Brooks making progress
By Doug Doughty
The Roanoke Times

HOT SPRINGS -- When last seen, preseason All-America linebacker Ahmad Brooks was wearing a bulky knee brace and using crutches to hobble off the field following Virginia's spring football game.

He's moving a little more swiftly these days.

"He's looking good -- better than I've ever seen him," UVa quarterback Marques Hagans told the ACC media at The Homestead resort.

Brooks underwent offseason surgery to regenerate bone growth in one of his knees, an uncommon procedure that caused some spring-game observers to wonder about his status for the fall.

"He has been on schedule every stage of his rehabilitation," UVa coach Al Groh said Monday. "Those phases of the rehabilitation, as well as [a timetable] for when the process should be completed, were set by the medical people and not by the football people."

Groh said he expects Brooks to have a reduced workload at the start of preseason camp.

Brooks was one of three Virginia players named to the preseason All-ACC team. The others were offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson and place-kicker Connor Hughes.

Late signee

Groh said his staff had decided to recruit a junior-college punter who could enroll for the second semester before learning that Ryan Weigand from Pasadena (Calif.) City College could transfer immediately.

Since Weigand did not play as a freshman in his first year at Pasadena City College in 2003, he will have three years of eligibility starting this fall. Virginia was ranked 116th out of 117 Division I-A teams in net punting last year, although Groh was not displeased with the performance of freshman Chris Gould over the past four games.

Quote-unquote

Groh on the competition between junior Christian Olsen and sophomore Kevin McCabe for the No. 2 quarterback job behind Hagans: "I'm a lot more interested in who the '06 quarterback is going to be than who the '05 backup is."

Odds and ends

Groh said his 2006 nonconference schedule (Pittsburgh, East Carolina, Wyoming and Western Michigan) is representative of the kind of slate he'd like to play in the future. ... Groh also confirmed the likelihood that Vince Redd, an outside linebacker, will be moved to defensive end. ... Eugene Monroe, rated the No. 1 prospect in the country by SuperPrep, is listed as the backup to right offensive guard Marshal Ausberry in the UVa media guide. ... Groh also said he does not expect cornerback Philip Brown's academic suspension to end before the end of the second semester.

ACC officials unveil Instant Replay plan
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
July 26, 2005

HOT SPRINGS--For Virginia fans, college football's Instant Replay system came nine months too late.

On Tuesday, the ACC unveiled its replay plan to media attending the league's annual Football Kickoff. Modeled closely to what the Big Ten used last season, the replay system will be in use in conference play this fall and for games against nonconference opponents if both parties are agreeable.

During a simulation of how the system will work, the ACC's Coordinator of Football Officials, Tommy Hunt, showed situational clips from last season's games as examples of what type of plays can be reviewed or are not reviewable.

Two of Virginia's plays in its controversial overtime loss to Fresno State in the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, were examples, including Fresno's winning touchdown.

Virginia coach Al Groh and several of his players have complained since last December that the Fresno player, tight end Stephen Spach, did not score and was tackled well short of the end zone.

According to Hunt, who reviewed the play during Tuesday's exhibition, Groh was right.

"The situation in the Fresno State vs. Virginia game was a nightmare," Hunt said.

The replays showed Spach's knee touching the ground two yards short of the end zone, with officials signaling touchdown. Fresno's players flooded the field in celebration as they left the field and officials also excited the field.

"If there is a game-winning score that our replay officials in the press box think could be controversial in any way, they have the ability to immediately buzz our officials on the field, who will immediately announce that the play will be reviewed," Hunt said. "That can be a pretty intense moment, but our mission is to get it right."

Hunt also used Virginia tailback Alvin Pearman's reception from earlier in that game as an example. Field officials ruled it a an incomplete pass, but Virginia coaches argued that it was a reception. Replay showed Pearman had possession and was inbounds, although Hunt did not give an opinion on that play during his presentation.

However, he was reminded of yet a third play in the game, and he also confirmed that call would have been overturned in UVa's favor as well.

