Will offseason affect UVa on the field?

By Andy Bitter

Published: August 5, 2008

The Virginia football team reported for training camp in Charlottesville on Monday, ready to take the field and erase the memory of a tumultuous offseason marred by arrests, academic suspensions and dismissals.

Not much could have gone better on the field last season for the Cavaliers, who pulled out a series of close victories to finish with nine wins for the second time in the Al Groh era.

But it couldn’t have gotten much worse during an offseason in which the team lost starting quarterback Jameel Sewell and Chris Cook to academic suspension, budding star defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald to transfer and defensive coach Mike London to Richmond.

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There were also the legal problems of former prized recruit J’Courtney Williams and cornerback Mike Brown, both of whom were dismissed from the team.

As of Monday, though, UVa’s focus was on football. Here are five questions surrounding the team this August:

1. Can Peter Lalich seize the starting quarterback job?

With Sewell out of the picture for at least 2008, the job seemed like Lalich’s to lose. But Groh has not bestowed anything on Lalich, who is the most experienced of UVa’s contenders at quarterback, having completed 35 of 61 passes for 321 yards and two touchdowns as a backup last year.

Don’t rule out fifth-year senior Scott Deke. Groh routinely gives experienced players a shot (see Olsen, Christian) and Deke, despite his limited time on the field, has been precisely the kind of team player that Groh favors.

Based on sheer talent, Lalich, a former SuperPrep All-American, would be the frontrunner. But the sophomore’s maturity — he was charged with possession and purchase of alcohol by a minor in July — could come into play.

2. How will an offensive line that lost all of its interior linemen mesh?

Virginia is set at the tackles, with senior Eugene Monroe and junior Will Barker returning as solid bookends, but the Cavaliers lost their entire interior line, with Branden Albert, Jordy Lipsey and Ian-Yates Cunningham taking with them a combined 95 starts.

The competition for playing time should be fierce. Sophomore Jack Shields has a leg up on redshirt freshman Anthony Mihota to start at center. Fifth-year senior Zak Stair and junior Patrick Slebonick are battling it out at left guard.

Meanwhile, sophomore B.J. Cabbell, a Nelson County graduate who got a taste of action last year on the field goal unit, is the frontrunner for the starting job at right guard.

3. What is this team going to do without Chris Long?

This might be the Cavaliers’ biggest question. His All-American numbers aside, Long was an emotional catalyst for a team that more often than not won its games in the final minutes on sheer will. Replacing that won’t be easy, if at all possible.

While sophomore Sean Gottschalk and redshirt freshman Matt Conrath, who has received numerous offseason plaudits, have the unenviable task of trying to replace a portion of Long’s on-field production, UVa will likely turn to outside linebacker Clint Sintim, Long’s former roommate and as outspoken of a player on the roster, as the defense’s emotional leader.

4. Will veteran coach Bob Pruett be able to seamlessly replace London as defensive coordinator?

This much is for certain: There will be fewer player-coordinator chest bumps following big defensive plays. Nobody showed more passion on the field than London, who possessed an infectious energy that made him such an attractive hire for Richmond.

The 65-year-old Pruett won’t be as lively, but he’s certainly knowledgeable, with 40 years of coaching experience under his belt. Groh has called the defensive plays for the last few years, so nothing will change on that front, but Pruett, whose expertise is in the defensive backfield, should help a promising group that includes Byron Glaspy, former Gretna standout Vic Hall and Ras-I Dowling.

5. Will the kicking situation be this team’s Achilles’ heel?

Kicker Chris Gould made 80 percent of his field goals (16-for-20) last season and punter Ryan Weigand finishing fourth nationally with a 45.2-yard average. Both are gone, which could be trouble for a team that relied on its special teams to tip the scales in so many close games.

Redshirt freshman Chris Hinkebein was expected to step in for Gould, but he struggled throughout the spring with his accuracy, which could leave the job open for whoever can run with it.

Sophomore Nathen Rathjen, a walk-on, tops the preseason depth chart at punter, though he’s never kicked in a game. Don’t be surprised 6-foot-6, 238-pound true freshman Jimmy Howell, the No. 6-ranked punting recruit in the country according to Scout.com, snatches the starting job this August.