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Oct. 4, 2004
Maybe it was because Major League Baseball was heading into its second season. Or maybe it was because Virginia head football coach Al Groh has always been a closet Boston Red Sox fan. Whatever the reason, Coach Groh made it pretty clear to the media in his weekly press conference the Clemson game was a step up to the “bigs”.
“This is like going from triple-A to the majors,” Groh said. You have seen triple-A pitching…now we are going to see major league pitching. And believe me, when you’re talking about the Tigers ` team speed, they have a major league fastball.”
Plus, Groh broke down the Chris Canty loss into baseball terms.
“We lost a .320 hitter. And we are replacing him with a .275 hitter. We have to do some things differently with our line up to make sure our production doesn’t fall off. It’s no different than juggling a baseball lineup. We may have to hit a guy 5th instead of 3rd or 4th.”
“Because we had a terrific football playmaker, and now we have lost him it means we will have to alter some schemes,” Groh explained. “Don’t get me wrong, Kwakou (Robinson) has made good progress. He’s in better shape than two years ago and his hands and feet are better.”
“We’re not going to try and replace Chris, we’re just going to re-work a couple things. I’m going to reshuffle my line up.”
Groh said that Charlottesville native Chris Johnson and local high school product Chris Long would see plenty of action.
“As far as our down guys, they are two of the faster ones on the team,” Groh said.
With Virginia cracking the top ten in both the AP and coaches polls this week the Thursday night-lights just got a little brighter. Even though Groh and the players are dismissing the fact that rankings don’t mean much at this time of the year you can’t help but think about post season positioning.
“The Clemson game has our attention right now,” Groh said. “Not the rankings. I have said all along our job is to just get in the hunt November 1st. We’ll see what happens from there.”
Clemson has had a brutal schedule. They are wrapping up three straight road games against Florida State, Texas A&M, and Virginia. It will be 35 days between home games and Tiger head coach Tommy Bowden has probably already called the ACC office to complain. When you look at the Clemson overall picture, the Georgia Tech loss at home was a critical blow to the season. What makes it worse is the fact the Tigers had the game won. The Yellowjackets were on defense, had no more time outs, and Clemson had a second down and inches and a third down and inches and couldn’t convert. The bad punt snap on fourth down gave Georgia Tech good field position, enough time on the clock to run a couple plays, and the rest is history. I hate to use the cliché but this might be the best 1-3 team in the country.
Along with the schedule what has hurt the Tigers is turnovers. Quarterback Charlie Whitehurst, a guy that Groh loves, has thrown ten interceptions and only five touchdowns. Clemson is minus 12 in turnover margin and Whitehurst has been sacked 11 times. A once proud no huddle offensive machine, the Tigers are 9th in the ACC in scoring (22.2), dead last in rushing (103 yards per game) and rated last in passing efficiency.
But they have speed. They have solid special teams. And they have Justin Miller.
Miller, who plays corner on defense, has already scored three touchdowns on kickoff and punt returns turning the trick twice against Florida State.
“He’s a jet,” Groh said. “Miller has a great feel for it. He’s a focal point, definitely.”
“Special teams can be the great equalizer. “The impact of special teams and field position can impact a game. They have a lot of skill guys and a lot of speed.”
Virginia is rested, confident, and focused.
“We’re all a little juiced by the Thursday night spotlight,” Groh said. However we are well aware of the Clemson challenge. We have a good set of blinders on, collectively.”
GAME NOTABLES:
This will be the sixth Clemson appearance on ESPN’s Thursday Night College Football package. The Tigers are 0-5 in their previous appearances, including 0-4 under Tommy Bowden. Clemson has been the underdog in all five Thursday evening games and four of the five losses have been to teams that have been ranked in the top 25 of the AP poll. Virginia is 3-4 on Thursday nights and have only won 1 of the last 4.
Clemson corner Justin Miller has five career kick returns for touchdowns, three kickoff and two punt returns. The NCAA record for a career is eight, set by Cliff Branch of Colorado in 1970 and 1971.
Speaking of returns….Alvin Pearman is second in the ACC in all purpose yardage (129.2) per game…and 36th nationally.
The Wahoos have won their last six home games…and 14 of 15. Under Coach Groh UVA is 18-5 at home.