Spring football games tend to be nothing more than glorified scrimmages that generate little buzz — unless there is one of three factors in play: a major competition for the starting quarterback slot, a new coach or a new offensive or defensive system.
All three of these currently are affecting the Virginia football team, and so Saturday’s game at Scott Stadium proved to be an interesting matchup for the nearly 8,000 fans in attendance.
Just as was the case last year, the Cavaliers have a three-way competition for the starting quarterback position. Junior quarterback Marc Verica is the lone holdover from last year’s race.
Senior Vic Hall began his career at Virginia as a quarterback but was moved to cornerback during his freshman year because of depth concerns at the cornerback position. A record-setting quarterback at Gretna High School, Hall passed for a Virginia state record 8,731 yards and 104 touchdowns. His 13,770 career yards of offense is fifth all-time nationally. Although Hall continued to play cornerback for the Cavaliers after the initial switch, he was moved to quarterback in certain situations during this past fall’s game against Virginia Tech.
After completing 11 of 16 passes for 98 yards Saturday, Hall is clearly in the running for the starting job, but said he just wants to play this coming fall — regardless of the position.
“As long as I can play football, I’m happy,” Hall said.
The spring game also marked the return of senior quarterback Jameel Sewell, who was a two-year starter for the Cavaliers but was academically ineligible last season. His return was solid as well; the veteran Cavalier threw for 61 yards on 7-for-11 passing with one interception.
“It was a wonderful feeling,” Sewell said. “I had a big smile on my face and just the energy running through my body. I felt like everybody else on the field could feel the energy coming off me.”
Although Verica started nine games for the Cavaliers last season, his poor play during a four-game losing streak in November caused his starting position to become up for grabs this spring.
It is not only rearrangements of players’ positions affecting Virginia this offseason, but also the reassignments of old coaches to new positions. Al Groh will become the defensive coordinator as well as head coach, and Anthony Poindexter will take charge of the defensive backs and assist with special teams instead of running backs, New hires also are mixing up the team’s chemistry, with Gregg Brandon replacing Mike Groh as offensive coordinator and Ron Prince returning to Virginia after a three-year stint at Kansas State — this time as special teams coordinator instead of offensive coordinator.
The changes have been welcome ones to the Cavaliers. Virginia’s performance on special teams thus far has been particularly impressive.
“Ron’s done a great job with the special teams operation,” Groh said. “The players have really brought in to the schemes and the diverse set of techniques that go with those schemes.”
The defense blocked two punts during the spring game and put significant pressure on two others. Sophomore safety Rodney McLeod and sophomore wide receiver Jared Green were responsible for the blocks, the first for Green as a Cavalier.
“I’ve never been on punt block before,” Green said. “It was awesome. It was fun and it is something that I would like to do a lot more of.”
The players also have found Brandon’s new spread offense advantageous.
“You get to abuse the defense even more,” Sewell said. “If they aren’t conditioned, then they’re out of luck. It gives us a big advantage over the defense, as long as we run out plays precisely.”
The new offensive strategy, moreover, allows players to be more versatile in schemes.
“It’s as if the offense has 12 guys out there, if the quarterback can run,” Groh said. “The defense always has 11 [players on the field], but when you have multiple players on the offense that can do other things — runners who can catch, catchers who can run, quarterbacks who can run — it just keeps adding up, and the offense has more than 11 weapons on the field.”
Two touchdowns were scored during the spring game — one of which was on a 21-yard pass from Verica to junior tailback Raynard Horne. The other touchdown came on a 48-yard run by senior tailback Mikell Simpson — which was particularly exciting for Cavalier fans in light of how Simpson’s play last season was not on par with his 2007 breakout season.
“He was much more evident every day this spring,” Groh said. “That certainly was the case [Saturday].”
Virginia kicks off its 2009-10 season Sept. 5 at home against William & Mary. Though the coaching staff has yet to choose a starting quarterback, Groh seemed content with what he saw out of the three contenders Saturday.
“Staff-wise, we have felt throughout that progressively they’ve done a nice job of handling the very challenging circumstances,” Groh said. “We feel positive about what they’ve all done.”
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