Can UVa stage a comeback?

Demoralized and defeated, Virginia quarterback Marc Verica attempted to scurry off the field at Land Shark Stadium on Saturday.

As was the case during the 52-17 beating from Miami, the Cavaliers’ signal caller was not nearly elusive enough.

Verica, making his first start of the season, was quickly confronted by local television reporters, an act shunned seconds after a contest, only to be grilled about the setback.

For Verica and Virginia’s subdued players it felt like a broken record.

The Cavaliers (3-6, 2-3 ACC) have, in fact, lost 10 of their past 13 games and three straight as the offense continues to sputter.

Verica, who declined to speak with local reporters, was one of the culprits as he threw 18 incomplete passes and managed just 75 yards passing.

Miami, barely alive in the chase for the Coastal Division title, did not have such issues. The Hurricanes (7-2, 4-2) piled up 515 yards of total offense against Virginia’s once stellar defense.

“Miami’s got a lot of

playmakers in all three phases of the game,” Virginia coach Al Groh said, “and we had a lot of difficulty controlling those playmakers and matching those playmakers.

“We knew what the match-up was going to be coming in and it would be if we could control those playmakers and keep them from taking over the game, which they did a real good job of framing the game up their way and making it go that way.”

Despite Miami scoring the game’s final 28 points to make the final outcome lopsided, the contest was not without flair.

Virginia was called for numerous penalties that seemed questionable, including a personal foul on defensive end Nate Collins and a facemask penalty on linebacker Cam Johnson that was oddly called only after an instant replay session was called for to check the spot of the ball.

On the penalty on Johnson, he ended up on top of Miami quarterback Jacory Harris and the two scuffled until they were separated.

In the fray, Harris said his helmet-less head was knocked by Johnson’s helmet.

“After that, it was on,” said Harris, who weighs 190 pounds. “The referees were holding me back. They think, just because I’m skinny, I won’t retaliate.”

Virginia did not retaliate on the field, folding over the final 20 minutes en route to making the contest a laugher.

Can the Cavaliers bounce back from their solemn position now as their coach appears to be heading into his final weeks at the helm?

Having lost 10 of the past 13 games overall, Virginia (3-6, 2-3 ACC) must beat Boston College, Clemson and Virginia Tech to have a chance to be invited to a bowl game.

“It is going to be tough but we are going to take it week by week,” Virginia linebacker Bill Schautz said. “We are going to get after and get ready for Boston College and see what happens. “Then we will just go from there.”

While the Cavaliers have little to play for outside of pride and a low-level bowl berth, Boston College enters Saturday hoping to win the Atlantic Division.

“That stuff is out of our hands,” Virginia wideout Jared Green said. “We just have to work on getting better and turning this thing around.”

Extra points

Virginia wideout Javaris Brown did not make the trip to Miami and is suffering from a high ankle sprain, according to Groh. … Defensive end Matt Conrath played “longer” than the coaching staff expected in his return from an ankle injury.