U.Va's quarterback Peter Lalich faces alcohol charge
Posted to: College Football Sports Virginia
Roanoke Times
© July 24, 2008
By Doug Doughty

Peter Lalich, the most experienced quarterback returning to Virginia's football team this season, was in Charlottesville General District Court on Monday after being charged with unlawful alcoholic purchase and possession, a misdemeanor.

The case against Lalich was continued until July 21, 2009, at which point charges will be dropped if there is no recurrence.

Lalich received a summons on the alcohol charge July 13, just over a month after he was found guilty in absentia in Charlottesville General District Court for failure to obey a traffic signal. Lalich also did not have a driver's license or registration in his possession at the time and was fined $100. The traffic conviction was the second of 2008 for Lalich, found guilty in Albemarle County General District Court of failure to obey a highway sign.

At the ACC's Football Kickoff, U.Va. coach Al Groh was asked Tuesday if he has seen any maturation in Lalich, who played in eight games last season as the back-up to Jameel Sewell. Sewell is serving a one-year academic suspension.

Groh said Lalich was "progressing," although Virginia's media guide lists him as the No. 3 quarterback behind Scott Deke and Marc Verica.

"It isn't full term," Groh said. "There was nobody in our operation, in this short time frame, that expected it to be full-term. It hasn't been for any of his predecessors.

"Almost all of the quarterbacks who have preceded him in the last 15 years have not even been in a game at this point. That includes some very good quarterbacks. There's a lot of growth and development ahead of him before he turns into the quarterback that we can hope that he can be."

Clint Sintim, who joined Groh at the ACC Football Kickoff, said he and fellow co-captain John Phillips had decided that the word for Lalich is "eclectic."

"I think they're talking about what's on his Ipod more than his throwing ability," Groh said.

Said Sintim: "I think you've got to keep in mind that we're still dealing with an 18- or 19-year-old."

 

U.Va Notes: QB Lalich runs afoul of law
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 - 12:07 AM

QB runs afoul of law
Peter Lalich, a candidate to start at quarterback for Virginia this season, has been charged with unlawful purchase and possession of alcohol, a misdemeanor. The 6-5 sophomore from Northern Virginia is 20.

Lalich, the most experienced quarterback on the Cavaliers' roster, appeared Monday in Charlottesville General District Court. His case will be continued until July 21, 2009. The charge will be dropped then if Lalich has avoided further trouble.

The July 13 incident wasn't Lalich's first encounter with police. He has been cited several times for traffic violations in the Charlottesville area, court records show.

A U.Va. spokesman said coach Al Groh would not comment on the latest charge against Lalich. Any disciplinary action will be handled internally with the team, the spokesman said.

When reporters spoke with Groh on Monday afternoon at the ACC's preseason football gathering, they were unaware of Lalich's alcohol charge. But Groh was asked about the maturation of Lalich, who was U.Va.'s No. 2 quarterback as a true freshman last year.

"It's progressing," Groh said. "It certainly isn't full term, and there's nobody in our operation who expected in this short time frame that it would be full term."

Former 'Hoo shining
Point guard Sean Singletary, whom the Sacramento Kings selected in the second round last month, is expected to play in the NBA this season. Elton Brown, one of Singletary's teammates at U.Va. in 2004-05, might be in the big league, too.

Brown, a 6-9, 250-pound forward, starred for the Denver Nuggets' entry in the Las Vegas summer league this month. Brown was second on the team in scoring, at 13.4 points per game, and first in rebounding (10 per game). He shot 57.8 percent from the floor and 68.2 percent from the line.

A former NBA Development League all-star, Brown was one of the last players cut by the Knicks in 2006 and by the Lakers in 2007. He played in the D-League and later in Israel last season.

Denver tied for first in Las Vegas with a 4-1 record. The Kings went 3-2, and Singletary averaged 5.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists. He shot only 26.7 percent from the floor.

