Sneak peek at Wyoming
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
July 15, 2007

Wyoming Cowboys

Sept. 1, 2 p.m. (VERSUS)

At War Memorial Stadium (32,580) - Laramie, Wy.

2006 Record: 6-6 overall, 5-3 Mountain West

Coach: Joe Glenn (21-26, 4 years; 179-85-1 overall, 22 years)

Stats: Rushing Offense – 58th nationally; Passing Offense – 85th; Total Offense – 91st; Rushing Defense – 23rd; Pass Efficiency Defense – 12th; Total Defense – 9th.

Flashback: Half of Virginia’s opponents in ’06 finished ranked among the top 27 teams in total defense. Most football fans are aware that group included Virginia Tech (No. 1), Miami (No. 7), Florida State (No. 18) and Georgia Tech (No. 27). Two surprises, possibly, were non-conference opponents - Wyoming and Western Michigan finished No. 9 and No. 11, respectively. The Cowboys were amazing against the pass, holding opponents to 156.3 yards per game through the air. The run defense and special teams were also solid, which helped the program finish bowl eligible (they did not receive an invitation). The telling story, however, involved an offensive unit that failed to score more than 14 points in five games, four of which were losses, and committed 25 turnovers (13 interceptions, 12 fumbles).

Fast forward: When Virginia welcomed Wyoming to Scott Stadium, Cavalier fans watched QB Jacob Doss run the Cowboys’ offense. That was not the case by season’s end. Karsten Sween, who was a redshirt freshman, started the final seven games at quarterback, winning five of those games. Luckily for Sween, almost all of his play-making weapons are back - six of the top seven wideouts and two tailbacks that combined for 1,184 yards return. The offensive line, however, will have a new look. The two returning starters, Tim Bond (6-foot-4, 296 lbs., Jr.) and Kyle Howard (6-7, 312, Jr.), will assume new positions and their help will come from inexperienced options. In similar fashion, the defensive line will be young, but the back eight defenders in the Cowboys’ 3-4 defensive alignment have experience and talent. In unison, the linebackers should be the best collection Virginia faces in the opening month. Two familiar names, punter Billy Vinnedge and placekicker Aric Goodman, return on special teams. Vinnedge, who averaged 44 yards on six punts against UVa last year, finished 21st in the country individually and boasts a strong leg. Goodman, still needing to beat out fellow sophomore Jake Scott for the job, missed a PAT last year in overtime, giving Virginia a memorable 13-12 win.

Key player: Calling a punter the key player would draw chuckles. Given that, the obvious choice is Sween, who has an eerily similar career, albeit shorter, to Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell. Both signal-callers emerged as starters last year during the season, enjoying success in late-season victories and learning through matching failures. Coincidentally, both had surgery prior to spring practice (Sewell had wrist surgery; Sween had minor knee surgery) and avoided contact in drills. Sween will be asked to improve a passing game that finished seventh in the Mountain West and must remain patient with a young offensive line.

Inside the game: Joe Glenn, Wyoming’s coach, will walk away from the opening game as a winner in the eyes of many. Prior to the contest with Virginia, Glenn will participate in the Buddy Walk, a national event designed to promote acceptance and inclusion of people with Down syndrome. The game itself will likely showcase two of the nation’s best defensive units and may have a similar low-scoring feel to the contest played a year ago. As for the venue, War Memorial Stadium is the highest at the Division I-A level, sitting at 7,220 feet above sea level. The surface, at least since 2005, is synthetic turf, and the stadium holds 32,580. Selling out the rare contest against a BCS school still seems unlikely - Wyoming averaged just 19,109 last year for its home games. Want a comparison? Duke averaged 19,580 and James Madison, a Division I-AA program, averaged 15,133.

 

Devvarman takes on the pros
From staff reports / Charlottesville Daily Progress
July 15, 2007

In New City, N.Y., it took three months and one of the world’s best tennis players to accomplish a feat that many others found impossible.

Michael Russell, ranked 69th in the world, beat University of Virginia senior Somdev Devvarman on Saturday in a tennis match.

The victory for Russell came in three sets (7-5, 4-6, 6-3) in the title match of the Kennedy Funding Invitational, an annual charity event held just outside New York.

Russell, who held match point in the French Open against eventual champion Gustavo Kuerten in 2001, was the first player to top Devvarman since a collegiate match in early April against Miami.

During his winning streak, Devvarman claimed the NCAA singles title and helped push UVa to an ACC Championship and the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

The loss to Russell on Saturday ended a magical four-day run at the event for Devvarman, the lone amateur in the field.

“Somdev was competing against some of the top players in the world,” said Virginia coach Brian Boland, “and I am really proud of his continued progress.”

En route to the title match, Devvarman topped three professional players inside or just out of the top 100 in the world: Justin Gimelstob, Robert Kendrick and Brazil’s Ricardo Mello.

Boland said he was confident that Devvarman paid little attention to the rankings of his varios opponents.

“Somdev is the type of person that does not try to concentrate on the results,” the coach said. “He is just looking to go out each and every day and play to the best of his ability.

“That is one of the reasons that he is so successful.”

Devvarman would have earned $20,000 for his runner-up finish, but said publicly during the event that he would donate any winnings to the tournament’s charity, which is the breast care centers at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center and Nyack Hospital.

