Cavalier Call-In Highlights: 9/5/05

Al Groh

On his Cavalier Call-In radio show tonight, Al Groh talked with host Mac McDonald about the 31-19 win over Western Michigan, Wali Lundy’s status, and the play of Cedric Peerman , Deyon Williams and the offensive line. He also took questions from fans about crowd support, instant replay, the safeties and whether the team was “lowering the bar” with their postgame reactions to the victory.

Callers and Questions

1) Ginger from Roanoke said she wanted to “offer a few words of encouragement” because she knew many fans were disappointed in the team’s performance.

“I don’t know who’s discouraged, but the coach is very happy, and the coach told the players that he’s pleased with what we accomplished. So I think the players are pretty happy,” Groh said. “Outside of that, that’s the way it goes. As I said after the game, if you have a problem with that, you have a problem with your ego. Because that’s all anybody’s talking about is their ego if they didn’t like that.”

“Yeah,” Mac said. “A W is a W.”

2) Rob in Norfolk asked if Groh thinks the team can go to a major bowl this year.

“Well, that’s the objective,” Groh said, but he said the team’s main goal now “is to win the division.” He pointed out that if the Cavs win the Coastal Division, they’ll be in the ACC championship game. And if they can win the ACC championship, they’ll be in a major bowl.

3) Cathy in Vinton just wanted to tell Groh he was “doing a great job.”

“Well, thanks,” he said. “It’s always nice to hear that.”

4) Micah in Richmond had two questions: What can fans do to be more supportive and intimidating during games? He suggested maybe a “Wahoo Wah” chant like the Seminole War Chant. He also wondered why instant replay wasn’t used during Saturday’s game.

Groh said he didn’t have any specific ideas for crowd involvement, other than perhaps waving orange towels like the “Terrible Towels” at Pittsburgh Steelers games. He said he has been pleased by the game atmosphere in recent years but always wants to see things be “more orange and louder.”

As for instant replay, Groh said. “I thought there were a number of occasions in the game that, whether it would have been overturned or not, it was pretty clear to us that the play required a review. It makes us wonder if we have the system in place, why wasn’t it used on a number of occasions?”

5) Ryan in Chester said he was concerned about the safety play, saying they weren’t physical or tough enough on long passes.

“Well, actually, Ryan, we hardly had any long passes in the game the other day,” Groh said. “Of the 50 passes thrown in the game, there were only four thrown more than eight yards down the field. It was a game from a coverage standpoint where the safeties didn’t have much of a chance to get involved in the pass coverage.”

6) Diana in Roanoke complained about the HooVision scoreboard, saying there was no noise meter and the “colors were so pastel they looked like Disney World.”

Mac said he’d pass along those comments to the video people.

7) Calvin in Richmond said he was concerned by the team’s performance Saturday and wondered why Groh and the players did not sound concerned. He said it seemed like they were “lowering the bar” for what they expect. He also wondered how UVa could “let one guy catch 16 passes without somebody knocking his head off.”

“Well, talk means nothing in terms of that,” Groh said. “Those questions get answered on the field. It has nothing to do with what the coach says or what the players say. You’re going down the wrong track if you let your words speak for where you are.

“As I said after the game, the only statistic we consider to be pertinent on defense is points allowed. Everything is structured to denying the other team points. The other team scored 12 points on the defense, so it’s a positive performance. I never said it was the ultimate performance. I said it was a positive performance.

“We’re always happy to win games. If you stop celebrating wins, then what are you playing for? Then the players can walk away saying, ‘What’s so great about winning? He acts the same way when we win as when we lose.’ So there has to be positive reinforcement for doing the things that give you a chance to win and that create winning. So I think the players felt good about what they’ve done. We’ve had a meeting and a practice since then. They’re pretty aware of what we need to do to move our team forward, as is everybody in the organization, but there were a lot of positive things that happened the other night. We’re trying to build our team for conference play. That’s the most important thing, so good progress was made toward that particular thing.”

As for Greg Jennings, who caught 16 passes, Groh pointed out that seven of those were behind the line of scrimmage. “It’s pretty hard to keep him from catching the ball when the ball’s behind the line of scrimmage,” he said. “There were some other balls I wish we could have defended better and so we’re going to work on those particular things.”

7) Greg in Lynchburg asked how the Florida State-Miami game might affect Virginia.

Groh said that in matchups between teams from different ACC divisions, he’ll be rooting for the Atlantic Division teams. After all, that gives Virginia a better chance to win the Coastal. So he’s rooting for FSU.

Notes and Quotes

Asked how he felt now about the Western Michigan game, Groh said, “I saw a lot of things that were very positive on the tape. I felt good after the game about things. I feel good about where we are here.”

Groh said Deyon Williams , who caught five passes for 79 yards, had a very good offseason and seemed ready for a big year. “Sometimes when that happens it turns out to be a mirage,” he said. “That’s why it was such a positive thing and a pleasing thing” to see him do well in the opener.

Groh named Ottowa Anderson the BB&T Student-Athlete of the Week. Anderson caught three passes for 109 yards and also played well on special teams.

Groh also praised redshirt freshman Cedric Peerman , who rushed for 69 yards and did most of the work on the clinching touchdown drive. He said Peerman has impressed everybody – coaches, teammates, faculty members, academic advisors, etc. – since his arrival last year. “It’s pretty clear he’ll be doing some important jobs for us this season,” Groh said.

Asked about Wali Lundy, Groh said that he has a sprained foot but didn’t say if Lundy might play against Syracuse on Sept. 17. “It’s just a question of Mother Nature right now with all the modern medical help we can give to help Mother Nature along,” he said.

The offensive line “acquitted themselves nicely,” Groh said, considering there were new starters at three spots as well as at tight end. Freshman left guard Branden Albert “did very well” in his first game, he said, noting that Albert and D’Brickashaw Ferguson may be the fastest offensive linemen he’s ever had at Virginia.

The team practiced for 75 minutes today and will have longer practices Tuesday through Thursday, Groh said. The players will get Friday-Sunday off, while the coaches use the weekend to evaluate prospects and recruit.

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