Verica Embraces New Role

Marc Verica is expected to make his second career start this weekend.

Virginia sophomore Marc Verica ‘s first start at quarterback hardly came under ideal circumstances. The early season starter Peter Lalich was scratched in a mid-week announcement prior to the Connecticut game, thrusting Verica into the starting role on his first regular season road trip with the program. The game didn’t exactly go well for UVa either as the Cavaliers fell in a 45-10 blowout.

Verica, to his credit, performed fairly well in his starting debut, though. He completed 22 of 30 passes, a sterling completion percentage number (73.3%). He had one interception and no touchdown passes in throwing for 158 yards.

Still, being on the wrong end of a 35-point whipping is never the way a team wants a game to end. So have the Cavaliers begun the process of righting the proverbial ship during a two-week break from competition? Verica thinks the team has started that process in the right way.

“There are guys on this team that have been around here for a while and they’ve proven in previous years that there’s a lot of resolve there. They’re not going to back down,” Verica said. “It was a disappointing loss, but the past couple of weeks, we’ve been pretty positive and there’s been a lot of good energy in practice. I think we know what we have to do to get on the right track. Obviously, we’re not going to know for certain until this game but I think in practice we’ve been responding well to it. So we’ll see what happens.”

That ‘see what happens’ logic applies just as much to Verica and the Cavalier offense as anything else. To this point, those 30 pass attempts at UConn are the only ones of Verica’s young career and the Hoo offense has produced just three touchdowns this season. That’s a number that has to improve if UVa is going to boost its 1-2 record.

Theoretically, Verica could provide a spark to the sputtering offense now that the Hoos have had time to prepare the offense with him as the long-term starter. While he doesn’t have the downfield cannon of Lalich, Verica does have a strong arm and one thing that Lalich didn’t: running ability. That’s led to some speculation, including from this writer, that UVa could try to incorporate more of the read option plays with Verica that were so successful with Jameel Sewell in 2007 in an effort to boost the running game.

Virginia coach Al Groh said Thursday that the coaching staff adjusts the play-calling or high-use packages with any quarterback, including Verica.

“Certainly we do that with every quarterback. It doesn’t mean that we can simply restrict our plays necessarily; it would depend on the list he gives us [through his performance],” Groh said. “Obviously we want to do the things the quarterback is A. confident in and B. has demonstrated the highest level of proficiency in. That’s coaching to give the player the best chance to be successful. It’s really not about what the coaching staff likes nearly as much as it is what the player has demonstrated he is good at doing.”

One thing Verica is good at doing, at least judging by Tuesday’s press day at Virginia, is dealing with the media. He sat down with reporters earlier this week and seemed comfortable and calm in a suddenly brighter spotlight. Some highlights from his interview session follow.

Question: Did it help you that there was some finality to what was going on with Peter Lalich and it hanging over your head? Now it’s your offense.

Answer: I think anytime a quarterback has to look over his shoulder that might affect him but me and Coach Mike had a chance to talk and he told me ‘don’t look over your shoulder, this is your team now. Just go out there and relax and be yourself.’ So that’s going to be my focus here for the rest of the season.

Q: You said relaxed. Coach Groh said you’re laid back pretty much 24-7?

A: Yeah, but I think sometimes I might have a tendency to take it too seriously when I’m out there. I do have fun when I’m out there, but if things don’t go your way on one play, just move on to the next play. Just smile and have fun and encourage your guys any time they make a good play and pick them up when they’re not making a good play. Just kind of relax, be loose and I think once you’re playing and you’re not thinking all the time and you’re just having fun, I think you’ll be able to play better so that’s going to be my approach.

Q: What did you think when you had a chance to go back and break down the tape of the UConn game and your performance instead of your immediate analysis of it?

A: I think overall it was pretty decent. I think there were more plays to me made out there. A lot of times guys will want plays back and that was the case with this. There were certainly plays and throws I wish I had back. For the most part, I was pretty accurate. Obviously, I threw a lot of short, underneath routes but I thought it was pretty decent for my first start. I felt pretty comfortable out there. The speed wasn’t overwhelming. I tried to approach it like practice. In the upcoming games, hopefully I’ll become more comfortable.