Fresno tied the game in regulation when, on fourth-and-one from the Virginia 3-yard line, Bulldogs quarterback Paul Pinegar threw a pass to Jaron Fairman in the back of the end zone for the tying score with 11 seconds to play.

Virginia players argued that Fairman had gone out of bounds and came back in bounds before making the catch, which is in violation of NCAA rules.

Hunt confirmed that Virginia's complaints were valid.

"That would have been a reviewable play (under the ACC's new system) and it would have been reversed," Hunt said. "[Instant Replay] is a system that can save [officials] sometimes."

ACC announces new bowl games
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
July 26, 2005

HOT SPRINGS -- ACC Commissioner John Swofford announced today that the league had reached an agreement with two new bowl games for the conference beginning in 2006.

Swofford's announcement came at the close of the league's Football Kickoff at The Homestead resort.

The ACC will send teams to the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco to face an opponent from the Pac-10, and to Nashville, Tenn., for the Gaylord Hotel's Music City Bowl that will feature a foe from the Southeastern Conference.

Both agreements will continue through the 2009 season, while the league has also reached agreements with its current six bowl tie-ins: the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando; the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta; The Meineke Car Care Bowl in Charlotte; the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho; and the Toyota Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla.

The eight bowl tie-in with the ACC is an unprecedented number for a conference in college football.

Swofford also indicated that payouts at three of the current bowls will also increase, the Peach, Gator and Champs Bowl.

All eight bowls will feature post-Christmas dates, which will allow ACC schools to avoid conflict with exam periods. Virginia was forced to pass on a trip to the Champs Bowl last season because of its exam schedule and thusly played in a lower-tiered bowl in Boise.

'Pickers pick,' but some trust the Tooth Fairy
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
July 26, 2005

HOT SPRINGS--Three years ago, coach Al Groh’s response to his Virginia team being picked eighth in the ACC’s preseason football poll was: “Coaches coach, players play and pickers pick.”

Obviously, Groh didn’t put a lot of stock in preseason polls and with good reason. His Cavaliers ended up finishing second in the league.

While most years media preseason selections are usually fairly accurate, there are exceptions, such as last year when ACC newcomer Virginia Tech was picked sixth and won the league.

With that in mind, the ACC’s 12 head coaches didn’t exactly give a ringing endorsement to this year’s selections at the annual ACC Football Kickoff at The Homestead resort.

“I have more faith in the Tooth Fairy than I do in you guys voting in the preseason poll,” said Boston College coach Tom O’Brien, a former longtime assistant to George Welsh at Virginia. “No disrespect intended, but who knows in July? I think you have to wait until October to get a good idea of who’s really good.”

‘Reasonable’ results

O’Brien’s Eagles were picked to finish second in the ACC’s Atlantic Division behind Florida State. Meanwhile, over in the Coastal Division, defending league champion Virginia Tech got the voters nod over Miami. Groh’s Cavaliers were a distant third.

When the Virginia coach glanced at the predictions and asked his opinion, he said, “It looks pretty reasonable.”

But he’s learned not to put a lot of stock in polls. Groh doesn’t use them as motivation for his football team and doesn’t sit and worry about where his squad was picked to finish.

“It’s not where you’re picked in the preseason, but it’s where you’re sitting with three weeks to go,” Groh said.

If the season goes as media predicted Monday, Florida State and Virginia Tech will meet in the ACC’s first championship game in Jacksonville in early December. The winner will go to a BCS bowl, perhaps even the National Championship.

Division breakdowns

Here’s the breakdown of the Atlantic Division with first-place votes in parentheses: 1. Florida State (65), 522 total points; 2. Boston College (24) 458; 3. N.C. State (2) 396; 4. Clemson (1) 265; 5. Maryland 222; 6. Wake Forest 119.

The Coastal Division went like this: 1. Virginia Tech (62) 517; 2. Miami (29) 487; 3. Virginia (1) 356; 4. Georgia Tech 281; 5. North Carolina 197; 6. Duke 94.

