Maturity has Cavs optimistic
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
July 23, 2007

PINEHURST, N.C. - At least one member of the media submitted a ballot on Sunday with Virginia’s football team picked to finish second in the ACC’s Coastal Division.
Another was of the opinion that the Cavaliers were destined to finish dead last. Yes, behind Duke, a program riding a lengthy losing streak.
Tom Santi couldn’t care less.
“It doesn’t matter to me,” Virginia’s tight end and team captain said at the ACC Kickoff. “Some guys get tangled up a little bit, but all it boils down to is when you put the pads on for the first time and from that point on how you play every Saturday.”
The results from the annual media preseason poll will not be announced until today, but Santi feels there is reason for optimism, regardless of the prediction, for an offensive unit that finished 11th in the ACC in scoring in 2006.
“This year we have a lot more guys with games under their belt,” Santi noted. “We have a lot of guys who have played a lot of football. That is invaluable to a team.
“When you have been there before, you have added confidence. It is not that you think you can do it, you know you can because you have been there before.”
Oddly, Virginia exceeded expectations last year in at least one regard - despite a 5-7 mark overall, the Cavaliers finished third in the six-team Coastal Division. That was a spot higher than the media’s projection. But the season itself took its toll on the fans, players and eventually coach Al Groh’s wallet when UVa elected not to exercise an option to extend his contract an extra year.
Many players, Santi pointed out, were pushed into duty prematurely.
“Last year was a down year, and we had guys that probably weren’t ready to play at their best,” he said. “To have a down season where you don’t feel like you win as many games as you should and you play poorly is very disappointing. But at the same time, that can be a growing experience, a learning experience for younger players.”
The biggest improvements could come on the offensive line, where all five starters return.
“Certainly our offensive line is going to be more prepared than last year,” Santi said. “I think the offensive line is going to be a big part of what we are going to do this year.
“It is very important to have a seasoned offensive line, and that is going to be a big part of us knowing our identity. The fastest way that a play gets ruined is when the pocket breaks down or if the protection breaks down. Those guys are really important.”
The same could be said for the signal-caller. Virginia used Christian Olsen and Kevin McCabe last year before settling on redshirt freshman Jameel Sewell under center.
While the young quarterback has yet to prove that his surgically repaired wrist will hold up in live competition, Santi said Sewell has looked great in 7-on-7 drills.
“He has been throwing very well and he has done well in drills,” Santi said. “You will have to ask him about that, but I haven’t seen any problems.”
As evidenced by the countless questions being floated out to the players from every ACC team except Boston College, Sewell is actually one of the more experienced quarterbacks returning in the league. Santi said it shows.
“Jameel is definitely more confident,” he added. “He is willing to accept more of a leadership role that is placed on a quarterback, and I definitely think it is important to have a good, confident, experienced quarterback.
“The quarterback on any team has to be the field general. He is the guy with the ball in his hands on every play. It’s exciting for us to have a guy coming back with a year under his belt that has that confidence and is ready to take on a leadership role.”
A relatively quiet offseason The summer months are often unkind to college football programs.
Down time often leads to arrests and ugly incidents that tarnish a program’s image.
With the exception of the assault on cornerback Vic Hall and the in-house suspension of running back Keith Payne, Virginia’s players have mirrored church mice.
“I think guys as a whole have bought into the program more,” Santi said. “I am naturally a positive person, so I am going to take the good out of every situation, but I think guys are more focused about this season.”
Santi would just as soon keep it that way.
“Those things are distractions,” the Nashville, Tenn., product said. “It takes everybody being on the same page. It just takes one guy to mess up a play, especially on offense. It just takes one guy to mess up his job and the play is probably going to be shot.”
Credit the team’s leadership.
“We have been talking about it … the older guys are trying to pull everybody up to be on the same level,” Santi said. “It is not like we have a gap between the guys that really want to and the guys that are just kind of there. It is kind of infectious.
“We have guys that realize this is the last chance and maybe there is a little more urgency. It is not that we didn’t want it in the past, but there is some urgency.”

