U.VA. NOTES
Wednesday, Sep 05, 2007 - 12:06 AM Updated: 08:23 AM

Sewell's wrist a key in decision on Lalich
Football coach Al Groh said yesterday that he decided not to redshirt quarterback Peter Lalich in part because of uncertainty over starter Jameel Sewell's left wrist.

Lalich, a true freshman, replaced Sewell, a sophomore left-hander who had surgery on his wrist in December, on U.Va.'s final series Saturday in a 23-3 loss at Wyoming.

Sewell's wrist didn't bother him during training camp last month or in Laramie, Groh said, but it "is an ongoing situation. It is a situation that we have been told medically could [reoccur] at any time. We've also been told that could be in 10 minutes and that could be in 10 years."

By the end of training camp, Lalich had beaten out junior Scott Deke for the No. 2 spot at quarterback. Given that Lalich would take over if Sewell's wrist became an issue again, Groh said, the U.Va. coaches decided to get the former West Springfield High star some experience.

Against Wyoming, Sewell was intercepted twice and completed only 11 of 23 passes for 87 yards. Lalich was 3 for 5 passing for 16 yards.

U.Va. hosts ACC rival Duke (0-1) on Saturday, and Sewell will start. Don't be surprised if Lalich plays, too.

"We're interested in progressing both players," Groh said.

Groh not expected to use two-QB system
In 2001, Groh's first season as Virginia's coach, Bryson Spinner and Matt Schaub split time about evenly at quarterback. He doesn't expect to use Sewell and Lalich the same way.

A better example, Groh said, would be Florida's two-quarterback system last season. In certain situations, Urban Meyer would insert true freshman Tim Tebow, a powerful runner, for starter Chris Leak, the superior passer.

At U.Va., the situation is reversed. Lalich "has had more background and made his mark in throwing the ball," Groh said, "and certainly Jameel has demonstrated on occasion his ability to be effective as a runner. I'm not saying that we have fallen into that type of cycle or that type of mode, but it presents that possibility."

Bivens might make debut on Saturday
Inside linebacker John Bivens, who missed the opener because of a sore knee, practiced Monday and might make his U.Va. debut Saturday. Bivens, a redshirt freshman, is a Prince George County High graduate who ran with the second team in training camp.

The Cavaliers aren't as deep at linebacker as a month ago. First, Olu Hall left the team for academic reasons and transferred to Kansas State. Then, against Wyoming, senior Jermaine Dias and redshirt freshman Darnell Carter suffered ankle injuries. Neither is expected to play Saturday.

Dias starts at outside linebacker, where sophomore Denzel Burrell will take his place. Junior Bernie McKeever, a walk-on, replaced Carter on the second-team defense against Wyoming.

Leitao elevates Diener to assistant
As expected, basketball coach Dave Leitao has promoted Drew Diener, the team's director of operations for the past two years.

Diener, 28, moves into the assistant's position vacated by Rob Lanier, who in May left to join Billy Donovan's staff at Florida. Diener previously worked for Leitao at DePaul, as a graduate assistant basketball operations director.

"A coaching position has been a goal of mine since my first day at DePaul," Diener said in a release.

The release from U.Va. did not say who would replace Diener as director of basketball operations.

Two prep standouts make visits to U.Va.
In the past few weeks, U.Va. has hosted two high school stars on unofficial visits: 6-9 junior Ryan Kelly from Raleigh, N.C., and 6-6 senior Sylven Landesberg from Queens, N.Y.

In for an official visit this weekend will be John Brandenburg, a 6-10, 235-pound senior from St. Louis. After his visit, on which his parents will accompany him, Brandenburg will choose between U.Va. and Stanford. He took an unofficial visit to Stanford early last month.

"I couldn't really say he has a favorite," said his father, Jim Brandenburg. "Both obviously are great schools, so it's going to be a tough decision." -- Jeff White

 

Clyde calls out coach
Aaron McFarling

Clyde.

Actually, his full name as we know him is "Clyde from Forest." And for somebody without a surname, this guy is getting famous fast.

Over the past two years, Clyde from Forest has provided an unflinching voice for frustrated Virginia football fans by chiming in on coach Al Groh's weekly radio program, "Cavalier Call-In." Clyde from Forest is not like some critics, who angrily dial the numbers and then soften up as soon as they're on the air.

"Umm ... hi... um... we're behind ya, Coach ... it's just that ... well ... ya know ... the loss and all ... good luck!"

