 |
|
Peter Lalich has made two starts in his career. |
Regardless of his off the field issues, Virginia signal-caller, sophomore Peter Lalich has made significant progress in his development since seeing the field last season as a true freshman. Enough progress, in fact, that he was named the starting quarterback over five-year player Scott Deke and sophomore Marc Verica before the USC game.
According to Groh, the staff is pleased with Lalich’s development from the first two games.
“[His] reads came a little bit faster, recognition of the hot read, reads up the field all came a little bit faster; not lightning quick but a little bit faster,” Groh said.
A lot of discussion with young quarterbacks, including Lalich, focuses on reading the defense and “staring down” receivers, something the Cavalier QB talked about Tuesday (more on that below). Groh said it’s a developmental process with young quarterbacks because in high school the primary receiver is often open and the window to throw into is often larger.
“Peter and I haven’t discussed this or the quarterbacks, but we laugh about it some in talking with the defensive players and that is how often after a game you’ll hear a defensive player say ‘Our coach pointed to us that this quarterback always looks at the guy he’s throwing it to,'” Groh said with a pause. “That’s about the only way he has a chance to complete it. That’s like saying Michael Jordan always looked at the basket when he shot it. It’s hard enough to complete a pass to a moving target when you’re looking at him; if you’re not looking at him, you don’t have a real good chance.”
“So can they start to stare at them prematurely? Sure, and that’s part of experience because the picture isn’t clear yet,” Groh added. “The guys who gain experience, they see it developing sometimes before it’s open; they know by the time the receiver gets there, it’s going to have opened up so the ball is gone. But there’s certain things that they all have to read on every progression read. … Can it be done too early and to an extreme? Surely, but that’s something all quarterbacks do.”
Against Richmond, Lalich threw for a career-best 204 yards, passing his previous best (155 last week against USC) within the first quarter. Lalich, seemingly more comfortable than any time before in media settings, sat down with reporters earlier this week to discuss his progress, areas of improvement, UConn, and more.
Q: On the last drive of the first half in the last game, you threw to [Kevin] Ogletree a lot. Was that your first read there in those situations?
Lalich: He was open a lot. Doing a good job getting open, running good routes, speed advantage. He had a great speed advantage on all the guys out there so he seemed to be open a lot.
Q: He’s a player that for much of the season last year, you didn’t get to practice with. In terms of building chemistry, what happened over the summer? What happened during the preseason?
Lalich: We threw almost every day together. We hang out a lot. We talk about what he’s going to do when the linebacker drops into a certain play on certain routes so we’re always talking about that kind of stuff.
Q: Is there a certain point where you kind of felt a click with Kevin or are you not even there yet?
Lalich: I know where he’s going to be. … He’s always the guy that’s one-on-one. He’s always the receiver that’s by himself so if I see him one-on-one with somebody, I’m probably going to throw it over there.
 |
|
Peter Lalich played in eight games last season as a true freshman. |
Q: How much did getting game experience last year help you this year?
Lalich: Knowing what to expect. I probably wouldn’t know how to prepare for a game this year if I didn’t play last year I guess. So like what things to watch for on film during the week. That helps a lot.
Q: Getting experience helped just as much on the road as at home? Because on the road, maybe you came into pretty hostile environments.
Lalich: Oh yeah. The road environments were a lot different. I think that’s the thing that’s going to help the most because when you’re in Scott Stadium, the fans are usually quiet when we’re on offense but when we’re in other stadiums, the fans are usually going wild when we’re on offense.
Q: What’s the hardest part about playing on the road as a signal-caller? Is it the noise?
Lalich: Basically, you have to yell out the play call in the huddle so that everybody can hear you sometimes. That’s not a hard part, but it’s just different, you know, it’s not the same.
Q: What are your early impressions of Connecticut?
Lalich: They actually have a very similar style to Richmond. I think they’re just better. They have a great corner, No. 1, and they have some good linebackers too, good athletic linebackers.
Q: When you look back at your first two games and study the film, how do you assess how you’ve played?
Lalich: I see good things, I see bad things. Not necessarily bad things but things I can work on.
Q: What are you trying to improve the most on right now?
Lalich: Just timing. Um, not always taking the deep shot but hitting the underneath shot, the backs and the tight ends underneath.
