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Coach Mike London’s team knocked off Miami. |
Virginia fans, some of you have been waiting. Waiting for a reason. Waiting for a reason to jump on board with this team, this program, this coach. Waiting for something to latch on to – signs of improvement maybe or a little hope. Or maybe just a big win. Maybe like the 24-19 victory Saturday against Miami.
USC almost did it for you. Almost.
Still, you’ve waited. There’s still too far to go, too big of a hill to climb in this rebuilding process to invest emotionally now. The team hadn’t won a FBS game or an ACC game earlier this month. The talent level is too far down to jump on board right now. Home blowouts against Florida State and North Carolina were just too much to take.
So just wait it out.
Well, guess what? You’re missing the journey. You’re sitting out the process. And in this season, the 2010 season, the first season with Mike London, that’s a mistake. While there may be many ups and many downs to live through, there’s too much to like about these Cavaliers to skip that first step. Yes, even if it is slow and painful at times.
Improvements and adjustments are happening. Sometimes it’s obvious like the special teams’ growth this season. Sometimes it’s simple like the recent linebacker shuffle. Sometimes it’s exciting like Terence Fells-Danzer ‘s big day last week or uplifting like Colter Phillips’ first touchdown catch this season. Sometimes it’s on great days like Saturday when it all pays off.
So by waiting it out, some of you are missing the growth of a program under a new coach. You’re missing the subtle little steps that teams have to make, those little moments where the team starts to look a lot like its coach – in this case, optimistic, dedicated, and full of competitive fire and belief. Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor believes that is happening with this UVa team on moments like Marc Verica ‘s touchdown pass on fourth down in the first quarter. Going for it on fourth down in field goal range? The message, simply, being that his Cavaliers are going places.
“That’s Coach London, that’s his personality,” Lazor said. “This team is, sometimes slowly, but always steadily taking on his personality. And that’s what happens with great head coaches.”
Then, of course, there are guys like Keith Payne , a living and breathing renaissance man week in and week out at running back. He only added his 11th and 12th touchdowns of the season Saturday. Or maybe a guy like Mike Parker, the latest addition to the list of previously forgotten guys having at least one really solid game this season. He had a team co-leading 8 tackles. How about Phillips coping with the loss of his father while playing football and being thrust into the No. 1 tight end role?
Or maybe it is a guy like senior Darnell Carter , who moved to middle linebacker just last week and piled up 8 tackles as well. Carter, remember, had to sit out a year to get his academics in order and despite being completely out of the rotation, he came back to the school you love and stuck it out. Now, he’s getting his turn and his team is sticking it out.
“We always talk about staying together. We’re all we’ve got and we love each other so we just stuck with it and we didn’t give up,” Carter said. “A lot of people would’ve just laid down. It’s Miami. They’ve got all this hype and stuff like that, but we stuck together. Last week, we started – it is a new season for us and we’re taking the games one by one.”
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Darnell Carter had 8 tackles and 1 sack. |
And Carter is symbolic in many ways of the whole team. These Cavaliers have taken some lumps this season for sure with the home winning streak with UNC ending for example. There have been plenty of mistakes, some repeated and rehashed week after week.
Many have been through the ringer of two losing seasons and the ouster of the coach that recruited them too. These Hoos have had to sit through boos in their home stands, dwindling crowds, and rivalry hiccups with Virginia Tech. They’ve had to hear the last-place predictions and somewhat persistent drumbeat of what’s wrong with them.
Yet, this team is 4-4 and now has an upset win over Miami to its credit. These Hoos have picked themselves up, dusted themselves off, and kept working. They’ve started the rebuilding project. And they’ve stayed with the process.
And some of you are missing it.
“I have to talk about this team being resilient regardless of what people say. In that locker room right there is a group of proud football players and coaches. We always knew there was something about this team, that we can be a good enough team to compete with people. It was disappointing with Florida State and the North Carolina loss, but we were the USC kind of team today, the team that had a chance to finish off the game,” London said. “We are just trying to find that identity of where we are and who we are. When you have a group of young men who hear ‘you guys are only going to win three games’ and ‘you’re no good,’ those that are in the room keep hearing the message ‘you’re not fast enough, you’re not good enough.’ They refuse to listen to those things. We are what we are and we play a style that’s conducive to who we are. Today we played a style that was good enough to hold on and beat a very good team.”
