Schaub almost ready for UVa

By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

When given a chance Thursday to declare a starting quarterback for Virginia’s football game Thursday with Wake Forest, UVa coach Al Groh withheld judgment.

That was the surest sign yet that senior Matt Schaub is physically ready to play.

"Matt and Marques [Hagans] have both worked this week," said Groh on his weekly Thursday teleconference. "Matt's progress has been very positive. I think we need to see another practice to decide just how much he can go and what he can do.

"He's moving into the circumstance [where] there's a very good chance he will be ready to play in the game. We'll have to see what today brings. I had decided early in the week that we weren’t going to jump any one-day conclusion, whether it was 'he's in' or 'he's out.' "

Schaub, the 2002 ACC Player of the Year, suffered a separated right (throwing) shoulder on the first series of the Cavaliers’ opening game Aug. 30 against Duke.

Redshirt freshman Anthony Martinez replaced Schaub in that game and went the distance at quarterback Sept. 7 at South Carolina, where the Cavaliers lost 31-7.

Martinez was replaced one week later by sophomore Marques Hagans, who led the Cavaliers to a 59-16 victory over Western Michigan only five days after moving from wide receiver.Schaub was floating 25-yard spirals in pre-game warmups before the Western Michigan game. That was two weeks ago.
"We didn't see him at all last week," said Groh, referring to the Cavaliers' open date Sept. 20. "It's not just being able to throw it. It's his velocity, his range, the stability of the joint against contact that we want to take all three days [of practice] to see."
Groh does not have a no-contact policy for his quarterbacks, but the Cavaliers also do not tackle players to the ground, a practice intended to reduce the chance of injury.
"He won't get hit any more than the normal bumping and banging that occurs on in practice," Groh continued. "If somebody runs into him, they run into him. Unless there's an assassin out there or a saboteur, that probably won't occur."
Groh has repeatedly rejected the notion that he might start Hagans, see how things progress, and hold Schaub available for an emergency while hoping for another week of rest and rehabilitation. When Schaub is ready, Groh has maintained, he will play.
"We want to be really sure with this thing," Groh admitted Wednesday on the ACC teleconference. "Matt and I have spoken about this: We don’t want to have a circumstance where, after having four weeks invested in his rehabilitation, that we have to start all over."

GROH, A PRODUCT of UVa's McIntire School of Business, may need a refresher course in American History after his comments Monday about Nathan Hale.
Groh, reacting to a question about UVa students allegedly selling tickets to Virginia Tech fans on Ebay, said it was appropriate the question was posed on the anniversary of the hanging of Nathan Hale for being a traitor.
It was Bill Kelliher, a Virginia Tech fan from Seattle, who first suggested to me that Groh might have been confusing Hale with Benedict Arnold.
As a history major who had placed out of freshman American History in college, I found myself wondering about Groh's analogy until I looked up Hale in an almanac, where he was described as "a British spy."
Hale was a spy, I've since found out, but he was a spy for the American troops fighting for their independence from the British. When captured and asked for his final words, Hale uttered, "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."
 

GROH WAS REMINDED Thursday that he has two Hales on his team -- two David Hales, in fact. One is a defensive back from Pulaski County and the other a linebacker from McLean.
"It was the guy on the radio who had it confused," Groh said Thursday. "I was just saying what he said. Although it might be technically accurate [that Hale was a spy], the context in which I offered it was not.
"Let's just say it was Benedict Arnold that I was talking about. Even though we have a 'no-excuse' mentality, I was just parroting what the guy on the radio at 5 o'clock in the morning said, which goes to show, you shouldn't believe anything you hear on the radio at 5 o'clock in the morning."

ON THE PERSONNEL FRONT: Groh said he had lost touch of Sean Johnson, a promising punter who left school after the second semester of 2002, with plans to return after a two-year Mormon mission. Johnson stayed in touch with special-teams coach Corwin Brown during the 2002-2003 school year but Groh said he would seek updated information.
Groh said that fullback Danny Prentice has withdrawn from school for personal and health reasons. Prentice was offered a scholarship by UVa on the eve of the signing day last winter and was the biggest surprise on a list of signees released by the school.
Prentice's departure leaves the Cavaliers with 81 scholarship players, including five walk-ons who were awarded grants prior to the school year. That number includes Kenneth Tynes, a 2002 signee who remains in school but is not practicing for disciplinary reasons not disclosed by Groh.
It had been speculated that Tynes' suspension would last three games, but "Tynes' situation hasn't changed," Groh said Thursday.

