Under Center
Versatile Barthelmes adjusting to new role
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
September 15, 2005

When the playing days of Brian Barthelmes are a thing of the past, someone might want to talk the lineman into writing a series of “How To” books.

Barthelmes could start with “How to play guard.” Next up? A “How to play tackle” book. And for his final installment, Barthelmes could scribe a “How to play center” book.

During his four-year playing career at the University of Virginia, Barthelmes has seen playing time at each of the five spots on the offensive line, a true rarity.

He has 27 career starts at left guard, 12 of which came last year. As a sophomore in 2003, Barthelmes made a rare start at right guard in place of an injured Elton Brown. Prior to that assignment he saw reserve duty at right and left tackle.

Barthelmes completed the flush of offensive line spots just days before Virginia opened the season with Western Michigan, as he was shifted from left guard to center - a spot that he had never played at in high school or college. He will double his career starts total at center on Saturday when No. 25 Virginia invades the Carrier Dome to face Syracuse (1-1) at Noon on ESPN2.

Having been around the program since a redshirt season in 2001, Barthelmes had two close friends that had played the position - Kevin Bailey and Zac Yarbrough.

Barthelmes, who said he was “pumped up” about the move, called the former Cavaliers to tell them the news.

“I called Bailey, I don’t know if it was that night or the night after, and I talked to Yarbrough about a week after that and I was like ‘Hey, you guys got some tips for me?’ They gave me some input and that was nice,” Barthelmes recounted.

The former Cavs had similar messages.

“They were both like, ‘Good luck with that,’” said “Bart,” as he is known by his teammates. “[Bailey] kind of felt my position better, being at the tackle position, then being at the guard and then to center, like I was. So he had a little more advice to kind of show how to use the stuff you do at the different positions in conjunction with playing center.

“I asked [Yarbrough] a little bit about how to handle the ball on the snap and how do some of the shotgun work. He gave me some advice on that. He gave me some advice on taking the right footwork with the snap. It is a lot different. You can’t just step. You have to snap the ball and then work on different footwork from there. He gave me some good advice with that.”

In addition to picking up pointers, Barthelmes admitted that he has benefited from practicing against the Virginia defense, which employs a 3-4 base set.

“In practice, when we go against Virginia defense that nose [tackle] is right there,” Barthelmes said. “So when you are in practice you have Keenan Carter or Ron Darden, these mammoth men breathing on you, it is hard to get your snaps going. Luckily, we run that stack so it puts a lot of pressure on your center, so when we go against [teams that use different defensive schemes], it is a little bit easier because the nose is kind of cocked either way instead of right up on you.”

Barthelmes said he knows that he has room for improvement, particularly snapping when the Cavaliers go to the shotgun formation, something they did not do in the season-opening win over Western Michigan.

“I have been [snapping from the shotgun] a lot in practice,” the Ohio native said. “Hopefully we show some this week or next week. I’m not sure but I am feeling good with it. It is a little unnerving. There is a lot of pressure getting the ball back there but it is something you have to be able to do in an offense.”

Virginia quarterback Marques Hagans said Barthelmes’ snapping ability is already a night-and-day difference from where it was when the project started.

“At first it was erratic every time he snapped the ball but now he is doing a good job of putting it right where it needs to be,” Hagans said. “Bart, man, he is getting a whole lot better.”

With a dream of playing professional football next year, Barthelmes knows that his improvement at center could help his case, not only in the NFL Draft but when final cuts are made around the league.

“They always say the more you can do the more valuable you are,” Barthelmes said. “If you can keep a guy who is only good at one position or you can keep a guy who might not be as good at that position but he can also play two other ones, in a form of a money-based sport, I guess it is better off to keep [a player] who can do more things and is more valuable to them.

“Hopefully that plays in my favor.”