Fore
With a round scheduled this morning on one of Pinehurst’s courses, Virginia defensive end Chris Long was asked on Sunday about his golf game, or lack thereof.
“Terrible,” the senior blurted.
Long, despite not owning clubs, is slated to play in a foursome that includes Santi and Florida State’s Antone Smith and Andre Fluellen. That may be a dangerous proposition.
“Is this one of those golf courses where there are houses lining the fairway?,” Long asked. “Are we insured? Is there insurance at this function?”
Santi, just three weeks into his amateur golf career, may enjoy better success. He said he actually birdied the par-5 second hole at Birdwood Golf Course in a recent round with Will Barker, Andrew Dewey and Bernie McKeever.
Long did not seem impressed with Santi’s success.
“Good for you, Tom,” he said with a smirk.
Santi was unsure if he was given a choice on playing today’s round but remained stoked about the opportunity.
“There are a ton of people that would like to say that they played at Pinehurst,” said Santi, pointing out a secret weapon. “I play Tiger Woods’ golf [video game] all the time.”

Welcome back
With the ACC Kickoff comes the release of every program’s media guides.
Inside Virginia’s 208-page edition comes further evidence that wide receiver Andrew Pearman should return to the program - his bio is listed. The junior and younger brother of former Virginia tailback Alvin Pearman withdrew from school last year for personal reasons after seeing limited time in four games.
Andrew Pearman, however, has not been a part of summer workouts, Santi confirmed.
“Andrew hasn’t really been around, but I think he will be out there,” he said. “Andrew has the potential. He is fast, he is explosive and he will have a chance [to play].”
The only players that were with the team in the spring that did not appear in the media guide were kicker Noah Greenbaum and wideout Simon Manka, who was not asked to return. Greenbaum is planning to use his final year of eligibility playing at Liberty University.

A good first impression
Well before 23 members of the incoming class of recruits arrived, Santi spotted quarterback Peter Lalich working out.
He walked away impressed with what he saw from the true freshman.
“He has a really good arm, he throws a good ball and he is a gym rat, too,” Santi said. “He is a hard-working kid. He has been putting in the time and just like with any position, he is going to have the chance to push to play.”
Lalich, who stands at 6-foot-5, has displayed an uncanny drive for a rookie. What that means, Santi said, remains a mystery.
“I know he will do everything he can to be ready, but you can’t really predict how a player will act the first time they are thrown into the fire when everybody has pads on and they are going 100 percent,” Santi said. “I just know he is the kind of guy that will do everything he can to be prepared.”

 

Long set to get angry this season
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
July 23, 2007

PINEHURST, N.C. -- Chris Long is as happy-go-lucky a guy as you’re going to meet - until it’s time to buckle the chinstrap.

Then he becomes a menacing figure that can wreck a game plan in a hurry.

Both sides of Virginia’s senior defensive end were on display during Sunday’s player interviews at the annual ACC Football Kickoff at this resort in the Carolina sandhills, known more for its golf history.

UVa’s cover boy

The smiling Chris Long was thoughtfully answering every question posed to him. The menacing Chris Long was featured on the cover of the Cavaliers’ media guide, a rather impressive portrait.

“They had me down there in a dark room [for the photo], so after a while the ‘mean face’ naturally comes out,” Long said.

During the past year, the Charlottesville native and a product of St. Anne’s-Belfield School, has become the proverbial “face of the franchise” for UVa. Most every Wahoo fan knew his name long before he ever entered the Rotunda doors because he committed as a junior and owned a very famous name.

Here’s where we mention for the unknowing that Chris is the son of Howie Long, Pro Football Hall of Famer, Fox NFL analyst, which gave Chris instant recognition well before he ever realized what that meant. He has worn the name well.

Addressing the rumors

The fame derived from his last name and from being the best football player at his school has not only challenged him to live up to expectations and to become a role model, but has placed him under the microscope. He knows that when he’s out with friends or teammates, that he’s the first person to draw glances in restaurants, the one that people request an autograph from.

When younger brother Kyle shocked the recruiting world a few months ago by choosing to commit to play baseball at Florida State rather than accept a football offer from virtually every quality college program out there, rumors spread like wildfire that something was wrong.

People said Chris must be unhappy at Virginia or that Howie didn’t like UVa because of Chris’s experience.

According to Long, that’s not the case at all.

“That’s speculation,” he said. “I’m happy with my brother in whatever decision he makes. I believe wholeheartedly that’s the right decision for him and that going to play football at Virginia was the right decision for me. It’s as simple as that. There’s really nothing else to it.”

So, no disenchantment with UVa?

“I’m the happiest kid in the world at Virginia,” Long said. “I love the college. I love my experience. I love my teammates. I have nothing to complain about. That’s all speculation.”

But what about the 3-4? There are whispers that you don’t like it.

