The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Virginia Bye Week - News, Notes & Tidbits; Boston College at UVA (-2.5), 12 PM Sat, ACCN

Episode Date: October 1, 2024

The Jerry & Jerry Show headlines: Virginia Bye Week – News, Notes & Tidbits Boston College at UVA (-2.5), 12 PM Sat, ACCN Eagles (4-1, 1-0 ACC) at Cavaliers (3-1, 1-0 ACC) Keys To The Game: What Does UVA Need To Do? Overrated Or Underrated – Boston College Eagles If Hoos Top Eagles, Will UVA Be Top 25 Ranked? Best & Worst Of ACC Football So Far In 2024? UVA Hoops Scrimmage, 6 PM Saturday, JPJ Read Viewer & Listener Comments Live On-Air Jerry Ratcliffe & Jerry Miller were live on The Jerry & Jerry Show! The Jerry & Jerry Show airs live Tuesday from 10:15 am – 11:15 pm on The I Love CVille Network. Watch and listen to The Jerry & Jerry Show on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, iTunes, Apple Podcast, YouTube, Spotify, Fountain, Amazon Music, Audible and iLoveCVille.com.

Good Tuesday morning, guys. My name is Jerry Miller, and thank you kindly for joining us on the Jerry and Jerry Show. It's great to be with you. We're less than two miles from the John Paul Jones Arena and from Scott Stadium. And ladies and gentlemen, on Saturday, both the John Paul Jones Arena and Scott Stadium will have action, live action. Of course, basketball scrimmage, the blue and white scrimmage with both the women's team and the men's team and a three

point competition in the mix as well. But still, basketball very, very close to starting a team with very high expectations, Tony Bennett's bunch. Another team that's perhaps exceeded expectations to this point of the season, Tony Elliott's football team. Las Vegas had the over-under at three and a half wins. Virginia is at three, and they're knocking on the door of four with the Boston College Eagles visiting Charlottesville and Scott Stadium at 12 o'clock high noon, a game set for the ACC Network. Ladies and gentlemen, Virginia, an early two-and-a-half point favorite. That line, depending on where you shop, jumped up to three-and-a-half points yesterday, back

down to two-and-a-half today. Virginia's got a shot to win this contest. Judah Wickhauer, the man behind the camera, if you can go to the studio camera, and then welcome our star of the program, Jerry Hootie-Rackliff. Before we talk news and notes, you and I both follow media fairly closely and the Commonwealth. Some unfortunate news from the Richmond Times-Dispatch with the laying off of David Thiel and Mike Barber. Thoughts on that, Hootie-Rackliff? Well, it's certainly a loss to sports journalism. Both those guys were excellent at their craft.

And David I've known for decades. I grew up reading David T on the Daily Press as a kid in Williamsburg, Virginia. He and I used to run around together quite a bit. And terrific journalist, terrific guy. And his work speaks for itself. He's a Hall of Famer in a couple of different Hall of Fames, and I'm sure the reading public is going to miss his work. I hope he lands somewhere that he would like to be. Same with Mike Barber who wasn't all around obviously as long as David but did an excellent job covering all the

beats that he was assigned to over his career and again it's just another example of how the newspaper industry keeps shooting itself in the foot feet one of these days I feel sorry for youngsters growing up today like you said you grew up reading David down and toward the beach and. I grew up reading some guys and had an influence on my career. Who are kids going to read now? Most newspapers hardly even have a sports staff anymore, let alone excellent writers. It's just a shame because um i think it society in general it takes a big loss

not just in virginia but all over the country because it's happening everywhere well said um williamsburg virginia grew up um reading the daily press the virginia gazette david teal and warner hler, two of my favorites to read, Al Pierce on the NASCAR beat, Norm Wood in the mix as well. Dave Fairbanks. Dave, yeah, absolutely. Just absolute legends. Dave Johnson.

Yeah. I mean, you know them all, Hootie. Yeah. And it's what you, I think you made the point poignantly. It's the community that suffers. There's something about getting to know the beat writer and the columnist in your community, as you know. I would imagine Lee Enterprises is probably going to try to syndicate one columnist and all the papers they own. But it's just not the same personal connection as picking up a Daily Progress

and seeing Hootie Ratcliffe's picture in there and your byline and knowing your scatter shooting and knowing your turns of phrases. And then you made another great point. For every Hootie Ratcliffe out there and David Teal out there and Warner Hessler out there, there's a young man or a young woman that wants to be the next Jerry Ratcliffe or Warner Hessler. there, there's a young man or a young woman that wants to be the next Jerry Ratcliffe or Warner Hessler. And who do they look up to now from a print standpoint, from a writing standpoint? It's difficult because I'm not sure there are any columnists left in the state of Virginia. I think my good friend Steve up in Fredericksburg might be the only one remaining. I'm pretty sure about that fact.

