After seven games, the 2003 Virginia football team stands at 4-3, one game worse than this time last season. The difference might be turnovers.
The Cavaliers aren't necessarily coughing the ball up more often this season (11 turnovers in seven games this year compared to 22 in 14 games last year). They just aren't taking it away as much. Virginia has only forced 12 turnovers this season after forcing 35 last year. A lack of takeaways hurt the Cavaliers in their 19-14 loss to Florida State.
"Without turnovers, it's hard to win a football game," senior cornerback Almondo Curry said. "One or two turnovers in that game and we would've ended up on top."
Virginia saw two great turnover chances slip away during the second half of Saturday's game. In the third quarter, junior safety Jay Dorsey broke on a Chris Rix pass and nearly took it to the house. But the ball slipped through Dorsey's hands, taking away a strong chance for a defensive touchdown. Rix had a similar pass returned on him during FSU's 22-14 loss to Miami.
"We didn't get that ball and we end up with 14" points, Groh said. "We get that ball and run it back, and we have the same amount of points that Miami did."
Virginia's second takeaway opportunity came when Jermaine Hardy made a play on a pass deflection, diving to the ground to make a one-handed catch. The official ruled the ball incomplete, provoking the disapproval of many of the 62,000 in attendance. Groh would not comment on the officiating but commended his safety on the acrobatic play.
"If you start protesting everything, then you're just a whiner," Groh said. "It was a real good body control play. There was some jostling around, and he made a real good play to get to it."
Virginia's takeaway woes reminded Groh of his time with the New England Patriots. In his second year there, the Pats' excellent takeaway ratio helped them reach the playoffs. One year later, with takeaways down, they finished under .500. If the parallel continues, however, Virginia fans should remain optimistic -- New England went to the Super Bowl the following season.
Punting Woes Continue for Hagan
Sophomore punter Tom Hagan had another rough game Saturday night, averaging only 28.5 yards per punt.
Groh dismissed the idea that Hagan, ranked last in the ACC in punting average, suffers from improper mechanics.
"I think he'd tell you that more than mechanics, it's often the case of rhythm and balance," Groh said. "If he's out of rhythm or out of balance then everything else is skewed."
With Hagan performing in a less-than-stellar fashion against the Seminoles, some questioned Groh's decision to punt on two fourth-and-shorts during the fourth quarter. Groh, however, claimed to have had no trouble making those decisions.
"I thought about [going for] it fleetingly," Groh said. "But it was still very early in the fourth quarter, and our defense was saddled with an awful lot of short fields to defend. I didn't want to compound that."
Hagan soon might face competition for his starting spot. Walk-on Noah Greenbaum dressed for the FSU game and has reportedly been challenging Hagan in practice.
Franks out at Duke
Duke University fired football coach Carl Franks Sunday, one day after the Blue Devils fell behind Wake Forest 42-0 at the half. Franks went 7-45 in four-and-a-half seasons as the head coach of the Devils, who lost 29 straight ACC games under his command.
"I immediately think of it from the perspective of a coach and his family," Groh said. "His life was being a coach. Yesterday he had a team, and today he doesn't."
Defensive Coordinator Ted Roof has been named Frank's replacement for the remainder of the season.
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