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Thoughts On The Wyoming Loss |
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Written by Alex Friedman
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Saturday, 01 September 2007 |
 A year later and the 2007 Virginia football team looks eerily similar to the lackluster 2006 version. To say that the Cavaliers performance today against Wyoming was anything short of a total embarrassment would be a lie. I have been watching and attending Virginia football games for eight years now, and I have never seen a team play with less heart, less hustle, and less determination.
I will be the first to tell you that I was optimistic about this year’s Cavaliers. Jameel Sewell looked ready to lead the offense, Cedric Peerman looked ready to step up and be a feature back, and the defense looked ready to enter the nation’s elite. Sewell is obviously not ready, and freshman Peter Lalich’s mop-up duty in today’s game, inevitably burning his redshirt, might be the writing on the wall for Sewell. Cedric Peerman showed no flashes of stardom, and running mate Andrew Pearman looked like the better running back. However, the offensive line did not open up any holes for Cedric and Co. Lastly, Mike London’s defense was the opposite of elite today. Yes, Chris Long was his usual defensive force, even with the double team, but the unit as a whole was passive and looked slower than the Wyoming offense. How do you allow Karsten Sween to complete 75% of his passes for over 250 yards? No offense to Karsten, but he is no ACC quarterback.
My question for Al Groh and his staff is this: what did you do all offseason? What has changed from this time last year? When comparing this game to my memory of the Wyoming game last year, I see no difference in the offensive scheme, I see the same vanilla play calling, and the same “bend but don’t break” passive defense.
Where was the spread offense, where were the four wide receiver sets, and where was the fast, ball-hawking defense I was anticipating? Were they left in Charlottesville? Or are they an aberration? The Virginia team that shows up next weekend against Duke will go a long way toward answering these questions. Until then, I will reserve judgment on this team, but just as Sewell’s job security may be in trouble, Craig Littlepaige may be calling Al Groh to the principal’s office sooner rather than later.
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Alex Friedman |
| About the author: |
| Alex is a second-year Psychology major, with minors in college sports, fantasy sports, and poker, preferring college basketball, fantasy baseball, and no-limit texas hold'em. While UVA is Alex's school, he still has a strong allegiance to the Longhorns of Texas, having lived in Austin and watched Ricky Williams run into the record books. He spends most of his weekends watching his Longhorns and Wahoos and following recruiting online. In Alex's eyes March is the best sports month of the year for obvious reasons and Vince Young is a saint.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 06 September 2007 )
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