Sintim back for more sacks
Linebacker Clint Sintim's plans include trying to fill some of the void that has been left by the departure of ex-Virginia defender Chris Long.
By Doug Doughty

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- No one is expecting Clint Sintim to be a 2008 version of Chris Long, but some numbers are worth considering.

In his first three seasons at Virginia, Long -- The Cavs' 2007 first-team All-American who now plays for the NFL's St. Louis Rams -- had a total of 108 tackles, including 24 for loss, and seven sacks.

As he enters his final season, Sintim has three-year totals of 175 tackles -- 30 for loss -- and 16 sacks.

Long was a defensive end and Sintim is a linebacker, which is like comparing apples and oranges. But if you're looking for a big-play threat on UVa's defense this season, Sintim is your guy.

"If I could get double-digit sacks, I'd be very excited," said Sintim, a 6-foot-3, 245-pound fifth-year senior.

He had more sacks last year, nine, than any other Division I-A linebacker.

"Nine sacks is a lot of sacks for a linebacker," UVa head coach Al Groh said. "It might be hard to get that many again this year, but they've got to come from some place. There are a lot of sacks that left [with Long and Co.].

"What I expect and what we need are the same thing. We need a big year from Clint."

Sintim played defensive end as a senior at Gar-Field High School in Prince William County and had always lined up with a hand on the ground before he was moved to outside linebacker in UVa's 3-4 scheme.

"The opportunity to play linebacker really intrigued me," Sintim said. "I think the 3-4 is perfect for me. I think I was made to be an outside linebacker in the 3-4. I'm big enough where I can take on tackles and tight ends, but, at the same time, I have enough mobility to play outside on receivers. I love it!"

Sintim enters the season with 37 consecutive starts, 12 of them coming during the 2006 season, when he basically was playing with one arm. He underwent shoulder surgery after the season and his tackles jumped from 45 as a sophomore to 77 as a junior.

He also restructured his body under new strength coach Matt Balis. After weighing as much as 255 or 258 earlier in his career, he checked into camp at 243. "I'm a film guy," Sintim said. "Watching my film from last year and the previous year, I get disgusted at the previous year. Even last year seems so long ago.

"Watching last year's film, I'm looking at things and saying, 'Wow, that's terrible.' I'm still at the point of progressing and hopefully this year I'll make even more plays than last year."

When comparing Sintim and Long, it is necessary to point out that Long played sparingly as a true freshman in 2004 while Sintim was being redshirted.

Long never had any problem getting to the quarterback, but he did not become a good "finisher" until his fourth year, when he had 14 sacks.

Sintim followed a similar path.

"I remember Chris would always be [in the backfield] but sometimes he'd get back there so fast that he wouldn't be able to finish the job," Sintim said. "Last year, he put it all together. In the end, you have to be able to make the play. It's something I'm trying to perfect."

In passing situations, Virginia occasionally would line up in a 4-3 last year, with Long and Sintim rushing from the ends. This year, Sintim might get some of the extra attention that went Long's way last year.

"Hopefully not." Sintim said, "but it would a compliment."

Long, the second player selected in the 2008 NFL Draft, was one of two first-round selections from UVa. Offensive guard Branden Albert went to Kansas City after electing to pass up his final season of college eligibility.

Sintim scoffed at speculation that he had looked into an early exit.

"No, not at all," he said. "I had a solid season at best. I don't even know if I would have been drafted. I'm fortunate enough to have a coach who knows what it takes to be in the NFL. We'll talk about it when the time comes. It wasn't an issue."

Sintim roomed with Long for two years, and Groh describes them as "soulmates." Sintim has no motivation to outdo Long, but he would like to match one of Long's accomplishments -- he had an interception against North Carolina.

An outside linebacker has more coverage responsibilities than a defensive end and one would think Sintim would have an interception to his credit.

"I do not," he said emphatically. "And, if I do, you'll know it."
 

Pete Carroll's success on public display
The USC head football coach has nothing to hide when it comes to his formula for winning.
By Mark Berman
981-3125

LOS ANGELES -- Most football practices at Virginia are shrouded in secrecy, closed to the public and media.

At the University of Southern California, practice is a show.

A preseason practice this month was just another Hollywood tourist attraction. More than 300 people -- including fans, media members and players' relatives -- stood around the practice field as the third-ranked Trojans went through their drills.

"We need to have great practices, so the more energy there is around us, the better it is," Carroll said in an interview after the practice. "It's like every day is a performance opportunity."

Opening every practice to the public is hardly the approach most college coaches adopt, but Carroll doesn't fear spilling secrets.