THE RESULTS OF last week's poll, which drew more than 215 respondents, showed that 44 percent believe that Chris Olsen, a transfer from Notre Dame, will start at quarterback next season. Hagans was next with 33 percent, followed by Martinez (13 percent) and Kevin McCabe (9 percent).
What nobody can answer, with the possible exception of Tyrone Willingham, is whether Olsen would be starting for Notre Dame now if he had remained with the Irish.

Conflict solved for Snellings
Focus now on son with VMI
BY JOHN PACKETT
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Sep 25, 2003

The Snelling family doesn't have to worry about which college football games to attend this fall.

Last season, there was usually some discussion about where to go because T.J. Snelling was a junior slotback at Virginia Military Institute and younger brother, Jason, was a freshman fullback at the Univer- sity of Virginia, where he caught 31 passes (four for touchdowns).

Jason is redshirting this season because of an undisclosed medical condition, so the Snellings are free to attend all of T.J.'s games.

"It was disappointing because he had such a phenomenal season last year, and this year we were expecting big things from both teams, so our parents would have had difficulty coming to both games," T.J. Snelling said. "But I think it's better for him to wait out this year because he'll have more years of eligibility and they can see him play.

"My parents will get to see more of my games now. Jason is going to be OK. He'll be 100 percent when he comes back next year."

Because he's sitting out, Jason also has watched two of Snelling's games this season, including last Saturday when T.J. rushed for 76 yards and one touchdown and caught two passes in the Keydets' 34-9 victory over Norfolk State.

For the season, Snelling is VMI's leading pass receiver (15 catches for 178 yards) and second-leading rusher (225 yards on 37 carries for 6.1-yard average). The senior from Chester is also averaging 25.6 yards on five kickoff returns.

"T.J. is one of those guys that if you don't watch yourself, you take him for granted," VMI coach Cal McCombs said. "He can run. He can catch passes. He can run with the ball after he catches it. He does everything you ask him to do in practice. Academically, he's always on top of everything.

"He's probably one of our most complete players because he can do so many things. If we needed him to, he could play defensive back."

In all-purpose yardage, Snelling is second on the team to running back Sean Mizzer with an average of 132.8 yards a game.

The slotback position is a cross between a running back and wide receiver, with the player lining up in the slot.

"I'll get more receiving yards than rushing yards at my position," said the 6-2 205-pounder. "We have to block a lot on the perimeter. We do a variety of things. I've been fortunate to get the ball a lot. Keeping people honest off Mizzer and Titus [Green]. It's been working real well for us this year. I'm real happy with it."

A former star for L.C. Bird High, Snelling was second on the team in catches (37) last season for 408 yards and three TDs, while rushing for 416 yards and five TDs.

"The coaches made the decision when I got here," Snelling said. "They realized I have good hands, so they put me at that position. Running the ball is a little more natural because that's what I did in high school, but I've gotten used to playing the receiver role. I like running the ball a lot better but I'm doing what I do for the team.

"The offensive line, guys like Sam Brown and Jeremy Ward, have done a really good job blocking. They make it easy for us."

As Snelling does when he carries out any job for VMI. "I'm sure glad we have him on our team," McCombs said.

 

Coaches question ACC divisional play
DAVID DROSCHAK
Associated Press

Atlantic Coast Conference officials and administrators may vote next week on divisional play for football when Miami and Virginia Tech join the league in 2004.

While most of the ACC coaches say Florida State and Miami should be in opposite divisions, some believe there are problems trying to split up an odd number of teams.

The addition of the two Big East schools will leave the ACC with 11 teams, likely creating a six- and five-team division if the league is granted permission by the NCAA to stage a playoff game.

"While I am an advocate of a conference playoff I am only an advocate of that if there are two six-team divisions," Virginia coach Al Groh said Wednesday. "If you have a five and a six it's just out of whack.

"If we're going to have a playoff I would prefer to do it the right way. If that means we have to get moving to get a 12th member, then that's what I would prefer."

Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe sides with Groh. Grobe was a former coach in the Mid-American Conference when that league divided 13 teams into two divisions.

He said it was a mess.

"Every year we spent more time in the press talking about the odd number of teams and how it was unfair to some teams and an advantage to other teams that we didn't much about football in the Mid-American Conference," Grobe said.

