LB Parham an emerging star for Cavs
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
September 23, 2005

Observers will tell you that Kai Parham has taken his game to a new level. Others say the ACC sacks leader is simply taking advantage of getting more chances to rush the passer.

But the Virginia linebacker has another explanation as to why he has gotten off to the best start of his career for the 23rd-ranked Cavaliers.

“It’s just God showing his favor on me,” Parham said.

Getting it done

The deeply religious junior from Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach heads into Saturday’s homecoming game against Duke as the third-leading tackler in the ACC, the league’s sacks leader with four (a career-high three coming at Syracuse last week), and seventh in the conference in tackles for loss. That’s quite a splash for a guy who has quietly gone about his business during his first two years of college play.

Maybe that could be attributed to the presence of

All-World Ahmad Brooks, who has drawn an abundance of publicity as he and Parham came in with the same recruiting class. Ever since, Parham has been overshadowed by the glitter of Brooks’ performances.

“Kai’s interested in making that shadow a little bit smaller,” said UVa coach Al Groh. “And he’s doing a good job of it right now. If he was on many other teams, Kai would have been the prominent linebacker discussed from the outset.”

But if Parham has noticed, he’s kept it to himself.

“The good thing about Kai is he doesn’t worry about that stuff,” said fellow linebacker Mark Miller, who is filling in during Brooks’ recovery from offseason knee surgery. “He doesn’t worry about being overshadowed or not. He doesn’t worry about being in the light. But everything now is very deserved for Kai Parham.”

Dominant in the dome

The 6-foot-3, 247-pounder put on a bullish show at the Carrier Dome with eight tackles (six solos), three tackles for loss and the three sacks against a Syracuse team that could only manage 2.2 yards per rush against a stingy Wahoo defense.

If there were any shadows before, they’ve disappeared. Everyone is noticing Kai Parham, who earned his first ACC Player of the Week honors for his performance against the Orange. Parham said other teams have taken notice as well.

“It seems like I had a lot of people trying to block me at Syracuse,” he said. “If I’m accurate, I think teams have taken notice.”

Noticing is one thing. Doing something about it is another story. Parham is one of the strongest linebackers in the country. He is naturally strong, another one of God’s gifts, the linebacker said.

His high school coach said that Parham was a physical specimen as a sophomore in high school without having the benefit of weightlifting. In fact, coach Jeff Ballance said that Parham had already developed an NFL body as a junior at Princess Anne.

“I’ve always been strong,” Parham said. “I’ve always been stronger than anybody I’ve played against. If I didn’t lift weights, I could still beat people across from me.”

No brag. Just fact.

The emergence of Parham’s game couldn’t have come at a better time for the Cavaliers. With All-American Brooks sidelined, not only did defensive coordinator Al Golden’s team need a playmaker, but a leader.

Parham has supplied both.

“The whole group looks to him,” Groh said of the three-year starter.

For the first two years, both Parham and Brooks were calling the defense on the field, trying to serve as leaders, but at the same time trying to learn their own jobs.

“Kai has been through two years of playing in a lot of games, he’s been to all the stadiums, he’s played all the teams, he knows what’s out there in front of him, he knows what needs to be done,” Groh said. “He’s a mature player now and he knows what it takes to be a really, really good player.”

While Parham has been responsible for the play calling ever since his redshirt freshman season, he admits he is much more comfortable in the defense now than ever before. Not only does he know what he’s doing, but he knows what everyone else should be doing.

But don’t think for a minute that Parham is only playing harder because Brooks isn’t on the field, or that he is attempting to grab his share of the limelight. That’s not Kai Parham.

“That’s not the attitude I have,” he said. “I’ve always tried to go out there and do my best and be productive. What I’ve done in the first two games feels good, but I’m not doing anything out of the ordinary that I haven’t been doing.”

One thing is different, though. Parham has taken Brooks’ old spot rushing from the outside when Virginia is in its nickel defense.

“You have a chance to make some big plays on third down situations, so I’m trying to make the best out of those opportunities,” Parham said.

