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Cedric Peerman and Chris Cook are both nursing injuries after the MTSU game. |
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While Virginia escaped Middle Tennessee State with a 23-21 win Saturday, it did not get out of Murfreesboro unscathed. Starting running back Cedric Peerman injured his right foot in the first quarter and starting cornerback Chris Cook twisted his left knee in the fourth quarter. Both of those players’ status for this weekend’s contest with Connecticut is unknown – UVa coach Al Groh left each player’s condition as a day-to-day scenario in Tuesday’s meeting with the media.
Groh said Cook’s injury does not seem to be as severe as it appeared on video replay and that it is being evaluated as a sprain.
“You’ve seen players get pretzeled to a lesser degree than that who have had significant injuries so that was a positive response,” Groh said.
As for Peerman, his foot injury sidelined him for the final three quarters of the MTSU contest and there is no timetable for his return. Groh indicated that Peerman, a fourth-year player in the program, would not need a full week’s practice in order to play Saturday. But that decision seems a long way off. For now, the focus is on rehabilitation.
“I haven’t been given a date. Right now, just as with all of them, he’s working hard to get back and I’d say he’s just on a day-to-day basis until we find out which way he’s going to be able to go and we probably won’t be able to determine that until later in the week,” Groh said.
No matter what happens with Peerman’s rehab, the Cavaliers are preparing to play without him. Groh said that’s the “only prudent thing to do” in order to be ready for Connecticut. That means Keith Payne and Andrew Pearman , who took over the bulk of the running back duties last week after Peerman left the game, likely will be the two featured backs against the Huskies. Raynard Horne is third on the depth chart with Josh Zidenberg filling in as a situational substitute (like the 2-minute drill at the end of the Middle Tennessee game last week).
Payne and Pearman were productive in their first extended action of the season, combining for 115 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 23 carries. Payne shouldered the bulk of the workload with 18 carries (70 yards), while Pearman logged 5 carries (45 yards). Pearman scored both touchdowns and added 56 yards receiving as well. Both of those scores came on classic options plays.
“Yeah, we were a big option team,” Pearman said of his Providence High School team in Charlotte, N.C. “Big option team enough that my junior year, both running backs – the fullback and myself – and the quarterback each had a thousand yards plus rushing. … So I’m kind of used to [the option] and that definitely helped with the options that we did this past weekend and what we’re doing.”
Typical of the Pearmans that UVa fans know, the junior running back didn’t harp on his high school numbers. He rushed for approximately 1,600 yards (approximately 9.0 yards per carry) and 22 TDs during the junior season he referenced. As a senior, he rushed for a county-record 2,273 yards and 32 touchdowns. Not a bad track record.
Payne, his backfield teammate, wasn’t too bad either. At Oakton High in Virginia, he recorded 2,059 yards and 26 touchdowns on 273 carries as a senior. The previous season he posted more than 1,100 yards rushing and 17 TDs on 157 carries.
The question now becomes can they translate all of that success to the college level. If so, how quickly can they prove it and how consistently can they do it? Chapter 1 last week provided a decent look at the story’s potential. The next page is taking on a Connecticut defense that allows just 89 yards rushing per game. Groh said practice this week would determine exactly who becomes the title character against the Huskies, but he wants both players to be well-rounded options.
“These two now bring somewhat of a different style to the game. One of the objectives for this week [with an added emphasis] … is to kind of overlap the tasks of the two players so we don’t allow them to become pigeon-holed to just do certain things out of convenience,” Groh said.
“Most likely they’ll both be involved, though the players are aware that we’re going to scrutinize the performance in practice this week very closely. Not that we don’t always, but really grade it to a ‘T’ and based on that performance, we’ll make a decision,” Groh also said. “We want them to understand that this is competitive and the way to get more playing time is to show us in practice that you’re the one deserving of more playing time and that will make it very clear cut for us. But part of the intent is that it will help each player raise the level of his game.”
Still, both players are willing to mix it up when required in pass protection and that’s the first step. Fortunately for the Cavs, they won’t always be blocking in those situations. As Pearman showed last week, he can be viable option in the passing game and Groh said Tuesday that Payne is very capable of catching the ball as well; he showed a flash of that in the Duke game when he caught a pass in the flat from Peter Lalich and bulled his way to a first down.
