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Al Groh |
On his Cavalier Call-In radio show tonight, Al Groh talked with host Mac McDonald about the Maryland loss and the upcoming game at Boston College. He also took questions from fans about the running game, the passing game and, of course, the defense. He also gave his opinion on the pass-interference penalty on Marcus Hamilton, among other topics.
Callers and Questions
1) Cathy in Charlottesville asked how Virginia can crank up its running game against Boston College, which ranks #2 nationally in rushing defense.
Groh praised Boston College’s defense, specifically defensive end Matthias Kiwanuka, the ACC preseason player of the year. But he also noted that UVa has had a “musical-chair situation” on the offensive line, so “getting our chemistry and cohesiveness amonsgst the offensive line is as important as anything the Eagles will throw at us.”
2) Scott in Waynesboro wondered if Maryland did anything confusing on offense or if it was just a bad day by the defense.
Groh said the Terrapins didn’t do anything that took UVa by surprise: “They blocked us pretty well. We played against the same type of offense twice last year and we were very successful on those two occasions. But we were playing against different players than we were on those occasions and we were playing with different players. We understood the scheme very well. We practiced against it last week. But that’s a little different going against their players. They executed very well and they obviously blocked us very well. Regardless of what kind of blocking schemes they had, there were creases. The object of a defense is to build a wall and put up a front so they don’t have anywhere to run. When guys are pushed out of those seams, that leaves those creases and that’s what created our difficulty.”
3) Larry in Charlottesville praised Marques Hagans and the tight ends, but said “we’re not going to beat many people” giving up 570 yards. He noted that the Cavaliers did not stop the run or pressure the quarterback against Maryland.
“Well, Larry, I appreciate you telling me a few things I don’t know,” Groh said with a laugh. “That’s Football 101, the two things you mentioned. Obviously, we had a lot more success in the earlier games at doing those things than we did Saturday. We’re not pleased about it but we recognize what the issue is and hopefully we’ll get better at it.”
4) Bob in Hilton Head said there were a lot of positives in the game, including Marques Hagans and the receivers, and the team didn’t play as poorly as many people thought. He also said he had great respect for Groh as a coach.
Groh said he appreciated the comments but he said the team could have played better in every aspect of the game on offense and defense. He said the special teams played very well. “Bob has a little higher regard for me today than I do, but I appreciate it,” Groh said.
5) Dale in Roanoke wondered whether the game was “an anomaly” in that Maryland might have played over its head and Virginia might have played beneath its potential. He asked whether it was fair to measure Virginia based on how it fared against a relatively lightly-regarded team like the Terrapins.
Groh said there are a handful of dominant teams and a handful of very poor teams in the nation. “Other than that, it’s far too early to say who’s a really good team and who’s not a really good team right now,” he said, adding that the final records will determine those judgments.
6) Vinnie in Norfolk talked about the pass-interference penalty on Marcus Hamilton and asked what Groh thought about the call.
“Vinnie, I’m glad you brought that up,” Mac said.
Groh said he watched the play on tape and noted that the contact occurred at the 32-yard line while the ball fell at the 44. “It would take Yao Ming to catch that ball,” he said. “I don’t think the receiver was played well. I do think there was contact that caused the receiver to go down. That’s indisputable. I think what was happening was that the official on the scene was watching the receiver and the defender, as he was supposed to. My opinion is that he didn’t see the ball. That’s understandable because he can’t see everything at once. Somebody should have given him help and said, ‘That’s an uncatchable ball.’ Now that’s just one coach’s opinion, you know, and what do coaches know about football? But it certainly was a tremendous issue in the game and that’s been a haunting thing. Because when you have an outcome like that, any time I’m not thinking about the next game, sometimes you get haunted by the last one. That was certainly the case on the drive home the other night.”
7) Nathan in Richmond said the Cavalier players deserved kudos for hanging in there until the end despite adversity during the game.
“I appreciated the resiliency of the players,” Groh said. “They were encouraging each other: ‘Hey, we can get this done.’ The defense was encouraging the offense. The offense was encouraging the defense. Obviously they could use some encouragement. They showed that they appreciate the fact that we’re not a dominant team. We have a chance to have a good team, but we’re not a dominant team. As we’ve been saying from the start to the players, part of the equation for being a successful team – and that’s all we’re really trying to be; not a dominant team, we’re just trying to end up with one more point than the other guy lots of times – our chances of doing that are as much through team power, the players sticking together and helping each other out. Not only during the course of a game, but the collective responsibility to prepare yourself to play well in the game. That was a challenging situation and I was pleased to observe how they supported each other, so I was glad you saw the same thing too.”
Notes and Quotes
“They’re a very, very solid, sound, well-trained, efficient team in all phases of the game,” he said. “They had 15 or 16 starters coming back, so you can see the accumulation of repetitions in their execution.”
Groh talked about several BC standouts, including defensive end Matthias Kiwanuka and WR/CB Will Blackmon. He noted the size of the offensive linemen and also said he was familiar with head coach Tom O’Brien, who was Virginia’s offensive coordinator when Mike Groh was the Cavaliers’ starting quarterback. “He’s all about being sound, being efficient and avoiding making mistakes,” Groh said.
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