 2 – 2 – 1 is a smashing success. There is so much more off-ball movement coming from the Hoos. For well over a decade, Swanson rolled out a very vanilla (and very predictable) 4 – 3 - 3 alignment and dared other teams to stop us. This team comes at you in waves.
The most significant players on a team employing a three-player back line are the two wingbacks who are even more responsible for providing width than the outside backs of a four-player back line. And Swanson has them in spades this year…