U.VA. NOTES
Friday, Sep 14, 2007 - 12:06 AM

Detrick might make debut against UNC
Through the first two games of the season, four true freshmen have played for Virginia's football team: quarterback Peter Lalich, long-snapper Danny Aiken, wide receiver Dontrelle Inman and cornerback Ras-I Dowling. One of their classmates, outside linebacker Jared Detrick, might make his debut tomorrow at North Carolina, U.Va. coach Al Groh said yesterday.

The 6-1 Detrick, a graduate of Newport News' Woodside High, is listed at 213 pounds, though he's probably heavier. Detrick was a sprinter on the track team at Woodside, where he also played basketball.

"He runs real well," Groh said. "He's aggressive. He's got a lot of answers yet that he's got to come up with, but it appears, in our short time with him, whether it's special teams or defense, that he's got an innate understanding of the game. . . . He's further ahead on his assignments on some defensive things than some players who have been here considerably longer."

Groh still weighing starter at long-snapper
Aiken had three poor snaps against Duke last weekend, and Crutcher Reiss, a sophomore walk-on from New Orleans, replaced him late in the game. Groh said yesterday that he hasn't decided who'll start as long-snapper tomorrow.

"We're going to continue to conduct the Gong Show [in practice] this afternoon," Groh said.

Three linebackers didn't play against Duke
Of Virginia's top eight linebackers coming out of training camp, three didn't play against Duke: senior Jermaine Dias and redshirt freshmen Darnell Carter and John Bivens.

Dias, a three-year starter at outside linebacker, sprained an ankle Sept. 1 in the opener at Wyoming. He has practiced this week and might be back tomorrow.

Carter, who plays inside, also hurt an ankle against Wyoming, and he's questionable for the UNC game. Bivens, a graduate of Prince George High, is dealing with a knee injury and has yet to play this season. But the 6-2, 233-pound inside linebacker may play against the Tar Heels, Groh indicated yesterday.

Cavs' coach has made special modifications
Most of Virginia's special-teams units struggled against Duke -- punt return and field goal defense were the exceptions -- and those groups have "undergone a little bit of a retooling" this week, Groh said.

Senior Chris Gould's kickoffs were among the problems against Duke. On his five kicks, the Blue Devils totaled 124 yards in returns.

"He had good distance on all but one last week," Groh said. "What we need is more air time."

U.Va. tight ends played well against Duke
Against Duke, senior Tom Santi became the first U.Va. tight end since Heath Miller to have two touchdown receptions in a game. Miller, now a Pittsburgh Steeler, caught two TD passes against Akron in 2004.

Santi finished with six catches for 54 yards Saturday. The Cavaliers' other senior tight end, Jon Stupar, also distinguished himself. Stupar had four receptions for 40 yards, including a spectacular 19-yarder on which he dived to haul in a pass from Lalich on the final play of the third quarter.

"The ball was a little bit long," Groh said. "We've seen Jon [stretch out and ] make that exact same type of catch many times in practice. I remember when it happened, I thought, 'Hey, I've seen this one before. Typical Jon.'"

Stupar's catch extended a drive that ended with Santi's second touchdown, which effectively sealed the victory for Virginia.

-- Jeff White

 

U.Va. found bonus in WR
Jobe was overlooked by recruiters, now starts as a walk-on
Friday, Sep 14, 2007 - 12:06 AM Updated: 01:56 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE Through his godsisters, who played volleyball there, Staton Jobe became familiar with the University of Virginia, and he fell hard for a school 1,400 miles from his home in Austin, Texas.

No matter that the Cavaliers didn't offer the 6-0, 181-pound wide receiver a football scholarship when he was at Westlake High in Austin. Texas Tech, where his father and brother had played, ignored Jobe, too. In fact, the only Division I-A programs willing to pay his way were service academies, and that career path didn't interest him.

And so, with the blessing of his mother, an attorney, and his father, a surgeon, Jobe enrolled at U.Va. last summer, hoping to one day earn a scholarship.

That day hasn't arrived - Virginia's 85 scholarships are currently spoken for - but it's undoubtedly coming. Jobe, a redshirt freshman, won a starting job during training camp last month, and he's been the Cavaliers' most productive wideout this season.

"It was a little surreal at first," Jobe said of his rise up the depth chart, "but I planned on coming here and playing."

