DEPTH-CHART UPDATES: Junior Jordy Lipsey (6-3, 280) has won the starting job at center, Groh said. At right guard, juniors Marshal Ausberry (6-5, 314) and Ian-Yates Cunningham (6-3, 290) are alternating. Cunningham has continued to work at center, too.
The other first-teamers on the offensive line are sophomore Eugene Monroe (6-6, 315) at left tackle, redshirt freshman Will Barker (6-7, 306) at right tackle and sophomore Branden Albert (6-7, 315) at left guard.
The Cavaliers' new offensive-line coach, Dave Borbely, would like to have more experience with which to work, of course, but he believes other attributes are more important.
"You're either a good player or you're not," Borbely said, "and what we're trying to do right now is make 'em great."
DOWN TO THE WIRE: Chris Gould will kick off for U.Va., and the junior from Lock Haven, Pa., hopes to handle extra points and field goals, too. But Noah Greenbaum, a senior from Richmond, is battling Gould for the job, and Groh has yet to announce a winner.
"It's just such a close deal," said Groh, who indicated he'll decide closer to the Pitt game.
Greenbaum, a Collegiate graduate who came to U.Va. as a walk-on, was awarded a scholarship this year, and he's "certainly acquitted himself very strongly" in training camp, Groh said.
Against Temple last season, Greenbaum booted a 41-yard field goal.
HIGH ON HALL: Groh said he's been pleased with the progress of outside linebacker Olu Hall during training camp. Hall, a 6-3, 230-pound sophomore, was ineffective as a true freshman last season, when he was used primarily as a pass-rusher.
Virginia's coaching staff has focused this month on teaching Hall the other duties of outside linebackers in the 3-4 defense, and "I'm real impressed with what he can turn into at that position," Groh said.
CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM: Junior nose tackle Keenan Carter's play in training camp has "been mostly up," Groh said, "but what we've learned is just to make sure that we're there to properly inspire Keenan to stay up the next day, too."
For a man who stands 6-2 and weighs 308 pounds, Carter has quick feet, and physically he's the prototypical nose tackle for a 3-4 defense. But he has yet to live up to his enormous potential, partly because of injuries and partly because of inconsistency and poor work habits, his coaches say.
By contrast, U.Va.'s starter at nose tackle, junior Allen Billyk, is "one of those players who really brings dependability to the operation," Groh said. "He seldom makes a mental error, seldom makes a technique error."
GARDEN STATE CONNECTION: Redshirt freshman Rashawn Jackson, a 6-1, 254-pound inside linebacker, is from Jersey City, N.J. True freshman Darnell Carter, a 6-3, 244-pound inside linebacker, is from nearby Englewood.
He didn't know Carter when they were in high school, Jackson said, but "you can tell on the field, as we're tackling, that we got something in common."
Each has distinguished himself in tackling drills this month.
"If those two ever end up in there together, they'll both be big and fast," Groh said. Carter "looks like linebackers here are supposed to look. He's big, and he can run."
ON-THE-JOB TRAINING: Of the 33 players who make up U.Va.'s first-, second- and third-team defenses, only two are seniors: cornerback Marcus Hamilton and safety Tony Franklin. Among the youngsters who'll be expected to contribute this season are redshirt freshmen Jeffrey Fitzgerald (end), Rashawn Jackson (inside linebacker) and Vic Hall (cornerback) and sophomores Alex Field (end) and Aaron Clark (outside linebacker). Neither Field nor Clark earned much experience as true freshmen last year.
"You're going to make mistakes," said Fitzgerald, a graduate of Hermitage High. "It's going to happen, but just try to bounce back from it the best possible way. And if you're going to make a mistake, make it at full speed, where you can recover from it."
