Victory comes with hitch
Quarterback Matt Schaub is injured on Virginia's first series and does not return.
By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

CHARLOTTESVILLE - One year earlier than anticipated, Virginia discovered Saturday night that it could win a football game without Matt Schaub at quarterback.
Now the Cavaliers hope they won't have to do it indefinitely.

Redshirt freshman Anthony Martinez took over for injured Schaub on the second series of downs and directed 18th-ranked Virginia to a 27-0 victory over Duke before a Scott Stadium-record crowd of 61,737.

It was the Cavaliers' first shutout in 59 games dating back to a 24-0 triumph over Duke in 1998.

"Our team was redefined tonight," UVa coach Al Groh said after Virginia's first opening-game victory in four years. "That's the way we're probably going to be playing for a little bit."

Martinez was pressed into service after Schaub suffered an injury to his right shoulder when he was sacked by linebacker DeAndre White for a 12-yard loss on second-and-goal from the Duke 1-yard line.

Schaub, the 2002 ACC Player of the Year, handed off to Alvin Pearman on the next play but removed his shoulder pads shortly after returning to the bench. He should learn today whether he has a dislocated right shoulder or collarbone.

"There was a call from upstairs and they told me to get loose," Martinez said. "The next series, somebody said, 'Martinez, let's go.' I felt like asking, 'Go where?'"

By then, a 26-yard field goal by Connor Hughes had staked the Cavaliers to a 3-0 lead, and UVa's defense gave Martinez some breathing room after a shaky start.

After offensive lineman Elton Brown blocked a 49-yard Duke field-goal attempt to start the second quarter, Martinez took the Cavaliers on a 68-yard touchdown drive that featured a leaping, 39-yard reception by cornerback-turned-wide receiver Art Thomas.

On the next play, UVa sophomore Wali Lundy went 2 yards for a touchdown that put the Cavaliers on top 10-0.

Virginia had 100 rushing yards by the half and finished with 204 against a Duke defense that ranked No.1 in the ACC against the run last year, with a yield of 120.5 yards per game. In 2002, UVa had 2 net rushing yards in a 27-22 victory at Duke.

"I think we really surprised ourselves with how we bounced back from the Schaub situation," said junior Alvin Pearman, who carried 13 times for 68 yards, second to Lundy's 88 yards among UVa rushers.

Martinez had six completions in 15 attempts, none bigger than a 9-yard alley-oop connection to Heath Miller for a touchdown with 49 seconds before the half.

"He made two big throws and that augmented what we were doing with the running game," Groh said. "He brought his team home. I always say a quarterback is judged by his pelts. He's got one now."

When Duke failed to gain a first down on its first two possessions of the second half, junior Mike Schneider replaced starting quarterback Adam Smith, who had completed six of 19 passes. By that time, the Cavaliers had gone ahead 27-0, thanks to Hughes' second field goal and a twisting, 14-yard touchdown run by Marques Hagans, who broke two tackles on the play.

Hagans, the Cavaliers' No.2 quarterback in 2002, was moved to wide receiver in the spring in an effort to get him more playing time. His touchdown "run" would be more accurately described as a backward pass because he lined up in the slot, retreated into the backfield and took a swing pass from Martinez.

Hagans also completed a 9-yard pass on a fake punt, had a 27-yard reception and returned four punts for 44 yards - all in the first half.

"I thought he was tremendous," said Groh, who showed no indication that he would consider returning Hagans to quarterback. "He did what we put him in there to do. He opened up the game."

Duke did not penetrate Virginia's 30-yard line until its final drive, thanks in part to the efforts of Tom Hagan, UVa's sophomore punter from Roanoke. Hagan's punts were downed at the Duke 1-, 6-, 1- and 7-yard lines.

"He had a great punting night," Duke coach Carl Franks said. "Regardless of his [39.6-yard] average, the effectiveness was tremendous. You don't get many 95-, 92-, 98-, 99-yard drives."

"Not many punters at any level have had a game like that," Groh said.

 

Cavs give Hale scholarship
By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

David Hale, a three-sport standout at Pulaski County, is among a group of Virginia walk-ons who have been awarded scholarships.
Hale's selection was reported by his uncle, Roanoke Catholic boys' basketball coach Dick Wall. Wall's sister, Kathy, is Hale's mother.

