Defense, backup save UVa
Groh staying quiet on quarterback situation
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
September 11, 2006

To pray or not to pray, that was the question.

Former Virginia linebacker Mark Miller, a bystander on the field on Saturday, admitted that it was kosher to pray for a missed PAT. Connor Hughes, perhaps the best-known kicker in UVa history, disagreed.

Perhaps it was divine intervention. Regardless, Wyoming freshman Aric Goodman shanked a PAT to give Virginia its first win of the season - the Cavaliers (1-1) held on for a 13-12 overtime victory over Wyoming (1-1).

A watered down version of mayhem broke out throughout a sparse crowd that had suffered through 60 minutes of touchdown-less football.

“I would never pray for a guy to miss like that,” said UVa linebacker Jon Copper, a devout Christian like Hughes and Miller. “They’ve got believers on that team, too.”

The win itself could be looked at as an answered prayer for Virginia’s season.

After losing 38-13 at Pitt in the season opener, a number of players said a loss would have been devastating.

“That was a very important win,” UVa linebacker Clint Sintim said. “You don’t ever want to start a season 0-2.”

Virginia could have remained winless if not for the heroics of its defense and a backup quarterback. The Cavaliers kept Wyoming out of the end zone during regulation, thanks in part to a pair of turnovers, one of which came on a Wyoming fumble on a running play from the Virginia 1.

The Cavaliers allowed the Cowboys to convert only 4 of their 16 third-down chances and had four sacks.

“We were swarming to the ball,” Sintim said. “We were making plays. We were doing a lot of positive things.

“I think we could have been better in other aspects of the game, but that is football. We will get better week-to-week and hopefully by the end of the season we can say we have a dominant defense.”

Offensively, it took fourth-quarter substitute Kevin McCabe and wideout Kevin Ogletree (10 catches, 95 yards) to salvage what could have turned into the worst offensive day in a decade.

When McCabe replaced starter Christian Olsen at quarterback with 12:49 left in the game, Virginia had six first downs and just 95 yards of total offense on 34 plays.

Despite being thrust into the first pressure-filled situation in his career, McCabe tried to remain calm.

“The game was 6-6 and the offense had struggled all day, so you don’t go in there and try to be the hero,” said McCabe, who finished 8 of 13 for 89 yards. “Hey man, you just try to play within the offense. I just try to go out there and have no fear.

“I just didn’t play tentative. I knew that I had 10 other guys going to battle with me.”

McCabe knows he can be better. On his first drive, the Pennsylvania native misunderstood the directions from the sidelines as Virginia attempted to convert on fourth-and-1.

“I called a wrong play. I want to be 100 percent on the easiest job of the day - calling the right plays,” McCabe said. “I messed one up at a critical point. I take full blame for that one. That was my fault.

“That could have cost us the game. That is the easiest thing - just call the play.”

McCabe could replace Olsen as the starting quarterback at home on Saturday against Western Michigan (3:30 p.m.). Or maybe not?

“That’s not something we are going to address in here, or at any time, because we are not going down that road,” Groh said after the game. “When we decide each week who our quarterback is going to be, then the quarterbacks will know first and the team will know second and everybody else will know third.”

Groh remained tight-lipped on Sunday.

“We’ll see,” the coach said.

 

Cavaliers add kicker to class of 2007
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
September 11, 2006

Virginia’s football program picked up its 15th commitment for the recruiting class of 2007 when place-kicker Chris Hinkebein, from Charlotte, N.C., declared he will become a Cavalier.

Hinkebein, who attends Providence Senior High (the same high school as current UVa wide receiver Andrew Pearman), was offered a scholarship on Friday night and accepted Sunday.

He was in attendance at Scott Stadium on Saturday for Virginia’s home opening, 13-12 win over Wyoming.

 

Cavs show attack with lack
Through two games, Virginia's offense has averaged 208.5 yards
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Sep 11, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- With his team trailing 6-3 late in the third quarter, University of Virginia junior Josh Zidenberg burst through the line and blocked the punt of Wyoming's Billy Vinnedge.

That was the Cavaliers' first blocked punt in nearly two years, and they took possession at the Cowboys' 14-yard line. The near-sellout crowd at Scott Stadium roared. But those cheers quickly turned to groans -- a smattering of boos was heard, too, and not for the first time during the game -- as the Cavs stumbled through a series that epitomized the general ineptness of their offense Saturday.