Ultimately, of course, Payne and Pearman will be judged on the No. 1 task for a running back – how they run the football. Expect different approaches as they try to prove themselves against UConn.
“We all have different running styles,” Pearman said. “No one on the team runs like Cedric. He’s just a bowling ball and he can make people miss and just break tackles. Keith – he’s just huge and can be very intimidating for people on the defense and he can break tackles as well. I’m like half his size so I really can’t go through anybody, but I bring the speed and stuff like that.”
Personality Profile
The Virginia football team has completed half of its 2007 schedule and the record currently stands at 5-1. Only one of those wins fits the blowout profile, the Hoos’ 44-14 demolition of Pittsburgh on Sept. 29. The other four victories have come by 20 points combined, an average margin of victory of just 5 points per game.
During the course of any of those four close contests, the Hoos have had inconsistent moments, plays, drives, and quarters. That has meant quite the emotional rollercoaster ride for some fans, who sometimes hang on every play and get jostled with every ebb and flow. For those of you fighting stomach pains from the trying times – like last week’s rally in the final two minutes – you might want to stock up on some Maalox. This version of UVa football doesn’t seem to be built for high-flying offensive explosions and dominant 30-point wins on a weekly basis.
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Jon Copper and the Hoos seem like a “come to work every day” kind of team. |
“I think this team is very comfortable with playing close games. Part of that comfort level comes from having been in them before and having performed in a positive way in those circumstances,” Groh said. “A lot of it in those circumstances is the players keeping their poise, keeping their confidence, and not getting antsy about things and just continuing to execute with the idea that if we do that, things will turn out well.”
It was last year’s team that took on an “Average Joe” theme with mechanic-like blue shirts as the calling card. While that phrase has been left in the past, the blue collar mantra has remained. The more you listen to the players and Groh, the more you get the sense that this team sees itself as the scrappy underdog that has to punch the clock every day in order to make everything work. They talk about treating every week the same, about being the same player every day in practice and every Saturday in games, and about working hard to get better.
“It’s a humble team and it’s a hungry team and it’s a team that understands how to go about preparation and the value that preparation has had to what we’ve been able to do,” Groh said. “I’m very confident that’s not going to change.”
Groh has used a boxing analogy on several occasions, stating just this past weekend that “we’re not pretty, we’re not bob and weave; we go into the middle of the ring and we slug it out.” Again, the attitude reflects a team that is going to battle in every round, take a few punches, and then out-point you in the end.
Pearman added another analogy to the mix this week when he referred to the 5-1 Cavaliers’ preparation for undefeated UConn. “The bull doesn’t care what we did last week and we’re just ready to get after them,” he said. A rodeo bull rider? That fits the personality profile we’ve seen sketched out through six games. Hold on tight and don’t get thrown.
But this attitude was shaped, in part, by a rocky 2006 season and a dismal showing in Wyoming. Now that the Hoos have won five games in a row and lead the ACC’s Coastal Division, is there danger of satisfaction sinking in and everyone enjoying the positive publicity?
“I think that’s something to be thought of in some circumstances, but you really get the sense that this team understands that we’re only at the halfway mark right now. This could turn out to be a 5-7 season and this could turn out to be an 11-1 season,” Groh said. “What we’ve accomplished so far really isn’t going to stand up for much on Saturday. If we don’t play better than the other guys? I mean they don’t care what we did last week. They’re not impressed by that. They’re just trying to do whatever they can to get ready for us and we need to do the same thing too. I think this team is very grounded in what it takes each week to get ready.”
Worth Quoting
“We have a large number of players in that class that if their performance will grow here in the upcoming weeks, it will add a lot to the team. That will be a very important thing.” ~ Coach Groh on the Cavaliers’ redshirt freshmen.
“It’s definitely progressed. Before, when it first happened, we said we’d just take it day by day. By the time the Middle Tennessee game came, we thought it would be a benefit to just continue with that and see how it goes this week. It’s definitely moving forward.” ~ Eugene Monroe on his knee injury and rehabilitation.
Injury Brief
Wide receiver Maurice Covington , who has been out with a break in his left hand for three weeks, returned to practice in a very limited capacity this week. He will not play against UConn.
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