Seeing double?
In eight games last season, Virginia used two quarterbacks: Lalich and starter Jameel Sewell, who's on academic suspension this year. Groh may employ a similar approach this season.

"If your one quarterback is Tom Brady [or] Peyton Manning, then there's a great need to have him in the game all the time and a significant comfort level with that," Groh said. "If that's not the case, the real need is that the quarterback position plays in each game to a standard that's high enough for us to win, however many quarterbacks it takes to do that.

"If it takes one, then that'd be great. If it takes two, then that's what will do."

In U.Va.'s spring game, Lalich, Scott Deke and Marc Verica split time at quarterback.

Ex-Royal on the mend
John Bivens, who redshirted in 2006, was expected to break into the rotation at inside linebacker last year. But persistent problems with his left knee limited the former Prince George High star's availability, and he had season-ending surgery in November.

Bivens, who played in seven games last season, essentially sat out spring practice this year, but his rehab is going well.

"He's doing more and more every week," U.Va. linebacker Clint Sintim told reporters Sunday. "I was actually very impressed with Bivens in the agilities the other day. Before he got hurt and before a lot of [the younger Cavaliers] were here, Bivens was the king of the agilities."

In recent workouts, Sintim said, Bivens "was moving great. He looked like he was ready and getting better, so if he just continues on that track he'll be great."

Groh said: "Clint was accurate. [Bivens is] still not there yet, but there's been a big jump in his progress."

-- Jeff White

 

Hughes enjoys Soul
Dave Fairbank
July 24, 2008

Count Connor Hughes as a convert — a traditionalist who has embraced indoor contact with padded barriers, and high-scoring entertainment viewed by frenzied fans practically close enough to touch the action.

No, not a night on the town with Pacman Jones, but the Arena Football League.

Hughes, the former Lafayette High and University of Virginia star, is the kicker for the Philadelphia Soul, the franchise owned by rocker Jon Bon Jovi and run by former NFL quarterback and adopted Philadelphian Ron Jaworski.

The Soul had the league's best record in the regular season, won both of its playoff games and prepares for Sunday's championship game, the ArenaBowl, versus the San Jose SaberCats in New Orleans.

The Arena League has existed for two decades, largely on the sporting fringe. But the game received a jolt because of its summer schedule, a broadcast deal with ESPN, the demise of NFL Europe and fans' increasing fascination with all things football.

"It's an exciting place to be," Hughes said. "I think the sport is growing, and I think it's cool to be on the front end of that."

Hughes knew next-to-nothing about arena ball.

After college, he had tryouts with the New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers. He kicked briefly for the Rhein Fire in NFL Europe.

He received a call last January from Soul head coach Bret Munsey, who told him a little about the league and the franchise. Munsey informed Hughes, sight unseen, that the kicking job was his if he wanted it.

Hughes thought about it for a couple of days and decided to take a shot. He hasn't regretted a minute, though there have been some struggles.

Arena football is an adjustment, particularly for kickers. Most obvious, the field is only 50 yards long and 85 feet wide. Eight men to a side.

The goalposts are 9 feet wide and the crossbar 15 feet off the ground, compared to 181/2 feet wide and 10 feet off the deck in the NFL. No punting; you either go for it on fourth down or you attempt a field goal, and any kick that bounces off the netting on both side of the uprights is live.

Hughes' primary adjustments were the narrower goalposts and the subtler change in the timing of kicks. Fewer players rush, giving the kicking team more time to get off kicks.

"A lot of people probably think, 'Oh great, that makes it a lot easier,' " Hughes said. "But I had gotten so used to the rhythm of the outdoor game, where you're kicking quick, and I had gotten into a good swing pattern and rhythm based on the snap.

"Your internal clock from the outdoor field is going off and you're thinking, 'Whoa, this is gonna get blocked.' That was the biggest thing for me to get accustomed to."

The narrower goalposts, as well as a succession of holders, also affected Hughes' accuracy.