UVa head coach Al Groh is expected to release the full list this week.

Hale, a 5-foot-7, 165-pound cornerback, is in his third year as a UVa student and is a sophomore in eligibility.

At Pulaski County, Hale was named most valuable player on the wrestling and boys' track and field teams. He lettered four times in football and was a three-time all-district cornerback.

Hale has distinguished himself in the weight room in his first two years and last year lifted his own weight 27 consecutive times.

MORE TRICKERY: Virginia's first scoring drive was kept alive when the Cavaliers faked a punt on fourth-and-one from their 38-yard line and wide receiver Marques Hagans, a converted quarterback, completed a 9-yard pass to tight end Heath Miller.

It looked like coach Al Groh was attempting to fool the Blue Devils again when he inserted linebacker Kai Parham and defensive end Chris Canty on offense with the Cavaliers looking at a second-and-goal from the 1, but quarterback Matt Schaub was sacked from the blind side by Duke linebacker DeAndre White, a sophomore from Suffolk, Va.

POST-MUSGRAVE: Groh said that play-calling would not be an issue in the absence of offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave, who is with the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the Cavaliers were penalized for a delay of game on each of their first two series.

Offensive coordinator Ron Prince and quarterbacks coach Mike Groh moved to the press box after coaching from the field last year, when Prince coached the offensive line and Groh the wide receivers.

THE LINEUPS: The Cavaliers used three of their tailbacks on the first two plays. Wali Lundy and Marquis Weeks were in for the first snap, with Weeks lining up in a slot. Then, both came off and Alvin Pearman entered the game on the second snap. Weeks had been working at fullback in the preseason.

Freshmen who had played for Virginia by the half Saturday night were linebacker Ahmad Brooks, safety Robbie Catterton and offensive guard Ian-Yates Cunningham. Brooks, USA Today defensive player of the year at Hylton High School in 2001, was the only true freshman to start.

Khary Sharpe, who had a team-high 30 receptions in 2002, was one of two Duke players who were on suspension for a violation of team rules and did not make the trip. The other was senior cornerback Temo George, a reserve.

BRUINS RECOGNIZED: Blacksburg High School was among the schools recognized before the game for having the best athletic showing in their respective classifications in 2002-03.

Blacksburg was the winner of the Wachovia Cup, given by the VHSL, for Group AA. Brentsville District was the Group A winner, and Lake Braddock was the Group AAA recipient.

It was the fourth time that Blacksburg has had the best record in Group AA; the last time was in 1993.

UVA NEXT WEEK: The Cavaliers visit South Carolina for a 12:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday. It will be Virginia's first trip to Williams-Brice Stadium since 1987, when the Cavs lost 58-10. UVa beat the Gamecocks 34-21 last year in Charlottesville in the first game of a two-game series.

 

No. 18 Virginia Quiets Duke 27-0
By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) -- Virginia beat Duke 27-0 Saturday night, but the No. 18 Cavaliers lost quarterback Matt Schaub to an injury on the opening series and he watched the second half with his arm in a sling.

The school said only that Schaub had injured his shoulder and did not immediately release any additional details about the 2002 ACC offensive player of the year, for whom a Heisman Trophy campaign was planned.

In Schaub's absence, redshirt freshman Anthony Martinez took over at quarterback and shook off some early jitters to help send Duke to its 26th consecutive loss in conference play.

The defense also helped, posting its first shutout since the Cavaliers blanked the Blue Devils 24-0 in 1998. Duke gained just 272 yards and was turned away on downs after driving to Virginia's 25 in the closing minute.

Martinez threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Heath Miller just before halftime, giving the Cavaliers a 17-0 lead. Virginia also got touchdown runs from Wali Lundy and Marques Hagans, who took in a lateral from Martinez from 14 yards out.

It was the Cavaliers' first victory in an opener in four years, but potentially their most costly victory in a long time because of the injury to Schaub, the leader of coach Al Groh's young offense and a key to their high hopes.

A year ago, Schaub completed nearly 70 percent of his passes, threw for 28 touchdowns and only seven interceptions as Virginia finished 9-5, sparking wild anticipation about what they might achieve this season.

