Unproven Receivers Try to Catch On for Cavs
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, August 20, 2003; Page D03

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Aug. 19 -- At first glance, Virginia's wide receivers seem a motley crew: two former second-stringers, two converts from other positions and four youngsters who have never played a collegiate down. The eight of them have a combined total of 41 career catches.

Yet the Cavaliers say this group has enough talent -- if in some cases unpolished talent -- to step in with both of last season's starters gone and hold up their end of the bargain in an offense that produced 3,222 passing yards last year. The question is, how quickly will that talent translate into production?

No. 18 Virginia has a lot riding on the answer, with the team enjoying its highest preseason ranking in five years and senior quarterback Matt Schaub poised to break nearly all of the program's career passing records and perhaps emerge as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Adequate support from the wide receivers would go a long way toward helping Schaub and the Cavaliers follow through on those preseason promises.

Virginia knew its receiving corps would have a new look with the departure of Billy McMullen, a senior captain last season who ranks second in ACC history in receptions. Then last week Michael McGrew, counted on to become the top receiver after two years as McMullen's running mate, suffered what is expected to be a season-ending injury to his leg.

That left junior Ottowa Anderson and senior Ryan Sawyer as the only Cavaliers with more than token experience at the position. Their roles will increase significantly, but Coach Al Groh said none of the receivers will have to be McMullen or McGrew.

"I don't believe when players leave that you try to replace them. You just put different guys in," Groh said. "That's unrealistic to try to replace any particular player . . . and it's unfair to the guy who's following him.

"So you take the guy who's coming in and use his skills and try to take advantage of that. Or you move someplace else to find some other skills. We've got some other skills now . . . to find some of the yards and some of the catches that we couldn't find last year. We'll be able to take advantage of them."

Anderson and Sawyer say they can and will raise their level of production after playing as the third and fourth receivers last season, but the overall success of the receiving corps could depend heavily on the performance of redshirt sophomore Marques Hagans and senior Art Thomas, who were brought over from other positions in the spring.

"They're both athletes. They're both really, really good athletes, actually," said Sawyer, a special teams ace who caught his first pass last season. "They made the transition well -- better than I've seen anyone do it."

Hagans put his athletic ability to use at quarterback, punt returner, tailback and wide receiver last season, though he played only a few snaps at receiver, catching one pass for four yards. Like Thomas, a former cornerback, and Virginia's three freshman wide receivers, Hagans has had a lot to learn about his new position. But he has the physical gifts to be the most elusive, explosive receiver the Cavaliers have had in a while.

"There's a lot more that goes into being a receiver than just catching, routes and blocking," Hagans said. "You have got to put a lot more time into being a receiver. I never really appreciated how hard it was to be a receiver.

"There's going to be a lot of passes to go around," he said. "It's just a matter of who is willing to step forward in practice and work harder and make those catches and make the blocks. Those will be the receivers who will play."

The other receivers don't lack for raw ability either. Redshirt freshman Ron Morton is the fastest wideout Virginia has had since Groh took over in January 2001. Freshman Fontel Mines (6 feet 5, 217 pounds) has enviable size.

Thomas is "a potential step up," Groh said -- stressing the word "potential" -- because he combines size (6-2, 205) and speed in a way even McMullen and McGrew could not. Of course, none of these newcomers has lined up at receiver in a college game.

"Nobody's really seen us play on a consistent basis," said Anderson, who had 17 catches for 184 yards and three touchdowns last season. "Only me and Ryan have really played receiver and really not that many reps, so once we get out there, people are going to get confused once they see how good we really are."

Perhaps fortunately for the Cavaliers, the wide receivers will not have to shoulder the pass-catching burden alone. Running backs and tight ends accounted for 47 percent of the receiving yards last season, led by tailback Wali Lundy (58 catches), tight end Heath Miller (33) and fullback Jason Snelling (31). Ten players reached double digits in receptions.

