ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 29, 1995 TAG: 9512290053
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
AN INAUSPICIOUS beginning didn't prevent Mike Groh from having an outstanding career at UVa.
Of the three quarterbacks who signed with Virginia in the winter of 1991, there was one who attracted most of the attention and his name wasn't Mike Groh.
UVa's top recruit that year was Aaron Sparrow, a Parade All-America quarterback from Chesapeake. When it looked as if Sparrow might not qualify academically, the Cavaliers added a player with similar physical attributes, Symmion Willis.
While it was never stated, Groh might have been the No.3 quarterback in his recruiting class - a most humble beginning for a quarterback who became the No.3 passer in UVa history.
``It's part of the game,'' said Groh, the son of New England Patriots defensive coordinator Al Groh. ``There will be people at your position when you get here. There are guys who come with you and guys who come after you and you need to be ready every day.''
Sparrow did not meet Division I-A scholarship guidelines and eventually enrolled at Norfolk State, where he enjoyed an outstanding career. However, he was very much a part of Virginia's recruiting plan.
``We never talked about it,'' said Groh of his discussions with then-UVa assistant Frank Spaziani, ``but my dad had a lot of friends. I knew [Sparrow] was having trouble getting into school but that that was the guy they wanted.''
So, why did Groh pick Virginia from a list of finalists that included Maryland, Minnesota or Villanova?
``I felt like I'd be better than them when it came time to play,'' he said, referring to Sparrow and Willis.
He was a little bit off with his timetable, but when the Cavaliers face Georgia on Saturday night in the Peach Bowl, Groh will make his 19th consecutive start, most by a Virginia quarterback since Scott Gardner in 1972-74.
That hardly seemed possible when Willis set a school record by passing for 2,347 yards in 1993. The Cavaliers had such little commitment to Groh that they allowed Tim Sherman to compete for the back-up job the following spring.
``That p---ed me off,'' Groh said. ``Then, at the beginning of last season, they said that Tim and I were going to alternate weeks. Fortunately for me, my week was Florida State.''
Groh came off the bench after the game was out of reach and fired two fourth-quarter touchdown passes to Germane Crowell. As a result, when Willis suffered a pulled hamstring in practice the next week, Groh started against Navy.
He completed 26 of 35 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns, and he rushed for a touchdown, but he acknowledges that the mop-up performance against Florida State may have been the turning point of his career.
``Regardless of when it came, I went in and we scored two touchdowns against what were obviously some good football players,'' he said. ``I got a little sense that they thought, `Maybe we've got a guy here after all.'''
It wasn't until Willis injured a hamstring for the second time that Groh got the job for keeps. He was so entrenched by the end of the season that Willis was informed that he could not compete for the starting job.
Groh justified the coaches' faith in him by passing for a school-record 2,510 yards and 15 touchdowns this season. He became the first UVa quarterback to throw for 300 yards in three separate games, including a school-record 346-yard effort against Duke.
``There are a lot of things I'm very proud of,'' he said. ``Beating Clemson at Clemson, something no other Virginia team had ever done; the biggest comeback in school history, from 18 points down against Duke. Going down the field in the final minute to beat N.C. State.''
Groh tends to judge himself by wins and losses and the Cavaliers had no bigger victory than a 33-28 triumph over Florida State, snapping the Seminoles' 29-game ACC winning streak. But, he was inconsolable after a 17-16 loss at Texas.
``There's a story my dad likes to tell,'' Groh said. ``I don't know how old I was - maybe 10, 11 or 12 - but I had a bad game and went home and never took my uniform off. I sat in my room and cried the rest of the day.''
Groh, who turned 24 last week, moved around the country with his father and chose high schools based on the opportunity to play quarterback. At 6 feet 3 and 201 pounds, he is not physically imposing and he does not have a bazooka for an arm.
Groh's arm strength was the source of some contention early in his career, but he has thrown touchdown passes this year covering 82, 76, 72, 67, 65, 62 and 52 yards. UVa receivers have dropped 35 passes, according to offensive coordinator Tom O'Brien, and Groh often has been without primary targets Patrick Jeffers and Bobby Neely.
``Bobby and Pat have missed more games than anybody on the team,'' Groh said. ``If we'd been sitting around before the season and somebody had told me that, I wouldn't have known how good we could be.''
At 8-4, with three last-minute losses, 18th-ranked Virginia could have been better. But nobody is knocking Groh, whose successor becomes the No.1 question facing the Cavaliers for next season.
``If Sparrow would have come here, who knows what would have happened,'' O'Brien said. ``In those days, everybody was compared to [two-time All-ACC quarterback] Shawn Moore. Not Groh.
``Groh was a Matt Blundin or a Scott Secules. Groh wasn't a good practice player and that's where a lot of the judgments are made. Secules wasn't a good practice player either, but they were both outstanding football players. Game players.''
In all likelihood, had Willis not been injured, Groh's career would have ended after the 1994 season. Groh would not have been invited back for a fifth year, whether he wanted one or not.
``It doesn't seem that weird to me,'' Groh said. ``It's not the classic story where you're the back-up quarterback for one year and then start for the next year, but I always knew I could do it.
``I put my time in. I was patient. I can't really explain it, but I just had this feeling in my gut that, over the course of my career, I'd have the opportunity to prove myself.''
LENGTH: Long : 112 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Groh. color. Graphic: 2 charts.by CNB