Loss to W&M turns Groh's hot seat into an inferno

The fallout from Virginia's mortifying first football loss of the season is descending like acid rain on what's left of Al Groh's career in Charlottesville.

I make it a policy not to join ranks with the angry hordes carrying torches and pitchforks, but it's hard to rationalize how U.Va. could be so ill-prepared for its season opener in front of its home crowd.

If we didn't know it before, we do now: this season is Groh's swan song.

There's another side to the story, of course. A mystifying and discouraging defeat for one school represented an inspired effort by another.

Give William and Mary its due. If you're just tuning in, Jimmye Laycock is a helluva coach.

In a lot of ways, it was a very good weekend for the Colonial Athletic Association. As W&M outplayed U.Va., defending Football Championship Subdivision champion Richmond took down Duke in Durham, N.C.

While the CAA banner flew high in hostile surroundings, commissioner Tom Yeager was at a packed Foreman Field for ODU's first football game. He had to like what he saw.

The weekend results are another reminder of what the Monarchs face against a full CAA schedule in a couple years. The conference is not for sissies.

But back to Groh. We find him in familiar territory, feet planted firmly in quicksand after U.Va.'s first loss to a lower-division school in 23 years.

For Cavaliers fans looking for new ways to vent, the latest development presents serious challenges.

Painting "Groh Must Go!" on the Rugby Road bridge, as was done two years ago, is just so derivative. But as a reliever of stress for irate fans, kicking in the tail lights on their BMWs wouldn't solve anything, either.

Let's just hope that the disgruntled U.Va. masses didn't take out their anger on their friendly neighborhood baristas Sunday morning.

Any excuses for the Cavaliers? None that hold cappuccino.

When new offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon introduced a different look, who could have predicted that it would lead to four lost fumbles and three interceptions?

U.Va.'s spread offense was a resounding success... if it was designed to spread the misery among three quarterbacks.

Come back, Mike Groh. All is forgiven.

But if misery loves company, U.Va. is in the right conference.

North Carolina State lost to South Carolina on Thursday after scoring only three points, and Maryland was soundly beaten at Cal on Saturday night after giving up 52.

Wake Forest was a polite host to Baylor, losing by a field goal, while Virginia Tech was worn down by Alabama on national TV.

Six non-conference losses in all, some of the ugly variety, make for quite an auspicious debut to the ACC's season.

The Hokies came up short again in a big game, but they can't be lumped in with the other ACC losers. It's no disgrace falling to Alabama on a neutral field in the Deep South.

Are the Hokies and their supporters prone to exaggerating the team's presence on the BCS stage? Absolutely. Just as the ACC tries to be something it is not.

Even tonight's televised meeting between Miami and Florida State, once a can't-miss game, has been reduced to a contest for intramural bragging rights between programs with faded reputations.

That's where the ACC finds itself.

Nobody, though, is feeling as much heat as Groh.

The ACC's first-week winners - North Carolina, Boston College, Clemson and Georgia Tech - shrewdly scheduled foot wipes.

U.Va. thought it had, too, then went out and committed seven turnovers.

Maybe the most damaging indictment, though, are reports that W&M was the more physical team. That should never happen.

Afterward, Groh noted the "negativity" that this kind of loss invites, but reminded everyone that "we've got 11 more weeks."

Sounds like a threat.

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