When Schaub was hurt, Martinez got off to a shaky start, hitting wide receiver Art Thomas in the head with his first pass and throwing the next three for incompletions. But Martinez later hit Thomas for 39 yards, setting up Lundy's 2-yard scoring run, and found Miller over a defender in the right corner of the end zone from 9 yards to make it 17-0 at the break.

The Cavaliers, held to just two yards rushing in a Schaub-led 27-22 comeback victory against the Blue Devils last year, ran with ease the rest of the way, getting big gainers from Lundy, Pearman and Marquis Weeks.

Martinez finished 6-for-15 for 76 yards.
 

Coach-speak can't cover potential big loss for U.Va.
JOHN MARKON
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Aug 31, 2003
Contact John Markon at (804) 649-6892 or jmarkon@timesdispatch.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE When the subject turns to injuries, University of Virginia football coach Al Groh turns into the former Iraqi Minister of Information.

The only way Groh's going to list one of his players as anything but "probable" for U.Va.'s next game would be if the kid left school after setting his playbook on fire on the desk in Groh's office.

In that event, the player would be downgraded to "doubtful."

"We don't talk about injuries," is the you do that, you start making built-in excuses. The players we have available . . . that is our team."

It was hard to blame Groh too much for keeping his silence last night. Less than halfway through the first quarter, his Cavaliers sustained an injury that no coach would relish talking about.

If all you know about the game was the final score -Virginia 27, Duke 0 - you're probably thinking "How bad it could it be? Unless it was, like, maybe Matt Schaub."

Bingo.

Less than halfway through the first quarter of Virginia's first game, last season's ACC player of the year was taking off on a bootleg from the Duke 1-yard line hoping to flip a touchdown pass to tight end Heath Miller.

Someone somewhere missed a block, however, and blitzing linebacker DeAndre White unloaded on Schaub from behind. Schaub stayed in for two more plays then quickly disappeared into a cloud of trainers on the bench.

"I couldn't really see anything they were doing to Matt, but I was so caught up in worrying about him that I forgot I had to get ready to go into the game," said Anthony Martinez, a second-year freshman who's No. 2 behind Schaub on the depth chart.

In terms of quality playing time, that's a little like being behind Cal Ripken on an old Baltimore Orioles depth chart. This fall, U.Va. was pushing Schaub for the Heisman Trophy. Martinez's role was mop-up man, and he was darned glad to have it. Until last night, he'd never thrown a pass in a college game.

Schaub, however, may not be back for a while. His return to last night's game originally was termed "questionable." Those questions were answered when Schaub returned to the field for the second half wearing a polo shirt, khaki shorts and a sling.

Schaub, a right-hander, has a right shoulder problem. He'll be out, in Groh's words, "for a little while," which means something between one day of practice and the rest of the season.

Actually, it's probably going to be more than one day of practice.

"Matt was great," insisted Martinez. "He talked to me the entire game. He might have been the only reason I was able to keep my head. At one point in the second half, he waved me over to the bench and said 'It's on you, Anthony. You've got to lead the team.'

"I just hurt for him. This was supposed to be his year."

Martinez completed only 6 of 15 passes last night. One of them, however, went for a touchdown and another - a 39-yarder to Art Thomas - set up a touchdown. A 14-yard third-quarter flare to Marques Hagans was correctly ruled a lateral but was another touchdown play triggered by the emergency stand-in.

If he hit a few, he missed a few more than that. Against Duke, winless in its past 26 ACC games, Martinez didn't need to bat .500, let alone 1.000, to win and win big. The Cavs had the recourse of turning to Groh's fleet of three tailbacks, and Martinez spent most of his time happily handing off to Wali Lundy (88 yards), Alvin Pearman (68) and Marquis Weeks (47).

On defense, Groh pressed hard for a shutout and got it. When Duke was making one last threat in the final minutes, much of Virginia's first-string defense was still on the field. Scott Stadium regulars eventually will learn that Martinez (6-3, 249) is a big kid with a big arm, but last night's only evidence was the completion to Thomas, who outjumped a defender for a underthrown ball.