Obviously the Hokies got the edge over Miami in the minds of voters because the Hurricanes have to go to Blacksburg in what could settle that division. Over in the other division, some were surprised that Florida State remained the No. 1 pick because of all the losses and problems the Seminoles have had in the offseason. Voting habits may be hard to change and many media members just couldn’t pull the trigger in displacing FSU in a division that some believe is the weaker of the two.

Legendary Florida State coach Bobby Bowden was probably hoping in a way that league newcomer Boston College might be picked over his team because he does use that sort of thing as motivation.

“You know what they used to call the ACC don’t you?” Bowden said. “It was Florida State and the Eight Dwarfs. Our chances 10 years ago of winning the conference was about 95 percent. Now it’s more like 50-50. And I’m glad it’s that way because I like to play the best.”

Now mind you, Bowden didn’t mind winning those titles, but he did get tired of hearing critics rip the quality of the ACC because FSU won it every year.

“They used to call us a basketball conference,” Bowden said. “Now they can’t say that. It’s a great football conference. I’ll put it up against anybody.”

O’Brien wasn’t exactly drinking the FSU Kool Aid.

“Everybody’s talking about Florida State’s got people missing and people hurt, but I’m sure they’ve got some thoroughbreds back in the barn that they haven’t trotted out yet,” the BC coach said.

Asked what he would pick his own program if he were voting, O’Brien offered some evidence to back up his opinion. Because BC is 1-2 against the ACC in the past two seasons, with two of those losses coming against Wake Forest, O’Brien said he’d make sure the Eagles were ranked below the Deacons in the poll.

Well, the voters weren’t buying what O’Brien was selling either.

Still, Boston College had to be inspired by what it saw Virginia Tech accomplish last season. The Hokies came out of the Big East and won a dogfight for the ACC crown. So, why not BC?

O’Brien could think of a lot of reasons, but the main one he offered up was that the ACC is much better than the Big East. He again, presented his case about how tough the conference was a year ago.

“I wasn’t that surprised about Virginia Tech winning because of what Frank Beamer has done with that program over the years,” O’Brien said. “The most shocking thing to me was Miami losing three conference games and none of them were to Florida State. I don’t think Miami lost three conference games the whole time they were in the Big East. That was more of a sign to us about the caliber of play in this league.”

Well, it won’t take long to find out. League play begins in a little more than a month in what could be the most exciting season ever for ACC football. Even the Tooth Fairy would have to agree.

Is anyone afraid of FSU anymore?
Published July 27 2005
David Teel

HOT SPRINGS -- It was one of the most remarkable runs in college football history: From 1987-2000, Florida State finished among the nation's top five teams in 14 consecutive years.

Think about it for a moment. Scores of wannabes would, and do, sell their souls for one such season. More ambitious programs would turn cartwheels over three top-fives in a row.

Consider Florida State's ACC colleagues: Since the conference's inception in 1953, only Maryland (two, none since 1955), Georgia Tech (two, none since 1990), and Miami (12) boast more than one top-five finish.

The Seminoles resided among the top five long enough to establish squatters' rights. Decline was inevitable. The question was: How drastic would it be?

As the 2005 season approaches, the answer is clear: The Seminoles' decline is subtle but undeniable.

Media attending the annual ACC Football Kickoff here this week aren't so sure. By a margin of more than 2-1, they picked Florida State to win the ACC's Atlantic Division and face preseason Coastal fave Virginia Tech in the league's first championship game.

I don't see it. The Seminoles have personnel and coaching issues, and face a difficult road schedule. Most important, they just don't scare folks anymore.

Indeed, when Florida State strutted into the ACC in 1992, conference foes cowered. Accustomed to football as a quaint diversion (Buffy brings the Brie, Mandy the merlot) until basketball, they suddenly encountered a program with track-caliber speed and a take-no-prisoners attitude.

Nine consecutive conference championships and two national titles later, the Seminoles ruled the ACC like Castro does Cuba.

