Sour start for Cavaliers
The Daily Progress/Andrew Shurtleff
Kyle O’Brien (40) of William & Mary celebrates with teammate Ethan Lee (47), a Buckingham County graduate, after the Tribe’s 26-14 victory over Virginia.
When David elected to challenge Goliath, it was obviously apparent who the favorite was.
It was anything of the sort Saturday at Scott Stadium. And yet again, the unlikeliest of events occurred.
William & Mary, from the Football Championship Subdivision, stunned Virginia 26-14 in one of the most telling losses for the Cavaliers in two-plus decades.
“We congratulate William & Mary on winning the game,” said Virginia coach Al Groh. “They deserved it in every respect.”
Virginia certainly did not on offense. The Cavaliers rotated three quarterbacks, committed seven turnovers, failed to score the final 37 minutes and managed just four first downs during a dreadful second half.
It was not, however, until William & Mary cornerback B.W. Webb intercepted off an errant throw from Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell and raced into the end zone for a 50-yard score that the Cavaliers’ fate was sealed with 2:39 remaining.
It gave Virginia its first loss to an FCS team since dropping a game to William & Mary in 1986.
“Obviously, we’re incredibly proud of the effort our players put forth tonight,” said William & Mary coach Jimmye Laycock. “In the preseason, we pushed them pretty hard and held them to a higher standard. We expect a lot of them and they worked at it really hard.
“They got the pay off tonight by playing very, very well. Extremely well. … It’s a tremendous win for us.”
Trailing 14-13 at halftime, William & Mary opened the scoring in the second half as it capitalized on a muffed punt by Virginia senior Vic Hall at the Tribe 9-yard line.
Hall, who started the game at quarterback and scored a first-quarter touchdown, misjudged the punt despite being inside his own 10-yard line.
“I am sure that is a decision that Vic had to make on the spur of the moment,” Groh said. “I am sure he would like to have it back, but by the same token his seven points were pretty important to us in the beginning. He gave it everything he had.”
Following Hall’s fumble, Virginia’s defense forced William & Mary to settle for a 20-yard field goal from Brian Pate with 5:35 remaining, which gave the Tribe their first lead at 16-14.
They added to their cushion in the fourth quarter after Virginia quarterback Marc Verica, who was the third signal-caller to play for the Cavaliers, fumbled the ball at the Virginia 36 as he was starting to release a pass.
After giving up a 23-yard run to William & Mary quarterback R.J. Archer, who starred at Albemarle High, the Cavaliers’ defense responded again.
Pate, who missed three field goals in the second quarter alone, converted a 24-yard field goal with 3:50 left, giving the Tribe a 19-14 lead.
The possession itself was rather symbolic given the Cavaliers’ turnover woes and stagnant offense. In all, Virginia’s defense was on the field for 81 plays.
“It is definitely tough having to be out there for [81] plays, but when one dies, we all die,” said Virginia linebacker Denzel Burrell. “We all died tonight.”
The victory was the first against a Division I foe for William & Mary since upending lowly Temple in 1998 on the road, but Laycock was not willing to call the upset over the Cavaliers the program’s best win.
“It was the best one I had tonight,” he said.
For the game, Virginia managed just 12 first downs and 268 yards of total offense. Of that total, 123 yards came on the Cavaliers two scoring drives.
In addition to Hall’s 34-yard with 12:15 left in the first quarter, Sewell capped off an 81-yard, 10-play drive with an 8-yard touchdown run with 7:29 left in the second quarter.
Although Groh said he planned to play Hall and Sewell in the contest, Hall did suffer a hip injury in the first half that limited his effectiveness and ultimately his ability to play quarterback.
The senior still managed 54 yards rushing on eight carries, but passed for just for yards.
Sewell, who threw three interceptions, gained 40 yards on the ground and threw for 80 yards on 9-for-17 passing.
Verica finished 7 for 11 through the air for 50 yards.
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Reader Reactions
If you had been with the ‘other’ team and the ‘other’ coach the evening before, as they practiced on our field, Saturday would not have been a surprise.
Apparently the players have quit on Groh, themselves, and the University. This sort of debacle would never occur were there one man out there wearing a UVA uniform—a man like Chris Long, for example, who carried equally pathetic teams on his back for Al.
