No excuses or rationalizing; Virginia just came up small

CHARLOTTESVILLE

Virginia football can't compete with the nation's elite.

We knew that.

But there had to be a hope - a wish - among the faithful that the Cavaliers, playing in front of a Scott Stadium record crowd of 64,947 and a national TV audience, would put up a better fight.

Didn't happen.

Even in the opening quarter, far too soon for faith and optimism to be extinguished, Al Groh's underdogs failed to rise to the occasion against the glamor team from the West Coast.

Southern California toyed with U.Va. early and often, giving the impression right from the start that it could name the score.

"It wasn't the awe aspect of it," insisted U.Va. senior linebacker Clint Sintim.

That would be a handy excuse, and it might even be true.

"We knew exactly what they were going to do," Sintim said. "To know when something's coming and still not make a dent is demoralizing."

Southern California "was a big, powerful, fast team with superior quarterback play today," Groh said. "We were anything but big and fast."

Translation: the Cavaliers came up very small.

Groh approached this game with a touch of gallows humor, but late Saturday afternoon he clearly was not amused, running down his team's long list of lapses.

There's a lot of blame to go around, but early on, poor tackling compounded the problems created by the Cavaliers' inferior manpower.

"They are a very good team," Groh said after his team's 52-7 humbling, "but the attitude on our team is that it's not OK to play like that. To play as poorly as we played is not acceptable."

The offense and kicking teams contributed to U.Va.'s dubious adventure. The Cavaliers gave up the ball too often and too soon, allowing USC to play with a short field as it ran off the game's first 21 points.

"A really cool thing that happened," said Trojans coach Pete Carroll, "so many guys got to play today."

It isn't the first time USC has taken its opening week party on the road, where the Trojans have beaten far better teams than U.Va. Every debut seems to be a statement game for L.A.'s finest.

"All five running backs scored today," said Carroll. "It's a beautiful thing."

If not exactly beautiful, the play of U.Va. quarterback Peter Lalich from the shotgun position should encourage the Cavaliers. Though he had his moments against one of the nation's premier defenses, Groh could only seem to recall Lalich's interception and pair of fumbles in the second half.

"Our quarterback turned the ball over too many times," he said.

By then the game was well beyond reach, but presumably people were still watching and, in the case of Cavalier fans, flinching. Many must have wondered why their team wilted so badly on the big stage.

Good for Groh, then, for declining to rationalize his team's performance, for refusing to shrug off the day with a "what-did-you-expect" insouciance.

Of course, he's the one who will be held most responsible. That's how it works when your team fails to gain traction, even against a team as good as USC.

There will be enough time - and better opportunities - to assess and dissect the Cavaliers. A long season lies ahead.

For now, though, the appropriate reaction from U.Va. should be anger and disappointment.

"It was disturbing to me," Groh said, "disturbing to everybody in the organization."

When somebody tried to get the coach to say something nice about his team, Groh stonewalled far better than his defense had.

"It wouldn't be right for me or anybody," he said, "to say that anybody played well today."

Bob Molinaro, (757) 446-2373, bob.molinaro@pilotonline.com