---

BUNTING BUST: North Carolina coach John Bunting will see defensive back A.J. Davis on the field for the first time since losing the prep star to N.C. State on the morning of signing day two years ago.

Davis didn't play in last year's game in Chapel Hill because of a broken leg suffered in the preseason.

Bunting said all coaches lose high school players on signing day, but the loss of Davis still stings.

"Losing one at such a late date to a rival was even more hurtful as far as the feeling in your gut," Bunting said.

"I don't like losing in recruiting. I detest it," Bunting said. "The lesson was we've got to work harder, we've got to do a better job as a coaching staff and we made some changes."

Davis, from nearby Durham, had an interception two weeks ago at Ohio State and played in a season-high 60 plays last Saturday in a win over Texas Tech.

"For me, it was over on signing day, and I think everybody involved understood. Then the media got ahold of it, and it got blown out of proportion," Davis said.

---

MAC ATTACK: One coach who isn't surprised by the recent success of the Mid-American Conference in some big matchups is Wake Forest's Jim Grobe.

Grobe was the head man at Ohio University for six seasons before taking over the Demon Deacons in 2001.

He said he's known for years schools like Northern Illinois, Marshall, Bowling Green and Toledo are capable of competing against top 25 teams.

"I'll just flat tell you there's not a better coached league in America than the Mid-American Conference," Grobe said. "When you play those guys you better have your kids coached up because they're going to do a great job with the Xs and Os."

Grobe said it's interesting to see how the talent in the MAC is now being spread out.

"They've always had great wins every year outside the conference, but it's usually been by one or two teams," he said. "They are now a league that is not just showcasing one or two teams. There are four, five, six teams in that league that are powerful football schools."

---

CLARETT CAUTION: Two former NFL head coaches now in the ACC would pass on Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett if they were still in the pros.

The suspended tailback sued the NFL on Tuesday, asking a judge to throw out a rule that prevents him from entering the draft until he has been out of high school for three years.

Clarett was suspended from the team for at least a year after an investigation determined he broke NCAA bylaws concerning benefits for athletes and lied to investigators.

"It would be a hard sell to me," said Al Groh, former coach of the New York Jets who now heads up Virginia's program. "One of the things that is tremendously important on any team, particularly in that league, is dependability.

"Coaches and general managers can get seduced by physical skills. But it's not just physical skill that translates into game performance. Dependability is a big part of it."

Georgia Tech's Chan Gailey, the former coach of the Dallas Cowboys, said he too would have a difficult time seeing Clarett as a first-round pick.

"Having been there, there is a responsibility issue that would have to be addressed to somebody you are going to give millions of dollars to up front," Gailey said.

---

DEPRESSING DUKE: As one of the nation's powerhouses, No. 6 Florida State is accustomed to playing in front of big crowds.

There is one exception: Duke.

The Seminoles head to Durham this weekend knowing the stands will likely be half empty at Wallace-Wade Stadium. The Blue Devils (2-2) are averaging just 19,302 in three homes games in 2003, about 4,000 fewer than last year.

"I feel sorry for Duke," FSU coach Bobby Bowden said. "You go there and you might have more people than they do if you bring your band. I feel for them on that.

"It is a different atmosphere," Bowden added. "I alert my players to that and tell them that's the way it's going to be up there. It works in favor of the other team rather than the home team."
 

ACC considers other expansion options
From staff, wire service reports
Published September 25, 2003

The Atlantic Coast Conference learned that the NCAA has informally rejected its request to play a football championship game in 2004, Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips told the Anderson (S.C.) Independent-Mail.

To hold a championship game, the NCAA requires conferences to have a minimum of 12 teams.

Next season, with the addition of Miami and Virginia Tech, the ACC will have 11 teams. Conference commissioner John Swofford filed an appeal with the NCAA in July, asking that leagues with 10 teams be allowed to hold a title game.

The conference learned on Tuesday that the NCAA's championship committee was learning toward not granting the waiver.

Needing a 12th team, the ACC is again talking with Notre Dame, according to a report published in Wednesday's Charlotte (N.C.) Observer.

Swofford has presented two plans to the Irish that would have them join as partial members as early as next season in every sport but football as long as they:

Schedule at least three football games each season against ACC teams.

More important, Notre Dame would have to become a full-time member within the next 10 years.

Notre Dame is a member of the Big East in all sports, except football, where it is an independent. It has an exclusive TV contract with NBC, and is a member of the BCS, which decides college football's national championship.