"It was still big, though," said Martinez, an all-state passer as a senior at Patrick Henry High in Ashland. "I like throwing the long ball. I hadn't completed a pass before that call came in. When it did, I started thinking 'Hey, I've got a shot.'"

Yes he does, although no one knows for how long.
 

U.VA. NOTES
Aug 31, 2003

TAKE IT EASY: Sophomore wideout Marques Hagans, Virginia's No. 2 quarterback last season, had some advice for Anthony Martinez after starter Matt Schaub left with an injured right shoulder in the first quarter last night.

"I just told him to calm down and go out there and have fun," Hagans said, "and do what he's been doing in practice. He did a good job."

Sophomore offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson said Martinez was "a real positive guy [in the huddle], real calm. In practice, we had the opportunity to get reps with Anthony, so it wasn't something brand new we hadn't seen before. He was in control."

LEAVE OF ABSENCE? Danny Prentice, a recent graduate of Oakton High, has left U.Va. and returned home to Northern Virginia. The 6-0, 228-pound fullback has some personal issues to address but hopes to re-enroll at Virginia in January, said Pete Bendorf, who coached Prentice at Oakton.

"I think he just needs some time to deal with these things," Bendorf said.

SLEIGHT OF HAND: The Cavaliers had great success with trick plays in 2001 and'02, Al Groh's first two seasons as head coach, and they didn't take long to call one last night. Eight plays into the game, Virginia gained 9 yards - and a first down - on a fake punt. The up man, Hagans, took the snap and tossed a pass to tight end Heath Miller, who rumbled to the Duke 47-yard line.

YOUNG GUNS: Virginia, which used 14 true freshmen last season, played three last night against Duke. Aaron Brooks started at inside linebacker, Robbie Catterton played special teams and offensive guard Ian-Yates Cunningham saw extensive action off the bench. Six redshirt freshmen also made their college debuts for the Cavaliers: Martinez, linebacker Kai Parham, defensive lineman D.J. Bell, offensive guard Ron Darden and cornerbacks Tony Franklin and Marcus Hamilton.

COMEBACK KID: In his first appearance since tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament Nov. 9 against Penn State, Virginia tailback Alvin Pearman looked sharp. He entered the game late in the Cavaliers' first series and gained 4 yards on a draw. Pearman, a junior from Charlotte, N.C., finished with 68 yards on 13 carries.

"It felt great," he said.

TAKE TWO: Virginia's 2002 and'03 recruiting classes each included one quarterback - Martinez and Kevin McCabe, respectively. The Cavaliers' 2004 class will include two QBs: Scott Deke, a high school senior from Los Angeles who committed in July, and Chris Olsen, who began classes at U.Va. a few days ago.

Olsen is a transfer from Notre Dame, where he redshirted as a freshman last season. He'll be a redshirt sophomore in 2004 after sitting out this season.

"We had decided sometime back that we'd recruit two quarterbacks in this class," Groh said. The transfer "just gives us Chris a year earlier."

The Cavaliers recruited Olsen when he was at Wayne Hills High in New Jersey and so were "very familiar with his skills and his performance there," Groh said, "and it was difficult to picture any high school quarterback that we might recruit who have would have had a better senior year than Chris Olsen had."

After learning that Olsen was interested in joining the Cavaliers, Groh talked to Martinez and McCabe and told them the "fact that [Olsen] was a transfer quarterback was no reflection on their performance or my confidence in their ability to be good players. It was just our plan all along to bring in two."

SAY WHAT? CBS television announcer Tim Brando recently predicted that U.Va. would play the Miami Hurricanes for the national title in the Jan. 4 Sugar Bowl.

"I think that pick by Tim must have been made sometime after midnight," Groh said.

UP NEXT: U.Va. plays South Carolina at 12:30 p.m. Saturday in Columbia at 80,250-seat Williams-Brice Stadium. Coach Lou Holtz's Gamecocks opened at home last night with a 14-7 win over Louisiana-Lafayette.

Virginia trails 19-13-1 in its series with South Carolina. The Gamecocks were ranked No. 22 when they visited Scott Stadium last year, but the Cavaliers beat them 34-21. The teams haven't met in Columbia since 1987, when USC romped 58-10. - Jeff White

 

Others shouldering burden for Cavaliers
Published August 31 2003
David Teel

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Go ahead and scoff. Go ahead and mock Duke's football program and wonder how in the dickens Steve Spurrier ever coached the Blue Devils to a share of the ACC title in 1989.

