Groh hopes Cavs have Huskies’ number

In Rain Man-like fashion, Al Groh spouted out number after number Tuesday during his weekly press conference in the depths of John Paul Jones Arena.

Every set of digits tossed out relayed the scary proposition that awaits Virginia’s football coach on Saturday at Connecticut.

Unlike the Cavaliers, UConn welcomed back 19 starters from last year’s squad that went 9-4.

“They are a very solid operation — the type of operation that would be expected of a veteran team,” Groh said. “There are a lot of players that clearly not only know what their job is, but are pretty polished in how to do that job. That’s characteristic of veteran teams.

“Younger teams, the first thing the players really learn is, ‘Hey, what’s my job, who do I have to block on this. I just want to make sure that I am blocking the right guy, that I am not blocking the wrong guy.’ That’s their paramount interest: ‘Who am I suppose to cover on this particular play?’ And then once they get that down then it’s second nature and they can progress more to really concentrating on, ‘OK, let’s really develop the skills in terms of how to execute this assignment that I’m very comfortable with now.’ We can clearly see that with their team.”

UConn (2-0) survived a soggy overtime thriller at Temple last weekend, upending the Owls, 12-9, by scoring the game’s lone touchdown in the extra session. The Huskies also won their season opener, blasting Hofstra 35-3.

Regardless of the season-opening contests and their results, Groh has the benefit of knowing what he is up against. Virginia edged UConn, 17-16, last year after former placekicker Chris Gould converted a 19-yard field goal with 3:20 left.

“Most of the positions, I really didn’t even have to go the depth chart to look up the players, and, frankly at this point, there are quite a few of the positions where I don’t know the player’s name, but I know his number because I remember the number from last year,” he said. “I know the tailbacks are No. 2 and No. 34, I know the fullback’s No. 49, I knew the quarterback was No. 4 before I ever put the tape on.”

Ras-I’s return?

Virginia sophomore Mike Parker said he is hopeful that fellow cornerback Ras-I Dowling would be available to play against the Huskies.

“Ras-I is doing fine,” Parker said. “He should be back [against UConn].”

Dowling, who has been nursing a leg injury since midway through training camp, made an early appearance against Richmond on special teams, but was unable to play late when the coaching staff debated inserting him.

Tackling talent

As Groh might have predicted long before the season, Virginia’s top three tacklers are currently senior linebackers.

Antonio Appleby (14 tackles), Jon Copper (13) and Clint Sintim (12) have also combined for four stops and three sacks behind the line of scrimmage through two games.

“They are very critical,” Groh said. “That is the position on the level of defense that everything revolves around. They are run-stoppers, they are pass-cover guys, they are pass-rushers, they make most of the calls and the adjustments at the line of scrimmage.”

The trio has combined for 95 career starts.

Their current running mate at linebacker, junior Denzel Burrell, made his first start against Richmond in place of Aaron Clark (knee).

From all indications, Groh was pleased with what Burrell showed before and after the contest.

“What I really did is I tried to pay attention all week long at how he went about things,” Groh said. “All week long he really acted like a player who took on the mentality of, ‘Hey, I’m a starter,’ rather than, ‘Oh, I guess I’m taking somebody’s place.’

“He really played that way. He did a real nice job.”

A first and a return

Despite having coached football since Lyndon B. Johnson’s term as president of the United States, Groh has never coached in a football game in Connecticut, he said.

The Cavaliers do boast a player from the state, running back Torrey Mack, but the true freshman is not expected to play this season.

On just 86 carries, Mack rushed for 1,177 yards and 20 touchdowns last year at Stratford High.

“It’s probably likely that we won’t see Torrey in the lineup this year, but we really like him,” Groh said. “He’s tough, he’s got vision, [and] he’s got all the skills. He clearly likes football.

“Everything that we had seen on tape in our extensive review of Torrey we have seen with our own eyes here for the last five or six weeks.”

A vote for Colt

As expected, Virginia quarterback Pete Lalich has a favorite quarterback in the NFL.

Scratch off Tom Brady and Peyton Manning from the potential candidates.

“My favorite quarterback is Colt Brennan and I think he should start for the Redskins,” Lalich said with a smile. “I think he is the man. I watched him at Hawaii, and in the preseason he was amazing. I think he only threw a few incompletions. Coach [Jim] Zorn doesn’t like him.”

Extra points

Perhaps blame should be placed on scheduling Southern Cal, but Virginia enters its third game ranked 115th (out of 118) in the country in total offense. That is not last in the ACC, however. North Carolina State is currently No. 116. The Cavaliers are last in the league in rushing offense, scoring offense, pass defense and passing efficiency. … There were no changes this week to Virginia’s depth chart and players were not added in Monday’s addition of the injury report, which denotes players ruled “out” this week or for the remainder of the season. … Virginia is currently a 10.5-point underdog against the Huskies.