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He expects all of his home appliances to be stainless steel. He doesn't shop at the mall. His personal assistant shops for him. He regularly eats sushi three meals a day. There are statues of both his great-great grandfathers at Civil War battlefields. He is Brendan From Old Virginia. Check out our responses to his questions.
FoV: It's....flickering. Pretty much like it always does. You guys were unlucky enough to get Verica minus most of the mistakes, which ends up being a pretty good quarterback. He was very definitely bad against FSU and wasn't too great against USC. Your defense is somewhere between FSU and VMI/Richmond, and will, I think, actually be the first really fair test of Verica's skills this season. We all knew, or should have, that the first four games were going to either provide no challenge or overmatch him.
FTRS: Georgia Tech homecoming week features traditions that date back to the turn of 20th century. What is UVA's offensive gameplan under Mike London? A new age spread attack or an old school power running game? Who are the playmakers in this offense?
FoV: Definitely old-school. It's been that way for most of the decade, but it got stagnant because we've had lousy coordinators and Groh decided to edge his way toward the spread the last two years, which worked not at all. London brought it back to making full use of tight ends and fullbacks and only ever really having two wide receivers at a time.
UVA has a quality tandem at both RB and WR, with a thunder-and-lightning matchup of tailbacks in Perry Jones and Keith Payne. Payne is an absolute load at 255 pounds. Kris Burd and Dontrelle Inman are both doing a great job at receiver.
FTRS: You've got a new coach this year in Mike London. Let's say Al Groh, Mike London, and George Welsh walk into a bar. What advice does Al Groh give Mike London about UVA? Does George Welsh echo those sentiments or does he slap Al Groh?
FoV: At this point in time, Groh's still probably carrying a bit of a grudge from the way he felt he was treated in the last two years or so of his tenure, so chances are he tells London to watch his back. London won't need the advice, being the kind of coach that fits perfectly into the mold of head coach that AD Craig Littlepage has been hiring for every program in the department. (Young, and a people person first and a schemes guy second.) Welsh wouldn't slap Groh upside the head but he might roll his eyes, having never encountered the problem of lack of support from the administration.
FTRS: Building off of question #3, there were 23 head coaching changes before the season started in Division I-A football. One third through the 2010 season, is Mike London the best performing hire amongst those 23 coaches with respect to expectations?
FoV: Man, I never realized how badly the other coaching hires are doing. Texas Tech, Cincy, Marshall, Kansas....all struggling. Then again, they haven't played VMI. London has basically met expectations so far at 2-2, and given people something to grasp onto with a close one in LA. But I think Jimbo Fisher is having a smoother road. His "process before results" approach has been bought into by the FSU fanbase, too, so they seem forgiving of that Oklahoma debacle, as well as happy to have a coach who actually coaches. Plus he's in the top 25. Can't argue with that.
FTRS: Al Groh is at Georgia Tech now and he probably has a silent vendetta against the Wahoos for firing him and the Hokies for getting him fired. Are you, the UVA fan base, concerned about his knowledge of the weaknesses and nuances of the Wahoo personnel? What will UVA's Groh-less-defense look like on Saturday?
FoV: Well, a lot of UVA fans are furious at Groh for going to a division rival. So if they also tell you they're not worried about what he knows about us and how to scheme for us, they're lying. No doubt Groh knows exactly how to attack Verica and this offense - it's not too different from what he used to do.
But London ditched Groh's 3-4 and switched to a 4-3. So the difference in scheme there will be night and day. It'll also be a lot smaller and quicker, which worries me against GT: I always felt like Groh's 3-4 with beefy, NFL-sized (though slower) players was the best counter to GT's triple option.
FTRS: What happened against Florida State? Most Tech fans only saw the box score and that UVA's rushing offense was shutdown. Did the loss affect your outlook on the UVA 2010 season?
FoV: Nah, not really. I think I picked FSU to win their division. They have better talent at, hmmm, at least 20 of 22 starting positions on the field. In some cases the difference is vast. I still think 6-6 is an achievable record and 7-5 isn't out of reach. My outlook on the season has a lot more potential to be affected in the next two weeks.
FTRS: Based on your vast knowledge of UVA recruiting, Mike London's offensive/defensive prowess, and other stuff, when will UVA be competing for an ACC Coastal Title at the earliest?
FoV: If everything drops into place just perfectly, 2012. 2013 is more likely, when we likely have a senior quarterback and London's first full recruiting class are juniors or redshirt sophomores.
Thanks to Brendan for stopping by. He told Winfield that he's already preordered sixty cases of Zima from Luxembourg for this weekend's affair. I didn't even realize Zima was still made but UVA fans love their malternative drinks. To quote Winfield, "A UVA fan hunting for Zima is like the old Native American ritual of climbing to the highest mountain for a single eagle feather." Awe inspiring. GO JACKETS!!!