With the play clock about to expire, Virginia was forced to call a timeout on first down. When play resumed, quarterback Christian Olsen's screen pass to tailback Michael Johnson gained only 2 yards. Before U.Va.'s second-down play, center Jordy Lipsey was called for a false start. That made it second and 13, and Olsen's pass for tight end Jonathan Stupar was deflected and fell incomplete in the end zone.

On third and 13, Olsen badly overthrew tight end Tom Santi the football sailed out of the end zone -- and so the Wahoos had to settle for Chris Gould's 34-yard field goal on the final play of the quarter.

An unexpected gift from the Cowboys -- a missed extra point in overtime -- helped U.Va. escape with a 13-12 victory in its home opener. But the Cavaliers (1-1) finished with only 206 yards of offense, the fifth-fewest in sixth-year coach Al Groh's tenure at his alma mater. Twenty-five of them came in overtime, on backup quarterback Kevin McCabe's perfect pass to sophomore wide receiver Kevin Ogletree in the back of the end zone.

A week earlier, McCabe had replaced Olsen in the fourth quarter of a one-sided loss to Pittsburgh at Heinz Field. Playing in his hometown, the redshirt junior saw his third pass picked off and run back for a touchdown.

"What can you say about it?" McCabe said Saturday night. "I threw a touchdown to the other team first before I threw my one. It's just one of those things. It happens to everybody. You've got to move on. Look what happened this week."

McCabe, who replaced Olsen early in the fourth quarter Saturday, finished 8 of 13 passing for 85 yards. Apart from McCabe's performance and Ogletree's career effort (10 catches, 95 yards), the U.Va. offense had little of which to be proud. The line struggled for the second straight game, and with little room to run the Cavaliers netted 32 yards on 22 carries.

Through two games, Virginia has scored two touchdowns -- on drives of 13 and 25 yards, respectively. The Cavaliers are averaging 208.5 yards. Those aren't flattering statistics, but junior defensive end Chris Long said U.Va. remains united.

"There's two sides of the ball for a reason, and we're a team for a reason," Long said Saturday night. "I've said on occasions before, where the offense has bailed us out, that the offense is part of the team. That's the way it works. We love those guys on the other side of the ball, and they will score points this year. But today the ball didn't bounce our way, or whatever it may be, and we had to pick up our performance."

On his Sunday-night teleconference with reporters, Groh was asked who would start at quarterback Saturday against Western Michigan at Scott Stadium. He didn't bite when asked the same question after the Wyoming game, and his position was unchanged last night.

"We'll see," Groh said.

 

McCabe states case for Cavs
With the outcome on the line, backup QB Kevin McCabe did what was necessary to win.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE --Kevin McCabe doesn't know if he's jump-started his career or not.

Technically, it might be necessary to have a start before you can have a jump-start.

McCabe doesn't have one of those yet -- a start, that is -- but it's not out of the realm of possibility that he could get the nod as Virginia's quarterback after his performance in a back-up role against Wyoming.

McCabe, a fourth-year junior from the Pittsburgh suburb of Wexford, Pa., threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Ogletree on the first play of overtime and the Cavaliers kicked the extra point for a 13-12 victory at Scott Stadium.

"The throw was everything it had to be," Virginia coach Al Groh said.

The case could be made that McCabe's career was on the line when he entered the game with 12:58 remaining in the fourth quarter and the score 6-6.

Lead the Cavaliers to victory and he became a challenger for the No. 1 job this year and perhaps the frontrunner for 2007. Do nothing to change the status quo and, the next time, maybe Groh would have been inclined to look at redshirt Jameel Sewell.

"You need to start somewhere," McCabe said. "It's the first meaningful snaps I've gotten where the game was close and the outcome on the line."

Groh would not say Saturday after the game or Sunday in a teleconference whether Olsen would remain the starter for Virginia's game this week against Western Michigan, which overcame a 10-7 halftime deficit Saturday to beat visiting Toledo, 31-10.

Groh was reminded on his teleconference that he made a quarterback change prior to an earlier game with Western Michigan and wound up with a two-year starter in Marques Hagans, who passed for 252 yards in a 59-16 victory over Western Michigan in 2003.

Virginia has had few quarterback controversies since Groh's first season, when Bryson Spinner and Matt Schaub divided starts in 2001. Groh subsequently has not shown much interest in platooning, even as a way to get some experience for his No. 2 QB.

McCabe played in only one game last year, when he was the No. 3 quarterback behind Hagans and Olsen, "but I've been prepared since Day One," he said.