Q: Were the short routes designed or was it more check-off throws?

A: There’s plays where we treat it like a running play where maybe the first option is a shorter pass designed to kind of pick up a quick five or six yards. There’s other plays designed to stretch the field, get the ball downfield. Every route, every passing play will have some kind of shorter pass or checkdown built into it. There were a couple of times where I was hot where the defense had blitzed and we couldn’t protect it so I had to throw quickly to KO [Kevin Ogletree ]. There’s a lot of short passing plays in our offense, but I do think I could have gone downfield a little bit more and that’ll be a little bit more of a focus for me in these upcoming games.

Q: You were hurt your senior year of high school right? What was that? Was it your throwing arm?

A: The second game of our senior season, I was blind-sided and I kind of landed on my left shoulder and the weight of the defender and me just kind of landed on that shoulder. It was a separation. It wasn’t too serious; I don’t know if it was a degree one or two. It was painful. I sat out two or three weeks but came back and played the rest of the year on it. It was still pretty painful any time I got hit or anything but my team needed me and I didn’t want to sit on the bench the whole year. It hasn’t been an issue at all. My shoulder is fine.

Q: But last week was really the first time since then you’ve been in a game?

A: That’s the first time I’ve played live action in a couple of years. It was good to get back out there and do that and take some hits.

Last fall, Marc Verica worked mostly with the scout team in practice. Now, he’s the first-team quarterback at the University of Virginia.

Q: Is it kind of mind-numbing at all to think of where your career has come in the last year at all, when you were No. 3 at best behind two guys with remaining eligibility?

A: Yeah, I think it’s almost surreal in a sense. I think I’ve come a long way in the past couple of years. I’ve always just tried to focus on my game and what I needed to do to improve and to actually become a factor on this team. I didn’t want to just sit my whole career. You never want to wish any unfortunate things to happen to a person or the starter you know and it’s unfortunate for Pete with his situation, but I was thrust into this role and now it’s my job to embrace it and to lead this team to where they need to go.

Q: Was there a point last fall where you kind of wondered what your future was here?

A: I think anytime things aren’t going as you had hoped or you would like them to go, I think you just look in the mirror and say what am I going to do? Where is this going to go? I think I just said to myself ‘I’ve just got to keep getting better. I can’t get caught up in if I’m No. 2, No.3, No. 4, or No. 1. I’ve just got to get better and maybe those things will take care of themselves.’ That’s what’s happened here.

Q: Was there even a No. 3 last year or were you and Scott just switching it off?

A: I would say Scott was the No. 3 last year. He traveled. I never traveled to any game except to the bowl game. I think he earned that job in camp. I would say he was a pretty clear-cut No. 3. He took some snaps against Pittsburgh. My role was pretty much scout team last year and get the defense ready from week to week. I used it to get better. Scout team was definitely a big help for me and improving the fundamentals of my game.

Q: Is this at all like your high school career in the sense that you were not necessarily among the high school All-American quarterbacks and came to prominence later? Talk about your high school career.

A: It is similar in a way. My junior year, I didn’t win the starting job out-right in camp. There was a guy ahead of me, a senior, who had won the job. Only a few days before our first game, he kind of twisted his knee in practice. So that’s basically how I got my shot there. I started that first game and played well and we won and I never looked back from there. I was the starter for the next two years. In a way, it was similar to this, being thrust into the starting role because of some outside event, not just playing better than the other guy and winning the job out-right. So it’s similar in a way.

Q: You said the senior twisted his knee. What ever became of him?

A: His name was Andrew Case. He had been the starter for a year or two before that and played well. After his injury – it wasn’t too serious; he might have been out for a week – I think we moved him to running back or receiver because he was a good athlete. Eventually he went to Temple on a baseball scholarship but then switched to football as a walk-on and then earned a scholarship as a receiver there. He’s doing well at Temple now.

Q: You came down here to camp without an offer and showed them what they wanted to see I guess?

A: At that point, I think I had one offer from Wisconsin. But I was definitely interested in UVa. They were my top school. I loved the school itself, the academics. I’ve always watched them on TV and always respected the program. I like Coach Groh and Coach Mike. I liked John Garrett. My family fell in love with the place. It was conveniently located. It was just a really good fit for me. At that point, I didn’t have an offer but that was my goal, to play well enough in front of them that day at camp to earn an offer and eventually that’s what happened and I committed on the spot.