 

FSU's trip to BC creating a big buzz
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
September 15, 2005

Scattershooting around the ACC, while noting that Florida State’s looming arrival to Beantown is creating the excitement that expansion supporters thought it would ...
“[The game] has created a great buzz and stir around our campus,” said Boston College coach Tom O’Brien, a former longtime assistant at Virginia. “I think even Boston is excited about this. This has never happened at BC.”
How big is this Saturday night’s game between No. 8 FSU and No. 17 BC?
“The fact that ESPN’s GameDay crew is going to be there tells you something,” said Seminoles coach Bobby Bowden. “I felt all along that [adding BC] would be great for our conference because [the Northeast] is where everybody lives, it’s where all the media is.”
BC Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo has faced what former UVa ADs faced until George Welsh turned Cavalier football around. The culture of BC fans was to indulge in tailgate parties and arrive late for kickoffs.
In an attempt to change the image, DeFilippo saw the FSU visit as perfect timing to reverse the culture. BC’s new tailgate policy for home games is to open campus parking
2 1/2 hours before kickoff and to sweep lots of all tailgaters a half hour before the start of the game so that the stadium will be full when the Eagles take the field.
Experts believe that if BC can pull off the upset, the Eagles can win the Atlantic Division of the ACC in their first year in the league. O’Brien has been full of praise all week long for the Seminoles, while trying to keep his 2-0 team focused.
BC is No. 17 in the AP poll and 16th in the coaches poll, its highest ranking since
Jan. 1, 1994 when the Eagles finished 9-3 by beating Virginia in the Carquest Bowl.
“I remember that,” said O’Brien, who was on the wrong end of a 31-13 whipping. “I was there.”
Hagans’ hype
Maybe some UVa fans are down on Cavaliers QB Marques Hagans after he was intercepted twice against Western Michigan, but Syracuse believes Hagans is something else.
Orange coach Greg Robinson called the UVa QB “one of the great competitors in the country,” and noted that if Hagans (5-foot-10, 210 pounds) was three inches taller, the nation would be clamoring about him as a Heisman Trophy candidate.
“He is a nimble guy, very athletic, makes a lot of guys miss,” Syracuse defensive end Ryan laCasse said of Hagans, who burned the Orange for 81 yards on six rushes last season, including a dazzling 59-yard TD run. “He’s almost like a shorter version of Michael Vick out there. Just when you thought you had him all wrapped up, you miss a gap and he sprung it for a long touchdown. Stuff like that is demoralizing to a defense.”
So, why doesn’t Virginia run Hagans more?
Straight Jackets
Georgia Tech might be the surprise team of the ACC, having beaten Auburn and UNC to earn a No. 16 ranking.
But even the Yellow Jackets are struggling to do what they want most at crunch time: run the football, control the clock.
Tech coach Chan Gailey said it has a lot to do with an athletic but inexperienced offensive line unable to handle defenses with eight men in the box.
“We’re not able to account for the extra people up there,” Gailey said. “We’re not physical enough to do that yet.”
Tech has averaged 4.3 yards per carry in the first three quarters of its first two games, but only 1.8 yards in the fourth quarters. The Jackets couldn’t make a first down in the final 12 minutes of its win over UNC last weekend. Even leading rusher P.J. Daniels struggled in the fourth against the Heels when five of his seven carries went for three yards or less.
But Tech’s defense made up for the lack of offense by coming up with seven takeaways against Auburn and UNC in nine fourth-quarter possessions.
That will git ‘er done.

What a difference. A year makes ... Last year at this time Clemson coach Tommy Bowden was calling every coach in the country trying to figure out how to stop turning over the ball. The Tigers committed
14 turnovers in the first four games and had at least one turnover in 10 of 11 games last season.
Now, after a 2-0 start, Clemson is tied with seven other teams around the country with no turnovers.
The Tigers are 10-1 under Bowden when they don’t turn it over and 28-7 when winning the turnover margin.
Ask Wake’s Jim Grobe about turnovers. His team committed a bunch against Nebraska in a 30-3 loss.
“If you’d told me we would hold Nebraska to 234 yards of offense and lose, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Grobe said. “Turnovers kill you, but turnovers for three [Cornhusker] scores is just ridiculous.”
Wake failed to score a TD for the first time since a loss to FSU in 2002.

