At this time last year – one week from the season opener – Virginia football coach Al Groh was in a slightly unsettling situation. He knew he would have to rely heavily on freshmen against Colorado State, but he couldn’t begin to guess how they would respond in their first collegiate game.
As it turned out, they did quite well.
Groh ended up using 15 freshmen – 10 true, five redshirt – out of 52 players who saw action. Though the Cavaliers lost the game, 35-29, the collective performance of the youngsters was an encouraging sign of things to come.
Left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson, linebacker Darryl Blackstock and tailback Wali Lundy were among the true freshmen who made a significant impact right off the bat. Ditto for redshirt freshmen tight end Heath Miller, quarterback Marques Hagans and defensive end Brennan Schmidt. All turned into key contributors for Virginia as it went on to a surprising 9-5 season and Continental Tire Bowl victory.
“You never really know what’s going to happen and what you can do until you get in a game for the first time,” said Lundy, who had 94 rushing yards and 184 all-purpose yards in his debut. “I think that game gave all of us a lot of confidence that we could play at this level.”
Now, going into next Saturday’s opener against Duke at Scott Stadium, the No. 18 Cavaliers are a more established team. They have more experience, if questionable depth, at most positions. Freshmen are not expected to play as many major roles as they did a year ago.
Groh said “possibly five or six” true freshmen will play against the Blue Devils. Two players certain to see action, he said, are linebacker Ahmad Brooks and guard Ian-Yates Cunningham. Another likely participant is linebacker Vince Redd.
Other candidates for playing time among the true freshmen are receivers Fontel Mines, Deyon Williams and Emmanuel Byers, nose tackle Keenan Carter, linebacker Jermaine Dias, and offensive linemen Gordie Sammis and Eddie Pinigis.
Among the redshirt freshmen who may play are linebacker Kai Parham, receiver Ron Morton, defensive lineman D.J. Bell, and cornerbacks Tony Franklin and Marcus Hamilton.
Before last year, no true freshman had started a season opener for Virginia in a decade. Four started against Colorado State, but don’t count on that this year.
“We’re not going to start nine of them,” Groh said. “But we’re still going to take advantage of the skills our young players bring and infuse them into our program.”

Old face, new place. The Aug. 30 opener also will mark the debut of Art Thomas as a receiver.
He isn’t a freshman – far from it. In fact, Thomas will turn 24 next month, making him the team’s oldest player. But the senior spent the last three years at cornerback, playing in 37 games with nine starts, 79 tackles, 11 passes broken up and one interception.
So it is a fresh beginning for Thomas, whom Groh indicated will start at split end in place of the injured Michael McGrew.
“I feel comfortable. I think I’m getting the hang of it,” said Thomas, who moved to receiver in the spring. “At first, I was like, ‘Where do I line up?’ But now I think I have the offense down pretty well. And I’m getting used to catching the ball again.”
Groh said the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Thomas is “the first real size-speed receiver that we’ve had, so that’s a potential step up.”

Fool me once… Trick plays were a common sight at Virginia games during Groh’s first two seasons, and many of them were successful. Groh indicated that they will remain part of the playbook, but the Cavaliers may reach into a new bag of tricks.
“Those trick plays are probably like some of those Christmas presents you buy your wife,” he said. “You know, if you try to give her the same present two years in a row, you’re in trouble. That’s the way some of those plays are. They’ve only got a certain shelf life, and then they’ve got to go to rest for a while before you recycle them. So you’ve just got to find some more.”

Breaking camp. The Cavaliers checked out of the Best Western Cavalier Inn on Thursday, officially ending the training camp portion of the preseason practice period.
They had stayed at the Emmet Street hotel for 16 straight nights, eating and sleeping together as a team. Most college teams, like Virginia Tech, do not put all of the players in a hotel during training camp, but Groh likes the chemistry it creates.
“You have this compacted period of time for two weeks, and players have a chance not only to focus on football but to focus on their interaction with each other,” Groh said.
“It’s really them and nobody else, and that’s where you build the relationships where we can have that collective mentality, and the team can develop an appreciation and an affection for each other. Those things are really where teamwork starts.”

Extra points. The Cavaliers took Thursday off, then began preparing for Duke on Friday. … Groh said he would like to use both backup quarterbacks, redshirt freshman Anthony Martinez and true freshman Kevin McCabe, this season in order to groom senior Matt Schaub’s replacement. “I want to make sure we have the right one next year,” Groh said. … Plenty of tickets remain available for the Duke game at $30 each.

 

Virginia men’s basketball coach Pete Gillen insists scheduling is not such an easy task and certainly not among his favorite as coach.
“It’s like politics and religion, you’ll never be able to convince people of your opinion and reasoning,” Gillen said Friday.
Since his team’s 2003-04 slate was released Wednesday, several UVa fans, particularly those on the Internet, have indeed been questioning Gillen’s reasoning behind the schedule.
Among the Cavaliers’ non-conference opponents are five teams that had RPIs below 235 last season according to collegerpi.com. None of those non-conference foes reached the NCAA tournament last season though Minnesota and Providence were NIT entrants and should be improved squads this season, according to Gillen.
“I think Providence should be very good and should have the best team that he [Coach Tim Welsh] has had there. Minnesota also is going to be good. They should have Kris Humphries and [UNC transfer] Adam Boone,” Gillen said. “I think all in all it’s a very tough and balanced schedule.”
The Cavaliers still need to fill one slot on their schedule — on Jan. 7 — at that likely will be against a team from a major conference. If the Cavaliers solidify a solid opponent for that spot, their schedule strength quickly increases.
Last season, Virginia played Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan State among its first five games. As Gillen notes, the Cavaliers played 14 games at home last season and 15 on the road. This year, Virginia will be home more often, especially in the early portion of the schedule. Virginia doesn’t leave the state for a game until Dec. 19 when it travels to Los Angeles for a contest against Loyola Marymount.
“Last year, we played 14 games at home, 12 on the road and three on neutral courts. We had the fewest home games of any team in the ACC,” Gillen said. “We were just looking for a better balance.”
Gillen also added that part of the trick to scheduling is matching your games with your team. The Cavaliers will be a mix of veterans and newcomers next year with the squad’s five freshmen expected to make contributions.
“We try to make a schedule that’s commensurate with our team. We will have guys like Todd Billet and Elton Brown that have been around for a while but also five young guys. We really have a mix of new and old and we try to find a tough, balanced schedule that fits,” Gillen said. “You don’t want to play all cupcakes but you don’t want to overschedule and get your guys beat up before ACC play, either. You just try to seek a good balance.”