Who would have thought the Cavalier football team would be entering its first ACC matchup against Duke as the underdog?
Virginia (1-2) faces a revitalized Duke squad under new head coach David Cutcliffe on its home turf in Durham tomorrow at noon. This is the first time Duke (2-1) has been favored against an ACC opponent since 2002. This is what things have come to as Virginia struggles to overcome such obstacles as the dismissal of former starting quarterback Peter Lalich and an embarrassing 45-10 loss to Connecticut.
Last season, Lalich replaced a struggling Jameel Sewell against Duke to lead the Cavaliers to victory. Now sophomore quarterback Marc Verica enters the spotlight and is expected to start his first ACC game against the Blue Devils, leading a very different team than the one that rebounded from last season’s opening loss to go on a seven-game win streak. The tenuous 24-13 win against Duke in 2007 sparked something for the Cavaliers, and fans can only hope the same will be true this season.
“They certainly proved last year, there’s a lot of tough kids in this group, and there are a lot of determined kids in this group, and there are a lot of very positive kids in this group,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “This is a [phrase] that I hardly ever use, but I hear it used in other circumstances; the issues that we have aren’t in terms of want to, or effort or toughness.”
The Cavaliers will face a challenge in Duke junior quarterback Thaddeus Lewis, who has surprised many this season by being one of the most accurate passers in the ACC. In Duke’s 41-31 win against Navy, Lewis threw for 317 yards and completed 71.4 percent of his passes.
“We hear these days sometimes people referring to the game that we watch as basketball on grass, and that’s kind of what [the Duke offense] is,” Groh said. “Lewis is the point guard, and they’re running the fast break, and if it was in Cameron Indoor Stadium, and it was their equivalent of it, you’d probably hear the coach standing on the sideline yelling, ‘Push the ball, push the ball.’”
The Cavaliers need to turn this style of play to their advantage defensively by causing turnovers but also need to establish cohesion on both offense and defense.
“Everybody’s got to obviously pull together,” senior linebacker Jon Copper said. “When you lose somebody, and unfortunately with what happened last week, everybody’s got to come together even more.”
Now the offense is in Verica’s hands, and he heads into this game with the confidence of his offensive coordinator and his team.
“Anytime a quarterback has to look over his shoulder, that might affect him,” Verica said. “But me and [offensive coordinator] Mike [Groh] had a chance to talk, and he told me, ‘Don’t look over your shoulder, this is your team now, just go out there and relax and be yourself.’”
Verica’s style of play may be just what the doctor ordered for Virginia. Under Lalich, the offense sputtered, scoring only 10 offensive points against Football Championship Series opponent Richmond. Verica has a much more mobile style, which could prove useful as he looks for receivers downfield. His ability to scramble could also enhance the running game, which has also been anemic lately.
“He’s kind of unflappable [which is what] I’ve heard coaches before say sometimes about their quarterbacks,” Groh said. “He’s able to shake off those things and get on with the next shot; he does a good job with that. He sees the field nicely, he just needs to keep building up his looks.”
So the unthinkable has happened. Virginia is an underdog to perennial ACC loser Duke. If the Cavaliers can defeat a new-look Duke squad on Tobacco Road tomorrow, they could prove to the ACC they are capable of being competitive in the ACC this season.
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