LETHAL WEAPON
Armed with pinpoint accuracy and unmatched football smarts, UVa recruit Peter Lalich is a lethal weapon
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
August 20, 2006

When Todd Lalich went shopping for just the right place for a passing quarterback to attend college, he and son, Peter, traveled coast to coast in search of that special feeling.

They went to Michigan’s Big House where Peter was impressed by the 112,000 fans all singing the school’s energetic fight song and pumping their fists. They went to the Coliseum to see defending national champion Southern Cal and UCLA play.

Their trips included a stop at Cal and Georgia. They visited Bobby Bowden’s Florida State and Joe Paterno’s Penn State. Other stops included Miami, Nebraska, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Maryland and Syracuse.

“We had the top five places in the country we thought a quarterback would want to play, so we traveled and talked to all of them,” said Todd Lalich.

When all was said and done and both Lalichs were weary from jet lag and the constant phone calls, the celebrated quarterback from Northern Virginia’s West Springfield High School believed his future was only 110 miles away in Charlottesville.

“Virginia was his call,” said Todd, a former University of Florida basketball player and now chaplain of West Springfield’s football team in his spare time. “His heart was pulled by Al Groh and Mike Groh. When Mike was named offensive coordinator it was a done deal.”

Peter Lalich committed to Virginia in May and remains firmly committed, although some schools still haven’t given up. He still gets regular calls from Oklahoma, Nebraska and N.C. State, trying to get him to change his mind.

Peter said they’re wasting their time.

One really can’t blame those schools for trying. Lalich is considered one of the top dozen high school quarterback prospects in the country and recently finished fourth in the point standings of the Elite 11 quarterback camp/competition in California, which only the best senior prospects in the nation are invited to attend annually.

“I wasn’t nervous, but rather excited about the camp,” said Lalich between his two-a-day practices Monday at West Springfield. “A lot of people out there think that I’m raw and that I’m just a big guy with a strong arm. But I’m more of a good technique kind of guy.”

At 6-foot-5, 225 pounds, Lalich has been physically compared to Ben Roethlisberger. The Cavalier commitment took great pleasure in proving his critics wrong.

“I left the Elite 11 feeling like I could compete with anybody,” said Lalich. “I wouldn’t be scared to go up against anyone.”

While at the four-day camp, Lalich was schooled by Bob Johnson, father of former USC quarterback Rob Johnson, who was also there. He worked closely with six camp counselors, all starters at current Division I-A schools: LSU’s JaMarcus Russell, Pitt’s Tyler Palko, Ohio State’s Troy Smith, Stanford’s Trent Edwards, Michigan State’s Drew Stanton, and UTEP’s Jordan Palmer, brother of the NFL Bengals’ Carson Palmer.

Right on the money

The first couple of days were challenging to the young quarterback, who has only started 12 varsity games at the position.

“In the accuracy drills you have to throw through a hoop and I wasn’t quite used to it,” Lalich said. “The first two days it was kind of rough. The last two days I was on fire.”

No brag, just fact.

Quarterbacks had to throw a variety of passes, from a hitch to a 22-yard comeback to a skinny post and had to throw them using a certain number of dropback steps. The most challenging throw was a 40-yard fade route, which was worth more points.

Lalich put it through that fade route hoop twice.

Just how big was the hoop? We’re not talking Hula Hoop size here.

“Only two footballs [sideways] can fit in those hoops,” Lalich said.

The accuracy of his throws came as no surprise to those familiar with Lalich’s ability. West Springfield coach Bill Renner and national quarterback guru Roger Theder, a California Bay Area mentor who has helped coach some of the country’s most promising young passers, believe accuracy is one of the qualities that separate Lalich from most other seniors.

“I think Peter’s one of the best ones I’ve ever worked with, and he’ll be a great one in college,” said Theder, the former head coach at Cal. “His accuracy is amazing.

“Some guys are great in 7-on-7 drills, but can they play in games?” Theder questioned. “In games, Peter does an amazing job of putting the ball on the money. That’s his strength along with good mechanics.

I think he’s a lot like Trent Edwards, the Stanford quarterback, in terms of high completion percentage.”

The only thing Theder isn’t crazy about is West Springfield’s no-huddle offense that features the snap out of the shotgun formation, which makes it more difficult to keep the mechanics true to form.

Renner, who went out to watch the Elite 11 competition one day, said that when college coaches have come to see Lalich throw, they are all blown away by several things, including the accuracy.

“He can make every throw,” said Renner. “He can throw the out, the slant, he can put touch on the ball, he can throw it deep. He has a nice gift of being able to throw a catchable ball. He doesn’t throw it over your head, behind you or in the dirt. Throw in the 6-5, 225 and it’s the real deal.”

Renner tells the story of his team’s camping at West Virginia University recently. The Mountaineer coaches hadn’t seen Lalich in action because they weren’t in the market for a quarterback.

“Their coach came over to me after the third passing league game we had there and said, ‘My goodness, he’s accurate,’” related Renner. “I kind of get spoiled because a 20- or 30-yard throw for Peter is like a handoff.”

A quick learner

The more you learn about Lalich, the better it gets. Not only does he have the size, the accuracy, the power, but he has an uncanny knack for absorbing knowledge and has an incredibly quick release.

“I would say the resounding comment from all the college coaches has been about his quick release,” said Renner. “Three of the college coaches that came in here (from N.C. State, Miami and another school) were all guys who had coached quarterbacks in the NFL and they all said his quick release stands out amongst everybody they’ve seen.

“You can be ready to sack him and he gets rid of the ball,” said Renner. “He turns his hips and it’s gone. He doesn’t have to wind up to generate power.”

Theder, who has coached Miami’s Kyle Wright, Arizona State’s Sam Keller, UCLA’s Drew Olsen and Stanford’s Edwards, along with Joe Montana’s blossoming sons, believes Lalich has the total package.

“The No. 1 thing I try to teach is to get the ball out of there, and Peter has always been able to do that,” Theder said. “When you have a quick release and throw the ball accurately, you’re strong and have size, well, he’s got it all. That’s why I’m not surprised so many schools were interested in him.”

Theder has worked with Lalich for at least four years and the Lalichs fly to California about four times a year to visit Theder for workouts while visiting family there. They will occasionally hook up in Georgia at Chip Smith’s Competitive Edge Sports complex.

Theder also reviews film of his pupil and they chat regularly over the phone.

