Raleigh, N.C. - Maybe it's time to admit that Virginia's special teams aren't so special anymore.
Like so many other expectations heading into this season, hopes were high for the Cavalier kickers and returners. Virginia coach Al Groh said publicly that he considered veterans like punter Mike Abrams, mingled with fresh faces like Alvin Pearman, to make every special team's play promising.
Four mistake-ridden losses later, the Cavaliers are left wondering where it all went wrong.
Virginia's thrilling win at Clemson on Sept. 22 seems like a thing of the past. Abrams floated a punt to the four-yard line, Marquis Weeks grabbed the ball to keep it deep in Tiger territory and set the Cavaliers up for the last-second loft that won them the day.
Now, to the tune of blocked kicks, meager returns and the type of mistakes that have haunted the entire Virginia team, special teams will have to buckle down with the larger offense and defense for the soul-searching it will take to get back on top.
"We definitely look for ourselves to be a weapon more than something that's going to cause our team problems," senior place kicker David Greene said. "That's definitely been the case a couple of times in the past few games."
Trouble started against Maryland, where a blocked punt was returned for a Terrapin touchdown. When Virginia tried to answer with a field goal, Greene's 22-yard attempt was blocked.
North Carolina gave the Cavaliers similar troubles. And last, but not least, Virginia nearly was eaten alive by a ravenous Wolfpack.
Greene missed two field goals in the first quarter, and when he sent a 47-yard attempt up to tie the game at three before halftime, his kick was batted down before it ever got a shot at the uprights.
N.C. State was "definitely the most disappointing game I've ever had," Greene said, but he stressed that he and the Cavaliers would have to put it behind them.
Even Abrams and his punt team struggled. Although Abrams averaged 43 yards per punt on Saturday, N.C. State was able to mount 44 yards worth of punt returns when it counted, compared to Virginia's nine total punt return yards.
When N.C. State tore into the Virginia defense with two quick touchdowns after halftime, an Abrams punt was blocked and recovered by the Wolfpack's Cotra Jackson on Virginia's one-yard line. The result: an easy N.C. State touchdown to put the Pack up, 24-0.
Groh made it clear that the blocked kicks were a result of a different breakdown in coverage every time, and that with every incident the team searches for a new solution.
Unfortunately, "the fixers aren't doing better than the fixees," Groh said.
It is not for lack of talent that the Cavaliers' special teams are struggling.
Freshman Alvin Pearman, who began the season as a kickoff and punt returner, until taking over as starting tailback, is the team's leading all-purpose player who started his Virginia career with a 61-yard kickoff return at Wisconsin. Abrams was named a finalist for the Ray Guy punter of the year award last week, after he booted a 67-yarder and averaged 43.9 yards over seven punts against the Seminoles.
So now Virginia is four games from the end of its regular season, four wins away from bowl eligibility and on a four-game losing streak.
It will take a special team indeed to pull the Cavaliers' season back together.
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