"I've been here for four years. Chris is the starting quarterback and I wish injury upon nobody, but whenever I was called on, I wanted to be ready. It's not like I'm green out there."

The winning touchdown pass came on a play that Virginia had called earlier, only to have the protection break down.

"Kevin Ogletree said 'we had one out there,' but there was a rush in my face and I didn't get a good look at it," McCabe said. "I saw a defender in the same spot where he had been in the fourth quarter and said, 'Hey, let's take a shot at it.' You can't pass those ones up.

"It was the best ball I've thrown out of, uh, what, maybe 25 in my career? You just want to go out there and not make a mistake, stay within the offense and not cost your team the game."

Actually, McCabe did make one mistake, on a fourth-and-1 play where he failed to recognize Wyoming's defensive formation and should have changed the call. Instead, Wyoming stuffed Cedric Peerman and took over at its 41 with 8:36 left.

"We ought to make that [yardage] standing on our head," Groh said. "We have to make that, but the formation got miscalled."

"I messed that up," McCabe admitted.

When asked about Olsen's performance, Groh made a baseball analogy, saying that even all-star pitchers such as Randy Johnson and Tom Glavine need relief.

However, in this case, the reliever got a win and not a save -- not that McCabe was counting on Wyoming freshman Aric Goodman missing an extra-point kick.

"As soon as I threw the touchdown pass, I was thinking, 'Man, this could be a shootout,'" McCabe said. "You don't score for four quarters; then, who knows, you might go three or four overtimes.

"I was talking with coach Mike [Groh] about our gameplan after Wyoming scored. I never thought that I might not be going back out there."

Notes

Chris Hinkebein, a 6-foot-2, 180-pound place-kicker from Providence High School in Charlotte, N.C., has become the 15th recruit to make a football commitment to Virginia for 2007.

Hinkebein made seven of nine field-goal attempts as a junior, including a 54-yarder for a team that finished 9-2. Forty-four of his kickoffs resulted in touchbacks.

1. Rush for at least 150 yards | D

The Cavaliers haven't rushed for 150 yards -- total -- in two games. Cedric Peerman, starting in place of an injured Jason Snelling, had 16 carries for 41 yards. The team had 22 rushing attempts for 32 yards.

2. At least two sacks | B-plus

The Cavaliers had four sacks, two by Clint Sintim and one apiece for Jeffrey Fitzgerald and Jon Copper. All four sacks came in the first half, including three in the first quarter.

3. Limit Wyoming's big plays | B

Outside of a pair of runs of 29 and 31 yards by John Wendling on fake punts, Virginia did not allow a run of more than 20 yards or a pass of more than 17 yards.
 

Despite win, Cavs falter
Virginia's offense sputters again, but its defense improves in a win over Wyoming.
BY DARRYL SLATER
dslater@dailypress.com / 247-4641
September 10, 2006, 10:03 PM EDT

Kevin McCabe arrived at Virginia's media day in August wearing a thick, blonde mustache. He did it just for kicks, he said. Didn't feel like shaving.

About 10 days ago, McCabe shaved the 'stache and started struggling. "I thought I lost my mojo (in practice) for a little bit," he said after Virginia's 13-12 win Saturday over Wyoming. He added that he plans to grow the mustache again soon.

Whether the source is a mustache, a mojo or -- crazy as this sounds -- a drive that lasts more than three plays and actually gains yardage, Virginia's offense needs all the help it can get.

With 12:49 remaining Saturday, Virginia coach Al Groh replaced starter Christian Olsen with McCabe. Olsen led Virginia on nine drives. Six went three plays and out.

Olsen's final drive started after Josh Zidenberg's blocked punt gave Virginia the ball at Wyoming's 14-yard line. Then this happened: 2-yard pass, 5-yard false-start penalty, incomplete pass, incomplete pass, 34-yard field goal by Chris Gould, booing. That's a minus-3-yard scoring drive.

Olsen's final statistics: 12-of-21 passing for 89 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.

McCabe's: 8-of-13 for 85 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions -- though 25 of those 85 yards came on an overtime touchdown pass to wide receiver Kevin Ogletree.

"I don't think in any kind of way we can just blame Christian Olsen," Ogletree said.

True. And with about one quarter of playing time to his name, it's probably too early to get an accurate reading on McCabe.

While Virginia's defense was stronger Saturday, the Cavaliers can't bank on holding every opponent to 12 points.