Crunching the numbers. Maryland linebacker D’Qwell Jackson is No. 2 nationally in tackles per game with 17.0. ... UVa freshman tailback/kick returner Cedric Peerman is No. 1 in the nation among freshmen and 10th overall in all-purpose yardage with 179.0. ... Virginia Tech has won seven straight ACC games and is 6-0 in league road games since joining the conference last season. The Hokies have also won nine regular season games in a row. ... Even though UVa QB Marques Hagans hasn’t returned a punt since the 2003 season, he still ranks 13th nationally among active Division I-A players in that statistic with 531 return yards. ... BC has won its last three games against AP-ranked foes, but three of its next four will tell the story as the Eagles face No. 8 FSU, No. 20 Clemson and No. 25 Virginia.

Hoos in the NFL. Groh’s connection to the NFL is often mentioned by and about the coach. Seven of his players were drafted by the league in the spring. Of course, numerous Hoos have made the big time. A look at the current Cavs in the NFL accompanies this column.

Short yardage ... Miami coach Larry Coker said his
0-1 Hurricanes are better than they were after last season’s 1-0 start. … The Canes have 11 players on their roster who have already received their degrees, the most of any Division I-A school, just ahead of Auburn (nine), Boston College (nine), Virginia (eight), and LSU (eight). ... On Wake Forest’s visit to Nebraska, the Deacs ran into Zac Taylor, the QB who transferred from Wake to the Cornhuskers. Taylor completed 14 of 33 passes for
114 yards, not a great performance, but enough to beat his old team. ... Clemson measures offensive success in “big play” terms, same as the NFL: 16 yards for a pass,
12 yards for a run, and believes that if it has two more big plays than its opponent, it stands an 85 to 88 percent chance of winning the game no matter what else. So far, the Tigers have trailed their first two foes in big play statistics 15-12, but are still 2-0. ... Who says a band can’t help a football team? In order to get ready for its game on Boston College’s artificial turf this weekend, Florida State prepared by practicing on its band’s (the Marching Chiefs) articial turf field. ... UNC announced this week that it will play Tennessee home-and-home in football in 2011 and 2012. The Heels play at Notre Dame in ’06, with the Irish coming to Chapel Hill in ‘08.
The picks. Last week: 6-0. To date: 9-6 (five of the six misses the first week were by a collective 14 points).
This week: Maryland 27, West Virginia 19; Duke 48, VMI 0; Virginia Tech 42,
Ohio U. 17; N.C. State 44, Eastern Kentucky 3;
Wake Forest 24, ECU 7; Georgia Tech 37, UConn 14; Wisconsin 28, UNC 24; Virginia 31, Syracuse 20; Florida State 33,
Boston College 28. UPSET SPECIAL: Clemson 24, Miami 21.

Contact Jerry Ratcliffe at (434) 978-7251 or jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com.

A look at Hoos in the NFL

Cavaliers on NFL rosters

Ronde Barber, CB, Tampa Bay

Tiki Barber, RB, N.Y. Giants

Darryl Blackstock, LB, Arizona

Aaron Brooks, QB, New Orleans

Elton Brown, G, Arizona

Chris Canty, DE, Dallas

Angelo Crowell, LB, Buffalo

Patrick Estes, OT, San Francisco

James Farrior, LB, Pittsburgh

Antwan Harris (IR), CB, Cleveland

Arlen Harris, RB, St. Louis

Thomas Jones, RB, Chicago

Patrick Kerney, DE, Atlanta

Ryan Kuehl, LS, N.Y. Giants

Billy McMullen, WR, Philadelphia

Heath Miller, TE, Pittsburgh

Alvin Pearman, RB, Jacksonville

Monsanto Pope, DT, Denver

Wali Rainer, LB, Detroit

Matt Schaub, QB, Atlanta

Jamie Sharper, LB, Seattle

John St. Clair, OL, Bears


Cavaliers on NFL practice squads

Dennis Haley, LB, N.Y. Jets

Andrew Hoffman, DE, Cleveland

Marquis Weeks, RB, Seattle

Jamaine Winborne, CB, Baltimore


Cavaliers on CFL rosters

Muffin Curry, CB, Montreal

Jermese Jones, T, Winnipeg
 

Center a snap for UVa's Barthelmes
Center is the fifth position along the offensive line that senior Brian Barthelmes has played while at Virginia.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- One look at Brian Barthelmes and his quarter-sized ear plugs, flowing tattoos and bushy beard -- not to mention the shoulder-length hair that was shorn for charity -- and it's easy to see that there are few things he won't try.

