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QB's beware: UVa's Blackstock back bigger and stronger
By John Galinsky  / Daily Progress staff writer
August 29, 2003
 

A year ago, a brash freshman linebacker arrived at the University of Virginia full of ambition. Before his first game — before his first full-squad practice — Darryl Blackstock announced that he had his sights set on the school and ACC career sack record of 40 set by Chris Slade from 1989-92.
At the time, the general consensus was that Blackstock was aiming awfully high.
Turns out, he may not have been aiming high enough.
Following an astonishing debut season in which he recorded 10 sacks, an ACC freshman record, Blackstock has adjusted his goals accordingly. No longer is he talking about Slade’s career mark or the school record of 15 in a season set by Slade (1992) and matched by Patrick Kerney (1998).
“The national record is 24 — that’s what I want,” Blackstock said, referring to the single-season standard established by Arizona State defensive end Terrell Suggs last year. (The NCAA began keeping sack records in 1995.) “Just 10 sacks — that’s nothing. I think I can do a lot better than that. What’s 24? Two a game? I think I can do that.”
Why not? After all, Blackstock did better than that as a senior at Heritage High School, when he recorded 29 sacks in 14 games. He had 22 more in one season at Fork Union Military Academy before coming to UVa as an undersized outside linebacker with superior speed but a lot to learn.
Having played defensive end in high school and at FUMA, Blackstock had to adjust to his new position, perhaps the most demanding in Virginia’s 3-4 defense. He had to get used to beginning each play in a standing position rather than a three-point stance. He had to learn how to stop the run and defend the pass, not just go after the quarterback.
He did everything well, finishing with 107 tackles and a key interception in the Continental Tire Bowl.
“It’s pretty remarkable what he did,” said UVa coach Al Groh. “That position has multiple responsibilities that are very difficult for a freshman to handle. … He had a pretty good sense of what to do. Whether he was an expert or not, he was never lost. He’s very determined to be a true linebacker, to do all of the jobs that superior linebackers do well.”
Indeed, Blackstock says his main individual goal is to become a complete linebacker. Or, as he put it, “To be that football machine that Coach Groh wants us to be.”
To that end, he worked hard in the offseason at bettering himself. He refined his pass-rushing technique, learning moves and developing power to go along with his raw speed. He added about 20 pounds of muscle.  He studied film and dissected his weaknesses.
“I probably messed up half the time last season,” said Blackstock, who now carries 240 pounds on his still-sculpted 6-foot-4 frame. “I’d get burned in pass coverage, but I was able to make up for it with good recovery speed. Now my thing is to be in the perfect spot on every play.
“In pass coverage, I want to smother my guy and re-route him. On runs, I want to stop the power play and let nothing get outside me. On pass rushes, I want to get to the quarterback, whatever it takes. Learning what to do is really easy; perfecting it is really tough.”
For now, Blackstock remains most advanced as a pass rusher. Before his arrival, no Virginia linebacker had recorded double-digit sacks in a season. Wali Rainer, who had nine in 1997, holds the school career record for a linebacker at 16.
Blackstock had eight sacks in his first eight games as a Cavalier, relying almost exclusively on his quickness to blow by opposing blockers. He spent much of this spring and preseason working with Virginia’s coaches on developing an arsenal of moves and countermoves.
“I’d certainly say he’s a much more sophisticated pass rusher than he was last year, when it was all speed or nothing,” Groh said.
Now Blackstock can use his strength to bull rush, and he knows how to use his hands and arms to fend off blocks. Despite the added weight, he says he is faster and quicker than a year ago. All of which is bad news for opposing quarterbacks, starting with Duke’s Adam Smith in Saturday night’s season opener at Scott Stadium.
“I knew I had to get better. I want to keep adding to my game, keep getting better every day, every year,” Blackstock said. “Ten sacks is OK, but I’m never satisfied with OK.”

Notes. Senior center Kevin Bailey, out nearly a year with a torn ACL, will be in uniform for Saturday’s opener but “we’ll probably try not to” play him, Groh said. Reserve guard Mark Farrington, also out with a knee injury, has not been cleared to play. … About 1,400 tickets remain for the Duke game at $30 each. They can be purchased at the main ticket office at University Hall or by calling 800-542-UVA1.

