UVA offensive coordinator Des Kitchings comments on Virginia's offensive struggles heading into the ODU game.
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00:00But the fact that they got tech, does that help grab your guys attention?
00:05I mean, no it doesn't, because when you turn on the film, they're good.
00:10They're athletic and they're active.
00:13The DN number nine, the linebacker number 42, the corner number six.
00:18Those are ACC caliber guys, so they got a good team on defense.
00:21So yeah, did they beat tech?
00:24That's one thing that happens throughout all of college football.
00:26But it's one team mindset, and with us having to play ODU this week,
00:30they present enough on film to say, hey boys,
00:33let's be locked in regardless of who they beat.
00:35For your group, what's the pride bent in what happened in Illinois, and
00:39how do you either move on or use it to fuel things?
00:43Yeah, it's a learning experience, we're moving on from it.
00:46We went up there with the expectation to win the game.
00:48We didn't play well enough, we didn't coach well enough to win it.
00:51And so lesson learned, move on, learn from that, and
00:53now the next opponent's ODM, it's a different defense.
00:57Challenge for us this week, and
00:59we just have to do the little things to give ourselves a chance to win.
01:01Tony said that outside of KT,
01:04Keeton, that he didn't really see anybody rallying the unit the way he wants.
01:08Do you agree, and who do you put that on?
01:11Yeah, I'm in the press box, so
01:12it's information that's relayed to me through the headsets.
01:15But you look down on the sideline, you try to see the body language of the guys.
01:19And was it what we wanted?
01:21No, it wasn't, and let's be honest about that.
01:23So that's been a challenge this week.
01:25Point of emphasis, not so much a challenge,
01:27it's a point of emphasis with our guys, right?
01:28Everything matters, man, it's so hard to win a football game, it's hard to.
01:32And you talk about anywhere from, I guess, average 75 to 90 plays a game,
01:38hopefully, with that, and every play matters.
01:40And as bad as it was on Saturday, there was still a chance to put ourselves
01:45positioned to be in that game late in the fourth quarter.
01:47So that's a teachable moment as well.
01:50We're gifted some things, we didn't capitalize on those short fields.
01:53And had some errant snaps and penalties, and just a bad day with that.
02:00So great experience for us all.
02:02But you talk about that mindset, and that's been a point of emphasis.
02:05What has been the response to the guys in practice?
02:07I tell you, this is, of the three Wednesday practices going into a season,
02:11today was our best Wednesday.
02:13So hopefully that's a good indication.
02:14We've had good Mondays, we've had good Tuesdays, and
02:17Wednesday's been kind of whoa.
02:19And Wednesday was what probably showed up on Saturday last week.
02:23Today was good, we practiced all the situations.
02:27Red zone third down for two minutes, first down, second down.
02:31The guys responded, they were locked in.
02:34Had a good two minute drive in the practice to win that drill.
02:38That was the first of the two weeks.
02:40So there's a lot of positive.
02:41You got a group of guys now that are competitive, they're talented.
02:45They got something about them, just like we as coaches.
02:47So it's moving forward.
02:50What do you have to do on third down to be better?
02:53Well, hopefully stay out of third alone.
02:55Saturday we had ten third down and nine plus.
02:59It's hard, that's really hard.
03:01So whereas the previous week, we stayed out of those situations.
03:04So a lot of that's tied in first and second down success.
03:08When you wanna be aggressive and
03:09try to push the ball down the field vertically early in the drive.
03:12If you don't complete it, then you put yourself behind the chains.
03:14But that doesn't change our mindset.
03:16Still want to be able to do that and mix them in the run as well.
03:20But the key is staying out of that situation.
03:23Get successful on first down, second down.
03:25This receiving group came in with a lot of expectations.
03:27How do you kind of get them going or what do they need to do to get going?
03:30Just keep putting in the work, man, and the dam will break, right?
03:34I don't know when, hopefully this weekend, where it all comes together cuz
03:38there's flashes out there of it, but it's a collective group, right?
03:41They have to be, passing game is about precision, spacing, timing, and trust.
03:47So we gotta be spaced out correctly on the field.
03:50You gotta have the right timing.
03:51You just gotta be trusting our route depth, trusting the protection ball holdup.
03:54Protection, trusting that the quarterback's going through his progression.
03:57Trust that the running back's picking up his guy.
03:59So it's not just the wide outs.
04:01It's not just the offensive line.
04:02It's not just, it's everybody tied in together so
04:05that we can do better on throwing the football.
04:08The chemistry between the quarterback and the receiver, that's been there for them.
04:12Does that carry over in a new system?
04:14Yeah, it does.
04:16A post is a post, an out is an out, but it's just, we're getting together.
04:23It was there, we just missed some opportunities, truthfully.
04:26It was man-to-man coverage, and sometimes we won, sometimes we didn't.
04:30That was that deal last week.
04:32Not to keep talking about last week, but it's a six-man front,
04:35seven-man front, play man.
04:37So you had to win your one-on-ones.
04:38You had to win your one-on-ones in the pass throw.
04:39You had to win your one-on-ones in the passing game.
04:42This week's a different deal.
04:43They're gonna play man, all right?
04:45Book's out, they're gonna play man, they're gonna pressure us.
04:47So we still gotta win those one-on-ones in pass protection,
04:50win our one-on-ones out on the front of the edges.
04:52I mean, generally as an offensive coordinator,
04:54do you want those one-on-one matchups?
04:55Yeah, cuz I like our personnel.
04:57Right.
04:57So, yes, I want those one-on-ones.
04:59Now, if we didn't have the personnel to win one-on-ones, no, I don't want that.
05:02But we have the personnel to win one-on-ones, so that was a good challenge.
05:07We'll come back this week and have a good Saturday.
05:09I think you said in the preseason that the ball would find who's open.
05:12Correct.
05:13Do you need to be more specific?
05:14No, I don't.
05:15No, I think the ball still will find that, because again,
05:17the coverage dictates that.
05:19The one-on-one matchups dictate that.
05:22There's favorable matchups, depending on who's matchup or who.
05:26I think it depends on those.
05:27So, yeah, the ball will still find who it needs to find.