The expected media spin, as mentioned earlier will be the Wanny-Groh stuff. There’s plenty of other things to see similarities shared.

Chris Gould will kick off for U.Va., and the junior from Lock Haven, Pa., hopes to handle extra points and field goals, too. But Noah Greenbaum, a senior from Richmond, is battling Gould for the job, and Groh has yet to announce a winner.

“It’s just such a close deal,” said Groh, who indicated he’ll decide closer to the Pitt game.

Greenbaum, a Collegiate graduate who came to U.Va. as a walk-on, was awarded a scholarship this year, and he’s “certainly acquitted himself very strongly” in training camp, Groh said.

Against Temple last season, Greenbaum booted a 41-yard field goal.

This game could see more attempts at 2-point conversions than we think, and some really ugly FG attempts.

Both offensive lines are question marks. Pitt, because it’s the mostly the same group as last year. Virginia because it isn’t.

“We have a significant rebuilding job in front of us,” Groh said. “We’ve had some losses, some pretty huge losses.”

It’s hard to figure which losses will be the toughest to overcome. A glaring deficiency is the offensive line, which lost Ferguson and two others who combined for 124 career starts. Virginia has had a ball-control offense under Groh, using big, punishing linemen and big backs to grind out yardage and set up the passing attack. Can the Cavaliers continue that practice?

Guards Marshal Ausberry and Branden Albert are the only returning starters on the offensive line. Zak Stair spent some time at tackle last season but could wind up at center. There’s no Heath Miller in sight at tight end, but juniors Tom Santi and Jonathan Stupar have ably manned the position and last season combined for 30 catches.

The wideouts will be steady. Deyon Williams was Hagans’ favorite target last season, catching 58 passes for 767 yards and seven touchdowns, but he has been sidelined for much of the preseason with an injury. Fontel Mines caught 28 passes in 2005, and Andrew Pearman, a transfer from Hawaii who played at Charlotte’s Providence High, will be a receiver to watch.

Hagans’ replacement is Chris Olsen, a 23-year-old grad student who has thrown 23 passes in two seasons since transferring from Notre Dame. Olsen (6-3, 234) backed up Hagans for two seasons.

They are also shaky at Running Back. The talk is no clear starter, but it looks like at least one of the three competing backs is making noise.

This is tailback Michael Johnson’s final year at Virginia, and he wants to carry the ball often. “Something might happen if I don’t,” he said. “I will be ticked.”

Virginia coach Al Groh has said he likely will use multiple tailbacks this season. But unless the Cavaliers equally split playing time between three players, Johnson appears to be out of the mix.

Groh said Wednesday that senior Jason Snelling and sophomore Cedric Peerman are still first and second on the depth chart – which were their positions heading into preseason practices. Their status probably won’t change.

His only option at this point — other then bluster or being a disruptive malcontent — would be to immediately transfer to a Div. 1-AA school.

This could be a very ugly game. Both teams seem to have a lot of question marks, issues and new players trying to figure things out.