“[The 3-4] has made me the best player I could possibly be,” Long said. “It’s been a joy to play football here.”

The questions directed toward Long weren’t news to him. He has read all about them for months now and appreciated the opportunity to answer.

“A lot of people say, ‘Don’t read [newspapers, magazines and the internet sites dedicated to college sports, particularly UVa sports] and stay off the message boards,’ but I’m on that stuff non-stop,” Long said. “That to me is bulletin board material. If you can manipulate certain things to work as motivation, it’s all the better. I check everything out, I’ve got my eyes on everything.”

In fact, he has a bulletin board of his own at home, full of quotes and other criticisms that spoon-feed him motivation when the time is right.

“As a football player, you’re wanting to know what people are saying, so, I read,” he said. “It’s fun to read about your team. I read newspapers, magazines. You have to draw from motivation all the time.”

Elected a two-time captain of Virginia’s football squad, the 6-foot-4, 280-pound standout was named to Playboy’s preseason All-America team and is a candidate for numerous postseason awards, such as the Lombardi, Nagurski, Bednarik, Ted Hendricks, Ronnie Lott, and Outland.

He got a taste of glory when he made the trip to Scottsdale, Ariz., for the Playboy photo shoot.

“It was a great experience hanging out with players from all over the country. All of us love football and had a mutual respect for each other,” Long said. “I still talk to a couple of them.”

It’s not all fun and games. Being the avid reader he is, Long couldn’t ignore some criticisms about Virginia’s football program and Sports Illustrated.com’s column that chose his coach, Al Groh, as the worst college head coach in the nation.

“If I paid attention to what everybody said and took it to heart, well that’s just not the way to do things,” said Long, who said that sort of stuff just made him angry. “Football is easy to play when you’re angry. If you’re 5-7 and you’re not a little upset with yourself, then something’s wrong.”

That’s where the ‘mean face’ comes in. Virginia fans are hoping the Cavaliers are an angry football team this fall. Very angry.

If it’s up to Captain Long, that will be the standard order of the day.

 

Coaching changes mark league
Miami, Boston College, UNC, N.C. State will enter season with new leaders
Monday, Jul 23, 2007 - 12:07 AM
By JEFF WHITE AND DARRYL SLATER
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERS

PINEHURST, N.C. Last season took everything you've come to expect about ACC football and flipped it.

Wake Forest, the team with no conference championships since 1970? Won the title.

Miami and Florida State, those college football pillars? Crumbled, as both went 7-6, 3-5 in the ACC.

All of this should make forecasting the conference a fool's errand. But we'll give it a shot again, as the league's players and coaches gathered this weekend for their media days.

Here are 10 important questions in the ACC this season (accuracy of our crystal ball not guaranteed):

. . .

Who are the new guys in the league?

Four schools have changed coaches since the end of last season. Jeff Jagodzinski is new at Boston College, Randy Shannon at Miami, Butch Davis at North Carolina and Tom O'Brien at N.C. State.

O'Brien, of course, doesn't qualify as a newcomer to the league. The former University of Virginia assistant spent the past 10 years as Boston College's coach. Shannon knows his way around the ACC, too. He was the Hurricanes' defensive coordinator from 2001 to '06, his second stint as an assistant coach at his alma mater.

. . .

What's the significance of Sept. 8 for Tom O'Brien?

That's when he returns to Chestnut Hill, Mass. O'Brien abruptly switched jobs in December, leaving Massachusetts for North Carolina, and his move didn't go over well with a lot of fans in New England.

"As a team, we love the guy and respect him," Eagles linebacker Jolonn Dunbar said yesterday. "But the community? I don't know."

. . .

Duke won't go 0-12 again, will it?

Probably not, but there are no games that the Blue Devils could be considered locks to win this season. Out of conference, they open Sept. 1 at home against Connecticut and visit Northwestern, Navy and Notre Dame.

Duke has dropped 20 straight since beating Division I-AA Virginia Military Institute on Sept. 17, 2006. The Devils last beat a Division I team Nov. 13, 2004, when they shocked Clemson 16-13.

. . .

Will Mike Groh's second season as U.Va.'s offensive coordinator go better than his first did?

It can't go much worse. Out of 119 teams in Division I-A last season, U.Va. ranked 113th in total offense (257.2 yards per game). The Cavaliers were 110th in scoring offense, averaging only 15.1 points per game.

