Al's Idiots - The Virginia Cavaliers Thread

[J0nnD0ugh]

Dang, kroniq. You sober enough to tell us what happened?

[CM Hooe]

Oh I'm very sober and very angry.

Basically, we've somehow managed to fire Mike Groh and get worse on offense. The defense played more than good enough to win, but we had six turnovers, including a pick-six by Marc Verica in what was our last-stand drive, and we were generally a huge pile of horse manure on offense. No player on that side of the ball was particularly impressive, including all three of our quarterbacks (Vic Hall did have a very nice touchdown run in the first quarter, but he must not be able to throw the ball as all the passing plays he ran were safe one-read plays; he also muffed a punt).

While by no means is this game of that magnitude, I feel like William and Mary is now Al Groh's Appalachian State.

[Pokes]

I feel for you guys. This is one of those losses where there can never be enough aspirin or beer in sight. (Don't mix the two)

[J0nnD0ugh]

The Hoos got things turned around last year, albeit a little too late. I just hope they wait until after their visit to Chapel Hill.

[The GIGGAS]

Quote: Originally Posted by TexanWolverine

I feel for you guys. This is one of those losses where there can never be enough aspirin or beer in sight. (Don't mix the two)

I do not feel for UVA.

Thanks for making VT look better.

Although, I am a bit depressed that you guys lost to the Tribe... cause that means Groh's *** is grass, and y'all might get an actual coach that has talent.

[LiquidCrash]

Awful loss for UVA. Do you think Groh makes it through the season?

[CM Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by TexanWolverine

I feel for you guys. This is one of those losses where there can never be enough aspirin or beer in sight. (Don't mix the two)

I know better than to do that, but yeah I'm still hurting from this one.

Quote: Originally Posted by J0nnD0ugh

The Hoos got things turned around last year, albeit a little too late. I just hope they wait until after their visit to Chapel Hill.

Eh, not really. We had a strong October, but once November rolled around it was apparent that Marc Verica was the third-string quarterback for a reason (remember, we were supposed to have both Jameel Sewell and Peter Lalich in front of him; both weren't playing for different reasons).

Quote: Originally Posted by The GIGGAS

I do not feel for UVA. Thanks for making VT look better. Although, I am a bit depressed that you guys lost to the Tribe... cause that means Groh's *** is grass, and y'all might get an actual coach that has talent.

Of course you don't (I wouldn't expect you to ), and you're welcome, though for what it's worth I didn't think Tech was any great shakes on Saturday either. I'm still not impressed with Tyrod Taylor at all, but that's neither here nor there; each of us have our own team's problems to worry about before we should concern ourselves with each other's squad, IMO.

Quote: Originally Posted by LiquidCrash

Awful loss for UVA. Do you think Groh makes it through the season?

Groh makes it through the season; we're in the midst of getting a new University president right now, and outgoing president John Casteen probably won't want to rock the boat on his way out. The thing I fear most is going 5-7 again, however, and having whoever the new president is settle for that as acceptable. This team has talent, but the coaching and execution were epic fail on Saturday.

[CM Hooe]

Getting on a soapbox:

If I'm Al Groh and I want to keep my job, then the rest of the season we better do this:

• Start QB Marc Verica. Jameel Sewell is a good running quarterback, but clearly is rusty if he's throwing three interceptions against William and Mary. For whatever reason, we insist on NOT throwing the ball when we have Vic Hall under center; if he can't throw the ball, why oh why did we move him to quarterback? Verica throws the best ball on the team by far and needs to play, particularly since we're running a spread offense now and that sort of requires having a quarterback who can throw the ball.
• When Marc Verica is in, DON'T RUN THE QUARTERBACK KEEPER. EVER. He's not Vic Hall or Jameel Sewell in this regard, so don't try to make him such. I want more dedicated runs with running backs. At one point we ran three straight quarterback keepers with Verica and, predictably, turned the ball over on downs.
• Use Vic Hall as a running back / wide receiver / something that's not a quarterback. Hall is too good with the ball in his hands (in terms of running) to take off the field outright. Use him in a similar manner we use Mikell Simpson, i.e. the handoff man on read options, screen passes, swing passes, etc.
• Throw the ball down the field and take some chances to win the game. I can't count the number of times WR Jared Green came open on Saturday and, because Hall or Sewell was in, we just couldn't get him the ball. If you're going to run the spread offense, you can't run it within five yards of the line of scrimmage. So frustrating to watch the team play such a vanilla, ultra-low-risk passing offense that doesn't get anywhere. Take some of Herm Edwards' advice and play to win the game.
• Light a fire under RT Will Barker's behind or get him off the field. He's the weakest excuse for a senior right tackle and offensive captain I've ever seen, particularly after the run of great offensive tackles we've had this decade (Brick, Butler, Monroe, Albert; all four are NFL starters now).

We probably won't be a great team doing this, but we can get to six wins and go bowling, which is all I wanted coming into this season.