"I can go watch somebody practice, ... and I'm a pretty good football coach, and I can watch a practice from the sideline and I can't tell much -- and nobody else can, either," Carroll, 56, said. "So I'm not worried about it."

Once practice ends, Carroll and his players not only do interviews but also sign autographs for fans and chat with family and friends.

Linebacker Brian Cushing enjoys practicing in front of a crowd.

"It brings more of a fun environment, more of a competitive nature," he said.

Carroll is entering his eighth season with USC, a program he restored to greatness.

USC has won at least 11 games in each of the past six seasons, finishing in the top four of the Associated Press poll each of those years. The Trojans were crowned national champs by the AP poll at the end of the 2003 season and won the Bowl Championship Series title a year later.

This season could bring another national crown. The winner of USC's Sept. 13 home game against No. 2 Ohio State will be a front-runner to wind up with one of the berths in the BCS title game.

But first, the Trojans will travel across the country to visit rebuilding Virginia.

They opened last season at home against WAC lightweight Idaho, but Carroll prefers sterner tests.

The Trojans visited Auburn to open the 2003 season, faced Virginia Tech at FedEx Field to begin the 2004 season and visited Arkansas to kick off the 2006 season.

"To do what we want to do every year, we've got to win every game," said Carroll, whose team is idle next week. "We need to be a really loaded-up team, and we need these challenges.

"Starting against Virginia is a great opportunity for us to get ready, ... and have to play good football. ... To us, every game's a championship game."

Carroll's recruiting prowess keeps USC a heavyweight. For example, all three of his quarterbacks and nine of his running backs were high school All-Americans.

"This is, I hope, the most competitive place in sports for playing time," he said.

One reason stellar recruits keep joining the Trojans, even when their position is stocked with talent, is because they get an immediate shot to shine in practice.

"Every guy gets to play with the starters the first day they're on the practice field," Carroll said. "They're thrown in with the first group day in, day out, until they stay or they give their positions up to the older guys.

"We've had over half the guys, in their freshman year, play [in games] every year we've been here. That's because they're talented and they ... get that opportunity to show us how good they are."

The former NFL head coach loves the challenge of keeping USC a national title contender, and considers it a "dream situation" for him.

Things might be less rosy if USC is hit with sanctions. The NCAA is investigating whether Reggie Bush and his family were paid by would-be agents when he was starring for the Trojans.

The allegations are the only major blemish on Carroll's Southern Cal resume.

Having transformed USC from a mediocrity back to major power, Carroll said he no longer feels any pressure.

"That's well behind me," he said. "[It's] about achievement now, about performance, about the excellence we can display though the process and the personnel and the tactics and the strategy and the preparation.

"That's what I live for, is to go out to practice every day and have a blast. That's why we have people out there. That's why we're ... kicking a field goal to see who won the day."

Carroll doesn't want practices marked by drudgery. He wants practices filled with competition.

"I don't think anybody practices with any more intensity or is willing to practice their [first string] against [first string] as much as we do," Carroll said.

"[Quarterback] Mark Sanchez took every snap of spring football against the No. 1 defense. The defense tried to kill him every day.

"It ain't about the game. It's about the practice field. And then we go have fun playing football."
 

Aaron Corp set to back up quarterback Mark Sanchez at USC
Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times
Aaron Corp will start the season as USC's second-string quarterback, just beating out Mitch Mustain as the backup to starter Mark Sanchez by displaying a better command of the offense.
Corp has a slight edge over Mitch Mustain.
By Gary Klein, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 28, 2008

Two parts of USC's quarterback equation became almost certain when Mark Sanchez returned last week from a knee injury.

Sanchez would start Saturday's opener at Virginia. And redshirt freshman Aaron Corp, who started the Trojans' final scrimmage and took the majority of leftover snaps upon Sanchez's return, would back him up.

"I've heard it's one of the toughest positions in sports -- you have to keep preparing like you're going to play," Corp said Wednesday.

Corp beat out Arkansas transfer Mitch Mustain for the back-up role against Virginia by demonstrating a better command of the offense.

The mobile Corp began making a move toward the end of spring practice and continued his ascent after Sanchez suffered a dislocated kneecap Aug. 8.


Coaches quietly informed Corp and Mustain of their status a few days ago, but the competition will continue, Coach Pete Carroll said.

"They've been dead-even the whole time and we'll see what happens," Carroll said. "The edge that anybody would have over either one of them right now is not very significant. We just have to pick out somebody that's going to go next."

Mustain stoically cited Corp's improvement during training camp but would not concede that Corp's status was permanent.

"I certainly don't think it's set in stone," he said.

Asked whether he regretted his decision to transfer to USC, Mustain said, "No, not at all. I still have three years. That's a lot of time for a lot of things to happen."