“Coach Theder is the one who told us that Peter was a special kid,” said Todd Lalich of the association that stretches back to Peter’s pre-high school days.

Renner isn’t bothered by another guy coaching his quarterback, but rather enjoys learning from Theder himself.

“Peter came to me with quarterback skills and Coach Theder did all that,” said Renner. “I actually went to learn from Coach Theder so that I wouldn’t mess Peter up. That’s helped me grow as a coach and has helped challenge me to learn how to take advantage of a kid like that.”

In the beginning

The Peter Lalich Project has been going on for quite some time. Todd Lalich arranged for his son to run and lift weights with Renner’s Spartans when Peter was just a seventh-grader. Always big for his age (Peter was 6-1 in the sixth grade), in fact too big to play little league football for a while, it was in the seventh grade that coaches discovered that this offensive lineman might be better suited for another position.

“One day the coach asked Peter to throw him the ball from the other side of the field,” remembered Todd Lalich. “Peter threw it 50 yards, spinning. Coach said, ‘Have you ever thought about playing quarterback?’ That’s how it started.”

Todd Lalich sought out the best coaching he could find for his son and quickly discovered Theder.

He played quarterback as a freshman but wasn’t polished. Same for the early part of his sophomore year, when West Springfield had an all-district performer starting in the QB spot. But then 6-5 and 250 with good speed, Renner couldn’t afford to leave Lalich on the bench.

For the first eight games of the season, Lalich lined up at wide receiver and was pretty solid. As backup quarterback, he got his chance the final two games of the season when the starter was hurt. At that point, Theder’s tutoring had kicked in and Renner couldn’t help but notice the form of a blossoming star.

Lalich won those two games and as word began to spread, it was other high schools that were interested in the young quarterback, not colleges.

“We got more high school offers than college ones,” said Todd Lalich. “He was offered to play at Long Beach Poly, DeLaSalle, Mission Viejo (all California schools that had heard of him through Theder and Johnson). “He could have played around here at DeMatha and several other schools.”

Faith from a legend

The Lalichs are a family of strong religious faith. Todd, who is a flooring contractor but highly involved with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, believes that is one of his son’s strengths as well.

In fact, the FCA has put Peter in touch with people of the right influence in recent years, such as former Redskins stars Darrell Green and Pat Fischer, Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, FSU coach Bobby Bowden, Georgia coach Mark Richt and many others.

Peter’s faith was passed down from his dad, who was influenced by his father and from Pete Maravich, a close family friend until Maravich’s untimely death in 1988, the same year Lalich was born.

Some folks are already calling him “Pistol Pete,” and with good reason.

Peter’s grandfather, Peter Todd Lalich, played professional basketball in the forerunner league to the NBA, where he toiled for the teams in Pittsburgh, Youngstown, Ohio, and Fort Wayne, Ind. Grandfather Pete and his wife were close friends with the Maravichs in Alaquippa, Pa., where the Serbian immigrants settled to work in the steel mills and coal mines.

Peter’s dad, Todd Lalich, grew up as friends with the Maravichs’ son, Pete, who became one of the most amazing basketball players in history.

When Pete Maravich went to LSU, Todd Lalich soon followed close by at the University of Florida where he was a good-sized guard himself at about 6-5.

“I’m on a highlight tape playing against Pete,” said Lalich. “My son, Peter, asked me what I held [Maravich] to and I said I held him to 65 points.”

Lalich and Maravich stayed somewhat in touch over the years, and when Maravich found a new life in his faith, Lalich did, too.

With the Pistol’s passing, Lalich thought it appropriate to name his son, Peter, after both the Pistol and Todd’s father.

“You know, in the Bible, the name Peter means ‘rock,’” said Todd Lalich.

A Super Bowl mentor

Coming from such an athletic background, Peter Lalich couldn’t help but start playing sports at age 5, dunking on a 5-foot rim, playing baseball and pining to play football.

That’s about when former Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann came into his life. Peter’s mother, Penny, has worked in Theismann’s restaurant in Alexandria for a long time and Theismann used to take the Lalich children to the circus.

“Back then I knew he was famous but I didn’t really know who he was,” Lalich said.

As he grew older and became a budding star, Theismann always remained in touch, coming to an occasional game, offering some encouragement over a dinner or a phone call, giving some advice about the recruiting process.

“Basically we talked about recruiting and making the right decisions on and off the field,” Lalich said. “He told me that when you’re a quarterback, everyone is looking to you and you have to be strong and be a leader.”

Lalich plans on getting together with Theismann regularly and work on throwing the ball.

A football acumen

At this point, most people think Lalich is too good to be true. Well, that seems to be the case.

Not only does he have the physical gifts and is grounded by his faith, but he’s smart and confident, too.

Watch Lalich in practice and his leadership skills are evident. He’s quick to correct a receiver coming back to the huddle about a botched route and then offering positive encouragement to get it right.

“He’s a very astute football guy,” Renner said. “He understands what the other 21 players on the field are doing ... all of them. You have coaches that can’t even see that. Peter can walk up to the line of scrimmage and see things and say, ‘OK, that’s where I’m going.’

“You don’t have to draw on the board for him. You can talk techniques and you can use football terminology with him and he knows what to do.”

His confidence is apparent. But it’s not a cockiness, just an assurance that he can get the job done.

“I feel that I can throw it anywhere on the field,” the quarterback said. “My footwork is so good that I can throw it anywhere and the defense doesn’t know where it’s going. If the guy is covered, there’s no pass I can’t make.”

He confessed, though, that may also be his weakness.

“I probably try to throw too many in there that I don’t need to,” he said. “Most of the time I’ll get it in there. I try to make a play and win the game. It’s not my mentality to throw it out of bounds ... I feel like it’s a wasted play, but I’m learning how to do that.”

Preparing for the future

In his first full year as a starter, Lalich threw for 2,700 yards and 22 touchdowns in 10 games with essentially a brand new set of receivers and backs, most of whom return from last year’s 5-5 squad.

A total of 440 of those yards came in the last game of the season when a rival tried to pressure him all night long. Lalich responded by dumping the ball off to running backs and watching them scamper downfield.

“It’s not smart to blitz us,” Lalich said. “If I’m in a rhythm and the team is in a rhythm, there’s no one who can stop it. If they’re blitzing the whole team and I’m throwing on rhythm, they can’t sack me. I can get rid of it too quickly.”

