Cavs looking for answers after loss to Blue Devils
(AP Photo/The Herald-Sun, Ian Dolejs)
Duke’s Jabari Marshall (1) dives into the end zone after picking off a Virginia pass and taking it all the way back for a touchdown during an NCAA college football game at Wallace Wade Stadium on Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008 in Durham, N.C. Duke won 31-3.
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By Jay Jenkins
Published: September 28, 2008
With one purpose in mind, Virginia tight end John Phillips jogged off the field at Wallace Wade Stadium the instant that he witnessed the final second tick off Wallace Wade Stadium’s clock.
Phillips, a senior, wanted to escape the moment. There was little reason to turn around.
Virginia’s players had just played the victim in a nasty losing effort to Duke in football, something no athlete in the ACC had done since 2004.
Duke is now just three wins from qualifying for its first bowl game in 13 years. Virginia, meanwhile, is left contemplating how a 31-3 loss to the Blue Devils sent another wave into a rocky season.
“You never want to be that team that lets a team snap a 25[-game] losing streak in the ACC,“ UVa senior linebacker Clint Sintim said. “You don’t want to be that team that lets them win.“
Virginia (1-3, 0-1 ACC) did all that it could to end Duke’s drought.
Three first-quarter trips onto Duke’s end of the field netted a lone Yannick Reyering field goal. Second-time starter Marc Verica tossed four second-half interceptions and Phillips coughed up his second fumble of the season. Typically-reliable cornerback Vic Hall failed to guard Eron Riley on what proved to be a game-changing touchdown completion.
In a matter of 30 minutes, what could go wrong did.
“I think everyone seems to kind of have those days where things aren’t going their way,“ Verica said. “We just have to go back, watch the film and take the positives from it.“
Virginia did gain more yardage than Duke and mastered more first downs, something that did not matter when the final bell tolled.
“We had too many turnovers and too much bad field position,“ Virginia coach Al Groh said. “Those two things pretty much tied together in some circumstances to make it really challenging for the defense to keep the points down.“
Virginia, sporting three-straight home games, needs five wins in its next eight contests to become eligible for a postseason contest.
For now, the team that helped snap Duke’s streak remains focused on just that.
“One of the things that we have always understood here is that adversity and the negativity that goes with it is just a part of life,“ Groh said. “If you’re impacted by that it just drains away the positive energy that is necessary to produce results.
“It is pretty much an ongoing thing that teams need to insulate themselves from those particular circumstances.“
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( fan ) on October 01, 2008 at 11:20 am
Response to dbrcpa: Your argument appears fine on the surface. But I believe there is one major problem with it as it relates to the overall situation. And that is the 1.7 million dollar salary that we are paying to Mr. Groh (and, btw, whatever to his son, as a result of Mr. Groh’s nepotism and conflict of interest. I’ve never liked it when a football coach hires his son. He doesn’t own the team, we the school do. If it was his own private business then fine, but it isn’t, and to treat it as such by having the audacity to hire from within one’s own family has always struck me a being very arrogant). That salary is 7 times that of the average professor. If we just want a coach who will produce good citizens, then pay him what a professor makes. But if we pay him 1.7 million, then we must expect more than just good citizens. And if there is no production in that OTHER area then someone must be held accountable. Furthermore, a winning football program increases our overall athletic department revenue, which in turn benefits ALL the athletic programs at the school. That is a very important factor to consider.
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Posted by ( teebo24556 ) on September 30, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Its time for Cavalier supporters to support their coach and team, not lambast it. After the exodus from C-ville last winter, then the loss of the starting QB, no coach or team should be expected to succeed.
From my view, Lalich should have been suspended, not removed fro the team unless there is other info, that is not public.
Last year Groh proved he could succeed in the ACC. Was he not “The Coach of The Year”?
He is obviously training his son to be a football coach, but everybody has known that for years.
Groh has hired excellent assistants. Look where they moved on to !. It is nearly impossible to replace that number of quality professionals immediately.
C-ville needs to learn to support their staff, like the school on exit 118, a bit to the south if success is desired.
The team may fall down all this year, but needs suppost not poison pen and harsh words.
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Posted by ( dbrcpa ) on September 30, 2008 at 9:08 pm
I am sure that I am in the minority, at least as far as these responses go. But the negative comments expressed, while certainly qualifying as free speach, undermine the UVa program. What seems to be lost is site of what is important, and that is the development of your men into young adults who should be respectful of authority. The constant carping on the coaching staff only interferes with the respect that the players have for their team, the coaches, each other, etc. This is not a professional program where winning is the only thing. Sure, in hindsight some decisions may have been better if made differently. But what is important in the program is to help the players develop into sucessful, respectible adults, while having a little fun on the way. If there is one complaint I have heard is that football is not “fun”. These guys spend 50 hour weeks at this year round in addition to the coursework at UVa. And in case you hadn’t noticed, there is no easy course at UVa. The last thing they need to see is the constant negative and mostly anonymous negative attacks on them and their coaches.
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Posted by ( DHoo ) on September 30, 2008 at 10:24 am
The solution is simple. Get Mike London back on the coaching staff. The fact that UVA didn’t offer London big $$$ after Richmond offered him their top spot screams how incompetant the administrators of UVA football are.
Mike London was the only reason UVA won football games. He was the the recruiting coordinator. He brought in the top talent. Who do you think recruited Chris Long? How many recruits left UVA for other schools after London left?
Last year teams were able to amass on average 20 points per game against our defense. This years that figure is 32 points per game on average.
Not to mention that our offense has pretty much always been terrible. Only 16 points against Richmond? Pathetic, but it makes sense because London is coaching that defense. Only 3 points against Duke? Even more pathetic. I bet Richmond would beat Duke.
