Cavaliers playing it out
Andrew Shurtleff/The Daily Progress
Virginia fullback Rashawn Jackson (31) leaps for a yardage as Duke cornerback Leon Wright (7) brings him down during the Cavs’ 28-17 loss Saturday.
It was unclear entering the season what it would take for Virginia coach Al Groh to march into the 2010 campaign.
Some guessed it would take a postseason appearance.
Others were of the opinion that the Cavaliers needed a winning record and win over rival Virginia Tech, a program that Groh is 1-7 against.
Both scenarios seem unlikely after Virginia (3-5, 2-2 ACC) collapsed in the final four minutes en route to a 28-17 setback against Duke.
The loss gives the Cavaliers the worst mark among the programs in the league over their past 22 games, respectively, at
8-14 overall. Even Duke, a team without a bowl berth since 1995, is 9-13 during that span after upsetting Virginia for the second straight year.
Despite the woeful numbers and the apparent changes coming at the McCue Center, Virginia’s players will attempt to win for Groh and each other.
“Of course we are playing for the coaches,” Virginia running back Rashawn Jackson said. “Of course we are, but when we are on the field we are not protecting Coach Groh. We are protecting Jameel Sewell. Will Barker isn’t blocking for Coach [Dave] Borbely. He is blocking for Rashawn.
“Of course we play for our coaches. We have really good coaches, really good people and I love our coaches, but when we are on the field we have to do things for each
other.”
That was the case against Duke, but 17 unanswered points in the final 3:25 left the Cavaliers winless at Scott Stadium in six of the past seven games.
“[The coaches] call the plays and we execute them. Unfortunately, we didn’t execute to my expectation or to anyone’s expectation on the offense,” Jackson said. “Now we find ourself in a hole. I really feel like we should have won this game.
“I feel like we should have won a lot of these games that we lost, but not to harp on the past so I am ready for [practice] and ready for Miami.”
The mindset heading to Miami for Saturday’s game, which starts at noon, will be monitored, as it is throughout the season, Groh said.
“I am always concerned about the players’ frame of mind regardless what the outcome is,” he said. “That’s the most significant factor in being ready for the next week. This is one that I am sure that we are all disappointed in.
“We did some things, with all due credit to Duke, they made plays and they deserve credit for doing that. By the same token, I think from our side we can say we did some things to give the game away.”
Groh said he felt as he does after every defeat: “hurt from losing.”
“We put a lot into this,” he added. “[We] put everything we got into it. When you get nothing back in return it is a haunting feeling.”
Apparently, that was what the masses that attended the contest felt. The smallest crowd in a decade left in near unison after Duke took a 25-17 in the fourth quarter.
The players noticed.
“This is UVa. This isn’t Michigan or LSU or Tennessee or Virginia Tech. Fans here aren’t that patient,” Jackson said. “It is natural, I guess it is human nature sometimes when things aren’t looking good to kind of … I don’t want to say tuck your tail, but just to turn your back. What really stuck out to me was fans screaming on the sidelines, ‘Rashawn, UVa, Go Hoos, we love you [and] we are here for you.’
“Those were the guys who make this loss feel even worse, because they were really hanging in there for us and they were really giving us their all. I appreciate that effort. I appreciate those fans and those people who stayed and finished watching the game. I was disappointed I couldn’t help those people’s weekend go a little bit smoother. Hopefully, they aren’t getting bugged about it at work on Monday. I am sure that some of them might and that is even more disappointing. There is nothing I can do about it now and it is all in the past. I have to focus on tomorrow and have to focus on Miami.”
