Injuries can ravage a football team's season. And in a collision sport like football, they tend to occur more often than in other big-time college and professional sports such as basketball, soccer and baseball. Besides the season-ending injury to captain Chris Canty and the ankle sprain to fullback Jason Snelling, the Cavaliers have stayed relatively healthy on the injury front.
But when No. 14 Virginia (5-1, 2-1 ACC) enters this weekend's contest versus ACC bottom-feeder Duke (1-5, 0-3), two of the Cavaliers' offensive stars will be questionable. Both quarterback Marques Hagans, the ACC's leading passer, and guard Elton Brown, named to the Midseason All-America team this week, sustained injuries during Virginia's 36-3 self-destruction at Florida State and left the game early.
Virginia coach Al Groh is very discreet about his players' injuries. He said Monday he expects both players to play, but he was waiting to see how they performed this week.
"Given the degree of discomfort that the two players had at the end of the game, I don't expect that they're just going to spryly leap out there the first couple of days this week," Groh said. "Both of them were less uncomfortable given their circumstances on Saturday night than I thought would have been reasonable to expect."
If Hagans can't go on Saturday, that will push sophomore transfer Christian Olsen into the lineup. Olsen saw limited action against the Seminoles after Hagans left in the fourth quarter with a hip injury. The sophomore was six of eight for 47 yards.
The Cavalier starting six on the offensive line (including tight end) has been one of the strongest points of the team. They have paved the way for Virginia's No. 1 rush offense in the ACC at 232.5 yards per game. Before Virginia's dismal offensive output versus Florida State (20 total rushing yards), the Cavaliers were averaging 275 yards per game on the ground. All six men, including three three-year starters -- Brown, center Zac Yarbrough and tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson -- have started together every game this season in a remarkable display of consistency. If Brown is unable to play, freshman Marshal Ausberry or sophomore D.J. Bell would likely step in to the starting role.
The 6-foot-6, 328-pound right guard was injured last Saturday after he made a heads-up play to catch a deflected pass from Hagans to avoid a Seminole interception. Once he made the grab, Brown began to run up field before a Florida State defender tackled him with his helmet on Brown's knee. Brown said he expected to play this weekend.
"Just a little banged up," he said Monday of his status.
Luckily for the Cavaliers, this might be the best time to sustain the injuries. They face off with a dismal Duke team that ranks second to last in almost every defensive category in the ACC and last or second to last in every offensive category. The Blue Devils' only win was a 28-10 triumph versus The Citadel of Division I-AA. The Cavaliers then have a bye week to rest their injuries after Duke.
"It doesn't matter who we play," Brown said. "Duke presents a challenge just like Florida State presented a challenge. They're on their home turf, and they're going to defend their home field. We want to take that losing taste out of our mouth and go play football."
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