No. Clyde from Forest gets right to the point.

"The best way Coach Groh can help this program is to resign," Clyde from Forest said on this week's show. "That's the best thing he can do for us."

Whether you agree with Clyde from Forest or not -- I don't yet, but talk to me after this weekend -- you've got to love somebody who has the courtesy to call the man "Coach Groh" and the guts to tell him he should no longer be Coach Groh, all in the same sentence.

Here's hoping Clyde from Forest never moves. Clyde from Fancy Gap just doesn't have the same ring, although it might get him through the screening system more quickly.

n n n

We're constantly telling our youth to quit playing so many video games and find something constructive to do. Something creative. Something that serves a larger purpose.

Then as soon as they do, we punish them for it.

Frankly, Kyle Garchar got the shaft. The senior at Hilliard Davidson High School in Ohio spent about 20 hours a few weeks ago creating signs that he and two friends placed on the bleachers of their rival school, Darby High.

Darby supporters were told that if they all held up the signs at once, it would spell "Go Darby."

But it didn't. When they held up the signs, it spelled "We Suck."

True, he probably should have chosen a softer word. But it's hard to deny the kid's got spunk, not to mention more planning ability than the entire U.S. Senate.

Garchar's reward for all this effort? Three days of in-school suspension and banishment from all extracurricular activities.

The grumps win again.

n n n

Dear Whoopi,

We're trying to move on here.

Thanks a bunch,

Sports Fans

n n n

This time of year always brings out the "stretching-the-sports-metaphor" commercials. You know the ones. "Hi, I'm the defensive coordinator at your favorite college. Our team likes to sack the quarterback and post shutouts.

And if you want to sack high interest rates and shut out your debt forever, call 540-..."

Got an e-mail last week along those lines.

"Hey Aaron," it began. "Are you a baseball fan?"

Go on, I thought. I'm listening...

"Then these two documentaries will be right up your (center) field!"

...And now I'm not.

That's confusing, overreaching and possibly gross. With the exclamation point, it might even be considered a threat in some states.

n n n

More than a few readers wrote in saying they thought Sunday's column, a satirical look at Virginia Tech's offense baiting LSU, was "sophomoric."

Sophomoric? Me? That's just hurtful. So to cheer myself up and prove that I do have a mature side, I rented "Delta Farce."

The phrase "Larry the Cable Guy deserves an Oscar" gets thrown around a lot these days, but this was clearly one of his most dramatic, gripping, dynamic roles to date.

Surely, even Clyde from Forest would approve.
 

Good news for UVa: Punts
On a day with few positives, the Cavaliers' Ryan Weigand took over the nation's lead in punting average against Wyoming.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Five days after leaving Wyoming, Virginia punter Ryan Weigand continues to find himself in rarefied air.

Strange as it might seem for a UVa player to be leading the nation in a statistical category, much less a positive one, Weigand's 51.6-yard average has him No. 1 among Division I-A punters.

"My roommate has pointed out that it can only go downhill from here," Weigand said earlier this week. "Who knows? Even a bunch of 40-yarders would leave me in a good place.

"I'm not worried about leading the nation, but I want to get tops in the ACC."

Weigand, a 2002 graduate of LaSalle High School in Pasadena, Calif., was not even Virginia's No. 1 punter at this time a year ago. And even now, place-kicker Chris Gould handles punting chores inside midfield.

That arrangement has been in place since the final month of the 2006 season.

"There were definitely low points," Weigand said. "I came here and was told I could compete for the job, but I wasn't good enough."

Weigand punted six times for a 45-yard average against Virginia Tech in the final game of the 2006 season, but that wasn't close to what he did at Wyoming.

Weigand's last five punts in Laramie went for 57, 57, 50, 57 and 61 yards.

Jonah Field at War Memorial Stadium has the highest elevation (7,220 feet) of any Division I-A football venue and Weigand knew from experience that kicks travel farther in thin air.

"We have a cabin up in the mountains of California," Weigand said. "It's like 6,700 feet. I used to go up there in high school, when my leg wasn't as strong as it is now. The Wyoming kicker said the same thing, that he noticed a huge difference when he goes back to the mountains."

Wyoming punter Billy Vinnedge is from Arroyo Grande, Calif., which is four hours from Weigand's hometown.

