Verica, Ogletree ignite Cavs

By Bart Isley

Published: October 4, 2008

Marc Verica didn’t even look like the same guy who started against Duke, and that probably came as a big relief to the redshirt sophomore signal-caller.
Verica and wideout Kevin Ogletree sparked Virginia with a 51-yard touchdown in the first quarter that opened up a 31-0 Virginia victory. It also helped kickstart a massive rebound effort by the Virginia passing game which hadn’t produced a touchdown this season until Verica hooked up with Ogletree on the play action backside post with 2:41 to play in the first frame.
Verica threw for 226 yards and completed 73.5 percent of his passes without throwing a single interception after throwing five picks against Duke and Connecticut. He also rushed for another touchdown, capitalizing on a zone read play that took advantage of Maryland’s pursuit. Verica even tossed a little bit of a stiff-arm, eluding Maryland linebacker Alex Wujciak on the 5-yard jaunt to the front corner of the endzone.
“I know he’s been waiting for a long time to play like that,” said Virginia running back Cedric Peerman.
Indeed Verica has. The sophomore struggled against Duke and Connecticut in his first two collegiate starts, and it was clear that Saturday’s two-touchdown performance took a weight off Verica’s shoulders — even head coach Al Groh noted it.
“You could see [the loss to Duke] was wearing on him, it wasn’t an easy week for him,” Groh said. “He was on target from the start [against Maryland].”
Verica went 17-for-20 in the first half, throwing for nearly two thirds of his yards before the break as the Cavs turned to the run in the second half to put away the Terrapins.
Ogletree finished the contest with an even 100 yards on five catches, and Verica tried to find the junior wideout several other times, but Maryland’s coverage was tighter in the second half.
Still, Ogletree’s first touchdown seemed to ignite the Cavaliers.
“It was very important for us to be able to open things up a little bit,” Verica said. “[Ogletree] did a great job to get downfield and haul in the ball. His second effort was crucial as the team really fed off getting in the end zone early.”
Perhaps Verica fed off that energy the most.