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.”

Groh didn’t have much fun Saturday. His offense had a season-low 149 yards, his defense gave up a season-high 515 yards, his special teams gave up a punt return for a touchdown.

It was the third loss in a row for the Cavaliers (3-6 overall, 2-3 ACC) and it’s hard to see them winning again. A Boston College team that was picked for last in the ACC’s Atlantic Division comes to Scott Stadium for a 3:30 p.m. as a legitimate championship-game contender at 6-3, 3-2.

Boston College also has a chance to exact some payback for first-year head coach Frank Spaziani, fired as Virginia defensive coordinator following the 1991 season. It will be Boston College’s first visit to Charlottesville since beginning ACC play in 2006.

Defense is Spaziani’s forte and he should have little problem corralling the Cavaliers, who are worse in their first season with Gregg Brandon as offensive coordinator as they ever were with Groh’s son, Mike, as coordinator.

Who knows how much of that is Brandon’s fault? He was hired to install the spread offense and it appeared that UVa had a couple of spread-ready quarterbacks in Jameel Sewell and Vic Hall, but, as it turned out, UVa had no blocking.

Either Groh or Brandon made the decision before the third game to narrow the line splits and go with a more conventional offense, but that wasn’t going to upgrade the talent level. On a squad that has numerous mediocre or worse units, the O-line is easily the worst.

Dave Borbely is a good guy and everybody seems to like him, players included, but this much we know: He’s not a miracle worker. When Tom O’Brien was UVa’s offensive line coach in the 1980s, you always knew that Virginia would have a good offensive line because O’Brien was the O-line coach. That hasn’t been the case with O’Brien.

But, it’s time to move on. This season can’t be salvaged. I’m not sure that next season can be salvaged. Who’s going to play quarterback? If I hadn’t seen Marc Verica pass for 200 yards or more in six straight games last year, I’d swear he wasn’t a Division I-A quarterback.

He has no receivers, at least nobody with the ability of a Kevin Ogletree, John Phillips or even Maurice Covington. If there’s one thing that has doomed the Al Groh regime, it’s a lack of talent. The Cavaliers simply haven’t recruited well enough, but, at some point, you have to say that the coaching hasn’t been very good either.

So, who’s the next coach? Mike London’s Richmond team suffered its first loss of the season today. Jim Grobe lost in overtime at Wake Forest. Derek Dooley’s team had a respectable 45-35 loss to Boise State but his Louisiana Tech team is 3-6. East Carolina’s Skip Holtz lost to Virginia Tech.

Temple won its seventh straight game for one-time UVa defensive coordinator Al Golden, but the Owls were lucky to hold off a 1-9 Miami of Ohio team, 34-32. It’s almost a kiss of death just to be mentioned in the same breath as the Cavaliers.

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.

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.

Rathjen's 12-yarder has turned into a 5-yaqrd touchdown pass from Jacory Harris to Jimmy Graham on third-and-goal from the 5, putting the Hurricanes on top 24-10 with 13:10 remaining in the second quarter. Miami has scored 21 points in the last 4:19.

Topic is Tech and UVa recruiting in Florida.

One of those players, defensive back Corey Lillard, played on special teams in Virginia’s Oct. 3 game at North Carolina and hasn’t played again.

Lillard played at Liberty High School in Bealeton, located just over an hour’s drive from Charlottesville in Fauquier County. Liberty-Bealeton hasn’t been a pipeline for Virginia, so Lillard was a good “get” for the Cavaliers.

Coach Tommy Buzzo would like to have good relations with the Cavaliers, but he’d also like for Lillard’s eight plays against North Carolina not to cost him a year’s eligibility.

“We talk all the time,” Buzzo said. “He’s a great kid. He keeps in great communication with me. He hasn’t forgotten where he came from.

“I’m not completely up on the rules but, having played eight plays, there’s got to be something the University of Virginia can do to re-attain that redshirt.”

Buzzo said that Lillard had a hamstring injury that limited his work early in the season. The NCAA will accept hardship appeals from players who have not played in more than 30 percent of a team’s games and can document an incapacitating injury before the midpoint of the season.

“I would really hope that they would do that to get him a year of education and a complete year of eligibility,” Buzzo said.

IF YOU WANT TO be a really good second-guesser, sometimes you’ve got to second-guess yourself.

Two judgments that I made following the 2008 college football season don’t look very good in hindsight.

First was my prediction that Virginia wide receiver Kevin Ogletree had received some bad advice when he elected to bypass his final season of college eligibility.

Second was my criticism of former Virginia linebackers and special-teams coach Bobby Diaco for resigning and taking the defensive coordinator’s job at Cincinnati.

In Diaco’s case, it wasn’t so much that he had made a bad career move but that he basically had looked a gift horse in the mouth.

