2009.11.01
UVa-Duke, the morning after
Presumably, Virginia will find somebody good who is willing to take over its football program.The money is good, the state produces plenty of prospects, the stadium is attractive, the facilities are what you’d want, the school is well-respected, yada, yada, yada.
But, I don’t see how the Cavaliers are going to be any good in 2010. The talent is just not there. Plus, the new coach is going to have to take this rag-tag bunch to Southern Cal. Talk about ugly!
Until Saturday, I would have thought Virginia had a respectable defense. Until the second half, I thought Virginia had a respectable defense. The only reason the Cavaliers were in the game at halftime was because the defense had held Duke to three field goals on drives that could have produced toucheowns.
However, when the defense had a chance to win the game, it couldn’t do it. Virginia’s offense twice took the lead with touchdown drives in the second game and the defense gave it back. A 42-yard touchdown pass from Thaddeus Lewis to Conner Vernon on third-and-9 with 3:45 remaining gave Duke an 18-17 lead it would not relinquish in a game that ended up 28-17.
It’s hard to say that a stop there would have given Virginia the game because the Blue Devils might have gone for a first down on fourth-and-9. But, if the Cavaliers had merely held Duke to a field goal on that drive, victory would have been within their sights.
When asked to account for a 424-198 disparity in total offense, coach Al Groh pointed to big plays. In addition to the 42-yard touchdown pass to Vernon, Lewis had completions for 40 and 32 yards to Donovan Varner and for 33 yards to Austin Kelly.
On the same drive that resulted in the go-ahead touchdown, Lewis had a completion to Varner for 22 yards on second and 8 from the Duke 35. Remember the drive that ended in a Chase Minnifield end-zone interception, seemingly restoring Virginia’s momentum? The Blue Devils had completed a 40-yard pass on that one.
Duke got more total offense from seven passing plays (42, 40, 33, 32, 22, 17 and 13) than Virginia had for the game. A match-up between the nation’s fifth-ranked passing defense (Virginia) and the nation’s sixth-ranked passing offense (Duke) was no contest.
But, if you want to look at real mismatches, consider the quarterbacks. Duke’s Thaddeus Lewis was 24-of-40 for 343 yards and the game-winning touchdown. Virginia’s Jameel Sewell, closing in on 30 career starts, was 8-of-22 for 86 yards. At one point in his career, Sewell was a semi-dangerous running threat, but his longest run of the day went for 3 yards.
Frankly, Sewell has seldom looked worse. And, Marc Verica wasn’t any better. The Verica of 2009 has shown no resemblance to the Verica who led the Cavaliers on a four-game winning streak in October 2008; in fact, the Verica of November 2008 wasn’t the same guy.
Verica looms as the leading candidate to start at quarterback in 2010 and what other options will the new coach have? Riko Smalls? Ross Metheny? Neither of them has attempted a pass and Metheny is just lucky that Groh hasn’t wasted his redshirt season. The way that Groh has continued to pull redshirts off his true freshmen – 14 with the debuts Saturday of Paul Freedman and Connor McCartin – is simply unconscionable.
For the sake of the program, athletic director Craig Littlepage or executive associate AD Jon Oliver needs to tell Groh, “Enough is enough,” on the true freshmen. He’s done enough damage to the program already.
good stuff, hard to disagree with anything u wrote
Comment by mark — November 1, 2009 @ 10:32 am
Why has UVA held on to Groh so long? Seems they are not interested in winning. Maybe winning is too "last year" for UVA.
Comment by Edgar — November 1, 2009 @ 11:03 am
The offense did nothing to help the defense late in the game. This was one of those games where time of possession meant everything.
Comment by DJ — November 1, 2009 @ 11:42 am
The telling stat in my opinion was time of possession. The defense kept them in the game, but they were exhausted late. The offense didn't help them out any.
As for the next coach, I definitely would like to see a younger coach who could be there a while if he could succeed. Would they give Al Golden a look given his previous ties to Groh? He has turned a dreadful Temple team into a bowl eligible team. Mike London obviously needs to be in the mix if ties to Groh are not an issue. Other than those two guys, who else is out there? The Cincinnati coach is a hot commodity, but I just don't see him at Virginia.
Comment by DJ — November 1, 2009 @ 11:50 am
Groh should resign and let the search begin for a new coach, its going to be very hard to lure any coach worth his salt to UVA,there is little to offer other than money,there are no academic programs like sports coaching and rec. that we see listed as majors at many of the major Schools to hide players,we can take less qualified students in the general population and deny places to highly qualified students under the guise of diversity,but not athletes,if I were a coach with any ambition of success I would surely look else where,we were very fortunate to have had coach Welsh and his group of excellent assistants for many years,at least we were competitive during that era. finding some one as good as him will be a chore.Good luck to the AD dept. they had better get to work they are going to have to earn their bucks this year.
Comment by charles — November 1, 2009 @ 11:55 am
"Why has UVA held on to Groh so long?" Because Craig Littlepage knows that after Groh is fired he is next. There is no buyout in Groh's contract but Littlepage deliberately created the impression at the time that there was (see Jeff White's UVA Notes on 8/22/2005 in the RTD). Littlepage has allowed this to happen to the football program out his own self-interest, pure and simple.