"I don't think it's as big a deal for us as [it would be] for a lot of other teams," Schaub said. "We spread the ball around. We've got a lot of guys on our offense that can make plays for us, be weapons for us offensively. Guys will step up at receiver and make plays. They have in the past; they will continue to do so. . . . I think we'll be fine."

Cavaliers Notes: Inside linebacker Ahmad Brooks (Hylton) and offensive guard Ian-Yates Cunningham are among five or six freshmen expected to play in the Aug. 30 season opener against Duke. Ten freshmen played in last year's season opener; four started. "We're not going to start nine of them," Groh said, "but we're still going to take advantage of some of the new skills that have come on the team." . . . Sophomore safety Willie Davis surpassed junior Jay Dorsey last week to regain the starting spot he held for the final four games last season.
 

UVA's talent level rises
UVA's talent level has risen significantly under Groh / Thanks to the relentless recruiting efforts of third-year coach Al Groh and his staff, Virginia is poised to make a run at the ACC championship this season -- and for many years to come
By CAULTON TUDOR, Staff Writer

Three weeks before the 2000 season, Almondo Curry entered Virginia's football program and confronted what he thought was a lot of talent. That team included 1,000-yard rusher Antwoine Womack, prolific passer Dan Ellis, budding receiver Billy McMullen, explosive defensive lineman Ljubomir Stamenich and bruising linebacker Yubrenal Isabelle .
But the Cavs' talent then is to today's team as grapes are to grapefruit.

"It's not even close," Curry said. "I don't even know how to describe how much the talent has improved in the past two seasons. It's like off the chart it's so much better now."

The proof is in the starting lineup that third-year coach Al Groh expects to use in the Aug. 30 opener against Duke.

Of the 13 fourth- and fifth-year players on the roster, only seven may start . And that's assuming that center Zac Yarbrough can hold off junior Kevin Bailey for the starting job and sophomore Marques Hagans, a quarterback at this time last season, doesn't scoot past several older players for the starting role at split end .

"It's amazing to me how much we've improved in such a short time," Curry said. "I wouldn't have thought it was possible unless I'd seen it with my own eyes."

By Virginia standards, Curry is a marvel. At 5 feet 8 and 175 pounds, the senior cornerback is small enough to get lost in a defensive huddle that Groh, who once coached the New York Jets, says has an NFL look about it.

Even in the secondary, where Curry will start opposite 5-10, 202-pound senior Jamaine Winborne , the Cavaliers are beginning to work in younger players in the 6-3, 200-pound range.

As Florida State linebacker Michael Boulware put it, "Virginia doesn't even look like the same team they used to be. They're not the same team, either. They're bigger and faster -- a lot bigger and faster."

This infusion of personnel -- the result of tireless recruiting by Groh and his staff -- has revised Virginia's reputation in the ACC. Last season, the Cavs were picked to finish eighth and tied for second. This year, they were picked to finish fourth but got five first-place votes .

"I don't think it would surprise anyone at all if Virginia won the championship," Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen said.

It certainly shouldn't surprise anyone if the Cavaliers make the end zone their home. A team that averaged 29 points last season is again led by quarterback Matt Schaub, last season's ACC offensive player of the year and a Heisman Trophy candidate. Eight other offensive starters returned, although the Cavs lost one for the year when wide receiver Michael McGrew broke his left leg in practice. Virginia had hoped McGrew would become its No. 1 wideout with the departure of four-year starter McMullen to the NFL.

Sophomore tailback Wali Lundy, however, gives Schaub an extra target. Perhaps the league's most versatile playe r, he rushed for 826 yards , caught 58 passes for 435 yards and averaged 24 yards per kickoff return .

"There are a lot of great tailbacks in this league," Schaub said. "I just don't think the rest of them can do all of the things Wali does. Plus, he blocks. He can knock you down."

But even Lundy will have to work to keep his job. Just behind him on the depth chart is junior Alvin Pearman, who rushed for 343 yards and caught 21 passes.