Q: Are you as comfortable with those flat throws, you know what I mean like out to the sides as you are winging it downfield?
Lalich: It’s obviously more fun to throw it downfield. But I’m comfortable throwing in the flat.
Q: When you talked to the coaches about your game the other day, did they say there were certain times you went downfield when guys were open underneath or maybe you should take the shorter gain sometimes?
Lalich: Yeah, like in the first drive, I threw that pass to Kevin that he got pushed out at the one-yard line. I probably could have thrown it in the flat to Mikell and he might’ve scored. There’s just things like that. Sometimes when you throw the ball downfield you might not get as many yards as if you throw the check-down because with the check-down, there are a lot of times the guy can run with the ball.
Q: Coach Groh talked at one of the press conferences that last year a lot of the times you went in, it was like Jameel got hurt and Peter go in there. There was no time to prepare. You didn’t know it was coming. What were those experiences like, just getting thrown in?
Lalich: It was fun. Yeah. I don’t know. It wasn’t really nerve-wracking or anything. I was just excited to get in.
Q: So with that said, like you’ve talked about how you’re a guy that studies a lot of film, having that opportunity to really get to know an opponent and know you’re going to be the guy, that’s got to be nice.
 |
|
Peter Lalich has passed for 359 yards this season. |
Lalich: Oh definitely. A lot of times I feel like by Wednesday or Thursday that I know what the defense is going to be doing. I can just take the rest to think about offensive plays and what we might call in certain situations and what we might hit in certain downs and distances.
Q: With guys like Ogletree and Mikell, and John Phillips , it’s clear you have weapons on this offense. Do you get frustrated when you see the offense score 17 points [in two weeks] or do you think it’s just a matter of time before it all comes together and you start scoring more and more ?
Lalich: A lot of it is up to me. Just getting them the ball. If I have the ball at the end of the play, it’s usually a bad thing so if they have the ball it’s usually a good thing.
Q: How difficult is it for a young quarterback to learn not to stare down receivers?
Lalich: (smiles) When people say that, I don’t really think they know. Like when people from the outside say “he’s staring down the receiver.” You don’t look at the receivers at all. You look at the defense. So if the quarterback looks like he’s looking one way, it’s not necessarily because he’s looking at the receiver, he’s looking at the defender in that area, in that flat zone. So there’s a lot of plays where my first read is the corner and my second read will be the flat defender, the outside linebacker.
Q: It sounds like you are aware that people have said that?
Lalich: Yes.
Q: How?
Lalich: I just am aware.
Q: But you’ve never had that issue and you don’t have it now?
Lalich: I don’t necessarily think I look at the receivers. I just kind of trust that they’ll be in the spots for me.
Q: Is that where it helps to have a coach like Mike Groh who has done what you’re doing?
Lalich: Yes, definitely.
Q: His critique I guess is the most important?
Lalich: Yeah. They know what I’m supposed to be looking at and if I’m looking at the wrong place, they’ll tell me. But mostly, I think that my reads have been coming along fine and they’ll just keep getting better as the season goes on.
Q: Peter, describe your level of comfort in the pocket. Of course with USC there was a lot of heat coming in at various times and even in this game, but you were able to stand in there pretty well and step into throws nonetheless. Has that always been something you’ve been fairly comfortable with?
Lalich: Yeah. I’m not scared of getting hit, I guess. I was watching the USC game and it looked like I was laughing and smiling every time I got hit. I don’t want to get hit but it’s kind of like a rush too at the same time. I’m not worried about it.
Q: Has it been difficult to go from high school where you’re not as exposed to college where as the quarterback kind of everything you do on the field and off the field is under scrutiny and under a microscope?
Lalich: Um, it’s obviously different. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s tough. It’s not tough on me. It’s probably more tough on my parents than me.
Q: I don’t know if you watch UConn’s QB at all but he’s not shy to tuck it and take off.
Lalich: Oh yeah. He’ll run it. A lot of times on third down, he’ll just tuck it and that’s the most demoralizing thing for a defense. They have everybody covered downfield and the quarterback just takes off and gets like seven yards and a first down so I know our defense will be well coached up on the passing lanes and not to give up contain on the QB.
Q: Is that a part of your game that maybe you haven’t shown yet that maybe was there in high school?