OFFENSE: F

First two games:

211 yards and 206 yards -- the fifth- and sixth-lowest outputs in Groh's 65 games at Virginia. The absence of starting tailback Jason Snelling (sprained ankle) hampered Virginia on Saturday. Ogletree showed promise: 10 catches for 95 yards and Virginia's only touchdown. Oh, and in two games, Virginia has two touchdowns -- on scoring drives of 13 and 25 yards. Yikes.

DEFENSE: A-minus

Yes, this was Wyoming and not an ACC team. But Virginia had four sacks -- two by outside linebacker Clint Sintim, who also had three tackles for a loss. Cornerback Chris Cook replaced Chris Gorham in the starting lineup and made 12 tackles.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B

For the second consecutive game, Chris Gould handled all three kicking duties. He was so-so on field goals, making 29- and 34-yarders and missing 43- and 49-yarders. His punting average improved from 39.1 yards in the season opener at Pittsburgh to 45.4 Saturday.

COACHING: D

Bottom line: Virginia needed a botched extra point to beat a Mountain West Conference team that went 4-7 last season and has one winning season since the beginning of 2000. And Virginia's offense supposedly had an advantage because Wyoming's 3-4 defense resembles the Cavaliers' defense.

OVERALL: C-minus.

SEASON AVERAGE: D.
 

Copper fills gaps left by big names in Virginia defense
Kyle O'Connor, Cavalier Daily Columnist

Jon Copper can watch "60 Minutes" in 20 minutes. Jon Copper doesnot sleep. He waits. If you ask Jon Copper what time it is, he always says, "Two seconds till." After you ask, "two seconds till what?" he tackles you. Jon Copper can also take down the entire Wyoming offense by himself.

That last one is no joke. The PA announcer said Copper's name so much during the first home football game Saturday, people outside the stadium must've thought he was on the field all day. And for Wyoming, it felt like he was. The sophomore linebacker racked up 11 tackles and a sack against the Cowboys –- a career-high and second most on the team. Three of those tackles drove the offense back a total of 12 yards. Not a bad game for a special teams veteran who only had 10 tackles in 2005.

Even though Copper's performance against Wyoming was impressive, half the fun was watching him after he made a big play or got through to the quarterback. The guy was out there having a blast. After each tackle, Copper would jump up and down like a 232-pound kid, high-fiving anyone within reach as he ran off the field. If you didn't know any better, you'd think he was actually enjoying himself playing football on a beautiful afternoon in front of 60,000 fans.

Copper is getting his chance these days as part of an anonymous young linebacking corps that has stepped in to replace some of the biggest names in Virginia football over the past few years. Instead of Brooks, Parham and Blackstock, now we've got Sintim, Appleby and Copper. It doesn't really have the same ring to it, but give it until the end of the season.

You might call Copper the runt of this litter -- if a runt can be as big as a small pickup. At six feet tall, the sophomore is undersized at a position where starters usually stand around six feet three inches and tip the scales at 250 pounds.

Still, that hasn't stopped Copper from being called "one of the hardest workers on the team" in his official bio. In 2005, he even won the Rock Weir Most Improved Player Award along with Brad Butler for his performance during spring practice.

But enough with the stats, awards and numbers. The real reason you should know about Jon Copper is because his story goes beyond the football field -- and it's there that things start to get interesting.

You see, Jon Copper takes that typical football-player stereotype and tosses it out the window. Not literally (although holding three International Powerlifting Association world records means he probably could), but you get the idea.

It turns out the only thing stronger than Copper's defensive play Saturday is his faith. You might have noticed after the game this weekend that about a dozen players from both teams gathered at the 50-yard line, joined hands, and said a prayer. Well, at the very center of that mix of blue and white jerseys was a certain sophomore linebacker.

A religious studies major, Copper is heavily involved in Athletes in Action (a ministry group) as well as Young Life and WyldLife (two Christian organizations for kids). He even took a mission trip to a Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota a while back.

On his Facebook profile, Copper lists several pieces of advice, including "put Bible verses over your speedometer (And yes, if you are pulled over for speeding it is good if the cop is a regular church attendee)."

He also suggests people "place a Bible beside your favorite toilet, or at least the one most frequently used."

Now, before my e-mail starts filling up with complaints, this column is not meant to endorse any of these ideas (especially the speedometer one). It is interesting, though, to find an athlete whose Saturday job can take a backseat to other interests -- even if that means reading Bible verses on the john.

So for all those athletes, like Jon Copper, who find time outside of practice and games to cultivate other interests, I salute you. And besides, I'm sure a lot of kids are happy to know that their mentor at Young Life camp can hit Division I quarterbacks like a freight train.

