ESPN College Football

Clemson comes into Thursday night's game (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) with its back against the wall. The Tigers began the season ranked 16th in the nation after finishing last year as maybe the hottest team in the country but have fallen short of expectations, starting 1-3 and self-destructing with 14 turnovers already.

Virginia, on the other hand, has gotten off to a 4-0 start against a soft schedule -- the Cavaliers have beaten Temple, Akron, Syracuse and North Carolina -- and this is a chance to prove the legitimacy of of their top-10 ranking.

Virginia could not have played any better in any aspect of the game so far this year and needs to maintain that momentum against the Tigers, because Florida State comes calling to Charlottesville next week. The Cavaliers need to be ready for Clemson's best shot because that 1-3 record is not indicative of the athletic talent Tommy Bowden has on his roster.

Bowden and his team can prove something in this game, too. They beat three top-six teams late last year to create those high expectations and a win over Virginia would be a good way to perhaps rekindle that magic and springboard Clemson to another big turnaround.

When Clemson has the ball...
When you think of the Clemson offense the first thing that comes to mind is preseason All-America quarterback Charlie Whitehurst and the passing game. But Whitehurst has been incredibly inconsistent -- accounting for nine turnovers in the last two games and 13 of 14 overall for the Tigers -- and has gotten little help from his wide receivers.

Airese Currie, Calvin Grant and Chansi Stuckey all have terrific potential as receivers but have been plagued by dropped passes all year, meaning Clemson will try to establish the run with tailback Duane Coleman finally healthy.

The ground game will be very important against Virginia's old-school, NFL-style 3-4 defense. The scheme of head coach Al Groh prevents big plays both through the air and on the ground thanks to the flexibility allowed by perhaps the best group of linebackers in the nation.

Ahmad Brooks, Darryl Blackstock and Kai Parham are all at least 6-foot-3, 240 pounds but can run like defensive backs. Clemson will try to be patient running Coleman and Yusef Kelly into the teeth of that defense, hoping to move the pile for 3-5 yards at a time to open up some play-action opportunities down the field. If the Tigers can do that and avoid mistakes they have a chance. The key is for Whitehurst to live up to his considerable potential.

Virginia will play the odds on defense, forcing Clemson to drive the ball and counting on punts and turnovers. It will be interesting to see how that unit reacts in its first game without All-America caliber defensive end Chris Canty, who is out for the year with a knee injury and was the heart and soul of the defense.

Keep an eye on is replacement Kwakou Robinson to see how he holds up against the run. There won't be a lot of substituting into nickel and dime packages because of the athleticism of the linebackers, so look for Virginia to stick with what works and try to force costly mistakes.

When Virginia has the ball...
Virginia returned virtually its entire offense from last season with the exception of quarterback MAtt Schaub, but his replacement Marques Hagans has played as well as Cavaliers fans could have expected, leading the nation in completion percentage (76.1) and ranking fourth in passing efficiency (182.9).

Despite that surprise the Virginia offense is still built around the running game. Wali Lundy, Alvin Pearman and Michael Johnson will all get touches tonight, with Lundy and his 10 rushing touchdowns so far getting the majority.

What is especially scary about the Cavaliers' offense is that they employ so many different formations, motion looks and personnel packages on the same running plays. All are slow-developing and almost all feature pulling linemen. The Virginia line is as athletic as you will find in the ACC and account for 126 career starts as a group. Only NFL-bound guard Elton Brown is over 300 pounds but they know how to move people.

As a result Virginia ranks fifth in the nation in rushing average (284.0 ypg) and has gotten plenty out of play-action this year. Hagans offers a different element than Schaub did with his ability to get the corner on bootlegs and make plays with his feet, giving defenses one more thing to worry about.

But don't be fooled into thinking Hagans is just an athlete. He is physically gifted but has shown the ability to hit the high-percentage passes out of the backfield and underneath to tight end Heath Miller that are such a big part of this West Coast offense.

That being said, the key for the Clemson defense will still be stopping the run. The Tigers rank 102nd in the nation in rush defense (219.0 ypg) and if they are not better in this game they are in big trouble. Look for safeties Jamaal Fudge and Travis Pugh to walk down very close to the line of scrimmage to compensate for the disadvantage the Clemson front seven will have against Virginia's offensive line.

Linebacker LeRoy Hill is the Tigers' top tackler and best defensive player so look for him to be all over the field. If those safeties are able to come down and help Hill stuff the run watch for Virginia to attack with play-action bootleg passes to Miller.

Kirk Herbstreit is an analyst for ESPN's College GameDay and a regular contributor to ESPN.com during the college football season.