The debacle in Tallahassee three weekends ago in which the No. 12 Cavaliers (6-1, 3-1 ACC) fell 36-3 to the Seminoles was more than a confidence destroyer and reality check. After that contest, Virginia's coach Al Groh said no defensive position was safe and each starter had to earn back his "orange jersey," worn by the defensive starters in practice.
Two weeks and two days later, only six of the 11 jerseys have been claimed.
"You play to a certain standard -- orange jersey goes with it," Groh said. "We're having a hard enough time stopping [opponents] with 11. ... We're never going to put nine out there because certain positions aren't playing up to what we need. But just because a player gets to start the game doesn't mean he's earned the orange jersey."
According to senior safety Jermaine Hardy, who was one of the six to win back the jersey, Brennan Schmidt, Andrew Hoffman, Rich Bedesem, Ahmad Brooks and Darryl Blackstock round out the group of orange penny holders. Bedesem began the season as the first-team inside linebacker before giving way to Brooks in week two. The senior started his second game of the season last week at Duke in front of Kai Parham.
"It's competition out there every day," Hardy said. "You got to go out there and make plays in practice, and then [coach Groh] will decide if you're going to play in the game."
Adding more intrigue to the defensive lineup is freshman cornerback Philip Brown's entry into a starting role in place of sophomore Marcus Hamilton. Hamilton, who has started all seven games this season, is sixth on the team with 34 tackles and leads the defense with two interceptions. However, Hamilton received a 15-yard personal foul penalty and two pass interference penalties in the Duke contest, including a 15-yard infraction that resulted in a Blue Devil first down on third-and-10. He also was part of a Virginia secondary that was victimized for four passes of 20 yards or more to the ACC's last place offense in Duke last Saturday.
"Right from the start, he's been tuned in," Groh said of Brown. "As it is every week, [starting] is based on who's performing the best at the present time. What a player has done in the past or what he has done in the future has no bearing on who plays each particular Saturday."
Brown has appeared in all seven games and 189 plays this season -- tops for non-defensive starters.
News and Notes
After the upsets of then-No. 4 Miami and then-No. 5 Florida State to unranked North Carolina and Maryland, respectively, Virginia stands tied for first in the conference at 3-1 with Miami and Virginia Tech. ... Groh told reporters that Marques Hagans would have played this Saturday had there been a game and that he practiced well Thursday and Friday. "Overall I think that there will certainly be some players that got more spring today than they otherwise would have had," Groh said of the extra time off from the bye week. ... Groh told the media that he watched the college football upsets this past weekend on his home television. "I was paying pretty rapt attention," Groh said. "But there weren't a lot of invited guests." ... Groh said he started Alvin Pearman last Saturday versus Duke on "just a hunch." The hunch paid off as Pearman ran for 223 yards on 38 carries, both the second-highest figures in school history. ... This Saturday's home matchup with ACC rival Maryland is set for 3:30 p.m., as is the home finale versus Miami Nov. 13.
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