UVa not taking Devils lightly
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
September 27, 2006

Marcus Hamilton said it is quite simple.

The cornerback said Virginia (1-3, 0-1 ACC) is looking squarely at a must-win situation on Saturday at Duke (0-3, 0-2).

A phone call might need to be made to the Elias Sports Bureau to find out the last time a Virginia player spoke candidly about a game against the Blue Devils.

“We have to go down there and win,” Hamilton said on Tuesday. “We’ve had a rough stretch of games this season so far, and we need to right this ship that we’re on.

“We have to come back with a victory.”

Defensive end Chris Long agreed.

“I don’t care who the opponent is,” the junior said. “You have to play every game like it’s a Super Bowl when you’re 1-3.”

Playing Duke, home or away, has looked more like a sure-win since former coach Steve Spurrier departed Duke after winning 20 games during a three-year span (1987-89).

Virginia, in fact, has beaten Duke in 19 of the last 23 head-to-head contests and six straight.

In many of those seasons, however, Virginia took pride in being able to run the ball. That has not been a luxury this season. Only two programs in the country rank below the Cavaliers in rushing offense - UVa is averaging 51 yards, bad enough to be ranked 117th.

Duke can relate. The Blue Devils are averaging just 57 yards per game on the ground.

“Both teams have not run the ball as well as I am sure they would like to do,” said Virginia coach Al Groh.

It does not help Virginia’s cause that Duke’s defense, Groh pointed out, has been stout against the run this season. Wake Forest and Virginia Tech combined for 159 yards rushing in the Blue Devils’ previous two games.

“The last two teams [Duke has] played are teams that historically have been very steeped in running the ball,” Groh said. “Both of those teams had minimal success in running the ball. Most of the yardage gained in both of those two games was by passing the ball.

“They have been very sticky against the run. Obviously, they gave Wake Forest a very difficult time, particularly against the run. I would say, right now at this stage, it looks very challenging [for Virginia’s tailbacks].”

Duty calls

A lot was made of Virginia’s tight ends during the preseason. The three-headed monster that includes Tom Santi, Jon Stupar and John Phillips were expected to be a focal point for Virginia’s offense.

That has not been the case.

Through four games, the three tight ends have combined for 20 catches and 175 yards, but they have yet to reach the end zone.

There is a good reason. Groh said he has had to use the tight ends as blockers to ensure added time in the pocket for the quarterback.

How do you change that?

“You take them out of the protection more. Who knows whether that’s a good news or a bad news deal,” Groh said. “One of those things that they understood very well is that if the quarterback is under siege nobody is going to get the ball anyway. It doesn’t make much difference if they are out in the pattern.

To their credit, Groh said the tight ends have never complained.

“They’ve been very unselfish about it and they have understood what was necessary,” Groh said. “They were a good aide at Georgia Tech. The quarterback wasn’t perfect but certainly was under less duress than he had been in previous games.”

Getting more

Inside linebacker Antonio Appleby is tied with fellow inside linebacker Jon Copper in terms of plays. Both have been on the field for 258.

While Copper has a team-leading 32 tackles, Appleby ranks fifth with just 19, something that has Groh longing for more.

“I would like more production there,” Groh said. “Sometimes he has a tendency to analyze a little too much. We just want him to play the position the way it is meant to be played: run and hit. It is a run-and-hit position.”

Getting into the act

During the 2003 season, Tony Franklin returned 13 kickoffs for 336 yards. Last year, Franklin returned another for 18 yards.

Expect the 15th return of his career to come on Saturday.

When asked by a reporter about the possibility of inserting Franklin onto the kickoff return team for an added spark, Groh said he was one step ahead.

“I have already considered that,” Groh said. “That’s what we are going to do on Saturday.”

After ranking third in the league and 24th in the nation in 2004, Virginia currently ranks fifth in the ACC in kickoff returns (20.5 yards per return).

“That’s another spot where we are looking for a little more production,” Groh said, “so we will see if the opportunities-slash-competition is a good thing or a bad thing.”

Extra points

Virginia is a six-point favorite over Duke. … Former walk-on Noah Greenbaum is the only placekicker listed on the Cavaliers’ depth chart for Saturday’s game. Greenbaum made a PAT against Georgia Tech but missed a 47-yard field goal. Groh said performance in practice this week would likely determine whether it is Greenbaum or Chris Gould. Also, sophomore Zak Stair is listed ahead of Eugene Monroe at left tackle. Stair started against Georgia Tech. … Thanks to Gould, UVa leads the ACC in net punting and ranks 15th in the country. That might not matter as much this week. Duke has only four punt returns through its opening three games.

