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Virginia ends its 3-game homestand Saturday at 3:30 pm against long-time rival North Carolina. The Tar Heels are 5-1 overall this season (1-1 in the ACC) and are coming off a hard-fought 29-24 win over Notre Dame last week. The Cavaliers have posted two convincing wins in their last two contests, including a 35-20 victory over East Carolina last Saturday. Virginia has not lost to the Tar Heels in Charlottesville since 1981, a span of 13 consecutive victories.
Virginia head coach Al Groh talks about the tussle with the Tar Heels.
Q: Is UNC picking off all these passes because they’re getting a great pass rush or are the DBs just that good?
Groh: It looks like it’s more secondary play. A few of them have come under rush but … they’ve got two safeties who really track the ball hard(Trimane) Goddard and (Deunta) Williamswe’re quite familiar with them. They were real good high school players and they’re really after the ball and they believe it belongs to them which is the way that everybody wants their safeties to play and they do a real nice job with it. They’re impressive in what they do.
Q: Speaking of North Carolina, they’re averaging nine yards on first down. What makes them so good on first down and what do you have to do to slow them down?
Groh: They have quite a variety in their offense. A lot of formation changes, shifts, motions, whatnot to distract (and) confuse the defense. The plays usually end up repeating pretty much from week to week. But the pre-snap looks change so one of the critical things to do in that circumstance is, from our playing standpoint, try to keep it uncomplicated for the players.
Q: You played well here at home in the last couple of games. How important was it to kind of turn this season around?
Groh: We’ve got quite a ways to go before we say we turned it around. We are only at the halfway mark; we’ve got six to go. We’re making progress towards pretty much what we thought the course of the season would be.
Turn around the won-loss results for sure. Change the course of the way that we expected things would be this year? The course maybe necessarily hasn’t changed. What we have some players who are becoming more sure of themselves, more sure of their teammates. We have a quarterback now who’s got expectations of himself, instead of, I wonder what’s going to happen.’ I mean the kid goes into the first game he’s ever played in, he’s probably not going to play like Johnny Unitas. He’s trying to see what it’s going to be like just like we are. Now he’s got a good look at what it can be, but that position as much as any position sports, confidence is so important, so fleeting. And now he’s got some evidence to have some confidence.
Q: Matt Conrath was saying the reason why you guys are doing well now is because the young players have kind of settled into their roles. Do you agree with that assessment?
Groh: Sure, but unless we have exactly the same players in exactly the same jobs next year, it’ll be that circumstance with anybody taking on a new role next year.
An important thing on the team is that everybody understands what their role is, and how to do their role. And Matt certainly is one of those players, that in the early going (it was) no different with Matt playing defensive end than with Marc (Verica) playing quarterback, (they had) never been in a game before, uncertain as to how he is going to perform, enthusiasm for that but you know, doesn’t know how it’s going to turn out. (He was) just trying to hang on, survive, do the best he can. Now he can see progress. (He) can see things that he could not do in the early part of the season, and he can see the same play last week and he executed it well. Well, his confidence goes up. So it happens along the line.
Q: You and Butch Davis are both former NFL guys. What kind of relationship, if any, do you have with him?
Groh: (I’m) very respectful of what Butch has done. He’s had a great record of success every place that he has been. His teams reflect a philosophy and style that we can relate to and that we respect. And while we both were in the NFL our comings and goings were just more pleasantries, but obviously now we go to conference meetings … and go in the same room for quite a few hours.
I like Butch. Those things that he says in the meetings are things that I can relate to and out of the meetings I enjoy talking with him.
Q: Can you talk about the evolution of defensive things year, in particularly over the last couple of games being able to play more sub packages and being able to do maybe a few more things on the defense?
Groh: Actually, we haven’t played our sub package any more. What we have done is alter it personnel wise a little bit. There are a couple of young players that have established that were ready to come in and help us, particularly Cameron Johnson and Rodney McLeod.
From the first day of practice the athletic skills were quite apparent but the ability to step in and use those in a team setting obviously needed some development. Once they got to the stage that at least they could go in and know what to do and learn from doing that, they were going to give us more fire power in there, so that’s helped us out by being able to do that.
With some of their skills, (we’re) now turning the pages in that section of the book to put a few things in in the scheme that maybe we felt tied down from doing in the previous games.
Q: It’s rather impressive what North Carolina has done with a backup quarterback. He almost came in without skipping a beat. Can you please talk about that?
Groh: Yes, he’s done an awesome job. If you study the tapes and you see the throws that Cameron Sexton’s making, you couldn’t ask any more and perhaps sometimes you couldn’t ask as much, out of a so called starting quarterback. It’s been great.