I don't think in any of the in-state newspapers, I'm not sure there's a columnist who's left. So I don't know. There is no answer to that. It is a shame because I've met so many people that were my readers and still meeting people that read me for years. It was like you were part of their breakfast every morning or something because they would read their newspaper and drink their cup of coffee and and get ready for the day and you formed a relationship with a lot of these people even though many thousands of them you never even actually met but they felt like they knew you and and uh it's just a shame it's a it's just another part of our society that seems to be lost. More news kind of took me aback this week with the passing of Dikembe Mutombo

and, of course, the passing of Charlie Hustle, Pete Rose. They say it comes in threes. It's, you know, Dikembe Mutombo, a true ambassador of basketball, a global ambassador um from waving the finger uh the Georgetown product to shot blocking his time with the Nuggets his time with the Knicks um a guy that transcended basketball one of those personalities that was larger than life than the sport um and I think as basketball has become the world sport, just like soccer,

guys like Dikembe and Yao Ming and Kobe Bryant get a lot of that props or that, you know, they get the respect that comes with the sport becoming global. And then the embattled Pete Rose. When I grew up, Pete Rose was a manager, so I never got to watch him play. But I've seen the highlights. A guy that was in an autograph signing within the week and now has passed away. He was my favorite player growing up, and I tried to pattern my pathetic sports career after him,

hustling all the time and playing as hard as you can. I had the great fortune to, once I became a sports writer, to interview Pete Rose on more than one occasion, several occasions. And it was fascinating because you could sit there at his locker and talk to him. You'd be surrounded by many writers after any game that he played in and he, you people would be bringing up certain players and certain statistics and Pete knew all of his numbers by heart. And he knew most of other players' numbers too.

And he could sit there. He was very knowledgeable about baseball, and he could talk to you about any player in the league and any team in the league and his own accomplishments. And it was just somewhat fascinating. I don't know that I've ever met another player who knew all of his numbers and could bring them up and knew where he stood on an all-time basis and where he compared to other greats. And I just think it's a shame he's not in the Hall of Fame.

And Mutombo was, like you said, was a great ambassador of NBA. And he was somebody who just wanted to help the world. Yeah, just a good guy. Just a good guy and wanted to help people. Yeah, and especially Mutombo took me aback with his age. Young, was he 53? I mean, think about that, ladies and gentlemen. Randy Clark, giving you props.

Love what Jerry Ratcliffe is doing these days with jerryratcliffe.com, but I certainly miss those days with Hootie at the Daily Progress. Ray Cadell, watching the program, says he was one of those guys that woke up with Hootie Ratcliffe in the paper, and I miss reading Jerry Ratcliffe. We appreciate you viewers and listeners for watching the program.

We had folks in Richmond, folks in Williamsburg, folks in Virginia Beach, Northern Virginia, Southwestern Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina. It's been a challenging week for the country. Not to get, this is a sports show, but Hootie, devastation from a hurricane. And I said yesterday on our program, I'd love to see this country focus on what's happening within our borders with restoring quality of life to so many families that have been devastated in the southeast before we focus on some other elements outside the country. Yeah, it breaks your heart to see all the devastation and all the loss of life and people impacted, particularly in North Carolina and Tennessee or some remote regions where they're having a hard time even getting to those people. I hope that America can come together and offer some aid to these people,

help them get their lives back together. Yeah, well said, well said. Puts things in perspective, guys, when we're talking about a football game, but a football game we will talk about. Virginia's coming out of the bye week, and after a bye week where they started 3-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play, frankly had a very good opportunity of starting 4-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play.

Let that Maryland game get away from them. But the victory at Coastal Carolina gave this team some confidence going into the bye. Before we talk about the Eagles, talk to me about the bye. News, notes, tidbits, anything that was on your mind as they had a break. Well, you know, we really won't find out much about their bye week until this afternoon when we meet with Tony Elliott at his weekly press conference. We didn't have one last week since they were off, and I guess a lot of the coaches spend some time recruiting. And in terms of their own team, I think they worked probably on fundamentals and refining what they've done well thus far,

maybe self-scouting and throwing out some of the bad, focusing more on what they are good at and preparing for BC, which will be a very worthy competitor. Probably the most physical team they've played to this point. I think probably even more so than Maryland. And it will be a challenge. Virginia hasn't traditionally played well against Boston College in the ACC. I think they've only won once.

I think Al Groh's team won up at Boston in maybe the first meeting. I'm not sure. I know I was there. I think it was the first time they played as ACC members. But Boston's usually a very physical football team and Virginia has had a tough time matching up against those guys. Boston College, its quarterback,

the word around the conference is healthy and he's ready to play. Castellanos is a guy to watch out for for Virginia, one of the better gunslingers in the Atlantic Coast Conference. This team, I think if it can continue to run the football with either Xavier Brown, with Kobe Pace, with the running back by committee, it will take the pressure off of Anthony Calandria and allow him to potentially take less risk and manage the game a little bit

better. We'd love to see this football team, Hootie, that's a two and a half point favorite, come out of the bye week with a strong commitment to the run. They're probably going to need to in order to win this football game. I can't see. If they have to throw a lot to win, it speaks to the fact that they're probably not matching up well against B.C. And I think even though we hadn't heard anything officially on Castellanos, that guy's a player, he's a playmaker and he can get things done.

They, um, they didn't look very good without him last week and squeezed out a win against Western Kentucky with a backup quarterback. But I imagine they held him out for this game being a conference game. And I agree. I think the fact that Virginia was able to get some running game going against Coastal Carolina is going to be helpful going forward. It should build some confidence, but yet they were able to run on Coastal.