When, or if Brooks returns, Groh said he would consider keeping Parham on the edge in the nickel. It could become a scary situation for an opposing quarterback to see Parham on one side, Brooks on the other on third down.

Parham said that it had been “cool” playing alongside Brooks the past two years as the pair formed arguably the top inside linebacker duo in college football.

“I appreciated the things he could do and it was fun playing with him because of the things he brought to the table,” Parham said of Brooks. “He helped me. It would be good to have him back when he gets here. But Mark Miller and Bryan White have been doing great jobs in his absence.”

Miller is someone that Parham has learned to count on both on and off the field.

“Mark is my brother in Christ,” Parham said. “He has been a great encouragement to me when things get hard, things get tough. That means so much to have someone to go through things with you. Being an athlete is hard, so it’s good to have a true friend around.”

Parham is one of those guys whose personality changes once the helmet and pads go on.

“He’s a very gentle, compassionate soul off the field,” Groh said. “But his game is a tough and tumble game. It’s not a finesse game by any means. That’s the transition he makes.”

No wonder they call him “The Hammer.”

Former Cavalier Alvin Pearman once said, “If you’ve been hit by Kai Parham, you know it. You might feel it for a couple of days.”

Kai is actually short for Kayode, which translated means “Brings Joy,” according to Parham.

He has certainly brought that to Virginia’s defense. He didn’t want to say what his middle name, Babatunde, means.

Our guess is, “Brings the Hammer.”

 

Struggling nothing new to Duke
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
September 23, 2005

Former Virginia men’s basketball coach Pete Gillen once said that Duke was “on TV more than Leave it to Beaver reruns.”
Gillen, of course, was talking about Duke basketball - not its football program.
Anyone wanting to see Duke (1-2) play 23rd-ranked Virginia (2-0) on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. will need a ticket or an internet connection. The contest at Scott Stadium is not being televised.
That shouldn’t come as a total shock. Duke has not had consecutive winning seasons in football since 1988 and 1989, when current South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier was at the helm, and the program hasn’t won a bowl game since 1961.
The Blue Devils have won just three of their last 42 Atlantic Coast Conference games. Two of those wins came in 2003.
Interest in the program is minimal at best. Last Saturday, the announced attendance at Duke’s Wallace Wade Stadium was 10,136. That was the smallest crowd to witness a Blue Devils football game since 10,000 fans watched their team beat Virginia in 1966.
In 2004, Duke averaged 22,505 per home game. That figure ranked 85th in the country and was the worst for a school in a conference with an automatic bid to the Bowl Championship Series.
For Blue Devils coach Ted Roof, the attendance was bothersome but mattered little in comparison to the numbers on the scoreboard - Duke 40, VMI 14.
In Durham, N.C., a win in football is truly a win, even if it comes against a Division I-AA foe that went 0-11 the year before.
“You see examples all over the country of I-AA schools beating I-A schools,” Roof said. “A lot of people look at that as a no-win situation. It was great to get a win for our kids.
“I certainly understand that there will be some people who will say because it was a I-AA [opponent] that it was this, that and the other, but I want our players to be proud of their effort and what they accomplished. They did what they were supposed to do - they came out and played well early.”
Roof gets little time to celebrate the win since, as he admitted, “it seems like every team in our league is in the top 25.”
UVa provides Duke with its second ranked opponent in three weeks. Virginia Tech beat the Blue Devils 45-0 on Sept. 10 as they limited Duke to just
35 total yards.
“I am certainly excited about the challenge and the opportunity that playing the University of Virginia brings this week,” Roof said earlier this week. “We know that we are going to have to improve and go back to work on the practice field to play well and have a chance to win.”

TICKETS AVAILABLE: A limited number of tickets to Saturday’s game are available through the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office. The tickets, which were returned by Duke, are
$35 and can be purchased by calling the ticket office at 1-800-542-UVA1.