Notre Dame may consider the ACC's latest flirtation for two reasons: Its TV contract expires after the 2005 season, the same year the Bowl Championship Series contract is up.

If Notre Dame doesn't join a conference, it risks being left out of the next national championship plan.

According to the Observer, Swofford has support of ACC presidents to pursue Notre Dame exclusively.

Besides missing out on the multi-million dollar profit a football championship game provides, the ACC has other issues with staying an 11-team league. With an odd number of teams, the possibility exists that multiple teams could tie for the championship.

That would leave the BCS ratings to decide the conference's automatic representative in one of the four games.  ACC athletic directors are meeting Tuesday in Charlottesville to discuss if the conference should split into five-
team and six-team divisions.

Report: ACC denied on ’04 title game
NCAA requires 12th school for football championship
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Kevin Van Valkenburg
Sun Staff
Originally published September 25, 2003

COLLEGE PARK - The NCAA reportedly has informally rejected the Atlantic Coast Conference's request to stage a football conference championship game with 11 teams in 2004, which may again send the league searching for a 12th school.

The NCAA requires that conferences have at least 12 teams to hold a championship game, but in July the ACC applied for a waiver, asking that leagues with at least 10 teams be eligible, as well. A conference championship game could bring an estimated $10 million in additional revenue for the league.

In a conversation with the Anderson (S.C.) Independent-Mail, Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips said that schools were told the championship committee would likely not grant an exception for the league. A formal vote by the NCAA's management council is expected to take place in April.

"We got back word that the championship committee was overwhelmingly against waiving the current rule," Phillips said. "Now I haven't seen anything in writing on that. I think [adding a 12th team] would be where we need to go, if, in fact, we want the championship game."

Maryland athletic director Debbie Yow was not available for comment last night.

Phillips said he knows of no ongoing discussions that the league is having in trying to court a 12th member. "I think people continue to have affinity [for Boston College]," he said. "I don't know how they feel about us after what's happened."

The ACC originally tried to expand to 12 teams this summer, hoping to join the SEC, the Big 12, and the Mid-American conferences in holding a championship game. The league seemed poised to add Miami, Syracuse, and Boston College, despite the objections of Duke and North Carolina, but because of its loyalty to Virginia Tech, Virginia decided to vote against the proposal. League presidents voted only to accept Miami and Virginia Tech, leaving an odd number of teams.

Without an even number, every school can't play one another, meaning that without a title game, multiple teams could tie for first place. In that occurrence, the ACC would most-likely use the Bowl Championship Series rankings to determine which team would get the league's automatic bid in one of the four major bowl games.

ACC officials and administrators will meet next week in Charlottesville, Va., and could vote on scheduling for both football and basketball for the 2004 season. Miami and Virginia Tech's addition will affect the basketball scheduling, because the league reportedly wants to stick with a 16-game conference schedule, and letting every school play one another twice would require 20 league games.

Meanwhile, The Charlotte Observer reported that the ACC may be attempting to persuade Notre Dame to join the league as a partial member in football for the next two years, with the understanding that the school would become a full-time member in the next decade.
 

Next on ACC's list: Notre Dame
By GREGG DOYEL : Knight Ridder
Sep 25, 2003 : 12:00 am ET

RALEIGH -- The ACC is having discussions with Notre Dame about becoming the league's 12th member, with concessions to allay the school's concern about giving up its lucrative independent status in football in the near future.

Sources inside and outside the league told the Charlotte Observer that ACC commissioner John Swofford has expressed a willingness to have the Fighting Irish join the ACC as a partial member within the next year or two.

Two options under discussion have Notre Dame becoming a full member in all sports but football, as long as the Fighting Irish:

-- Schedule a certain number of football games -- at least three each season -- against ACC teams. That would give the ACC the inside track should Notre Dame eventually decide to abandon its football independence.

-- Commit to becoming a full football member within a certain timeframe, most likely within the next decade.

The ACC also has had discussions with NBC about Notre Dame's potential addition, sources said. NBC has a deal worth roughtly $8.5 million annually to televise Notre Dame home games.

Meanwhile, Notre Dame has had membership discussions with the 11-school Big Ten, too.

Sources close to Notre Dame say the Big Ten hasn't pushed the football issue as hard as the ACC, although it also ultimately would want Notre Dame to become its 12th football member.