Lalich learned a lot more about reading coverages, the kind he will likely see in the ACC, while out at the Elite 11 camp. But he’s already ahead of the game.

He has spent time with current UVa starting quarterback Christian Olsen and learned a lot of the Cavaliers offense. He talks often with Virginia offensive coordinator Mike Groh.

“Me and Mike get along great,” said Lalich. “We can talk about anything. I feel comfortable talking to him about my weaknesses, what I think about the offense, what I need to do to get better, what we need to do to get better as a team. I love talking to Mike and Coach [Anthony] Poindexter and Coach Al Groh.”

At the Elite 11 camp, Lalich learned a lot about what will eventually help him in college and in the meantime picked up on what quarterbacks and offenses are doing in the NFL in terms of the West Coast offense, which Virginia runs.

“The words are the same. I can watch the NFL Network minicamps and the coach calls the play and I know what the play is just by the words,” said Lalich. “Virginia does almost the exact same words as the original West Coast offense from Bill Walsh. I already know most of Virginia’s reads.”

Told you he was smart.

“He’s a kid who could play as a true freshman in college,” Theder said. “There aren’t a lot of guys you could say that about.”

Still a work in progress

While confident, he remains modest. Asked about his rankings at the Elite 11 and the only reason he knew was because his mom told him she read where he finished fourth.

“I’ve still got to prove myself,” Lalich said. “I haven’t arrived yet ... not until something bigger happens.”

Like most kids his age, he spends his free time doing typical teenage stuff - going to the pool, playing basketball, playing video games, hanging out with friends, and hitting the golf ball more than 300 yards off the tee.

“I think he may be a coach someday because he gets on the Internet and keeps up with all the other recruits with e-mail,” said Todd Lalich. “If God keeps him healthy, he’s going to be something to watch.

“Now, we’re just looking for some receivers (Virginia has offers out to Rashad Tukes, Jay Smith and Kris Burd),” said Todd Lalich. “If [receivers] see him on film, a lot of them would probably be interested in coming on down to Charlottesville.”
 

Veteran QBs waiting for their chance
McCabe, Deke biding their time behind Olsen
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
August 20, 2006

When quarterback Christian Olsen was welcomed back with open arms last spring to compete as a graduate student, you better believe Scott Deke and Kevin McCabe were paying attention.

Thanks to respective redshirt seasons, both Cavalier signal-callers will be in similar situations the next two years.
For now at least, those thoughts have been tucked away like Christmas stockings.

The greater concern relates to the depth chart at quarterback and the fight to be stamped as Olsen’s backup come September. The battle, which has stretched into the third week of training camp, not only includes Deke and McCabe but also redshirt freshman Jameel Sewell.

Virginia coach Al Groh would loved to have set the pecking order days ago, but the process was slowed after what the coach called “the first bicycle chain incident” in his lengthy career, referring to a bicycle accident that sidelined Sewell.

While the sky appears to be the limit for the left-handed throwing Sewell, the disappearing sand in the hourglass lets Deke and McCabe know the urgency of now.

McCabe’s rollercoaster ride

It would only be natural for McCabe to wonder what might have been.

In 2003, on a hot day in September and just weeks after McCabe arrived at UVa, the four-star recruit from Pennsylvania found himself standing in uniform on the sidelines at South Carolina.

An injury to starting quarterback Matt Schaub left UVa temporarily thin at the position. Groh gave former Cavalier Anthony Martinez the starting nod but told McCabe to be ready as an insurance policy. McCabe was never called upon, which saved his redshirt season, but he, like Virginia fans, had to watch Martinez take his lumps en route to a disappointing 31-7 setback.

A year later, as Virginia opened the season at Temple, McCabe was back in a familiar place - he was listed as the No. 2 quarterback. Shortly after, however, Olsen supplanted him on the depth chart behind Marques Hagans.

McCabe isn’t exactly sure how it happened, but enters yet another season behind Olsen.

“It is the nature of the position,” said McCabe, who has played in four games at UVa, completing 7 of 14 passes for 54 yards. “It’s just the way that it is as only one of us gets to play. That’s tough.

“Chris, he has performed right now, and that’s who they are going with.”

With Olsen getting a majority of the snaps with the first-team offense, McCabe said it has been hard for the other quarterbacks to gain separation.

“We are all kind of photos of each other,” McCabe said. “We are kind of spitting images.”

Of the “spitting images,” McCabe has the most pressure on him to perform. Perhaps that’s working to his advantage. Groh said on Tuesday that McCabe had his best collegiate practice.

“At the staff grading of the tape, the comment was made that it was perhaps Kevin’s best practice at Virginia,” Groh told reporters. “Kevin’s progression, at many times, has been erratic - kinda stop, start, go, slow down. It will be very interesting to see what follows.”

McCabe said it is tough walking the tightrope. Too much pressure could lead to unforced errors.

“[My progress] is noticeable, but that’s the thing, my window of opportunity is not very big,” McCabe said. “It is so small; it’s go time for me. Right now, I have to make something happen.

“But I have to take the pressure off myself. That’s what I did before and I don’t think I am a worse quarterback, per se, but maybe I didn’t progress like people thought or like I did. I realize that I have to take the pressure off of me, but football is only a short-term thing. I just want to make the most of it.”

McCabe’s approach has not gone unnoticed by his fellow quarterbacks.

“Kevin is doing a great job,” Deke said. “He has really been able to settle himself, work on his game and he really puts a lot of work in, whether it’s in the weight room, watching film or throwing the ball.

“He is a great teammate and a great leader.”

McCabe is just trying to take it all in stride.

“Obviously you want to play the position and I’d like to be here next year,” McCabe said, “but I just have to do whatever I can this season to help the team.”

California dreaming

Entering his third year with the program, Deke remains an unknown. With the exception of a handful of completed passes in two spring games, Virginia fans know very little about the sophomore.

Deke would love to change that but has other things on the to-do list for now. He just wants to make Virginia better.

“You just have to come out and always want to learn no matter where you are standing,” Deke said. “You always want to progress. You never want to fall off or slack off and you can never sit back and relax.

“It’s always important to learn and help the team no matter what you are doing. I can always help the team, no matter if I’m throwing fifth-string scout team or starting every game.”

Like most quarterbacks, Deke entered the program with an impressive stat line - he owns four passing records at Loyola High in California - but had to learn the art of patience.

