Thanks to Hamilton at Lambeth Field for filling us in on the new-look Virginia Cavaliers under first-year coach Mike London.
Tell us about QB Marc Verica. Arm strength? Pocket mobility? Ability to gain yards with his feet? Leadership?
A: Verica was not a highly recruited quarterback out of PA, and was seen to be strictly a backup at UVa behind highly recruited players like Jameel Sewell, Vic Hall, and Peter Lalich. But Groh worked his magic and put Hall on the defensive side of the ball (he broke all of Ronald Curry's state records). Then Sewell was kicked out of UVa for grades in 2008 and Lalich got kicked off the team, so in comes Verica, and looked like a deer in the headlight. While he would throw for about 200 yards a game, he had an interception problem, 7 TDs and 18 INTs. Last year he played sparingly as Sewell came back to run the spread and they moved Hall back to be the wildcat back. That was a disaster.
But in comes Mike London and he brings with him Bill Lazor, the QB Coach from the Seahawks, who was personally recommended to London by Joe Gibbs and Mike Holmgren. Lazor worked with Verica for the last 8 months on the pro-set offense, which is what Verica ran in high school, and there has been major strides. He has a decent arm, but UVa isn't a very vertical team so he has enough arm to move the ball down the field in big chunks. Verica is also a pure pocket passer and does not scramble or try to run it a lot, but when Virginia runs passing plays, there are always quick outs and safety valves for him. The key to Verica is if he can keep the INTs down, he will keep the ball moving down the field and keep the Hoos in any game.
What has Mike London done is such a short time to turn UVA football around?
We have had a very nice beginning of the season. Instead of loosing to I-AA teams, we are beating them, and beating them like I-A teams should, which right off hand, is an improvement.
Lastly, a lot of teams talk about "swagger", but I look at it more as allowing the coaches and players to have more fun. There used to be a gag order on all players and assistant coaches. Gone. New uniforms, with different color combinations voted on by players. The "Blue Out" (VMI) and "White Out" (FSU) is new and never would have happened over the past decade. All of the above has really changed the culture and attitude in the players and the program.
Was the close game at Southern Cal due to the Trojans taking the Cavs lightly, or did UVA play its best game in years?
A: I think that game was a testament to the Cavalier defense being better than expected this year. Over the years, the Hoos D has had the "bend, don't break" mentality, but this unit has been "no bend, no break". As I said earlier, with the culture change in the program, they never looked down and played hard to the end. There is no quit in this team. Plus USC does not look like the same USC of old, and I think later this year, they will get exposed. To say that UVA played its "best game in years" is not very accurate, as we still lost the game, and I try not to celebrate losses much, but they did surprise a lot of people, which sure doesn't hurt.
What kind of defense do the Cavs play and who are the key players?
A: Virginia runs the 4-3 defense with the DTs lining up in the "one technique" (off center). Jim Reid was the DL coach for the Dolphins last year, and used to be the head coach at Richmond, where London was on his defensive staff. The secondary unit was the most highly touted group coming into the season, but the injury to Parade All-American CB Ras-I Dowling and Sr. SS Rodney McLeod, everyone thought the unit would suffer. But with those two back for the FSU game, another player has emerged as the "ballhawk" of the secondary in CB Chase Minnifield, who has 3 INTs on the season already.
The most surprising part of the defense as we have stated before has been the front 7. When London switched to the 4-3, we were left with a slew of linebackers and very few lineman. So London used a technique from his Richmond days, by switching some SS to OLB, and OLB to DE. They are a little undersized, but very quick and get to the ball and quarterback a lot. The two names that have been in on pretty much every TFL and sack are Sam LB LaRoy Reynolds and DE Cam Johnson.
Cavalier fans still remember handing FSU its first ACC loss in 1995. Does that mean they'd rather beat the Noles than any other team except Virginia Tech?
A: That's actually an interesting question, and I'll take the easy way out and say "yes and no". First off, VT is one of our rivals. They would like most people to believe that they're our only rivals, but actually until about 15 years ago, it has always been Maryland and UNC. I tend to see all three of those games as big rivalry games. But I would equate winning the game in '95 and '05 to beating Duke in basketball. When you are 2-13 against a team, you tend to remember the positives. I know I don't have to rehash this for you, but it was the first ACC loss for the Noles in '95, and in the '05 season FSU and UVA were Co-ACC Champs (this was the year before expansion). Virginia Football was pretty much none existent before 1984, and we have had some nice teams, but we relish good wins, and that was a very good win.
To wrap it up, I don't know how they will play. They do not have the athletes yet to compete with FSU, London even mentioned it in his presser Monday. It will be a good game if Virginia can take away the long ball and make it low scoring game, as both teams have great run stopping ability. It will be a long day for us if we turn the ball over, especially through the air and on special teams. Remember, no one gave us a chance to do anything this season, and a good game would continue the rebuilding process here in Charlottesville.
Comments