 

It's time for Cavs to walk the walk
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
September 27, 2006

Since when has Duke become a must-win game? That’s the predicament Virginia’s 1-3 football team finds itself in as it prepares to head to historic Wallace Wade Stadium for a high-noon showdown with the winless Blue Devils.

Duke has won three games and just one in the ACC since the beginning of the 2004 season. Coach Ted Roof has played 35 true freshmen (seven this season) during that span in an attempt to turn the program around.

If Virginia doesn’t put together a stronger performance in Durham than it has in the previous four weeks, then the Blue Devils will likely end their drought and a six-game losing streak to the Cavaliers.

A sinking feeling

Two weeks ago, UVa coach Al Groh compared his team’s situation as being in quicksand.

“When you can’t score any points, you can’t kick it through, you can’t throw it, and you can’t run it, it makes it pretty hard to win,” said Groh after a frustrating home loss to Western Michigan, a game that the Cavaliers had no business losing.

Since then, there have been changes. Groh replaced right cornerback Chris Gorham with Chris Cook. He replaced left offensive tackle Eugene Monroe with Zak Stair. Placekicker Chris Gould lost that job to Noah Greenbaum with no better results.

If there is a life-saving vine that Virginia can grab hold of, it may very well be redshirt freshman quarterback Jameel Sewell, who delivered a ray of hope with a so-so performance (Sewell gave himself a ‘C’ grade) at Georgia Tech last Thursday night.

While it is undeniable that Virginia won’t consistently move the football until the offensive line starts to bloody the collective noses of its opponents, Sewell may find a way to win.

“Until we start producing more offensively it will be hard to work out of [the quicksand],” Groh said Tuesday when reminded of his previous statement. “When you get in quicksand, you thrash around, but you don’t go any place. We hope that increased turns for some of these players will bring about the necessary improvement in performance.”

Bottom of the barrel

The fact that Virginia is ranked the third-worst rushing offense in the nation (No. 117 out of 119 Division I-A schools) speaks volumes about its ineptitude on offense and how lousy the line play has been. That UVa ranks No. 113 in scoring offense and No. 116 in total offense magnifies that what’s going on is unacceptable.

With all that in mind, Groh said he wasn’t totally surprised about the 1-3 start.

“I didn’t have any expectations simply from the standpoint that any time you start out with a brand new quarterback, it’s unrealistic to have any expectations as to how it might go,” Groh said. “It might go fantastically well and that certainly would be surprising. It might go less than what you wish. When you don’t get enough play-making there, you’re going to struggle getting your points.”

Certainly the Cavs have struggled, starting three quarterbacks in a three-game span. Virginia isn’t alone in that dilemma. A total of 18 different quarterbacks have started for ACC teams already this season.

Now that UVa has settled on Sewell, the move should add some stability to the offense. However, his effectiveness may be limited if the offensive line can’t do its job.

Some of the linemen have blamed their problem on technique issues. Well, technique, schmechnique. It’s time to Cowboy Up, stop making excuses and put the opponent on the ground.

Some former Cavaliers from some of Virginia’s greatest teams have e-mailed and wondered what’s going on with their team. They can’t accept the fact that Virginia has stumbled to the point where going to Duke is a shaky proposition.

“We have to go down there and win,” said Cavalier senior corner Marcus Hamilton. “We need to right the ship. We have to come back with a victory. If we can get that win, we can get some momentum.”

Junior defensive end Chris Long called Duke a must-win.

“When you’re 1-3, you want to win more than ever,” said Long. “We want to get back to playing Virginia football again.”

What’s Virginia football? It’s smashmouth football. It’s beating people up. It’s controlling the line of scrimmage. It’s all about what goes on down in the trenches where games are really won and lost - and right now Virginia’s losing that battle.

Long said that he doesn’t have to walk around campus and take a poll on how his schoolmates feel about the football team right now. If there were any egos on this team, which Long denied, then they are long gone.

“We’re all men,” Long said. “If it is to be turned around, it’s up to the players. Coach Groh can’t go out there and make the tackles. He gives us the tools to win and we have to execute.”

Hamilton believes the Cavaliers can still turn things around, but that it starts this weekend. The man in the big chair is in complete agreement.

“I’ve been on a team that was 1-11 and won five games to finish the season and was in the playoffs the next year,” said Groh. “Was on a team that was 6-10 and was in the Super Bowl the next year. Each one of those teams needed the year that preceded the successful season to get itself in position to do what it ended up doing.

