Cavaliers try to regoup after blowout loss

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA - With the sting of a washout performance against Florida State still lingering, Virginia tried to figure out what went wrong Monday and to ensure it doesn&#39;t happen again.<br> <br> ``We prepared so hard and came out and gave a bad performance,&#39;&#39; wide receiver Deyon Williams said of the 36-3 loss that wasn&#39;t that competitive. ``We didn&#39;t come ready to play and they came ready to play.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The No. 5 Seminoles likely moved back into the national championship picture with an efficient and dominating effort, erasing the blemish of an early season loss to Miami, the only team still unbeaten in the ACC.<br> <br> The No. 14 Cavaliers, meanwhile, have work to do.<br> <br> Perspective, guard Elton Brown said, will be key to the effort.<br> <br> ``We all know it wasn&#39;t our best effort out there on Saturday, but the thing about this team is we always like to bounce back,&#39;&#39; Brown said.<br> <br> ``It&#39;s the first time we have to face adversity this season. Maybe that&#39;s a good thing. We&#39;ll see how the guys respond, but I think we have a lot of tough guys on this team and we&#39;ll respond well.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Virginia visits Duke on Saturday.<br> <br> ``It&#39;s only one loss,&#39;&#39; Brown said. ``We&#39;re 5-1. We can&#39;t get psyched out. We&#39;re still good right now. It was a very disappointing loss. It happened Saturday. It&#39;s Monday, so we&#39;re just ready to play ball.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> The Cavaliers have five games left in the regular season, the most imposing of which is a visit by No. 4 Miami on Nov. 13th. They also play Maryland at home and finish at No. 23 Virginia Tech on Nov. 27.<br> <br> The Cavaliers have plenty of experience in regrouping after a loss, and Brown said a humbling dose of reality can provide an awakening.<br> <br> ``We haven&#39;t lost until that point,&#39;&#39; he said. ``It brings you back to reality what it feels like to lose. I don&#39;t want to feel it again. I know that&#39;s the mindset I&#39;m taking and I know it&#39;s the mindset the team is taking we don&#39;t want to have that taste in our mouths again.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Senior safety Marquis Weeks also expects the loss to gnaw at the pride of his teammates, to inspire them to come to play every week.<br> <br> ``You don&#39;t have time to just dwell on this loss,&#39;&#39; he said. ``We should never forget it. I&#39;m never going to forget it for the rest of my life. This was my last chance to beat Florida State, and we didn&#39;t do it.<br> <br> ``I&#39;m going to use that and the team&#39;s going to use that as motivation for the rest of the season to never let that happen again.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> Tight end Heath Miller, singled out by coach Al Groh as the one player who elevated his level of play against the Seminoles, agreed.<br> <br> ``It only counts as one loss and we have the second half of our season remaining,&#39;&#39; said Miller, who caught nine passes for 110 yards.<br> <br> ``We&#39;re anxious to make improvements and win the rest of our games.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> CRYSTAL CLEAR: Groh said he doesn&#39;t entertain the concern that the Cavaliers could need a psychological sprucing up after a game that had been built up for a week turned out so poorly as the 36-3 loss did.<br> <br> ``If you&#39;ve got that kind of a glass jaw, you&#39;re probably not going to stand very long into the season anyway,&#39;&#39; the fourth-year coach said.<br> <br> Virginia rushed for only 20 yards against Florida State after coming into the game averaging 275 yards on the ground. It also allowed Wyatt Sexton to complete 20 of 26 passes, and several incompletes were drops.<br> <br> Groh said learning from the loss will be critical going forward.<br> <br> ``It&#39;s good to forget about those wins after 24 hours because if you keep looking back, they are sure to catch you,&#39;&#39; he said. ``It&#39;s necessary to put the losses behind you, but valuable not to forget them.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> NOT AMUSED: Groh was not at all amused to hear that ESPN&#39;s sideline reporter overheard a very unhappy Groh telling his defensive players that they&#39;ll all be playing for their jobs again this week in practice.<br> <br> ``The TV guy doesn&#39;t belong and I&#39;m going to get him the hell out out of there from now on,&#39;&#39; Groh snapped. ``They don&#39;t belong in the bench area. Whatever I said to the team is between me and the team.&#39;&#39;<br> <br> END QUOTE: ``I thought it was a terrific environment to play in. As a participant in it, I saw it as being a very positive place. Great energy, good crowd, knowledgeable, very enthusuastic and excited for their team, but not hostile in terms of being nasty. ... Of course, nobody was hitting me, either.&#39;&#39; Groh on the charged atmosphere at Doak Campbell Stadium.

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