Lalich: Um, I feel like if I’m running it, the ball isn’t moving down the field as fast as if Kevin’s running it or if Mikell’s running it so I feel like I’m better off if they have it. (grins)
Q: Just going back to your reads. If you’re reading corner first then outside linebacker, do you have to keep going? Do you have time? Are you comfortable going all the way through whatever it is right to left?
Lalich: A lot of times before the snap, you have a lot of things eliminated. Like the first thing a QB is supposed to look at is the weak safety and then the strong safety and then the flat defender. That’ll give you a good idea of what the coverage can be because if the weak safety is off the hash at all, it’s hard for him to run to the middle of the field, he’s not going to make it in time. So you know it’s not going to be a one high coverage, things like that. So if you see the safety off the hash then you know it’s either going to be cover two, cover four or cover eight and that’s all the things that they can really run successfully.
Q: Seemed like you were very accurate early on the other day. When you’re in a streak like that is it tempting to try to put it in there between two guys or whatever? Sometimes, do you get in trouble that way?
Lalich: I think I just loss patience because I felt like we were completing a lot of balls but the points weren’t on the board and I think I was just going back to my high school gun-slinger, just throw it deep kind of thing, instead of being patient on offense. That’s just something I’m working on right now and I’ll be able to be more disciplined.
Q: Peter do you get a sense that the game has sort of slowed down since your experience last year?
Lalich: Definitely. It slows down a lot when you know what you’re looking for and when you’re a 100% sure of what you’re supposed to be doing. I think last year I knew what the routes were but I was just kind of trying to look at everything at once and you just … you can’t do that. You’ve got to know what you’re supposed to be looking at. No quarterback is good enough to look at the whole field, no matter what anybody says. Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, they always know who they are looking at. Usually once they get their pre-snap read, they just look at one guy [on the defense]. Whenever he moves, they just go the opposite.
Q: Who do you look at in the pros?
Lalich: Obviously Tom Brady, but he’s hurt this year. My favorite quarterback is Colt Brennan. I think he should start for the Redskins. I think he’s the man.
Q: Did you watch him at Hawaii?
Lalich: Yeah I watched him at Hawaii and in the preseason he was amazing. He only threw a few interceptions. But Coach Zorn doesn’t like him so. (smiles)
Q: On a more serious note, Mr. Lalich would you please comment about your response to the idea (allegation) that you have smoked marijuana while on probation?
Lalich: I have not smoked or done any drugs while on my probation.
Q: With that statement, you must have been upset to have statements to the contrary come through the press?
Lalich: Yes.
 |
|
Peter Lalich has thrown two touchdown passes in his career. |
Q: Question about the red zone. Obviously the field gets smaller. As a quarterback, is that something you notice?
Lalich: Yeah you have to notice it. The DBs aren’t going to be backpedaling. There’ s only 10 yards. Usually the corners and the safeties, if you’re on the 25 and in, they don’t backpedal much farther than the goal line because they know they’ve only got 10 yards. It’s an area where you’ve got to fit some balls in to score. I mean you get six points out of it so obviously it’s going to be a little bit harder than just a regular pass. I don’t know if any team is more prepared for the red zone than we are. That’s one of Coach Groh’s biggest things, scoring points in the red zone and stopping points in the red zone. We do it every week and I think we were pretty good at that last year. Once we got in the red zone, we were pretty good and we stopped a lot of teams from scoring touchdowns in the red zone last year.
Q: Where should you have gone with the ball on the one you had intercepted [late in the first half]? Was there someone else?
Lalich: There was nobody else and I maybe should have ran it. I don’t know if I would have made it but I probably could have squeezed in a better [throw], I think the throw was a little bit behind too. There wasn’t really. They played good defense on that play.
Q: You seem more comfortable today than you’ve seemed after games where most of us have seen you. How do you tune out … you indicate you are aware of things, you’re aware of people thinking you’re staring down receivers or whatever so how do you tune out the stuff, how do you filter the stuff? How uncomfortable are you talking after games because it seems like it’s pulling teeth sometimes? (laughs)
Lalich: I’m not really used to it, I guess, talking to a lot of people. At West Springfield, a lot of people didn’t even know I played football so just to be out here, it’s a little different.
The is a sample of the articles available through the Sabre EDGE subscription service. Join life on the EDGE today!
