When asked how sophomore quarterback Marc Verica could recover from his costly fourth-quarter interception against Virginia Tech as well as his turnover-ridden games against Wake Forest and Clemson, Virginia coach Al Groh provided a simple response.
“Dr. Phil,” he said.
Forget just Verica — the entire team and coaching staff need a therapy session with Dr. Phil. In fact, make it a primetime special while you’re at it and have Oprah stop by for further counseling. After what this program has gone through in the last calendar year with the numerous off-the-field problems in the horrible month that was September, and righting the ship in October only to see it implode in November, some counseling is in order.
Just to show how promising this year could have been, even after the Cavaliers blew a lead in the Gator Bowl against Texas Tech, ESPN.com’s Mark Schlabach back on Jan. 8 had the Cavaliers as the 20th best team headed into the 2008 season. Though it was in January, it spoke volumes to the potential people saw in the Cavaliers for the 2008 season. Event by event, however, things started to unravel. Here is a chronological summary of Virginia’s undoing.
It started in mid-January, when four players on the Virginia football team were declared academically ineligible for the spring semester and therefore ineligible to play in the 2008 season. Two of the players were crucial losses: cornerback Chris Cook and quarterback Jameel Sewell. With that piece of news, Virginia’s good vibes coming off the 2007 season were lost, and recruiting suffered. The class of 2008 ranked 58th in the country and 11th in the ACC, according to Rivals.com. That caused Cavalier fans to go into uproar, as Virginia only signed three players native to the Virginia, and Virginia Tech cleaned up with prospects from Virginia en route to a top-20 recruiting class.
Late February provided even worse news for the Cavaliers when it was announced that would-be junior defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald had been removed from the program and dropped out of school. That loss arguably hurt even more than Sewell’s suspension, because Fitzgerald was counted on to provide a pass rush that was voided by Chris Long’s graduation.
The off-field problems, however, were far from over. In early April, would-be redshirt freshman linebacker J’Courtney Williams — a U.S. Army All-American in high school — was arrested and charged with credit card theft and credit card fraud and was subsequently kicked off the team. What were seen as isolated incidents turned into an epidemic for the program.
After a spring game in which the quarterback situation wasn’t cleared up, it certainly didn’t help that sophomore quarterback Peter Lalich — the rumored frontrunner for the job — was charged with unlawful alcoholic purchase and possession in July. Though Lalich wasn’t suspended, it raised questions about his maturity and whether he was capable of leading the team.
By the time the season came around, Virginia suffered something even more embarrassing than the off-the-field issues: a 52-7 thrashing at the hands of Southern California on national television.
Then, as if it wasn’t bad enough that Virginia looked mediocre in a 16-0 win against Richmond, the news came out that Lalich had violated the terms of his probation in the preseason and as a result would not travel to Connecticut. With Verica starting in his first game, Virginia was embarrassed 45-10, but a bigger hit to the program occurred before the bye week because Lalich was dismissed from the football team. With Verica continuing to take the snaps, the Cavaliers hit rock bottom in the next week as Duke snapped its 25-game ACC losing streak by embarrassing the Cavaliers 31-3. Sitting at 1-3, Virginia was facing a do-or-die month in October, needing to do well for the program to save face.
The Cavaliers, to the shock of many, went 4-0 in October, but there was still some bad news during that month. The average attendance in the three October home games was 51,822, which is more than 8,000 fewer attendees per game than the 2007 season average. This season’s overall attendance — even with the USC game factored in — was 53,815, which spoke volumes to fan and student apathy toward the team this season.
Then, after October gave Cavalier fans hope for an ACC title, November was another horrid month for the Cavaliers. They lost in heartbreaking fashion to Miami thanks in part to a costly turnover by Verica. Then, all of a sudden, Verica unraveled the last three games, throwing seven interceptions and losing the accuracy he had during October, and the offense sputtered as a result. To top things off, rival Virginia Tech — itself offensively challenged as well this season — won the ACC Coastal Division in a rebuilding year, and in so doing cost Virginia bowl eligibility for the second time in three years and sent off the senior Virginia class win-less against the Hokies.
For a program usually successful on the field and off, this year proved to be stressful and turbulent for the Cavaliers. Groh is now squarely in the hot seat — his contract has not been extended by athletic director Craig Littlepage. The job security of Al Groh’s son, offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Mike Groh, may also be under pressure after the offense finished outside the top 100 in total yards for the third straight year. There are also doubts as to whether Sewell can return to form next season, and if not, whether Verica is the solution under center after throwing 16 interceptions in 10 games this season.
The Cavaliers will be watched even more closely this offseason to make sure they stay out of the police blotter. What had the potential to be a glorious 2008 season ended in extreme disappointment. Right now Dr. Phil might not be enough for this team.
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