The third-leading scorer in ACC history, he made 83.5 percent of his kicks for Virginia and all 10 of his attempts with the Rhein Fire and then the Steelers before they released him last August.

With the Soul, he made 123 of 136 extra-point attempts during the regular season — 15 of 16 in the playoffs — but just 5 of 14 field-goal attempts, his long a 34-yarder.

"The difference is, when I mishit a ball on the big field, it goes in," Hughes said. "When I mishit it here, it misses by a foot or hits off a pipe. You can hit a great ball and just miss. I don't feel like that's the case in the outdoor league. I feel like if I hit a good ball, or even an OK ball, it's going to go through every time."

The Soul hasn't needed any heroics from Hughes.

The team has averaged 61.7 points per game on the way to a 15-3 record. Receiver Chris Jackson scored 49 touchdowns and was the league's Offensive Player of the Year, while first-team all-league quarterback Matt D'Orazio completed 72.4 percent of his passes for 72 touchdowns with just four interceptions during the regular season.

By the way, D'Orazio's touchdown total ranked only seventh in the league. His counterpart Sunday, San Jose's Mark Grieb, led the league with 100 touchdown passes. Philly won the regular-season meeting between the two teams 58-57.

"I think that the league is onto a really exciting premise," Hughes said. "Americans always complain about soccer, and even with the NFL you can have games that are 7-0 or 10-3. You're watching a couple hours of football and you've only seen maybe three scoring drives.

"But here, you're passing probably 80 percent of the time. Guys are always making great catches. Receivers are going across the middle and getting lit up by defensive backs. It's a quicker-paced game, and I think the American audience can really get a hold of it."

Hughes likened arena football to hockey, a game that's far more exciting watched in person than on TV. He said that some friends from church attended their first arena league game a few weeks back — the Soul's 48-47, last-play-of-the-game playoff win over New York — and immediately talked about getting season tickets next year.

Hughes isn't certain he will be part of the action. Don't misunderstand. He's having a blast and believes the experience he's gained in Philly will benefit him as he pursues kicking.

"I had a timeline when I graduated college," Hughes said, "and I had some plans. But the only thing I've learned over the past couple years is that plans don't ever really work out the way you want them to.

"So I've kind of taken a back seat to trying to direct myself. I'm just faithful and praying that God will direct me where I need to be. In the meantime, I'm going to kick where my talents are wanted. I feel like I'm a good kicker, and I'm going to do that here until I get called to go someplace else."

 

Two each from UVa, Tech make ACC football preseason squad
Clemson dominates the voting for Player of the Year.
By David Teel
Daily Press 247-4636
3:17 PM EDT, July 23, 2008

Two players each from Virginia and Virginia Tech made the preseason all-ACC football team in voting conducted at the conference's recent media gathering.

Cavaliers offensive tackle Eugene Monroe and linebacker Clint Sintim made the squad, as did Hokies guard Sergio Render and cornerback Victor Harris. Render is a junior, the other three seniors.

Monroe did not allow a sack during the 2007 regular season, and Sintim led the nation's linebackers with nine sacks. Sintim has started 37 games, third-most among ACC returnees.

Harris earned first-team all-conference honors last season and, given the Hokies' uncertainty at receiver, could see time on offense in 2008. Render has started since his true freshman season.

Clemson dominated voting for preseason Player of the Year. Tigers quarterback Cullen Harper received 34 of 64 votes, followed by teammates James Davis (16) and C.J. Spiller (4), both running backs.

Florida State, Clemson and Wake Forest each placed four players on the 25-member team. Duke, North Carolina State and Miami were the only schools among the league's 12 without a representative.

The complete team:

Offense

QB: Cullen Harper, Clemson

RB: Josh Adams, Wake Forest

RB: James Davis, Clemson

WR: Aaron Kelly, Clemson.

