Virginia notebook

By Andy Bitter

Published: July 21, 2008

GREENSBORO, Ga. — Virginia was picked to finish fifth in the ACC’s Coastal Division by the assembled media at the ACC Kickoff on Monday. Cavaliers coach Al Groh was neither surprised nor concerned.

“Our team probably continues to labor to get much respect in this conference,” Groh said.

Despite winning nine games in 2007, tied for second-most in school history, Virginia was hit hard by offseason attrition both expected (Chris Long and Branden Albert heading to the NFL) and unexpected (academic suspensions to starters Jameel Sewell and Chris Cook and the transfer of rising star Jeffrey Fitzgerald).

That leaves plenty of question marks on both sides of the ball, with inexperienced players battling it out for playing time.

“When Chris Long and Branden Albert were getting ready to start, I don’t recall there were any people saying, ‘Oh wow, this is incredible. These guys are going to start,’” Groh said. “Now everybody is saying, ‘What are you going to do without these guys.’ …

“So there are players coming up who are going to have the same opportunity as those players did, go from no-name players in the eyes of people who didn’t know to being people everybody is saying, ‘What are you going to do without (them)?’”

Countdown to USC

As of today, Virginia is 39 days away from its season-opening clash with perennial powerhouse Southern Cal at Scott Stadium. Count Groh as those touting the Trojans, who should garner a top-five ranking to start the season.

“This is the most talented college football team I’ve seen since I had to do pre-draft work on the Florida State teams of the late and middle ’90s, “Groh said. “Warrick Dunn, Peter Warrick, Marvin Jones, (Andre) Wadsworth, Reinard Wilson, Samari Rolle — those guys. This is the most talented college team I’ve seen since them.

“(The Trojans) had the most guys drafted in the country last year and a couple NFL general managers told me they might have more drafted next year. They have clearly been in a league of their own during the decade from 2000 on.”

That’s clearly a concern for Cavaliers fans, who have seen their team stumble in recent season openers, losing 38-13 at Pittsburgh in 2006 and finishing with 100 yards of total offense in last year’s 23-3 pounding at Wyoming.

The Trojans should serve as extra motivation during Virginia’s training camp.

“You can’t be caught off guard,” UVa tight end John Phillips said. “It means you can’t be slacking off. You can’t just go and stick your toe in the water. You’ve got to be ready to jump in.”

Extra points

Sophomore Trey Womack, who worked out at both cornerback and safety in the spring, will be a safety when practice opens on Aug. 4. … Groh said UVa’s spring semester team GPA was the highest at Virginia in the last nine years. … The ACC will begin implementing injury reports this fall, the first Division I conference to do so. The twice-weekly reports will announce levels of injury in a way similar to the NFL’s system — out, doubtful, questionable and probable. Groh, who is reticent to dole out any injury information, actually likes the idea. “(It means) I don’t have to answer all those stupid questions from Sunday through Wednesday,” he said.