So how does a football player with Jobe's speed and hands and academic credentials get passed over by so many schools? His father, Dr. Jeff Jobe, has a theory.

"You get recruited based on your junior year of high school now," Dr. Jobe said, "and so it's almost academic what you do your senior year in high school."

As a 12th-grader at Westlake High, for which he was a three-time district champion in the 100-meter dash, Jobe caught 44 passes for 1,003 yards and 10 touchdowns. The previous two seasons, however, he'd combined for only 320 yards and two TDs on 16 receptions.

"We had a very archaic offense and some coaches that really didn't appreciate my son's talents his sophomore and junior years, and basically he was kind of invisible," Dr. Jobe said by phone from Austin. "They didn't discover him till his senior year. Then he put up some big numbers, but by then, it was too late."

In the summer of 2005, Jobe had piqued Al Groh's interested at a football camp at U.Va. The Cavaliers didn't go so far as to offer him a scholarship, but they later invited him to join the program as a recruited walk-on, and Jobe accepted.

His godsister Paige Davis - whose father, Mike, played basketball at Texas Tech when Jeff Jobe played football there - had long since graduated from U.Va. when Jobe arrived in 2006. But her sister, Shannon, is still on the Cavaliers' volleyball team, and like Jobe she's a graduate of Westlake High.

"I kind of had a chip on my shoulder from the whole recruiting thing," said Jobe, who made the ACC's honor roll in 2006-07, "and I came in here telling myself that I was going to do whatever it takes to get on the field and prove everyone wrong."

When Kevin Ogletree, U.Va.'s top receiver in 2006, torn an ACL during spring practice this year, Jobe's timetable accelerated.

"It was definitely an opportunity to fill that role," he said, "because the coaches were looking for receivers to step up and take his place, and I felt like, 'This is my chance.'"

In U.Va.'s season-opening loss at Wyoming, Jobe had two receptions for 27 yards. But he also dropped a pass and struggled with nerves.

"I felt like I was a little timid when I was in there and not playing to my full potential," Jobe said. "It was good to get that behind me, because against Duke I felt real comfortable and back to my normal self."

Against the Blue Devils last weekend, Jobe caught three passes for 29 yards. More impressive, perhaps, was his effort on junior tailback Cedric Peerman's 58-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. Jobe began the play near the right sideline, then raced across the field to block the last Duke defender between Peerman and the end zone.

"That's just the type of guy he is," Peerman said. "He's a go-getter, and he's going to do whatever it takes. I'm glad he's on my side."

 

Sewell diplomatic about Lalich challenge
Detrick next freshman to lose ''shirt?''
By Doug Doughty

Several reporters were waiting around to speak to Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell last Saturday when a member of UVa’s sports information staff informed them that Sewell would not coming to the interview area.

The immediate thought was that Sewell was unhappy with his play or with a decision to go with freshman Peter Lalich for the fourth quarter, but that wasn’t the situation at all.

“Nobody requested him,” the SID staffer said.

As the college football season heads into its third weekend, it’s hard to think of another starting quarterback who has done less talking than Sewell. He answered every question after a 23-3 loss at Wyoming but has classes scheduled during the two Tuesday time periods when UVa players customarily are interviewed.

Virginia set up a joint phone interview Tuesday night for Sewell and Lalich, another player who has class conflicts earlier in the day, but at least speaking for this reporter, Lalich was the story.

Sewell talked for 10 minutes but, just as the media was expecting to chat with Lalich, they were notified that Groh only wanted Lalich speaking after games.

Suddenly, the Sewell material was a little more desirable.

The first question dealt with the quarterback rotation that Virginia will continue to employ, according to Groh.

Sewell did not come into the season with a two-quarterback system in mind, “but, after the first game, I expected it,” he said.

“I really didn’t have a reaction. Whatever [Groh] says, goes.”

Sewell didn’t sound eager to start a controversy but he didn’t seem to be holding anything back.

“I’m going to perform,” he said. “Whatever I can do to help my team win, I’m not worried about anything else. Whatever he asks me to do to make sure the team excels, I’m going to do that.”

Groh said Saturday that he made a decision to use Lalich in the first half after learning with seven minutes before halftime that Sewell had cramps.

With two minutes remaining before halftime, Sewell trotted off the field with trainer Ethan Saliba in an effort to get a head start on the re-hydration process. However, it appeared to some observed that Sewell’s surgically repaired left (throwing) wrist had been re-taped during the halftime break.