“That’s how it is for every position, not just quarterback. Obviously quarterback can be rather magnified,” Deke said. “Every one comes in big time because everyone was a great player in high school and everyone is a great player now. You just have to realize that only 22 play.

“It is a matter of biding your time and working as hard as you can. When the time comes and you are called upon, hopefully you go out there and do your best. That’s all you can expect from yourself.”

Deke graduated high school with a perfect 4.0 grade point average and uses that to his advantage on the field. Just ask McCabe.

“Scott is a brain of the game,” McCabe said. “Scott comes from California where quarterbacks are very competitive - they fight and scrap. Scott really has a good head on himself.”
Deke shrugs off the compliments. He prefers to defer the credit to offensive coordinator Mike Groh.

“Coach Mike has done a great job helping me progress and learn the system, really understanding how to be a great quarterback and a great leader and understanding how to make great reads,” Deke said. “You don’t always have to make great plays. You just have to help the team win no matter what you are doing. Whether you are going to hand off or throw the ball, you just want to help the team win.
“That’s what matters most.”

It sure sounds like Deke is the ultimate team player.

“You don’t come into a high-class organization and not be competitive,” Deke pointed out. “Everyone wants to win, everyone wants to succeed and do the best themselves, but you have to really focus and buy in.

“To use one of Coach [Al] Groh’s expressions, ‘You have to buy into the University of Virginia’s football team.’ You have to realize what you need to do and who you need to be and whatever you can do, whether it is running scout or being the starter.”

Having received instruction in high school from former NFL quarterbacks Ken O’Brien and Erik Kramer, it should not be shocking that Deke entered the program looking to make his teammates confident in his abilities.

“I really feel like I tried to come in and lead and meet my teammates and become friends and gain trust,” Deke said.

“You have to have trust to be a quarterback. I think I have done a good job with that, and now it is just honing my game and being ready whenever they call upon me.”
 

UVa's Quarterbacks
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
August 20, 2006

THE STARTER
Christian Olsen
Senior l 6-foot-3 l 222 pounds l Wayne, N.J.
The Numbers: Olsen has played in eight games at Virginia, completing 17 of 23 passes for 159 yards. He has never thrown a touchdown pass in college, but he did have a pass intercepted last year in a blowout win over Temple. … Joined a long list of Virginia quarterbacks to complete a pass in a bowl game last year when his only attempt was caught by Marques Hagans for a seven-yard gain. … Set a number of his career-highs at Florida State two years ago during the second half. Olsen was 6 of 8 for 47 yards passing against the Seminoles.
The Skinny: Olsen has waited patiently since he transferred to Virginia from Notre Dame just prior to the 2003 season. Will the wait be worth it? Only time will tell; but the signal-caller that hasn’t started a contest since 2001 talks a good game. “It’s been tough sitting around for three years, but I think it’s definitely been to my advantage to sit back and watch things from the sideline for a while,” Olsen said. … Olsen has a great group of tight ends to throw to and capable tailbacks to hand the ball off to, but the play of a revamped offensive line and a group of wideouts not named Deyon Williams will likely determine just how effective the New Jersey native will be.
The Factoid: Olsen will play his final regular season game at Scott Stadium against Miami in what could prove to be a family reunion. Olsen’s brother, Greg, plays tight end for the Hurricanes.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS
Jameel Sewell
Redshirt freshman l 6-foot-2 l 219 pounds l Richmond
The Numbers: The southpaw dressed for eight games last year, including the regular-season finale at Miami, but did not play. ... During his senior season at Hermitage High in ’04, Sewell completed 106 of 175 passes (60.5%) for 2,001 yards and 27 touchdowns. He finished with only six interceptions.
The Skinny: Fans have been buzzing about Sewell for months now. Given his athletic ability, many expect Sewell to push Olsen for playing time before the season is over. That process hit a snag early in training camp when the youngster wrecked his bike while wearing flip-flops and had to get stitches. The 18-year-old has returned to practice and could be the backup quarterback when the Cavaliers play Pittsburgh.
The Factoid: Sewell is the only player working out at quarterback in training camp from the state of Virginia. Vic Hall, of course, was recruited as a QB but he is playing cornerback for the time being.

Kevin McCabe
Junior l 6-foot-2 l 217 pounds l Wexford, Pa.
The Numbers: For his career, McCabe has completed seven passes for 54 yards. Unfortunately, McCabe completed four of those passes in two games against Temple. The Owls are not on Virginia’s schedule this year.
The Skinny: Had things gone in a different direction, McCabe could have been the starter against Pittsburgh. That would have made for a nice story - McCabe is from the Pittsburgh area. Instead, McCabe is stuck in a three-way battle to be the backup quarterback behind fifth-year senior Christian Olsen.
The Factoid: McCabe said he was quite a baseball player growing up. In fact, he hit 90 to 91 mph on the radar gun as a pitcher, but that was before a cracked vertebrae ended his baseball career early. Would he consider playing baseball after his football days are over? “Maybe I could come out and throw a few heaters,” McCabe chuckled, while pointing out that his brother, Tim, was drafted in ’99 by the Boston Red Sox and set the school record at West Virginia with 35 career homers.

Scott Deke
Sophomore l 6-foot-3 l 216 pounds l Pacific Palisades, Calif.
The Numbers: Zero. That’s the total number of games played in for the signal-caller. In fact, Deke was not on the travel squad for road games last year during the regular season.
The Skinny: Deke was a solid quarterback in high school - he was rated the sixth-best signal-caller in California by one recruiting service. ... Teammates rave about his knowledge of the offense, but he has done little to pull away from Kevin McCabe or Jameel Sewell in the battle to be the backup at Pittsburgh in the season opener.
The Factoid: Deke will turn 21 just two days before Virginia plays its final regular season game at Virginia Tech.

THE BEST OF THE REST
Patch Duda
Freshman l 6-foot-3 l 171 pounds l Kenilworth, Ill.
The skinny: Duda was the starting quarterback last year at New Trier High in Illinois. Under Duda’s leadership the Trevians went 7-3 and averaged 26.6 points per game. The team also advanced to the playoffs. ... Duda was also named an honorable mention selection by the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) for the All-State Academic Team.

John Phillips
Junior l 6-foot-2 l 188 pounds l Memphis, Tenn.
The skinny: Al Groh summed up his opinion of Phillips during the offseason when he put the signal-caller on scholarship. Don’t expect that to translate into repetitions with the first-team offense. Phillip’s biggest impact comes as the holder for placekicks. ... It was in 2004 that Phillips took over the holding duties from Matt Schaub and he has shined ever since. ... The biggest highlight of his career came last year against Georgia Tech when he took the snap on a field goal attempt and scrambled for 10 yards and a first down.

