Virginia football coach Al Groh met the media on Tuesday for the first time since his team returned home from its season-opening loss at Pittsburgh on Saturday night.

UVa's head coach, now in his sixth year, was candid about the defeat and the fact that his team will have to play much better in coming weeks. And the Cavaliers first opportunity to get back on track comes this Saturday as Wyoming will visit Scott Stadium.

While the Cowboys are now first and foremost on Virginia's mind, questions about UVa's showing against the Panthers dominated Tuesday's question-and-answer session.

And Groh put things into perspective.

"Since we are in an academic environment, we can relate it to academic circumstances," said Groh, who is now 37-27 as the Cavaliers' head coach. "In the long run, the students get their grades on the answers they put on the test. I don't think many professors give students grades on the time they spent in the library.

"I would give our players a very positive grade for the diligence of their preparation from last January to last Friday evening. I don't give our team a very high grade for what we did on Saturday. And that's the only grade that counts."

When asked how concerned Groh was about what he saw on Saturday night, he admitted that there were some things that were troubling, most notably the offense's ability to generate any big plays.

But Groh said he would wait until he sees his team on Saturday and beyond before making too many firm judgments, and he once again used an academic reference.

Citing four semesters of statistics as a student at UVa, Groh, added, "The legitimacy of the sample size has a lot to do with the conclusion. The sample size (right now) is too small to come to any conclusions."

Groh was also asked how he thought his team would respond in its next outing, and his reply is one he said could be pretty much a stock answer during any week this season.

"Frankly the answer for most weeks is going to be 'we'll see on Saturday,'" Groh said.

UVa's offense mustered just 13 points and 211 total yards at Pitt, and the Cavaliers' only touchdown came after an interception set them up inside the Panthers' 15-yard line.

Groh said the entire offense needs to step up, but most notably his quarterback.

Senior Chris Olsen, making his first career start, was just 17 of 34 for 133 yards. He also had a costly interception deep in his own territory that was returned for a touchdown by Pitt's Darrelle Revis.

"I think it's pretty obvious, we just need a better overall performance," said Groh of Olsen "He's not alone in that respect, but we certainly didn't get much in terms of big plays. We didn't get things to sustain drives.

"Now, he had a tough go of it because he didn't have much of a running game, and he had a lot of squeeze on the pocket that he couldn't deal with. He didn't get the kind of help that any quarterback needs. But it's in all aspects of his play, just as it's in all aspects of the team's play."

One of the biggest questions surrounds Olsen's health status, as reports of an injury surfaced on Tuesday.

Groh did not discuss a potential injury and inferred that Olsen would start Saturday against Wyoming.

Olsen, meanwhile, arrived at the media event with a bandage on his right foot, although he refused to elaborate on his situation.

"We don't talk about injuries," Olsen said "It's just a little soreness. It's fine."

Olsen, who has been practicing this week according to sources, instead talked about the result from Saturday night.

"We're upset that we didn't win, but I'm glad we went out and played a quality opponent on the road instead of playing a FAMU or a Northeastern," Olsen said. "In the long run, I think it's going to be a big advantage."

While the final score didn't reflect it, Virginia's defense did some pretty good things against the Panthers.

One problem was allowing too many third-down conversions early in the game, but what most fans will remember were the two pass plays of 70-plus yards that Pitt completed for touchdowns.

The first was on a play-action pass where UVa safety Tony Franklin got sucked in and beaten deep, while the second came on a deep ball that was misplayed by Marcus Hamilton.

Still, UVa's players and coaches were encouraged by some of what took place.

"Other than the two long pass plays, I think we played pretty well," said sophomore safety Byron Glaspy. "I think we were effective in shutting down the run when we needed to. We're all looking forward to coming back stronger this week."

Glaspy was the first to admit, however, that you can't discount the two long pass plays, and that the breakdowns in coverage have to be eliminated.

"When the secondary makes a mistake," Glaspy said, "it's six points."

Added Groh of his defense, "I thought, as it should be, we showed more quickness than in previous models."

Stay tuned to CavsCorner on Thursday for a complete scouting report of the Wyoming Cowboys. Saturday's home opener is set to kick-off at 3:30 p.m.