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In the early years of Al Groh’s Virginia coaching tenure, no other ACC team had a greater disparity between home and road performance.

Starting with a 34-21 victory over then-No. 22 South Carolina in 2002, Groh’s teams won 16 of their next 17 home games, twice winning eight straight home games during that span.

Now, the Cavaliers are working on another streak at home. They’ve lost their last five ACC home games and seven of the last eight home games overall.

So, what the difference? Read more »

Just want to make sure that I’ve got the quote correct because I’ve heard it both ways.

Here’s the first thing that Virginia football coach Al Groh had to say to the media Saturday following a 14-10 loss to Boston College:

“We made a lot of progress with our team today,” Groh said. “That certainly is apparent to anybody who watched the game. I’m really proud of the effort that the players put into it and the fight that they showed.

“We’ve been working for 10 months to get to this point, to have a performance as one like that.”
Read more »

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. TCU
5. Boise State Read more »

Eagles lead 7-0 on a 10-yard touchdown pass from David Shinskie to Justin Jarvis with10:44 remaining in the second quarter.

Cavs got as far as the BC 32 late in the half but Jameel Sewell was intercepted at the 4-yard line on second-and-10. Sewell had broken free of the rush and probably could have run for 10-15 yards.

He also had Jared Green open but either underthrew Kris Burd or overthrew Joe Torchia because the Eagles' Roderick Rollins was the only player close to the ball.

BC has outgained the Cavaliers 180-121, but UVa has more first downs, 10-9.

While I defer to colleague Randy King when it comes to an understanding of the oddsmaking process, something strikes me about the four-point spread assigned to Saturday’s game between host Virginia and favored Boston College.

In my mind, a case could be made for the bookies not setting a line because of the uncertain status of  UVa senior quarterback Jameel Sewell.
Read more »

From UVa sports information
CHARLOTTESVILLE—Forward Jamil Tucker is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the Virginia men’s basketball team to focus on personal matters UVa head coach Tony Bennett announced Wednesday (Nov. 11).

Tucker, a 6-foot-9 senior from Gary, Ind., will not play in games or practice with the team during his leave of absence.

“Jamil has some things he has to deal with at this time,” Bennett said. “This leave of absence will give him time to deal with these matters.”

Tucker played in all 28 games and started four for Virginia last season. He averaged 7.4 points, 3.8 rebounds and 18.5 minutes played a game during the 2008-09 season. He shot 44.2 percent (73-165) from the field, including 40.3 percent (31-77) from three-point range, and 68.2 percent (30-44) from the free throw line.

Tucker has lettered three times for the Cavaliers. He has played in 88 games the last three seasons and averaged 5.3 points and 3.1 rebounds a game. He is shooting 40.7 percent (83-204) from 3-point range for his career.

Not sure how much sense this will make at 4:33 a.m. as I prepare to catch a plane:

1. Florida
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. TCU
5. Boise
6. Read more »

For about the past 10 days, Al Groh has had the bearing of a man whose days as Virginia’s head coach are dwindling to a precious few.

Normally, after a performance comparable to Virginia’s in a 52-17 loss at Miami, Groh would have been seething. Instead he took a look at his post-game surroundings in the Land Shark Stadium “Field Club” and cracked a one-liner.

“Field Club?” Groh said. “I thought that’s where you went to have fun.” Read more »

Penalties killed Virginia in the third quarter. First, offensive tackle Landon Bradley was called for a hold with the Cavaliers looking at a third-and-1 at the Miami 24 with the score 31-17.

On the next drive, UVa was called for a roughness penalty and a facemask when Miami was facing a second-and-25 following Cam Johnson's second sack. The 'Canes went on to score to make it 38-17 with 27 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Johnson had failed to wrap up Jacory Harris on a possible third sack that would have forced Miami to punt up 24-17 to start the third quarter.

It's hard to say that special teams are killing Virginia because blocked punts have kept the Cavaliers in the game.

The second, by Trey Womack, resulted in a 20-yard return for a touchdown by UVa redshirt freshman Billy Schautz with 3:42 remaining in the first half.

That offset a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown by Miami's Thearon Collier, who faced down six would-be UVa tacklers at the Hurricanes' 40.

Miami has outgained UVa 233-92 in the first half. That's against the same Miami defense that gave up 550 yards last week against Wake Forest.

Junior Marc Verica, making his first start of the season for Virginia at quarterback, is 5-of-13 for 32 yards.

For the season, Verica is now 22-of-47 for 113 yards. Jameel Sewell is in uniform but has a shoulder injury that makes it unlikely that he will play.