No offense, but Virginia needs more from attack

If Al Groh wasn’t such a moral man, he’d probably be tempted to sell his soul for an offense.

Oh, what a difference a good offense would have made. When Virginia started the season, Wahoo Nation anticipated the excitement of a new-fangled, wide-open spread offense that would leave defenses in the dust while sending stadium scoreboards into astronomical gyrations.

Didn’t happen.

Just not enough

While Groh’s defense has been pretty solid most of the way, the two areas of improvement that got every Cavalier’s blood flowing — special teams and offense — have been a disappointment. There have been flashes of improvement, but nothing consistent enough to make a difference.

Thusly, Virginia ventures into Death Valley today concerned that it could be run out of town by host Clemson’s explosive style of play.

While the Cavaliers hung in to the end against Boston College last week and had a few chances to win, and probably would have if not for Mike Parker’s brainless decision to make an illegal block in the back on Vic Hall’s dazzling punt return for a touchdown, UVa will be facing a vastly different challenge this afternoon.

The Atlantic Division title-seeking Tigers can earn a berth in the ACC championship game and a rematch against Georgia Tech with a win over the Wahoos today. It is their last home game, last conference game, before taking on nonconference rival South Carolina next week to close the regular season.

The wrong opponent

The late Frank Howard used to joke about his Tigers chewing up Virginia’s “white meat” — a phrase that continually got under every Wahoo’s skin as Clemson won the first 29 games between the teams — and a phrase that has faded away since Virginia broke that dominant streak back in 1990. Since then, the Cavaliers actually own an 8-7-1 advantage in the series.

If Virginia can’t find some offense today, though, Howard, who is buried behind Clemson Memorial Stadium, might be chuckling about that “white meat” after all.

“[The Boston College] game was a good match-up for us,” Groh said this week. “It was going to be a ‘go to the middle of the ring and fight it out’ kind of game. If it was going to be a fight, it would have been a split decision.

“[Clemson] is more of a track meet,” Groh explained. “I think our team would rather be in a boxing match than a track meet. We have to minimize the effect Clemson’s speed might have.”

Easier said than done.

The Tigers, 7-3 overall and 5-2 in the ACC, are ranked No. 18 nationally for a reason. They’re good. Not great, but good.

They have speed all over the field, with numerous offensive weapons highlighted by Heisman Trophy candidate C.J. Spiller. They have a young quarterback (Kyle Parker) who gets better every week and seems particularly effective on third-down throws.

If there’s any chink in the armor, it could be the Tigers’ kicking game (five missed extra points and two missed chip-shot field goals in the past two games) and a defense prone to drawing penalties at the worst moments.

Still, Clemson has been unstoppable during its current five-game winning streak. During that span, the Tigers have averaged 42 points per game and dominated field position mostly due to Spiller’s kickoff return ability. Even when teams don’t kick to him, the Tigers end up with excellent field position.

Either way, it puts defenses in a bind. That’s not exactly what Virginia’s defense needs. Its’ own offense does that plenty because of so many three-and-outs that keeps the Cavalier defenders on the field way too long and often in sticky predicaments.

I don’t care how good a defense is, it can’t hold up under that kind of constant pressure, particularly against an offense with the type of firepower that Clemson boasts.

Consider that UVa’s offense will enter today’s game having gone seven consecutive quarters without scoring an offensive touchdown.

Yep, the last Cavalier offensive player to hit paydirt was tailback Rashawn Jackson. That score came with 2:54 remaining in the first quarter at Miami on Nov. 7.

Since then, UVa’s only two touchdowns came on a Billy Schautz return of a blocked Miami punt and cornerback Chris Cook’s 58-yard interception return against BC. And, oh yeah, Hall’s electric punt return for a TD last week that would have won the game had it not been for Parker’s mistake.

Should Virginia repeat a similar performance of no offense, it could get ugly. Very ugly. 50 points ugly.

On paper, there’s no reason to expect this to be a good game. Clemson has everything to play for. Virginia has little. The Cavaliers, 3-7 overall and 2-4 in the ACC, are going nowhere.

While the season has been a huge disappointment, this band of Wahoos could exit feeling good about itself though, if they can muster enough pride to stun the Tigers on the road and finish it up next week by sticking it to their biggest rival, Virginia Tech, in a post-Turkey Day finale at Scott Stadium.

Otherwise, it’s going to be tough to look in the mirror come December and thereafter.

In all likeliehood, Virginia will buy out the remaining two years of Groh’s contract because according to our spies, the money has been raised to do so. Our spies also contend that UVa officials have already been back-channeling in seeking out potential head coaching candidates.

Oh, if the Cavaliers only had an offense, what a different picture it would be. If one doesn’t show up today, then today will be a disaster, another disaster over a long, long season.