TACKLING SOME TIDBITS: Duke officials announced on Wednesday that its football team would play at Alabama next year. That scheduling news comes a few months after the school agreed to travel to Notre Dame in 2007. … Four Duke players that missed the VMI game are expected to play against Virginia. Quarterback Curt Dukes, a transfer from Nebraska, halfback Ben Patrick, wide receiver Deon Adams and linebacker Codey Lowe are expected back. … Virginia freshman Cedric Peerman leads the ACC and ranks 13th in the country in kickoff returns with an average of 30.8 yards per attempt. Only two other freshman in the country have better averages - Toledo’s Richard Davis (41.8) and Arkansas rookie Felix Jones (33.4).

 

Leitao stays positive despite loss of Forbes
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
September 23, 2005

What looks like a fairly substantial loss right now may pay dividends down the road.

Those were the sentiments of University of Virginia men’s basketball coach Dave Leitao on Thursday.

Leitao, who has been busy with recruiting the last couple of weeks, was addressing the loss of swingman Gary Forbes for the first time.

Forbes, a junior who averaged 9.4 points and

4.1 rebounds for the Cavaliers last season, announced last week that he was transferring to the University of Massachusetts due to family and academic issues.

“I think he obviously would have helped this team - athletically - and he had some experience, which is always a big key,” Leitao said. “At the same point in time, I think if anyone, including Gary, was not doing the things necessary to continue what we’re doing - especially at this most critical time when we need everybody on the same page - then in the long run it would have probably come back to haunt us. Maybe [it would have occurred] in a lot more direct or more difficult way than losing him in the short term would mean to this year’s team.”

Leitao said Forbe’s departure will open doors for other players.

“I’ve always looked at everything in how you can take a negative situation and somehow turn it into a positive,” Leitao said. “That’s what you have to do.

“It will give other guys more of an opportunity to play. Hopefully we’re better from that in the long run.”

The two players most likely to benefit are sophomore Adrian Joseph and freshman Mamadi Diane.

Last season as a freshman, Joseph averaged 4.2 points and 1.2 rebounds in 14 minutes per game. The 6-foot-7, 200-pounder started six times and scored a season-high 19 points against Wake Forest on Jan. 2.

Diane, a 6-foot-5, 190-pounder, led Dematha Catholic High to a city championship last year. He averaged 14.1 points, 8.9 rebounds and 3.7 steals.

“Initially Adrian will have much more of an opportunity to be a front-line guy,” Leitao said, “but the biggest thing is Mamadi.

“As a first-year player for us, he probably would have had to share time, and maybe because of his lack of experience would have been on the short end of that.

“He’ll probably be impacted more than anybody in terms of available minutes for him right away. I think that’s a good thing now, but even a better thing as he gets to his second and third year.”

 

Cavs glad to avoid potential OT at Syracuse
Forbes suspension follows closely behind Clark’s
By Doug Doughty
THE ROANOKE TIMES


By the time Syracuse kicked a game-tying field goal Saturday at the Carrier Dome, beat reporters already were looking for past results in the UVa media guide.

Had the 24-24 score held up, the teams would have headed to overtime, not always a favorable proposition for the Cavaliers.

"I did not think about overtime at that point," coach Al Groh said today in a teleconference with reporters. "There was still close to seven minutes remaining."

My initial impression was that UVa is 0-3 in overtime games, but the Cavaliers are 0-4: a 24-17 loss to Duke in 1999, a 38-35 loss to Brigham Young in 2000, a 30-27 loss to Clemson in 2003 and 37-34 loss to Fresno State last season.

Two of the losses came under former coach George Welsh and two came under Groh. All four were decided in one overtime.

"We actually have kind of an overflow from past games to do overtimes drills to give players a little sense of setting and iuuses involved," Groh said, "but we've been doing that for the past three years."

IN A CONVERSATION earlier this week, Ahmad Brooks’ mother, Vergie, said she was “not keen” about some of the things she had read in the Roanoke Times.

Even when I said it was not my intent to criticize anybody, she would not elaborate, making me wonder if she took offense to the following line from last week’s Notebook Plus:

“If you ask me, something isn’t right,” I wrote.

It was not my intent to suggest that anything is sinister going on or that Brooks’ absence might stem for an off-the-field issue like academics, discipline, etc. I have heard nothing to indicate anything like that.

