CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Virginia has replaced its revolving quarterback door with a more conventional model.

After switching quarterbacks six times in a season-opening loss to William and Mary, the Cavaliers stuck with starter Jameel Sewell in a 30-14 loss to TCU.

The move didn't pay immediate dividends, but Sewell sees brighter days ahead.

"We're capable of competing with anybody," said Sewell, a fifth-year senior. "We're going to win some games. We're definitely going to do that.

"Nobody's going to back down. Everybody's willing to work and get better. Nobody's too salty about the situation."

Sewell passed for more than 2,000 yards during the 2007 season, when the Cavs finished 9-4, but he has been utilized mostly as a runner this season.

In the first three quarters Saturday, Sewell completed four of 10 passes for 18 yards. He was 4-of-8 for 102 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

"I showed them I can do anything they ask me to do pretty much," he said. "If they want me to run the ball, I don't care, I'm going to do it.

"I played very poorly [against William and Mary] and just to have them start the game with me and keep me in there when things didn't go well, that meant a lot."

Many of Sewell's 21 rushing attempts came on plays that started out as passes.

"I can't sit back there forever," said Sewell, whose linemen couldn't protect him as receivers were slow in creating separation.

Sewell's roommate and fifth-year classmate Vic Hall started the opener. However, Hall took a helmet to the hip against William and Mary and saw his only action Saturday as a holder.

When Groh said Saturday that Sewell probably would remain No. 1, he did not say if Hall's injury factored into that assessment.

"I'm taking everything into consideration," said Groh who said Sunday that Sewell's mobility gave him an edge Saturday over 2008 starter Marc Verica. "The reality is, right now it looks like he's [Sewell] going to be the quarterback."

UVa now has lost six straight games going back to the 2008 season and the Scott Stadium fans have become increasingly restless.

"I block all that out," Sewell said. "I just talk to my teammates because they're the ones who are going to help me. I came back from a year off and they didn't turn their backs on me.

"What's going on outside the lines is irrelevant."

Notes

The losing streak is UVa's longest since the Cavaliers lost the final three games of the 1981 season under Dick Bestwick, then dropped the first five games of the George Welsh era. ... The on-line service, vegasinsider.com, has UVa coach Al Groh listed first among its Division I-A college coaches "on the hot seat." Colorado's Dan Hawkins is second. ... TCU's eight sacks were the most yielded by Virginia since Florida State had nine in a 1997 game with the Cavaliers.