 

 

Cavaliers passing attack could test Duke defense
By Jerry Ratcliffe  / Daily Progress sports editor
August 29, 2003
 

Scattershooting around the ACC, while wondering if Duke’s secondary will be able to handle Virginia’s passing game on Saturday night ...
While the Blue Devils were the No. 1 defense in the ACC against the run last season, they were dreadful against the pass. With Matt Schaub leading UVa’s offense, you can expect him to test the Dookies early and often.
The secondary is the big question mark in Duke coach Carl Franks’ mind. Last year, the Devils gave up 3,056 yards passing and 18 scores, allowing quarterbacks to complete 60.2 percent of their passes.
All four starters are back, which is a good news, bad news kind of deal.
One of them is junior corner Kenneth Stanford and he doesn’t think his coach should worry so much.
“I understand everyone pointing a finger at our defensive backfield,” Stanford said. “I’m confident in us. That puts no pressure on me. I believe in the guy standing next to me.”

Orange everywhere
Virginia coach Al Groh said he would like nothing better (short of a win) Saturday night than to see Scott Stadium filled in every nook and cranny with fans wearing orange.
You’ve heard of a white out, with fans showing up in all white. Well, Groh wants the stands filled with orange.
“It wasn’t an accident that this game is starting at 7,” Groh said. “I would like to see a highly orange crowd ... fashion, be damned.”
The UVa coach has encouraged more energy in the stands since he arrived.
“I’d like to see a little more body paint,” Groh said. “Maybe a little bit of an Oakland Raiders look.”

Short yardage
... Did you know there are 592 pages in the Texas football media guide? That’s 309 more than in Virginia’s, 320 more than N.C. State’s, 304 more than Carolina’s, and 372 more than Duke’s. ...UVa’s Matt Schaub enters his senior season ranked 11th all-time in ACC passing efficiency. ...When BYU hosts Georgia Tech, the Cougars will be trying to extend their NCAA record of 350 consecutive games scoring (the last time they were shut out was in 1975). ...In the last 11 games between UVa and Duke, the team with the most passing yardage has won nine times.

True blue
North Carolina quarterback Darian Durant said that since he left the program in February last year after his freshman redshirt season. Then he decided to come back.
“There was a lot of questions about my dedication to the team,” Durant said. “I think that Duke game, when I came back, that really showed the guys that. I basically put my career on the line for y’all. I wanted them to believe in me and believe that I was 100 percent dedicated.”
Durant needs three TD passes to break the UNC record of 35. He needs 14 yards passing to become only the fourth Tar Heel in history to reach 4,000. He already holds 29 Carolina passing records.

Short yardage
Wake Forest is the only team in the ACC that does not return its starting quarterback.
Cory Randolph is the man for the Deacs. He played some as a backup last season, completing 50 percent of his passes for 333 yards.
“This is not a guy who is going to be nervous to go out and take a snap,” said Wake coach Jim Grobe. “He’s faster and has a little more foot quickness than [last year’s starter] James MacPherson. We ought to be able to run a little more option with him.”

No access. For the first time in Bobby Bowden’s 28 years at Florida State, the Seminoles’ locker room will be closed to media after this weekend’s game against North Carolina.
Bowden’s displeasure with media has changed how he has approached dealing with reporters after he was heavily criticized in the offseason. Several newspapers and electronic media reported that FSU’s football program was out of control, which drew the coach’s ire.
In fact, Bowden has not granted one-on-one interviews so far this summer or training camp. He does meet with media after each FSU practice. Among the requests he has turned down include two with ESPN, one with Jeremy Schapp, the other with Kirk Herbstreit.
Some of his dissatisfaction stemmed from Alonzo Jackson’s antics after last year’s Notre Dame game in which Jackson ripped Noles quarterback Chris Rix.

Coordinator answers. Brad Brezina, a redshirt freshman, was looking forward to playing in the first game of his Georgia Tech career but never figured he’d be starting. Nor did Gerrie Wilkinson, a sophomore.
But after 10 Yellow Jackets flunked out of school in May, some younger players were forced to step up their game.
“I wouldn’t say I was happy,” said Wilkinson, who was supposed to back up junior linebacker Tony Hargrave, one of the players who flunked out. “I looked at it as another opportunity to learn something new.”
Brezina also feels the pressure of starting so early in his career.
“At first, you feel kind of let down but you have to get over it quick,” he said.
The good news for the Techsters is that nobody flunked out during summer school.

The picks. Florida State 26, North Carolina 13; Georgia 24, Clemson 17; N.C. State 49, Western Carolina 10; Maryland 30, N. Illinois 24 (picked before last night’s game ... honest); BYU 40, Georgia Tech 33; Virginia 32, Duke 20; Upset special...Wake Forest 34, Boston College 24.