I don't think Coastal was as physical as Virginia, and Tony Elliott noticed that Coastal didn't make the adjustments that maybe he was expecting them to, and so he just said, well, let's just keep running it down their throats, and they did a great job of doing that. They're going to have to have some run success against Boston College this Saturday, and there's no reason they can't do that. I think Xavier Brown has really stepped up.

Looking like a star to me here. Yeah. I think he has potential to really break out, and they have some other good backs too that will give him some breaks. I imagine Kobe Pace will probably still start, but I think Xavier Brown is a great option. I think they need to feed him the ball as much as they can, as long as he's producing.

The Boston College quarterback, Thomas Castellanos, ten touchdowns on the season, just two picks. A guy out of Georgia, 5'9", listed under 200 pounds. But ladies and gentlemen, if you have not had an opportunity to watch this guy play, he is absolutely fantastic. Boston College's only loss on the season, a 27-21 stunner at Mizzou one of the top teams in the country and Boston College should have won that contest three touchdowns two picks

for the BC quarterback in that contest he does a very good job of taking care of the football again with the 10 TDs and only two interceptions I'd love to highlight Xavier Brown a little bit more. It seems to me Xavier Brown is the star on this backfield. He's got 33 carries, 293 yards. He's averaging 8.9 yards a carry. Yes, Kobe Pace is a guy that has got some clumps in pedigree. Just doesn't have that giddy-up compared to Xavier Brown. Maybe it's a good compliment to Xavier Brown, but why not feed the beast a little bit more?

I'm totally on the same page with you there. I thought he should be getting more carries early on because he has that burst. He's explosive. And I haven't seen any of the other Virginia running backs display that kind of speed and explosiveness, and I think that's very much needed on this team because he has the ability to turn an average play into a big play

just because of those factors. And he also has pretty good hands, too, so they could use him in the passing game. But you don't have to settle for two or three yards in a cloud of dust on every carry. And, you know, he's a kid that used to be a guy that could only run outside. He would try to beat people to the edge, but now he's developed into where he can gain yards between the tackles, and that's the sign of a really good running back. Do you like the running back by committee?

I mean, they're playing three or four guys here. Or do you see as the season matures one guy getting 20, 25 touches? Well, I think if a guy can show that he can produce to that degree, I think they would make that move and feed a guy that many carries a game. There is something to be said for running back by committee and the fact that you don't wear any one guy down and you have fresh legs. But there's also one thing I've noticed over the years with really good running backs, and this was at Virginia and other places and the NFL.

They get better as the game goes on. Absolutely. They get better. They get stronger. They get more in the flow and the rhythm, and they build confidence. And, you know, they say you used to use the word, the term workhorse, and that used to be part of the vocabulary.

And the fact that you'd had a guy and he would carry it 25 to 30 times a game, and there's something to be said for that as well. Wahoo 89 watching on YouTube. He says he's live from Tennessee. Thank you, Wahoo 89, for watching. He says, I love this show. I love all your shows, Jerry. Jerry Ratcliffe is the best source for UVA sports.

Thank you. Wahoo 89, thank you kindly for watching the program. We've got to talk Calandria. The guy's got to take care of the football against Boston College. Ladies and gentlemen, you're looking at two of the best teams right now watching the program. We've got to talk Calandria. The guys have got to take care of the football against Boston College. Ladies and gentlemen, you're looking at two of the best teams right now in the conference. It's still relatively early. The Boston College Eagles are 4-1 overall, 1-0 in conference play. UVA, 3-1 overall, 1-0 in conference play.

The winner of this contest most likely is going to be, I think, in the receiving votes portion of the top 25 polls. I don't think they're going to crack into the top 25. Calandria taking care of the football. Calandria, the game, 12 o'clock on Saturday, Hootie. Yeah, this could be a game settled by who makes the fewest mistakes and the fewest turnovers. I mean, I know that's somewhat cliche because could have you could put that down for just about any game but I think this game in particular is the team that makes the fewest mistakes is probably going to walk out of there with a win and yeah I think if Boston

College wins and goes to five and one they could jump back into the top 25 they were in it earlier if Virginia wins and goes to 4-1, 2-0 in the conference, I think they would be deserving of votes. I don't think they'd be in the top 25, but I think they would be in the others receiving votes and well-deserved because

BC is a good football team. They're not quite where Bill O'Brien wants them to be right now, but they're building toward it. Tony Elliott's team is building toward it. If they can go to 4-1 and have Louisville come to town, that becomes a massive game. Louisville's making some noise and they have a big game this week too against SMU.

Should both those teams win this week too against SMU. So should both those teams win this week, next week would be massive. And maybe for a change, maybe for a change game day would come to Charlottesville for the first time ever. I think there's only like a handful of schools that have never

hosted game day and this would be a good reason. Louisville guys, 22 in both polls right now. This win against Boston College, this potential would be a good reason. Louisville, guys, 22 in both polls right now. This win against Boston College, this potential win is a big one, especially considering Wake Forest's struggle this year. I believe Wake Forest is 1-3 in the season. They are 0-1 in conference play. So this is a chance for a little cherry win,

the cherry on the sundae for Tony Elliott's team. And that Louisville matchup, the time has been set, 3-30 kickoff at Scott Stadium. And I think you're going to see a lot of fans in attendance potentially for that with a lot of festivities surrounding the university a week from the Boston College game. Let's talk defense. Boston College plays quickly.

