Thursday, September 06, 2007
Rush to judgment doesn't suit Cavaliers
Lalich deployment a head-scratcher
Doug Doughty
Doug Doughty's UVa Insider is exclusive to roanoke.com and is posted by 5 p.m. Thursdays in season.
See Doug and Randy talk sports every week with the Sports edition of the TimesCast
Recent columns
I’d give a penny for the thoughts of one Kevin McCabe as he watched the debacle that was Virginia’s trip to Wyoming unfold Saturday.
If you remember, McCabe was the UVa quarterback who threw the overtime touchdown pass that gave the Cavaliers their first lead in a 13-12 win over the Cowboys last year in Charlottesville
McCabe got the start one week later against Western Michigan, only to yield a second-quarter interception that was returned for a touchdown, after which he was met by UVa offensive coordinator Mike Groh and informed that “you’re done.”
“You’re done!”
That’s a popular expression at UVa, where Cavalier Call-In host Mac McDonald decided earlier this week that he had heard enough from caller Clyde Smith from Forest.
“Clyde, you’re done,” McDonald told him.
McDonald says he does not like to screen calls and, on second thought, allowed as he might let Smith speak to the coach again. However, in McCabe’s case, he really was done. He never got on the field in the season’s last nine games.
McCabe, a former SuperPrep All-American, was eligible to return in 2007 but said he got no hint in a postseason meeting with Groh that his services were desired.
"I don't know what he could have said that could have got me to return," McCabe said at the time.
Ironically, McCabe is still enrolled at UVa, with plans to graduate this year. His hopes are to enroll as a graduate student and use his final season of eligibility at California University of Pennsylvania, a Division II school.
McCabe did not take part in spring practice. Neither did Jameel Sewell, UVa’s starting quarterback for the final nine games of the 2006 season.
The starter in UVa’s spring game was Marc Verica, who did not make the trip to Wyoming. Junior Scott Deke and true freshman Peter Lalich were listed as co-No. 2 before Saturday.
(For that matter, they’re also listed as co-No. 2 for the Cavaliers’ home opener Saturday against Duke.).
When Sewell was intercepted twice Saturday, Lalich started warming up with 5:10 remaining and entered the game with 2:22 remaining. He was on the field for six plays.
Much of the feedback I’ve received this week is from people wondering what sense it made to insert Lalich at that point and burn his redshirt year.
Lalich is the most highly touted quarterback to sign with Virginia during the seven-year Groh era. If redshirted, he would have been two years behind Sewell, a sophomore. Now, they’ll be competing for most of their careers.
Maybe that’s the way it should be. Competition brings out the best in people. Maybe the Cavaliers realize that Lalich eventually will bypass Sewell and they want to get him ready now. But they’re going to look silly if Sewell is the starter in 2009, with Lalich still awaiting a one-year turn as starter.
That’s why it would have been handy to have McCabe available Saturday.
(There are three former SuperPrep All-America quarterbacks on campus – Lalich, McCabe and current cornerback Vic Hall – but that’s another story.).
The Jeff Whites of the world would say I see a rosy picture of McCabe’s ability. That’s not my point at all, although I’m not sure McCabe would have done any worse than 4-6 over the last 10 games.
I just think it would have been valuable to have a back-up who had played in a game. Neither Lalich, Verica nor Deke had ever played in a college game.
Of course, that’s assuming that McCabe would have bought into a plan that would have made him the No. 2 quarterback in his fifth year. Given his frame of mind following the season, probably not, but that’s where diplomacy comes in.
Sub for McCabe after his second interception against Western Michigan, if you will, but show him some respect. After tossing the winning touchdown pass one week earlier, he deserved more than a “You’re done.”
If he was never going to play again, he deserved an explanation. Let the kid hold his head high.
"It's kind of hard to go through a whole season like that when no one says a word to you," said McCabe in a January interview. "Obviously, you kind of have a clue. I think it would have been the respectful thing for someone to come up and tell me first-hand, rather than me have to figure it out."
Diplomacy has been in short supply throughout the Groh era. It shows up in recruiting, where Virginia Tech has 14 commitments from in-state prospects this year and Virginia has one.
Give Virginia Tech credit for building a perennial power but there was a time when the Hokies were not welcome at Hampton High School and now look where they are, with their future tied to first-year ex-Crabber quarterback Tyrod Taylor.
Virginia once owned Hampton High School, as well as Fork Union Military Academy, but recruiting at both schools turned into a test of wills. Groh wouldn’t let Hampton coach Mike Smith have the upper hand, not that FUMA coach John Shuman ever wanted it.
“You’re done!”
It’s far to early to say if Virginia will make a change with its football program, but for all concerned, the Cavaliers could show some class by eliminating that expression from their vocabulary.