Not any longer. Florida State has lost at least one league game in each of the past four seasons, six total. This after dropping two in the first nine seasons. Five of the six recent defeats came against unranked opponents.

So what happened?

Well, the Seminoles forced their conference brethren to upgrade, and, at the risk of political incorrectness, legendary coach Bobby Bowden grew old. Oh, at 75, the wit and drive remain sharp, and few, if any, head coaches close recruiting deals as well. But Bowden isn't the game-day steward he once was, and he no longer has Mark Richt and Chuck Amato to bail him out.

Richt and Amato were among Bowden's most trusted assistants, but Amato departed after the 1999 national championship season to become head coach at North Carolina State, Richt after the 2000 season to become head coach at Georgia. Each has since beaten Bowden, but neither has been sufficiently replaced in Tallahassee, especially Richt, who served as the Seminoles' offensive coordinator.

Bowden enters his 30th season in Tallahassee with a combined nine returning starters on offense and defense, fewer than any ACC team and fewer than he hoped. Defensive tackle Clifton Dickson is academically ineligible, and quarterback Wyatt Sexton is sidelined for the season while he recovers from Lyme disease.

Moreover, cornerback Antonio Cromartie is lost for the year after injuring his knee in an offseason workout.

Cromartie didn't start last season as a sophomore, but he was first-team all-conference nonetheless.

Absent Sexton, Florida State's quarterback depth chart begins with two redshirt freshmen: Drew Weatherford and Xavier Lee.

"Normally you're a redshirt junior before you play quarterback at Florida State," Bowden lamented.

Finally, there's the schedule. Florida State plays at Clemson, Virginia and Boston College, not to mention Florida. The Seminoles hardly lack for talent (Leon Washington and Lorenzo Booker form the ACC's best running-back tandem), haven't won less than eight games during their "slump," and have finished the last four seasons ranked 15th, 21st, 11th and 15th. But picking them ahead of Boston College (conference-high 17 returning starters from a 9-3 team) seems a stretch.

"I'm kind of surprised," Bowden said of the media vote. "Looks like y'all haven't been reading the paper."

Replays too late for Cavs
Reviewable calls may have saved U.Va. in bowl loss to Fresno State
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Jul 27, 2005

HOT SPRINGS -- For the Virginia Cavaliers, the ACC's decision to adopt the use of instant replay in football came a season too late.

In last year's MPC Computers Bowl at Boise, Idaho, Fresno State forced overtime by scoring a touchdown on a fourth-and-goal pass from the U.Va. 3 with 11 seconds left in the fourth quarter. Tommy Hunt, the ACC's supervisor of officials, said yesterday that, had instant replay been used in that game, the TD would have been disallowed.

"That would have been a reviewable play -- it was a scoring play -- and it would have been reversed," Hunt said during the final session of the ACC Football Kickoff at The Homestead.

On the play in question, Jaron Fairman appeared to step on the end zone's back line before catching quarterback Paul Pinegar's TD pass. If Fairman did so without being pushed out of bounds or going out to avoid contact -- as ESPN's replays seemed to indicate -- then the FSU wideout should have been ruled an ineligible receiver. No call was made, though.

Virginia ended up losing 37-34 in overtime on another controversial play. Trailing 34-31 when it got the ball in overtime, Fresno State called a pass play on first down, and Pinegar hit tight end Stephen Spach on a post pattern. Spach caught the ball around the 5 and dragged Cavaliers cornerback Tony Franklin into the end zone. Replays showed that Spach's knee hit the turf before he scored, meaning Fresno State should have had a first and goal outside the 1, but officials let the play stand.

During a demonstration yesterday of the ACC's instant-replay system, which will be used for the first time this season, examples were shown, on a large video screen, of plays that could be reviewed and those that could not. Two plays from last year's MPC Computers Bowl were among those shown, and both went against U.Va., including the game-winner. Both would have been reviewable under the new system.

