Groh: Contest at quarterback is wide open

Posted to: College Football Sports Virginia

By Ed Miller
The Virginian-Pilot
© August 11, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE

For a group not known for its elusiveness, Virginia's quarterbacks displayed some nimble feet Sunday.

The three pocket passers dodged a media rush at the annual "Meet the Team Day," declining to answer any questions about their competition for the starting job. Instead, fifth-year senior Scott Deke read a brief statement on behalf of fellow quarterbacks Peter Lalich and Marc Verica, and then bolted.

The text of Deke's statement was not available, but the gist was that he and his fellow quarterbacks just wanted to spend the afternoon mingling with fans.

Some of those fans presumably would like to hear how the quarterback competition is going, and who might be under center when Southern California comes to Scott Stadium in a little under three weeks. The vacancy was created when Jameel Sewell, last year's starter, left school because of academic issues. Those questions were fielded by coach Al Groh at a press conference prior to the fan and media event.

"We're not keeping a daily scorecard on them," Groh said. "We're looking at the body of work."

None has much of one. Lalich, the youngest of the trio, has the most game experience, with eight appearances as a true freshman last year. Deke has been in the system since 2004, but has never thrown a pass in a college game. Ditto for Verica, a redshirt sophomore.

The highly recruited Lalich was expected to be the frontrunner for the job. He appeared to take more repetitions with the first team at Saturday's open practice, according to the Roanoke Times.

Groh, however, said the competition is wide open, and could remain that way for a while. He said the staff wants to avoid making an "inappropriately quick decision."

"It might take some games to find out who the number-one quarterback is or who the two are. It might take a couple games to figure that out," he said.

Groh has rotated quarterbacks before. Matt Schaub and Bryson Spinner traded off starts in 2001. Schaub and Marques Hagans each started early in 2002. In 2006, Christian Olsen began the season as the starter. He was replaced by Kevin McCabe, before Sewell finally won the job in the fourth week.

3 competing to follow Gould as placekicker

Another three-way competition is under way at placekicker, where Chris Hinkebein, Yannick Reyering and Robert Randolph are vying to replace Chris Gould.

Hinkebein was one of the nation's top high school kickers two years ago. Reyering is a former Virginia soccer standout from Germany. Randolph is a freshman walk-on.

All have a ways to go to become as reliable as Gould, Groh said. "We've gone from horrible to hopeful," he said. "It was horrible in the spring and now it's hopeful."

Communication key for new offensive linemen

The other major question on offense is the interior of the line, where three starters - center Jordy Lipsey and guards Branden Albert and Ian-Yates Cunningham - must be replaced.

Stepping in at center is Jack Shields, a redshirt sophomore. The guards are B.J. Cabbell, also a redshirt sophomore, and Zak Stair, a fifth-year senior.

Shields is a converted tight end. Stair has spent his entire career as a reserve tackle. Cabbell played in four games last year, on extra points and field goals.

"Overall, they probably have a little more size" than last year's group, offensive line coach Dave Borbely said. "We probably have a little more pop in there maybe than we had. Right now, we're trying to go in there and make sure we can gain the element we had a year ago, which was great communication."

Marc Verica