Boston College eats up play clock. Boston College and Bill O'Brien, who's got NFL pedigree, you look at some of the times of these games they're in, they're playing a lot of three-and-a-half-hour games, a lot of three-hour-and-change games. They play fast. Virginia's got to be really careful. If they do a three-and-out, a couple three and outs back to back,

Boston College is a team that can rattle off a 10, 12, 13 play drive no problem. Yeah, and, you know, if you're an offensive coordinator, you're looking at the number of possessions you have, and sometimes it dictates your play calling. For instance, against Maryland, when they realized that when they started playing poorly in the second half and Maryland was like, just like you said, controlling the clock and field position, that impacted Des Kitching's play calling. He pretty much had to shelve the running game and go to the pass because he knew he was only going to have a certain amount of possessions

in order to catch up, and that puts pressure on a team. It puts pressure on the quarterback. Absolutely. And you feel like if you don't get something on almost each possession and you're trailing by a couple of touchdowns or more, I mean, you really feel like you don't have much of a chance to come back. So that's huge.

And the fact they have to take care of the football, they need to play a turnover-free football game against BC for sure. Wahoo 89 in Tennessee asking about Hawthorne, the tailback. Says he looks like he's huge and powerful and complete will we see more of him I don't know his name came up I think a couple

of weeks ago and he was I think he was still about I think he was about to come back I think he'd been banged nicked up. And I don't know. I mean, that's a pretty crowded backfield right now. Yeah.

With Pace and Brown and Greasy. And then the other kid that started to get a little bit of action a couple, I guess he played a little bit last week or two weeks ago, but it's going to be awfully hard, I think, to work a fifth back into there at this point, unless somebody gets hurt. So I would be hesitant to say that he's probably going to see any action this week. You've got Kobe Pace, Noah Vaughn. Noah Vaughn's the other guy I was thinking about.

Jack Greasy, Xavier Brown, Anthony Calandria. This comes in from Greenwood, Virginia. Mr. Kevin Higgins, a football coach in Pop Warner himself, stopped the run and show up in the second half. UVA

wins. The Maryland game was reminiscent of the past couple years. We are getting further and further away from that history. Give Tony Elliott some time. He likes what he's doing here. Virginia's going to have to stop the run against Boston College. Virginia's defense is going to have to step up. Virginia's got a pair of the top safeties. Two of the best safeties in the Atlantic Coast Conference, if not two of the best safeties, two of the best safeties in the Atlantic Coast Conference,

if not two of the best safeties in college football. Love to see the safeties here get up to the line of scrimmage and help the linebackers and the defensive line potentially stop the run some more. We'll follow that element of the game closely, Hootie. They're going to have to do that, and they're going to have to be watchful of Castellanos too because even though as you mentioned he's not a really big guy he he can run with football and he runs with authority and he's quick for a guy of his size he's got a little bit of weight to him but he's got some

quickness and he's not afraid to take off with it and and he can pick up big chunks of yardage. I've been really impressed with him the last couple of years. He's a good passer, but he can kill you with his legs too, so they're going to have to keep an eye on him and try to contain B.C.'s running game, which is good. I wouldn't say it's great but they they want to be physical they want to beat you up and and i'm sure that's their intentions you're looking at guys one of the uh better quarterbacks um in the atlantic coast conference uh this boston college quarterback

i mean you got to give the probably the top quarterback uh nod to the to the to the kid from miami uh he's fantastic he's looking like the potentially the acc player of the year right Top quarterback nod to the kid from Miami. Cam Ward. He's fantastic. He's looking like potentially the ACC player of the year right now. That victory against Virginia Tech, a comeback win, granted some sketchy calls go against the Hokies in that one. Cam Ward really did a lot for Miami. But this Boston College quarterback is right there. If you look at a touchdown, total touchdown standpoint in the ACC,

you've got Cam Ward with 18. Kyle McCord at Syracuse has got 14. The kid from Clemson, 12. And then Castellanos is right there with the kid from Duke and the kid from Pittsburgh. So you're looking at one of the guys that's one of the best ones in the conference. And Castellanos does a really good job of taking care of the football, as I've highlighted, with only two interceptions.

And he's missed the game. He missed a game, a cupcake-type game, where he could have put up some stats, ladies and gentlemen. What do you think is going to happen from a keys-to-the-game standpoint for Virginia against the Eagles? Well, I think you mentioned it already, is that Virginia has to contain the run. for Virginia against the Eagles? Well, I think you mentioned it already, is that they have to, Virginia has to contain the run.

If BC can run on you, then Castellanos becomes incredibly... More dangerous. More dangerous, yeah, no question about it, because he can kill you either way. And if you're running the football, you dictate what the defense is going to do, and they're going to try to exploit the A-gap just like Maryland and Wake Forest did. And if they can do that, then Virginia is going to have its handful. I wonder how aggressive John Radzinski is going to be with his defense.

They blitzed a lot against a couple of teams, and again those safeties are a key part of that and the fact that they can become very aggressive, and we'll see what they're going to do. But I think that's going to be the whole key to the game is if they can control BC's run game and if Virginia can have some success running the ball as well. Where does this team stack up as one of the best ones in the conference?