Weigand, who turns 24 in December, was a soccer player from the time he was 3 until he was 18 and actually attracted some Division I soccer interest. He enrolled at Pasadena (Calif.) City College as a part-time student and didn't join the football team until 2003, when he kicked in one game before suffering a torn groin.

His only full season at Pasadena was enough to get him a full scholarship from Virginia, where he was redshirted in 2005, or so he thought.

The NCAA ruled that Weigand's eligibility clock had started with the 2003 season and Weigand actually was required to make an appeal before he could play this year.

None of that seemed to matter when Weigand wasn't playing. Coach Al Groh would have been happy to lighten Gould's load in 2006, but he just didn't think Weigand was dependable.

"He's always been capable of hitting some of those 'wow' kicks," Groh said Wednesday, "but that would just as likely be followed with one of those scratch-your-head jobs. You'd wonder, 'Who is this guy kicking this ball?'

"He's certainly become more consistent with good kicks back-to-back. But, some of those ugly ones do crop up. He actually had one of those type practices last week. Early in the week, every kick was just awful. Fortunately, he went the reverse direction on Saturday."

Both Groh and Weigand gave favorable reviews to the Cavaliers' new longsnapper, Danny Aiken from Cave Spring High School in Roanoke. Aiken was accurate on 11 snaps, including a successful 42-yard field goal by Gould, and even had an unassisted tackle on a Wyoming punt return.

"We told him, 'If you have the jitters, that's normal,'" Weigand said. "All of us had them."

Weigand's mother and father both work at Huntington (Calif.) Hospital, where dad is administrator and mom is assistant manager of the volunteer hospital department.

They didn't make the trip to Wyoming, choosing to follow daughter Alexa to a soccer tournament.

Weigand's younger brother, Brett, is a punter for the University of Richmond.

"My father said, if they came to an away game, they wouldn't be able to spend much time with me," Ryan said.

"They tend to come to one home game each month. My family is really close, so it's hard having us on the other side of the country. My mother hates it. I think I was home for seven days all summer."

At least when he returned to Charlottesville, there was a job waiting for him.

"I don't look over my shoulder anymore," he said.

Notes

Groh said that players told him that members of the Mountain West officiating crew Saturday were singing along with the Wyoming school song, "Cowboy Joe." ... A foot injury to fifth-year senior has put sophomore Denzel Burrell in line for his first start at outside linebacker.
 

Relax, research, reserve judgment
David Teel
September 6, 2007

Fire the coach! Greatest upset ever! Hokies are doomed!

These are the prevailing winds in our parts following college football's opening weekend, to which I answer:

Patience.

Nonsense.

Don't be so sure.

Losing at Wyoming was certainly a troubling start for embattled Virginia coach Al Groh. Losing by 20 points and gaining 110 yards, the team's fewest yards since 1980, was stunning.

Not surprisingly, calls for Groh's job began before halftime and continue to percolate among the faithful. Fine. Vent away. Just remember, resolution on this season and Groh's job is 11 games, four months and countless twists away — Virginia's first bowl team, the 1984 squad, wet the bed in its opener, losing 55-0 to Clemson at home.

That said, there's no denying that Mike Groh's 13-game tenure as his father's offensive coordinator has been brutal. Combined with last season's finale, when the Cavaliers managed 112 yards against Virginia Tech, Virginia has endured its two lowest outputs of the last 27 years in its last two games.

This is not the definition of progress.

"They stayed so conservative the whole game," Wyoming defensive coordinator Mike Breske told the Laramie Boomerang. "I kept thinking, 'When are they going to try and win the game?' We thought with eight minutes left it was still anybody's game. I was waiting for Virginia to crank it up, but it never did."

Also curious: Team Groh's decision to replace quarterback Jameel Sewell with true freshman Peter Lalich on the Cavaliers' final possession, torching Lalich's redshirt.

This should translate to significant playing time for Lalich throughout the season. In fact, Al Groh said Tuesday that he might mix Lalich's passing and Sewell's running, much like Florida did last season with Chris Leak and Tim Tebow.

But if Saturday's move proves to have been out of frustration and/or panic, then Groh will have some explaining to do, especially to Lalich.

Explaining Appalachian State's 34-32 conquest of Michigan isn't as difficult as many believe. A confident Division I-AA team with playoff pedigree shocked a poorly prepared Division I-A squad on the latter's home field.

But anyone calling this "the greatest upset in college football history" is in dire need of a history lesson. And not even ancient history.