So if London is primarily responsible for our “winning” season last year, then why did Groh get the contract extension?
For the love of God, when Al Groh is fired please hire Mike London. It’s not a matter of if Al Groh gets fired, more like a certainty. Groh is #3 on coacheshotseat.com and honestly I don’t really believe there are any games left we can win.
I wonder if Groh will remain in Cville and frequent St. Marrten’s cafe while becoming a sports broadcaster like Pete G. I personally would rather the fans ran him out of town.
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Posted by ( jrhokie89 ) on September 30, 2008 at 6:17 am
as a loyal Hokie, i have to say that we love having Al in charlottesville.
but our rivalry and the ACC is better when UVA is better. i hope you guys get rid of Mike and Al sooner rather than later. i’ll even show up on moving day to help them get out of town quicker.
there is no reason why VT and UVA shouldn’t be splitting football victories. there is no reason why our teams shouldn’t be splitting the top 25 players in VA and keeping guys like Percy Harvin in-state. right now, that reason is Al Groh.
The aftermath of 16 April showed the best that is UVA. I honestly hope you soon get a worthy coach. Let’s play some football! Wahoowa.
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Posted by ( alsridin ) on September 29, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Al Groh has consistently seemed inept at developing a successful strategy for winning games, getting his teams prepared for key games, and having them start and finish strong. He also seems unable to retain key personnel, both on the field, and on the sidelines. His inability to build a successful, cohesive staff, ‘the coaching team,‘ hurts his ability to motivate student athletes to be both focused and disciplined. Thinking back over the ‘Lalich odyssey,‘ I wonder how much Groh’s unwillingness to back Peter early, and motivate him to focus, contributed to his ultimate self destruction. Regardless, Lalich was a real talent, and Groh and son clearly failed to develop him. Under constant rush, Peter completed some amazing passes with only one pick against the Trojans, probably a bit more of a defensive power than Duke. On the sidelines Al seems to vacillate between angry and ‘deer in the headlights’, while projecting an antagonistic, brooding persona in the press.
Why is Groh still head coach of UVA football? And why oh why did we ever allow him to install his inexperienced son as Offensive Coordinator? I bet he couldn’t have done that at the NY Jets. Pause for a sad, resigned laugh. Unfortunately, this laughing matter will cost the university, both in dollars and talent. It is not just football revenue and talent the university will loose, rather student talent across the board. Strong engineering, science, and arts students, like all students, like to be part of a winning tradition, as do alumni. Yes, Groh and son need to be replaced now, and we also need to do some real root cause analysis. How did we arrive at this point? Does the university administration want to compete in the football and basketball divisions in which we currently participate? And if so, do they have a strategy for winning, or are they satisfied to just show up? It may help us to reflect on the similar scenario recently experienced in UVA’s other revenue sport, basketball. Do you remember celebrating our participation in the College Invitational? Is that what we were shooting for, doubled up by VT in basketball? Perhaps it would be valuable to carefully consider the Gillen saga, the transition to Laito (didn’t he lock his players out of their facilities for awhile??) and who has been, and is still managing UVA athletics. If that person is in fact Craig Littlepage, perhaps hearing his excuses would be enlightening. I would like to see a few of these questions addressed by an investigative journalist.
Meanwhile, here are a few suggestions for demonstrating accountability by the administration and athletics staff over the next several games:
Al Groh is put in stocks (think Williamsburg, no i don’t think we can beat William and Mary) during the game - facing the stands
Mike Groh cleans the stadium from Monday - Friday, make him earn his pay! He gets Saturday and Sunday off.
Craig Littlepage must amble the sidelines during games (football and basketball) blindfolded, wearing a dunce hat
John Casteen must wear a clown suit and hold Craig’s leash
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Posted by ( Abingdon Hoo ) on September 29, 2008 at 7:51 pm
Yea, we need to say good bye to the sweatshirt. Can we afford the buyout? We gave Peter G a ton of $$ to go away and we are going to have to do the same w/Al if we do it this year. If hoo fans are serious, the big $$ folks are going to be asked to pony up again, like they did w/Pete. The problem/scarry thing is that I don’t trust Littlepaige and Casteen to make a good hire and/or do a contract that does not give away the bank account. If the big $$ folks don’t have that fear, they should.
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Posted by ( NM Hoo ) on September 29, 2008 at 5:14 pm
My fellow Hoos, It’s time that we stop using the excuse that “Virginia is an academic institution” as our excuse for inconstant performance within our football and basketball programs. We need to look no further than our esteemed friends to the South in Winston-Salem to see that academics, quality football and basketball programs are possible. At Wake, Grobe has built a program with few if any blue chippers by sticking to a system that red-shirts as the rule and then actually developes players. I’ve not seen the statistical data (help me out Daily Progress or another educated reader)on graduation rates for football & basketball, but my guess is Wake is doing just fine. We’ve got to develop a culture that expects UVA to be competative in the revenue generating sports. Without solid contributions from our football and basketball programs we are certainly looking at revenue shortfalls for other programs both sports and non-sports related. I’m not asking for a National Championship in football and basketball but I’m expecting UVA to be consistantly in the chase for Divisional and ACC championships. If that is not realistic than why do we continue to jack-up season ticket prices, extend contracts and overpay for coaches that fall short of expectations? Don’t settle for less as we are asked to give more. “Wake” up Hoos!
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Posted by ( eas ) on September 29, 2008 at 1:37 pm
Or to put it as Al Groh would say, “the circumstances are such that it warrants a new coach.“
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Posted by ( eas ) on September 29, 2008 at 1:29 pm
The answer is easy, and everyone seems to realize what it is except the administration and coaching staff: a new coach. I have never seen a coaching staff do so little with the talent it has (with the exception of maybe Clemson). Some guys were meant to be good assistants their whole lives.
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