“Sometimes it’s a process that teams have to go through, and that’s when you find out who is tough enough to stay through the process.”

Groh and his staff realized earlier than the rest of us that it was going to take “some resolve on the part of everybody involved and that we were going to have to be pretty tough-minded along the way and keep grinding and stick together staff-wise and player-wise,” the coach said.

There has to be a sense of urgency in Virginia’s program this week leading up to Duke, and that attitude must prevail through the weekend or all we will see from that pool of quicksand will be the top of a Cavalier helmet.

 

QB wants to get off to better start
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- If Jameel Sewell had been living in some sort of dream world, maybe he would have been offended by a teammate's observation Thursday night at Georgia Tech.

"At halftime Mike Johnson was like, 'Just grow up, man, you've got to grow up right now,' " Sewell said. "I just thought about it and took it all in. There was no reason for me to do the things I was doing in the first half."

Sewell, a redshirt freshman who was making his first start, completed three of nine passes for 22 yards in the first half. Many of the throws were well short of their target.

Sewell began the second half with four straight incompletions, several on catchable balls, but he completed his next five passes and eight of the next 10.

"Coach Mike [Groh] told me, 'Just let it go; just throw it and stop trying to aim it,' " said Sewell of his in-game conversation with Virginia's offensive coordinator. "That was my problem, basically.

"I didn't feel nervous. Maybe it was an unconscious-type nervousness. I guess it was just too much excitement. My confidence level has gone up, knowing that I was somewhat able to bounce back from a bad first half of play.

"It makes me think that, this week, I can start right off from the jump and make plays."

The Cavaliers (1-3, 0-1 ACC) travel to Durham, N.C., for a noon Saturday game with Duke (0-3, 0-1). The Blue Devils, who are six-point underdogs, have an 11-game losing streak dating back to last season.

Opponents go long

The longest pass play against Virginia during the 2005 season was a 57-yarder from Minnesota's Bryan Cupito to Jason Ellerson in the 12th game.

After four games this year, the Cavaliers already have given up touchdown passes of 78, 72, 66 and 58 yards.

"It bothers me a lot as a secondary player and as a captain," fifth-year cornerback Marcus Hamilton said. "We've been so good at stopping the run, but, on the back end, we're giving up a lot of deep balls."

Hamilton was a victim on one of those deep balls, a 66-yarder from Georgia Tech's Reggie Ball to Calvin Johnson. Johnson put a double move on Hamilton, who bought the first fake.

On an earlier play, Johnson had gotten behind safeties Jamaal Jackson and Byron Glaspy for a 58-yard touchdown, which was a killer for a Virginia team hoping to go into halftime down 10-0.

"You have to be deeper than the deepest receiver and we weren't," Hamilton said. "I still feel like the secondary is one of the strongest parts of the team. Nothing's going to change my mind on that, so we've just got to continue to watch film and get better."

Personnel

Groh is contemplating a change in his kickoff return unit that would include Tony Franklin, who averaged 25.8 yards on 13 returns as a freshman in 2003 but has had only one kickoff return since then. Virginia is averaging 20.5 yards per kickoff return this year.

n Groh hasn't committed to senior Noah Greenbaum as a replacement for Chris Gould on field goals and extra points.

Greenbaum missed a 47-yard field-goal attempt Thursday at Georgia Tech; Groh said he felt the score at the time (24-0) merited taking a look at him. Greenbaum later kicked an extra point.

n There are indications that junior Emmanuel Byers, who declined elective Achilles surgery this summer, is running more freely and will get increased playing time. Byers had 21 receptions last year, including 14 in the last four games, and averaged 10.1 yards on punt returns.

By the numbers

Out of the 119 teams in Division I-A, Virginia ranks 108th in passing efficiency, 116th in total offense and 117th in rushing offense. Duke is 110th in total offense.

n UVa sophomore wide receiver Kevin Ogletree, who has 21 receptions in four games, is tied with Clemson's Chansi Stuckey for first in the ACC.

Local ties

Brandon Jarvis, a 5-foot-9, 188-pound wide receiver and defensive back from Rockbridge County, has become the ninth Virginia player from Timesland.

Groh said that Jarvis was one of two walk-ons to join the team after the start of school, joining Daniel Childress, a would-be long snapper or place-kicker. Jarvis is a former Rockbridge County teammate of scholarship UVa linebacker Aaron Clark.
 

