Numbers suggest UVa victory wasn't just luck

Unsportsmanlike penalty prompted Groh apology

When Virginia upset 21st-ranked South Carolina last week, most accounts -- mine included -- emphasized seven Gamecock turnovers, six of them fumbles.

If the turnovers had been even and the kicking game had been a wash, I'm not sure that Virginia still wouldn't have beaten the Gamecocks.

Although three of UVa's touchdowns followed South Carolina fumbles, one of the turnovers was on a Gamecocks possession that lasted maybe two seconds: Langston Moore's fumble after an interception.

One reason the Cavaliers got the ball at the South Carolina 8-yard line was the fact they already had driven from their 26-yard line to the Gamecocks' 8.

That turnover resulted in the go-ahead touchdown; then, moments later, UVa scored its last touchdown after recovering a Corey Jenkins' fumble at the Gamecocks' 20.

What few of us failed to mention was that South Carolina faced a third-and-14 from its 21 and would have given up possession anyway.

South Carolina's three touchdowns came on a 95-yard punt return, a 52-yard drive that included a UVa holding penalty that nullified a South Carolina incompletion on third-and-7 and a 60-yard drive that included back-to-back UVa penalties totalling 30 yards.

When it wasn't making mistakes, South Carolina wasn't exactly moving the ball -- 262 yards total, including 4.4 yards per play. Virginia had 13 more plays, 72-59, but also had more yards per play, 4.7.

(The Cavaliers had 339 total yards, which doesn't account for 34 points on most nights.)

A significant statistic that I didn't use and haven't seen elsewhere: South Carolina did not have a play of more than 18 yards (a scramble by Jenkins). Tailback Andrew Pinnock did not rush for more than 9 yards on any of his 13 carries.

Pinnock (6-0, 252) is hailed in the South Carolina media guide as an All-American, All-Southeastern Conference and Doak Walker Award Candidate. I wonder, if troubled ex-Gamecocks running back Derek Watson were still around, if Pinnock might not be playing some fullback.

Pinnock scored 12 touchdowns last year and obviously is hard to bring down in short-yardage situations, but it's hard to mention him in the same breath as Greg Jones, a 6-1, 248-pound native South Carolinian who rushed for 173 yards for Florida State in a 40-19 win over Virginia one week earlier.

Either Pinnock couldn't get to the corner or Virginia deserves credit for protecting its flanks, where the Cavaliers have been so vulnerable over the past two seasons. The Cavaliers remain undefeated (5-0) under head coach Al Groh when not yielding a 100-yard rushing game by an opposing back; otherwise, they are 1-9.

It will be interesting to see what South Carolina does the rest of the year, starting with visiting Georgia this week. There might be some dropoff for a team that had won 18 of its previous 25 games before Saturday night, but, unless it's a whole lot, it's still a good win for Groh and Co.

IF VIRGINIA HAD LOST the game, a lot more would have been made about an unsportsmanlike penalty on Groh, which followed an interference call against cornerback Art Thomas that nullified an apparent interception by Shernard Newby.

South Carolina, facing a third-and-5 from its 45, wound up with a first down at the Cavaliers' 25. The Gamecocks scored seven plays later to take a 14-7 lead.

Groh said he apologized to his team afterwards.

"I shouldn't have done that," he said. "As I was trying to tell the [official], 'I think I know a little bit about pass coverage and pass defense.' Just a little bit over the years. Sometimes, the people who only do it part-time are trying to teach us what the game is about."

Groh said later that cornerback Jermaine Hardy used poor technique on an interference call that gave South Carolina second life on a third-and-7 early in the fourth quarter, but he did not change his opinion of the Thomas interference after watching it on film.

"Both that call and the interference that was charged against South Carolina [on the next possession] looked on the tape the same as they did on the field," said Groh, intimating that the Cavaliers might have gotten the benefit of the second call.

While there had been pregame discussion of Hardy starting in place of Jamaine Winborne, Groh instead made a change at the other cornerback spot, where Muffin Curry started ahead of Art Thomas. Winborne played more than any of the four, 51 plays; followed by Curry, 44; Hardy, 33, and Thomas, six.

It was thought that Thomas had distanced himself from the other cornerbacks after a game-turning fumble return against Penn State in the final game of the 2001 season and an interception return for a touchdown in the spring game. However, he was the victim of a long touchdown pass against Colorado State and lost his starting job after the Florida State game.

THE WORD ON SHERAY THOMAS' visit to Charlottesville last weekend was that it turned out as well as could be expected for all parties, with Thomas leaving Virginia with the scholarship offer he did not have upon his arrival.

The UVa men's basketball staff had anticipated it would make a scholarship offer to Thomas, a 6-8 forward from Montreal by way of Riverdale Baptist in Upper Marlboro, Md. Thomas was considered a "sleeper" after a hand injury kept him inactive during much of the July recruiting period.

