Cavs find sense of accomplishment in loss

Given the events of the first 10 games, some Virginia supporters could have been proud their team managed to cover the point spread at Clemson.
Mired in a downward spiral, the Cavaliers bought into the pre-game plan to pull off an upset against one of the nation’s top teams. Yet with no light at the end of the postseason tunnel, Virginia scored three offensive touchdowns, showed a rare dose of creativity with the playbook and limited Heisman Trophy hopeful C.J. Spiller well below his average. Once again, it ended in sour fashion with a 34-21 setback for the Cavaliers.
And with every underclassman on the team cognizant that a new coach could be in place in weeks, the performance and the ability of the players to block out the outside
distractions would appear to show a sign of character and pride.
“To say that means you don’t understand competition,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “If you like to compete, you do that in schoolyard basketball. It doesn’t make any difference. You don’t need it to be the NCAA tournament.
“We like to compete. People make too much out of that stuff. Competition and winning is usually enough in itself if you are any good. If you need events like [bowl games] to make something important then you are not really a competitor anyway.”
Witnessing that so-called desire to compete has not been prevalent throughout the entire course of the current campaign.
The Cavaliers have, in fact, been edged in scoring marginally in the second and third quarter and have been outscored 90-41 by their opponents in the fourth quarter.
For one day, however, Virginia’s players walked out of the locker room with a sense of accomplishment.
Some of that had to do with the opponent —Clemson, on a five-game winning streak, is headed to the ACC title game for a chance to play in the Orange Bowl.
“[Clemson] is a real good team … one of the best teams we’ve seen in a long time,” Groh said. “They’ve got a lot of good players on that team, and they play hard too.”
Perhaps the solace came from the temporary resurgence on offense, something that was expected when countless drills in spring and training camp practices were spent teaching a spread formation that eventually was all but scratched.
The jolt, which came when Mikell Simpson was inserted at quarterback in the Wildcat formation, also brought life to Virginia’s defense, a unit that has seemed to live on the field this season.
“It’s something that we want,” Virginia defensive end Nate Collins said of offensive prowess. “On defense, you always want your offense to score. You always want your offense to do well.
“I feel like the past couple of weeks that’s what they have been doing. It sucks that it’s coming at the end of the year, but anything that we can do is great for this team and it’s great for this program and this organization.”
Virginia’s offense and defense will face yet
another challenge this week with in-state rival Virginia Tech (8-3, 5-2).
Inside the stadium, the crowd is expected to make Scott Stadium essentially a neutral site.
On the field, the Hokies boast the nation’s 18th-best rushing attack and rank No. 13 in total defense and scoring defense.
“We’re definitely going to be up for the Virginia Tech game no matter what,” said Virginia defensive end Matt Conrath, “and I can’t wait to play.”