After he had played the other four positions on Virginia's offensive line, his career would not have been complete without a turn at center.

"It was starting to get late in preseason camp when they said to me, 'Bart, you mind trying some center?' " Barthelmes said. "I said, 'Hey, that would be awesome.' If there's something that can make the team better, I'm all for it."

The team was staying at the Cavalier Inn at the time and Barthelmes persuaded his roommate, quarterback Christian Olsen, to go down to the parking lot and practice snaps.

"Two guys in a dark lot and one guy has his hands on the other guy's butt," Barthelmes said. "I can only imagine how that looked, but you can't always be worrying about what people think."

If Barthelmes was worried about appearances, he never would have ended up at Virginia. He can't remember the exact timing of his December 2000 commitment to the Cavaliers, but George Welsh was recruiting him.

"The week before I was scheduled to come down," Barthelmes said, "they called and told me, 'Uh, Coach Welsh just retired.' I was like, 'Oh, shoot.' Then, Coach [Al] Groh's staff got in contact with me and I was like, 'You guys still interested?' "

Barthelmes, from Kenston High School outside Cleveland, was one of the least-known members of Groh's first recruiting class. He was not an all-state or all-area player, but he had 59 receptions as a tight end, and visits to several of his basketball games convinced the UVa staff that he had good feet.

Size was never an issue with Barthelmes, listed at 6-foot-6 and 288 pounds, but nobody would have referred to him as a blue-chipper.

"When I came in here, I was really naive," said Barthelmes, who had taken a recruiting visit to James Madison for football and basketball. "I didn't know a whole lot about football. If I would have had any expectations, they would have been really low.

"Since I didn't expect anything, it's hard to say I exceeded expectations."

Nobody would have predicted that Barthelmes would have started games in parts of four seasons, especially since he rarely was listed as No. 1 going into preseason camp.

Twenty-seven of Barthelmes' 29 career starts have come at left guard, but his familiarity with all of the line positions made him a natural when Groh went looking for a player with size who could recognize defenses and call out the appropriate blocking assignments.

"I am a college graduate," said Barthelmes, the son of schoolteachers and nearly a 3.0 student when he earned a degree in sociology last spring.

Even before the move, Groh had singled out Barthelmes as the most vocal of the Cavaliers' offensive linemen, but there is more to the center position than making the line calls.

Snapping is not a snap, particularly for teams that use the shotgun formation.

One of the most talented UVa offensive linemen of the past decade, Kevin Bailey, eventually saw knee problems derail a once-promising career, but his problems with the shotgun snap sabotaged a move from tackle to center.

"I didn't see this firsthand," Groh said Monday, "but in the [New York] Jets' game, which was their first game in four years of using the shotgun, long-clamored for by the press and fans of New York, apparently three or four errant shotgun snaps were a major factor in the game."

Virginia did not use the shotgun once in its opening game, a 31-19 triumph over Western Michigan, although quarterback Marques Hagans had success in that formation last year.

"We do it a lot in practice," Barthelmes said. "Hopefully, we'll be able to show it some in the games. It's a little unnerving. There's a lot of pressure getting the ball back there, but it's something you've got to be able to do. We've been repping it and repping it and repping it in practice."

The fact that Groh has placed such trust in Barthelmes belies all the grief he gives him about his appearances. The hole created by the plug in Barthelmes' left ear is nearly 34 of an inch in diameter.

"I asked if one of them was a transistor radio," Groh said, "and the other one looks like it might have been hooked up to the Discovery spaceship."

Barthelmes hears the same thing from his mother.

"It's a cool, sub-culture thing," Barthelmes said. "That's what they say. My mom hates them. She always calls and says, 'You're not going to get a job with those.' "

If he can get the shotgun snap down, maybe the Jets can use him.

 

Cavaliers prepare for trip to Carrier Dome
Virginia regroups mentally before first road game of season
Warren Waterman, Cavalier Daily Senior Writer

The Virginia football team heads up to Syracuse this weekend for its first road contest of the season. This road game, however, is different from any other road game this season.