U.Va. secondary suffering big-play blues
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© September 27, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Overall, the numbers look pretty good.

Virginia’s defense is giving up a respectable 304 yards per game, ranking seventh among 12 ACC teams and 46th of 119 Division I-A teams.

Against the run, the Cavaliers are allowing a half-yard per carry less than they did a year ago. Against the pass, they’re allowing 50 fewer yards per game.

But, oh, those big plays.

Through four games, Virginia has allowed four passes of 58 yards or more, all for touchdowns. Two came in the opener against Pittsburgh, and two more came last Thursday, from Georgia Tech receiver Calvin Johnson.

Last season, the longest scoring pass against Virginia went for 57 yards, and that came in a bowl victory over Minnesota. Before that game, the Cavaliers had not given up a scoring pass longer than 31 yards.

Nothing nullifies a solid defensive series faster than giving up a home run ball. For a defense that has played well otherwise, the deep balls have been the unit’s biggest source of frustration.

“That’s what games are about: big plays,” defensive end Chris Long said. “You can’t just discount them and draw from the positives.”

The huge plays have come as a surprise, given that Virginia’s veteran secondary was expected to be the strength of the defense. The Cavaliers returned all four starters and have eight players who’ve started at least one game.

What’s gone wrong? It’s nothing too complicated, coach Al Groh said.

“Individual breakdowns in the secondary,” Groh said Tuesday. “That’s what it so often comes down to. They haven’t been complex patterns. They’ve been pretty straightforward.”

Johnson scored on catches of 58 and 66 yards. On the first, Virginia blitzed both safeties, leaving him in single coverage. On the second, the Cavaliers were in a defense in which safety Tony Franklin had responsibility for the middle of the field and cornerbacks Marcus Hamilton and Chris Cook one side each.

“That was me,” Hamilton said. “He ran a double move on me and I jumped on the first move, and he ran by me.”

Hamilton said he was trying to make something happen because Virginia trailed 17-0 at the time. It’s fine to take risks, Hamilton said, as long as they are smart risks.

“No matter what the call is, you’ve got to be behind the receiver,” he said. “And we weren’t behind the receiver; he was behind us.”

Three weeks earlier, against Pittsburgh, Hamilton tried to make a play on the ball against receiver Derek Kinder, leaping to try for an interception. Kinder came down with the ball, Hamilton came down on the turf, and the result was a 78-yard touchdown.

Earlier, the Cavaliers bit on a play-action fake that led to a 72-yard score.

At the time, Hamilton called the plays “uncharacteristic” of the secondary, which is being led by a new coach, Steve Bernstein, who has 35 years of experience coaching defensive backs. Even after yielding two more long passes for touchdowns, Hamilton said he remains confident in the group.

“I still feel the secondary is one of the best parts of the team,” he said. “Nothing’s going to change my mind on that.”

Long said mistakes in the secondary are easier to spot than mistakes by other defensive players. The responsibility lies with the entire defense, he said.

“Our secondary has played well,” he said. “We need to get more pressure on the quarterback.”

Virginia’s been doing that. The Cavaliers have nine sacks, fourth-best in the conference and nearly half of last year’s total of 19.

Saturday’s opponent, Duke, would appear to offer a respite from big-play threats. But even Duke has managed 181 passing yards per game. The team’s only touchdown this year came on a 47-yard pass.

Hamilton said the encouraging thing is that the Cavaliers are making technique mistakes that can be corrected.

“If we don’t, they’ll have a field day,” he said.

Notes: Groh said Franklin, who averaged 25.8 yards on kick returns in 2003, will return kicks Saturday. Virginia is averaging just 20.5 yards on kick returns, almost 2 yards less than a year ago, and has no returns longer than 38 yards. ... Noah Greenbaum replaced Chris Gould as field goal kicker last week, but the competition remains open. Greenbaum missed a 47-yarder. Gould is 5 of 8 on the season but has missed three of his last six (41, 43 and 49 yards). “We’ve been accustomed to a lot more than that — we need more than that,” Groh said. Gould will continue to punt. ... Groh could offer no update on when receiver Deyon Williams, out with a broken foot, might return. “It’s really a non-issue with me,” he said. “I don’t think about it, I don’t wait for it. It might not come about this year.”

 

Can Duke pull out a win over UVa?
By FRANK DASCENZO : The Herald-Sun
Sep 26, 2006 : 11:51 pm ET

There's a theory that Duke might win in football on Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium -- honest.

