Limited Pass Rush
Virginia only had five sacks through three games before getting five last week against a terrible Stanford team, which got behind big early and had to throw it. They didn’t have any sacks against CJ Bailey and only got pressure on him five times.
FSU should have great success in the run game on early downs, keeping FSU out of predictable passing situations on third down. However, in the event they find themselves in a predictable passing situation, it’s not like UVA will whip the FSU offensive line consistently to get to him from what I’ve seen.
Not to mention that Thomas Castellenos has shown the ability to extend plays and make sound decisions when under duress.
UVA will likely make a play here or there, but Castellenos’ comment about Tony White’s defense being the toughest to prepare for wasn’t as far-fetched as most believed at the time. There isn’t anything they’ll throw at him that he hasn’t already seen from White or from what Alabama tried to do.
It comes down to continuing to execute the plays Malzahn calls, and it’s likely he’s got a couple of counters to the plays he’s already put on paper, though he may save those for Miami next week if he can.