Tight end Heath Miller, a side-of-a-barn target at 6-5 and 254 pounds, caught 33 passes.

Inside, guards Elton Brown and Brian Barthelmes are NFL players in waiting. Brown, a 6-6, 333-pound junior, is probably the ACC's best offensive lineman, and Barthelmes isn't far behind. Nor is fellow sophomore D'Brickashaw Ferguson , a cherished left tackle.

"You can take a lot of very good offensive linemen and put them at left tackle, and they'll have a bad day if the quarterback they're trying to protect is right-handed," Groh said. "Ferguson is quick enough to defend against that blind-side rusher."

Defensively, the Cavaliers were already loaded at linebacker, and they're getting better. Since his junior season at Woodbridge (Va.) Hylton High School, freshman Ahmad Brooks has been compared to Lawrence Taylor, and redshirt freshman Kai Parham can run step-for-step with the wideouts.

"You've got to be a good player to get some game action," Curry said. "We've reached the point where if you have a bad practice, you worry. You know that guy behind you is just as good as you are. It's a great situation."

 

THE FAMILY BUSINESS
Virginia assistant Mike Groh follows the call of coaching
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published August 20, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- He tried living the normal life, he really did. He went to work for the largest and oldest stock brokerage firm in Virginia, which allowed some of those competitive juices to keep flowing. But for Mike Groh, University of Virginia Class of '95, something was missing.

It wasn't hard to peg what that something was.

"I remember when he called me," said his father, Cavalier head football coach Al Groh. "He said, 'Dad, I need to go back to what's enabled me to achieve what I have, which is competition and leadership. I want to pursue being a coach.' "

What took that revelation so long? Al has coached at all three levels - high school, college and professional - since the fall of 1967. As soon as Mike learned to walk, he did much of it on the practice field. He was a gifted quarterback, starting four years in high school before signing with Virginia. Though he started only 21 games with the Cavaliers, he left as the school's third leading passer.

The game had become a part of him, so after 21/2 years as a broker he needed a career change. Al Groh had just been named head coach of the New York Jets, and Mike came along as offensive assistant and quality control coach. Now, he's on his father's staff at Virginia as the quarterbacks/receivers coach, becoming further entrenched in a profession he always knew was his destiny.

"It was sort of inevitable," Mike Groh said. "I tried being a normal person for a couple of years, but it was just in my blood to do this. I've always been around games and competition my whole life."

Though he rarely played at U.Va. until his junior year, Groh threw for 4,366 yards and 29 touchdowns and was 15-6 as the starter. But in the 1996 NFL draft, he wasn't among the 256 players taken. He signed with the Baltimore Ravens as a free agent but didn't make the roster. He played a season with the Rhein Fire of NFL Europe, and that was it.

In 1997, he was hired by Davenport & Company, a New York Stock Exchange member firm headquartered in Richmond. But he held on to all things football he could grasp. On weekends, he was a sideline reporter for Virginia's radio network. He also appeared on then-coach George Welsh's television show.

"I tried staying involved on that end of it," Groh said, "but it wasn't enough to quench my thirst."

He's got more than enough to do that now. The Cavaliers' receivers coach the last two years, Groh is handling the quarterbacks as well. That means he gets to work with Matt Schaub, who last fall broke the three season passing records - completions, attempts and yards - Groh had set in 1995.

"Now I can take credit for some of his success," Groh said. "I look forward to him setting those records so high that whoever comes after him will have such a hard time breaking them."

At 31, Groh is the baby among one of the youngest coaching staffs in college football. And yes, he's also working for his father. That isn't uncommon in sports. Steve Spurrier Jr., for example, is his dad's wide receivers coach with the Washington Redskins. Yet try as he might, there's no way a head coach can look at all his assistants the same way when he used to change the diapers of one of them.

Sure, it can lead to awkward situations, but both Grohs insist it hasn't been a problem.

