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Trevor Grywatch became a bone marrow donor. |
After a home defeat that left the Cavaliers precious little to celebrate, one player was highlighted at Monday’s press conference for his achievements off the field. Junior linebacker Trevor Grywatch made a special appearance at the John Paul Jones Arena to speak about his recent experience of becoming a bone marrow donor. Last spring, the Virginia football team participated in the “Get in the Game, Save a Life” program in which the Hoos sponsored a drive to identify bone marrow donors. Coach Mike London is a staunch supporter of the program after becoming a donor himself to save his daughter in 2003. Members of the team also registered as possible donor matches.
Grywatch, a walk-on player who joined the team last spring, was a perfect match for one patient on a national bone marrow transplant list. Grywatch’s recipient, a 60-year old man suffering from a form of leukemia, is a complete stranger to him. Virginia’s Hunter Steward also came up as a potential donor for the national list, but has not been contacted further about donating at this time. There is no obligation to donate if one ends up being a match, but for Grywatch the decision was a no-brainer.
“Just the fact that I’m healthy and I have a chance to help someone in need made the decision easy,” he said. “I had never even donated blood before but the doctors at VCU [where the six-hour procedure took place] did a wonderful job. The hardest part was staying still in the chair for six hours.”
Last week, Grywatch was given the opportunity to dress on the sidelines, and Coach London has said that he will do so again this week against Eastern Michigan. The junior has participated in two special teams plays this year, both against VMI, as a member of the specialty “Bomb Squad” on special teams; the squad is a kickoff coverage unit.
Speaking Of Eastern Michigan …
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Mike London is helping his team prepare for EMU. |
The Eagles earned their very first win of the season last week in an overtime contest at Ball State. It might seem easy to preemptively put a check in the win column next to EMU, but almost nothing in college football is certain. Coach London and the team are treating this game just like any other, but the Cavaliers are aware that this game gives them a good chance to get another W and boost morale.
“I look at this as an opportunity to play well and win a game. We need to win a game. You lose a game and it’s a long week of answering questions. You think about what you could have done better, while the guys are going to class all week going through all of that,” London said. “The only way you take care of that is playing well and giving them a chance to win a game. That is the first and foremost concern as we go through our process, and our mindset going into this particular game.”
Eastern Michigan presents a challenge for the Cavalier defense because, much like North Carolina, an accurate, efficient quarterback leads the offense. Sophomore Alex Gillett threw for 225 yards last week at Ball State, and also topped the 200-yard mark in a 73-20 losing effort at No. 2 Ohio State.
“It was interesting in the Ohio State game, he threw the ball a lot. Last week in the Ball State game, kind of a Wildcat formation, he ran the ball a lot. He’s very talented, very athletic and he’s one of the guys that we will definitely have to hone in on because of what he does,” London said. “He touches the ball, he can throw it, and also I think he ran like 35 times last week which is a lot of carries for a quarterback. Obviously, he’s become a significant part of their offense.”
Midterm Grades
While UVa students are hard at work in the library, the football team is keeping busy in the film room in addition to their studies. There’s no sign of a mid-semester slump in the Cavaliers’ attitudes, however. The most evident change ushered in by the Mike London era is the way the team perceives both itself and the season as a whole. There aren’t any long faces around the McCue center in 2010, London says.
“I think the biggest thing now is we are who we are as far as the record is concerned. The same energy and passion and things like that, – the season is long from being over. Maybe a lot of people have written us off in terms of opportunities to do anything with the season. But these guys, the way they lift, the way they prepare, talking to Coach [Brandon] Hourigan and people that are around them, they’re upbeat and they’re excited,” London said. “The mindset is different than what it was before. That’s half the battle right there. Because you can get back into a defeatist attitude and hang your head – there is no hanging of the head. You walk around the Grounds with your heads up high.”
Cavalier Quarterback Carousel
Virginia’s quarterbacks turned in an all-around poor performance last Saturday against the Tar Heels. After the game, many were speculating whether senior Marc Verica ‘s second tenure as the Cavalier starting quarterback would come to an end.
However, the other options, freshmen Mike Rocco and Ross Metheny , showed their youth and inexperience in actual game situations. For now, at least, Verica remains Virginia’s quarterback and London and the rest of the coaching staff remain committed to him.
