Cavs’ Verica comes into his own

Last week was one of the bittersweet experiences of Marc Verica’s young life.

The Virginia quarterback had played in the second game of his college career (both on the road) and really hadn’t distinguished himself — at least not in a positive manner — in the second half at Duke, where he threw four interceptions. Game week in preparation for Maryland would be a long one, but had its rewards as Verica delivered an eye-popping performance that left the vanquished Terrapins stunned in a 31-0 Virginia win.

All the sophomore quarterback did was throw for 226 yards and two touchdowns in addition to rushing for another score. He became the first UVa quarterback to complete 25 passes in a game (it took him 34 attempts) since Marques Hagans tore up Minnesota in the 2005 Music City Bowl.

The will to excel

As we come to know Verica, we understand that this gritty Pennsylvanian will not accept mediocrity. His performance at Duke ate him up inside.

“Any time you play that poorly, a tough week is going to follow,” Verica said. “You can say you’ve got to put it behind you or not to worry about it, but I think until you get out there the next Saturday, it’s hard to put that behind you. I was looking to the [Maryland] game all week to redeem myself.”

Did he ever.

He admitted that the Duke loss wore on him all week leading up to Maryland. He wanted to prove to Virginia’s coaches and his Cavalier teammates that he could perform at a high level and that he could win, the latter being the true measure of a quarterback.

Lessons from a loss

As torturous as the 31-3 loss at Duke was for UVa’s replacement quarterback, Verica did take some lessons from the licking. He learned from the turnovers, forcing passes instead of taking what the defense gave him. He was successful in more downfield plays against Duke than during his first start at Connecticut. He ran the ball more and recognized opportunities for even more runs. There were other things, too, such as carrying out ball fakes, ball-handling and other technicalities that escape the eye of the common fan.

Once he got things going against Maryland, there was no stopping him.

An early 51-yard strike to wide receiver Kevin Ogletree served notice to the Terps that this wasn’t the same guy who played against Duke the week before.

The shell-shocked — pun intended — Terrapins became more vulnerable in every aspect of defensive play from that point onward. Verica saw things open up underneath with the short passing game and more running lanes. Just to keep Maryland’s defense honest, and maybe just for fun as well, he kept taking shots deep until the Terps were beaten into submission.

Everyone noticed the difference, especially Skip Holtz, whose East Carolina team will face the Cavaliers at high noon today in Scott Stadium.

“The difference between Duke and Maryland is that I see a quarterback that is kind of evolving on film,” an impressed Holtz said. “The quarterback played the first two games on the road and was thrown into an unfortunate situation in the Connecticut game as late as all that happened. But he’s developed and gotten better and better.”

Verica, who was named UVa’s starter after regular starter Pete Lalich was booted from the program by athletic director Craig Littlepage during the week of the UConn game, would agree that he’s moving forward, week-by-week.

“It was extremely uplifting for my confidence,” Verica said. “There was a sigh of relief to get the first win, but I’m not content, I’m not satisfied. There’s a lot of improvement to be made on my part.”

Actually it seems as if Verica and Virginia’s offensive line are growing up before our very eyes, and it showed last week in the most explosive offensive performance by the Cavs since last year’s 48-0 rout of Miami in the old Orange Bowl.

“I think Marc’s best days are ahead of him,” said Ogletree, who has given the Cavaliers a legitimate deep threat for the first time since 2006. “As the season progresses, I think he’ll do a lot of thngs better than he did the week before.”

Ogletree said that Verica’s arm is strong and accurate and that his deep ball isn’t short of anything that he’s seen. As was pointed out last week, Ogletree has caught passes from no less than six UVa starting quarterbacks — and he’s only a junior.

Still, Verica likes to keep a low profile.

He said he hasn’t experienced the fame on campus that some of Virginia’s brightest stars have enjoyed, or maybe not enjoyed, the past few years such as Chris Long, Sean Singletary and Somdev Devvarman. Verica prefers it that way.

“I’m a low-key guy and I don’t like a lot of attention,” the quarterback said. “I like to lay low and do my job and that’s the way I want to keep it.”

Should he continue to put together performances like the one against Maryland, Verica will likely become the big man on campus whether he likes it or not.