The game will be played in Syracuse's Carrier Dome, which seats 50,000 people. The notoriously difficult place to play features a crowd that will be loud and rowdy, creating a tough atmosphere for one of the youngest teams Virginia has ever had.

"You [have to] know your environment and know what things you [have to] adapt to and still stay on your game," Virginia senior defensive end Brennan Schmidt said. "We're just going to focus on the things we need to do to win. [We have] to focus those things out, like the noise and the crowd being on top of you and all that type of stuff."

Virginia has had an extra week to prepare for this weekend's matchup. Therefore, the Cavaliers have had some more time to rest and think about the obstacles that come with playing in a venue like the Carrier Dome.

"We made sure everyone got rest, a little bit of a mental break before this week of preparation for Syracuse," Schmidt said. "It was needed, and we appreciate it a lot from Coach [Groh]. It gives us time to get away and take a deep breath. I think we'll be more focused this week."

Many may wonder what effect the tough environment has on young Virginia players such as redshirt freshman running back Cedric Peerman. He is one of several freshmen who probably will see action in his first college road game. Despite Peerman's solid performance against Western Michigan, it will be interesting to see how he and his fellow classmates are able to handle the noise.

Another difficult aspect of playing in the Carrier Dome is the ability of the opposing team's quarterback to communicate with his players. Although an experienced senior, Brian Barthelmes played center for the first time since coming to Virginia two weeks ago against Western Michigan. His ability to hear the play count from Hagans will be key to Virginia's offensive success.

"I don't think you can really prepare for the crowd noise," Hagans said. "The main thing is working with hand signals in practice, [working with] audibles and just getting everybody on the same page."

Another facet of playing in the Carrier Dome is the field's new artificial surface, which is basically synthetic grass. The field turf was put in place this August, and it replaces the astro turf that had been in use since 1993. Players will be able to wear the same type of cleats as they wear on the grass at Scott Stadium. Regardless, it is a surface Virginia has never played on.

"I've never played on it," Virginia senior linebacker Bryan White said. "It's just like grass, from what I've heard. Coach Groh is real helpful with that -- he talks with other teams to see what they do."

For the most part, Virginia is treating the game like any other road game and thus is not making any special preparations for playing on a different surface.

"It really doesn't matter whether it's grass, artificial turf, artificial grass -- whatever you call it," Hagans said. "We don't care. We're just going to go out there and play. The surface or where the game is doesn't matter -- we've just gotta go out there and play."

The Carrier Dome will be just one of the tough road environments Virginia will encounter this season.

"We look at it as a challenge, but it's always fun to play somewhere new," White said. "It'll be fun to play in the Dome. We want to be a team able to play on the road, so this is our start."

Saturday, Cavalier fans will see if this young Virginia team will be able to overcome the challenges of a hostile environment and pick up an important road win.

 

Matt Schaub:trapped behind a Hokie
Sean McLernon, Columnist

Heath Miller caught his first pass for a touchdown in front of the Heinz Field faithful. Alvin Pearman saw action against the Seahawks, gaining two yards on one carry for the Jaguars. Chris Canty recorded two tackles in his Cowboys' victory over San Diego.

Meanwhile, in Philadelphia, Matt Schaub sat on the bench. Again. And it's all because of Michael Vick.

Schaub continues to watch and wait. It's all he can do. He remains under-utilized, holding the backup QB position behind one of the top signal-callers in the league. And he's a Hokie to boot, too.

But Matt Schaub has to be used to being under-utilized and under-appreciated by now. As the story goes, Schaub wasn't even on the top of Virginia's recruiting list coming out of high school. George Welsh secured a scholarship for Bryson Spinner and was hot on the trail for Eli Manning. It was only after Manning committed to Ole Miss that the Cavaliers went hard after Schaub.

At least that's how the story goes. But we know for sure that once the 6-foot-5, 237-pound QB got to Virginia, he couldn't even win the starting quarterback job until three games into his junior season. After splitting time with Spinner during his sophomore campaign, Schaub was pulled from the season opener in 2002 against Colorado State in favor of then-freshman Marques Hagans. The young Hagans got the start the next week in Tallahassee, and only a strong second-half performance from Schaub in a blowout loss earned the junior his job back.

Of course, Schaub went on to lead the Cavaliers to a second-place finish in the ACC, a Continental Tire Bowl victory and ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors.