 

Should McCabe start next week?
Barney Breen-Portnoy, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor

I think I can speak for thousands of Virginia fans when I say I am still letting out a sigh of relief that began when Wyoming kicker Aric Goodman's extra-point attempt sailed wide right Saturday evening to give the Cavaliers an unsightly 13-12 overtime win over the Cowboys at Scott Stadium. A home loss to Wyoming would have been so devastating that I do not even want to think about how close that circumstance came to occurring.

Throughout a contest in which Virginia's offense made me want to gouge out my eyes (quarterback Christian Olsen may be a model, but he sure isn't nice to look at when he can't hit an open receiver or avoid the pass rush), it was Virginia's defense that saved the day on numerous occasions. Wyoming's most effective offensive play was the fake punt (run twice successfully for 29 and 31 yards) and those came against Virginia's special teams unit, not the defense.

A week after he was embarrassed by allowing a Pittsburgh touchdown after he tripped, senior cornerback Marcus Hamilton showed why he is both a team captain and an All-American candidate. With Wyoming already up 3-0 and threatening to score again as it marched deep into Virginia territory, Hamilton picked off a Jacob Doss pass at the four-yard line and returned it 29 yards to the Virginia 33-yard line. Considering how poorly Virginia's offense was playing (three-and-outs on six of the first eight possessions), the game may well have been over if Wyoming had scored a field goal or touchdown at that point.

Other defensive stars for the Cavaliers included cornerback Chris Cook (12 tackles), linebacker Jon Copper (11 tackles, one sack), linebacker Clint Sintim (five tackles, two sacks) and defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald (three tackles, three quarterback hurries and one sack). All in all, it was an excellent day for Virginia's defense, especially coming only a week after a terrible performance in Pittsburgh.

The same cannot, however, be said for the offense. I'll get to the quarterback situation in a second; but first, something needs to be done about Virginia's running game. It actually regressed from the Pittsburgh game. Against the Panthers, Virginia ran the ball 21 times for 52 yards and an average of 2.5 yards per carry. Against Wyoming, the Cavaliers ran the ball 22 times for 32 yards and an average of 1.5 yards per carry. Some of this regression may be attributable to the fact that senior tailback Jason Snelling had to sit out the Wyoming game due to the lingering effects of an ankle sprain suffered last week. But the larger issue was an offensive line that could not open up holes for sophomore Cedric Peerman, whose talent as a tailback is not that far below Snelling's. The lack of a dangerous running game will of course hurt the passing game, which segues nicely to the quarterback question.

Over the first two games, the offense looked downright atrocious under Olsen. He was 29-55 for 222 yards with two interceptions and zero touchdown passes in seven quarters. Of the 20 drives he led this season, 11 were three-and-outs. Virginia coach Al Groh recognized the need for a change at the start of the fourth quarter Saturday when he replaced Olsen with Kevin McCabe. Now it's time for Groh to recognize the need to make that change permanent.

In one quarter of play plus overtime, McCabe was 8-13 for 85 yards and an overtime touchdown pass that proved to be the game-winner. That 25-yard strike to Kevin Ogletree was five yards further than Olsen's longest completion of the season.

Without McCabe, Virginia may well have lost to Wyoming. Just for that, he deserves the opportunity next week (and perhaps after that) to see if he can be as effective over the course of an entire game.

Immediately following the missed extra point, I saw a very classy moment that deserves mention. Rather than most of Virginia's players, who were prancing about as if they had just won the Super Bowl (guys, Wyoming was 2-6 in the freaking Mountain West conference last year), place kicker/punter Chris Gould and Hamilton immediately went to console several Wyoming players who were lying on the ground devastated by the close loss. Not only did that show good sportsmanship, but Gould and Hamilton also acted like they've been there before (in terms of winning). I understand that a win is a win, but a one-point overtime victory in a game for which you were 9.5 point favorites does not merit a raucous celebration at midfield. The rest of Virginia's players should take a cue from Gould and Hamilton for how to act after a win.

It was a crazy weekend in the ACC. N.C. State lost to Akron at home, Florida State trailed Troy in the fourth quarter in Tallahassee before pulling out a win, Clemson lost to Boston College in overtime and Wake Forest was taken to the wire by lowly Duke. Once again, a win is a win, but I'd feel much better next week if Virginia could come out strong and beat Western Michigan by a few touchdowns.