Bonding together

Sophomore tailback C.J. Gable said this season's team is a closer group than the 2007 Trojans, who featured 10 players selected in the NFL draft but fell short of playing for the Bowl Championship Series title.

"It had a lot of egos," Gable said of the 2007 team. "People were just trying to hurry up to leave and get out of here.

"This year we have a goal to go undefeated and get better . . . so as a team we're all doing our part."

Quick kicks

Cornerback Shareece Wright (abdomen) completed practice for the first time this week and said he would play against Virginia. . . . The Trojans practice this morning and leave for Charlottesville, Va., in the afternoon.
 

No QB news at Virginia
Some thought Virginia coach Al Groh might name his starting quarterback at Tuesday's weekly press conference.

He didn't.

So, it's still a mystery who will start against visiting No. 3 Southern Cal in Saturday's 3:30 p.m. season opener.

"I'm sure that sometime before 3:31 on Saturday we'll figure it out," Groh said.


Peter Lalich is the most experienced of Virginia's quarterbacks.

As a true freshman last season, Lalich appeared in eight games as Jameel Sewell's back-up, completing 35 of 61 passes for 321 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. He was the first true freshman to play quarterback for Virginia in 10 years.

Said USC coach Pete Carroll: "We're kind of thinking (Lalich) is the guy. ... I can understand why they're waiting."

Sewell is serving a one-year academic suspension and hopes to rejoin the program in 2009.

Fifth-year senior Scott Deke and redshirt sophomore Marc Verica are the other candidates for the job. Deke's only college appearance was mop-up duty last season in a rout of Pittsburgh; Verica has never played a college game.

"It's really been low-key on our end," Groh said of the quarterback competition. "It hasn't been nearly as dramatic for us as choosing a vice president."

Groh said the three used training camp as "a nice, quiet, sane period to do what they're supposed to do: work on their game."

Has Groh already decided? "I've got a pretty good idea," he said.

Posted by Nick Mathews on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at 12:22 PM
Permalink | Comments (0) | Linking Blogs | Add to del.icio.us | Digg it
 

Changing of the guard(s) at UVa
By Andy Bitter
Published: August 28, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Al Groh paused following the question, pondering a response to what he thought about the progress of his interior offensive line.
The trio of left guard Zak Stair, center Jack Shields and right guard B.J. Cabbell — all new starters — looked good during the Virginia coach’s last film study, recognizing and reacting to the pass rush and schemes presented to them favorably.
But there’s reason for a hesitant response.
“I would say probably they came about as far as they could come under these circumstances,” Groh said. “(Training camp has) taken them about as far as it can take them. They need those other schemes and other players to progress.”
The Cavaliers won’t truly know what they have on the interior line until game time Saturday, when that group faces a baptism by fire against Southern California and its vaunted defense in the season opener.
Stair, Shields and Cabbell have big shoes to fill. Branden Albert, Jordy Lipsey and Ian-Yates Cunningham filled UVa’s interior the previous two years, combining for 95 career starts and helping Virginia running backs average 4.7 yards per carry last season.
With the bookends set — tackles Eugene Monroe and Will Barker have combined for 42 starts — the pressure is on the middle three to shore up UVa’s protection.
“They’ve done a great job,” offensive coordinator Mike Groh said. “I think they’re a cohesive unit and I’m excited about the potential of that group.”
Specifically Shields and Cabbell, a pair of redshirt sophomores who are entering their third year playing side-by-side.
The 6-foot-6, 304-pound Cabbell, a Nelson County graduate, is a power guard who has made leaps in his development since arriving on campus in 2006. He played sparingly on the field goal kicking unit last year but caught the coaches’ eyes during practice sessions.
“He’s a low maintenance player, he takes care of his business on the field and off and was clearly a guy who it was always important to him to be a good player,” Groh said. “He just needed the experience, one, on this level, and two, at the development of his position.
“Early on we thought he should be able to blossom into a good player for us.”
The Boston-born Shields, whose father was a linebacker at Notre Dame from 1979-82, is more of a technician, in the mold of his predecessor Lipsey. A lightly-recruited tight end out of Boston College High School in Duxbury, Mass., he moved to center not long after he got to Charlottesville and was quickly lined up to play a major role during his final three years.
Due to Virginia’s slate of close games last year, Shields didn’t get much game action, making his only appearance near the end of the Cavaliers’ blowout against Pittsburgh.
“Every day I would be working to try to get there,” Shields said. “But in the back of my head, Jordy was the No. 1 guy. And if something happened, it was probably going to be Ian, realistically.
“Now it’s completely different. … I’m excited. There’s no way else I can put it. It’s what I’ve been waiting for a long time.”
Stair’s story is quite different. The 6-foot-6, 300-pound fifth-year senior started six games at left tackle in 2005 when Monroe was slow to recover from a knee injury but got sparse playing time last year, watching Albert move to left tackle when Monroe again was unable to play.
Stair got some publicity —and ignominy — two years ago when Groh commissioned a practice jersey that read “1 A Day” instead of the lineman’s usual No. 76 in response to the then-tackle’s habit of committing too many penalties.
“When I was young, I made mistakes like a lot of young players do,” Stair said. “It’s something I just used to learn from and grow from and put that behind me.”
Stair seems to have a sense of perspective. He’s played every position on the line except right guard. He’s a philosophy major (“Like Bruce Lee said, basically all I can do is think deep thoughts of being unemployed,” he quipped). And, most importantly, he knows his game.
He’s not Albert, a guard with such an outstanding ability to move and operate in space that he rocketed up NFL Draft boards last spring despite being an underclassman.
But Stair has a veteran’s savvy. He’s aware that guard requires less finesse and more of a smashmouth mentality, and he’s up for it.
“I feel like at guard you can just line up there and hit people and play football,” he said.
Saturday will be the trio’s first chance to show everybody that they can. The question that remains is: at what level?
“You can never really tell where you are until your first game,” Stair said. “So you just go out and prepare as best as you can and hope you play well.”
 