“Nothing happened to my wrist,” Sewell said. “I kind of banged up my [left] thumb so I had to get a different tape job on my whole hand.”

Sewell had little to do with UVa’s first two scoring drives, which featured a 67-yard punt return by Vic Hall and a 58-yard scoring run by Cedric Peerman. But, on his last appearance of the first half, Sewell took the Cavaliers from their 28-yard line to the Duke 2 before Virginia was hit with a holding penalty – one of five that were called and four that were assessed.

“I did better,” said Sewell, who had an 11-yard run and two 9-yarders. “I didn’t have too many difficult things to do. I still think I could have did a little bit better on some things. I just got to focus on the little things and get back to the basics of my mechanics. Make sure the ball comes out right. That’s all it is.”

After two games, neither Virginia quarterback can boast a 20-yard completion. Sewell’s longest was a 17-yarder on an underneath route to Staton Jobe at Wyoming.

“I’ve had my chances to throw the deep ball,” said Sewell, whose longer attempted have gone to tight ends on seam routes. “I’m really not frustrated. We still moved down the field and scored.”

Odds ‘n’ ends:

VETERAN O-LINE COACH Dave Borbely told Groh earlier this week that the Duke game was the first he could remember when a quarterback had not been touched all day.

UVa quarterbacks were hit only four times at Wyoming, where the Cavaliers hit Cowboys’ quarterback Karsten Sween on 18 occasions, by Groh’s count.

WHEN ASKED THURSDAY if he had reached a decision on a deep snapper for Saturday’s game at North Carolina, Groh said, ‘We’re going to continue to conduct the gong show this afternoon.”

Groh said that all six special-teams units did not play up to expectations against Duke and there has been “a little bit of retooling” in practice this week.

THE NEXT TRUE freshman likely to see playing time for the Cavaliers is Jared Detrick, an outside linebacker from Woodside High School in Newport News.

“He runs real well; he’s aggressive,” Groh said. “He’s got a lot of answers that he’s still got to come up with, but in our short time with him, it appears that he’s got an innate sense of understanding the game. It makes sense to him.

“He’s further ahead on his assignments on some defensive things than some players who have been here considerably longer.”
 

Groh looking for speed on special teams
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
September 14, 2007

Al Groh had seen enough.

Just two games into the season and with his team boasting some stellar statistical figures, Virginia’s coach felt it was time to reorganize and revise several of his units on special teams.

Understandably, a blocked field goal, issues with long-snapping duties and spotty kickoff coverage in last week’s 24-13 win over Duke did not sit well.

The “retooling,” as Groh termed it, comes just days before Virginia (1-1, 1-0 ACC) faces its stiffest test on special teams against North Carolina (1-1), a program boasting a proven kicker in Connor Barth and deadly return specialist in Brandon Tate.

“Clearly we have to start out with the mentality that we can’t afford to give up one-play touchdowns,” Groh said. “[UNC has] got one guy who’s been responsible for that in dual ways. Tate’s got three [touchdowns] as a receiver and one of them as a kick returner.”

Tate, a junior, leads the ACC in kickoff return average (33.3 ypr) and ranks third with an average of 13.3 yards per punt return. He burned East Carolina last week for 161 return yards on three kickoffs and three punts, one of which went for a 58-yard touchdown.

North Carolina coach Butch Davis knows the best way to slow Tate. James Madison proved that in the season opener by kicking the ball away from Tate.

Davis may be expecting more of that on Saturday.

“[Virginia is] sound in the kicking game,” Davis said. “Their punter’s averaging 46 yards per punt already, and he’s kicking the ball very, very well.

“Their kicker on kickoffs is kicking the ball routinely in the end zone, which I think is a huge part of it.”

Virginia placekicker Chris Gould said he averaged about four seconds of hang time on his kickoffs last week against Duke, but Groh is demanding more from the senior and the coverage unit.

“We had some balls returned further than is the norm,” Groh said. “[Gould] had good distance on all but one last week, but what we need is more airtime.”

The desire has only been amplified with the new ruling in place that moved kickoffs back to the 30-yard line. At this point, Virginia is one of 53 NCAA I-A teams that has not recorded a touchback, and the 12 teams in the ACC have combined to register only 11 touchbacks on a total of 131 kickoffs (8.3 percent).