You give Miami and Clemson a clear cut on a plate of their own? Yeah, at this point I do. I still think Clemson's the best team in the league miami's a little bit back i think louisville is sneaky good and could be one of the better teams in the league and i was pretty impressed with smu this past weekend the way they just handled florida state with not much problem. Louisville gave Notre Dame a good game, which I expected them to. I think it kind of ends there.

Boston College, I think, is kind of on the outside of that, trying to separate from the middle of the pack. But they've got some work to do. And frankly, other than Missouri, they really haven't played a very tough schedule up to this point. Twelve o'clock, two-and-a-half point favorite. What did you think of the two-and-a-half point opening? Jumped up to three-and-a-half, now two-and-a-half.

I was a little surprised, but the way it's been with Virginia the past several games, they were opened up as underdogs and then were favorites by game time. So that line could still move before Saturday's game. And what were they favored at Coastal by? Just a few points, and it ended up being a blowout. It was a blowout, yeah.

But certainly BC is a much bigger, more physical football team than Coastal was, and I think Tony Elliott must have seen some things on film that made him confident that they could run the ball well against Coastal. And then again, when Coastal didn't adjust, he just drove railroad stakes down their throats the second half. UVA is one, you highlighted this, UVA is one in seven all time against Boston College. Yeah, it hasn't been pretty.

Even the one year here where it's been a few years ago, I can't remember if it was a COVID year or after that, but BC came to town and their really good quarterback was out. I think their second team quarterback got hurt, and they brought in some guy that hadn't played, and he threw for like, I think he was close to breaking Doug Flutie's all-time record or something. He threw for like, I think he was close to breaking Doug Flutie's all-time record or something. He threw for like 450 yards or something against Virginia in that game.

And nobody expected that against one of the Bronco Mendenhall's teams. But, yeah, traditionally they've been bigger and more physical than Virginia and tried to win with a physical game, and it's worked. And I'm sure Bill O'Brien will keep that same recipe in trying to bully his way through a game in Charlottesville on Saturday afternoon. Virginia was a three-point favorite against Coastal. Yeah, three points.

Three points, yeah, then it turned into an absolute blowout. Exactly. That went out the window pretty quickly. Is that due to the unpredictable nature of which Virginia football team shows up? I mean, we saw a football team show up against Maryland in the first half that looked pretty good. Then a football team come out of halftime against

Maryland that looked horrendous. We saw a football team against Coastal Carolina that was dominant. We saw a football team against Wake Forest that was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. I mean, it's just like, which is the team that shows up from start to finish? And it shows you as well as what early turnovers can do to a game. I mean, Virginia essentially had that game one in the first quarter after just jumping all over the Coastal. They fumbled the opening kickoff, then they had a turnover I think on the next series or the one after that and Virginia scored.

You take those turnovers away and who knows what kind of game it could have evolved into because you lose confidence when you're making mistakes and the other team's sticking it to you. And the other team gains incredible confidence that, hey, they can't stop us. So turnovers are a massive part of the game. And I think that could be a factor on Saturday as well. And I think that you don't know what team is going to show up sometimes. that could be a factor on Saturday as well.

I think that you don't know what team is going to show up sometimes. That comes from maybe not having the depth and the entire roster quality that some of the other teams might have. I don't know that Virginia has faced any of those at this point yet. They've been able to match up with everybody. But when they get into the second half of the schedule, they're going to be running into teams that have built

really strong, powerful, deep rosters. And that's why those teams are ranked or certainly in the upper echelon of the ACC. This contest is a 12 o'clock kick. This has come in. Does Hootie think they'll surpass 40,000 in attendance against Boston College? It's tough to say.

Wow. Who knows? I mean, you really. 12 o'clock is tough. There's been times when I thought that Virginia would have really good crowds because they were playing a good opponent, and Virginia was playing well. The weather conditions were right, and still a lot of people just didn't show up. It's so easy to sit at home and watch it on your couch these days with the big screen TVs, and you avoid all the other things, parking hassles, traffic hassles, standing in line for food, the restroom, et cetera,

leaving the stadium in traffic. They've made it so easy for people just to stay at home, and a lot of people do. And it's not just here. It's all over the place. But I don't know what to expect in terms of recruiting. You would hope they would draw 40,000-plus for this game because it's a pretty big game.

It's a massive game, ladies and gentlemen. And, you know, if you're a Virginia football fan, what more could you ask for right now at this point in time? Yeah, well said, Hootie. It's a massive game. If I had to pick, I would say there's going to be less than 40,000 there. The 12 o'clock kick is a challenging time for this fan base for some reason or another. And we could probably pick that apart for 20 minutes.

But the 12 o'clock doesn't normally show well. But we have to highlight how important this game is because the following week, you got a top 25 team in the nation at Scott Stadium. The week after that, you're in Death Valley against the top 15 team in the country, the Clemson Tigers. You got North Carolina at home, at Pittsburgh, at Notre Dame, a top 15 team.

Don't sleep on SMU. And Virginia Tech, ladies and gentlemen, yeah, they're sub-500. But last I checked, Virginia doesn't do so hot against the Hokies, and this one's in Blacksburg. Haven't won there since 1998. Right. Haven't won there since 1998. And what do you make of the Virginia Tech football team?

