December 4, 2007

Two days after accepting a Gator Bowl bid, the Cavalier Football Team begins its preparation for the game and the Texas Tech Red Raiders. This marks Virginia's second trip to the contest in Jacksonville, as the Cavs fell to Oklahoma back in 1991.

Al Groh said yesterday that the preparation for the game will be divided up into two phases. The first phase will be the team's self-improvement. The Cavaliers will spend some time fine tuning areas of their game that the coaches feel need improvement. The second phase involves working on a game plan for Texas Tech, and what the Red Raiders bring to the table.

Virginia will face by far the most impressive offense that it has seen all season in Texas Tech. The Red Raiders average 41.8 points and 537.1 yards of total offense per game. 475 of those yards are passing yards, as quarterback Graham Harrell has thrown for 45 touchdown passes this season, 21 of which have been to go-to receiver Michael Crabtree. The Red Raiders enter with an 8-4 record, and ended their season by upsetting Oklahoma.

Groh stated that he is glad his team has this much time to prepare for Texas Tech, and that he can't imagined having only the standard week between regular season games to prepare for an offense such as the Red Raiders. Groh expects that at least two days will be spent just preparing the scout team on how to simulate the offense.

Virginia and Texas Tech will meet for the first time at the Gator Bowl on New Years Day. Ticket information can be found at our web channel, wcav.tv.