Thursday, August 28, 2008
Does Groh have hidden agenda?
Will coast remain clear for Lalich?
Doug Doughty
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Why so secretive?
What was the gain for Virginia football coach Al Groh in not naming a starting quarterback for the Cavaliers' season opener Saturday against Southern California?
Does he think USC coach Pete Carroll and his Trojan braintrust are lying awake at night, wondering if the UVa starter is going to be Scott Deke, Peter Lalich and Marc Verica?
My first impulse is to think this is another case of “Al being Al,” of Groh being difficult for the sake of being difficult.
On further thought, I think Groh has a motive in not naming starter.
He's reluctant to commit to Lalich.
I don't think there's any question that Lalich is the most gifted of the UVa quarterbacks. Plus, he's the most experienced. But, he's volatile. He can't seem to stay out of trouble.
No one knows what kind of penalty Groh levied when Lalich was charged with underage possession of alcohol this summer, but we can assume that Lalich's on a short leash.
Let's say Groh had come out two weeks ago and named Lalich as the starter and then Lalich had showed up on the Virginia courts website, as he had for a series of traffic citations.
What kind of panic would it have caused among Lalich's teammates, not to mention the UVa fan base, for Groh to pull the starting assignment and go with somebody else?
As long as Groh remains uncommitted, he has the starting job to dangle over Lalich's head and give him even more incentive to behave himself.
While you'd never get Groh to admit that Lalich or anybody else is in the “doghouse,” keep in mind that Lalich was the third quarterback to get on the field in UVa's spring game. When the media guide was distributed, he was listed third on the depth chart, behind Deke and Verica, without an “or” separating their names.
Groh subsequently has said that the three veteran quarterbacks were equal going into the fall, and by the time the media could observe the team for the first time in an open practice, Lalich was seeing as much time with the first team – if not more – than the other contenders.
Keep in mind, Lalich is one of the highest-rated quarterback prospects Virginia has ever signed. SuperPrep rated him the No. 10 quarterback in the country in 2007. I only go with the SuperPrep ratings because I have them available, but Dan Ellis was No. 11 in 1997 and Matt Schaub was No. 19 in 1999.
All you need to know about those rankings – and player rankings in general – is that another 1999 UVa signee, Bryson Spinner, was rated the No. 12 quarterback in the country. But, of course, it was Spinner and not Schaub who started three games as a redshirt freshman while Ellis was sidelined in 2000.
In looking at the 2007 SuperPrep ratings, it is interesting to note that the No. 11-rated quarterback, one spot behind Lalich, was Miami signee Robert Marve. Marve was suspended for the Hurricanes' opening game with Charleston Southern as the result of his involvement in a disturbance last Halloween in Coconut Grove.
Miami has named true freshman Jacory Harris as its starter for the opener but confirmed that Marve had won the No. 1 spot and will start the next week against Florida.
Let's say that the opponents were reversed and the Hurricanes were opening with the Gators. What kind of uproar would it have caused in that case if Marve had been suspended Aug. 24?
Of course, Halloween in Coconut Grove is not the same as late August in Charlottesville, but Lalich has found just enough trouble for Groh to be wary.