"He doesn't treat me any different than anybody else," Mike Groh said. "But I see a different side to him than my brother and sister see, and even my mom. The season is very intense and emotional, and everybody is deeply invested in it. It can be hard from that standpoint, but at the end of the day he's my dad. It's probably harder for him than for me."

Is it?

"It's a pleasure," Al Groh said.

"The most challenging part is to make sure the coach-coach relationship doesn't infringe upon the father-son relationship, which is certainly a lot more important to me and to him."

 

Cavaliers are seeking chemistry
Experience in hotel helping
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Aug 20, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE - After spending 16 straight nights in an Emmet Street hotel, members of the University of Virginia football team will check out tomorrow and get a long-awaited taste of freedom.

At the end of training camp each day, some NFL teams let their players go home to their families. At the end of preseason practice each day, this state's other Division I-A team, Virginia Tech, sends its freshmen to an on-campus dorm and lets upperclassmen return to their apartments and houses off-campus.

That may work for those teams, but at U.Va., third-year coach Al Groh prefers to keep his players together at night. And so the Cavaliers, as they did in the latter part of George Welsh's long tenure as coach, call the Best Western Cavalier Inn home for a good chunk of August. The experience, Groh believes, builds chemistry and camaraderie among the players.

"You have this compacted period of time for two weeks," he said yesterday, "and players have a chance not only to focus on football but to focus on their interaction with each other."

The players rise each morning and walk uphill to breakfast at the dining trailer near the practice fields outside University Hall and the McCue Center. They eat lunch and dinner there, too. When football obligations are fulfilled for the day, the players trudge back to the Cavalier Inn to talk and snack and, finally, sleep.

"It's really them and nobody else," Groh said, "and that's where you build the relationships where we can have that collective mentality, and the team can develop an appreciation and an affection for each other. Those things are really where teamwork starts."

For years under Welsh, Groh's predecessor, the team stayed in on-campus apartments for upperclassmen, according to Gerry Capone, U.Va.'s associate athletic director for football administration. But when a conflict arose one year and on-campus housing wasn't available, "we looked at the Cavalier Inn and found out the price was actually cheaper," Capone recalled.

The bill for the team's 16-night stay will come to about $50,000. That's not small change, obviously, even for a football program with an operating budget of $2.4 million (not including salaries and scholarships). Don't think, however, that the team could stay in university housing for free during the summer. The team would be charged the same rates as a group not affiliated with U.Va., officials said.

At the Cavalier Inn, which the university bought in 1999, players stay two to a room. The team reserves a block of about 60 rooms and pays $51 per room per night. Glenda Cavanaugh-Brooks, the hotel's director of sales, said the Cavalier Inn usually charges $79 per night on weekdays and $89 to $99 on weekends for a double.

Lisa Strade, program coordinator for U.Va.'s Conference Services, said on-campus housing is no longer available after Aug. 10 or so, so the university "wouldn't be able to help" the football team fill its lodging needs. But to double up players in the Faulkner or Lamberth apartments, say, in July, the football team would have to pay the premium rate of $47 per room per night if it wanted the linen and towels changed and trash removed from each room daily. However, Strade said, "We generally don't do premium at either location."

The Cavalier Inn's proximity to the McCue Center makes it attractive, Capone said, as do its "amenities and attention to detail. They really seem to want us."

Rooms are cleaned and towels changed daily at the hotel, whose beds are bigger than those generally found in on-campus housing. That's a selling point for a team with numerous players taller than 6-3 and heavier than 240 pounds.

The U.Va. coaching staff likes having players under one roof during training camp for another reason. Preseason practices are grueling, and in the event of a medical emergency, officials can locate players easily.

Cornerback Marcus Hamilton, a redshirt freshman, said two weeks in a hotel can be a grind. Even so, Hamilton said, "It keeps the distractions away and brings the team together, so it's a positive."
 