“What we are certainly seeing is no hesitancy on the part of many returners to bring the ball out of the end zone almost regardless of how deep into the end zone it is,” Groh said. “As we are experiencing with this new rule … a key thing to judge is on each particular kickoff is how many guys are inside any particular yard line when the ball is caught.”

Groh said he is looking to add speed to the coverage unit, something he proved by adding true freshman Ras-I Dowling to the unit last week.

“This new rule situation, as much as special teams kickoff coverage has always required a lot of speed, it just ratches the need for that up even more,” Groh said.

The problems in the other facets of special teams against Duke were not been directly linked to speed.

“[On] kickoff returns, we clearly didn’t accomplish what we are often able to do,” Groh said. “[On field goals,] we got one blocked and we got a penalty.

“Punt [team] speaks for itself.”

Groh did find some optimism from the punt return unit, a group that leads the ACC and ranks 11th in the country.

“Punt return, I don’t want to diss those guys,” Groh said. “Punt return was a pretty positive element in the game.”

Duke also missed three field goals against Virginia, but the coach said his team could take little credit for that.

“They must have done that with voodoo,” Groh joked.

Extra points

Virginia linebacker Jermaine Dias (ankle) could return to action this weekend. The starting outside linebacker was injured in the first half against Wyoming and missed the Duke game. “If he holds up today he will have a better chance to play,” Groh said on Thursday. ... Linebacker John Bivens, one of the team’s fastest players at his position, did not play against Duke, but has been cleared to play against UNC. Groh hinted that Bivens would join a special teams unit, too. ... Virginia has played four true freshmen this season. Another could make his debut against the Tar Heels. Jared Detrick, a linebacker from Newport News, was singled out by Groh. “We are looking at Jared Detrick on some units,” he said. “He runs real well. He is aggressive and has a lot of answers that he has to come up with yet, but he appears in our short time with him, whether it is on special teams or defense, he just has that innate sense of understanding the game.

“It makes sense to him. He his further ahead on his assignments on some defensive things than some players who have been here a considerably longer period of time.”

... Groh did not name a starter at long snapper. “We are going to continue to conduct The Gong Show this afternoon,” Groh said with a chuckle.

 

Football is flat again in the ACC
Recruiting, coaching, QBs lagging in league, say experts
KEN TYSIAC
ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com

The crawler across the bottom of the TV sets Saturday read like a horror novel for ACC football boosters.

Oklahoma 51, Miami 13 ... Louisiana State 48, Virginia Tech 7 ... East Carolina 34, North Carolina 31 ... Nebraska 20, Wake Forest 17.

The beating the conference took in high-profile, nonconference games confirmed that adding Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College in its recent expansion hasn't raised the level of football in the league as anticipated.

In 2006, ACC teams were 6-16 against opponents from other BCS conferences. This season, ACC teams are 1-4 against BCS foes heading into tonight's game between Maryland and West Virginia.

Some measurable quantities -- recruiting ratings, the pedigree of the league's coaches and the quality of its quarterbacks -- suggest that the ACC's difficulties shouldn't be surprising.

According to scout.com, ACC teams combined for just five top-10 recruiting rankings in the past five years. The SEC led with 18, and the Pac-10, Big 12 and Big Ten all had at least seven.

Another site, rivals.com, shows the ACC with seven top-10 classes, one-third that of the SEC during the same period. Rivals.com national recruiting analyst Mike Farrell said former coaches such as Chuck Amato at N.C. State and Larry Coker at Miami miscalculated by recruiting away from their traditional bases.

"The ACC, it's a geographic issue now that they're more stretched out (after expansion)," Farrell said. "Sometimes that helps out, but sometimes it gets schools away from what they do best, which is recruiting in their own state."

The Associated Press Top 25 shows that recruiting ratings can accurately predict success on the field. No. 1 Southern California had three No. 1 classes in the past five years, according to rivals.com and scout.com.

No. 2 LSU and No. 3 Oklahoma each had four top-10 classes. Nobody in the ACC had more than two, according to scout.com.

Scout.com national recruiting analyst Allen Wallace isn't sold on the idea that recruiting rankings predict success.

Wallace, also the longtime editor and publisher of SuperPrep Magazine, said Georgia Tech had just two top-50 classes according to SuperPrep in the past five years, but crushed perennial recruiting power Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.

Michigan, 0-2 with a loss to Appalachian State, has five straight top-10 classes, according to SuperPrep.