Yes, Duke entered Saturday night's season opener at Virginia on a record 25-game conference losing streak. And yes, you could say that Duke is to football what "Gigli" is to cinema.

But Virginia's 27-0 victory at Scott Stadium was notable for several reasons.

The 18th-ranked Cavaliers won without quarterback Matt Schaub, who sustained a right shoulder injury during the game's first series. They displayed an improved defense that may, by season's end, rate among the ACC's best. And they again showcased Marques Hagans, capable of becoming the conference's most exhilarating and versatile player.

Any sense of invincibility the Cavaliers carried into Saturday was terribly misplaced. The Blue Devils return 20 starters, all 11 on offense. The same offense, by the way, gained 414 yards against Virginia last season in a 27-22 defeat. If not for three turnovers and nine penalties, Duke might have won that game and ended its ACC streak at a "mere" 18 games.

"You have to respect a team like that," cornerback Almondo Curry said. "You can't just come out and say, 'They're Duke.' "

Saturday's most curious questions centered on Virginia's defense. Abysmal the last two seasons against the run, the Cavaliers allegedly are much better. Sophomore outside linebacker Darryl Blackstock is bigger and stronger; freshman inside linebacker Ahmad Brooks is a beast. Or so says the hype.

Stuffing the Blue Devils was a first step toward matching the hype. No, Duke is not Tailback U., but Alex Wade and Chris Douglas did combine for 176 yards against the Cavaliers last season.

Stuffing the Blue Devils became paramount when linebacker DeAndre White ended Schaub's evening with a blindside hit on second-and-goal from the 1. The play-action pass was an iffy call at best, and the execution was dreadful as White blitzed off the corner untouched.

Enter backup quarterback Anthony Martinez, a redshirt freshman from Patrick Henry High who when last seen was overwhelmed by Phoebus' defense in the 2001 Division 5 state championship game. Naturally, Martinez was skittish in his collegiate debut, but he and the offense produced two second-quarter touchdowns to give Virginia a 17-0 halftime lead.

While Martinez was serviceable, Hagans was breathtaking nearly every time he touched the ball. He threw a 9-yard pass to Heath Miller for a first down on a fake punt; lined up as a tailback on the next play, he caught a 27-yard swing pass from Schaub; as a punt returner he was fearless, jitterbugging 44 yards on his first four returns but also muffing a pair in the third quarter; later in the third, he took a lateral from Martinez and scooted 14 yards around right end to goose the lead to 27-nil.

Without Schaub, last season's conference player of the year, Virginia's ACC title hopes are nil. Coach Al Groh refused to discuss a prognosis but indicated Schaub is, at the very least, doubtful for next week's game at South Carolina.

Absent Schaub, the reigning ACC player of the year, the burden falls again to the defense, which Saturday pitched the program's first shutout since 1998. Duke didn't sniff the end zone until the waning moments as Blackstock, Brooks and Co. disrupted many a snap. So dominant was the defense that Duke benched quarterback Adam Smith in the third quarter in favor of Mike Schneider.

"We're trying to redefine Virginia football with defense," end Chris Canty said. "Stop the run and rush the passer: That's what we do."

Combine that formula with a healthy Schaub, and Virginia may be on to something.

Virginia center back in step after injury
Published August 31, 2003

After a painful offseason - and, frankly, a painful 2002 season - Virginia center Zac Yarbrough feels so good feeling good again.

Yarbrough, who became the starter last year when Kevin Bailey tore his ACL in the second game, developed a sports hernia, which only got worse as the season progressed. Though it is rare, accounting for roughly 5 percent of all sports injuries, Virginia coach Al Groh had some experience with it. When Groh was an assistant with the New England Patriots, running back Curtis Martin had one.

"It was one of those things where if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's probably a duck," Groh said.

Yarbrough underwent surgery during the offseason and missed spring drills. He was brought along slowly in August but started Saturday night.

"He's got a spring in his step now," Groh said.