 

 

 

Cavs add Cyclones to home schedule
By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

Virginia men's basketball coach Pete Gillen feels he has added some needed strength to the Cavaliers' 2003-2004 schedule, but he hasn't really filled the vacancy on a slate announced last month by the ACC.
UVa, looking for an opponent for its 27th regular-season game, will entertain Iowa State on Dec.31.

The Cavaliers were to have played Florida A&M on that night, however, and now need to find an opponent to replace Florida A&M.

"We were trying to play Pitt at a neutral site," Gillen said. "We were looking at playing January 5, 6 or 7, but we couldn't get approval from the Big East."

Gillen, who had 16 home games, was willing to play at Iowa State this season.

"We tried to go away," Gillen said, "but they already had 19 home games. That's the most home games we've had. Last year, we had 14, which was the lowest in the ACC."

Iowa State was 17-14 last year under Larry Eustachy, who resigned under pressure after the season and was replaced by assistant Wayne Morgan.

"Our intention all along was to get two other opponents from power conferences," said Gillen, whose team will entertain Minnesota in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. "We feel we've got that in Providence and Iowa State."

Gillen learned in a phone call last Friday that the Cavaliers will be without Nick Vander Laan, a 6-foot-10, 255-pound post player who will transfer to Concordia, an NAIA program in Irvine, Calif.

"We thought this might have been coming because he had been to Europe this summer," Gillen said. "He didn't play any games. He tried out. We told him to be careful [and not risk his amateur status], but he wanted to test the market."

Vander Laan started 14 games for the Cavaliers and averaged more than 15 minutes.

"He would have played that much or more this season," Gillen said. "We certainly didn't want to lose him. I think he was a little frustrated. He played a decent amount last year, but I think he wanted to play more. He didn't think we appreciated everything he did."

 

 

Notre Dame's Olsen latest in line of transfer QBs
Olsen overcame ACL surgery
By DOUG DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Thursdays

This week's column begins with a series of trivia questions. Consider yourself an expert on Virginia football if you can answer all three.

QUESTION #1: Chris Olsen is at least the third quarterback to transfer from Notre Dame to Virginia. Can you name two others?
QUESTION #2: At least three other transfers have started at quarterback for Virginia in the past 30 years. Can you name them?
QUESTION #3: Who is the most promiment quarterback to leave Virginia and start at quarterback for another school?

AT THIS TIME a week ago, who would have imagined that a primary topic of conversation would be new UVa quarterback hopeful Chris Olsen? Or, would anybody have known who Chris Olsen was?

I'll admit, when I first heard Sunday that Virginia would be getting a back-up quarterback from Notre Dame, I didn't know who Notre Dame's back-up quarterback was.

Once I heard the name Chris Olsen, it did ring a bell. For a moment, I thought Olsen had been rated the No. 1 quarterback in the country by SuperPrep magazine.

Turns out, I was thinking about Ben Olson, a quarterback from Thousand Oaks, Calif., who signed with Brigham Young. Chris Olsen was rated the No. 12 quarterback by SuperPrep in the summer of 2001, at which point he already had picked Notre Dame over Miami, Rutgers, Virginia, Auburn and Michigan State.

Olsen later dropped to No. 18 among 22 quarterbacks named to SuperPrep's All-America team, possibly as the result of a knee injury. (Ironically, current UVa quarterback Anthony Martinez was 19th on that list.)

Olsen played his senior year of high school in Wayne, N.J., with a torn anterior cruciate ligament that later required reconstructive surgery. Yet, even then, there were issues between Olsen and Notre Dame.

According to SuperPrep, Olsen signed with Notre Dame only after taking December visits to North Carolina State and Iowa. That may have resulted from the coaching change that saw Tyrone Willingham take over for George O'Leary, who had replaced Bob Davie, to whom Olsen had committed July 3, 2001.

UVA COACH AL GROH said earlier this week that the Cavaliers did not have any contact with Olsen during the fall of 2001, although the visits to North Carolina State and Iowa might have indicated he was wavering.

Groh said he first learned about Olsen's renewed interest this past Saturday night.

"I got the information as to the decision he made and that I would be hearing from him," Groh said earlier today (Thursday) on a weekly in-season teleconference. "Therefore, I had a chance to give some thought to it before we had a conversation.

"As we thought through the circumstance, we had decided we would recruit two quarterbacks in this class. This gives us one of those two quarterbacks. It just gives us Chris a year earlier than one of those quarterbacks would be here.

"We spent some time this week discussing the challenges to a first-year quarterback of coming in and picking up a college offense and college defenses. If successful, we would have had four scholarship quarterbacks, but probably only two that you can anticipate would be functional in a game.