Marc Verica
Freshman l 6-foot-2 l 190 pounds l Lansdowne, Pa.
The skinny: The pro-style quarterback completed 81 of 160 passes for 899 yards as a senior at Monsignor Bonner High. ... The two-star recruit impressed Virginia’s coaches during his visit to a summer camp. “Marc had a very fine day the day he was down here,” UVa coach Al Groh said on signing day. “He’s a good rhythm passer with good accuracy. He’s really passionate about the game of football, anxious to get here as soon as he can to talk about the passing game. So I know he’s going to have a lot of fun in our offense and we’re going to have fun with Marc.” ... Verica is expected to redshirt.
 

Cavs add Jones to '07 class
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
August 19, 2006

The loss of Virginia guard J.R. Reynolds to graduation following the upcoming season will be a big one.

Fortunately for UVa fans, reinforcements are on the way.

On Friday, Virginia filled its last scholarship for the 2007 class when Jeff Jones - a player who has been compared to Reynolds - verbally committed to UVa.

Jones, who averaged more than 21 points per game last season as a junior at Monsignor Bonner High School (Drexel Hill, Pa.), is a sweet-shooting combo guard who excels at both ends of the floor.

The 6-foot-4, 185-pounder - rated as a 4-out-of-5-star recruit and the 66th-best prospect in the country by Rivals.com - originally committed to Maryland but reopened his recruitment in May. Virginia beat out Wake Forest, among others, for Jones’ services.

Jones joins point guard Sam Zeglinski and small forward Eric Wallace in the 2007 class.

Members of the UVa coaching staff continue to recruit hard for 2007, despite the fact they are presently out of scholarships - a situation that could change if All-ACC guard Sean Singletary were to leave early for the NBA after this season.

If Virginia winds up adding another player to the class, it would most likely be a big man.

To that end, Alexis Wangmene, a 6-foot-8 post player from Central Catholic (San Antonio, Texas) will be in Charlottesville on Monday for a visit.

Solomon Alabi, a 7-foot-1, 230-pounder from Montverde Academy (Montverde, Fla.), and Patrick Patterson, a 6-foot-8 forward out of Huntington (W.Va.) High are two other bigs high on Virginia’s list. Both are rated as five-star recruits.

 

Zidenberg's painful path to scholarship
Virginia fullback Josh Zidenberg toughs out injuries to become the first Poquoson player since the early '80s to earn a I-A football scholarship.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
August 20, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Kim Zidenberg entered the Orange Bowl locker room that night last fall to check on her son Josh, who had just broken his left leg in Virginia's football game against Miami. Kim and Josh are close. Have been since Kim and Josh's father, Eric, divorced when Josh was a toddler.

But Josh wasn't interested in seeing his mom in the locker room. Wasn't interested, more likely, in people seeing his mom checking on him.

"Mom, this is embarrassing," Josh said. "I'm OK."

He hid his pain from her. Kept hiding it from Virginia coaches in the next few weeks, as the Cavaliers practiced for the Music City Bowl. A walk-on fullback at the time, he intended to prove himself worthy of a scholarship.

His fibula still was fractured when he played in the bowl, 34 days after the Miami game. He saw limited action and finished the game and the season with no carries, no receptions. But he shined on every special-teams unit last year, and Virginia coach Al Groh gave him a scholarship after spring practices.

Zidenberg, a 6-foot, 213-pound junior, is the first Poquoson High graduate to earn a Division I-A football scholarship since the early 1980s, recently retired Poquoson coach Don Ward said.

Entering preseason practices, Zidenberg was listed as the Cavaliers' No. 1 fullback. But the position might not be a focal point, because Virginia often uses formations with two tight ends.

Zidenberg said he's 100 percent healthy, though there is now a lump on his fibula because he played through the injury and the fracture healed incorrectly. (Until January, team doctors were uncertain whether the bone was fractured.)

It wasn't the first time Zidenberg played hurt. As a junior at Poquoson, he endured a broken collarbone. As a senior, he played a game at Southampton with a twisted testicle, a condition called torsion. "He was in excruciating pain," Poquoson running backs coach Bill Ward said.

Yet Zidenberg rushed 26 times for 271 yards and two touchdowns, including a 90-yarder in the fourth quarter. After the game, he went to the emergency room and got morphine.

Those statistics were typical.

He rushed for 2,702 yards and 39 touchdowns as senior. He finished his career with almost 6,000 all-purpose yards and 78 touchdowns.

That resiliency - pretty typical, too.

Despite his statistics, he received no scholarship offers, perhaps because Poquoson, a Group AA Division 3 school, isn't exactly a football factory.

"I never thought he got a fair shake out of high school," Don Ward said. "It just never made any real sense to me."

"I thought I was in the twilight zone," Zidenberg said. "I was like, 'I can't believe some of this stuff.' "

Zidenberg decided to walk on at Virginia. He received a financial-aid package and help from his grandparents and dad. But he didn't want to rely on them.

He was distant, in many ways, with his dad while growing up. The family lived in Los Angeles when Kim and Eric divorced. Kim moved back to her hometown, Poquoson, with Josh and his sister, Brooke. Eric stayed in California. "Josh felt like when he really needed him, he wasn't there," Kim said.

Eric moved to Washington, D.C., a few years ago and Josh is now friendlier with him. "He knows it's never gonna be one of those things where I say, 'Hey, dad,' " Josh said. "I don't need someone to teach me how to play catch. I learned that myself."

In his dad's absence, Josh bonded with his mom. "Best friends," they call each other.

For three years when Josh was in middle school, Kim slept in his room, on a foldout bed, because she was having problems with her second husband. Last Christmas, Josh used about $200 of his $330 bowl-game stipend to buy Kim a new front door for the family's modest townhouse in Poquoson Place. He also has given Kim, who works as a wine distributor, money to buy a new front-porch light.

"Josh grew up a little bit quicker than other kids," Bill Ward said.

A very old soul, Kim calls Josh, who will be 20 Sept. 3. In high school, classmates phoned the house, wondering if Josh wanted to go out.

"Mom, tell them I'm not here," Josh begged Kim as she answered the phone.