Instant replay will be used in all ACC games and in ACC teams' non-conference home games, as long as the visiting team approves. Commissioner John Swofford said he's convinced the use of instant replay will extend games only slightly, and the conference's goal is for decisions on calls to be reached in no more than 90 seconds.

"What we all want is to get that critical call right," Swofford said, "so that the game is fair to the players on the field. I think this will enhance our ability to do that."

Among the calls not subject to review: holding, offsides/encroachment, pass interference, illegal formations, late hits, false starts and roughing the passer/kicker.

ACC's divisions need more sizzle
BOB LIPPER
POINT OF VIEW
Jul 27, 2005

HOT SPRINGS The ACC concluded its wine-and-dine summertime preamble to another football season yesterday, and as you probably know, the table is now set for 12. Boston College has taken a seat. The ACC is hereby introduced to Jesuits, ice hockey, chowdah and Big Dig logjams. The league will never be the same.

Plundering the Big East got this ball rolling. Now ACC football has adopted a two-division, finish-first-and-play-for-a-title design. It's the high-dollar foundation on which expansion was constructed, and so we'll have the winner of the Atlantic Division vs. the winner of the Coastal Division on Dec. 3 in Jacksonville, with a trophy, major bowl and Nielsens at stake.

Umm, wait. Atlantic? Coastal? Creative folks, those ACC front-office types (my own preferences would've been Greenback Division and Carnivore Division). What we need here is a little fizz. Inspired by old-world Homestead resort pomp and one league's new-look circumstance, here are some possible alternatives for this 2005 liftoff . . .

The Eagles Have Landed Division. The ACC isn't unexplored territory for Tom O'Brien, who was George Welsh's offensive coordinator at Virginia before moving to BC eight years ago. Since then, he's specialized in a meat-and-potatoes framework, lower-tier bowls, dramatic wins over Notre Dame and stubbed toes in most anything that could be categorized a big game.

That's not precisely the blueprint for a Virginia Tech-like splash from the Big East springboard to the ACC pool, but the Eagles have the experience and toughness to pull off a Louganis. Plus, they get FSU at home for their Sept. 17 league opener. Do damage against the 'Noles, and the Eagles suddenly become favorites to rule the Atlantic.

The Attrition By Subtraction Division. Over in the Coastal, the offseason cost Georgia Tech three defensive starters -- linemen Daryl Richardson (knee) and Travis Parker (grades) and cornerback Reuben Houston (drug trafficking indictment).

Virginia Tech booted defensive back D.J. Walton (armed robbery arrest), as did North Carolina in the case of defensive lineman Terry Hunter (marijuana possession). Virginia corner Philip Brown was an academic casualty. Even Duke lost two prized freshmen wideouts who bailed (yeah, but J.J. and Shelden come online in November).

The QB or Not QB Division. FSU is down to rookies Xavier Lee and Drew Weatherford after losing Wyatt Sexton to illness. Clemson's Charlie Whitehurst was a mess last year. N.C. State's Jay Davis was an interception machine. Maryland's projected starter, Sam Hollenbach, appeared in three games in '04. BC's Quinton Porter last played in 2003. Don't call the Atlantic the Joe Montana Division.

The Shades of Futures Past Division. FSU and N.C. State have coaches -- Bobby Bowden and Chuck Amato -- who look at life through glasses darkly. But the 'Noles are slipping from glory-days might, and the Pack couldn't even win big with Philip Rivers. If their offenses don't get well, rose-colored specs might be in order.

The What Have You Done for Me Lately Division. Among Coastal coaches, only Frank Beamer is keeping the customers fully satisfied (well, except maybe at his Blacksburg bistro). Georgia Tech's Chan Gailey has convinced some folks in Atlanta that Jerry Jones knew what he was doing. UNC's John Bunting has a contract extension but a lousy record.

Some Miami fans wonder if Larry Coker has maxed out. And U.Va.'s Al Groh hasn't progressed beyond minor-bowl jousts. Lombardi Division? Not quite.