Sure, it's the first time a I-AA has defeated a ranked I-A (Michigan was No. 5). And yes, I-AA's are allowed 63 scholarships to I-A's 85.

But people, Appalachian State is the two-time defending national champion. The Mountaineers return seven starters on offense and six on defense from a team that won its four playoff games last season by a combined 74 points.

Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards passed for 2,251 yards last year and rushed for 1,153. Running back Kevin Richardson rushed for 1,676 yards and 30 touchdowns.

In short, the Mountaineers can play at any level. And they knew it before venturing to the Big House.

Last season, Appalachian lost at N.C. State 23-10. Year before last, the Mountaineers fell at LSU 24-0 in a game that was 14-0 early in the fourth quarter.

Greatest upset ever? Please. It's not even the greatest of the last decade (you know what's coming, Hokie Nation).

In 1998, Virginia Tech was 5-0 and ranked 14th nationally entering its homecoming game against winless Temple. The Hokies had won in overtime at Miami, and had shut out Clemson and Boston College.

Temple was, in a word, awful. The Owls were 0-6 and had fallen at home to I-AA William and Mary (not one of the Tribe's better squads, by the way). They had lost 26 consecutive Big East road games and trailed 17-0 late in the first half.

Yet Temple, a 35-point underdog, rallied to win 28-24. The Owls finished the season 2-9, the Hokies 9-3.

That, my friends, dwarfs Appalachian-Michigan and arguably ranks as the biggest stunner of the last quarter-century.

Virginia Tech ducked an upset last week against East Carolina, grinding out a 17-7 victory. Conversely, LSU coasted to a 45-0 road rout of Mississippi State.

The disparity has fans and bookies giving the Hokies little chance against the Tigers on Saturday night in Baton Rouge, La. And while LSU appears the likely winner, dismissing Virginia Tech, a 13-point underdog, is foolish.

First, the Tigers' offensive line wasn't much better against Mississippi State than was the Hokies' against ECU. Second, a defense as stout as Tech's can mask a multitude of an offense's sins.

Tech hasn't been this big a 'dog since the 2004 opener, when Southern California was a 171/2-point favorite in the teams' encounter in Landover, Md. The top-ranked Trojans beat the Hokies 24-13 as Matt Leinart threw three touchdown passes to Reggie Bush.

It was a competitive game, never approaching a mismatch. USC won the national championship, Tech the ACC.

"The year we played Southern Cal, (it) helped us be a good football team," Hokies coach Frank Beamer said.

Saturday night could do the same — win or lose.

 

Blue Devils turn sights to Cavaliers
By Bill Cole
JOURNAL REPORTER
DURHAM

Duke will carry a 21-game losing streak into Saturday’s game at Virginia, and Coach Ted Roof said that a few of his players might be pressing, trying to end the streak.

“Regardless of what people think or how people perceive our players, this matters to them,” said Roof, whose team lost 45-14 to Connecticut in its opener last Saturday. “It’s important. They’ve got a lot of pride. They certainly don’t like to lose, and they’ve invested a lot.”

The game at Scott Stadium will begin a crucial month for the Blue Devils, who will play four striaght road games and won’t be home again until Oct. 6.

The losing streak is approaching the school record of 23, set from the last game of the 1999 season to the last game of the 2001 season. The Blue Devils have lost their past 17 ACC games.

Roof, in his fourth full season at Duke, is confident that his players can put any feeling of urgency to good use. Duke will also welcome back two key players Saturday, linebacker Michael Tauiliili and offensive tackle Fred Roland.

“You can use (pressure) to motivate you,” Roof said. “But if you’re walking around with so much pressure on you that you can’t perform.… There’s a fine line between letting it motivate you to push you forward and to make you weak.

“There’s probably some (Duke players) that are on both sides of the line. As a coach, I’m very aware of it and address it and use it as a teaching thing and as a motivator.”

Roof said that his players aren’t desperate right now. They did think they could beat Connecticut at home, however, and some had their confidence shaken by the loss, according to linebacker Vincent Rey.

“I think so - initially it was,” Rey said. “Right after the game, just reflecting on it, I think it was. But as we talked … and in going back and watching the film, we saw that we did make mental errors. And we did, in fact, beat ourselves.”

Both Rey and guard Zach Maurides saw evidence of a hopeful team, not a broken one, in Monday’s practice. The disappointment from last Saturday was gone, and the players were eager to play the Cavaliers.

Maurides, a senior, is determined to end the losing streaks before his career is over.