Revving up the Cavaliers’ offense
By Jay Jenkins
Published: August 27, 2008

Moments after Virginia’s embarrassing performance in a season-opening game at Pittsburgh in 2006, a member of Virginia’s offense placed the blame on his unit’s poor preseason preparation.
The offense, the player said, was in such shambles that it did little to prepare their defensive counterparts to face any opposition.
The misery lingered for weeks as the Cavaliers rotated quarterbacks early and won just two of its first seven games. The unit finished the year ranked 113th in the nation, bettering only six FBS programs in total offense.
Progress was made last year — albeit limited steps forward. With an improved ground game that ranked sixth in the ACC, the unit operated by offensive coordinator Mike Groh climbed 12 spots nationally in total offense.
The woeful numbers did garner Groh’s attention.
“I am aware of it, but ultimately our job is to score more points than the other team, and we have to do it with the personnel that we’ve got,” Groh said. “So, that’s what we try to do every year. You kind of start from the inside out and build your offense that way and whatever those guys can handle, that’s what you do, and you have to find a way to win despite.
“I think we were able to do that and overcome a lot of injuries last year and overcome some of the other things that other people might be more efficient at and still find ways to win games. And ultimately that’s what we are judged on.”
Despite their bottom-feeding status, Groh was correct — Virginia’s offense complimented a stout defense just enough to register nine wins and advance to the Gator Bowl.
With another season opener on the horizon Saturday against third-ranked Southern California, questions linger with unproven players manning the middle of the offensive line and the depth chart at quarterback unknown, but positive reviews trickled out of the most physical training camp in recent history.
“I think we are very happy with where our team is right now going into the first week,” said tight end John Phillips. “We worked really hard in training camp. We got a lot of things defined for us and we are trying to figure out who we are. I think we know who we are right now.
“We’re a tough team right now. We figured that out in training camp. We did a lot of things to make ourselves tough and real competitive right now. You have to have a physical camp when you have a great team like USC coming in here the first week.”
The onus, however, will not fall solely on the offense in the high-profile opener and beyond.
Much will be asked from a defense that must replace its entire defensive line, two defensive backs, a linebacker and an emotional defensive coordinator. The unit ranked
No. 19 last year in scoring defense and No. 23 in total defense, but returned only one of 11 interceptions for a touchdown and advanced only one fumble from the spot it was lost.
A new-look special teams unit, including a rookie placekicker and punter, will also be thrown into the spotlight. Virginia averaged only 19.8 yards per kickoff return last year and the ever-explosive punt returner Vic Hall amassed only 44 yards over his last 11 attempts.
Collectively, advancements must be made on the scoreboard to ensure Virginia provides head coach Al Groh with his sixth winning season in seven years.
“We are going to have to score more points,” the elder Groh said. “As well as we played on defense the last two seasons, as far as keeping the other team’s points down, the one thing that we have not accomplished that we wanted to was to score a lot on defense ourselves.
“So between defense and special teams, it is an objective of ours to raise our point producing in those two areas, as well as offensively.”


 

2008 UVa season analysis
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: August 27, 2008

Coming off last year’s surprising nine-win season, Gator Bowl appearance and an NCAA record of five wins by two points or fewer, University of Virginia football fans wonder what Coach Al Groh will do for an encore.

