And yes I know the O didn't help by keeping the D on the field because they couldn't eat time off the clock, but the D self inflicted that on themselves as well, like the second drive for UVA, and that was before the depth thing and guys getting tired argument could be made imo.
The second drive by UVA: 9 plays for 22 yards and we forced a missed field goal. Prior to that drive, GT went 3 and out in 1:36 and punted the ball from our own 8 yard line. The ST gave up a 26 yd punt return and UVA started on the GT 36. I am not sure how the D "self inflicted" that result. I'll take short field defensive stops any day of the week.
If you were referring to the third UVA drive, which resulted in a TD, then yes, that one falls on the D. The final UVA TD came after a 5 consecutive short series by GT to start the second half.
But again, this is what bothers me. At this point we're parsing 17 points given up to a P5 team that out recruits us consistently. Even good defenses give up TDs to opposing teams. Just this weekend, the following top defenses had these results:
Michigan gave up 10 points to Indiana.
Louisville let Houston run wild for 36 points in their loss.
LSU let one of the nations worst offenses, Florida, score 16 points in their loss.
Ohio St gave up 16 points.
Wisconsin let Purdue, who fired their coach this season, score 20.
Boise St gave up 25 to UNLV.
At some point, we have to realize that throwing a shutout is rare. Bama didn't even shut out their FCS opponent over the weekend. So if a D has a couple of bad drives, I am not overly worried. I want us to get 3rd downs under control and get stops on at least half of our drives. This is, IMO, a winning combo. We did that last week. I'm happy with the result, and hope the trend continues.