Tough loss on national television Friday night against the Hurricanes. Very tough loss. I looked at that play at the end 20 times, and I still can't tell whether he caught the ball or not. I really can't. I fully expected them not to reverse the call because I didn't see any video evidence that he caught it or that he didn't have possession. I thought the same. So the play in the field stance.

That's what I thought. In that respect, they got the short end, the fuzzy end of the lollipop, as they say. No one wants that end. They've been disappointing this year. They're 2-3, and they have a tough game. Don't they go to Stanford this Saturday? I got the schedule right in front of me. The Virginia Tech Hoagies travel to this sub-500 team, two and three overall.

They travel to Stanford. He's right, Stanford. 330 kick, ACC network, across the country. Yeah, I don't think Stanford's a great football team, but they're tough at home. Yeah, and you're going across the country. And it's a new opponent. So, yeah, it won't be an easy W for the Hokies for sure. Which team has surprised you the most from a disappointment standpoint?

Virginia Tech is 2-3, 0-1. Wake Forest, 1-3, 0-1. I think the answer is a slam dunk, but I have to set up my guy over here. It's obviously Florida State. 1-4, 1-3, Florida State? 1-4, Florida State. I'm about to go 1-5 because they play Clemson this week. And they're doing it without their starting quarterback to start.

DJ's got a broken finger. Broke his finger against SMU. I don't think it would matter even if he was healthy. They're going to get slaughtered against Clemson. You know, ACC fans are delighted slaughtered against Clemson. ACC fans are delighted about that because of the chaos that Florida State has started in their greedy nature, wanting more, wanting more, threatening to leave the ACC, trying to leave the ACC. Even the SMU people got in on it because they were taunting Florida State because they knew that Florida State didn't want them in the ACC

and tried to block their entrance. And so they put it on them as well as they could. And so the hatred for Florida State is pretty universal around the conference, and I don't expect that to change. So, yeah, Florida State is definitely the most disappointing team in the league. After that, I think I would have to say it's either North Carolina or Virginia Tech. It might be Virginia Tech. Yeah, nobody expected Virginia Tech to be 2-3.

Right. Even though Carolina is 3-2, they haven't played well. I mean, they lost a 20-0 lead to Duke, your rival, last weekend. And after getting their doors blown off against JMU, I mean, Mack Brown's got to be feeling some serious heat. I would imagine there's a handful of coaches feeling some heat right now in the conference. Yeah, and, you know, NC State, I wasn't convinced that they were very good,

but I think they've been a little lackluster as well. Phil Dow watching the program in Scottsville, he says, from what I see with this Virginia football team, this game is all about maintaining strong offensive line protection for the quarterback and making sure that their defensive secondary brings their A-plus game. And he says he's not certain about the crowd either, but those in attendance will care about winning.

And he said one of those camera views with that Miami-Virginia Tech game showed the ball may have been out. We appreciate your comments there, Phillip down in Scottsville. Thank you for watching the program. I thought it was a bang-bang play, and I thought the play on the field should have stood. But hey, we all have opinions. Miami certainly seems to be the darling of the conference and a potential playoff contender. Unblemished right now, Miami. So the hokey conspiracy theorists say they got the call their way

so they protect their unblemished record. I don't know if I buy that right there. Which of the head coaches in the Atlantic Coast Conference has a seat the most hot? Well, I think it would be Mike Norvell, except that they just, the payout for him is something, but I think $65 million, and they just gave him an extension, an $85 million contract. So Florida State, you know, they've spent a lot of money on getting rid of coaches prior to him. So maybe that's not enough money, or maybe that's not too much money for their donors to come up with if they feel like they're going backward, which they obviously are.

But they've kind of put themselves between a rock and a hard place. with if they feel like that they're going backward which they obviously are but uh they're they're kind of put themselves between a rock and a hard place uh extending his contract to that degree but it's got to be him and mac brown i mean mac brown for goodness sake he was there was a quiet movement to get rid of him late last season and he was able to squelch it through some of his supporters at the school but I don't know that that's going to be enough this time around. How about Brent Pryor in Blacksburg? He's got to be feeling some heat because the projections for Tech was they were going to be top four team and I certainly thought they would be.

They can make a step forward this week if they can escape Stanford with a win. But they haven't been as good as advertised. 12-17 overall, 6-10 in conference play in his tenure. That's rough. That's rough. That's rough. And, you know, the Tech fan base isn't as forgiving as some. So it'll be interesting to see how that develops as the season goes along down there in Blacksburg. I think other than that,

I'm not sure anybody else is really on the hot seat at this point in time. I think everybody else's job is pretty safe for the moment. I think so, too. Which team has surprised you at this point of the season? I didn't think Duke would be 5-0, but then again, I don't think they've played anybody. I'm not believing that they're nearly as good as advertised. Syracuse has surprised me a little bit, being 3-1. I'm not sure that they really have a good win either. How about SMU? I thought SMU was going to be good, and they're playing.

That's a huge game this week. They're 4-1, and Louisville's 3-1, I believe. 3-1, 1-0 in conference play. SMU at Louisville, 3-30 kick, or 12 o'clock kick, ESPN. I think that's a really big game. Louisville's 22 in the country, I guess. But I thought SMU was going to be really good. They've actually been a little better than I thought they would be. SMU, guys, not a team to overlook.

