The Virginia football team is just trying to take this season one step at a time.
Implementing a day-by-day, week-by-week, game-by-game approach, coach Al Groh refuses to allow his players to look too far ahead in the season’s schedule. With No. 18 North Carolina (5-1, 1-1 ACC) visiting Charlottesville tomorrow, the Cavaliers (3-3, 1-1 ACC) can’t afford to let their focus drift too far from the present.
While the squad managed to follow up its unexpected shutout of Maryland two weeks ago with yet another decisive home win against East Carolina last week, defeating the Tar Heels should prove to be a tall task for a Virginia team still trying to find its feet after a shaky first half.
“They’ve got a lot of playmakers on their team,” senior linebacker Clint Sintim said. “They have a lot of playmakers in the skill positions, and their defense is very talented so it’s definitely going to be a challenge for our team.”
Sintim and the rest of the Cavalier defense, in particular, will be tested by North Carolina, a team that boasts one of the more potent offensive attacks in the ACC. Led by a trio of highly touted receivers — “one of the top receiving corps in the nation” Sintim said — the Tar Heels average nine yards on first downs alone and have scored at least 28 points in five of their six outings thus far this season. Junior Hakeem Nicks leads the talented wide receivers with four touchdowns, 5.5 catches per game and 92.2 receptions yards per game.
While the Tar Heels’ first-string quarterback, sophomore T.J. Yates, is out for six weeks because of an ankle injury suffered in the team’s lone loss against Virginia Tech, junior Cameron Sexton has performed well in Yates’ absence. He even garnered ACC Player of the Week honors in his first start this season against Miami, when he threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns on only 11 completions. In North Carolina’s come-from-behind victory against Notre Dame last weekend, Sexton completed a career-high 18 passes on his way to racking up 201 yards through the air, and his completion percentage of 56.7 percent on the year is well above his 2006 season completion percentage of 41.9 percent.
“It’s a very versatile offensive system,” Groh said. “Very versatile on formations they use, very versatile and flexible in the schemes that are employed and very, very versatile in the type of personnel they employ.”
The Tar Heels’ flexibility on offense will be somewhat impaired Saturday, however, after senior wide receiver Brandon Tate suffered a season-ending knee injury early in the game against Notre Dame. Although Tate is only ranked second in receptions among the team’s receivers, he averages an astounding 23.5 yards per catch and has been a key player on special teams for the Heels as well, averaging 27.7 yards on kick returns, good enough for 18th in the nation.
North Carolina may be without one of its most lethal special teams gamechangers in Tate, but so far this season, the Cavaliers have failed to stop returns of any kind, whether from opponents’ best players or not. On average, Virginia has given up 23.6 yards on opponents’ kickoff returns, ranking only 96th in the nation.
“We’ve got to do a much better job with our kickoff coverage and kickoff return teams,” Groh said. “We’re getting nothing out of that and nothing in an absolute sense with little bang for our buck in terms of what’s invested in them.”
Though the Cavaliers’ special teams’ unit continue to struggle, the Virginia offense has found new life after posting dismal statistics in its first four games of the season. Following a horrific four-interception day in the team’s loss to Duke, sophomore quarterback Marc Verica has shown poise under center as of late, posting a completion percentage of more than 75 percent the past two games.
“I’ve always tried to let adversity affect me in a positive way,” Verica said. “Use it to light a fire and motivate yourself to bounce back.”
The young quarterback has received support from an emerging group of receivers, led by junior wide receiver Kevin Ogletree, as well as from a powerful running game, highlighted by senior tailback Cedric Peerman. Responsible for a crucial first down to set up the Cavs’ game-winning field goal last year in Chapel Hill, Peerman ran over Pirate defenders in the win against ECU last weekend, piling up 173 rushing yards on 16 carries, including two carries of 60 and 79 yards. Against the Tar Heels, however, both Peerman and Verica will have to be especially careful with the ball; North Carolina not only leads the nation in turnover ratio, possessing a slew of aggressive defensive players who have forced eight fumbles on the year, but the Heels also are first in the NCAA in interceptions, with 14 picks thus far this season.
“They’re taking the ball away,” Groh said. “They’re not giving it up.”
Virginia will be looking Saturday not only to extend its two-game win streak, but also its home dominance against North Carolina. Virginia has not lost to the Tar Heels in Charlottesville since 1981, successfully stifling the Tar Heels in 13 straight matchups on the Cavaliers’ home turf.
Under Groh’s system, however, it’s just one game at a time, no looking forward and no looking back.
“Every week you have to approach it like a one-game season, so I think it would be more fitting to say that we’ve had two winning seasons in a row the past couple of weeks, as [Groh] likes to put it,” Verica said.
After six games, or seasons, the team appears to be on the right track, as displayed in its last two upset wins. The challenge now for the Cavs will be to continue to maintain their recent momentum in the second half of the season.
“We’re actually only halfway through right now,” Sintim said, “So we have the opportunity of seizing something special.”
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