"You're boring, Josh," she told him. "You need to go out and have fun."

Fun to him is TV time with Kim or, maybe, bowling. He spent last Christmas Eve with Don Ward and his wife. They ate dinner at Ward's home, and Josh, taller than the 67-year-old Ward, put the angel on top of the tree.

Kim attends most Virginia games and was in Miami on Nov. 26 when a Hurricanes player blocked Josh out of bounds during a second-quarter Virginia kickoff. Josh rolled into someone on the sideline, and the person fell on his leg.

In the locker room, Kim probably expected Josh's response to her concern: "I'm OK." That resiliency, that willingness to mask pain - it's a part of him, he said, something imbedded over the years, deep down in his old soul.

"I think it's one of those things, like any athletic skill, that's a real God-given ability," he said. "I think definitely what I've grown up with makes me push myself more. Because I know there's more to it."

Familiar name commits to Cavs
Jeff Jones will join U.Va.'s hoops team for 2007-08 season
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Aug 19, 2006

If Jeff Jones becomes the best player by that name in University of Virginia basketball history, he'll have an exceptional career.

Jones, a 6-4, 185-pound shooting guard from Wilmington, Del., stopped by U.Va. with his family yesterday - they'd been on vacation at Massanutten - and committed to join Dave Leitao's program in 2007-08.

Ranked No. 66 in the nation's Class of 2007 by Rivals.com, Jones is the highest-rated recruit Leitao has landed since becoming the Cavaliers' coach in April 2005.

He's not related to the Jeff Jones who was a three-year starter at point guard for Virginia during the Ralph Sampson era. This Jeff Jones, who turned 17 in June, attends Monsignor Bonner High in Drexel Hill, Pa., near Philadelphia.

As a junior at Bonner, Jones averaged about 22 points per game and made the Philadelphia Daily News' all-city second team. He'll be a strong candidate to replace J.R. Reynolds as Virginia's top shooting guard in 2007-08.

"Jeff Jones is a gifted offensive threat," said Dave Telep, national basketball recruiting director for Scout.com. "He's best when he's making jumpers, and the beauty of his game is that he's not limited to playing behind the arc."

Penn Charter point guard Sam Zeglinski, also a second-team all-city selection in Philly, was the first player to commit to the Cavaliers for 2007-08.

Jones' father said yesterday that his son has played with and against Zeglinski, "and they have a lot of respect for each other's games."

The third member of U.Va.'s recruiting class is 6-6, 215-pound forward Eric Wallace, a North Carolina resident. Wallace is a 12th-grader at Hargrave Military Academy.

In November, Jones committed to another ACC school, Maryland. After Terrapins coach Gary Williams lost assistant Rob Moxley to UNC Charlotte, however, Jones withdrew his commitment and started looking at other schools, including Wake Forest, Virginia Tech and Clemson.

He chose U.Va. over Wake this time. The NCAA's early-signing period opens in November.

Jones' father, Jeff Sr., said the more the family got to know Leitao and his assistants, the more attractive Virginia became.

"We want him to be around good people, and they're good people," the elder Jones said.

 

Sports Focus: ACC Football
Can league power up this year?
BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Aug 20, 2006

Here's the thumbnail rundown on ACC football: good field, no hit.

Which means we're still waiting for the ka-boom!

Seven years later.

Nothing seismic has been heard from the ACC, in fact, since a 1999 campaign that concluded with Florida State blur Peter Warrick dazzling league-brother-to-be Virginia Tech for a Sugar Bowl triumph and Bobby Bowden's second national championship.

Since then, no ACC squad has won a major-bowl encounter, and the league remains alone among elite conferences in never having qualified for an at-large BCS berth. It hasn't produced an All-America thrower or runner this millennium, either.

Now, 11 days from today when Boston College faces mighty Central Michigan on the road (CMU's campus is located in Mount Pleasant, and it should be for the Eagles), another season dawns for the league that can't seem to smack a home run for expanding faster and swinging harder.

Florida State? Hasn't finished in the top 10 in six years. Miami? Seems to have misplaced its mojo two seasons into ACC membership. Clemson? Lotsa bark, not much bite. Georgia Tech? Seven wins per annum monotony. Virginia? Maryland? N.C. State? North Carolina? All treading water (and some need a flotation device).

Only Virginia Tech - with back-to-back top-10s and the ACC's best nonconference get of 2005 (at West Virginia) - has had much to brag about. Now the league has lost maybe its finest-ever group of defenders to the NFL - 10 first-round draftees - not to mention Marcus Vick and Charlie Whitehurst, its top two quarterbacks.

Sure doesn't appear any worldbeaters are on the horizon.

"But football can be strange," Bowden cautioned reporters at the ACC's Football Kickoff last month. "It may not be us, but some team in this conference is due to bust out, just bust right out. I can't put my finger on why, but I sure sense it."

Here's a guess: Bowden isn't digitalizing U.Va., State, Maryland or UNC - each of which likely would be happy to munch scraps at the ACC's overflowing bowl trough (eight guaranteed bids in all! - give me your tired, your poor, your wretched refuse, your six-win groaners yearning to eat free). He's also probably not pointing to the Hokies or BC, which both get a jump-start from squishy nonconference schedules but might be a tad shy of playmakers.

That leaves - with all apologies to Wake Forest and Duke (collect your revenue shares at the door) - the league's southern tier. Two scarred perennials from the Sunshine State. Two wannabes from the I-85 corridor.

Start with the hopefuls. Clemson lost four games by a total of 14 points last season and has sizzle up and down the lineup (presuming new QB Will Proctor comes through). It also faces BC and FSU on the road in September - a make-or-break twofer. Georgia Tech, meanwhile, has a boom-or-bust home opener against Notre Dame and a boom-or-bust QB in Reggie Ball. If he finally learns to avoid those head-scratcher throws, the Jackets could surge.

Lastly, we've got FSU and Miami, the traditional big boppers. Both have O-line issues and quarterbacks (FSU's Drew Weatherford, UM's Kyle Wright) who might be about to blossom. 'Noles and 'Canes collide Sept.4 in the Orange Bowl. The loser will be in a scramble mode - nothing new for ACC entries of late.

"I see it as a season of opportunity," Miami coach Larry Coker said at the Kickoff. "There are too many good teams in the ACC for one of them not to break through."

Prophecy? Or poppycock? By November, we'll know.