I will say this: the only thing as bad as the UVA team right now is the UVA fans. Sure, fire Groh, fire Littlepage—but if it were up to me, I’d begin rebuilding by finding fans that have some pride—in their University, in themselves, if not the team. Ours are not even worthy of the worst program in Division III.
uva will never have any type of respectable program under Groh. He is terrible and it is clear. If littlepage doesnt fire Groh after Saturdays game, he never will. If Groh is not gone after this year, Littlepage should get on the same bus as Groh
UVA needs to put Mike London on speed dial for the moment UR season ends. However, I sincerely doubt they will for the same reason the University never seriously considered Anthony Grant for the basketball opening. In UVAs own condescending way the won’t consider coach’s from schools they consider below them (both CAA programs). In the mean time Grant will win a bunch of games at Alabama and someone will hire London and build a great program. Rather Groh will be fired and it will be another stop for Phil Fulmer, Tommy Tuberville, or one of the Bowden boys.
Such a pity.
FIRE GROH
Dale wrote: “Look, you don’t run the QB out of the spread, you pass!“
I take it you’ve never actually seen the Spread offense in action, then. Pat White at WVU ran it to perfection. Last year he passed for 1800 yards and ran for 1000. In 2007 he passed for 1700 and ran for 1300. One definition of the spread offense: “Despite the multi-receiver sets, the spread option is a run-first scheme which requires a quarterback that is comfortable carrying the ball, a mobile offensive line that can pull and trap effectively, and receivers that can hold their blocks.“
I think Groh should have been fired last year, but in all honesty it takes at least a solid year for a team to learn this offense. Last year Michigan stank up the stadium every week they played - they were like the Benny Hill show out there. But Saturday they looked like a well-oiled machine. Huge difference.
After reading all the comments about this article it is obvious there are huge problems with the football program. There is no guarantee that a new coach will be the cure all as the Leitao basketball situation proved. It is really good athletes that are needed and WHY DON’T THEY COME TO UVA for football and basketball? That is the big question!!
Final Thoughts
1. Why the Heck is Vic Hall returning kicks? There must be at least one underclass speedster with moves who would jump at the chance.
2. I agree that 3, even 2, QBs leave the team without a real leader. The Spread is designed to “spread the Defense” creating passing lanes and running lanes. You don’t need a powerful arm to QB the Spread, just the ability to read defenses, have time to find the open receivers, and release quickly and accurately. It’s the receivers job to get YAC (yards after catch).
3. The QBs of two leading Spread teams last year, Missouri & Texas Tech, were not even drafted despite huge passing numbers including very high completion % and outstanding TD to Int ratios. Chase Daniel finally made the Redskins practice squad.
4. As someone mentioned below, you don’t need, or even want, a running QB in the Spread. You need a QB who understands the System, is decisive and makes quick intelligent decisions.
Maybe we should start, and stay with Mark Verica for a few games and let Jameel and Vic use their skills to get the YAC. Either would be a great Wildcat back and could cause real problems for any “D”.
5. Yes, you can run from the Spread so let’s give Torrey Mack more opportunities to show his stuff. He was highly recruited out of Connecticut, Red-Shirted last year, and deserves a chance to show why he was a much sought after recruit.
6. It’s too early to pass judgement on the Spread. As someone pointed out below, it takes time to learn a new system.
7. We need total fan support and let’s move forward.
An old football coach used to say “when you have 3 QBs, you actually have none.“ The coach has to pick “the guy” to lead a team…and become a LEADER. The others are backups. It appears to me that the coaches can’t pick one, the players sense this and can’t give it their all, and the result is losing to a supposed “lesser” opponent.
Remember, W&M had 11 guys one the field and ONE guys- QB R.J. Archer—who in my opinion could have been the Cavs’ guys.
Fire Groh, Hire Tuberville
Look, you don’t run the QB out of the spread, you pass! Of course if you throw as many interceptions as completions then what choice do you have. Unless the Hoos figure something out fast its going to be a long season and next Saturday will be ugly. TCU runs and defends the spread as well as any team in the nation. If the Cavs think they can run the QB up the middle out of the spread on the TCU, they will end up with a dead QB and a 72 to 0 score.
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