When Virginia's offense trotted out onto the field for the first snap of Saturday's game against Miami, the PA announcer informed the media: "Jameel Sewell is in at quarterback for the Cavaliers ... Correction: Marc Verica."
So began a 60-minute-long joke.
"I'm not talking," Verica, the junior quarterback, said after the game as he headed for the team bus. "I'm sorry."
Can't blame him. I probably wouldn't want to talk after engineering a 35-point loss, either. Sure, few - if any - expected the Cavaliers to defeat the then-No. 16 Hurricanes at Land Shark Stadium. After witnessing Virginia's fourth quarter collapse against Duke last week, it's hard to believe anyone expects anything other than mediocrity from the Cavaliers. But just one week after Wake Forest posted 555 total yards of offense against Randy Shannon and Co., Virginia's 149-yard effort may be just as baffling as its season-opening loss to William & Mary, or just as absurd as the fact that the Cavaliers have somehow managed to defeat three Division I teams.
"They've got Riley Skinner," coach Al Groh said.
I suppose that implies that Virginia does not have a quarterback the caliber of Skinner. But even I didn't think Verica was capable of an 11-for-29 performance - and I've thought terrible, unforgivable things about Verica, things that have been repeatedly censored by my editor.
Everyone knows about Verica's 16 interceptions in 2008. They doubled his touchdown output. They reminded you that no matter how inept you were at your job, there was still a whole other level of incompetence to be reached.
But those interceptions overshadow a much less-known fact: His 63.8 completion percentage ranked first in the ACC a year ago. He threw for 200 or more yards in six straight games, tying Matt Schaub for the Virginia record. In other words, despite his high turnover ratio, Verica was actually an accurate passer last season.
It seemed like he couldn't complete a pass Saturday. He overthrew his screen passes. He threw behind sophomore receiver Kris Burd, who had beat his defender downfield on a critical third down after Miami had seized a 14-point lead in the third quarter. He once again tried a jump ball to 5-foot-9 Vic Hall. And whenever Verica was in a definite passing situation, one of Miami's offensive linemen was right there to greet him.
Verica's completion percentage has now dipped below 45 percent this season. Even given his sparse playing time and small sample size of throws, such a precipitous drop is startling. It's plausible that Verica took a sizable shot to his confidence when he was stripped of his starting job after the return of senior Jameel Sewell, who was academically ineligible in 2008. He also had Kevin Ogletree and John Phillips to throw to last year; the drop in talent and experience at the receiver and tight end position has been readily apparent in 2009. Still, 75 yards on 29 attempts is hard to watch - I almost felt bad for the guy.
"A lot of the coverage was tight man-to-man coverage," Groh said. "When a quarterback faces that, whoever the quarterback might be, that's a question of - we've gotta ... give somebody the quarterback to target. If the quarterback doesn't have anybody to target and he's standing in the pocket and he throws it away to anybody, then it's grounding. So that puts a lot of pressure on the pass protection."
Indeed, Virginia's offensive line dropped another bombshell Saturday, making a significant contribution to the Cavaliers' Three Act Comedy.
Midway through the first quarter, a friend of mine who was watching the game on TV sent me a text: "Doc Walker says our offensive line is a 'good group.'"
When junior cornerback Ras-I Dowling intercepted sophomore quarterback Jacory Harris's flea-flicker and returned it to the Miami 26-yard line with 5:26 remaining in the quarter, Virginia was poised to take the lead. Three plays and two yards later, the reporter sitting next to me remarked, "This has gotta be the worst offensive line in Virginia history."
That's more like it.
But my personal favorite Virginia mistake was a collective one that embodied the carelessness and "this-is-why-we're-going-to-lose-out" spirit of the team. With 1:17 left in the first quarter and the score knotted at 10 apiece, Miami sophomore punt returner Thearon Collier hauled in a Virginia punt at the Hurricane 40 as six Cavaliers closed in on him and seemed to have him trapped along the left sideline. Redshirt freshman Ausar Walcott nearly locked Collier up. Freshman Perry Jones had him by the ankles. And four others idly watched Collier cut across the field and dash along the right sideline for a touchdown. Some sort of inverted Tragedy of the Commons.
"We had plenty of guys there," Groh said.
Add the fact that this play was one of three Miami touchdowns that took a combined three minutes and 27 seconds to execute, and you get your 2009 Virginia Cavaliers.
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