JITTERS. Saturday night marked the debut of Ron Prince, the Cavaliers' offensive line coach the past two seasons, as offensive coordinator and play-caller. With quarterbacks/receivers coach Mike Groh at his side, he called the plays from the press box.

There was some confusion, especially early. Virginia had two delay-of-game penalties on its first four possessions, along with two illegal formations and a false start. There was some of the same deception Virginia fans saw last year. On the Cavaliers' first possession, Marques Hagans threw 9 yards to tight end Heath Miller on a fake punt. Later, two defenders - linebacker Kai Parham and end Chris Canty - played offense. Parham lined up at fullback and Canty, who stands 6-feet-7, at tight end. That play didn't work well. Quarterback Matt Schaub was sacked and injured his shoulder.

TRUE. For the second straight opener, Virginia started a true freshman. Ahmad Brooks, the USA Today's national defensive player of the year in 2001 before prepping last season, came out with the first-team defense at inside linebacker. Groh started three true freshman in last season's opener - punter Tom Hagan, defensive end Kwakou Robinson and left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson. Hagan and Ferguson ended up starting all 14 games. Though a more veteran team this season, the Cavaliers remain young. The depth chart for Saturday night's game featured 14 first-year players on the two-deep, including seven true freshmen.

STILL STREAKIN'. Duke's loss Saturday night extended its record ACC losing streak to 26 games. The Blue Devils haven't won a conference game since November of 1999 when they defeated Wake Forest 48-35.

Duke's next chance to break it: Sept. 27 at home against Florida State. Though the Seminoles are down - well, by their standards, anyway - they are 11-0 all-time against the Blue Devils with an average victory margin of 37 points.

BASKETBALL RECRUIT. Hargrave Military Academy's basketball team was in attendance Saturday night, and Virginia is pushing hard for 6-foot-8 power forward Emmanuel Willis of Mendenhall, Miss. Willis was considered a top-100 recruit last year but did not qualify for freshman eligibility. The Cavaliers have one basketball commitment so far for the 2004-05 season: point guard Sean Singletary of Philadelphia.

SHORTS. Before Saturday night's victory, Virginia had lost three straight season openers, its longest streak since 1976-78. ... The win also gave the Cavaliers a 28-27 lead in the all-time series. The Blue Devils join Wake Forest as the only ACC teams against which Virginia is .500 or better. ...

Duke coach Carl Franks suspended starting defensive end Micah Harris and wideout Khary Sharpe) for an unspecified violation of team rules. Also suspended was cornerback Temo George, who was not on the two-deep.

By Dave Johnson

Crushing defeat baffles Blue Devils
By BRYAN STRICKLAND : The Herald-Sun
bstrickland@heraldsun.com
Aug 31, 2003 : 12:00 am ET

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- As planned, the Duke Blue Devils broke in new uniforms Saturday night.

Not at all as planned, the Virginia Cavaliers broke in a new quarterback.

The Blue Devils may have made a fashion statement, but the Cavaliers made a more meaningful statement: Their team doesn't begin and end with Matt Schaub.

Schaub, the 2002 ACC player of the year, went down with a shoulder injury on Virginia's opening drive, but the Cavaliers didn't go down after redshirt freshman Anthony Martinez was thrust into his first college action.

Martinez didn't do anything spectacular but didn't do anything stupid, and a Virginia running game that Duke stymied last season steamrolled the Blue Devils in a 27-0 victory at Scott Stadium.

In Virginia's 27-22 victory at Duke last season, Schaub shined but the Virginia running game went nowhere, netting 2 yards. But Saturday, with Schaub on the sidelines, Virginia piled up 240 yards on the ground.

"When that happened, I said, 'Well, you know what they're going to do. They're going to run the football,' " Duke coach Carl Franks said. "And then it was very disappointing the way we played the run.

"We had a very difficult time tackling -- we haven't tackled that poorly in quite some time. They just knocked us off of the ball."

In the process, the 18th-ranked Cavaliers also knocked the breath out of Duke's vow that the program would return to respectability this season.

Duke's new uniforms, featuring "racing stripes" down the sides, produced the same old results. The Blue Devils extended their record losing streak in ACC games to 26 and were shut out for the first time since a 38-0 loss to East Carolina in the 2000 season opener.