While the team’s schedule is tougher than last season’s, there are also only three opponents against whom Virginia will be listed as a definite underdog:

l powerhouse Southern California in the home opener Saturday;

l Clemson, preseason favorite of the Atlantic Division of the Atlantic Coast Conference; and

l perennial nemesis Virginia Tech, whom UVa will face in Blacksburg.

On paper, the Cavaliers compare favorably to the remaining nine opponents.

Wahoo reservations

What keeps Groh up at night are four lingering questions about this football team, spanning the operation from offense to defense to the kicking game.

Groh is a firm believer that the kicking game is as important as any part of a team. Breaking in a new punter (true freshman Jimmy Howell) and a new placement man, former All-ACC soccer star Yannick Reyering (a senior), could offer a challenge, particularly in the early going. Neither will have played a down of college football until the opener against the USC Trojans.

If that were the only part of the team that made Groh sweat, it would be more bearable. However, there’s the fact that the Wahoos will be breaking in a new starting quarterback, which usually provides many Pepto-Bismol moments.

Sophomore Peter Lalich, who goes by the nickname of “Pistol Pete,” should show early whether he is worthy of that moniker. While he gained exposure to the college game as a highly recruited true freshman last season, there’s no guarantee that Groh won’t have Lalich on a short leash. Just as a year ago,

the head coach has publicly stated that he is willing to go with a two-quarterback system until the matter sorts itself out. It is antici pated that Groh will go with whoever has the hot hand.

Then there are the offensive and defensive lines, providing headaches Nos. 3 and 4.

The old coaches will tell you that the game is controlled on the line of scrimmage, which so happens to be the greenest spot on Planet Wahoo. Counting the tight end, six of the nine starters on the two lines are gone via graduation or other matters.

Virginia will start with an entirely new defensive line in Groh’s 3-4 alignment, and fresh faces at both guards and center spots on offense.

Only the bookend tackles — Eugene Monroe and Will Barker — are back, along with John Phillips, the next in a line of quality Cavalier tight ends. While Phillips wasn’t a starter, the senior has garnered lots of playing time the past three seasons.

Unlocking ’08

Forget Southern Cal.

An unthinkable upset win would be an unexpected bonanza.

The real key to this season will be the next three games: a home date against Division I-AA semifinalist Richmond, then two crucial road games at Connecticut and at Duke.

Virginia must win at least two of those three contests, then depend on its home field advantage for a three-game homestand against Maryland, East Carolina and North Carolina. Should the Cavaliers fare well through that stretch they should have a shot at making their sixth bowl game during the Groh era.

Groh believes this will be an evolving team, which should play better as the season progresses. Winning close games, as last year (an NCAA record of five wins by two or fewer points), will likely depend on the new kickers and a quarterback who can make big plays in the clutch, especially on the road.

Strength in numbers

Groh has built this team around its two most proven producers offensively: tailbacks Cedric Peerman (fifth-year senior) and Mikell Simpson (sophomore), who together put up impressive numbers last year even though both only started for half a season.

Still, Peerman led the ACC in rushing midway through the campaign until a foot injury ended his season at Middle Tennessee State, and Simpson rushed for more than 500 yards and ranked ninth nationally in receptions by a running back even though most of those numbers came in only five games.

Whomever the quarterback might be, he will have plenty of targets. This is the deepest corps of receivers during the Groh regime, led by Kevin Ogletree, who missed last season with a knee injury. Don’t discount Phillips either. He’s a playmaking tight end and a big target.

Defensively, the numbers come from linebackers who have been around the block a few times: Clint Sintim on the outside, Jon Copper and Antonio Appleby on the inside. Together, the trio of hitters has stacked up a lot of tackles and quarterback sacks over the years, and that won’t hurt.

Groh-ing the program

This is Groh’s eighth year as Virginia’s head coach, which ties him for the third-longest tenure of anyone in the Cavaliers’ gridiron history. Frank Murray coached nine years, George Welsh 19 seasons. During that span, Groh has won ACC Coach of the Year honors twice and beaten every team in the ACC (at least once) except Boston College (the two teams have only met once), and taken the Cavaliers to five bowls (3-2).

Yet, Wahoo Nation appears divided in its allegiance to the veteran coach and UVa alumnus. Some believe Groh, given more time and support, will take the program ever higher. Others believe the program is stuck at a certain level and that its current master can’t raise the profile.

Last year’s second-place finish in the ACC Coastal Division, a 9-4 record and Gator Bowl appearance was somewhat unexpected. Some classified it as luck, but Groh should be given credit for early detection of a team that would have to win close, low-scoring games to survive and adjusting his coaching style (much like NFL games are won and lost) to take advantage of that characteristic.

