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By Andrew Dressel
April 22, 2003
You could call it the passing of the torch. In last season’s home finale at Scott Stadium, All-American Billy McMullen, the most prolific receiver in UVa history, threw the first touchdown pass of his career to fellow wideout Michael McGrew. The 37-yard TD against Maryland wasn’t a thing of beauty but it was a symbolic gesture. The pass signaled the end of Virginia’s all-time leading receiver’s collegiate career, and presented McGrew an opportunity to shine in McMullen’s absence.
McGrew, who played in McMullen’s shadow the previous three seasons, is now the Cavaliers’ leading returning receiver after finishing second behind the all-time great last year with 27 catches and a career-high 428 yards. Naturally, people have tried to draw comparisons between the two, but McGrew is hesitant to draw similarities.
“I think Billy and I shared some traits because we worked out together,” said McGrew, who ran many of the same routes and patterns as the departed receiver, “but Billy [never tried] to be me and I [never tried] to be Billy. All I can be is Mike McGrew and be the best player I can be. Billy does some things that I don’t do and I do some things that he doesn’t do. Overall, we’re different players.”
Regardless of the differences, McGrew has displayed a consistent level of play over his three-year tenure at Virginia. “I’m still trying to work on all aspects of my game, and I think right now, I’ve been fortunate enough to be pretty consistent,” commented McGrew. “Being consistent has always been one of my best qualities. I’m going to be the same guy everyday.”
After grabbing only two receptions his freshman year in 2000, the senior wideout has amassed 60 career catches for 746 yards, and four touchdowns. He even posted an impressive 15.9-yards per catch average last season. How well McGrew and the rest of the young receiving corps will perform next season without McMullen is open to debate.
“I think we’ll be fine,” declared McGrew. “We have a lot of people that can step up and make plays. So I think when September rolls around we’ll be pretty good.” Added head coach Al Groh, “[Ryan] Sawyer and Mike McGrew give us two veteran players who have been in a lot of games and made plays for us and so that ought to be a very good position for us. We have a lot of young talent there on the team that will be important for us to develop and for them to step forward, as well as some exciting young talent coming in.”
A major responsibility for McGrew will be to fill a leadership role that was vacated by McMullen, and aid the younger players’ development. With a team-high 24 career starts, the seasoned veteran contributes many intangibles that are otherwise lacking on the young squad.”I think there’s nothing like experience,” stated McGrew. “When you can look back when times get harder and you have that experience and you’ve played in front of a big crowd, etc., you can fall back on that and have the confidence that you’re going to do well. When things get rough, and somebody needs a pick-me-up, I think I’ll be able to give that.”
Leadership, offensive output, and great things will be expected of the senior wide receiver during the upcoming 2003 campaign. “It’s his time to step up and finally be a prominent part of the receiver corps and to be a leader,” said Groh. “It’s kind of tough to be a vocal leader in your position when the team captain and star player is also at that position, as was the case last year. So all those decks are cleared now for Mike to step forth, and we expect that he will be one of the more prominent players on the team.”