"With Chris' circumstance, we will have three who will be grounded in the system and not only available for the games next year but available for competition in the spring. We were familiar with his skills and it was difficult to picture any quarterback who would have had a better senior year [this year in high school]."

IN THE PAST, GROH has spoken of a desire to sign one quarterback each year, but, in a conversation at the ACC Football Kickoff this summer, there was a suggestion of a change in philosophy.

Groh has good reason to believe the Cavaliers will be good in 2004 and 2005. With all the outstanding young players he feels he has in the program, his only big question surrounds the quarterback who will follow current fifth-year senior Matt Schaub.

Groh drew a parallel to the Baltimore Ravens in their Super Bowl championship season of 2001. With all the talent the Ravens had, there was always a fear that quarterback Trent Dilfer wouldn't be good enough to take them to the title.

Groh doesn't want to get to the end of the 2004 or 2005 seasons and think that the absence of a top-flight quarterback prevented UVa from accomplishing something special. Until this week, he had to hope that Martinez or 2003 signee Kevin McCabe would come through. The chances improve now that there are three high-school All-America quarterbacks in the mix.

That is not to dismiss Californian Scott Deke, who committed to the Cavaliers in July, but chances were remote that he would have had a big impact in 2004. Still, the whirlwind courtship of Olsen probably caused some uneasiness among the other QBs.

"As the situation was developing and it looked like it might come to a positive conclusion for us," Groh said, "I talked to [Martinez and McCabe]. I let it know that it had been our plan to bring two quarterbacks in in the next class.

"The fact that he was a transfer player was no reflection on their performance or my confidence in their ability to be good players. This guy just happened to get here a year early."

NOW TO THE TRIVIA questions, already answered successfully by UVa flack Michael "Don't Call Me Mike" Colley:

QUESTION #1: Drew Schuett and B.J. Hawkins.
QUESTION #2: George Allen Jr. (UCLA), Lindsay Delaney (Pittsburgh) and Wayne Schuchts (Colgate).
QUESTION #3: Bill Troup (South Carolina).

It's hard to say that any of the quarterbacks turned around the program, but Schuchts set a school record for passing yardage in a season (1,881) on a 1983 team that went 6-5 after UVa had gone 2-9 in 1982, George Welsh's first season as coach.

Schuett, a three-year letterwinner finished his career at defensive back, and, if I'm not mistaken, was credited with saving a life at some point after his graduation. If somebody knows the particulars of that story, I'll be happy to share it.
 

 

 

Quick fix
Cavs add speed to offense by shifting Thomas
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Aug 29, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE As a schoolboy star in Pennsylvania he played running back, wide receiver and defensive back. At Fork Union Military Academy, he played tailback. At the University of Virginia, he spent his first three seasons playing cornerback and, occasionally, returning kickoffs.

And now, as a senior, Art Thomas lines up at receiver for the Cavaliers. Is this, as many believe, the position for which he's best suited?

"I have no clue," said Thomas, who had 24 catches for 452 yards and five touchdowns as a Cumberland Valley High senior. "I guess we'll see this season."

The Mechanicsburg, Pa., resident played tailback well enough to be named FUMA's top postgraduate athlete in 1999-2000. But U.Va. was short on cornerbacks when Thomas arrived in 2000, and that became his position.

He played in every game as a freshman, and in 2001, Al Groh's first season as U.Va.'s coach, he started the final seven games. As a junior, however, Thomas lost his starting job to Almondo Curry after two games, and his playing time decreased as the season progressed.

After the season ended, Groh decided to try the 6-2, 205-pound Thomas at wideout, a move that's looking wiser all the time. Thomas has steadily climbed the depth chart and now, in the wake of Michael McGrew's season-ending broken leg, finds himself in the starting lineup for 18th-ranked Virginia's season opener tomorrow night against visiting Duke.

"Art brings a speed to our receiving corps that we probably haven't seen in a few years, along with his size," senior quarterback Matt Schaub said. "That's a valuable combination to have."

Groh said, "His speed is more consistent than his hands, but his hands are catching up to his speed."

Thomas, also a track star in high school, used that speed to produce two of U.Va.'s most memorable defensive plays under Groh.

In the 2001 finale, with Virginia trailing Penn State 14-6, he picked up a fumble and raced 92 yards for a touchdown. U.Va. went on to win 20-14 at Scott Stadium. Then, against Akron last season, Thomas returned an interception 42 yards for a TD that helped propel Virginia to a 48-29 victory.

