Groh relies on youth

Al Groh has caught a lot of grief for using a lot of true freshmen so far this season and took a few minutes during Monday’s press conference to explain his side of the story.
Thus far, 14 true freshmen have appeared in games this season along with 11 redshirt freshmen, meaning that 39 percent of the team that has gained playing time in the first eight games have been freshmen (29 of 75).
Groh said before the season that he would likely play the most true freshmen since the 2002 season when he relied heavily on those players to help jump start the program. Those freshmen went on to play in four straight bowl games.
A solid group
This group of rookies will have to pull off some monumental upsets in order to make the postseason this year, but Groh said there is a reason he has activated them for action.
Groh said Monday that the freshmen have increased the talent level available to win games.
“When they’re ready to make a difference, make the team perform better than it would without them, then it’s reasonable to use them,” Groh said. “That’s what everybody is here for, to help us win that particular game.
“We would be in some difficult circumstances if it wasn’t for their production,” the coach said.
Standing at 3-5 and underdogs heading into this Saturday’s game at Miami, one must wonder what UVa’s record might be if it were not for playing so many freshmen.
It also speaks to the fact that there’s just not a lot of talent on this football team if that many true freshmen are competing for playing time.
“That’s a bit of a challenge for a young guy to come in and do all that,” Groh said. “It would be nice to be in a cycle where everybody could sit around for a year and kind of marinate, get ready to play a little bit the next year, kind of a case that Texas or Alabama or those kind of places [feature], but some of these players have done a nice job for us, especially on special teams.”
We all remember how poorly some of UVa’s special teams were early in the season, so perhaps this was one of the options to address that problem.
Why use eligibility?
Fans are upset that Groh is burning a whole year of eligibility unnecessarily.
Groh’s argument is twofold.
He believes that if a player is ready to play and can contribute to help winning a game, then it’s worth the risk. Groh also believes that while a player might play a less significant role this season, it gives the player a headstart, a taste if you will, of what it’s all about so that when he is called upon to start or play lots of minutes next season, the game won’t be so foreign to that player.
Plus, Groh, said, just because a player competed as a true freshman, doesn’t mean he can’t be redshirted in the future.
There’s perhaps one other reason less known. UVa is one of the few schools in the ACC, maybe the only one, that mandates that all its athletes graduate in four years. Not a lot of these guys are going to be sticking around for a fifth year.
Here’s a list of the 14 true freshmen that have played thus far, with Connor McCartin and Paul Freedman being the latest, both making their debuts against Duke:
McCartin, Freedman, Oday Aboushi, LoVante Battle, Will Hill, Quintin Hunter, Drew Jarrett, Perry Jones, Corey Lillard, LaRoy Reynolds, Tim Smith, Javanti Sparrow, Dominique Wallace, and Tucker Windle.
Of the 11 redshirt freshmen that have played, the most visible have been linebacker Steve Greer, running back Torrey Mack, and wide receiver Javaris Brown. They’ve been joined by: Kyle McCartin, Matt Mihalik, Mike Price, Aaron Van Kulken, Colter Phillips, Bill Schautz, Ausar Walcott, and Devin Wallace.
On a team that has had few seniors on its roster the past two seasons in a row, someone has to fill in the depth.
The Cavs have but 14 seniors on the roster, two more than last year when Virginia was the 18th youngest team in the nation (of the 120 FBS schools).
Groh said that McCartin did a better job on kickoff returns against Duke than had been been the case at that position in previous games this season. The coach called it an “upgrade.”
“We like Paul’s (Freedman) development, what he’s doing and want to get him some exposure, some experience along the way as well as using him in some roles that can help us out,” Groh said.
Critics point out that some guys are activated and play in a game and then disappear for a while.
There’s the rub.
Groh believes his tactics are worth it if it helps win a game.
At this point, a win would help his argument.