WR: Hakeem Nicks, North Carolina

TE: Ryan Purvis, Boston College

T: Andrew Gardner, Georgia Tech

T: Eugene Monroe, Virginia

G: Sergio Render, Virginia Tech

G: Rodney Hudson, Florida State

C: Edwin Williams, Maryland

Defense

E: Everette Brown, Florida State

E: Michael Johnson, Georgia Tech

T: Ron Brace, Boston College

T: Vance Walker, Georgia Tech

LB: Aaron Curry, Wake Forest

LB: Clint Sintim, Virginia

LB: Brian Toal, Boston College

CB: Victor Harris, Virginia Tech

CB: Alphonso Smith, Wake Forest

S: Michael Hamlin, Clemson

S: Myron Rolle, Florida State

Specialists

PK: Sam Swank, Wake Forest

P: Graham Gano, Florida State

Return: Brandon Tate, North Carolina

 

ACC can't shine unless it has stars
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 - 12:07 AM
By BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST

Let us stipulate, for the sake of argument, that Cullen Harper is a household name in Alpharetta, Ga., and Pickens County, S.C. He had some yearbook-worthy moments during his playing days at Sequoyah High. He's the starting quarterback for Clemson, where he waited his turn for three years and had a nice junior season. He's maybe the poster boy for ACC football 2008.

And he's barely a blip on the national radar.

This is the problem with ACC football and a major reason its product hasn't struck gold on the field or resonated in discussions across the country: lack of star power. Tim Tebows, Pat Whites and Chase Daniels frolic elsewhere in college stadiums. The ACC, for all its expansion-generated muscle-flexing, lags behind. And it shows.

On the field, the ACC hasn't won a major bowl since the 1999 campaign and went 2-6 during the 2007 postseason. It's also 39-50 against BCS-conference opponents and 3-9 in its three highest-tier bowls -- BCS, Gator, Peach -- since growing from nine teams to 12 over the past four years.

Meanwhile, in a ballroom at a posh Georgia resort this week, the ACC positioned 24 players at a dozen tables for group interviews at its Football Kickoff. Of the 12 who call offense home, there were three quarterbacks and two wideouts -- none of whom looms as an All-America threat -- and not a single running back.

And don't think those two elements -- dreary returns and skill-position voids -- aren't intertwined.

Coaches, for their part, will tell you offense sells tickets but defense wins championships.

But don't let them kid you.

And don't kid yourselves.

Eyeballed the college game lately? Noticed those fourand five-wideout sets? Watched Urban Meyer and Les Miles zip their way to national championships the past two years? Gotten an appreciation -- as Al Groh surely has -- for Mike Leach's zing-it-around schemes at Texas Tech?

Yeah, you've got to stop the other guys. And double-yeah, it's always comforting to have a Chris Long to terrorize rival quarterbacks or a Xavier Adibi to chase down runners. LSU doesn't win the title last year without Glenn Dorsey and the defense he anchored.

But the college game tilts toward offense these days. To use basketball language with which the ACC is more familiar, you better be able to score the ball if you want to send your fans home happy and somewhere inviting to spend the holidays.

Compare the wannabe ACC with the ruling-class SEC. Over the past four NFL drafts -- since expansion -- the ACC has had 30 players picked in the first round. Of that total, there have been two quarterbacks (Philip Rivers and Matt Ryan), one wide receiver (Calvin Johnson) and no running backs.

Now check out the SEC. During that same span of time, it's churned out 31 first-rounders -- barely a shred of difference. But its group includes three quarterbacks, five running backs and five wideouts -- the sorts of players, in other words, who are difference-makers. A Joseph Addai here. A Jason Campbell there. Darren McFaddens everywhere.

That's the SEC advantage and the ACC void, one that's historic -- four first-round QBs total since 1962, for example -- and now is exaggerated by the tailspins at former glam-position manufacturers Florida State and Miami.

"I couldn't be any more pleased with expansion," ACC boss John Swofford told reporters Tuesday. "There isn't any question that we're deeper and stronger than we've ever been"

In the cash register? Yeah, I suppose.

On the field? On stadium marquees? On Lee Corso's star search? None of the above.