Under NCAA legislation, conferences must have 12 schools to stage a football title game capable of earning $10 million or more. The ACC has sought to have that rule changed to allow 10-team leagues to stage a title game but isn't optimistic.

In the current wave of Division I-A expansion, triggered this summer when the ACC lured Miami and Virginia Tech away from the Big East beginning in 2004-05, Notre Dame is the top catch because of its worldwide popularity and consistently high television ratings.

However, Notre Dame's exclusive deal with NBC expires after the 2005 season, as does the Bowl Championship Series agreement that parcels out eight $13 million bowl bids each season. Notre Dame is the only independent school to have an at-large agreement with the BCS.

Those two expiring contracts are only part of the reason the ACC believes the climate could be right for Notre Dame to consider abandoning its long-cherished football independence.

Other factors include the escalating costs of running an athletic department; a potentially long rebuilding project under second-year football coach Tyrone Willingham, whose 2003 team is 1-2; and a down economy that has college football leaders pessimistic about the next round of television negotiations.

Swofford has polled ACC presidents and chancellors and found enough support to pursue Notre Dame -- but only Notre Dame.

Three current ACC members blocked Swofford's attempts this summer to turn the ACC into a 12-team league, but one of those schools, N.C. State, has indicated it would support the addition of Notre Dame.

N.C. State Chancellor Marye Anne Fox is a 1969 Notre Dame graduate and a member of the Notre Dame Board of Trustees, and it was her surprising stance in late June that led to the ACC's unexpected growth to 11 teams.

Weeks earlier, the ACC had appeared to be on course to become a 12-team league, adding Miami, Boston College and Syracuse over opposition from Duke and North Carolina. ACC rules require seven of nine members to support the addition of any school, but Virginia -- out of loyalty to Virginia Tech -- joined UNC and Duke in opposition.

With Virginia switching to a "yes" vote, the ACC then seemed on the verge of inviting Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College until Fox decided to support the additions only of Miami and Virginia Tech, leaving open the possibility of Notre Dame eventually becoming the 12th member.

 

For Schaub, Cavaliers It's Still Wait and See
Quarterback Practices, Might Return to Lineup
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, September 25, 2003; Page D04

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Sept. 24 -- Virginia senior quarterback Matt Schaub returned to practice this week after missing three weeks with a separated throwing shoulder, but Coach Al Groh said he needs to see more before deciding whether Schaub will play Saturday against Wake Forest.

"He's moving along nicely," Groh said. "We want to be really sure with this thing. Matt and I have spoken about this -- we don't want to have a circumstance where after having four weeks invested in his rehabilitation, that we have to start all over again. Then that adds up to eight weeks, and that would be a hard thing for the team to withstand. We've done all right with it to this point. We're not trying to be conservative with this; we're just trying to make sure we have all the information we need before we make a decision."

The Cavaliers, like most teams, don't allow their quarterbacks to be hit in practice, so it's "tricky," Groh said, to know whether Schaub has recovered enough to not only throw the ball but withstand defenders' hits.

"When's the part going to catch up to it that he's also able to take a good hit?" Groh asked rhetorically. "To some degree, we're just going to have to place our bet and go with it."

Schaub, who was voted ACC player of the year last season after setting nearly every Virginia single-season passing record, was injured on a sack on Virginia's first possession of the season opener against Duke.

Redshirt freshman Anthony Martinez replaced Schaub for the rest of the game but struggled the following week at South Carolina. Two days later Groh gave the starting job to redshirt sophomore Marques Hagans, a former quarterback who had been playing wide receiver since January.

Hagans, who might have played quarterback against South Carolina if not for a hamstring injury that sidelined him for most of the preceding week of practice, led the Cavaliers (2-1, 1-0 ACC) to a 59-16 win at Western Michigan two weeks ago. He passed for 162 yards, ran for 68 and "looked basically unstoppable," Wake Forest Coach Jim Grobe said.

With Schaub's status unresolved, Hagans remains in line for his third career start Saturday. But the Demon Deacons (3-1, 1-0) will be ready for anything.

"We don't have any expectations as far as who might play quarterback," Grobe said. "We're preparing for their offense. They've got 10 other really, really good players regardless of who the quarterback is, and I think all three of their quarterbacks are very talented."

If Hagans continues to perform well, he could increase his chances to win the starting job next season -- Martinez, transfer Chris Olsen and freshman Kevin McCabe should also be in the mix -- but Groh said that this season, the job belongs to Schaub.

