UNC win a turning point for Virginia?

Yes, it might sound a little corny, but old-school Al Groh sat in the interview room at Carolina’s Kenan Stadium last Saturday and talked endlessly about how proud and appreciative he was of the efforts by his players in upsetting the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill.

Groh talked about the elation in the Virginia locker room and what it meant to him to see that joy on the faces of his players and coaching staff.

Just before he left the field, TV sideline reporter Mike Hogewood had asked the embattled Cavaliers’ coach how his team pulled off the upset and commented that a lot of people had tried to stick a fork into UVa’s season.

“Maybe we’re not that easy to stick a fork into,” Groh commented.

The Cavaliers were two-touchdown underdogs and won 16-3.

Emotions run strong

Several folks noticed that Groh was a little emotional when he answered Hogewood’s question, and he confessed that was the case when asked about it this week.

“My wife said that she noticed the same thing,” Groh said. “Actuallly, I would consider myself to be a pretty emotional person. A lot of times I keep those emotions to myself, but yes, that was an accurate assessment.”

The win had been a special one to Groh due to the affection and appreciation of what the players had accomplished.

After an 0-3 start, this team could have packed it in and headed south for the season — just as it could have last season, and the year before that when they performed miserably at Wyoming in the opener and were given up for dead. That team came back and won nine games (a rarity at Virginia) and nearly beat high-scoring Texas Tech in the Gator Bowl.

You have to give Groh credit for keeping his teams together in the face of the worst adversity. They never quit and usually get better as the season progresses.

Hosting the Hoosiers

That brings us to Saturday afternoon’s homecoming game at Scott Stadium. Virginia hosts Indiana (3-2) of the Big Ten, a team that is hoping to draw one game closer to bowl eligibility with a win over the Cavaliers.

Like Carolina, the Hoosiers started off 3-0, with wins over Eastern Kentucky, Western Michigan and Akron, before dropping its last two outings to Michigan and Ohio State.

Groh has great respect for Indiana and described the Hoosiers as the most physical team that UVa will have faced to this point of the season.

Physical is what the Cavaliers are attempting to be and took a step toward that last weekend across the border by whipping the Tar Heels.

Physical is what Virginia’s offensive tackles, tight ends and blocking backs better be on Saturday against the Hoosiers. Heading into that game, the Cavaliers rank dead last in the entire nation in sacks allowed (17), an embarrassing average of 4.25 per game.

The Hoosiers’ defensive game plan is to control the early downs and get UVa into third and long situations so they can unleash their two pass-rushing defensive ends Jammie Kirlew (6-foot-3, 263) and Greg Middleton (6-3, 285). Those bookends thrive on such scenarios where they can pin their ears back and go full-tilt after the opposing quarterback.

Kirlew, a finalist for the Ted Hendricks defensive end award last season, is second in the Big Ten in tackles for loss (9.5) and sacks (3.5), while Middleton, who is on the Hendricks watch list this year, is fifth in sacks with three.

One has to wonder if UVa quarterback Jameel Sewell, as mobile as he is, can last the season getting hit as much as he has in the first four games. Sewell got his bell rung at Carolina, but came back after sitting out a series and led the Cavs to victory.

Groh is attempting to restore the toughness and pride in this team that his early teams had at Virginia and even the Chris Long-led teams possessed.

One of those sources of pride is defending Scott Stadium, where Groh’s teams have a 38-15 record (not counting his first season, a transition year in 2001). From 2002 to 2007, UVa lost only seven home games.

Last year and the first two games of this year alone, the Cavaliers have lost five, a third of those 15 home losses since 2002. With five home games remaining, the Cavaliers must stop losing in their own house.

Odds and ends

l Our salute to former Virginia All-American Anthony Poindexter, whose jersey will be retired in pre-game ceremonies on Saturday, will be among our Saturday morning pre-game coverage.

l Quick hitter: What coach owns the best record against Bill Belichick? The answer is Al Groh, who was 2-0 against Belichick in 2000, Groh’s lone campaign as an NFL head coach.

l The UVa Bookstore and TJ’s Locker will introduce a new product to Wahoo fans this weekend: the Wahoo Wall Graphic Chris Long wall decal ($99.99).