Q: Is Matt Schaub a guy that you know or had any impact at all?

A: No, not really. I never met him, never really talked to him or anything like that. My only affiliation with him was kind of a brief thing I did my freshman year. I played on a select team … and my quarterback coach was a guy by the name of Ernie Forchetti; he coached my dad in college and coached Matt in high school.

Q: Were you a quarterback from the time you picked up a football or did you evolve into it?

A: I don’t know if it was nature vs. nurture, but my dad was a quarterback and I guess it was inevitable for me to be the same. I used to always play catch with him in the driveway. I don’t know. I played soccer before. My mom never wanted me to play football; she was afraid I would get hurt. So in seventh grade, my dad finally won the battle (grins) and she finally let me play on a team and I was a quarterback from the start.

Q: Coach Groh said after reviewing the UConn game, there weren’t a lot of points where you could have taken off and run. How comfortable are you with that if that’s the smart play?

A: I like to think of myself as a multi-dimensional athlete. I’m definitely pass-first, but I think I have enough athleticism to buy time or elude the rush or pick up a first down. I think that could help our offense in these upcoming games. We’ve been struggling to run the ball. I think anytime it opens up and there’s nothing downfield that I’m going to try to make a play with my legs.

Q: Coach Groh described you as an “unflappable” guy, that nothing really bothers you. Where does that come from? Do you get some of that from your dad or how did that develop?

A: My dad is pretty easy-going. I like to think of myself as pretty relaxed. I just try not to let anything better bother me, be it off the field or on the field. Just move on to the next play. Keep your poise. The other guys around you are going to respond to that. If they see their leader is crumbling, they’re not going to respond well to that. I think the quarterback’s job is to keep his composure and hopefully the other guys will respond to that.

Q: Are there any old tapes of your dad playing QB around the house?

A: One night I tried to stay up and watch like a VHS tape of him playing against East Stroudsburg or Lehigh. I think it was East Stroudsburg. At the time, East Stroudsburg was like a really good program – they’re still a really good program – but they were like undefeated and I think that was his first start and he played well. But I mean it was terrible quality. (grins) It was fuzzy. It was awful. The technology we have now is ridiculous.

Q: Could you tell if he was he any good?

A: (grins again) Yeah, he was good. He definitely was a good player; he was a good athlete. He had a really strong arm. He still has a really strong arm. When we play catch, his arm is … it’s not as strong as mine (laughs) but I mean there was a point there maybe a couple of years ago where he was still stronger than me. He can still throw the ball.

Q: Wasn’t your dad going to Notre Dame or something before he broke his leg or got injured?

A: My dad in high school went to Cardinal O’Hara, which was my high school’s, Monsignor Bonner’s rival. His senior year he was being recruited by Notre Dame and he was playing my team at Veteran’s Stadium and he broke his leg and then Notre Dame kind of backed off their recruitment so he went to Kutztown State in Division II. He did well there and eventually earned a couple of tryouts in the pros – never really made a roster, but it was a cool experience for him to get that far.

Q: When you sat back a year ago and said you needed to make improvement was there an area you had to improve or was it a matter of being stuck behind some guys?

A: There were a ton of areas I had to improve and I still have a lot of improvement to make. I don’t think anyone is ever really at their best. There can always be progress to be made. At that point, it was just still fundamental things, you know, being in the huddle, making the right calls at the line of scrimmage, just post-play or during the play reads and recognition things or even basic things like footwork and mechanics. There’s just a lot of improvement to be made. I’ve come a long way in the last year. I’m not quite there yet. There’s still a ton of progress to be made so hopefully we can do that.

Q: Did you ever consider transferring or switching positions or anything?

A: No. I’m the kind of guy who thinks you should stick it out no matter what. I made a commitment to this place. There’s going to be competition anywhere you go. You can’t back down or fold or anything. You just have to stay in there, show some grit, and compete. Eventually if you’re doing the right things, then you’ll get your opportunity and then you’ve just got to show yourself.

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