Cavs relish underdog status

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Will Barker admitted that he could care less where the final tally placed his football program on paper.

In fact, the Cavaliers’ elder statesman on the offensive line said he did not desire to know the results.

Yet today, at the annual ACC football kickoff, the media’s preseason predictions will be announced for the 34th straight year with Virginia widely expected to be pegged to finish fifth or sixth in the Coastal Division.

Last year, the Cavaliers were picked to finish fifth in their division and did just that after losing their final four league games.

“I kind of like being the underdog,” Barker told reporters at the Grandover Resort. “It will be nice when we prove people wrong, but you can’t predict how the season is going to go.”

Barker used the 2008 season as an example. After losing three of the first four games, the Cavaliers were perfect in October and controlled their own destiny in the Coastal Division race.

“I thought we were a good team, but obviously things didn’t work out for us in the end,” said Barker, referring to the late-season slide that left Virginia 5-7 overall and 3-5 in the league. “If you think about it, going into the last three games we still had a shot at winning the ACC title even not with a stellar record.

“I think we were all disappointed in the result. We expected to do better than we did. It is what it is.”

When the dust settled after the season, former offensive coordinator Mike Groh and defensive line coach Levern Belin departed. Former defensive coordinator Bob Pruett and secondary coach Steve Bernstein retired.

Optimism eventually returned for head coach Al Groh’s program, however, as he gave new offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon complete autonomy to run and install a spread offense.

“This year, it is almost like a fresh start, a fresh offense, a lot of new players. I think we will do big things,” said Barker, who said he is currently 320 pounds. “I think this is going to be a good year. We have a new offense, a lot of depth on offense, as well as defense. We have a lot of leaders and a lot of guys that have played in big ballgames before.”

Despite knowing that Al Groh will need a resurgence to keep his post, Barker said there is no added pressure on the team in that regard.

“I think just as much for him as for all of us, it is going to be an exciting year and a good year at Virginia,” he said. “I think that people are expecting a lot and we are going to show a lot. That’s pretty much as far as it goes.

“We want to prove to everybody that Virginia football can be where it has been in the past and stay there. I think this is the year that we can do it.”

Under center

Last year, Virginia entered training camp with a quarterback controversy.

Conventional wisdom held that that label was assigned to motivate former quarterback Pete Lalich.

This time, a full-fledged battle for the top spot is expected between converted cornerback Vic Hall, junior Marc Verica and senior Jameel Sewell, back from a one-year, school-imposed suspension.

“It’s definitely nice to know that we have all this potential [at quarterback],” Barker said. “No matter who wins the starting job, whoever is the quarterback is going to be a great quarterback.”

Barker said he fully expects Virginia to use all three during the season based on opponents and situations.

“Even if one person wins coming out of camp, I think all of them are going to play at one point or another this fall,” he added. “I think it would be stupid not to have them on the field because they have all won games and they are all great players.”

Sewell, according to Barker, has been impressive in numerous facets since returning to school in January.

“Jameel came back with some fire,” the right tackle said. “He had something to prove. I obviously can’t speak for Jameel, but I feel like he came in and wanted to make up for that year both on the field and to his teammates.

“He has done a great job. He knows what it takes to win and having him back is huge.”

Welcome aboard

The Cavaliers have four starters returning on its offensive line.

That leaves one vacancy at left tackle, but a position battle is not expected.

Landon Bradley manned the position throughout the spring and appears stronger and more athletic in Barker’s eyes.

“He has had a tremendous summer workout,” Barker said. “He played really well in the spring. I think he is going to be a hell of a left tackle.”

Size may be Bradley’s lone drawback — he is listed in Virginia’s newly-released media guide as 6-foot-7 and 275 pounds.

“He may not be as big as past left tackles, but I think he holds his own pretty well,” Barker said. “He goes against defensive ends in practice that play on Saturday’s and he does fine.

“I think Landon has done a great job stepping up and I think he is going to have a great year.”

Extra points

Virginia’s incoming class has arrived in Charlottesville and is currently enrolled in summer school and working out with the team, including voluntary 7-on-7 drills as their schedules permit. Well, almost all the players are there. Barker said offensive tackle Morgan Moses has not been there and is expected to enroll at Fork Union to play for postgraduate coach John Shuman’s team. … Hall was peppered with off-the-wall questions throughout the sessions with the media. The oddest? He said he was asked when the last time he cut his hair. The answer? He thinks it was in 2005. … Barker was asked who had the best fans in the ACC. He replied: “Virginia.” The worst reside in Maryland, he joked. … For now, defensive end Kevin Crawford is not listed on the team’s roster. It is unclear if that will change prior to the start of training camp.