What I would say is that Brooks underwent a knee operation with which few of us are familiar – even Al Groh – and I don’t know if there is a common timetable for rehabilitation.

Consider the knee problems that former UVa men’s basketball player Majestic Mapp endured. He underwent reconstructive knee surgery after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament and was sidelined more than two years.

Then, there was football player Jermaine Hardy, who had ACL surgery in January 2004 but came back to start the next season and play in all 12 games.

THE OFFSEASON PROCEDURE that Brooks underwent has been described by the media as surgery to regenerate bone growth in one of his knees. While nobody from UVa has tried to correct me, I was curious what an orthopedist might think of that explanation.

“I don’t know his details either,” an orthopedic specialist told me. “Most likely, he had a procedure done to stimulate cartilage regrowth on the joint surface. There are a few rare conditions where the problem is in the bone itself, and we replace dead or damaged bone with bone graft. But in athletes, the issue usually is in the joint surface cartilage.

“It tends not to heal well if damaged or destroyed. There are a number of techniques that involve drilling channels into the bone to allow blood circulation to reach the damaged cartilage, and other techniques that actually shift joint surface cartilage from non-essential parts of the knee to the load-bearing surfaces.”

WHEN MEN’S BASKETBALL coach Dave Leitao said that he had entertained no discussions with Gary Forbes about returning in 2006, that told me all I needed to know.

I had heard previously that Forbes had not wowed the new staff with his commitment, and not just his academic commitment.

Presumably, Forbes would have been readmitted after his one-year academic suspension expired. He would have had two years of eligibility at Virginia, just as he will have at the University of Massachusetts.

There was no reason not to come back to Virginia. Forbes has established that he is an ACC player, but I can’t imagine there were any promises of playing time when he returns. At UMass, he can be a star.

MY INITIAL THOUGHT was that Forbes had slipped through the cracks, that his grades had started to slide during the period when Leitao was putting together a staff and that his ineligibility suggested that Leitao should have kept somebody from the old staff.

Then, I remembered that academic problems had brought an end to Jason Clark’s eligibility. If Clark could become ineligible twice – the second time with coach Pete Gillen and his staff hanging by a thread – then the same thing could have happened with Forbes.

The mind-boggling stat for me is that the highest-rated signees in back-to-back UVa recruiting classes – Derrick Byars in 2001 and Forbes in 2002 – will end their college careers at other schools. Byars was not in any obvious academic difficulty and transferred to Vanderbilt in the spring of 2004.

THE DEPARTURE OF Forbes has left Leitao with another scholarship and created a need for a wing player like Kelvin Lewis, a 6-foot-4 guard from Crowley, Texas, who is expected to choose between early leader Auburn and Virginia as early as this week.

Lewis visited UVa last weekend – not much more than a week after the Forbes announcement.

 

Homecoming: Cavs face Blue Devils
Virginia remains undefeated heading into game with Blue Devils tomorrow
BAYLESS PARSLEY

From here on out, the phrase "early-season tune up" is being officially retired. The preseason is over –- it's time to bring on the ACC.

No. 23 Virginia (2-0) plays its first-ever game in the newly-created Atlantic Coast Conference Coastal Division Saturday, when Duke (1-2, 0-1 ACC) comes to town for Homecomings weekend.

Head coach Al Groh has never lost a Homecomings game, and he has never lost to Duke. But his team has looked anything but bulletproof early on this year -- just look at game footage from Western Michigan and Syracuse to see how Virginia has responded against teams it would have blown out in 2004.

Duke falls under that very category, but you won't catch even the slightest whiff of overconfidence from Groh's players.

"Historically, Duke has always given Virginia some trouble -- every year I've been here at least," senior inside linebacker Mark Miller said. "We have always given up some yardage to Duke that we haven't wanted to give up. They do a good job using trickery to get involved, so we're prepared for them to throw everything at us."

A recurring problem this season has popped up on pass defense. Both Western Michigan and Syracuse found success by repeatedly exploiting the five-yard cushion that Virginia's secondary concedes to opposing offenses –- a cushion designed to defend against the deep ball.

