The players on the East Carolina field goal block team weren’t the only ones completely fooled by Virginia’s game-clinching fake midway through the fourth quarter.

Thrust into the starting role a couple of weeks ago after regular starter Peter Lalich was booted from the program, Verica was roughed up by Duke’s aggressive defense in a 31-3 loss at Wallace Wade Stadium.

A year ago, Marc Verica was buried on Virginia’s quarterback depth chart. He was fourth behind then-starter Jameel Sewell, true freshman backup Peter Lalich and senior Scott Deke.

The last time Virginia lost on the road to Duke in 1994, Kevin Ogletree was a 7-year-old elementary school student living in Queens, N.Y.

After all of the hullabaloo, it really didn’t matter who suited up at quarterback for Virginia on Saturday night against Connecticut. Johnny Unitas could have been taking the snaps and the Cavaliers would have still been under whelming.

In addition to making his road debut, Verica also earned his first starting assignment.

In perhaps the biggest home opener in nearly a quarter of a century, the nation’s best football program over the past six years will bring a national spotlight to Charlottesville. While the oddsmakers and the naysayers don’t give Groh’s Cavaliers a snowball’s chance, don’t tell the Wahoos.

For the sixth time in as many seasons, Virginia is set to add another member to the high-profile club Saturday as it entertains third-ranked Southern California at Scott Stadium.

At this point, a total of 410 media credentials have been issued, a figure that includes television personnel for the national broadcast and 15 NFL scouts.

The hush policy will likely continue until a candidate is named publicly or emerges to take the first snap against third-ranked Southern California on August 30.

It was not the impending thunder or lightning that shortened the session, but rather Virginia’s elder statesman at quarterback, Scott Deke, that delivered a booming announcement.

Virginia coach Al Groh said Deke, who will turn 23 in November, was given the honor based on his “seniority” over sophomores Pete Lalich and Marc Verica.

After the grades from the first semester were compiled, Sewell was placed on an academic suspension for the next two consecutive semesters, meaning he would miss spring practice and this coming season. So, Groh and his staff were forced to find another quarterback and return to a different style of play.