"There's no reason our offense should lag behind our defense that much," senior tight end Tom Santi said yesterday.

The gap should close this season. Even without standout receiver Kevin Ogletree, who's recovering from a torn ACL and is expected to miss the season, Virginia has eight returning starters on offense, including sophomore quarterback Jameel Sewell.

. . .

Can Clemson recover from its late-season collapse?

When the Tigers swaggered into Lane Stadium on Oct. 26 for a Thursday night showdown with Virginia Tech, five days after thrashing Georgia Tech, they looked like the class of ACC. The Hokies proved otherwise. They embarrassed Clemson 24-7 on national television, and Tommy Bowden's club never recovered.

The Tigers lost four of their final five games, a meltdown that Bowden's returning players have vowed not to repeat.

"That's our slogan this year: Finish The Job," junior defensive end Philip Merling said yesterday.

. . .

Will Florida State and Miami rebound?

Yes. Combine offseason changes with the likelihood that both teams are too talented to stay down for long.

"You walk around town, and you don't get any love from anybody anymore," offensive guard Derrick Morse said.

Shannon tried to change that by hiring Georgia Tech's Patrick Nix as offensive coordinator. The Hurricanes ranked eighth in the ACC last season in scoring.

The Seminoles hired Jimbo Fisher, formerly of Louisiana State, as their offensive coordinator.

. . .

Which coaches could have shaky job security?

Virginia's Al Groh hasn't delivered so far after receiving a hefty contract. Maryland's Ralph Friedgen must build on last year's 9-4 record after going 5-6 in each of the previous two seasons. Duke's Ted Roof, entering his fourth full season, still can't buy a win.

. . .

Can Wake Forest do it again?

No. The Demon Deacons lost half of their starters. But quarterback Riley Skinner is back, along with running back Micah Andrews, a would-be starter who was hurt last year.

Bottom line: Wake got too many favorable breaks last season in a down year for the ACC. That combination probably won't happen again.

The Demon Deacons won seven ACC games last season, counting the title game. They won by one, two and three points -- and by seven points twice.

. . .

Who will replace Calvin Johnson as the ACC's premier player?

No one figures to replicate Johnson's athleticism. For something close, check out four running backs: Georgia Tech senior Tashard Choice, Virginia Tech junior Branden Ore, Clemson junior James Davis and Clemson sophomore C.J. Spiller.

. . .

Will the publicity surrounding the April 16 shootings at Virginia Tech distract the Hokies?

Left tackle Duane Brown doesn't think so.

"We use that as motivation and encouragement," he said. "Everyone is using this football season as a way to get back into the groove of things and a way to bring Virginia Tech back to what it used to be."

 

ACC football hasn't made the big time
Monday, Jul 23, 2007 - 12:05 AM
By BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST

PINEHURST, N.C. Come we now to the annual midsummer soiree of 5-irons and idle chatter otherwise billed as the ACC Football Kickoff. The coaches with the highest handicaps have quarterbacks who couldn't hit the broad side of an angry booster group -- but even those guys will tell you they've got as good a shot at 12-0 as anyone.

In July, the field always looks as level as a practice putting green.

The talk hardly varies from one of these shindigs to another, although the talkers have this time around. That can happen when ambition and malfunction collide. After four years of status quo -- the only sideline alteration during that span being at Duke, which almost doesn't count -- Moving vans visited four ACC addresses and signaled (again) that the league really, really, really is taking this football business seriously.

One of the arrivals actually is an in-house hire -- Tom O'Brien switching from polar outpost Boston College to mainstream N.C. State. There also are new faces at BC, Miami and North Carolina -- and rumblings elsewhere.

Al Groh continues to steer in a rut at Virginia. Ralph Friedgen has lost some luster at Maryland. Clemson's Tommy Bowden is one more lukewarm season from turning "Tiger Rag" into Tiger rage.

Even Bowden's dadgum old man in Tallahassee is checking wind currents. St. Bobby still prompts genuflecting and curtsies at Florida State, but that couldn't prevent him from countenancing the jettisoning of another son as FSU's offensive coordinator and the importing of six new assistants in an effort to stall erosion.

Point being that if Bobby Bowden is forced to take unappealing measures, nobody this side of Frank Beamer and Jim Grobe can sleep blissfully at night.