"We can't play much worse than that -- we should not play that way at all," Franks said. "That was not indicative of what we're capable of.

"Virginia played a great game and is certainly deserving of its ranking, but we should have made it a little bit tougher for them."

Despite Virginia's one night of success without Schaub, the Cavaliers can't afford to lose their star for long. Following the game, Virginia coach Al Groh said Schaub's right shoulder -- his throwing shoulder -- would be evaluated today. Groh said he didn't know where it was separated; Schaub said he couldn't have returned to the game.

Schaub looked like a Heisman Trophy candidate on the game's first possession, completing 5 of 6 passes for 84 yards on a drive kept alive by a successful fake punt. But on a second-and-goal play, Duke linebacker DeAndre White got a blind-side sack on Schaub, who did stay in for a handoff on the third-down play but didn't return after that.

Virginia settled for a 26-yard field goal from Connor Hughes and then struggled through Martinez's first two possessions, failing to pick up a first down.

But the 6-3, 249-pound Martinez soon took advantage of Virginia's size elsewhere on the field, picking on 5-9 cornerback Kenneth Stanford.

Martinez's first completion came on a 43-yard lob pass to 6-2 Art Thomas -- who used his big body to shield off the shadowing Stanford -- and that set up Wali Lundy's 2-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter.

Then, on Virginia's next possession, Martinez lobbed one up for 6-5 tight end Heath Miller, who reeled in a 9-yard touchdown pass with Stanford right there again to make it 17-0 at halftime.

Miller completed just four other passes, finishing 6-for-15, but those two completions and Virginia's domination in the trenches were more than enough. Change-of-pace back Alvin Pearman got the running game going -- finishing with 68 yards -- and Lundy came on late, finishing with 88 yards.

Duke's offense simply couldn't answer. Senior tailback Chris Douglas piled up 166 all-purpose yards -- including 89 rushing yards -- to become the school's all-time leader, but the Blue Devils managed just 272 yards in total offense.

"As the game went on, I just got more and more frustrated because I know the level we're capable of playing on, and we just did not do that tonight," Douglas said. "Honestly, I'm baffled. I don't even have an explanation because I expected us to come in here and play those guys real tough. I honestly don't have an answer."

When Duke did move the ball, the Devils' problem from last season of sealing the deal seemed to carry over.

Down 3-0, Douglas put Duke in position to score with several nice runs late in the opening quarter, but on the first play of the second quarter, Virginia's Elton Brown blocked Brent Garber's 49-yard field goal attempt.

Virginia made it 10-0 on its next drive, but Duke again drove deep -- keyed by Senterrio Landrum's 24-yard run on a reserve play that played off of Douglas' effectiveness. But the drive stalled at the Virginia 33, and after calling a timeout facing fourth and 5, Franks decided to try a pooch punt.

The kick sailed into the end zone, netting 13 yards.

After that, Duke's next five possessions -- the final three possessions of the first half and the first two possessions of the second half -- ended without a first down.

After the fifth possession without a first down, starting quarterback Adam Smith gave way to redshirt freshman Mike Schneider. Smith struggled, hitting 6 of 20 passes for 47 yards. Schneider started strong, completing his first two passes for 24 yards to get Duke across midfield, but the drive stalled and then the Devils' next three possessions started inside their own 6-yard line.

NOTES--Douglas passed Mike Grayson as Duke's all-time leader in all-purpose yardage on an 11-yard run early in the second quarter. Grayson, who amassed 4,381 yards from 1980-83; Douglas has 4,471. ... Alex Wade, Duke's leading rusher last season, carried just one time for 4 yards. Franks said that Wade was slowed by a hamstring problem. ... Wide receiver Khary Sharpe, Duke's leader last season with six touchdown receptions, and reserve cornerback Temo George sat out the game for a violation of team rules. Franks said they'd both return next week against Western Carolina. ... Starting defensive end Micah Harris missed the game with an undisclosed injury but should return next week, Franks said. True freshman Casey Camero, who enrolled in school in time for spring practice, started in place of Harris. ... Saturday's crowd was announced at 61,737, the largest in Scott Stadium history.

