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Cavaliers like Vic Hall (4) lost their helmets but not their hearts in 31-3 loss to Duke. |
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.
DURHAM, N.C.--
When University of Virginia junior wide receiver Kevin Ogletree was asked if he and his teammates have quit this season, he emphatically said "No."But Ogletree was hardly convincing.
And neither was Cavaliers head coach Al Groh after he attempted to find positives out of his team's embarrassing 31-3 loss to Duke on Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium.
The Blue Devils (3-1, 1-0 ACC) snapped a 25-game Atlantic Coast Conference losing streak and the Cavaliers (1-3, 0-1) looked as hapless as Duke did during its four-year run of futility.
Still, Groh's overall demeanor was positive in a postgame conversation with reporters.
"The only thing that really counts is what's up on the scoreboard. That's what we play for," Groh said. "Despite what we see up there, in a lot of different areas we saw some positive movement with the team."
Groh cited the play of fullback Rashawn Jackson, who averaged 5.4 yards per carry in the absence of starting running back Cedric Peerman.
He also talked about the number of first-year players who have seen action this season, including true freshman defensive back Rodney McLeod, who became the fourth Cavalier to burn his redshirt season against Duke.
Groh said he's trying to merge newcomers like McLeod with veterans such as senior linebackers Clint Sintim, Jon Copper and Antonio Appleby.
"We're trying to bring the team together from two different directions," Groh said. "We had 19 freshmen here today, at least 12 of whom played in the game."
Groh may not be around to see the growth of those players if the Cavaliers don't turn it around soon.
But instead of downing his players, Groh has turned to the positive approach.
"The first way you start overcoming those things is with positive energy," he said. "Nothing starts going back in an orderly direction with negativity. We're going to point out things that need to get better, but we're going to see what we're doing positively, [too]."
Groh had an opportunity to turn negative after sophomore quarterback Marc Verica threw four interceptions, one of which was returned for a 42-yard touchdown by Duke senior cornerback Jabari Marshall.
But Groh chose to stick with Verica instead of turning to fifth-year senior Scott Deke or true freshman third-stringer Riko Smalls.
Groh said he wants to see how Verica handles adversity. He said quarterbacks "can't run for the hills when things are tough" and that other players have to endure difficulties without being bailed out.
"It's easy to be the quarterback when you throw five touchdowns and score 35 points," Groh said. "It's a little bit more challenging when everybody in the world knows that it didn't go the way that you wanted it to. Some guys really respond to that, and that elevates their games, and some guys go downhill. We have every confidence that Marc will go in the right direction."
Groh and his players didn't go as far as saying the Cavaliers will definitely turn their season around.
But after one of the program's worst losses in recent memory, they did their best to avoid saying anything negative. The Cavaliers host Maryland on Saturday at 7 p.m.
"Any time we lose in the ACC, it hurts," Ogletree said. "We knew Duke was playing inspired football. We knew they weren't going to let us come in here and win. But we've got a lot of work to do."
Taft Coghill Jr.: 540/374-5526
Email: tcoghill@freelancestar.com