"A year ago, we were sitting there saying we were the only league that doesn't turn over," O'Brien observed. "When I took the BC job 10 years ago, there were 22 job changes that year. There are only two guys in the same job from that group -- Joe Tiller at Purdue and Pat Hill at Fresno. Coaching turnover is a fact of life nowadays. To be a national player, people feel this is what they have to do."

The ACC aches for football splendor. That's why it whopped basketball upside its beloved round-robin format and expanded to a dozen schools. Three seasons later, ACC football remains a wannabe in progress.

Numbers don't lie. The ACC was 6-16 against teams from other BCS conferences last year, 0-3 in its highest-profile bowl matchups and 0-4 against top-10 opponents.

Not to mention 1-7 against the SEC.

The SEC is the hot league nowadays -- but then, it's been thermal for 75 years, what with its Bears and Swamps and gargantuan stadiums and prosperity. As weekly theater, it's unrivaled. As targets go, it's a biggie.

"I think the proximity of the SEC has a lot to do with the direction we're headed," said O'Brien. "There's direct competition both on the field and off the field for recruits. If you want to be a player on the national scene, you're going to have to be in competition with those people -- and we want to be No. 1 in the country."

But it's a slow go. The ACC is 3-31 vs. top-10 opponents since 2000, when its flagship program, FSU, began to slip. Its champion has lost seven straight bowl games. Now it's breaking in four new coaches who are busy exploring the territory and cautioning fans to be patient.

Fat chance. The ACC built its reputation on jump shots and Final Fours. Now it's on the make in football. Given stated goals, natives will be restless. Expect more casualties.

 

Cavaliers support their coach
Virginia's co-captains defend Al Groh against the jabs of outside critics.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

PINEHURST, N.C. -- Virginia football standout Chris Long is a confessed Internet surfer, so it's no surprise that he was aware of the latest UVa-related item on Sports Illustrated's Web site, SI.com.

Stewart Mandel wrote in his column that Virginia's Al Groh is the worst coach in college football.

"I don't know that guy," Long said Sunday. "It is what it is. It's somebody on the outside looking in.

"No disrespect to anybody's opinion, but I wouldn't rather play for anybody but coach [George] Welsh. He's made me the player and the man that I am today, along with a couple of other role models.

"It doesn't change anything for me."

Long, the oldest son of NFL Hall of Famer Howie Long, joined fellow co-captain Tom Santi at the ACC's Football Kickoff at the Carolina Hotel in Pinehurst.

"It's funny, to be honest," Santi said. "I don't know who wrote it. I'm sure he knows some stuff about football, but I don't know how you could really rate all of the coaches in college football.

"It's an attention-grabber, but it's not going to affect us. Whether he's rated the best or rated the worst, he's our coach. I have a great relationship with Coach Groh. I trust him. I know how much he wants to win."

Santi suspects the story was written to create some controversy and had its desired effect.

"I'm sure that was part of the reason," he said. "Football wouldn't be as popular as it is if we didn't have this sort of stuff. It doesn't affect the outcome of games. 'Frivolous' is the way I would describe it."

After four straight winning seasons and bowl trips, Virginia went 5-7 last season and there has been speculation about Groh's future, although his contract does not expire until 2010.

"I don't feel any more pressure," Santi said. "I couldn't feel any more pressure than I put on myself. People can think what they want and read what they want, but all the greatest intentions aren't going to win a football game for you."

At the notion that Groh might have alienated some of the media, Long indicated that he hasn't had the same effect on the team.

"Coach Groh's a hard-nosed, old-school guy," Long said. "I think some people might be intimidated by him. I'm not intimidated. I know Coach Groh.

"Coach Groh is somebody who's there when I need Coach Groh. He looks out for me. My relationship is great with Coach Groh. I think a lot of guys on the team have the same attitude. He's an approachable dude."

Long, featured on the cover of UVa's media guide, was the marquee name on a UVa defense that was the Cavaliers best statistically since 1979. Santi, with 61 career receptions, is one of the biggest weapons on a UVa offense whose total offense was the lowest since 1977.

Santi had a career-high 29 receptions last season but remains disappointed by a relatively high number of dropped passes.

"There's kind of a fine line," he said. "You can't erase it, but you can't always be thinking about it. You don't want to be saying to yourself, 'Oh, man, I better not [drop] this ball.'

"I've never in my life had trouble dropping the ball. You can say all the right stuff but football is all about, 'What have you done lately?' I don't want to be attached with playing poorly.

"I can't wait to get out there and start doing things the right way."