Comment by Scott M — November 1, 2009 @ 12:29 pm
(I am reposting this to make sure it gets read)
After multiple intrusions by the hoos on the hokie blog, especially after last Thursday night's loss, I have finally decided to write back. Your amicable mishandling of Duke today reminds me of why you so clearly lost to William and Mary. Todays beat down on your home turf is a shining example of the Cavalier state of mind. I will be looking forward to the showdown on Nov 28. It will be a good scrimmage for the hokies before we go to a bowl game while you once again stay home.
Comment by ken — November 1, 2009 @ 12:37 pm
Ken, Although I do agree that my hoos are bad.... Your beloved Hokies arent too good either! I dont believe either of our fan bases should be very happy with the state of either of our programs right now. As for the game on Nov 28.. well you are probably right. The Hokies will more than likely leave C'ville with a win, but saying that it will be a scrimmage for the hokies is kinda ridiculous. Neither of our teams are good enough to run away with the game this year. It will be close. Yes the hoos will be staying home once again for bowl season, but the hokies sure wont be attending a major bowl. Maybe if you win out you MIGHT get the gator... Tire bowl more than likely!
Comment by Jay — November 1, 2009 @ 1:32 pm
gee ken are you a bit upset that Tech is having a blow up year and you and your chokie friends can not take the heat you love to dish out to every body else,have you seen the trash you post on the espn blogs and are now getting shoved back to you?
Comment by charles — November 1, 2009 @ 2:54 pm
Ken,
On behalf of the UVa fanbase, I want to apologize for our conduct after your tragic loss vs. North Carolina. We will all be rooting for you in the Hostess Cupcake Bowl vs. Piedmont CC.
Keep on fightin those chop blocks, Chokies. Give Bud my best.
Comment by Chet Studebaker — November 1, 2009 @ 3:00 pm
Ken, I am a VT fan, but I will say the following. If VT goes into the UVA game thinking UVA is going to simply fall over and die, We will lose. Among other things, I am willing to bet many of our players had the mindset that oh, we lost to GT and our NC and ACCCG hopes are dead and this is just UNC...they will fall over and die cause we are VT. Nope does not happen that way. As badly as Groh must go (I really hope he stays), we have to prep for UVA and not come to the game flat as a pancake.
Comment by David Falls — November 1, 2009 @ 6:59 pm
David,
Virginia will be lucky to score against Virginia Tech. Maybe a kick return or a defensive score. The UVa offense is the worst in the country. Yes, the worst. Thanks for the memories, Al.
Comment by Niles — November 1, 2009 @ 7:57 pm
I stopped sending my money to UVA 3 years ago and never looked back. Yes I did graduate from that school but I went on to get my masters at Tech And I am now a HUUUUUGE Tech fan. Thank god I had a choice. Al groh is a typical Wahoo........all talk. Payscale.com puts tech about 40 schools infront of UVA for making the most money through out ones career and Tech gets much more research money and has more patents than any other public university. GO HOKIES!!!!! My brother followed my footsteps as well. We both went to tech for our masters and we are both business owners here in VA.
Comment by Mitch — November 1, 2009 @ 10:33 pm
Nice of you Hokies to come over here and make yourself feel better after a devasting loss by kicking a few Hoo's while we're down. Typical class from vippsue fans.
Comment by Randy — November 1, 2009 @ 10:56 pm
Ken and Niles,
There are still more games to be played. Be carefull about what you say that will happen in games that have not been played yet because it could come back and bite you on that brain that you sit on!
Comment by Big E — November 2, 2009 @ 1:08 am
Niles,
UNC's offense was...114th or so. Stats do not matter if teams overlook or underestimate opponents. I hope you are right.....statistically, you ought to be. There IS a reason the games are played though.
Comment by David — November 2, 2009 @ 2:12 am
I hope UVa doesn't hire Mike London: Before he hired George Welsh, I remember former athletic director Dick Schultz saying that UVa needed to stop being a training ground for football coaches. Mike London has never been a Division 1-A (Football Bowl Subdivision) head coach!
I think the problem with UVa's football program starts with the Board of Visitors. It's much higher than Al Groh or Craig Littlepage. If the administration of UVa is anti-football, what can Groh or Littlepage do?!
Comment by Nelson — November 2, 2009 @ 3:33 am
I must disagree. I think Mike London would be the perfect choice for UVA. As a Tech fan, I am worried they will do just that a couple months from now. The fact that he doesn't have D1-A head coaching experience is not a good reason to exclude him from consideration. There's only one thing that will change the balance of power in the state -- recruiting the Tidewater. If you look at the list of top 100 recruits in the state, you'll see that Richmond is a main destination for players starting around 50. He's already came in to Richmond and surpassed JMU as the preferred college for the second tier player. If he can just break even with Tech in that regard, then he's the guy for the Cavs.
Comment by Greg Bowyer — November 2, 2009 @ 10:20 am