Virginia’s season has been a roller coaster. Racing out to a 4-1 start, the Cavaliers regressed to the mean and dropped three straight, culminating in a 41-14 drubbing by North Carolina at home. Then Virginia beat Pitt like dogs by 7.5 points to reach their current record of 5-4. Coach Tony Elliot is on a burning hot seat, there have been many calls to trade the quarterback, and yet the Cavs need one more win to go bowl.

Notre Dame took care of business against an FSU program that would pull out of its remaining games if given the chance, and has stayed out of national headlines for a while now, racking up four straight blowout wins against inferior opponents since the Louisville game .

Can Virginia snap this streak of quiet quality from the Irish? If they are, here are three players who will play a major factor for the Cavaliers.

Robinson broke out last year. Robinson recorded an astounding 71 tackles last year and was recognized by most media outlets as a first- or second-team rookie All-American. This year he has proven that last year was not a fluke.

While he hasn’t been quite as prolific in his tackles, he still has an impressive 49 tackles with plenty of time left in the season. This year, however, he has become a bigger presence in the backfield, with four sacks. Robust in coverage, excellent at clogging rushing lanes and improving as a blitzer, Robinson has a polished tool with which to attack the Irish.

Sanker has won ACC Defensive Back of the Week three times this year. His recognition is fully deserved. In the secondary, Sanker is adept at finishing plays. He leads the team with 69 total tackles, 20 more than second-place Robinson.

He also has an interception and sack to round out his stat sheet. Virginia’s secondary may be the team’s strongest unit, and Sanker is the cornerstone around which the unit operates. Against the Irish, Sanker will have to make sure Riley makes some of the mistakes that plagued the Irish offense in the first half of the season.

To put it mildly, Virginia doesn’t have an abundance of offensive firepower. Between a sophomore quarterback, mediocre rushing attack and underlying organizational issues, the Cavalier offense ranks a disappointing 79th in FPI.

But when the Cavs offense wasn’t building some momentum, Fields is often at the heart of their production. Fields leads the team in catches, yards and touchdowns. As an underdog, Fields will need a vintage performance with plenty of downfield offense to carry the Cavaliers offense, but if the Irish can’t reign him in, he can make things interesting.