The roller coaster ride that was the 2008 Virginia football season came to an end Saturday when the Cavaliers lost to Virginia Tech to finish the season 5-7 and bowl-ineligible for the second time in three seasons. Unlike the 2006 season in which Virginia showed some promise in the month of November, the Cavaliers faulted down the stretch and lost their last four games in a season for the first time since 1982.
When the season started, the Cavaliers were dealing with a lot of uncertainty. Not only did off-the-field issues plague the football team, but Virginia fans did not know who the starting quarterback would be for the season opener against Southern California. As it turned out, sophomore quarterback Peter Lalich earned the starting nod, and he did not have a great outing, completing 18 of 35 passes for 155 yards with an interception. Virginia was embarrassed by its 52-7 loss, which set a tone for a turbulent September.
After looking less than impressive in a 16-0 victory against a Richmond squad led by former defensive coordinator Mike London, the Cavaliers then faced a big blow when Lalich violated the terms of his probation. He would not travel with the team to Connecticut, where sophomore quarterback Marc Verica started, and the Cavaliers lost to the Huskies 45-10. Lalich would be dismissed from the team before Virginia took on Duke. What has been a victory for ACC teams ended in disaster for the Cavaliers as they lost 31-3 to become Duke’s first ACC victim in the Blue Devils’ last 25 ACC games. With the hot seat squarely under Virginia coach Al Groh, he and his team needed an October to remember, and that’s exactly what happened.
Under the primetime lights, the Cavaliers played by far their best and most spirited game of the season in a 31-0 victory. Verica was very efficient, completing 25 of 34 passes for 226 yards and two touchdowns while also providing a rushing touchdown. The defense held the Terps to 79 yards on the ground, and the win gave the Cavaliers confidence going into the East Carolina game. Just as the Cavaliers seemed to be letting the Pirates get into the game, however, the Cavaliers scored on a fake field goal when senior quarterback Scott Deke threw a touchdown pass to senior tight end John Phillips giving Virginia the 35-20 victory.
When Virginia seemed dead in the water against North Carolina, down 10-7 late in the game, Verica led the Cavaliers on a beautiful drive across the field, capped by senior running back Cedric Peerman’s touchdown with 47 seconds left. Peerman also scored the game-winning touchdown in overtime as Virginia upset then-No. 18 North Carolina 16-13. The Cavaliers made another statement the following week when they went on the road and upset then-No. 21 Georgia Tech 24-17. The competitive nature the team displayed is something that senior linebacker Clint Sintim noted that the team did throughout the year.
“Every game we’ve played, with the exception of USC and UConn, was a competitive game — we could have won those games,” Sintim said. “We were a very competitive team this year. Obviously, we didn’t come through when we needed to, but this team was very competitive.”
The Cavaliers, at 5-3 and 3-1 in conference, were in control of their destiny in the ACC but would come crashing back to earth in November. During homecoming against Miami, Hurricane quarterback Jacory Harris led his squad on a 15-play, 95-yard march down the field to tie the game with 55 seconds left. After a costly Verica fumble caused the game to go into overtime, Miami scored a touchdown on its possession in the first overtime. Peerman fumbled on the first play of Virginia’s turn and the Hurricanes recovered, handing Virginia a heartbreaking 24-17 loss.
The following week, Virginia looked flat in the first half against the Demon Deacons in a 28-17 loss. Miraculously, the Cavaliers still had a chance to win the Coastal Division, but those dreams were squashed when Verica had his second consecutive three-interception game in a loss to Clemson on senior night 13-3. Facing Virginia Tech with bowl eligibility on the line, the Cavaliers unleashed Vic Hall in a formation similar to the Wildcat popularized by the NFL’s Miami Dolphins. Hall provided two rushing touchdowns, but a costly Verica interception late in the fourth quarter sealed the Cavaliers’ fate in a 17-14 loss that cost a bowl bid. Verica realizes that while he did some good this season, he made some mistakes that must be fixed in 2009.
“There’s a lot of good things to build off of and be excited about for the future,” Verica said. “At the same time, there’s a lot of things to learn from, a lot of mistakes — decision-making, things like that — just a lot of things to really try and improve upon in the future. If those things can be eliminated, and we continue to do the good things, we should do pretty well.”
Looking back on the season, Groh realizes that what the Cavaliers went through in the last month was tough but hopes his players learned some lessons.
“It’s difficult,” Groh said. “Hopefully a lot of players learned that it’s an interception here, a missed tackle there [that can make a difference].”
As far as whether Groh will return, Sintim said, “he’s definitely back. I don’t feel as though he didn’t do everything he possibly could to help this team out.”
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