Much of this is due to the fact that Virginia will arrive with the same number of losses (three) as Duke, and those who have paid attention to the September swagger of the Cavaliers can confirm that it's no better than the swagger of the Blue Devils.

Never mind that Duke has scored just three second-half points. And never mind Duke already has been shut out by two teams from the Commonwealth -- Richmond and Virginia Tech. And never mind that it's homecoming, because Duke is 1-4 when Virginia is the homecoming opponent.

Theories tend to tease the giddy at heart, and at the moment the belief might be that the Wahoos are vulnerable, what with their lone win (or escape) being a one-point verdict over Wyoming in Charlottesville.

Al Groh, the Virginia coach, has tried three quarterbacks, which is one more than Duke's Ted Roof.

Roof opened his weekly media review on Tuesday at the Yoh Center by proclaiming: "Confidence is a powerful thing."

Right now, Duke's level of confidence is a mystery. Where is it? Where was it in the opener on Sept. 2 when Richmond beat the Devils 13-0? And where was it in Winston-Salem when the Blue Devils pushed Wake Forest all over the field -- 24 first downs to 14 for the Deacs, 367 yards to 292 and 34:33 to 25:27 time of possession -- in a 14-13 loss?

What's confidence if you cannot finish off the other guy?

Roof isn't into that misery-deserves-company theme, so there's no sense in telling him that it's not much better for Groh, whose team lost at home to Western Michigan by a touchdown and was ineffective offensively at Georgia Tech.

Words such as focus and execution -- the usual ones -- surfaced when Roof elaborated on that confidence thing. Naturally, you're wondering what most of us are about now: Can Duke gather enough of the big "C" to beat Virginia when it would seem the Cavaliers are beatable this year?

Virginia might seem a more likely Duke victim than Alabama -- or Florida State ? or Miami, all coming up after the Cavs.

True, Duke's rushing defense (No. 6 ACC) has improved, but its kicking game hasn't and neither has its offense. That's reason to wonder about the theory that the Blue Devils actually could achieve a victory.

Roof says there are some statistical similarities between the Devils and Virginia, which is somewhat true. But imagine how Groh would feel on the bus going back to Thomas Jefferson's school with a loss to the team Richmond opened its season by beating.

Virginia has owned Duke -- for a long time, too. The Cavaliers have won 15 of the last 17 and even beat Duke's 1989 Steve Spurrier-coached team 49-28. Fred Goldsmith's first team, in 1994, beat the Cavs 28-25 before collapsing in its final three games, and Carl Franks' 1999 team won in Scott Stadium 24-17 in two overtimes.

Roof and Groh aren't likely familiar with the once-heated rivalry between Duke and Virginia. Never one to worry about burning a bridge, Spurrier, upon hearing the George Welsh-coached Cavs didn't like having to share the 1989 ACC title with Duke, insinuated that "To be the champ, you have to beat the champ." Virginia lost to then-reigning league champ Clemson 34-20, but Duke beat the Tigers 21-17.

The next year, with Spurrier gone to Florida, Welsh went into Durham and blasted Duke 59-0. When I asked if he ever thought it could be this bad, Welsh told me, "I can't help it if they don't tackle us."

The Duke-Virginia rivalry became a flame in the Welsh years (1982-2000), but it's a mere candlelight now.

Theories are wonderful to hear and wonderful to ponder. But you know the old line -- seeing is believing.


 

Roof: players are too concerned with score
By BRYAN STRICKLAND : The Herald-Sun
bstrickland@heraldsun.com
Sep 26, 2006 : 11:54 pm ET

The Duke Blue Devils hope that someday soon -- Saturday, to be exact -- they can gaze up at the scoreboard at the end of the game and find a cause for celebration rather than consternation.

But for that to happen, Duke coach Ted Roof believes his team shouldn't stare at the scoreboard in the middle of the game.

"Our guys want it so bad that sometimes they'll start looking at the scoreboard, and they'll start to tighten up a little bit instead of staying loose and aggressive," Roof said. "If you look at the scoreboard too much, that can change your focus and is really wasted energy. The focus should be on execution and strain.

"If those other things happen, the scoreboard will take care of itself."

The scoreboard hasn't been a beacon of good news for the Blue Devils thus far, but the ACC's lone winless team believes that can change beginning Saturday at noon when Virginia -- a team fortunate to have a victory -- visits Wallace Wade Stadium.

While the Cavaliers are coming off a 24-7 loss at Georgia Tech on national television Thursday, the Blue Devils are returning from their lone bye week of the season. Duke's last outing resulted in a 36-0 loss at Virginia Tech on Sept. 16.