“I think what it is with a guy that wants to do so well. He hears the boos out there. He heard them last year. Obviously, it’s unfortunate. I’ll continue to support Marc, as I need to,” London said emphatically. “There is no quarterback controversy. Marc Verica is our quarterback, he gives us the best opportunity to win any games right now until he proves otherwise. You encourage the guy that you have. You keep trying to develop the ones that you have underneath of them.”
For now, Metheny and Rocco will still vie for the designated back-up spot behind Verica. Thus far, neither one has distanced himself from the other.
Looking To The Future
There were plenty of recruits in the stands last Saturday for Homecoming. One practically had to wade through a sea of overgrown high school boys to get to the interview room after the game. How does seeing a 44-10 loss affect the way possible future Cavaliers view the program? Should fans be worried that the Hoos are chasing recruits away due to poor performance and fan turnout at games? London doesn’t seem to think so; he remains as optimistic as ever regarding the future of the Virginia program, and his optimism is encouraging.
“Judging from the response that I got from a lot of coaches and people, is that they look at it as an opportunity. They see it as an opportunity to be able to play – to see themselves making those plays, that catch, that tackle, whatever it may be. I think the message hasn’t changed as far as the type of young man that we’re looking for. We want to be good, we’re going to be good, but there are different aspects that that are part of building a program,” London said. “Guys who can catch it, guys who can throw it, guys who can run it, can tackle, all of those things will be a priority for us. To come out of that game, I was encouraged by the number of young men that said they could see themselves here.”
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True freshman Morgan Moses has stepped up to a starting role on offense. |
Worth Noting
- This will be the very first meeting between Eastern Michigan and Virginia.
- EMU quarterback Alex Gillett was named the MAC West Division Offensive Player of the Week, in addition to garnering MAC Player of the Week honors from rivals.com
- Jeremiah Mathis recorded his first career reception as a Cavalier on Saturday, although the stadium announcer originally credited the catch to E.J. Scott .
- OL Morgan Moses became the third true freshman to start at offensive tackle. The other two: Brad Butler and D’Brickashaw Ferguson.
Worth Quoting
“Ross threw one pass and it was an interception. Michael threw eight passes and three completions, one interception. Michael’s at the stage of being a young quarterback, the tempo of the game is such that when you get out there, it demands a quarterback having a presence about him to get people lined up, to make the right calls, get us in the right formations. For whatever reason, when Ross was in there, there was an issue with the center-quarterback exchange There are issues there that he has to deal with, and they’ll both get better at it because they’ll both have to go in at some point and we’ll continue to play them.” – Mike London on his young quarterbacks.
“We started out the season, we prided ourselves on gang tackling and running to the ball. We needed to keep cultivating that mindset about when one guy misses him, then the next guy and next guy have got to be there. That is all part of defensive football. We’ve got to get back to that. Not that we ever got away from emphasizing the gang attacking part of it, but it’s part of defensive football that is the necessity. The more times you have guys around the ball, the more times you can minimize those missed tackles that turn into long runs.” – Mike London on missed tackles by the defense.
“Well, the other games we kind of went over to the students and [were] high-fiving. I kind of got a sense that no one wanted to go over there after we got embarrassed and lost. Our students [who] stayed out there to the very end, thank you, I appreciate you. When things happen in your backyard or in your home, and you feel like you didn’t give enough fight or you didn’t do all you could to change the situation, then you got to do more. You’ve got to ask more of yourself. I have to ask more of myself, coaches of themselves and players of themselves. So at that time, it was just an opportunity as their fans were chanting and yelling, our fans were filing out, that I asked the guys not to run to the locker room. Stay right there, listen, take it in, and remember that feeling. Because there will be chances to walk off somebody else’s field victorious with our fans screaming and cheering.” – Mike London on keeping the team on the field after the UNC game.
“Marc’s a true competitor. Not having his best game last weekend, it’s not his style. He realizes he’s going to do the best he can.” – Colter Phillips on Marc Verica .
“I met Coach London in the stairwell and he said he had a job proposition for me.” – Jeremiah Mathis on moving from defensive end to tight end.
“I didn’t hear it, but E.J. came up to me in the locker room and said it was a good catch.” – Mathis on being announced as “E.J. Scott ” on Saturday.
“I talk to Colter a lot. I think I’m starting to get on his nerves.” – Mathis, with a laugh, on learning from fellow TE Colter Phillips