After another stellar year in 2003, Schaub was selected by the Falcons in the third round of the NFL draft. It didn't take long for him to earn the No. 2 spot on the depth chart, and when the Falcons clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs by November, Schaub started in place of a banged-up Vick.

Schaub put up modest numbers in 2004, completing 33 of 70 throws for 330 yards in six games. He threw a touchdown pass but also tossed four interceptions. All in all, it was a respectable year for the rookie.

This preseason, Schaub continued to show his chops. Granted, exhibition competition is nothing compared to real game action, but Schaub is doing a pretty good job showing he's ready to see some more minutes in the games that count. The 24-year-old quarterback was named Most Valuable Player in the American Bowl in Tokyo Aug. 6 after completing 11 of 13 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns in a victory over Indianapolis. He completed more passes (36) than either Vick or No. 3 Ty Detmer, throwing three touchdowns and two interceptions over five preseason games.

The consensus among the Atlanta coaching staff and NFL analysts is Schaub could be a starter in the league right now. There are already rumors of him landing in Miami by the 2006 season and taking over starting duties for the Dolphins -- which makes a lot of sense because right now, Miami's starter is Gus "Gave Himself a Concussion After Slamming His Head into a Cement Wall While Celebrating a Touchdown" Frerotte.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Bears are starting 2005 fourth-round pick Kyle Orton, who led Purdue to an uninspiring 2-5 finish last season. And in contrast to teams like Green Bay and Tennessee who have aging starters, Atlanta likely won't have to worry about finding a successor for its young QB anytime soon.

So, Schaub needs to get out of Atlanta. Schaub deserves to get out of Atlanta. He has so much talent that is just being wasted on the sidelines week after week.

I love to see a guy like Heath Miller find the end zone in his first game. Hearing about Alvin Pearman -- a player who wasn't even a starter to begin his senior campaign -- getting action in the NFL is a big thrill for me. But it's just as frustrating to see one of the best quarterbacks in Virginia history waste away on the bench while less talented signal-callers start for other teams.

Schaub is only in his second NFL season, so he's still got plenty of time ahead of him. I just hope he gets his chance soon. I have a feeling he won't disappoint.

 

Sintim Cavs' newest wrecking ball
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
September 15, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Clint Sintim insists that he should not be compared to Darryl Blackstock. If anything, he says, they should be made about fellow outside linebacker, freshman Olu Hall, who has similar speed and a comparable frame.
But it wasn't Hall starting in the season opener against Western Michigan at the right outside linebacker spot vacated by Blackstock, bulldozing a helpless running back assigned to an ill-conceived one-on-one blocking scheme and laying a blindside hit on the quarterback that resulted in a first-quarter fumble.

It was Sintim, wreaking havoc on the right side of the field in a way very reminiscent of Blackstock.

"Hopefully there will be many more to come," Sintim said of his sack. "It's too soon to say, but hopefully I can continue to get back there."

UVa certainly hopes so. The Cavaliers lost both outside linebackers from last season, Blackstock and Dennis Haley (now a practice squad player for the N.Y. Jets), and are unsure as to the return date of star middle linebacker Ahmad Brooks.

That's where the 6-foot-3, 245-pound Sintim steps in. A load who is a rare combination of size, speed and power, the redshirt freshman Sintim fits UVa's model for an outside linebacker.

"He's built for the outside position," senior linebacker Bryan White said. "He's got the power to dig out the blocks when they try to run, and he's got the speed to go and cover guys."

Sintim even has coach Al Groh gushing, and that's no small feat.

"From what he's had to learn and do in a short period of time here has been impressive," Groh said. "I was watching a couple of practice plays from the tape that he was involved with and was just smiling to myself."

Maybe that's because Sintim's progress has lessened the blow from the early NFL

departure of Blackstock, who finished with 27 sacks in three years at UVa, second on the school's all-time list to defensive end Chris Slade.

Sintim is bound to get Blackstock comparisons. Both are big-play guys who switched from defensive line to linebacker upon arriving at UVa. The Cavaliers were the only school to recruit Sintim as a linebacker out of Gar-Field High in Woodbridge, where he played offensive line, defensive line and tight end.