 

U-Va.'s Schaub Hurts Shoulder
Cavaliers' Star Quarterback Leaves Game : Virginia 27, Duke 0
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Sunday, August 31, 2003; Page E01

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Aug. 30 -- Virginia opened its most highly anticipated football season in years with a dominant 27-0 win over Duke, but one play early in the first quarter could have a lasting, adverse effect on the Cavaliers' season: Franchise quarterback Matt Schaub injured his throwing shoulder on the opening drive and missed the rest of the game.

Schaub, the reigning ACC player of the year, got crunched by Duke linebacker DeAndre White as he dropped back to pass on the Cavaliers' 11th play from scrimmage. He said he will have tests Sunday to determine his status for next weekend's game at South Carolina and the rest of the season.

"It's still sore right now," Schaub said, adding that he probably could not have returned to the game even if the score had been closer.

Virginia Coach Al Groh declined to discuss his quarterback's injury in detail, saying only: "That's the way we're probably going to be playing for a little bit. That's the way it is."

Despite the absence of their senior leader, the 18th-ranked Cavaliers had little trouble winning a season opener for the first time since 1999 and sending the Blue Devils to their 34th loss in 36 games and 26th consecutive ACC loss.

Virginia's previously inconsistent running game produced 204 yards and 12 first downs, the defense earned its first shutout in 58 games and the punt team forced Duke (0-1) to start inside its 10-yard line four times. Redshirt freshman quarterback Anthony Martinez missed his first four pass attempts in relief of Schaub but thereafter was 6 of 11 for 76 yards and a touchdown.

"While I say that you have to start all over again every year," Groh said, "this was a pretty good first step to indicate that this team might have the same type of resiliency and resolve that last year's team did."

Schaub threw for 84 yards on the opening drive as Virginia pushed to the Duke 1-yard line, but on second and goal, White broke through the left side of the line for a sack. Schaub picked himself up and remained in the game, handing off to tailback Alvin Pearman on the next play and then holding as Connor Hughes hit a 26-yard field goal. But when the Cavaliers got the ball back four plays later, Martinez trotted out to play quarterback. Schaub was on the bench with his shoulder pads off, holding an ice pack to his right shoulder.

"It didn't hit me that I was actually going in until [the coaches said], 'Anthony, let's go,' " Martinez said. "I was like, 'Where am I going?' "

After hitting Art Thomas in the back with his first pass, Martinez directed a pair of second-quarter touchdown drives, with significant help from the running game. The 19-year-old rookie targeted Kenneth Stanford, Duke's 5-foot-9 cornerback, for two big plays, starting with a 39-yard sideline streak to Thomas that set up Wali Lundy's touchdown run. With 49 seconds remaining before halftime, Martinez lobbed a nine-yard jump ball that tight end Heath Miller caught over Stanford in the corner of the end zone.

Hughes nailed a 44-yard field goal four minutes into the second half to push the Virginia lead to 20-0, and later in the third quarter Marques Hagans scooted 14 yards for a touchdown on a long pitch from Martinez. Much of the school-record crowd of 61,737 headed for the exits as the final quarter opened and a steady rain began.

Duke tried both Adam Smith and Mike Schneider at quarterback but produced just 120 passing yards. The Devils' rushing attack totaled 152. And like last season, the Cavaliers got stingier the closer Duke got to the goal line. It was Virginia's first shutout since a 24-0 win over the Blue Devils in September 1998.

"We're trying to redefine the way we play defense," said Virginia defensive end Chris Canty, who had seven tackles, including a sack. "We stop the run. We rush the passer. That's two things that we do. It works."

Cavaliers Notes: Virginia freshman Ahmad Brooks (Hylton) started at inside linebacker in his college debut and was credited with four tackles and two pass breakups. He had a shot at an easy interception and possible touchdown early in the third quarter, but he could not hang on to the ball. . . . Virginia allowed less than 25 points for the fifth consecutive game, extending its longest streak since a six-game stretch across the 1997 and 1998 seasons. . . . Schaub's early injury ended at 14 his program-record streak of games with a touchdown pass. . . . Virginia wide receiver Deyon Williams (Suitland), safety Lance Evans, fullback-linebacker Danny Prentice (Oakton) and offensive lineman Mark Farrington were not in uniform. Offensive lineman Kevin Bailey suited up for the first time since last August but did not play.