Former soccer standout named No. 1 placekicker for U.Va.

CHARLOTTESVILLE

Reporters covering Virginia's football team were hoping for an announcement Thursday, just not the one they got.

While head coach Al Groh continues to decline to say who will start for the Cavaliers at quarterback for next Saturday's opener against Southern California, he did designate a No. 1 placekicker.

"If it keeps going the way that it is, we'll start Yannick Reyering," Groh said.

Reyering, a 24-year-old ex-Cavalier soccer player from Mettingen, Germany, did not join the U.Va. football team until this month. He will handle kickoffs, field goals and extra points.

Reyering said earlier this month that he has become a football fan since coming to this country in 2004, and Groh isn't worried about his familiarity with the rules.

"There's not too many rules you need to know there - getting a kick off before the 40-second clock (expires) and don't grab a guy's facemask when you tackle him," Groh said. "He's not going to be in many positions where he has to block anybody."

Reyering is in his fourth year at U.Va., but was limited to three years of soccer eligibility by the NCAA after it looked into his involvement with a German semi-pro soccer team as a teenager.

Reyering, twice first-team All-ACC in soccer, needed reconstructive knee surgery after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament late in the 2007 season. That prevented him from playing for FC Dallas, which selected him in the second round of the Major League Soccer draft.

Reyering would have a second and final season of football eligibility if he chose to return next season.

An ex-U.Va. soccer player has not kicked for the Cavaliers since Jeff Gaffney in 1986.

Coaching staff is in no hurry to pick a No. 1 QB

Offensive coordinator Mike Groh had indicated Monday that the Cavaliers might settle on a No. 1 quarterback by Wednesday, 10 days before the opener, but that didn't happen.

"A number of things can happen between now and then," said Al Groh, who has said since July that he was in no hurry to make a decision. "Somebody might drop a weight on his foot. Or, somebody all of a sudden gets stage fright and doesn't know if he's up to it.

"Rather than do something here that there's really no need to do, other than to fill up newspaper space, it makes things a little bit saner and a little bit quieter for them. We'll stay with this approach into next week. The quarterbacks are pretty happy with things the way they are."

As for when the quarterbacks will know, Al Groh said he isn't sure.

"Here in the next few days, Mike and I will sit down with them and say, 'Hey, look, if you're the guy who ends up taking the first snap, give us your thought on what would be a good time to find out.' "