Virginia never got to the point of revising its Gator Bowl game plan to account for the possible absence of No. 1 tailback Mikell Simpson.

Head coach Al Groh on Friday confirmed that cornerback Chris Cook will not play against Texas Tech on Jan. 1, but Simpson had a full practice Friday after arriving at team headquarters Thursday evening.

"There were some things he had to take care of," Groh said. "That was all his circumstance. We didn't have anything to do with it. We were sort of bystanders and were just waiting to see how everything played out."

Simpson, used sparingly until Virginia's eighth game, had 744 of his 782 all-purpose yards in the last five games.

"He certainly gave us a big spark when he came into the lineup at midseason," Groh said. "He has some skills and some versatility that is a little unique to the position. We were real glad to see his face this morning."

Groh continued to get questions about Cook, who missed three games during the middle of the season with a sprained knee. The Cavaliers went 2-1 over that span, with victories over Connecticut and Maryland and a 29-24 loss at North Carolina State.

"Let's put this to rest," Groh told a Charlottesville television reporter. "The player's not here, so there's a lot of conversation about a player who's not here. But, you're right. We've dealt with it before. We've dealt with other guys dropping out.

"We feel bad for Chris that he's not here, but the players aren't distracted or shaken by it in any way."

Groh quickly rejected another possibility that had been tossed around -- a possible move by senior wide receiver Chris Gorham, who started at cornerback in the 2005 Music City Bowl.

The Cavaliers' cornerback crew for this game will be sophomore Vic Hall, redshirt freshmen Mike Parker and Trey Womack, and true freshman Ras-I Dowling.

Virginia's secondary has been beaten deep on occasion, but Texas Tech's prolific pass offense features frequent three-step drops by quarterback Graham Harrell.

That might nullify Virginia pass rusher Chris Long, but it takes some of the pressure off the cornerbacks.

"There's a large number of passes that never get as deep as the secondary," Groh said.