Suffering a major loss in personnel (14 starters with a combined 378 career starts are gone), the Cavs are predicted to finish next-to-last in the division and most preseason magazines predict Virginia to finish between the 60th and 80th out of a total 119 Division I-A teams.

Groh answered critics last year when he was placed on a list of coaches on the “hot seat,” so that should have gained him some favor. At least for the last quarter century no one has been dismissed the season after winning ACC Coach of the Year.

There’s a strong belief that if Virginia can weather this storm the program could be set for some time because Groh’s redshirting policy should have a significant effect on future teams, and possibly this one.

However, a losing campaign this year would have the wolves howling for Groh’s head.

The Trojan horse(s)

Having Southern California’s football program coming to Charlottesville to open the season is a major scheduling coup.

The Trojans are making a rare trip to the East Coast, only the fifth in the past 20 years (others were at Florida State, or Penn State in the Kickoff Classic at the Meadowlands, and to FedEx Field in Landover, Md., vs. Virginia Tech in the 2004 Black Coaches Association Classic). Virginia will return the game to Los Angeles in 2010, a good recruiting lure for the Cavaliers.

How big is having USC come to Scott Stadium?

Consider that Coach Pete Carroll’s team, ranked third by the Associated Press and second in USA Today’s poll, is the highest ranked team to visit Charlottesville since 1999 when Bobby Bowden’s No. 1-ranked Florida State squad dropped by.

Speaking of Bowden’s Seminoles, many college football observers believe Carroll’s Trojans are this decade’s version of Bowden’s NCAA-declared “dynasty” of the ’90s, although as one veteran coach noted, “USC plays a tougher schedule than FSU did.”

Consider that Southern California has been to a record six consecutive Bowl Championship Series bowls (including national championships in 2003 and 2004) and has compiled six straight 11-win seasons, both NCAA records. The Trojans have also won a Pac-10 record six conference crowns in a row and have strung together six straight AP top four finishes.

 

U.Va. football preview
Posted to: College Football Sports
The Virginian-Pilot
© August 28, 2008

“Those guys are gone. They were great for us, but time moves on and we’ve moved on without them.” – Coach Al Groh on the players lost from 2007
U.VA. | Depleted Cavs still seeking respect

IMPACT PLAYERS

LT Eugene Monroe should be the next Virginia lineman to become an early-round NFL pick, following the likes of Elton Brown, D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Branden Albert. His job this season is to protect the blind side of whichever quarterback Groh settles on.

OLB Clint Sintim is a perfect fit in Virginia’s 3-4 defense. More than just a speed rusher, at 6-foot-3 and 250 pounds Sintim is powerful enough to take on blockers at the line of scrimmage and skilled enough to stay with running backs and tight ends in pass coverage.

RB Cedric Peerman was leading the ACC in rushing when he went down with a foot injury last season. That gave Mikell Simpson a chance to shine – and he did. Now Peerman and Simpson give Virginia one of the best 1-2 tandems in the ACC.

RISING STAR

WR Kevin Ogletree caught 52 passes in 2006 before missing last year with a knee injury. Healthy again, Ogletree gives the Cavaliers the breakaway threat they lacked a year ago.

Asked about his team being picked to finish fifth in the ACC’s Coastal Division , Virginia coach Al Groh sounded a bit like the late Rodney Dangerfield.

“Our team probably continues to labor to get much respect in this conference,” he said.

Virginia won nine games last year, cracked the top 25 and played in a New Year’s Day bowl. But the Cavaliers were one of the least-dominant nine-win teams you’ll ever see, eking out five games by two points or fewer. And any sense of momentum created by last year’s success vanished in the offseason after a rash of departures by key players who had been expected back.

PREDICTION

6-6 overall, 3-5 ACC
It’s hard to envision all the close games that went Virginia’s way in 2007 breaking its way for a second straight season, especially with questions at quarterback. While the offense should have more playmakers, the defense won’t be able to apply the same level of pressure up front, putting more heat on the secondary. The schedule is relentless, although playing seven home games helps.
Gone due to academic problems are Jameel Sewell, who seemed ready for a breakout season at quarterback; Jeffrey Fitzgerald, a disruptive force at defensive end; and Chris Cook, the team’s most experienced cornerback. Also gone: guard Branden Albert, who opted to enter the NFL draft . All were potential all-ACC players.

What’s left? Fewer returning starters (10) than any other team in the ACC. No experienced quarterback or kickers. Holes in the offensive and defensive lines.

Small wonder the Cavaliers are getting little love from the prognosticators. But players say the resiliency that helped them win so many close games in 2007 also carried them through the tough times in the offseason – and could make them a potential surprise team again this year.

