Preliminary evaluations suggest that the Virginia football recruiting class announced Wednesday is the lowest-rated of head coach Al Groh's coaching tenure.

Groh prefers to go by his own evaluations, although he will not argue with the statistics that show an unusually high number of top recruits left the state this year.

In 2005, Virginia and Virginia Tech signed a total of 19 players off The Roanoke Times Top 25. This year, Tech and UVa signed five Top 25 players apiece.

"Sometimes it's a little challenging to understand what was on the minds of some of the players," Groh said. "Between the two state schools, there have been a lot of positive things going on with the football programs. I'd have to wonder why players would have to look so far elsewhere."

Groh's highest-rated recruiting class was in 2002, when UVa signed 10 SuperPrep All-Americans and had the nation's No. 9-rated recruiting class, according to that publication. Subsequent classes were ranked 11th and 18th.

The only SuperPrep All-Americans in this class are Cold Spring, N.Y., tight end Joe Torchia and Oakton High School running back Keith Payne, the Group AAA player of the year.

SuperPrep rated UVa's class 53rd in the country and 10th among ACC teams, ahead of Georgia Tech and Wake Forest. The Cavaliers were 39th in the ratings compiled by rivals.com.

Virginia may have been hurt in both ratings by the late defections of a pair of running backs, Brent Carter from Pottsville, Pa., and Kordell Young from West Deptford, N.J. Carter signed with Penn State after committing to UVa last week, while Young signed with Rutgers after remaining firm in his commitment for six months.

The presence of Payne and 6-1, 200-pound Raynard Horne reduces the need for an impact running back.

"We couldn't get any more in a running back than what we got in Keith," Groh said. "He was consistently at the top of the board in terms of running backs that fit our system. What was particularly gratifying about him was how he stepped up at playing time."

In all four players decommitted to UVa, three after the early December departure of four assistant coaches, three for head-coaching jobs.

On the other hand, Virginia received four commitments in January, not counting Carter's withdrawn pledge. Included in that number was Billy Cuffee, a 6-foot-5, 320-pound offensive lineman from Deep Creek in Chesapeake.

Cuffee might have been the only player in Virginia to take the maximum five recruiting visits, all to Division I-A programs.

After earlier predictions that UVa might sign as many as 28 or 29 players, the Cavaliers checked in with 24 and Groh said they already have turned their attention to 2007.

He also said that one or more of the signees might spend a year in prep school. Almost certain to fall under that heading is Asa Chapman, a 6-5, 330-pound defensive lineman from Orange County. Orange coach John Kayajanian said last week that Chapman hopes to play at Fork Union Military Academy in 2006.

Virginia signed a total of eight players from Virginia, two of whom did not play as juniors, Cuffee due to injury and Prince George High School linebacker John Bivens, who was concentrating on baseball.

Groh counted at least 10 signees who had been to UVa's summer camp,

"You get a chance to find out about their personality, their passion for football, their coachability," he said. "When you can see a player's football skills with your own eyes, that counts for so much more than just looking at a tape."