“Clearly, Saturday was a big disappointment, but my mentality and the mentality that our team tries to maintain throughout the season is that come Sunday, it’s time to watch the (game) film and start learning to be a man, to be an adult,” Maurides said.

“We have to fix what went wrong. We can’t wallow in emotion. All that’s going to do is you’re going to let it screw up the rest of your season. You can’t do that.”

UConn scored the game’s last 37 points had 487 yards of offense. The Duke defense should be fortified by the return of Tauiliili, a junior linebacker who was the team’s leading tackler each of the past two seasons.

Roof suspended Tauiliili for the opener after Tauiliili was arrested Aug. 4 in Durham after a traffic accident and charged with seven offenses, among them DWI and carrying a concealed weapon.

Tauiliili will start at middle linebacker at Virginia, Roof said. Rey, who started in Tauiliili’s spot against UConn and had 17 tackles, will move back to his outside linebacker position.

“He’s been very humbled by this experience, as well he should,” Roof said of Tauiliili. “I’m ready to see how he’s going to play.”

 

REASON TO SMILE

During Virginia's long flight home Saturday from Wyoming, Cavaliers head coach Al Groh took some solace in an improbable piece of good news: Appalachian State's stunning upset of No. 5 Michigan.

Nearly three years ago, Groh received a phone call from Appalachian State coach Jerry Moore. The Mountaineers had just completed a 6-5 season--the second-worst of Moore's 18-year tenure--and Moore needed a little time away to clear his mind and recharge his batteries.

Virginia still had games remaining on its 2004 schedule, but Groh invited Moore to visit Charlottesville. Moore attended four practices, then made a return visit before the Cavaliers' bowl game. The coaches talked for several hours, exchanging concepts about various elements of operating a football program.

Appalachian State went on to win back-to-back Division I-AA championships in 2005-06, then opened the '07 season by becoming the first I-AA team in NCAA history to beat a ranked Division I-A squad.

"We had much more than a passing interest in that game," Groh said. "We were very happy for him."

 

UVa's woeful offensive performance allows punter to be a star
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
September 5, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The day started poorly, the way most of 2006 had gone, leaving many a Virginia fan to wonder if anything had changed. But once he warmed up, punter Ryan Weigand got in a zone at Wyoming.
First he booted one 56 yards. Then 47. Then a 50-yarder surrounded by a trio of 57s. And for a grand finale, a 61-yarder that he almost coffin-cornered, a fitting end to a career day.

His parents were delighted - from afar. They were at his sister's club soccer tournament, about 1,000 miles away, but they were still keeping tabs. His father, Jeff, periodically checked the ESPN game-tracker on his cell phone.

What they missed in person was one of the best punting days in Virginia history, a backhanded compliment considering it went hand-in-hand with the Cavaliers' worst offensive effort in 27 years. Weigand, a fifth-year senior, punted nine times for 464 yards, a 51.6-yard average. It set single-game UVa records in punting yardage and average.

It also put Weigand at the top of the nation's punting statistics. Granted, it's been just one week and he had the benefit of punting in the thin air of Laramie, but considering his long and twisted path to becoming Virginia's starting punter, it's quite satisfying.

"It's an awesome feeling," Weigand said.

A soccer player from the age of 3, Weigand didn't play football until the 10th grade at La Salle High in Pasadena, Calif. He showed a quick talent for it. (It runs in the family. His younger brother Brett nearly followed him to UVa as a punter but ended up at Richmond, where he's battling for the starting job.)

Though Weigand had several Division I soccer scholarships, he chose to continue playing football. The challenge beckoned him.

"Basically, people told me that I was better at soccer, so stick to (it)," Weigand said. "I wanted to prove them wrong."

After graduating in 2002, he went to Pasadena Community College. There he was stuck behind a pair of punters who would go on to Duke and Bowling Green. He grayshirted in '02, taking classes on a part-time basis so he wouldn't lose a year of eligibility, before tearing his groin during training camp in 2003 and getting a medical redshirt.

He finally got his chance in 2004, when he was one of the top junior college kickers in the country, averaging 40.3 yards per punt.

A few Division I-AA teams took notice, as did Division I-A Tulsa. Though not pleased with the interest he had garnered, Weigand verbally committed to the Golden Hurricane after the 2004 signing day.

Then Virginia came along. The Cavaliers, desperate for a punter, began by scouring schools on the East Coast in April. By the time they made it out West, it was June. Weigand caught their eye. Five days later, he was a Cavalier.

