Jameel Sewell ‘s last TD pass came against Maryland last season.

When Peter Lalich hit the field late last Saturday in Wyoming, it meant the possibility of a redshirt year as a true freshman vanished. While the timing was odd – Lalich joined the action in the final three minutes of the 23-3 loss – Virginia coach Al Groh said this week that the decision to play Lalich this season had been made earlier.

Groh said that the coaches decided to play Lalich when his play was “up to it” as protection for Jameel Sewell , who is starting after offseason wrist surgery.

“We didn’t have any idea about [playing Lalich] on Aug. 6. We said that we certainly are going to have to make a decision about this at a certain point,” Groh said. “As he progressed throughout training camp and we got closer to the game, we decided that it was a possibility that we would do that. We didn’t say ‘We’re going to do this for sure.’

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