What a lousy league” has been the mantra this season regarding ACC football. But if the ACC plays crummy football, what does that say about other major college football conferences? Nothing good. The ACC has five teams in the top 25 of the BCS standings, more than any other conference. So the Virginia Tech at Virginia game Saturday is a contest between two teams from one of the best football conferences in the country.

CHARLOTTESVILLE When Nate Collins heard some of Virginia’s players start discussing their plans for Christmas, he gathered the captains together to address the team. “They can worry about that in a week,“ the senior defensive lineman said. “We aren’t going to accept anyone just moping around and basically giving up on the team. We have more to do, and we’re still trying to win as many football games as we can.“

As Virginia’s seniors are honored this Saturday before the rivalry game with Virginia Tech, it will be easy to ask if things might have gone differently for this group of players. What if Cedric Peerman had stayed for his senior season, giving the quarterback an experienced receiver? What if Al Groh had Jeffrey Fitzgerald and J’Courtney Williams in the lineup, and Jameel Sewell was returning with a full year of starting experience?

As outside observers start to write the final words on the Al Groh era at Virginia, the coach is working to keep things the same with his team. When asked how he planned to prepare for today’s game against Clemson, he borrowed some advice from golf. “Pick out your target, block out all distractions, and take dead aim,“ he said. “That’s how we compete from week to week.

Poor Bill Belichick. His coaching career has come to this: He has two defenders, Al Groh and me. Groh and Belichick have been on several NFL staffs together, so that figures. As for me, that’s a hard one PAUL
WOODY
to believe, isn’t it? I’m no great fan of Belichick and the way he runs his team. He treats the smallest piece of information as if it were a state secret. He pushes the rules to the limit and beyond.

Rashawn Jackson stepped back into the spotlight as the feature running back and showed why he’s been moving up NFL draft boards, averaging 4.1 yards a carry. The bigger surprise was the complete lack of playing time for Mikell Simpson, who was not injured. Coach Al Groh, asked why Simpson didn’t play, said it was “because we played Jackson.“

For Virginia coach Al Groh, watching the tape yesterday of a 52-17 loss to Miami was just confirmation of what he’d suspected. “I didn’t think after the game that we’d played very well,“ he said last night. “And I felt the same way after watching the video. We have played better in other games.“ After enjoying a brief October run, November could be less kind as the Wahoos’ final three opponents all have winning records. And as was revealed yesterday, good teams have a way of exploiting weaknesses.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.—With Miami’s 52-17 victory safely in hand, former Virginia star Chris Long went over to defensive end Matt Conrath to offer some consoling words. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of that exchange was that Conrath spent time on the sideline. Once again, a defense with little depth was asked to take the field far longer than half the game, the result of an offense that has bigger problems than just who is lining up behind center. The unit also had to deal with short fields caused by misfiring punters.

CHARLOTTESVILLE The odds that Al Groh will be coaching U.Va. football in four years are slim. But his decisions this year will still influence the program in 2013. Groh has played 14 true freshmen this year, matching the 2002 season for the most he’s used as a head coach. The number was increased by two Saturday when tight end Paul Freedman caught a 6-yard pass, and linebacker Connor McCartin joined the kickoff team.

Only 41,713 fans were on hand at Scott Stadium on Saturday to watch the Cavs lose to Duke, the lowest number since the stadium was expanded in 2000.

Taking aim at a Duke offense that was pass-heavy, Virginia played most of the game in a nickel formation, the first time that defensive package had been used all year. “We were definitely working to get a lot of pressure on the QB,“ defensive lineman Zane Parr said. “The offensive line was coming off the ball hard, and we just had to come off harder and really push their tackles and guard back.“

CHARLOTTESVILLE Al Groh gets his inspiration from the business world as well as the sports one. In the past two weeks, the Virginia football coach has cited as inspiration Joe Torre and Bill Parcells, as well as the business style known as “management by walking around.“ He’ll recommend a book to the media - Monday it was Phil Simms’ “Sunday Morning Quarterback” - then explain its relevance in the current discussion. He’s not afraid to give credit elsewhere, as when he discussed the origin of his “next man up” philosophy on injuries.

CHARLOTTESVILLE The first mention of it came Sunday. While going over the plan for the week, coach Al Groh briefly reminded his team of what went down in Durham last year—a 31-3 loss to Duke. “He just said that we don’t want a performance like last year,“ linebacker Steve Greer said. “It wasn’t our best football at all.“ The loss was a low point in Virginia’s season, though recent events have helped the Blue Devils shed their reputation as an easy victory in ACC play. They’re 2-1 in the conference and 4-3 overall.

The bad news is that Virginia was unable to hang with Georgia Tech on Saturday, losing 34-9. The good news is that nobody else has been able to do that, either. When the Wahoos watch tape of last night’s game, they’ll have several issues to address in the coming week, including the rushing game and what to do with the defensive line. But coach Al Groh said last night that there also were positives to emphasize.

This week’s depth chart released by Virginia went 0 for 3 in projecting defensive-line starters. The one sure thing was that Nate Collins would start, but instead of his usual role as a defensive end, he was moved to nose tackle. That’s where he was last year against Georgia Tech when he had a standout performance. “Frankly, I would have been questioning myself if the game was over and he wasn’t at nose tackle,“ coach Al Groh said. “He probably made more plays than he did last year.“