Virginia football's got a big one on the docket against Boston College. I'll highlight it one more time. Virginia's got a game to win here against the Eagles to get to four and to surpass the over-under of three-and-a-half by Vegas. Then you're looking at Louisville, top 25 at Scott Stadium. Clemson, top 15 in Death Valley. North Carolina at Pitt. At Notre Dame, South Bend, top 15.

SMU and Virginia Tech. A Virginia Tech football team that Virginia hasn't beaten in a generation, if you think about that. We have the bottom of the show. We've got to talk basketball. Blue and white scrimmage on Saturday. I can't believe I'm saying this. I know.

It's kind of snuck up on us for sure. We'll see the ladies. We'll see the men and a three-point competition. Yeah, it'll be fun seeing those two teams back-to-back. The women have generated a lot of excitement with really improving their roster and have a coach that they can win with. I think there's a lot of excitement

around both programs right now. The men, it's going to be interesting, like it is with everybody in the country, with essentially new rosters it's somebody asked me who who i thought was going to be really good in the conference and i'm gonna have to sit down and study because everybody's roster is dramatically yeah i mean what's the starting lineup you don't know who's who at most of the schools anymore You used to know all the rosters by heart, but now they change like the weather.

The Virginia starting lineup, I'm not even sure who's going to start for them right now. I've heard that Sharma's looked really good in practice in terms of shooting, so he might find some playing time. But, I mean, you look at, you've got. Where do you go, Day-Day and IMAC? Yeah, I would think. TJ Power.

I think TJ Power is a given. Blake Buchanan. At the five? Yeah, I think he's going to be at the five. Three intrigues me. Does IMAC slide over to the three to open up something in the backcourt to play two point guards with Day Day in the transfer from Florida State? Was that Orley?

Or does he keep IMAX at the two because IMAX is kind of undersized to play the three? Yeah. And then, you know, it could be Murray. It could be Rohde. It could be Sharma. He's got depth. He's got some serious depth. And in the front court, you've got Kofi, the freshman from California,

or from Washington. You've got Robinson, the 6'10 kid, big kid who redshirted last year. And you've got the walk-on from St. Ann's in Vanderbilt. Carter Lang. Carter Lang, yeah. His dad played basketball at New Hampshire. Yeah, so they've got some good size in the front court for a change. Elijah Saunders, too, 6'8". Was that San Diego State?

Yeah. I think he might be better than people realize as well. So they've got so many people to choose from. I don't think that Dante Harris is on the roster anymore from what I gather. And there's some rumors that Gertrude might not be in school. I don't know. We haven't been able to verify that. I've heard Dante Harris is not on the roster. He's not on the VirginiaSports.com website.

I've heard the Gertrude rumors. Of course, he was going to miss the season with a knee anyway. Knee injury, suffered on a scooter incident. I've heard the Gertrude rumors. What do you make of that? I don't know what to make of that. If he's injured and not going to play, I don't know if he's left school

or if he's just in school and not playing basketball. Don't know. Again, we've been making inquiries, but we haven't been given a good answer at this point. But certainly he wasn't going to be a factor this season anyway, but if he's not in school, that might be

a concern that he might be taking elsewhere. Especially now that they've gotten a commitment from Chance Mallory for next year. And Day Day. And Day Day is fantastic. I mean, Day Day has gotten, we hope, three years in the program.

Yeah, you would hope so. Yeah, I mean, he's a second-year transfer from Kansas State that is lightning quick. A guy that made an impact as a freshman. Elijah Gertrude, we hope the writing is not on the wall, but time will tell. And we have to highlight Sharma. Sharma, the kid from Canada. Canadian National Player of the Year.

I mean, everything I've been hearing, and you follow it closer than I do, the folks that are inside the practices or around the team have been saying, this guy is the real deal. I think he can shoot the eyes out. And he's got size. Yes, he does. I think he's, what, 6? Listed at 6'5".

6'5"? Yeah. Yeah, that's what I thought. And we haven't even mentioned Rhodey. I know Rhodey's had an up-and-down career here at UVA, but Rhodey's a good ball handler, a good defender, good passer. And if Rhodey's not counted on to play starters minutes, he can play spot duty off the bench.

That's not a bad guy to rely on off the bench. No, it's not. And there's no way his shooting can continue to be as poor as it was last year. I think he's probably worked really hard on his shot. And we haven't mentioned Christian Bliss yet yet either and he's uh he you're high on bliss i was i was i think he's going to be good i think he's a winner he i think he's a kid who just you i think he's just too good to keep off the floor and he was redshirted last year, but he's still a pretty young kid. I mean, he went his last year of high school to enroll early at Virginia

just to be part of the team and learn the system. And like I said, until he hurt his ankle and had surgery on it late in the season last year, he was always out on the floor after games just lighting it up, shooting from three-point range. So I think he could be a factor as well. And I would be remiss if I didn't talk about Mallory a little bit, even though he won't be on the team until next year. You had an interview I had a really great interview

with him and his coach at St. Anne's recently and going to write that tonight or tomorrow and it's it's been a while since I've done an interview with somebody where I was blown away by some of the things

I learned and that was the case I mean not only is he a very mature kid really has his head on straight um but this this guy's a tiger he's got the eye of the tiger man and and his coach verified that just some of the things he told me just kind of blew my mind. I've been around a long time. It's hard to blow my mind when it comes to a kid who's a rising senior in high school, but I think this kid is destined for some really good things.

