Cavs see the glass as half full

CHARLOTTESVILLE – Football fans in the Commonwealth would do well to forget Saturday ever happened.

The most exciting thing that happened at Scott Stadium occurred before Virginia and Southern California even kicked off, as word got to Cavaliers fans that East Carolina had knocked off Virginia Tech. The Wahoos knew that at the very least they wouldn’t be alone heading into Week 2 still looking for a win.

That was all any reasonable Virginia fan could have expected.

“When you play against a team that is in a league USC is in, your only chance is to win the field position,” U.Va. coach Al Groh said after the game.

Talking about the Trojans being in a whole other league made sense both literally and metaphorically. Virginia isn’t going to face another team like that. The ACC doesn’t have a national championship contender, no matter what Clemson fans may believe, and USC certainly falls into that category.

If last year’s opening day loss at Wyoming proved anything, its that the first game really doesn’t prove anything, and a 52-7 loss to a team like Southern California doesn’t mean U.Va. can’t compete in the ACC and return to a bowl game this year.

So the best thing to do is forget it.

The Trojans looked nearly unstoppable in the game’s first nine minutes, racing out to a 21-0 lead and looking like they were playing a Football Championship Subdivision (formally I-AA) upstart, not a BCS conference team that won nine games and went to a respectable bowl last year.

But for the second quarter and part of the third the Cavaliers were able to compete. Maybe it was USC letting its guard down with a big lead. Maybe it was U.Va. finally starting to settle down and play the way it was capable of playing. It’s hard to say one way or the other, for a stretch Virginia looked like a team that can beat most of the ACC. That might not be saying much, but it’s probably enough.

The U.Va. offense might be better than last year. Peter Lalich has more weapons to work with than Jameel Sewell did. Four Cavaliers caught passes and only one played tight end.

Kevin Ogletree ( four catches for 21 yards), Cary Koch and Jared Green (both three catches for 40 yards) all looked good lining up in the wide receiver spots. And with Cedric Peerman and Mikel Simpson, Lalich has two solid backs to hand the ball to.

They’re solid by ACC standards, anyway. That duo doesn’t compare to C.J. Gable, Joe McKnight, Allen Bradford and Stafon Johnson, the stable of horses USC ran at Virginia. But that’s the point, the Cavs’ defense won’t face that again and the Virginia offense will never see a defense with the kind of speed and size the Trojans bring.

“USC was a big, powerful, fast team,” Groh said as he opened up his press conference.

That about sums it up, but who cares? Groh could have gotten some backups some more playing time after the score got out of hand, but Virginia escaped without any major injuries, and that’s about all it could ask for.

“We’re just thankful to be able to come out of this game healthy,” Peerman said when it was over.

They’re healthy with a bunch of winnable games ahead of them, if they don’t let Saturday’s embarrassing loss drag them down.

Shane Mettlen can be reached at 825-0771, ext. 127 or