“Last year, we were a team that tried to battle to get to the last couple minutes of the game, then try to win it,” tight end John Phillips said. “That’s the team we had and we recognized that. Hopefully, that’ll carry over to this year and we can win some games at the end.”

Virginia won last year without much offensive juice. That could change this season. While Groh has yet to settle on a quarterback, the Cavaliers are loaded at the other skill positions. Cedric Peerman and Mikell Simpson form one of the league’s best running back duos and the return of Kevin Ogletree from a knee injury makes the receiving corps the deepest of Groh’s eight-year tenure.

The defense will be led by three senior linebackers – a departure from the past few years, when Fitzgerald and Chris Long controlled things up front.

With so many new faces on both sides of the ball, once again, if the Cavaliers want respect, they’ll have to earn it.

 

Why I Dig Sean Singletary
Posted By: Adam Beechen
August 26, 2008 3:30 PM

The Suns acquired rookie point guard Sean Singletary from the Rockets in a trade for D.J. Strawberry. Here’s why I like the addition, reasons listed alphabetically:

A – as in Assists. Sean’s a true point guard, raised in a city known for their great point guards, Philadelphia. He’s been running offenses since he picked up a basketball. He knows how to find guys on the court, and he’s not scared of going to the basket, taking punishment, and dishing off. For all his many gifts, D.J. just wasn’t going to become a real point guard. Now the Suns have real depth at the position, which will come in handy as Goran Dragic learns the NBA way. Yes, Singletary is unproven in the league as well, but he’s played against NBA talent during college and in the off-seasons – and done well.

B – as in Best, as in Singletary played in the best college basketball conference in the country, the ACC (so did D.J., by the way). He ran his team against Duke and North Carolina four times a year. He knows pressure atmospheres and hostile crowds – it doesn’t get any rougher than playing on those teams’ home floors…in college or in the pros.

C – as in Courage. Singletary is not a big guy – he’s six feet tall. But he’ll throw his body into the paint and go chest-to-chest on defense. Whatever it takes. He doesn’t use his size as an excuse…Instead, he maximizes his quickness.

D – stands for both Defense and Distribution. Sean knows he’s not in Phoenix to score points. In fact, being a point guard, he’s probably salivating at all the weapons he’ll have a chance to feed. I myself am having giddy visions of Singletary-to-Barnes alley-oops off the break. But when Singletary improves his field-goal percentage, and he has quite a bit already, he’ll be that much more dangerous a weapon. In the meantime, he’ll content himself to be a pest on D, troubling opponents’ bench PGs and generating turnovers to lead to those drool-worthy alley-oops.

E – Energy, energy, energy. The Suns’ bench is now complete, and their second unit should provide the electricity the Suns need to maintain their position when Nash, Shaq, STAT and the gang take their breaks. It’s a crew of young, hungry, smart guys who know their roles…exactly what you want a bench to be.

F – Finance. Swapping D.J. for Sean doesn’t save the Suns a ton of money, but it does save them some, and that’s important, and they got a player of equal or better quality in return.

Is Sean Singletary going to see a ton of minutes? No. Is he going to learn a ton and be ready to contribute if and when he’s needed? You bet. Are the Suns going to be happy they did this deal? I definitely think so. And I think Suns fans will be happy also.

 

Mikalauskas finished at Virginia
By Whitey Reid
Published: August 27, 2008

On Wednesday, former Virginia forward Lars Mikalauskas told The Daily Progress that he has given up hope of returning to the program.
Mikalauskas, kicked off the team by coach Dave Leitao last week, will be holding a press conference today at the Blue Ridge School at 3 p.m. The
6-foot-8 forward, nicknamed “The Pride of Lithuania,” plans to address his abrupt dismissal from the team and his future plans.
Mikalauskas, who was expected to be the team’s starting center this season, said the event is open to the public.
“Everything just happened so fast that I never had the chance to say goodbye to so many of the people who have helped me during my three years here, including the fans,” said Mikalauskas, whose return from a shoulder injury spurred a late-season resurgence last year. “I would like to have that chance [today].”
Mikalauskas, who lost his grades-related appeal to the university on Tuesday, didn’t want to address the circumstances leading to his dismissal, other than to reiterate that he was entirely to blame.
“I’m at fault for everything that has happened to me,” Mikalauskas said. “I had a lot of chances. I hate the decision that coach came to but it’s one I have to deal with and learn from.”
Mikalauskas said he was wrapping up a family vacation in Lithuania when he received a phone call from Leitao last Sunday night telling him that his scholarship wasn’t going to be renewed.
According to Mikalauskas, a strong group of friends and family support has kept his spirits up since his dismissal.
Mikalauskas refused to divulge his future plans. However, he said he hopes to return to Virginia after his expected academic suspension is lifted next summer and complete his degree in anthropology.
That would lead one to believe that transferring to another college isn’t in the cards.
“Everyone will know what I am doing after the press conference,” Mikalauskas said.
Dunks
With the dismissal of Mikalauskas, Mike Scott doesn’t expect his role to change next season. “I expect to be at the ‘4’ a lot,” Scott said. “I still have a feel for rebounding and scoring in the post. I don’t think that’s ever going to go away.”… Scott on Mikalauskas leaving: “I was shocked. I had called Lars, but I think he was talking with his family, but I was pretty shocked. Good luck to him in the future, whatever happens.” Not surprisingly, Leitao would not say whether Calvin Baker would be receiving the scholarship that became available with Mikalauskas’ departure. “It’s an ongoing process, like anything else. When we talked about Tunji way back when, I said that it was a process that had a lot of different turns to it and it took its course and a long time. It’s not automatic when a scholarship becomes available. There’s a host of things which are best kept internal — and none of them are negative —that gets one to the point where we can give it out.”