Chance Mallory, St. Ann's Belfield product, slight but full of fight, 5'8"? I mean, you stood next to him. 5'9".. 5'8"? I mean, you stood next to him. 5'9". True 5'9"? I didn't size him up when we were standing together. Because what are you, about 6? A little 6 and change? Yeah.

Yeah? So he's probably 5'9". Yeah, I think that's probably right. But it doesn't matter because when he was an 8th grader, he was starting on the varsity at point guard at 5'1". Right. It doesn't matter. It's the old saying.

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. Yeah, yeah. Well, and we highlighted this last week, the things that I find most impressive with Chance Mallory, the ball handling, the leadership, the ability to finish around the rim in a number of different ways with English, with floaters, with teardrops, using the rim to protect against shot blockers by going to the reverse on the other side. He just has good basketball IQ. And he's had to do that. He's had to do that. Because of his size. Necessity. He's had to learn how to find angles and do things that the average guy doesn't have to do because they can get their shots off against bigger people. It's just part of his natural development in terms of who he is.

And he's not afraid. And he has unbelievable range as a shooter too. So looking forward to watching this guy the next few years. I can't wait. I can't wait. Anything you want to add on the women's team, Hootie? I really haven't done much. I know they've done a really good job of continuing to

build their roster in the offseason and Kamara Johnson is unbelievable. I think she's going to be a star in the ACC and I think it starts this year. She was very impressive as a freshman, but I think she's going to continue to open people's eyes this season. I imagine a couple of her teammates are going to follow suit. Any of the Virginia football players playing in the National Football League that have stood out to you?

It was a good weekend for Virginia football players. I saw you tweet that. Yeah, I'm trying to remember. I think I've got it here on my phone. You've got Zaccheaus with the Commanders who was lights out. Their quarterback,

I mean, that's my team. Their quarterback looks sensational. I mean, he's turning into must-watch television. And I knew he would. I mean, he was incredible at LSU. Okay, Zaccheaus, he had a great game. Rodney McLeod had a big game-changing scoop and run for a touchdown for the Eagles. Eagles, right?

No. Yeah. And then Charles Snowden had a really big sack for the Raiders in a game. And then Dontavian Wicks with the Packers, he had two touchdown receptions. So a lot of Wahoos making some magic in the NFL. And Virginia football. Malik Washington, I think, had his first NFL catch last night, I believe. Virginia football is doing some impressive things, ladies and gentlemen, doing some impressive things.

The National Football League and the basketball program has got some guys playing in the association as well. What do you have in the hopper hoodie, Ratcliffe? Obviously, we're going to be covering the heck out of today's press conference. As you mentioned, huge game. We'll be keeping our eye on what's happening out of the BC camp and the Virginia camp leading up to that game. I'm excited to write this Chance Mallory story.

It's an incredible story. I just hope I don't screw it up. You won't screw it up. You'll never screw it up. Chance Mallory, guys, has already captivated the minds and the hearts and the attentions of much of Wahoo Nation. He has one more year of high school basketball. Yeah, and he said it's one of the reasons he wanted to get it over with, his commitment, because he just wanted to. I respect that.

The only thing on his mind now is winning the state championship, which eluded him last year, barely. And that's his only mission this year is to win the state title for St. Anne's. St. Anne's, a coach with UVA Tides. David Noltozer, an excellent coach, continues to develop Division I talent over there with his basketball program. I think he's got three guys off of this year's team that's going to be headed to college basketball.

That's St. Ann's. It's absolutely unbelievable. Hootie Ratcliffe, the namesake of JerryRatcliffe.com. Check out JerryRatcliffe.com. I was on it this morning. I was on it yesterday morning. I was on it Sunday morning. I was on it Saturday morning. I follow the man on Twitter. If you want to glimmer into Hootie Ratcliffe, the man, follow him on Twitter. The man loves animals, in particular dogs. The man loves sports across the board. He's a huge Pete Rose fan.

Follows this athletic department inside and out, and his Twitter following is absolutely, ladies and gentlemen, booming, growing by hundreds every single month. Judah Wittkower, behind the camera, MVP and Mr. Consistency of our team.

He's the glue guy. He's the glue guy. Programming note, yours truly on vacation next week and director and producer on vacation with his family in the Outer Banks, yours truly on vacation with my family up in the Northeast. So no Jerry and Jerry show and no programming from the I Love Seville Network next week, Monday through Friday. But we are back in the saddle. I have to do some quick math right here. While you're doing that, I will still be here in town. I'll be working my tail off.

This is when it gets going for Hootie. So take a look at my website, and we'll be doing a couple of podcasts on my website as well. And we've got to give some props to his son, Scott Ratcliffe, who does a hell of a job on Hootie's podcast, the Jerry Ratcliffe Show. He does. He's phenomenal. Dude, he knows stats and history and stuff inside and out.

He's got a trap for a memory. He really does. And he knows all sports way better than most anybody I know. Scott Radcliffe, props to you, man. For Hootie, for Judah, I'm Jerry Miller and it's the Jerry and Jerry Show. Fight it on jerryradcliffe.com

iloveseville.com or wherever you get your podcasting and social media content. So long, everybody. This is Scott Hootie.. So long, everybody. Same to you, sir.