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Reader Reactions
Sitting in the stands last Saturday watching the Hoos throw another game it should have won is heartwrenching. I take nothing away from Duke, They played hard until the end. They never gave up. You could see the train wreck coming. We simply don’t have the pieces in place to be much better than we are. From a 9-3 season to a combined record of 8-12 since is sad. Last year the problem was supposed to be the play calling by Mike Groh and to a degree it was. This year we went to the spread offense, but with slow footed offensive lineman better suited to a run offense. Some suprises at wide receiver emerged, but we have been dogged at QB with a running QB who can’t see the open receivers well, and a second string QB who is a pure pocket passer and can’t get out of his own way when there is pressure. The defense was rated highly against the pass until Duke shredded it for 344 yards in the air. I guess so when you play GaTech, which doesn’t pass and ran for a million yards. The pass defense stats look good. The bottom line in all this is that the guys on the field love the game and play as hard as they can. But the team is created by the coach. He recruits the players and we haven’t done well in that regard. We have been known for our linebackers and particulaly tight ends. Steve Greer has been a real gem like Jon Copper was. But we have no Clint Stintims or Chris Longs or Jonathan Stupar or John Philips and of course Heath Miller. The other problem with an anemic offense is the defense spends way too much time on the field. Groh also coaches the defense. Depending upon how we fare against Miami, I expect less fans will attend the Boston College game than attended the Duke game. The VT game will probably be like it was one year when it appeared more like a home game for the Hokies with all the Burgundy and Orange in Scott Stadium. I’ll be there for both, but I am not happy with the direction of the program and particularly the coach. It’s time for Groh to go…..
trublue tells it like it is. It is a FACT that not winning means empty seats. That’s just the way it is. Telling it like it is does NOT mean you have deserted the program. We make these comments because we care and want UVa to succeed on the football field. The worst record in the ACC over the last 22 games is another FACT. Al Groh has been head coach long enough to compete with other ACC teams. Uhhhh, the ACC isn’t exactly the cadillac of football conferences. Another FACT. He had beaten his rival ONE time. Geez! The time has come to start over. Al Groh is not the man. FACT!
I don’t know what to say. Since the Duke disaster, there have been more than 20 comments all over the place. I had thought that 7 wins were possible even after 3-0, then it was 6, now I don’t believe that we will win again. Don’t blame the team, they are doing the best they can; unfortunately, their best is not as good as the rest of the Conference. We are the worst team in the ACC.
Bill Dudley has been mentioned, but we are not in the ‘40s. We now have a multi-million dollar stadium and practice/training facilities; we cannot go back 70 years. Al Groh is a good assistant defensive coach, not a head coach. His recruiting has been like Pete Gillen’s—good the first year, probably because of his one year Pro-coach year at the Jets, but nothing after that. Unfortunately, Littlepage based contract extensions for Gillen and Groh on the first year. Now, we will pay millions again.
We now have a basketball coach that is Nationally known and is a recruiting machine. B-Ball may not reach the NCAAs this year, but they will. We need the same type of Football Coach; where he is, I don’t know, but it is not a used up coach like Fullmer. Craig Littlepage’s job is to find a coach, but he needs to approach the question as he did with Tony Bennett.
This is now a lost Football year. Craig Littlepage must not let us lose future years. We need a recruiter and a head coach.
Don’t boo or turn your back on the Hoos’ players. They give their all. We will come back.
trubluehoo4ever… answer me this. what coach is going to stay on a staff as an assistant coach if they can become a head coach somewhere else. And how do you know that the reason for coaches leaving is because they do not care for coach Groh. Is that a fact or just more speculation. If the coachs didn’t care for him then why did ron prince come back this season. I will also point out that peter lalich was a 4 star high school qb. It’s not Groh’s fault that he got into trouble.
Fans should still show up for games and support the team and make it a great envioronment, because high school recruits are at every game. Fans are not making it any easier for the coach to recruit if they do not show up for the games or create a negative enviornment when they are there. A few years ago, Alabama were going through some tough times. They were losing games and were under NCAA investigation, but there stadium was never empty. If we won’t to compete with those schools, we must do our job as fans.
dnice…I’m sorry, but you are wrong on so many points. First of all, if a program is suffering, you always look at the head man; no exceptions. I agree that his players love him; very true, but if his players aren’t producing, then it doesn’t matter. Second, just because his previous assistant coaches are offered jobs, doesn’t mean they have to take them. Why do you think they were so quick to take them? It’s because they didn’t care for Groh enough to stay. The reason Beamer has had the same staff for years is because they like and respect him. Don’t forget, Beamer took multiple paycuts in order to keep his assistants. Groh has never extended the same courtesy.