The UVa players report for preseason practice Aug. 5, but before they return to Charlottesville, Long and Santi will play in a captain's choice golf tournament today with coaches, bowl representatives and the media.

Neither owns a set of clubs and Long was wondering if he would be insured in the event he damaged any property.

Santi, who arrived with clubs borrowed from tight end Andrew Dewey, started playing golf three weeks ago in anticipation of the trip to Pinehurst.

"Tons of people would want to say they played Pinehurst," said Santi, who recorded a birdie in a recent outing. "I play Tiger Woods Golf [video games] all the time. I know about it. I just can't do it."
 

Stepping out of the shadows, DE Long is face of Virginia
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© July 23, 2007
PINEHURST, N.C.

The face of 2007 Virginia football has stubble on his chin and a menacing look in his eyes.

"They just had me down there in a dark room," defensive end Chris Long said. "After a while, the mean face naturally comes out."

Long's intense visage graces the cover of the team's media guide, unveiled at Sunday's ACC Football Kickoff at Pinehurst Resort. Featuring a single player on the cover is a departure for the Cavaliers, who have had collages of players the past two seasons.

Athletics department spokesman Jim Daves said it was natural to showcase Long, who is being billed as a national Defensive Player of the Year candidate but might not be widely known outside the ACC.

Aside from taking some ribbing from his teammates, Long, the son of NFL Hall of Famer Howie Long, said he doesn't mind being singled out.

"It's a testament to the people around me," he said.

"If I can represent my teammates well, I'd love to be the face of the team. I think a lot of guys could represent our team equally well."

 

Dissatisfaction suits U.Va.’s Chris Long fine
BY MELINDA WALDROP
247-4634
July 22, 2007, 5:43 PM EDT

PINEHURST, N.C. -- Chris Long spent this offseason in a bad mood. And that makes him happy.

"Football's easier to play when you're angry," said Long, Virginia's senior defensive end. "It's easier to get ready to play football when you're angry."

Long had plenty of emotional ammunition after the Cavaliers went 5-7 and 4-4 in the ACC in 2006.

"You're 5-7. If you're not upset with yourself, there's something wrong," Long said Sunday at the annual ACC Kickoff at Pinehurst. "... We didn't execute well enough. We didn't perform well enough. We have to be better. I think that comes down to we have to demand more of ourselves."

Long, whose intense face and crossed arms are on the cover of Virginia's media guide, is one of 10 returning defensive starters for the Cavs, who also return nine players on offense. He hopes the added experience equals better results this season.

"Definitely having the nucleus of the team back is great," Long said. "This is the first time that's really been the case since I've been here."

DUAL THREAT

Cavaliers coach Al Groh, commenting on the fact that none of the 12 players who've committed to play for U.Va. in 2008 are from Virginia, said earlier this week that it can be difficult to find a player who fits the school's athletic and academic profile.

Senior tight end Tom Santi is one athlete who has successfully combined academics and athletics. Expected to contend this season for the National Football Foundation's Draddy Award, known as the academic Heisman, Santi ranked fourth among ACC tight ends in 2006 with 29 catches.

He's also from Nashville, Tenn.

"I think we do go after maybe a different type of player than other schools," Santi said. "Virginia's a pretty prestigious school with rigorous academic requirements. (But) every team wants players that have character. Just because you're smart doesn't mean you have character."

ATTENTION-GETTER

With his shoulder-length dreadlocks, Georgia Tech senior linebacker Philip Wheeler is easy to pick out in a crowd. His fiery play makes him equally visible on the field.

And losing the final three games of his junior season by a combined nine points -- 15-12 to Georgia, 9-6 to Wake Forest in the ACC championship game and 38-35 to West Virginia in the Gator Bowl -- definitely got Wheeler's attention, priming his focus for 2007.

"Losing the last three games by three points, it don't matter who we play. We're gonna get after them the best we can," Wheeler said. For the first time in recent memory, the Jackets won't have the experience of Reggie Ball, who made 49 career starts for Tech, at quarterback. But Wheeler expects big things from junior quarterback Taylor Bennett.

"I think he's gonna shock a lot of people. He's not gonna shock me, because I know what he can do, (but) other people don't know that he can play," Wheeler said. "Taylor's a quick passer. He don't hold the ball too long. He makes good decisions, has good vision."

Unlike Ball, who would often tuck the ball and run, Wheeler said Bennett is a pure pocket passer. And Wheeler is hoping the Jackets can ride Bennett's arm a long way.

