MIAMI (AP) -The last time Virginia coach Al Groh was on the sideline in South Florida, his Cavaliers ended Miami's era at the Orange Bowl with a stunning 48-0 romp over the Hurricanes.
If his team doesn't win in Miami again on Saturday, another era - his own - could be closing.
Indeed, No. 16 Miami and Virginia will be desperate teams for different reasons this weekend. The Hurricanes (6-2, 3-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) need a win to remain viable in the league title race, plus keep slim hopes of reaching the Bowl Championship Series going. Virginia (3-5, 2-2) is still part of the league chase as well, but the bigger issue for the Cavaliers revolves around Groh's uncertain future.
So Saturday's winner gets a clear and obvious boost. And the loser might feel lingering aftereffects for a long, long time.
``Big game for both teams,'' Miami coach Randy Shannon said.
Subplots abound, for certain.
For starters, there's this little matter of 48-0. To Miami, it still matters.
``Still lingers,'' Shannon acknowledged.
Of the 22 starters the Hurricanes had on the field that November night in 2007, when they played on the Orange Bowl turf for the final time, only five remain on Miami roster. The stadium itself is now gone - by 2012, the Florida Marlins expect to open a ballpark on that site - but the memories of that loss certainly linger around the Hurricanes, even for those who weren't playing back then.
``It's kind of a revenge thing,'' Miami quarterback Jacory Harris said.
Harris was a high school senior that night. The overflow crowd kept him from getting into the stadium until the second quarter, when it was already 24-0. Inside, he seethed at the on-field display, everything Virginia did right almost reaffirming his decision to be part of Miami's rebuilding project.
``Yeah, 48-zip. That was crazy,'' Harris said.
Crazy would also describe Miami's trip to Virginia a year ago.
Physicists would be hard-pressed to explain how that one turned out: Miami was down 17-10 with 8 minutes remaining, getting the ball at its own 5 yard line. With 55 seconds left, facing a 3rd-and-15 from the Virginia 26, Harris rolled left and was eventually hit by Cavaliers linebacker Clint Sintim, who was 69 pounds heavier than the Miami quarterback.
Somehow, Harris got enough on the throw to get the ball into the end zone, where LaRon Byrd caught it for an overtime-forcing touchdown. Another Harris TD in the extra session gave Miami a 24-17 victory and the Cavaliers have been spiraling downhill ever since, losing nine of 12 games starting that afternoon in Charlottesville.
``There's a lot of players who made good plays last year against us,'' Groh said. ``But it was the Jacory Harris drive that did it. It was his plays. ... He made the kind of plays that the quarterbacks who elevate their teams to win a lot of games make.''
Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage told The Associated Press earlier this week that Groh will face an end-of-season evaluation on his ``full body of work.'' Groh has been on the proverbial hot seat before, and a 9-4 record in 2007 that was helped by that 48-point win in Miami went a long way toward appeasing Virginia's fan base.
Going 8-12 since, and staring at another season without a bowl bid, seems to have eroded much of that goodwill. If the buzz about his future is wearing on Groh, he isn't letting much show.
In fact, the only heat Groh's thinking of is the temperature in steamy South Florida for Saturday's noon kickoff. It still feels like summertime - mid 80s, hot, humid - in Miami, while the Cavaliers practiced with the mercury in the 50s throughout the week.
``This game being at noon, we do anticipate it being a factor in the game,'' Groh said. ``We have talked about the fact that it'll be something they'll have to deal with.''
If Jameel Sewell can't go Saturday, Groh's job this week will get even tougher. Virginia's quarterback is 2-0 in his career against Miami, but was listed as doubtful on the team's injury report with a shoulder injury.
``I don't think probably that I'm a very hard book to read, because I don't really try to do things with any pretensions,'' Groh said. ``I've got this sign on my desk that says 'Just coach the team' and that's what I like to do, and that's my responsibility, and I try to coach the team the best way I can every day.''