 

McCabe waits to find out his fate
The reserve UVa QB hopes to see time in the opener, played in his hometown of Pittsburgh.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- At the time 15 months ago that Virginia formalized a two-year football series with Pittsburgh, Kevin McCabe might have envisioned himself as a starter against his hometown school.

It appeared that Marques Hagans was going to be UVa's starting quarterback in 2005, but Hagans was in his final year, with McCabe among the leading candidates to succeed him.

As expected, McCabe will be making a homecoming Sept. 2 when the Cavaliers visit the University of Pittsburgh. How much of a homecoming remains to be seen.

"Every night I go to bed thinking about that first game and I'd like to be starting," said McCabe, a SuperPrep All-American in high school. "Even if I'm not, though, it's another game on the schedule that we've got to win. I just want to be on top of my game, whatever happens."

UVa coach Al Groh let it be known last winter that fifth-year senior Christian Olsen was the Cavaliers' No. 1 quarterback and that the job was his to lose. McCabe, a fourth-year junior, is competing with redshirt freshman Jameel Sewell for the No. 2 job.

"The pecking order [at most positions] is kind of set right now," Groh said, "but that's one spot where we're going to last it out a little longer."

Sewell missed practice time early this week after he caught his foot in a bicycle chain and 18 stitches were required to close the wound. That meant extra practice work for reserves McCabe and sophomore Scott Deke.

"At the staff grading of the tape last night, comment was made that it was perhaps Kevin's best practice at Virginia," Groh said Tuesday. "Kevin's progression, at many times, has been erratic -- kind of stop, start, go, slow down. It will be very interesting to see what follows."

When asked where McCabe's inconsistency comes, Groh apologized for his using "coachspeak."

"Situational recognition and game management," he said.

As a senior at Pine-Richland High School in 2002, McCabe took his team to the Western Pennsylvania Intercollegiate Athletic League championship game, where it lost to Hopewell High School of Aliquippa, 20-15.

Hopewell was led by linebacker Paul Posluszny, rated the No. 7 prospect in Pennsylvania by SuperPrep magazine. McCabe was the No. 8-rated player on that list.

Posluszny went to Penn State, where he was the winner of the Bednarik Trophy last year as college football's top defensive linebacker. McCabe is still waiting to establish himself, having played in one game last year and four overall.

"It's crunch time for me now," said McCabe when made aware of Groh's comments on his Monday night practice. "I don't really have much time left to make a move, either now or for my career. The window of opportunity keeps on getting smaller and smaller."

When McCabe was a redshirt freshman in 2004, there was a time when he was ahead of Olsen, a transfer from Notre Dame. No one knew that Olsen had moved up to No. 2 until Hagans was injured at Florida State in the sixth week of the season and Olsen trotted on the field.

Physically, there is little to separate Olsen (6-foot-3, 222 pounds) and McCabe (6-2, 217). Their arm strength is comparable.

"That's like combine stuff," McCabe said. "That's just numbers. You can go out there and make every throw. You can go out there and run around, like Marques did, but if you don't have a grasp of the offense, what difference does it make? I'm still working at fine-tuning my game."

What makes it difficult is an absence of game action. Olsen has attempted 22 passes in his UVa career; McCabe has thrown 14.

Quarterbacks with lesser credentials than McCabe's have fallen behind and chosen to play elsewhere. In the last three years, three have transferred to ACC programs from Nebraska alone.

"I think about it every night," McCabe said. "There have been situations in the past where things have worked out for players like me. You've got to know that. I want to be that guy. You've got to be persistent.

"The general consensus would be to transfer, but I'm going to stick it out. Maybe something will happen. If it doesn't, you have to remember this is the University of Virginia. But, I love football. ... Love it with a passion."

McCabe said he wouldn't wish an injury on anybody, but he realizes he's only one play away from being in a game. At Heinz Field, also the site of the 2002 WPIAL title game and home to his beloved Steelers, he figures he'll know at least 200 people in the crowd.

Of the nine scholarship Pennsylvanians on the UVa roster, McCabe is the only one from the greater Pittsburgh area, although starting nose tackle Allen Billyk made some Pittsburgh all-area teams. Billyk is from New Castle, which is 46 miles from Pittsburgh.

"He let out a 'y'ins' every once in a while," McCabe said. "That's Pittsburgh slang for you 'guys.' If a guy wants to consider himself a Pittsburgh guy, I'll let it slide. I think it's a culture that grows. People always want to attach themselves to Pittsburgh. We'll give Allen this one."
 

Everybody loves Raymond, or is it James Taylor?
Gee out at Hargrave; Chapman in at FUMA
Doug Doughty

Has anybody ever watched the sitcom, “Everybody Loves Raymond” and wondered when the lead character, sportswriter Ray Barone, ever works?

Nobody would ever compare Barone, played by comic Ray Romano, to Roanoke Times sportswriter Randy “Nappy” King, although King’s golf tips on roanoke.com definitely have a humorous touch.

I basically take my working orders from King, who wanted to wait until Aug. 24 to start the Tech and UVa Insiders. That gave me an opportunity to hang around Charlottesville after yesterday’s meet-the-team function and attend James Taylor’s concert at the new John Paul Jones Arena.

As long as the JPJ Arena is standing, no Tar Heel will ever be as well-received as Taylor was.

I can’t remember Dean Smith ever getting a reception like that. In fact, I was thinking of ol’ Deano when Taylor, whose father was once the dean of the UNC med school, was crooning “Carolina on My Mind.”

Gee, I wish I’m still singing that well when I’m 58. Oh, that’s right, I am 58. (Close enough, but not really).

Taylor, who said he could not remember having performed in Charlottesville previously, can really sing and he’s got a great band and four terrific back-up singers.

I had been told that Taylor, as a performer, was distant. Nothing could have been farther from the truth. Before the opening of his second set, he spent about 15 minutes signing autographs at the front of the stage.

Taylor performed “You’ve Got a Friend” during an encore and we could hear a bluesy number in the background as we left the arena and tried to beat the crowd out to the parking lot for the trip back to Roanoke. Perhaps a reader will fill us in on the end of the performance.

It was my first trip to the John Paul Jones Arena for an event and several things stood out to me. Our seats in section 310 were a long way from the stage and the seats were very narrow (at least for a guy with a big butt) but the acoustics were great.

I hadn’t been to a concert at University Hall in years, but the sound system there – at least for basketball games – was horrible. And, if you haven’t been to Charlottesville lately, there’s a new bypass off Rte. 29 business that will take you directly to the new arena.