"People tell you you can't win them all," Wheeler said. "I say, why not? This is my last season. I want to try to go undefeated."

SOMETHING TO BELIEVE IN?

Duke senior free safety Chris Davis would settle for starting with just one victory.

That would be one more than the Blue Devils notched last season, when they went 0-12 and 0-8 in the ACC, stretching their winless conference mark to 17 games. Duke has lost 20 straight overall.

But Davis is convinced this is the year Duke, which lost by one point to eventual ACC champion Wake Forest in its league opener last year before falling to North Carolina by one point to end the season, can at last turn the corner.

"We finally got a lot of things going for us," Davis said. "We got a veteran offensive line coming back. We've got a quarterback coming back. ... You look at our depth chart, the entire offense is back. You can't ask for anything else. You might not be able to get that out of anybody else in the nation. That's just a great start for us."

Duke will get its first chance to break its ACC skid at Virginia on Sept. 8.
 

Top to Bottom: League players reiterate ACC is 'serious conference'
By Andy Bitter
abitter@newsadvance.com
July 23, 2007

PINEHURST, N.C. - Last year's ACC championship game seemed to epitomize it all.
It was on a rainy afternoon just short of prime time when an upstart Wake Forest squad slogged through a 9-6 win over Georgia Tech, an odd score in an ugly game by two unheralded teams in the conference's supposed showcase.

Word got out: The post-expansion ACC wasn't living up to its super-conference billing.

"It's a misperception," Wake Forest senior center Steve Justice said, defending his conference's honor at the ACC Kickoff at The Pinehurst Resort on Sunday. "I thought we played really, really well last year. I thought we had a great season. That's somebody's opinion (that the conference is down), so take it for what it is and just come and play next year."

ACC teams will have plenty to prove in 2007. While the conference had six teams finish with eight or more wins last year and eight go to bowl games, tying for the most in league history, it lacked a marquee team.

That's been the case for a while now. The last time an ACC team finished in the top five of the final Associated Press poll of the season was 2000, when Florida State did it. Since then, only one team - Virginia Tech in 2005 - has finished in the top 10 (the Hokies finished at No. 7 that year).

Last year, the teams in the conference's top three bowl games - Wake Forest (Orange Bowl), Georgia Tech (Gator Bowl) and Virginia Tech (Peach Bowl) - all lost.

"Just for the media and the fans (to take notice), we need that top-flight team," Florida State nose guard Andre Fluellen said. "But from top to bottom, this is a serious conference."

The stats back that up. Jeff Sagarin, a computer guru whose rankings appear in the USA Today, had the ACC as the fourth-ranked conference last year, using a system that gives weight to the middle teams in the group and progressively less weight to anomalous teams at the top and bottom of the conference.

That put the ACC behind the SEC, Big East and Pac-10, but ahead of the more-hyped Big Ten, which garnered plenty of attention during the regular season because of the success of Ohio State and Michigan.

"If you ask me, (the ACC is) one of the top ones in the nation, top to bottom," Georgia Tech tailback Tashard Choice said. "Just because the big-name schools may not be there in the big-time games doesn't mean the ACC is falling off."

Certainly, the struggles of Florida State and Miami have not helped the conference's perception, though.

The Seminoles may have won the inaugural ACC Championship game two years ago, but they finished 8-5 that year, the team's worst record in almost 25 years. Last season Florida State went 7-6, finishing with a sub-.500 ACC record for the first time.

Miami has had a similar decline since coming within a belated pass interference call of winning back-to-back NCAA titles in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. They went 9-3 in their first two seasons in the ACC before tripping up with a 7-6 mark last year. It cost Larry Coker, owner of a national championship and a winning percentage near 80 percent, his job.

At least one Miami player doesn't see that as a failure on the Hurricanes' part as much as the conference showing its depth.

"Let's say we're 1-5. I mean, look who we're playing," Miami offensive guard Derrick Morse said. "You've got to play Virginia Tech, you've got to play Boston College, you've got to play Florida State. You can't have a down week and win."

Nevertheless, the conference likely won't get much respect to start this season. Only Virginia Tech is a lock to be a preseason Top 25 team.

"I've said this a couple times: I don't get caught up in that," Virginia defensive end Chris Long said. "I look around this room and I'll take these guys to play with anybody. I really believe that. You have to.

"You take pride in the conference. You take pride in the region. You take pride in the guys who were recruited with you. I believe they can play ball."