Virginia football news and notes

THEIR KIND OF GAME: Al Groh told Chuck Amato that the 14-7 slugfest that their two teams played on Saturday in Scott Stadium was their kind of football game.
"I said, 'Yeah, it was yours a little more than mine," Amato told reporters after his North Carolina State team came up on the short end of the decision against homestanding Virginia.
"From our perspective, that game had everything that we would like," Groh, the Virginia coach, told reporters afterward. "It was a clean game. We had one penalty, no turnovers. We ran the ball proficiently if not prolifically. We played real good defense - which is something we're working hard to be able to do on an ongoing basis. And obviously, we were able to finish the game strong there. So we're very proud of the effort, very happy for the players. I thought they were very tough-minded today."
It certainly wasn't pretty - neither team broke the 300-yard mark in total offense, and they combined for 17 punts on the afternoon.
"It feels good to have a win. I'm just worried about the win," said UVa. quarterback Jameel Sewell, who struggled at times in a 12-for-22, 111-yard performance that saw him and counterpart Daniel Evans (21-for-35, 220 yards) have issues with winds gusting over the 30-mph mark.
Virginia (4-5, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) jumped out to a 7-0 first-quarter lead on the strength of a 75-yard drive that senior tailback Jason Snelling capped with a 1-yard run.
The scoreboard didn't see anything more in the way of activity until Evans connected with John Dunlap on an 8-yard scoring pass with 4:48 to go in the fourth quarter to tie the game at seven.
After going nearly 45 minutes without putting anything on the board, the 'Hoos went 80 yards on nine plays - with Snelling scoring from 17 yards out at the 1:31 mark to put Virginia back on top.
Tony Franklin intercepted an Evans pass on the ensuing drive to seal the deal for UVa.
"Throughout the circumstances, the defense had to keep on playing, keep on playing, keep on playing. Offensively, we had to come back and answer there at the end. And they stepped up and did everything just right," Groh said after the game.

THINGS STARTING TO COME TOGETHER? After the 31-21 loss to Conference USA foe East Carolina earlier in the month, things were looking pretty bleak for Groh and his team.
Virginia stood at 2-4 - with losses to ECU and equally unheralded Western Michigan standing out among the four - and fans were calling for Groh's head.
A strong performance in a 28-26 loss to Maryland on Oct. 14 signaled that a possible turnaround was around the corner. Back-to-back wins over North Carolina and N.C. State now have fans thinking about bowl possibilities.
"We really, to a large degree, have played the '06 season with the '07 team," Groh said after the State game. "Certainly, we'll miss players who were so big today for us - like Jason (Snelling) and Tony (Franklin) and Deyon (Williams) and Fontel (Mines) and so forth. But that's pretty much the team - plus quite a few very talented young players that I'm not using this year who will be added to the mix. So certainly it's going to have long-range value - because very few players who got that confidence today are going to leave.
"The worst thing a coach can do is kid himself - you know, and just be optimistic because that's the way you want to feel," Groh said. "But when you see players who have talent, who are working hard, who believe in what you are asking them to do, then it's easy to believe in them. Hey, look, we've got a long ways to go.
"We didn't win any championships today - but we're making progress. We're better than we were last week. Last week, we were better than the week before. Next week, if we're going to have a chance to get a similar result, we're going to have to be better than we were today."

WRINKLE ON THE D-LINE: Virginia's nickel package looked a little different on Saturday - featuring four down linemen, one more than are on the line in the base 3-4 that Groh has employed since his inaugural season in Charlottesville in 2001.
"We revamped our nickel before the North Carolina game to just try to get a little more firepower. So we moved Jeffrey (Fitzgerald) and Chris (Long) from the inside, put them out there on the edges, and brought (Kevin) Crawford and (Nate) Collins inside," Groh said.
"We're satisfied with it - it looks like that might be the mix for quite some time here. And when I say quite some time, I hope their progression is such that we're still putting the same four out there next year," Groh said.
- Chris Graham