This weekend, the Cavaliers were to have entertained 6-4 Gary Forbes from Brooklyn, N.Y., but Forbes had a conflict and is in the process of re-scheduling his visit. UVa has visits upcoming from 6-8 Luol Deng from Blairstown, N.J., and 6-8 Terrance Roberts from Jersey City, N.J.

Deng is rated the No. 2 or 3 prospect in the country behind Lebron James by most analysts. The Cavaliers also were involved with 6-7 Omari Isreal from Wheaton, Md., before he committed to Notre Dame but had some questions about Isreal's shooting range, a heightened priority in recruiting. Isreal comes from the same Good Counsel program that produced two-time UVa leading scorer Roger Mason, who passed up his final season of eligibility and was selected by Chicago in the second round of the NBA Draft.

I've taken a look at my schedule for the next few weeks and I'm prepared to say that Salem linebacker Austin Casey might be the best high-school player I see this year.

After covering games virtually every Friday night in 2001, it looks like I will be in the office for the foreseeable future, taking games over the phone, which has been more my history in 29 years at The Roanoke Times.

It does not appear that this will be a banner year for prospects in the Timesland area, but I suspect we'll be hearing more from Casey, a 6-foot-1, 198-pound junior who caused two safeties in the Spartans' 25-10 victory at Cave Spring.

Casey also scored a touchdown on a 26-yard run, although Salem's principal ball-carrier was Andre Hairston, a 5-8, 163-pound sophomore who overcame a slow start to rush for 105 yards.

Hairston has the breakaway speed to play at a higher level, particularly if he gets a little bigger, but Casey already has the frame that could make him a Division I-A prospect in another year.

Casey comes by that size naturally, as the son of one-time Pulaski County standout Rickie Casey, who lettered for Virginia Tech as a defensive tackle in 1975. Austin Casey said that his father played only one year for the Hokies.

Casey was a fullback and defensive end for Salem last year, but it's no surprise the Spartans moved him to linebacker, where his quickness enabled him to shoot the center-guard gap on both of his safeties.

NO SOONER DID I WRITE in last week's column that Vienna resident Omar Hashish had transferred to DeMatha in Hyattsville, Md., than I read in The Washington Post that Hashish had changed his mind and returned to Madison High School in Vienna.

Hashish, a 6-3, 235-pound defensive end and fullback, was the leading tackler for a Madison team that reached the Group AAA Division 5 championship game. College scouts say Hashish merits consideration among the top 25 prospects in the state.

ONE PLAYER WHO HAS disappeared from lists of the top football prospects in the state is Vern Hamilton, a 6-foot wide receiver from Benedictine High School in Richmond who was rated seventh among the state's top juniors last year at Christmas.

Hamilton, big-play target of 2002 Florida signee Patrick Dosh, returned to the Benedinctine football team for his senior year but reportedly has made an oral commitment to play basketball for Clemson.

While it's not surprising that Hamilton chose basketball, the sport in which he first came to statewide prominence during his freshman and sophomore years at Thomas Dale in Chester, there had been little indication that a commitment to Clemson was imminent.

There had been some speculation that Hamilton might wind up at West Virginia and rejoin former Benedictine teammate Patrick Beilein, a one-time Richmond recruit who ended up at WVU when his father, ex-Spiders coach John Beilein, became the Mountaineers' head coach.

HERMITAGE HIGH SCHOOL football coach Patrick Kane confirmed that 6-5, 210-pound wide receiver Fontel Mines is leaning to Virginia and was close to making a commitment before Kane spoke of the need to attend at least one game at each of the state's Division I-A schools.

Mines was at the Cavaliers' game with South Carolina -- not officially, as once reported and maybe intended -- and may not take any official visits before committing. Kane said he would like Mines to go to a game at Virginia Tech before going public with his choice.

Kane said that Virginia has not offered a scholarship to 6-5, 250-pound Hermitage tight end Duane Brown, although there clearly is some mutual interest. Brown was at the Cavaliers' summer camp, with Mines, and both were at the UVa-South Carolina game.

"We're not disappointed; we feel he has four very good choices," said Kane, who notes that Brown has offers from Virginia Tech, Maryland, Northwestern and Richmond.

The Cavaliers like Brown's versatility but may be treading slowly while they are still involved with Jonathan Stupar, a 6-5, 245-pounder from State College, Pa., who is rated the nation's No. 3 tight end by SuperPrep. Stupar took an official visit to UVa last weekend.

Virginia Tech, which has used four underclassmen at tight end, is in a similar situation to Virginia, which has gotten good play so far from sophomore Patrick Estes and Heath Miller.

The Hokies already have a commitment from SuperPrep All-America tight end John Kinzer, as well as Nick Marshman, who is projected as an offensive tackle but plays tight end at Turner Ashby. There is another good tight-end prospect in the state, Justin Bell, but how many tight ends can the Hokies and Wahoos take?