CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Virginia football coach Al Groh has a habit of never letting a thought die.

For two weeks, it was all about running back Cedric Peerman and how Peerman wasn't just carrying the football for Virginia's football program; he was carrying the Cavaliers' "flag."

In recent days, Groh has been talking about legendary indoor and outdoor volleyball star Karch Kiraly, profiled in the current issue of Sports Illustrated.

Groh even knows the correct pronunciation of Kiraly's last name, KEY-rye.

"He's the greatest male volleyball player in history and he just retired," said Groh in a Sunday teleconference. "I've got [the article] right here. When asked how he prepared to win Olympic gold, Kiraly replied, 'I never did. I only prepared to win the next play.'

"I think it really applies to games. We talked about that [Saturday] morning at the team meeting and we talked about it before and at halftime of the game."

The context for Groh's comment Sunday was a question concerning Virginia's decision to run a fake field goal that resulted in a touchdown that put the Cavaliers ahead 44-14 with 5:25 left.

The Pittsburgh media asked Panthers' coach Dave Wannstedt if he thought the Cavaliers might have been "running up" the score.

"We have been on both sides of the coin on those," Wannstedt said. "My philosophy is: we have to stop them. It is our responsibility to stop them. If somebody wants to throw the ball on the last play, then throw it. We should sack them or intercept it."

In going for the fake field goal, Virginia also might have run the risk of alerting teams to the running ability of holder Vic Hall, who set the Virginia High School League record for total offense while at Gretna High School. Hall starts at cornerback for the Cavaliers.

"We want to know the biography of the holder on every team we play," said Groh, implying that other teams prepare the same way. "If the punter is also the holder, we have a different perspective on that than if the quarterback was the holder. I'm sure that teams are well aware of [Hall's] accomplishments as a quarterback."

According to Groh, Pittsburgh was in a defensive formation on the field goal that made the fake field goal automatic.

"It was an opponent-specific call," Groh said. "We could call 'white' any time that the look was there and the look was probably only going to be there on that hash mark. If we get other looks, we would have other possibilities to do things with Vic."

At that point, with UVa leading 37-14, the call would not necessarily have come from the bench.

Or would it?

"I wouldn't say 'not necessarily; I wouldn't say 'necessarily,'" said Groh, who then invoked Kiraly. "You're supposed to play your best on every play, regardless of the time or the score in the game. You're just trying to win the next play.

"The play was there, Vic called 'white,' and it didn't have anything to do with minimizing the score or maximizing the score."

Upcoming opponent

Virginia's opponent this week, Middle Tennessee, has let it be known that it no longer wants to be known as Middle Tennessee State or MTSU. The Blue Raiders refers to themselves as MT.

n MT head coach Rick Stockstill, a former Clemson assistant, is not the only member of the staff with ACC ties.

Second-year defensive coordinator Manny Diaz previously coached linebackers and safeties at North Carolina State.

Stockstill is a graduate of Florida State, as are Diaz and tight ends coach Brent Brock. Running backs coach Willie Simmons played at Clemson, as did wide receivers coach Justin Watts; cornerbacks and special teams coach Antonio Goss played at North Carolina, and assistant head coach Les Herrin coached at Clemson and North Carolina.

They said it

Groh on the likelihood of wide receiver Kevin Ogletree playing this season after reconstructive knee surgery in April:

"Anybody who thinks he's going to play any time soon probably has seven fantasy football teams."

Odds 'n' ends

After completing 13 of his first 17 passes Saturday, UVa quarterback Jameel Sewell completed three of his last 14. One reason that UVa did not use true freshman Peter Lalich, Groh said, was a desire to have Sewell end the game on a positive note. ... Of Sewell's 31 attempts, 24 went to tight ends or running backs. ... Sewell's 9-for-9 start gave him 12 straight completions over two games. During one stretch, Sewell threw four touchdown passes in nine attempts.