The zone coverage has worked so far, but not only for Virginia. Western Michigan and Syracuse both designed their game plans to exploit its inherent weakness. While the deep ball has been absent -- a 32-yard pass in the opener is the longest single-pass play the Cavaliers have allowed -- the flip side of the strategy is that the Cavaliers get burned on short catch-and-runs.

All those harmless five-yard bootlegs have added up -- Virginia sits eighth in the ACC in passing defense, giving up an average of 221.5 passing yards per game.

Syracuse tight end Joe Kowalewski did a lot to add to that figure, pulling down seven catches for 96 yards in last week's home loss to Virginia. Miller promised an improvement against the Blue Devils.

"[Coverage on tight end rollouts] is a shared responsibility -- sometimes it's inside linebackers, and sometimes it's the safeties," Miller said. "The key to this game is to be sharper on how we do share that position and make sure it's covered."

As they search for an antidote to a small-ball offensive approach, Duke should be a nice respite for the Cavalier secondary. After three games, the Blue Devils are dead last in the ACC in passing offense. With junior quarterback Mike Schneider taking a majority of the snaps thus far, they have completed just 46.5 percent of their passes for an average of 92.3 yards per game in the air.

But don't expect Groh to recline in his chair and relax over that statistic.

"Our mentality is that no matter who we're playing, you'd better ready to prove yourself every week," Groh said. "Teams that don't have that mentality usually end up with an unpleasant result."

Almost every game Virginia plays from here on out will help determine who emerges from the Coastal Division to play in the first-ever conference title game in Jacksonville, Fla.

 

2002, 2005:A football Odyssey
Will Searcy, Columnist

Recently, there have been many ill words spoken of the Virginia football team. Many fans are feeding on a growing sense of skepticism about the true ability of this football team, and the Cavaliers have given fans plenty of reason to doubt.

The team is barely beating inferior opponents. The secondary cannot even stop the feeble aerial attacks of Western Michigan and Syracuse. Marques Hagans suddenly has developed a tendency to turn the ball over. The running backs seemingly are struggling to hold onto the ball. The offensive and defensive lines have not shown the dominance expected of them.

All of these shortcomings seem to be reason enough for fans to lose hope. But, before we as Virginia fans sound the alarms, let's think back to another team that had a rocky start.

In 2002, a young, inexperienced Virginia squad took the field against a solid Colorado State team. The first quarter was a struggle for the Cavaliers. Matt Schaub, the returning starter at quarterback, was ineffective in moving the ball on offense, and the defense showed a lot of bend, allowing two short field goals. Schaub's struggles were so great that he was replaced in the second quarter by a redshirt freshman named Marques Hagans.

Schaub and Hagans shared possessions as the game wore on. The team struggled mightily, losing four fumbles to go along with a Schaub interception. That pick came on Virginia's second to last drive, while its last drive ended on a Hagans fumble on the goal line. These turnovers cost Virginia the game as the Cavaliers lost to Colorado State 35-29.

The next week against Florida State, Virginia coach Al Groh turned to the freshman to start at quarterback, benching the struggling Schaub. Virginia's difficulties only grew in this game though, allowing Florida State to take a commanding 33-0 lead en route to a 40-19 victory. The defense allowed starter Greg Jones to rush for a career-high 179 yards.

Despite these struggles, the Cavaliers finished strong. Virginia reeled off six straight wins after starting 0-2. They faced a tough end of the season schedule. Of the five top 20 teams Virginia faced that season, the Cavaliers won three, including a huge victory against No. 18 Maryland that earned the Cavaliers a tie for second-place in the ACC. The Cavaliers went on to dominate No. 13 West Virginia in the then-Continental Tire Bowl.

Many comparisons can be made between this past Virginia squad and the current one. Both started the year with struggling returning quarterbacks: Hagans has thrown five interceptions. Both had rather inexperienced players, especially on defense: Virginia currently has seven new starters on D. Both teams had problems with turnovers and struggled to stop opposing offenses: The 2005 Cavaliers have six turnovers and have given up an average of 304.5 yards per game.