"Knowing that I could come here and play outside linebacker actually intrigued me," Sintim said.

He faced a hurdle before he even got to UVa, however, breaking a bone near his shin while playing basketball during his senior year. Sintim was not medically cleared to play football until right before training camp last summer, but being physically ready was his biggest hurdle.

"I don't think I would have been ready to play," said Sintim, who redshirted. "Not just physically, but I definitely don't think I was ready to play mentally. I don't think my mind was in the right place."

Sintim watched patiently, gleaning knowledge from the veteran Blackstock, how he practiced, how he moved, how he led on the defense.

Sintim's big break came after the regular season concluded. In that down period, UVa has what players call the Weenie Bowl, when the younger players on the team have a chance to go full bore with pads against each other. That's when the mental side clicked for Sintim.

By spring he was Blackstock's heir apparent. In UVa's spring football festival, he had 1? sacks.

Throughout training camp, he wore an orange defensive starter's jersey. Two weeks ago, he registered five tackles and a sack in his first real collegiate action.

Just as Blackstock was hounded by comparisons to Groh's first outside linebacker prot?g?, Lawrence Taylor, Sintim will probably have to deal with an inevitable association to Blackstock.

That doesn't mean he necessarily agrees with comparison.

"I think I'm my own type of player. I don't think I have anyone that I've been compared to," Sintim said. "Hopefully maybe in the future, I can be that player where somebody is compared to me."

 

Kerney is Falcons’ catalyst on defense
By Terence Moore | Wednesday, September 14, 2005, 08:08 PM
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore

Well, I’ll take Patrick Manning Kerney, thank you. Even before the Falcons’ defense started to leave mediocrity in its rear-view mirror last season while driving toward goodness, this highly active defensive end was impressive for those who dared to search the shadows.

Has Kerney ever had a bad game? I’m still thinking. So is defensive line coach Bill Johnson, who kept thinking and thinking on Wednesday at the Falcons headquarters before he began thinking some more. I’ll return to Johnson, but let’s move to Brooking, a highly active linebacker, who has been around for all of Kerney’s seven years with the Falcons.

“He’s full tilt. Not just in the game, but in the weight room, in the meeting room, in absolutely everything that he does,” Brooking said. There was confirmation from Falcons safety Keion Carpenter, whose eyes grew after the question of the moment came his way: I mean, has Kerney ever had a bad game? “He hasn’t even had a bad practice,” Carpenter said, with eyes still wide. “It’s him. That’s his want-to (attitude). That’s his desire. You want to get yourself to the level that he’s at every single day, and that’s greatness. I just love playing with that guy.”

Who wouldn’t? How many other NFL veterans spend long stretches during practice yelling encouraging words to those on the scout team? “Come on.” “Give them a good look.” “Great job.” “Let’s keep hustling out there.” Not only that, Kerney is the unofficial leader of the Falcons’ cheerleaders during home games. Between crushing people, he leaps, grunts, laughs, waves and does whatever else he can to turn the Georgia Dome into an ugly roar for the other team’s ears.

Here’s another thing: Kerney can play, which the Philadelphia Eagles saw often during their 14-10 loss to the Falcons on Monday night. His effectiveness went further than just his four solo tackles and blistering sack of Donovan McNabb that forced a fumble in the second half. With Kerney operating at his typically advanced level of efficiency, his teammates hadn’t a choice but to do the same.

Which brings me to somebody who does remember a bad game for Kerney, and that is Kerney. Although he didn’t classify Monday night as a bad game for himself, he wasn’t overly pleased. “There were about five or six snaps that I wish I had back, because it’s always a matter of trying to be perfect,” said Kerney, as strikingly composed off the field as he is dramatically frantic on it. “You’re never going to be perfect, but if you’re not striving for that, you’re not going to be able to become a great player. You have to be your own worst critic to keep improving.”

That’s because Kerney knows folks are watching. Take it from Carpenter, who kept attending every practice and every meeting for the Falcons last season with his broken leg. He kept doing so, because he knew Kerney would do the same thing. “When I was first coming back, it was hard, because I wasn’t in the condition that these guys were in, but Patrick would pep me up,” Carpenter said. “I would look at him and see how he kept getting to the rock. Then I’d say to myself, ‘If he can do it, then I can do it,’ and that helped me inspire a younger guy who might be looking at me.”