"We'll have to take that as it comes," Groh said, "but I would think right now that when the reigning conference player of the year comes back, that he'll come back to do what he does best."
 

Cannon Fire
After two idle seasons, Deacons' Braxton finally explodes
By Dan Collins
JOURNAL REPORTER

When Wake Forest's team bus pulled up to the Deacons' weekend accommodations in Charlottesville, Va., two years ago, a day before the Deacons' game against Virginia at Scott Stadium, a redshirt freshman named Warren Braxton never got off.

The bus had rolled past Braxton's hometown of Madison Heights, Va., south of Charlottesville on U.S. 29. But Braxton wasn't aboard to look out the window.

He hadn't been invited along for the trip.

There was an old saying from the counterculture movement of the 1960s that you're either on the bus or you're off the bus. But while the Deacons' bus rolled through the 2001 season en route to a 6-5 finish, Braxton was left watching by the roadside.

Although eligible, and though having been redshirted the season before, he never played. Not one down on defense. Not one down on special teams.

'That was terrible,' Braxton said. 'The redshirt year is always fun, because you're expecting to hit the field right after that. But for whatever reason it didn't work out.'

Defensive coordinator Dean Hood's reasons for not playing Braxton were simple. A cannon can do no damage until the fuse is lit.

'He was a guy who had all the tools, had the size, had the speed, had the strength, all that kind of stuff,' Hood said. 'But the spark just wasn't there.'

At some point between the 2001 and 2002 seasons, the fuse was lit and the cannon roared. Braxton played his way into the starting lineup at strong safety by the third game last season against N.C. State and started every game thereafter, tying for sixth on the team with 61 tackles.

Hood has since called him the defense's biggest surprise of the 2002 season.

'He just didn't have a spark, but all of a sudden he got it,' Hood said. 'I don't know where he got it from. He just all of a sudden turned it on.

'He came back that next year and I don't know if he ate his Wheaties or not, but he said, 'This is my job and somebody's going to have to take it from me.''

No one has. Braxton has started all four games and is tied for third in the team with 25 tackles. Although he opened the season strong by making 11 tackles against Boston College and scoring the Deacons' first touchdown of the season on a 53-yard fumble return, Braxton has only gotten better as the season has progressed.

'He's improved every game,' Hood said. 'I really thought last week against East Carolina was his best game.'

Head coach Jim Grobe said it's not all that uncommon for a player to arrive a tad behind schedule, even a player who knew stardom in high school.

Braxton wasn't the most prominent recruit in Jim Caldwell's class of 2000, but he had made all-district while playing for Amherst County High School and had competed in Virginia's annual high school all-star game.

'I think what happens to most young guys is they decide it's important to them at different periods in their life,' Grobe said. 'Some kids come in and they're blowing snot bubbles and they've got their ears pinned back from day one. Warren was just kind of a laid-back kid who didn't play real aggressively. He was not a real physical kid. He just seemed happy to be a part of it all.

'Then all of a sudden the guy just caught fire, and he started making plays and knocking people around and looking like he wanted to play.

'For him it was just a matter of deciding he wanted to play college football, and he's done a good job for us ever since.'

Braxton said the patience required to wait an extra year to play football probably came from his father, Dale Braxton, who works for a sawmill near Madison Heights.

'It didn't from my mother, definitely,' he said, referring to Arlene Braxton, a nurse's aide. 'My father is a low-key guy, like myself.'

But there was nothing low key about the reception Braxton got when he returned home. Friends peppered him with the obvious question of how a player who had achieved so much success in high school (Braxton scored 28 touchdowns his senior season) could be on scholarship at Wake Forest a whole season without playing.

It was the same question Braxton was asking himself.

'I just tried to stay positive with them and basically just said I had to wait my turn,' Braxton said. 'Everybody's so excited when you go to a big-time conference to play football and they want you to play right now. When it doesn't work out, everybody is asking 'What's going on?'

'I was just like 'Don't worry, I'll be out there sooner or later.' '

Two years after being left back in Winston-Salem, Warren Braxton will make the trip to Charlottesville on Friday. He'll probably peer out the window when the bus is rolling past Madison Heights, looking for anybody he might know.

But chances are if he misses them Friday, he'll see them Saturday

By trading with teammates, he's so far been able to round up 25 tickets for friends and family expected to be on hand for the game.