 

It is too early to talk basketball?
Jeff White
Aug 27, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The list of left-handed basketball players who have distinguished themselves in the modern era at U.Va. isn’t an especially long one. You have John Crotty and Travis Watson, of course, and Tim Mullen and Ted Jeffries and Jim Hobgood. Willie Dersch, Laurynas Mikalauskas and Adrian Joseph had their moments, too, and let’s not forget the indomitable J.C. Mathis.

Though technically right-handed, Mathis must be an honorary member of any such list for his trademark pump-fake-and-dribble-drive move from the left wing that often resulted in shots that shook the backboards at U-Hall.

So where will the newest lefty at U.Va., center Assane Sene, rank on the list? It’s too early to tell, but the 7-0, 225-pound freshman from Senegal, who chose U.Va. over Connecticut and Syracuse, is an intriguing prospect.

Virginia coach Dave Leitao, whose team leaves Friday for three exhibition games in Montreal, opened the final 45 minutes of practice to the media Tuesday afternoon. That was the first day the Cavaliers’ freshmen – Sene, 6-11 John Brandenburg and 6-5 Sylven Landesberg – were allowed to practice with the team, and it was interesting to finally get a look at the big men on whose development Leitao’s hopes of achieving long-term success at Virginia may hinge.

Brandenburg and Sene are lean and athletic. They’re also raw offensively. Still, they’re clearly two of the better low-post prospects to enter U.Va. in the past past decade.

Sene impressed with “his length and how hard he plays,” Leitao said, and I’m told the Senegal native has a good chance of cracking the rotation early. But Leitao stressed after practice that “it takes time” for first-year big men to develop.

“They’re going to be a play or a step behind just about everything,” he said. “They’re going to be a referee’s nightmare. They’re going to get in foul trouble. They’re going to forget things. They’re not going slide over quick enough. All those things ... They’re not going to score as well as they will [when they’re older].”

After overseeing an intense session of five-on-five work, Leitao sent sophomore guard Jeff Jones to the foul line Tuesday. Had Jones hit both ends of the one-and-one, practice would have ended then and there. But after making the first, Jones missed the second, and he and his teammates had to sprint up the court and back.

Leitao then turned to Sene, and it seemed likely that another wind sprint would soon follow.

At the Nike Global Challenge this month, Sene played for Senegal in a tournament that also included three teams from the United States and one each from Canada, Lithuania, Puerto Rico and Serbia. In three games in Oregon, he shot 5 for 13 from the line, but Tuesday afternoon he looked the picture of confidence in the practice gym at John Paul Jones Arena. Sene sank both free throws, and his teammates cheered the end of their second and final practice of the day.

Also in the gym Tuesday, dribbling and shooting by himself on the side, was senior swingman Mamadi Diane, the team’s top returning scorer. Diane had surgery on his left foot June 16 and won’t play in Montreal this weekend. But he’s recovering well, Leitao said, and should be ready for the season.

“He’s pretty much on schedule,” Leitao said. “I believe we’re on the ninth week or so, eighth or ninth week. And he’s walking without a limp. He’s doing some exercises, but it’s going to be ... probably the end of next week he’ll start to jog on it. And it’ll probably be either the week of or the week before we start practice [in October] before his motor really starts going.

“And so he’ll probably start practice a tad bit limited, but one thing about Mo that I think has helped him in the three years he’s been here is that conditioning has not been a problem for him. I think his basketball timing and confidence and all that is going to have to come back. Fortunately we’ll have a few weeks to get that organized and situated in that time of the year before we really get started with games.”