Also, when we had Schaub, Lundy, Pearman, and all of those guys, we also had Bill Musgrave as an offensive coordinator, and his system was nearly flawless. There is plenty wrong with our offensive system, starting with the fact that Sewell is not, and has never been a division I QB. I’m sorry to say that because I met him, and he is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet, and sincerely cares about his team which is rare in athletics these days. However, he’s never been able to read a defense, and has never been a consistently accurate thrower. Besides, Groh has not, in his entire tenure here, recruited a legitimate college QB. The last legitimate one we had was Matt Schaub, and he was recruited by Welsch. Actually we did have one, but Groh ran him out of town. Anyone recall Kevin McCabe? He left, went to D-III and set all kinds of records.
All in all, facts are facts. He has not been winning, and no winning means no fans. No fans, means no homefield advantange/no environment. No environment means recruits don’t want to come play here. Groh has been here nine years, and if you have been in a program nine years, you should not still be rebuilding.
Yes, Groh has shown some defensive smarts, but that is all he is; a defensive coordinator at best. He does not know how to manage an entire team, its talent, or its offense.
I’ve been a UVA fan all my life and I have never been more disapointed. But my disapointment is not directed at the team but at our fans. If you are a true fan, you always support your team no matter what. Don’t get me wrong I am frustated that we haven’t won as many games as I hoped, but I would never boo my team or my coaches. I am tired of hearing from these fans who think they know everything about football. Coach Groh should not be fired. Coach groh is a very good football coach with very good stategies. Unfortunetly for him, he has been placed in very difficult situations that have made his job more difficult. I believe that he only has one assistant coach on the staff that’s been with him from the start. It is very tough to recruit with that type of turnover on the staff every year. It is not his fault that his coaches were offered head coaching jobs elsewhere. vatech have the same staff almost every year. And enough with the crying over the play calling. there is nothing wrong with our offensive system. The bottom line is we are not as talented as we were a few years ago. the offensive system wasn’t a problem when we had matt schaub, wali lundy, alvin pearman, and the rest of those guys. Al groh is a good coach and if he can keep his staff together for a few years, the recruiting will get better. Remember, there was a time when vatech fans wanted to fire beamer, but they demonstated some patients and now they are a national power. To the fans who want phil fulmer, or tuberville, think about this. These guys coached in places where winning is a lot easier than it is at UVA, yet they took those programs backwards, which is why they are not coaching now. So many of our fans dislike Groh for the wrong reasons. They don’t like his personality, or they think he is surly, but the most important thing is how his team feels about him. His team loves him and our team always has a great closeness with each other. One last thing, sometimes its not the coach, but its where you are coaching. To win at UVA a lot of things have to go well for a coaching staff. South carolina past 2 football coaches have been steve spurrier and lou holtz, 2 of the greatest coaches in football history, but at south carolina, they have had average football teams.
“This is UVa. This isn’t Michigan or LSU or Tennessee or Virginia Tech. Fans here aren’t that patient,” Jackson said.
What on earth is he talking about? Michigan fans became very impatient with Lloyd Carr, and the even became impatient with Rodriguez halfway into his FIRST YEAR!
Tennessee lost patience with Phil Fulmer, and they even lost patience with Lane Kiffin before he had even coached his first game!
As for LSU, the fans have had no reason to be or lose patience. Since 95 their bowl record is 10-2, they’ve won two national championships, and they’ve been in 4 BCS bowl games.
And as for Tech, well, they’ve been eating Virginia’s lunch for a couple decades now and have been in the hunt for the ACC title every year (until perhaps now). They have a great, solid program that requires zero patience.
I wouldn’t expect Virginia football players to be historians. I would expect them to make sure they know about that of which they speak. Otherwise it makes them look like dumb jocks.
The fans left the game because the Cavaliers made the place smell too bad to stay.
It’s time for Groh to fall on his sword. He’s not helping anything about the program, and he’s actually hurting - the sooner high school coaches know he’s going to be gone, the sooner they can start encouraging their academic-worthy players to consider the school.
Rashawn Jackson said all the right things in his interview and anyone else on the team would have not dissed the coaching staff either. It’s just not prudent to do so but we fans are not bound to any allegiences as the players. I don’t know what’s going on at the athletic department at UVa but I’m sure some closed door meetings have, or will be, held soon to ponder over their football woes. These are very expensive decisions for any university and a bad one only exacerbates the cost. The flip side is that a good decision fills the stands and the coffers, not to mention attraction of top-notch atheletes. A head coaching job should not fall under the status of “hired to be fired”. Get a good one and he’ll pay his own way.
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