In the beginning of the season, Virginia coach Al Groh probably never expected to see the Virginia starting secondary he saw Saturday.
But after a horrific injury to starting safety Nate Lyles in the second quarter, the unexpected became reality. That injury, along with the suspension of senior captain safety Tony Franklin earlier in the week, forced little known reserves into prominent roles on the team.
Redshirt freshman walk-on Byron Glaspy started for Franklin at one safety spot, and sophomore Jamaal Jackson took over at the other safety position when Lyles went down.
To make matters worse, the best receiver in the ACC was lining up across from them. Georgia Tech's Calvin Johnson has terrorized ACC defenses since he arrived in Atlanta last year, totaling 48 catches for 837 yards and seven touchdowns last season. On Saturday, however, Johnson only managed a pedestrian four catches for 41 yards against the Cavaliers and never found the end zone.
Georgia Tech employed many three and four wide receiver formations, determined to attack the depleted Virginia secondary as well as come back from an early 17-0 deficit. The extra receivers forced Virginia to bring in more defensive backs to play nickel coverage, putting five defensive backs on the field at one time.
The difficulties in the nickel lie not only in the number of receivers, but in the number of defenders available to cover one player. In addition to Johnson, Georgia Tech's receiving corps features speedy senior Damarius Bilbo and multiple running backs capable of catching balls out of the backfield for big gains.
Nickel situations test a team's depth in the secondary and ability to play as a unit.
"I think it shows that we do have a lot of depth on the team and we're all ready to play," Glaspy said. "And also that we're a pretty close knit group of guys. No one was looking at each other and saying, 'Oh, he's going to be the weak link.' It's definitely a motivator to not want to be the one to let my team down."
The coaches provided a solid game plan for the newcomers that gave them direction on the field and allowed them to maximize their individual contributions.
"We tried to pick three or four things where we say, 'Here's what we need to do to win the game,'" Groh said about the team's halftime adjustments. "It's not about cheering in there -- it's about giving them some specific objectives that have to be accomplished."
Marcus Hamilton, as the secondary's lone upperclassman, helped shepherd the younger players through the difficult situation, emphasizing the need to work together and know what was going on around them and not to tense up under the pressure.
Hamilton's advice for the younger players was to "communicate with the rest of the secondary and have fun."
"It's football -- we play it every day -- it's nothing new," he said.
The success of the newcomers was not totally unexpected, however. Hamilton credits their work ethic in practice for the unit's ability to replace the missing starters so effectively.
"They played real well," Hamilton said of the back-ups. "They work hard every day in practice, so it's nothing new for them to come out and make plays like they did today."
Read More
With last-second three-pointer, SMU silences men’s basketball
By Michael Liebermann and Thomas Baxter | 6 hours agoThe late shot crushed a bouncing arena.
With dominance and high hopes, women’s tennis opens the spring season
By Gracie Genereux | 7 hours agoA commanding opening victory set the stage for the season to come.
No. 6 women’s squash falls to No. 5 Stanford in first match of the new year
By Peter Kratz | YesterdayThe Cavaliers fall to 0-1 in conference play after their first clash with the Cardinal.