Q: Butch Davis said last week that Sexton had done a good job of using his time with the scout team, that some guys go down there and they just kind of mail it in, whereas it is a good opportunity to get in a lot of throws. In fact Marc Verica was here earlier and said he really benefited from that. Can you actually get more action there than you do if you’re up among three guys?
Groh: Sure, and frequently as is the case in some periods when each side trades the scout team players, those guys who are preparing. And the top line guys are staying over on the other field, that those guys throwing for the scouts are actually throwing against the top-level coverage guys.
Right now we are doing a lot of our first line guys against each other, but that still helps those guys. We’ve got our best receivers going against our best cover guys, our quarterback throwing against the best cover guys we have, rush guys going against the best pass protectors we have. But that’s definitely beneficial, yes.
Q: North Carolina still has in Brooks Foster and Hakeem Nicks, two very good receivers. With the loss of Brandon Tate hurt Carolina more on special teams and the return game?
Groh: Probably. Obviously with what Brandon Tate has doneand that’s a very unfortunate situation, we certainly feel for him, we’ve had players here who have had their college career ended in the same way. It’s a sad thing to see for a kid who’s invested so much and I can certainly empathize with his feelings and how his team and how his coaches feel. But you’ve just to move on with your team and that he’s … the (NCAA’s) all-time career leader (in kick returns) … clearly nobody on the Carolina team or any team has done what he has done. So his special teams work has been dynamic.
In terms of the receiving game, actually Nicks has got twice as many catches as anybody else on their team. There’s probably a reason for that, as would be on any team. The coaches have figured out that the most dynamic receiver needs to the ball the most.
Q: What can you say about the effectiveness of your wide receivers, Kevin Ogletree and Maurice Covington?
Groh: It’s made a big difference. Clearly it’s opened up the game for us, it’s opened up the game vertically. With our passing attack, that’s more than likely had a positive impact on how teams have to respond to that and what it might be able to do for the running game.
Q: What is Eugene Monroe like? He’s a guy Mel Kiper says might be the No. 1 pick in the draft and he was the No. 1 player coming in out of high school, but you would never know it (to talk to him).
Groh: (He’s) unassuming, a great example of a kid who despite kudos that are passed his way by others, the successes that he’s had as a student and a player, has absolutely no degree of entitlement in his outlook on things. He’s got a lot of humility and he understands that what he’s able to achieve will be as a result of his commitment and his performance. As a result, he’s been from the start a hard working player in practice every day. (He’s) very committed to his performance and his excellence, that shows in his schoolwork and he takes direction. He’s fun to see every day.
Q: I assume if he could be a first-round draft pick this year that somebody probably liked what they saw of him if he came out last year. Did you ever discuss that with him? I can’t imagine he approached you on the subject.
Groh: Briefly because it was not something that Gene was particularly interested in from the outset. It was very important to him to get his degree, which he’ll do in three-and-a-half years. And it was important to him to finish with his class and his teammates.
He and I talked about his circumstances recently and he is a player who has clearly profited by playing his full four years. His skill level, his execution this season is substantially upgraded from what it was last year.
Q: Is there another side of Eugene that we never see? He is always a low-key guy. Does he ever get emotional?
Groh: Oh, yeah. To sit and chat with him, he’s very relaxed and smiling, and you can have a very engaging conversation with him. (He’s) outgoing on the practice field. He and Clint (Sintim) in particular have fun challenging each other. But he’s not going to jump up in the air and do that (pumps fist). That’s not his style.
Q: Does the UConn game, when you watched North Carolina play against them and obviously having seen them in person, get your attention just because of how good UConn is?
Groh: Oh, sure … I’m sure Butch is very pleased with his team, very pleased with his team. We all say this because we all understand that it works this way. They’re taking the ball away, they’re not giving it up, and they’re playing great on special teams. And they have some big play performers on offense so that every drive doesn’t have to be a 12-play drive. That’s a great formula.
We’d all subscribe to that formula if we knew that it was guaranteed. And if you can play on that formula, you’re going to win a lot of games, on top of the old fundamentals of block well, beat blocks, tackle well.
If you can beat blocks and you can tackle well and if turn the ball over or play poor special teams, it’s going to be hard to win. And by the same token those things can certainly compensate in some other areas, and that’s very much been the case. That doesn’t diminish the record; that really in my mind embellishes it, that they’re able to get their players to buy in to doing those particular things.
Q: North Carolina’s linebackers looks like a good collection of guys, don’t they?
Groh: Oh, yes. (Quan) Sturdivant is big and he can run. Bruce Carter is every coach’s dream … and what they want him to look like. (He’s) tall, 6-3, 6-4, good burst, real good burst, good nose for the ball. He closes the field in a hurry. Very much certainly has caught our eye.