Anyway, let’s return to Johnson, who eventually said the following about Kerney regarding bad games: “You’re never going to think that he’s having a bad game because of his tremendous effort. He has such a passion for the game. He’s all about team. He’s a guy who will make a mistake, correct it and never do it again. You don’t have enough space to write all the things that really need to be written about Patrick Kerney, to be honest with you.”

I agree.

 

Relying on homegrown talent
Virginia prepsters are in high demand; Cavs, Hokies battle for best
BY MIKE HARRIS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Sep 15, 2005

BLACKSBURG -- If Virginia Tech does win another ACC football championship or a national championship this season, someone needs to stamp "Made In Virginia" on the trophy.

The fourth-ranked Hokies are about as home-grown as a team can get.

"The day I took the job here, I said if we keep the best players in Virginia at Virginia Tech, we'll have a chance to play for the national championship," said Frank Beamer, who is in his 19th season as the Hokies' coach. "And I believe that very same thing today.

"I think we have good coaches and good players in this state. We've really made an effort to re- cruit well in the state. I think the records would show that we have, particularly in the last few years. You look at our roster and it is further proof that we are winning with a lot of Virginia kids."

Make that a whole lot of Virginia kids.

Tech (2-0), which plays its home opener Saturday (3:30 p.m.) against Ohio (1-1), has 115 players on its roster including walk-ons. Of those, 89 are from Virginia.

Depending on which combinations it chooses to start, Tech throws out a starting lineup that has 20-22 players including specialists from the state.

By comparison, the University of Virginia has 12 starters and 52 players from the state.

Recruiting analysts say the Hokies' in-state plan is a good one. Virginia's prep talent is well regarded nationally.

Bobby Burton, the editor in chief of Rivals.com, says the big six for prep talent is California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Ohio and Louisiana. Virginia is in the next group, along with Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Illinois, Mississippi and North Carolina.

"Virginia is a fairly diverse state," Burton said. "It doesn't just produce the running backs and defensive backs. It also produces a good amount of linemen. That's the difference between Virginia and a lot of states."

Tom Lemming, the editor of Prep Football Report and recruiting anaylist for CSTV, has Virginia even higher on his list. He thinks the big three are Florida, Texas and California.

"I don't think there's another state outside those three that would be ahead of Virginia," he said. "Some are equal, like Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. It is becoming known across the country that Virginia is a must stop in recruiting."

The talent definitely tilts toward one side of the state. The Tidewater area is the biggest hotbed. Sophomore cornerback Roland Minor of Washington, D.C., is Tech's lone defensive starter not from Virginia. Of the other 10, seven to nine are from Tidewater depending on whether Carlton Powell (Chesapeake) starts at tackle and Chris Ellis (Hampton) starts at end. The other co-starter at tackle is Tim Sandidge (Madison Heights), the co-starter at end is Noland Burchette (Highland Springs).

Tidewater isn't as well represented on Tech's offense beyond quarterback Marcus Vick (Newport News) and co-starter at tailback Cedric Humes (Virginia Beach). Josh Hyman, part of the multiple receiver combinations, is from Chesapeake. The rest of the offense is a good mix from around the state. Lemming said recruiters used to ignore the state beyond Tidewater, northern Virginia and Richmond.

Though the talent isn't as deep elsewhere, it is there.

"I would go visit Virginia and miss players -- I wasn't aware until 5-6 years ago how good the talent was across the state," Lemming said. "I used to make one visit to Virginia. Now I make three to make sure I cover the whole state.

"There's some really good talent in the western part of the state. Virginia Tech used to have its way over there until Al Groh got to Virginia. Now there is some really good battling going on for those players. It reminds me of Iowa and Iowa State. You see battles that you didn't see 5-10 years ago and it's really good for the state."

Tech tight end Jeff King is from Pulaski. Heath Miller, who played tight end at Virginia three seasons before leaving after last year for the NFL, is from Richlands.

"Beamer discovered years ago what a lot of schools are now realizing," Lemming said. "Virginia has a lot of talent."