"I'm in the recruiting business," Wallace said, "but I'd be the first person to tell you that this is a coach's game."

Quality of coaching is a subjective matter. But if you rate conferences based on their number of national champion coaches, the ACC is lagging.

The SEC has four coaches who have won or shared a national title (Phil Fulmer, Urban Meyer, Nick Saban and Steve Spurrier), plus another who finished undefeated in 2004 at Auburn in Tommy Tuberville.

Three Big Ten coaches (Lloyd Carr, Joe Paterno and Jim Tressel), two Big 12 coaches (Mack Brown and Bob Stoops) and two Pac-10 coaches (Pete Carroll and Dennis Erickson) have won or shared national titles. Florida State's Bobby Bowden is the only ACC coach who has won a national title.

In the ACC, Florida State and Miami illustrate how teams can fail on the field despite high recruiting rankings. Miami has had five straight top-16 classes, according to SuperPrep, and Florida State has had three classes rated No. 11 or higher in the past four years.

Those once-elite programs both are 8-7 over the past two seasons.

"If you believe in Harry Truman, the buck has to stop at the head man's desk, and those men are hiring the staffs and organizing the programs so they will work in the desired way," Wallace said.

On the field, the buck stops with the quarterback, a position where ACC teams have been inadequate.

Miami, N.C. State and Virginia Tech have changed their starting quarterbacks, and Virginia has burned freshman Peter Lalich's redshirt year because sophomore Jameel Sewell has been ineffective.

Recruiting rankings of the ACC's quarterbacks coming out of high school suggest that their struggles should have been anticipated. Scout.com rates players by giving them between one and five stars to predict their likelihood of success in college.

Five-star players are the nation's elite, and one-star players are often considered gambles by coaches at top programs. Seven of the top 10 teams in the AP poll have quarterbacks who were five-star or four-star recruits.

Of the 12 ACC starters last week, none was a five-star recruit and three were four-star recruits. Contrast that with SEC teams, which are starting two five-star players and five four-star players, and you understand that the ACC might have a talent gap at the game's most important position.

"That's something I've said for a few years," said scout.com regional analyst Miller Safrit. "(ACC teams) haven't been able to pick up the big quarterbacks. They've got good quarterbacks, but were not able to get the quarterbacks that can take you to the next level."

There is hope for the future. The ACC's freshman class includes five-star quarterback recruit Tyrod Taylor (Virginia Tech) and four-star quarterbacks Lalich, Willy Korn (Clemson), Mike Paulus (North Carolina), Robert Marve (Miami) and Josh Nesbitt (Georgia Tech).

"It's got to get better," Farrell said. "It can't get worse. Honestly, the last two or three years, quarterback play in the ACC has been as bad as it's ever been."

Recruiting deficit?

The ACC was 6-16 against BCS conference teams last season and is 1-4 heading into tonight's game between Maryland and West Virginia. Here are the number of top-10 recruiting classes for BCS conferences over the past five years:

CONFERENCE SCOUT.COM RIVALS.COM
ACC 5 7
Big East 1 0
Big Ten 8 4
Big 12 9 10
Pac-10 7 6
SEC 18 21
Independent 2 2

 

UVA Notebook: Cavs; kicking game not too special
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
September 14, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Special teams has been a hallmark of Al Groh's teams at Virginia. That's why the coach is determined not to let the Cavaliers have a repeat performance of their game against Duke.
"We clearly thought that all six (units) really gave us less than what we need to have," Groh said Thursday.

Groh quickly amended that statement to not include the punt return unit, which had returns of 67 and 13 yards, both by Vic Hall.

But everything else, Groh said, "has undergone a bit of a retooling."

Among Saturday's lowlights:

Freshman Danny Aiken had three bad snaps, two on punts and one on a chip-shot field goal that got blocked. UVa used Crutcher Reiss on punts in the fourth quarter, a scenario that could present itself again at UNC.

"We're going to continue to conduct the gong show this afternoon," Groh joked of the competition.

Along with the block, UVa also had a penalty by its field goal unit that pushed Chris Gould out of range.

Ryan Weigand had a punt blocked in the fourth quarter.

The kick return unit was nothing special. None of UVa's three returns went for more than 17 yards. Andrew Pearman also fumbled on one, giving Duke possession.

The Blue Devils returned five punts for 124 yards, a 24.8-yard average.

