Quarterback still a mystery

Ready to learn who will start at quarterback for Virginia against William & Mary?
Hit the pause button.
While the players may know which signal caller throws the first pass of the season, the Cavaliers’ coaching staff has not anointed a starter nor spent lengthy time discussing the pecking order at the spot.
“We are really not evaluating anything right now. The guards, the quarterbacks, whatever, it is too early in the process,” said Virginia coach Al Groh during the program’s annual media day. “I think the players understand this, I think the coaches understand this. We are in a stage right now, we are just going day-to-day.
“Put one foot in front of the other foot, move forward. What we do on Tuesday puts us in position to do what we had planned on Wednesday puts us in position to do what we had planned on Thursday.”
It was a plan that the players knew would be in place and one that was adopted last year despite the knowledge that former quarterback Pete Lalich would start the opener over
challengers Scott Deke and Marc Verica.
“We install. We practice. We correct with the players. We install again,” said Groh. “We practice, we just keep turning move forward so we’re pointedly trying to not be instant evaluators, otherwise everyday you have a new order of quarterbacks and it’ll be the body of work at all the positions that determines it.”
Vic Hall, a former starting cornerback, appears to have a clear-cut advantage based on practice reps, but the Virginia native said he has taken snaps with the first-, second- and third-team units thus far.
“We have rotated quite a bit,” he said. “Jameel [Sewell] has worked with the first team and Marc [Verica] has worked with the first unit.
“We are all just out there trying to get better and trying to get this team better.”
The jockeying at wide receiver, another position without a clear pecking order, is just as wide open according to Groh.
“They have been [battling] from the start. They will continue that way,” he said. “Some players made some plays [in Saturday’s scrimmage], which was nice to see.
“All that means is that they have to prove it again tomorrow. That doesn’t make them different than other positions, but in this case it certainly does apply to the wide receiver spot.”
Determination on the depth chart, Groh said, should come after Saturday’s upcoming scrimmage and with the review of the film from the first scrimmage, which was held Saturday at Scott Stadium.
“As a result of what we saw [Saturday], and in
grading the tape, we’re going to perhaps put some other players in some other roles,” he said. “Move one up, or move one down or shift a position to find out whether by next Saturday they can be in the mix or where they should be.”
Extra points …
Virginia’s prized offensive lineman Morgan Moses was at Fork Union on Sunday.
The four-star recruit, the state’s best tackle, plans to enroll at Virginia in January. … After a day off, the Cavaliers will return to the practice field today.