THERE WERE SOME INTERESTING items in the Hargrave Military Academy roster that arrived over the Internet on Thursday, most notably the absence of 2006 Virginia Tech signee Mike Gee.

The Hokies had hoped that Gee would be in the position academically that a semester at Hargrave would enable him to meet NCAA eligibility guidelines. It won’t happen. Gee’s academic profile was such that he will need to graduate from junior college before he can qualify to play at the Division I-A level.

Gee was named to SuperPrep’s 277-member All-America team last year as the No. 32 defensive lineman out of 51 included on the team. He played at three different high schools, though, which might have raised a red flag to some analysts.

Another Tech signee, 6-4, 290-pound defensive tackle from Ladi Ajiboye from Riverdale, Ga., does show up on a Hargrave roster that includes wide receiver Brent Vinson from Phoebus High School in Hampton. Vinson, a Tennessee recruit, was rated the No. 11 prospect in Virginia last year by The Roanoke Times.

Hargrave’s roster includes the state’s 81st-ranked prospect, 6-5, 260-pound Centreville High School offensive lineman Ryan Tillman, who signed with Norfolk State but apparently did not qualify, as well as Blacksburg High School graduate Talmadge Flinchum, a 6-4, 280-pound offensive lineman.

THE WORD FROM Fork Union Military Academy coach football coach John Shuman on Friday was that UVa signee Asa Chapman was not among the players who reported Wednesday but Chapman is expected some time at the start of next week.

That’s the good news for UVa fans. Less promising is the possibility that Chapman, a mammoth defensive lineman from Orange County, will meet Division I-A eligibility requirements in one year at Fork Union.

Fork Union already has entertained visitors from the NCAA in the past month and the academic improvement that would be required of Chapman would be sufficient to raise NCAA suspicions again.

Shuman has discussed that situation with his bosses “but he’s [Chapman] got nowhere else to go at this point,” Shuman said. “He’s been strung along long enough. We’ve written everything down and we’ve asked him to sign a letter-of-consent to show that he knows what he’s up against.”

Shuman thinks that Chapman possibly could go to a NCAA Division II program after one year at Fork Union but, in order to play Division I-A ball, he probably would have to attend junior college.

WEBSITES WERE LISTING running back D.J. Thomas from Patrick Henry in Ashland as Virginia Tech’s 23rd recruit for 2007, but that does not include Sarasota, Fla., linebacker Hunter Ovens, who committed to the Hokies on Aug. 1.

Within days of his commitment, Ovens said that he was rethinking his commitment, but the Hokies are still recruiting him and consider him a “soft commit,” of which there are many at this time of year.

I’ve currently got Tech with 25 recruits – the 23 listed on rivals.com, Ovens and the aboe-mentioned Ajiboye.

WHILE DAYDREAMING at the James Taylor concert, I was reminded of another frequent visitor to University Hall, ex-Georgia Tech head coach Bobby Cremins.

I’ll never forget covering a game in Atlanta, where Cremins, retired as Georgia Tech coach by that point, was paying tribute to the late Al Ciraldo, the Yellow Jackets’ longtime radio voice. Georgia Tech was hanging up a banner for Ciraldo, who was joining the ex-Tech players whose numbers were being retired, and Cremins said it was a big honor to be included in ceremonies “to retire Al Ciraldo’s name.”

Presumably, there may be another Al Ciraldo somewhere and Georgia Tech wasn’t really retiring his name, but it makes me think about Virginia’s basketball recruitment of Philadelphia schoolboy Jeff Jones, namesake of the former UVa point guard and eight-year head coach.

That Jeff Jones not only lost his job in a sorrowful end to a once-bright Cavalier coaching career but now it looks like he might have to share his UVa playing identity.

As part of his settlement package, maybe Jones should have asked UVa to retire his name.

 

All eyes on Virginia linebacker Appleby
Salem High product steps into leadership role; Cavaliers lean on raw,
inexperienced defense
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Aug 19, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE The most-experienced inside linebacker at the
University of Virginia is all of 19 years old. Antonio Appleby's college
experience consists of 12 games, only two of which he started. As a
true freshman last season, he didn't play from scrimmage until the third
game.

The early departures of star linebackers Kai Parham and Ahmad
Brooks - each of whom had eligibility remaining - has added to the
responsibility that the 6-4, 248-pound Appleby must carry this season.
Ready or not, he's been thrust into a leading role on a defense whose
only seniors are defensive backs Marcus Hamilton and Tony Franklin.

Appleby says he's ready.

In 2005, he said, "I was still developing my skills, but we had Kai to
kind of go out there and run the defense and run the show. But now
through spring and through the summer, then knowing what I knew from
last season, it just all jelled together for me, I guess."

Like Parham, the Cavaliers' leading tackler in 2005, Appleby is from
Virginia Beach. Parham starred at Princess Anne High; Appleby, at
Salem High.

U.Va. defensive coordinator Mike London called Appleby "more
advanced at linebacker than Kai [was] at this stage. Only time will tell if
he will be as productive."

Starting at the other inside spot in U.Va.'s 3-4 defense will be
sophomore Jon Copper, primarily a special-teams player last season,
or redshirt freshman Rashawn Jackson. Also working at inside
linebacker is true freshman John Bivens, a graduate of Prince George
High.

"It's just the way our situation is," Appleby said. "I wouldn't say out with
the old, in with the new, but it's just a constant rotation of guys coming
in and going out."

Appleby's first start came in the regular-season finale against ACC rival
Miami, a game Brooks missed with a back injury. Appleby posted six
tackles in a 25-17 loss at the Orange Bowl, after which Virginia coach
Al Groh said, "I think we found an inside linebacker."

Start No. 2 came in the Music City Bowl. Appleby made 10 tackles -
eight of them unassisted - to help U.Va. rally for a 34-31 victory over
Minnesota.

"College in general kind of forces you to grow up, especially out here on
the field," Appleby said. "You go through so much, you learn so many
things, people are counting on you every day."

The Cavaliers are counting on him more than ever this year. Before
leaving U.Va. to pursue a career in the NFL, Appleby said, Parham
offered him some advice.

"He basically just told me to keep it rolling," Appleby said. "He told me
to use the momentum from last season and to let it roll into spring.
Have a good spring camp and then just let it carry over to the season,
and that's basically what I'm trying my best to do."