So, if the 2002 Cavaliers could finish with such huge success, why can't this year's team? Let's not forget this is an inexperienced team that is still getting its bearings on the field. With each game, the players' confidence grows. Although the running backs have had fumble problems, freshman Cedric Peerman has stepped in and done an incredible job. Furthermore, these two wins came without arguably Virginia's best offensive and defensive players.

Perhaps the greatest comparison that can be made between this team and the 2002 squad, though, cannot be measured. Unlike the teams in the past few years, this Virginia team has shown the resolve and the will to win despite the misfortunes that have fallen upon them. When Syracuse tied the score late in the fourth quarter, Hagans and the offense put the turnovers and mistakes behind them and orchestrated a winning drive. Hagans proved especially clutch, converting a key third down on a 26-yard burst that should have been a sack. Add this type of resolve to an improving team and things can get interesting as the season progresses.

Additionally, unlike the 2002 team, this year's squad has the luxury of not having to climb out of a 0-2 hole. Despite everyone's bickering and discontent, the Cavaliers are 2-0 and in position to make some noise down the stretch. All this begs the question: Can this team be even better?

 

Parham shining in place of Brooks
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
September 23, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Linebacker Kai Parham has always played in the sizeable shadow of Ahmad Brooks. Not anymore.
With Brooks sidelined, Parham has been one of the UVa's best defensive players this season, leading the team in tackles (19) and sacks (4).

"Quietly, he's interested in making that shadow a little bit smaller," Virginia head coach Al Groh said.

Back problems prevented Parham from playing in 2002, his first year at the school, so he debuted with Brooks in 2003, making 89 tackles. He followed that up with 80 tackles last season.

But this year Parham has played on a different level, prompting fellow Bible-studying linebacker Mark Miller to repeat one of Parham's favorite lines: "He's really been in the favor of the Lord."

Taking on more of Brooks' pass rushing duties, Parham already has more sacks this year than his first two years combined. He had three sacks of Syracuse Perry Patterson in the first half last week. He finished with eight tackles and was named ACC defensive lineman of the week.

"If he's coming after (the quarterbacks), they're probably not going to be in the favor of the Lord," Miller joked.

Miller time

Miller has also benefited from Brooks' absence. The senior has started both games at inside linebacker this year and should start Saturday against Duke.

He didn't initially get a scholarship coming out of Briarwood Christian High in Birmingham, Ala. The two inside linebacker scholarships instead went to Brooks and Parham, two late signees.

But Miller bided his time, making his mark on special teams. Now in his third year on scholarship, he made a huge stop last week, stuffing Syracuse tailback Damien Rhodes on a third-down play late in the fourth quarter. Rhodes probably would have scored if not for Miller. The Orange had to settle for a game-tying field goal instead.

That still hasn't made the 6-foot, 222-pound Miller any more recognizable around Charlottesville.

"A lot of people don't know who Mark Miller is walking around on campus," Miller said. "You put the pads on and everything and you look so much bigger. Sometimes that's nice. I like being the normal guy out there."

Weighty issue

The early returns on the svelter Keenan Carter have been positive. A sophomore nose tackle, Carter is playing at 306 pounds this season, down from his playing weight of 324 last year.

That's nothing. In 2002 while at Fork Union Military Academy, Carter's weight soared to over 380 pounds.

"He kind of looked like one of those balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade," Groh said.

The lighter Carter, who credits his good footwork to his soccer background, has eight tackles despite being in on just 44 plays in UVa's three-man rotation at nose tackle.

"He could be pretty hard to handle in there," Groh said. "If he taps into everything he has to bring, he could become a nasty afternoon for some center."

Extra points

Groh was pleased with the progress of tailback Wali Lundy (left foot sprain) early in the week. He said the same thing Thursday but gave no specifics as to if Lundy will play. Lundy is listed atop the Cavaliers' probable depth chart at tailback. ? Former UVa soccer goalie Ryan Best has moved from tailback to safety due to Virginia's abundance of running backs, Groh said. ? A limited number of tickets returned by Duke are available for the game this Saturday. They are $35 each and can be purchased online at virginasports.com or by calling (800) 542-UVA1.