Wahoo Wire

Courtesy of voices.washingtonpost.com

I hate Sundays. Especially those ones where your team loses to a I-AA opponent in the opening game of the season. I’m sure everyone can relate to this feeling.

The feeling is similar to losing to your younger brother in ping-pong. You KNOW you are better. You know he’s not even CLOSE to your level of competition. But the damn kid keeps putting crazy spin on the ball and lobbing it over the net…waiting for you to make the mistake. And then he wins, and you hear about it 24/7 until 1) you play him again and beat him or 2) punch him in the face.

I don’t know about you all, but if you have friends similar to mine, your phone and Facebook profiles were fluttered with messages like “Hoo just lost to the Tribe?” and “Looks like you guys should be in the CAA” and “Can you go and buy some coffee filters, we’re out.”

The sad thing (third one included) is that I agree with these people. I mean, after all, no evidence was shown on Saturday that we are equipped to consistently take on competition from the ACC.

RJ Archer, Charlottesville hometown hero, torched the defense with his play. There was no sense of intimidation shown by him or his teammates, and he showed what Groh was missing by not offering him a scholarship (he was snubbed while at Albemarle). Not only that, but the defensive line of William and Mary broke through our line like a townie getting into a frat party.

The coaching decisions were questionable and difficult to understand. For example, only 6 handoffs were given to starting running back Mikell Simpson. Even in a spread offense, shouldn’t he get more touches?

Also, where was the great secondary play? The Tribe had ample opportunity to advance and score.

Not to mention the quarterback controversy. Vic Hall and Jameel Sewell found zero consistency or rhythm in the first half after two early touchdowns. Sewell throws two interceptions (with one waiting to come). Then, in the middle of the third quarter, they put Marc Verica in. He goes 7 for 11, playing pretty consistently, and then the ball slips out of his hand accidentally and he commits a turnover. Then he goes to the sideline, never to see the field again.

So explain this logic to me, Coach: Sewell throws 2 interceptions and continues play, yet Verica pulls a Charlie Brown and never sees the field again?

Something’s not right here (Good thing the Cavalier Daily’s Andrew Seidman had no problem trashing Verica’s ability. Referring to the quarterback who took over mid-way last season to win more games than UVa was expected to, Seidman compared the use of Verica to “your darkest hour of desperation,” and added, “In Groh’s defense, his back was against the wall.” Nice work.).

But that’s the mistake a lot of people make; they try to use logic in interpreting Groh’s decision making.

And Groh certainly has a lot of ‘splainin to do. We go up against TCU tomorrow; a team that is ranked number 16 in the country for a reason. Not only that, but they have the most confusing mascot in the country (the horned…frogs? Really? How many hits of acid did their Athletic Department take before picking that mascot?).

Regardless, it should make for a humorous “Adventures of Cav Man.” (Don’t you wish, just once, that instead of the other mascot just disappearing in a cloud of dust, that there would be an extended scene where the Cav Man tore apart the visiting mascot, and then proceeded to throw the remains to cheering UVa fans on the street as he rides by on his horse towards the stadium? I can’t imagine a better way to get a crowd fired up.)

Which brings up another question. When did our mascot become “Cav Man”? Last I checked, it was the Virginia Cavaliers, and the mascot looked, as the name describes it, like a cavalier (from dictionary.com: “an adherent of Charles I of England in his contest with Parliament”). Instead, now he looks like a Spanish version of a character in Disney’s Incredibles.

Anyway, as I was saying about Virginia football…

As part of my grieving process on Sunday, I spent most of the day trying to catch up on work, but instead found myself looking at old videos of UVa football games on Youtube. Scrolling through games from the mid-90s, I found some gems, such as the 1995 game against Florida State when Adrian Burnam punched the ball back before FSU running back Warrick Dunn crossed the goal line as the clock expired (Which was FSU’s first loss in the ACC since joining in 1992).

Or in 1998, when we went down to Blacksburg, down 29-7 at halftime, and came storming back with a climactic pass by Aaron Brooks to Ahmad Hawkins to win 36-32.

Then, more recently, the famous “hook and ladder” against Georgia Tech in Groh’s first season in 2001.

As you can see, winning football games consistently at UVa isn’t a long ago phenomenon, people just have a short memory span.

Nevertheless, things need to improve. First, and most important, we need more violent “Adventures with Cav Man.” Second, we need to change the Cav Man back to the Cavalier. And third (this is optional), find a coach who can win consistently. That way we can get back to the old days of the 1990s when we spent all our time trashing Tech’s team, school, and culture.

As Thomas Paine once wrote, “Get off your pity pot Nancy and go to the football game. And stay the whole time no matter what the score is.”

Keep your heads up, Wahoo fans. Better days are ahead.