Spring practice did not mark the first time Schaub and Thomas had played on the same offense. They were teammates in July 1999 on the Pennsylvania all-star squad that played Ohio in the Big 33 Game at Hershey, Pa. Schaub didn't have his best game in Pennsylvania's 21-14 loss, but Thomas, playing wideout, made a leaping catch for a 40-yard gain that set up his team's first touchdown.

"I just wanted to play somewhere and contribute to the team," Thomas told a reporter from Charlottesville afterward. "It didn't matter where I played - offense, defense, wideout or tailback."

That's been his attitude at U.Va., too. He never seemed especially comfortable at cornerback, but Thomas, who turns 24 next month, has willingly done whatever his coaches asked. That said, he seems happy to again have a chance to run with the ball in his hands.

"Who doesn't want to have the ball?" Thomas said, smiling.

His experience at cornerback, he said, has made the transition to wideout easier, "because a lot of the time at the receiver spot you have to know what defense they're in and how to adjust your route."

Will Thomas make U.Va. fans forget Billy McMullen? Probably not. But Schaub and Groh expect significant contributions from an inexperienced receiving corps that includes speedsters Thomas, Ron Morton and Marques Hagans.

"Billy was a rare specimen in his ability to see the ball in the air and make one-handed catches and stuff," Schaub said. "But these guys definitely have the capability of making big plays for us."
 

 

This time, no scramble
By BRYAN STRICKLAND : The Herald-Sun
bstrickland@heraldsun.com
Aug 29, 2003 : 12:32 am ET

Duke entered last year's season opener unsure about what it had at quarterback.

The Blue Devils are more sure about what they have this season, but they still aren't sure -- or least aren't saying -- how they'll use their quarterbacks.

Adam Smith has established himself as the starter for Saturday's opener at Virginia, but it isn't clear who will be his backup -- and it isn't clear when or if the backup will play.

Duke used two quarterbacks, Smith and Chris Dapolito, extensively last year. Duke coach Carl Franks has hinted that redshirt freshman Mike Schneider had the inside track on backing up Smith this season.

"We'll just have to wait and see," said Franks, who seems intent on protecting the element of surprise for the season opener. "We'll probably put Mike out there second at some point in time. It's Adam's game -- it's not like he's going out there worried about the next guy going in -- but we've got to develop some depth at quarterback.

"If Adam gets hurt, we've got to have somebody to go to, and the only way you can get them ready is to put them in."

Franks knows a thing or two about losing a starting quarterback. Last summer, the departure of returning starter D. Bryant for academic reasons sent the Blue Devils scrambling.

Dapolito, a transfer from Rutgers, never had thrown a pass in a college game; Smith had thrown 13.

The pair saw virtually equal time early in the season, but Smith eventually earned the lion's share of the snaps and will start out this season in similar standing.

Now that Smith has a year under his belt, he knows he's under the gun.

"I feel a little more pressure in terms of needing to be at a little higher level than where I left off," said Smith, who ranked sixth in the ACC in passing efficiency last season. "Last year everything was kind of new, and a few mistakes here and there were OK. I was kind of playing to be smart and not make mistakes.

"But this year, I'm kind of playing to take advantage of other teams' mistakes."

The Blue Devils took a conservative approach in the passing game early last season, and Smith responded by tossing six touchdown passes and just one interception in Duke's first half-dozen games.

But when Duke opened up the offense a bit, it opened the door for more mistakes: Smith threw another six touchdowns in the last half-dozen games, but he also threw eight interceptions.

But, according to those who play defense against Smith nearly every day, he's now better equipped to minimize his mistakes.

"He's looking a lot better," Duke safety Terrell Smith said. "I don't really want to say he was thrown into the fire, but anytime you do something for the first time, you're going to make rookie mistakes.

"I can see he's matured a lot, and when we run our defense against the offense, I can see him really taking control and becoming a leader on the field."

It also has helped Smith to know that his job isn't guaranteed to him. Dapolito is a better running quarterback than Smith, and Schneider might possess the best balance of running and passing ability -- minus the experience factor.

"Everybody looks pretty good," Adam Smith said.

"Dap has been doing well -- he's been making good checks and has been able to get out of the pocket a few times and throw some great balls.

"Schneider is picking things up pretty well. He's got a good arm, and he's trying to learn everything.

"I try really hard never to look over my shoulder -- I try to look forward. Each and every one of us on this team pushes each other. Everybody competes real hard play in and play out, but I think it's important for us to look forward to our opponent."