UVA football fans express their disenchantment at the turnstile

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Firing Virginia coach Al Groh at the end of the season would be expensive, but the cost of not doing so could be just as high.

Only 41,713 fans were on hand at Scott Stadium on Saturday to watch the Cavs lose to Duke, the lowest number since the stadium was expanded in 2000.

It seems reasonable to assume that a winning team would have put an additional 10,000 people in the stadium. Such a surge in attendance would have been worth nearly half a million dollars. By contrast, when this season ends Groh has two more years remaining on a contract that pays him $1.7 million annually.

Those financial realities will be discussed at length as the season winds to a close, but for now there’s still a 3-5 football team that is readying itself for a road test against Miami next Saturday at noon.

The players indicated Saturday that they are still behind Groh, but fullback Rashawn Jackson said the team’s primary focus is internal.

“When we’re on the field, we’re not protecting coach Groh back there, we’re protecting Jameel Sewell. We’re not blocking for coach (Dave) Borbely, we’re blocking for Mikell Simpson,“ Jackson said. “We have really good coaches, and I love our coaches, but on the field we have to do things for each other.“

When asked about the crowd, the players’ responses were similar.

“Our house is between the white lines,“ defensive lineman John-Kevin Dolce said. “Whether it’s home or away, we don’t necessarily play for our fans. They don’t sweat with us, they don’t bleed with us, and they don’t cry with us.“

But even if the players say the right things that the lack of crowd size doesn’t bother them there’s no question that a loud, motivated fan base is an asset to a team.

The question is how to bring that fan base back after all, as recently as 2007 Scott Stadium was rocking on football Saturdays. The lone answer is to field a winning team.

“Virginia isn’t USC, Michigan, Tennessee or Virginia Tech,“ Jackson said. “The fans here aren’t as patient. It’s just human nature sometimes when things aren’t going well to, you know, I don’t want to say tuck your tail, but just to turn your back.“

He added that he was more torn up about the fans who stayed and supported the team to the end of the game.

“Those were the guys that made this loss even worse, since they hung in there. I appreciate those fans, and I appreciate their effort,“ he said. “I’m just disappointed we couldn’t help their weekend go a little more smoothly. Hopefully they aren’t getting bugged about it at work on Monday.“

The road from here won’t get any easier for Virginia. The remaining schedule includes games against Miami, Boston College, Clemson and Virginia Tech, all of which have winning records this season.

To become bowl-eligible, the Cavaliers will have to win three of those games.

For now, Groh continues to lead the team, and the players continue to have his back, even as the fan base dwindles.

“We don’t even want to think about that,“ defensive lineman Zane Parr said. “We’re just trying to go out there and play as hard as we can to try to get the win.“

Contact Michael Phillips at (804) 649-6456 or