 

ACC vs. nation
The Atlantic Coast Conference is loaded on defense but, as Caulton Tudor explains, the league may not have enough offense to field a team that can compete against the best in the country and contend for a BCS title
Caulton Tudor, Staff Writer

Football coaches are fond of saying it's all about blocking and tackling. If they're right, the ACC should have a banner season in 2007. The league's collection of defensive linemen, linebackers, defensive backs and beefy blockers will rival, and possibly upstage, those of most other college conferences.
But if the keys to winning are passing, catching and running, '07 quickly could become an extension of the disappointing 2006 season.

For the second straight season, ACC teams will begin play with very few players of national distinction in the skill positions.

The ACC's potential for big-play production is down from last season, when Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson was voted to The Associated Press All-America first team and finished 10th in the Heisman Trophy voting.

If there's a first-team All-America skill-position player on the 12 ACC rosters for 2007, he's well hidden.

The league's top quarterback, Boston College's Matt Ryan, is on almost none of the preseason national all-star watch lists.

Ryan's in-league competition is such that Florida State junior Drew Weatherford, No. 3 at the position in today's rankings by The News & Observer, may not keep his starting job through preseason practice. With the hiring of Jimbo Fisher as offensive coordinator, Weatherford ended spring drills listed with junior Xavier Lee as a co-No. 1.

Other than Ryan and Wake Forest sophomore Riley Skinner, ACC quarterbacks are short on experience, statistics and expectations. Duke's Thaddeus Lewis, Miami's Kyle Wright, N.C. State's Daniel Evans, Virginia's Jameel Sewell and Virginia Tech's Sean Glennon started regularly in '06, but all five were inconsistent.

Clemson, Georgia Tech, Maryland and UNC will have new starters at quarterback, but only Georgia Tech's Taylor Bennett emerged from spring drills fairly certain of having the job.

The outlook for ACC running backs is better, but that also comes with a twist. Two teams, Clemson and NCSU, have an embarrassment of riches. Other teams -- Florida State, North Carolina, Virginia and perhaps Wake -- may have more spaces than aces.

With James Davis and C.J. Spiller, Clemson has one of the nation's best tailback combinations. The Wolfpack, with Andre Brown and Toney Baker, isn't far behind. But individually, none of these four has the goods to begin the season among the country's top 10 running backs.

Three dominant runners -- Boston College's Andre Callender, Georgia Tech's Tashard Choice and Virginia Tech's Branden Ore -- could do better than the Clemson and NCSU foursome when all-star votes are tallied.

At wideout, the departure of Johnson leaves ACC receivers without a resident ruler.

Would-be successors abound. But two of the league's most talented players -- UNC's Hakeem Nicks and Maryland's Darrius Heyward-Bey, both sophomores -- could suffer from a lack of quarterback experience on their teams. Florida State junior Greg Carr, once touted as a future superstar, battled injuries and butterfingers at times last season but should benefit from Fisher's influence on the passing game.

At tight end, only N.C. State's Anthony Hill has so much as a hint of national esteem.

Without doubt, the ACC's most impressive offensive collection is its interior linemen. Three players -- tackles Barry Richardson of Clemson and Gosder Cherilus of Boston College and Wake Forest center Steve Justice -- will begin the season on most of the All-America watch lists.

Two other tackles -- Georgia Tech's Andrew Gardner and Miami's Jason Fox -- have NFL potential, as do NCSU guard Curtis Crouch and Georgia Tech center Kevin Tuminello. Virginia doesn't have an easily identifiable all-star candidate, but its offensive front will be the league's deepest and most experienced.

The ACC's top-ranked overall player is Miami safety Kenny Phillips, arguably the No. 1 defensive back in the country.

A junior, Phillips has played free and strong safety for the Hurricanes and easily could excel as a cornerback in college and possibly in the NFL. With a big season, he's a near lock for a top-10 draft position and the favorite to win the Jim Thorpe Award, which goes to the nation's top defensive back.

Behind Phillips, there's not a long drop among the league's other top defensive backs. Brandon Flowers of Virginia Tech and DeJuan Tribble of Boston College rate close behind Antoine Cason of Arizona as the best shut-down corners in the nation. Florida State's secondary should be loaded, with corner Tony Carter and safety Roger Williams. Georgia Tech safety Jamal Lewis, Virginia Tech corner Victor Harris, and Wake corner Alphonso Smith would be preseason all-star picks in some leagues.

The remainder of the ACC's defenders are almost as impressive.

With Vince Hall and Xavier Adibi, Virginia Tech's starting linebackers are probably the nation's best, even though Southern California, Penn State and Ohio State are loaded (as usual).

Miami end Calais Campbell and Florida State tackle Andre Fluellen should contend for first-team All-America honors, and Virginia end Chris Long will be in the hunt.

Among the specialists, placekickers Sam Swank of Wake and Connor Barth of UNC rate among the elite nationally, as do NCSU returner Darrell Blackman and Georgia Tech punter Durant Brooks.

Overall, the ACC's personnel is not awful, but it is awfully uncertain in the touchdown-production category. If the league can't improve in that department, it won't have a legitimate national title contender for the third straight season.