Cavs try to keep road fortunes going at home

The road has been good to Virginia, with victories at Miami and Louisville following blowout losses against North Carolina and No. 16 Wake Forest.

The Cavaliers hope a return to their home stadium today will keep their momentum alive. Virginia (4-2, 2-2 ACC) faces Duke, a team it has beaten six straight times. Not that any of the history matters to Cavs coach Bronco Mendenhall.

“It’s just the next game, right?” Mendenhall said this week. “ACC game, Coastal game, this year’s version, and nothing else before or after is relevant.”

The Cavaliers view themselves as defending Coastal champs, having won the division in 2019 before the pandemic forced a one-division league last year. With two losses in league play, though, they can ill afford another.

The Blue Devils (3-3, 0-2) have the same issue, but a much steeper hill to climb, especially with a banged-up secondary facing Brennan Armstrong. The Virginia quarterback is second nationally with 410 passing yards per game and has 17 TD throws.

Duke coach David Cutcliffe’s strategy includes non-football things.

“I guess you start every morning with a good prayer, right?” he said. “It may make a lot of sense, playing

coverage against a guy like him. As I said, he’s mobile, so that increases the hardship of staying in coverage if he breaks the pocket because he sees downfield well. He’s very accurate.”

And he has plenty of weapons. Virginia has four receivers in the top 66 nationally in receiving yards, led by Dontayvion Wicks with 554 yards, 10th overall. When Wicks was knocked out of the game at Louisville, Ra’Shaun Henry caught nine passes for 179 yards and Keytaon Thompson 10 for 149 yards.

Some other things to watch:

Missing running game

The Cavaliers are averaging just 113 rushing yards, and their top rusher, Wayne Taulapapa, has gained just 185. Efforts to disguise some plays have had moderate success, but gaining some balance would open things for Armstrong.

Balanced attack

The Blue Devils have the ACC’s second-most productive running back — by half a yard — in Mataeo