Amidst the dreary weather Saturday, the defense shined in the annual spring game, which marked the end to spring practice for theCavaliers' 2007 football team. The Blue, led by junior quarterback Scott Deke, put up only 216 yards of offense but still claimed the 7-0 victory in front of a small, scattered crowd at Scott Stadium.
The spring game is a chance for the players to see how far they've come this offseason and how much further they have to go. For the fans, it provides the chance to see a small preview of what to expect when the Cavaliers warm up again in Charlottesville this August.
The roster was broken into two teams -- Blue and White. The Blue squad, coached by offensive coordinator Mike Groh, featured the first string defense and the second string offense. Defensive coordinator Mike London, who was given the White squad, got the second string defense and first string offense.
With first string sophomore quarterback Jameel Sewell resting a surgically repaired wrist, redshirt freshman Marc Verica and junior Scott Deke competed for the first string spot. Verica was named the starter for the first string, but Virginia coach Al Groh said neither has the edge just yet. Deke said he did not mind playing in the second string because the team had to be broken up one way or another, and he doesn't see himself as second to Verica.
The lone score of the game was a 24-yard pass from Deke to senior Simon Manka, who cut across the field to the corner of the end zone on a shake route. The touchdown would prove to be all the Blue needed to secure the win. One play earlier, Deke went to Manka downfield, who dropped the pass.
"Every quarterback has to have faith in his receivers," Deke said. "Every quarterback throws a bad ball, every receiver drops a ball. Not for a second did I think he wasn't going to catch it. He ran a great route."
Groh said his system of evaluating quarterbacks requires that the Cavalier coaches not keep score.
"If [they] do, the results will be very disturbing because the players aren't at a point yet where their scores will be very good," Groh said.
Instead, Groh tries to only count the number of good things his quarterbacks do in a game. Based on stats alone, neither Verica nor Deke was too impressive. Verica was 9-21 with an interception for 94 yards and Deke was 13-22 for 129 yards and one touchdown. Groh was wary about making too many predictions about the quarterback position from Saturday's game, saying it is easy to jump to conclusions during the spring game.
Nonetheless, Groh wanted to see what his players could do more than anything else.
"If a lot of players are individually getting better, then collectively, the team will get better," Groh said.
Long echoed this sentiment, focusing on the personal aspect of the game.
"It's not about one team winning," Long said. "It's about individual improvement."
Manka, junior Maurice Covington, redshirt freshman Joe Torchia and others will compete for the top wide receiver spot, which opened up this spring when junior Kevin Ogletree tore his ACL and ended his 2007 season.
"Every receiver is working to fill[Ogletree's] gap," Manka said.
Senior Chris Long, who was named a 2007 captain Saturday along with senior tight end Tom Santi and junior guard Branden Albert, said he was happy with the overall defensive effort.
"I would've been happy if it had been a 0-0 tie," Long said. "Because that means the defense is doing its job."
The strong defensive effort on both sides was highlighted by an interception by sophomore cornerback Vic Hall who picked off Verica for the first play of the second quarter. The White squad also had four sacks on the day.
Additionally, the winners of the Rock Weir Award for most improved players were announced before the game. Junior tackle Eugene Monroe received the honor for the offense.
"We're seeing, for the first time, a glimpse of what's been expected of Monroe," Groh added.
On defense, junior linebacker Antonio Appleby received the honor.
"Antonio was really on his game, all spring long," Groh said.
The spring game marks the end of practice for Virginia until Aug. 5th. The Cavaliers know they have a long way to go, but they also are aware of the fact that there is still time for progress before the season kicks off.
"We've made a lot of progress, but I've got concerns in every area," Groh said. "We've got 45 practices between the start of spring practice and first game. We've had 15, so that puts us one third of the way through."
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