Cavs won't sneak up on anyone this year
HANK KURZ JR.
Associated Press

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Al Groh's second season as head coach at Virginia made it obvious that he's got the Cavaliers moving in the right direction, and getting better very quickly.

That's likely to make Year Three more of a challenge for a young team loaded with players and suddenly also burdened by expectations.

"That's the kind of thing that comes with being successful," tailback Alvin Pearman said, noting the Cavaliers' 9-5 record last season, capped by a 48-22 thrashing of No. 15 West Virginia in the Continental Tire Bowl.

"The most important thing for us right now is to stay focused and not get carried away with all the hoopla."

Virginia cracked the top 25 at No. 22 in the final poll last season and begins this year ranked No. 18. The Cavaliers know maintaining their progress won't be easy, beginning with a home game against Duke Aug. 30.

"I think after some of the success we had last year, people are definitely tasting it and see what we can be," fullback Kase Luzar said. "But we're not going to sneak up on teams like last year."

The plan is that it won't matter. Virginia is stocked with talent at the skill positions, led by ACC player of the year Matt Schaub at quarterback, and returns 19 starters, 10 on offense.

On defense, Groh's specialty, nine starters return along with two heralded linebackers and challengers throughout the lineup.

First on the agenda, he said, is instilling perspective.

"We're trying to get the attention of the team about what it takes to become hard to beat, the teamwork it takes to be good team," he said.

"I think it's a relative point with this team."

That's because the Cavaliers are young, with as few as six senior starters in a lineup dominated by freshmen and sophomores.

But leadership is there, too, and in key positions.

The leader is Schaub, a poster boy for perseverance after last season when he started the opener, got benched for the first half against Florida State and then had the best year in school history.

He threw for 2,976 yards, completing 68.9 percent of his passes. He threw 28 touchdown passes and only seven interceptions, leading victories against four of six opponents in the top 25.

This year, the school is touting him for the Heisman Trophy, and teammates say his confidence is evident in everything he does.

"He knows it's his team," wide receiver Ottowa Anderson said.

Favorite target Billy McMullen is gone and No. 2 wide receiver Michael McGrew will miss the season with a broken leg, but the backfield is deep and the candidates at wideout are bigger and faster than ever.

Wali Lundy finally grabbed the tailback job with a four-touchdown performance in the bowl game, rushing for 127 yards and two TDs and catching five passes for 76 yards and two more.

Lundy also was the No. 2 receiver in the regular season with 53 catches, followed by tight end Heath Miller, whose 33 receptions included nine for touchdowns, and fullback Jason Snelling, who caught 31 passes.

All of them return, along with former backup quarterback Marques Hagans and former cornerback Art Thomas, both moved to wide receiver to give Schaub some fast targets.

Fronting it all is a veteran offensive line paced by Elton Brown, a 6-foot-6, 333-pound junior guard and two-year starter.

On defense, the news is big at linebacker, where Ahmad Brooks and Kai Parham -- the most highly touted catches in a national top 10 recruiting class in 2001 -- arrive after sitting out last year.

Neither was listed as a starter in preseason, but Groh said if both don't play significant minutes, "then the coach is crazy."

The two join Darryl Blackstock, now 25 pounds heavier and faster after leading the nation's freshmen with 10 sacks last year.

"Ever since the spring he's been very determined to really become a true linebacker, to be able to do all the jobs that the superior outside linebackers have been able to do," Groh said of Blackstock.

The front three returns, led by 6-7, 280-pound Chris Canty, who is disruptive in pass and run defense, and the secondary features Almondo Curry, who joins Schaub as a team co-captain.

The loss of No. 3 tackler Jerton Evans at safety will be felt, but Virginia got lots of people lots of experience in the defensive backfield last year, so possible replacements are abundant.

With expectations of success comes pressure, too, Luzar said.

"If people are putting us in the polls, that's great because that's where we want to be," he said. "But the only thing that matters is where we are at the end of the season."