Virginia already had made the announcement that Diaco would be elevated to defensive coordinator, succeeding Bob Pruett, who had retired. To me, Diaco had not distinguished himself to the degree that he merited a promotion of that nature.

I would have thought that leaving the defensive coordinator’s post at Virginia for the same position at Cincinnati was a lateral move.

Shows me how much I know. If Diaco had stayed at UVa, he would have been vacating his office in another month. At Cincinnati, he is one of the top aides on a Bearcats team that is undefeated, ranked No. 4 by The Associated Press and probably headed to a BCS bowl.

Heck, I’ve even heard Diaco’s name in connection with an anticipated Virginia opening. That’s not going to happen but I could see Diaco getting a Division I-A or I-AA head-coaching job somewhere.

Also, if he had stayed at Virginia, Diaco would have been defensive coordinator in name only. Groh basically coordinates his own defense (and, for the most part, has done a good job at that). Presumably, Diaco has more autonomy at Cincinnati, where head coach Brian Kelly has a defensive background but is best known for his teams’ offensive prowess.

AS FOR OGLETREE,  I’m still convinced that agent Joe Flanagan sold him a bill of goods. Remember, it was Ogletree who said on the day of his declaration that he wouldn’t have made the move if he didn’t think he would be drafted.

Ogletree wasn’t drafted, but he made the Dallas Cowboys’ opening-day roster and last Sunday had the first catch of his NFL career. Ogletree had a 19-yard reception on the same day that his fellow rookie from UVa, tight end John Phillips, had his first reception (for no gain) in a 38-17 victory over Seattle.

Presumably, Ogletree makes the NFL rookie minimum, which is $310,000. Even if he had stayed at Virginia and been drafted, it’s unlikely that he would have been picked at a level that would have corresponded to a much higher salary.

Virginia, quarterbacked by an occasionally oft-target Jameel Sewell, is 3-5 without Ogletree. Where would the Cavaliers be with Ogletree? A couple more big plays might have made a difference against William and Mary, Southern Mississippi or Duke, but Ogletree wouldn’t have helped the Cavaliers’ blocking.

All he needed was a foot in the door and he got one for one of the NFL’s more elite franchises. If the Cowboys make the playoffs this year, players can expect a five-figure bonus if they don’t win a game.

Williams, who was beating himself up severely after losing a late-game fumble that led to UNC's 20-17 upset of Virginia Tech last Thursday at Lane Stadium, said Sunday that he's moving forward in the wake of the miscue.

Speaking following the Hokies' practice Sunday, Williams said he's OK now.

"I finally came to terms with what happened and I've finally been able to cope with it," said Williams, speaking after the Hokies' practice Sunday.

"I can't be perfect. That's one thing you've got to understand."

Williams' fumble on Tech's 24-yard line led to Casey Barth's 21-yard field goal that beat the Hokies as time expired.

"It would be lovely to have whole football career with no fumbles or no turnovers, but I can't name one guy who's probably ever done that," Williams said.

Walter Payton, the late Chicago Bears' star who has been Williams' idol since his childhood, said even the greatest running back ever -- in his mind -- fumbled, too.

"I say it was 26 times ... but it was a lot of fumbles," Williams said. "So it happens.

"If anything, I take pride in securing the ball when I get hit and I secure the ball perfectly. I had it tucked, it wasn't loose or anything, the guy [Tar Heels defensive end Tydreke Powell] who hit me just did a great job of finding the ball with his hand and was able to get it loose.

Williams, who hadn't lost a fumble in his first 162 carries at Tech, said he couldn't get the miscue off his mind after leaving Lane.

"It was a restless night," he said. "I didn't get to sleep until about 8 in the morning. I stayed up all night, couldn't sleep, just stayed in my room, in the dark, and that play just ran through my head over and over. And I say over and over again, I mean until about 8 o'clock. And if I wasn't tired, I would probably still be up thinking about the play."

Williams, whose has rushed for an ACC-leading 930 yards and 11 touchdowns in the Hokies' first eight games, said he's ready to get back to business. Tech (5-3) resumes play Thursday night at East Carolina.

"I've got to be over it," he said. "I'm not a guy who liked dwelling on things in the past. And if I keep dwelling on it, then my future, the future for this team and for me to help this team wouldn't probably be that good. I can't have something negative sitting there lingering on my mind."

-- RANDY KING

Here's what I came up with: "What would you say to the people who are calling for a coaching change?"

After about a four-second pause, Groh responded, "I don't have anything to say."

He paused for another 4-5 seconds and then added, "I know a lot more about the situation than probably anybody. Maybe some day I'll say what that is."

Fortunately, he didn't snap at me and didn't hesitate to answer any of my subsequent questions, but there was a cryptic tone to his answer.

What does he know about the situation that the rest of us don't? I can't wait to find out.

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.