One bright spot was the play of Ras-I Dowling. In his first collegiate action, the true freshman made four tackles on the five kickoffs he covered.

Groh said true freshman Jared Detrick might join his classmate in getting on the field Saturday. A 6-foot-1, 213-pound outside linebacker from Woodside High in Newport News, Detrick has been a quick study.

"He just has that innate sense of the game. It makes sense to him," Groh said. "He's further ahead on his assignments on some defensive things than some players who have been here a considerably longer period of time."

Return of the return

Getting the ball just inside the goal line on a kickoff doesn't cut it anymore. With kickoffs being moved back five yards to the 30-yard line, coaches and kickers have noticed players will return most anything, even if it's in the back of the end zone.

Last year, 31 of Gould's 42 kickoffs reached the end zone and 21 went for touchbacks. Of the six he's had this year, none have been touchbacks, even though three made it to the goal line against Duke.

The rule has put more emphasis on hang time and a speedy coverage team.

"A key thing to judge with each kickoff (is) how many guys are within a particular yard line when the ball is caught," Groh said. "As much as kickoff coverage has always required a lot of speed, (the new rule) ratchets it up a little more."

Looking better

Outside linebacker Jermaine Dias (ankle) is closer to playing this week. He's practiced since Monday, something he didn't do last week.

"If he holds up today, he'll have a better chance," Groh said.

Dias, a fifth-year senior, hurt his ankle at Wyoming and missed the Duke game. He had started the 18 games prior to that.

Sophomore Denzel Burrell is still listed ahead of him as the starter.


 

Rotation of QBs the norm for Cavs
Virginia notebook
Date published: 9/12/2007
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.

CHARLOTTESVILLE--Whenever University of Virginia football coach Al Groh was forced to prepare for a two-quarterback system, he and his assistant coaches had to work overtime to be ready on game day.

Groh is hoping that's what his opponents will have to do in preparation for the Cavaliers this season.

"Clearly the more things you can make the opponent think about, the more burdensome it becomes," Groh said yesterday.

Virginia (1-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) visits North Carolina (1-1) on Saturday at noon.

The Cavaliers decided after their 23-3 loss to Wyoming in the opening game of the season that redshirt sophomore Jameel Sewell and true freshman Peter Lalich both have skills that can help them be successful.

Groh said the quarterbacks will likely share duties for the rest of the season, but if one is "14-for-14" in a given game, he won't take them out.

Sewell is listed as the starter on the depth chart for the North Carolina game.

However, Groh said not too read too much into that, "because it's a rotation situation."

Lalich will get his share of snaps, too, after going 13-of-18 for 131 yards and a touchdown in Virginia's 24-13 win over Duke on Saturday.

Even he's somewhat surprised at his rapid rise.

"I always expect big things of myself," Lalich said. "But I didn't expect in my wildest dreams to be [playing] as a true freshman."

That's partly because Sewell started nine games last season and began this one as the Cavaliers undisputed leader at the position.

Still, Sewell said he isn't upset about the quarterback rotation. He described it as a "collaboration" and not a competition.

"Whatever [Groh] asks me to do to make sure the team excels, I'm going to do that," Sewell said.

Sewell remained in the Duke game until a bout with leg cramps midway through the second quarter on Saturday. He also started after halftime.

Lalich entered the game in the second quarter and played the entire fourth-quarter, leading the Cavaliers on a 15-play, 82-yard drive that put the game out of Duke's reach.

Sewell had mixed emotions watching the drive.

"Of course I wanted to be out there," he said. "Anybody would want to be out there with their team. But I was excited as well."

Cavaliers senior right guard Ian-Yates Cunningham said Lalich's presence in the huddle has increased dramatically.

In training camp, linemen could barely hear Lalich speak, but that was because he always ran a no-huddle offense at West Springfield High School where he threw 660 passes in his career.

"You don't have to ask him, 'What was that again?'" Cunningham said. "Now he's more comfortable with the offense, more comfortable with his abilities."

Groh said because Sewell is a left-handed player who is a more gifted runner, and Lalich is a right-handed pocket-passer, opponents will have to dedicate more time than usual to Virginia's offense.

Groh and Cunningham said Sewell has handled sharing the quarterback duties well. Cunningham said it hasn't caused any friction among teammates.

"From the outside looking in, you would suspect that to happen," he said. "But Jameel is one of those guys who understands. He'll do anything to help our team win."