"I think it was dumb luck," he said.

But his compliance purgatory continued. The plan was for him to redshirt at UVa in 2005. He did, but his football clock had already started. It turned out to be a wasted year.

He went into last season as the tentative starter but had a sub-par preseason. When the Cavaliers took the field at Pittsburgh, Weigand was the backup to Chris Gould, who would do all of Virginia's kicking.

"It was a little frustrating," Weigand said. "I really started worrying about (if I would every play) last year."

Eventually, he did. Gould's leg tired and Weigand stepped in by the eighth week, battling inconsistency but finding his groove by the season finale, when he averaged 45 yards on six punts at Virginia Tech.

He continued to show glimpses of a powerful leg this preseason.

"Every day we see one or two of those kind of (long) kicks," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "(Saturday was) probably the first day we've seen 10 in a row like that."

Weigand's goals are simple. First, get more hang time (he induced no fair catches last year but had one Saturday) and second, weed out the bad kicks that have dragged down his average.

Gould still handles the short-field punting, anything from the Virginia 48-yard line to the opponent's side of the field. Weigand takes everything from the UVa 47 and back.

Last year he had to worry if that would be the case. After the show he put on at Wyoming, he no longer has to.

Said Weigand: "I don't look over my shoulder anymore."


 

For Cavs, Writing's on Bridge
By Adam Kilgore
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 5, 2007; Page E03

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Sept. 4 -- By the time the Virginia football team returned from Wyoming on Sunday, the message on Beta Bridge had already been written. On the blue background of the bridge on Rugby Road here, someone had spray-painted in orange, "Groh Must Go!"

The graffiti, which also referenced the 23-3 final score and head coach Al Groh's salary ($1.9 million this season), had been painted over by Tuesday afternoon. But it summarized the dismay and rage many Cavaliers fans felt after Virginia fell flat in its season opener at Wyoming. After a preseason rife with optimism, the Cavaliers picked up where they left off after their 5-7 record last season, particularly on offense.

Quarterback Jameel Sewell, who had seemingly taken control of the offense, struggled so much that freshman Peter Lalich finished the game behind center. Dating from last season, the Cavaliers have not scored a touchdown in 162 minutes. In their past two games, the Cavaliers have gained 212 yards, 29 less than Wyoming gained in the first half Saturday.

Still, even with a coach under scrutiny, uncertainty at quarterback and a scuffling offense, the Cavaliers remained resolute Tuesday as they approached their second game of the season, against Duke on Saturday.

"We feel like we've been through a lot of adversity in the past," running back Cedric Peerman said. "We've been here before. We're not going to stay here. This is not final. We're still very optimistic. We will be better."

If the Cavaliers improve, it will come with Sewell at quarterback to start, but Lalich likely will play again, Groh said. Sewell's surgically repaired left (and throwing) wrist has not been a hindrance this season, either in the first game or throughout summer practice. But the injury may crop up again, Groh said, and they want Lalich to be prepared should it resurface.

"It is a situation that we have been told medically could represent itself at any time," Groh said. "We've literally been told that could be in 10 minutes, or that could be in 10 years. We decided if we thought Peter was up to it, it would be the best thing to do."

With his son Mike coordinating the struggling offense, Groh has come under perhaps more scrutiny than he has faced in his six-plus years at Virginia. He said he had not seen the Beta Bridge, but other signs of fan restlessness have arisen.

"When you're the head coach, it's a position that you know by the nature of the position that you're going to take your hits," Groh said Tuesday. "That's just the way it goes. It's like playing quarterback: You know you're going to get hit, whether it's on the field or off the field. If you can't take a hit and get back up, then you can't play the position."

Later, Groh was asked if he is still confident with his approach.

"Anytime you don't get the results that you want, it would be arrogant to say everything is perfect," Groh said. "One thing we try to avoid is that. Arrogance is one of the first steps toward failure.

"We did quite a bit of research and analysis and work during the preceding nine months. We feel that we've got a well-thought-out plan going into the season. The things that we are basing all of that on are all things that have been successful. They're not things that are: 'Why are these guys doing that? They're things that have never been done before.' "

Cavaliers Note: Outside linebacker Jermaine Dias, who left Saturday's game, will not play against Duke because of injury. Sophomore Denzel Burrell will start in his place. Groh gave no indication as to when Dias might return.