"I think this bye week has come at a good time because it's let us catch our breath and get refreshed," Duke defensive end Eli Nichols said. "Now we can get back to what we're doing and not worrying about what the scoreboard says so much as just playing the next play and letting go of what happened in the past."

Early in the bye week, Duke's coaches did peek at the past, evaluating what had gone well and what had gone awry through the first three games of the season. Tuesday, Roof ran down the good, the bad and the ugly:

* Defensively, Duke's offseason concentration on stopping the run appears to be paying dividends. After yielding 5.1 yards per carry last season, Duke is yielding 2.7 yards per carry so far this season. In addition, Duke is allowing 100 fewer yards of total offense per game.

* On the other hand, the defense is allowing too many big plays in the passing game and continues to struggle when facing third-and-long situations. "On our third-and-long situations we need to get some more pressure on the quarterback to help out our defensive backs," Nichols said. "Our run defense has been a little better than our pass defense, so that's something we need to work on."

* Offensively, Duke's yards per pass attempt has ballooned from 4.7 last season to 7.1 this season, and the completion percentage is up from about 47 percent to nearly 60 percent.

* On the other hand, the Blue Devils' rushing numbers have gone down (127 vs. 57 yards per game), and they have managed to score just once -- on a field goal -- in nine possessions inside the opponents' 20-yard line.

Duke's inability to take advantage of its red-zone opportunities undoubtedly spelled the difference on the scoreboard in a 14-13 loss at Wake Forest and possibly could have changed things in a 13-0 loss to Richmond.

Even though Roof doesn't want his team adversely affected by what it sees on the scoreboard during the course of the game, he still understands that inevitably that's where all eyes will turn.

"We're not where we want to be, but at the same time we're making substantial progress that hasn't shown up in wins yet," Roof said. "That's the bottom line -- we play the game to win, and it's a bottom-line business.

"Regardless of what people might think, our kids have busted their hump, and they really, really want this thing. They've invested in this with their heart and soul, and it's important to them. They need to see a return on the investment."

 

UVa Notebook: Hamilton one of nation's best at picking off passes
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
September 26, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE - With 11 career interceptions, Virginia's Marcus Hamilton is tied for fifth among active NCAA players. Duke's John Talley has done him one better with 12 and is tied for second.
The two Jim Thorpe Award candidates met at Jacksonville during the ACC kickoff and keep tabs with each other.

"We've spoken, but we haven't spoken about (interceptions)," said Hamilton, who was sporting a mohawk at Tuesday's press conference.

Talley got a leg up on Hamilton two weeks ago, intercepting a pass against Virginia Tech. That week, Hamilton did not dress for the Western Michigan because of a left shoulder injury. It was the first game he missed since his redshirt year in 2002.

It's likely at least one of the two cornerbacks will add to his total this week. Both teams will start a freshman quarterback - Virginia with Jameel Sewell and Duke with Thaddeus Lewis.

"We'd like to (show) him things (defensively) that maybe he hasn't seen in practice because he doesn't have as much game experience," Hamilton said of Lewis, who despite his youth, has not thrown a pick in 62 career passes.

Shuffling the deck

Two changes to the starting lineup at Georgia Tech have stuck for the Duke game. Zak Stair, who started in place of Eugene Monroe at left tackle, will do so again this week, and Noah Greenbaum is expected to be the place kicker.

"We're trying to find the best combination of players to get the most production," head coach Al Groh said.

Monroe, the five-star jewel of the Cavaliers' 2005 recruiting class and expected heir to D'Brickashaw Ferguson, was slowed by surgery to repair a dislocated knee cap last spring and has looked a step slow on the field this season. He took a reserve role against the Yellow Jackets and played a limited number of snaps.

Stair, a sophomore who redshirted in 2004, has been known more for his penalties (and resulting "1 A DAY" jersey at practice) than anything. But he has become a versatile lineman, filling in for Monroe on the left side and splitting time with Will Barker at right tackle.

"I'm happy to come in and help where I can help," Stair said. "Hopefully that's enough to propel the line forward and help us improve."

Greenbaum replaced Chris Gould as the team's place kicker at Georgia Tech but missed his only field goal attempt, a 47-yarder in the third quarter.

This season, Virginia kickers are 5-for-9 on field goal attempts.

"We've been accustomed to a lot more than that and we need a lot more than that," Groh said.

While Greenbaum is listed as the No. 1 kicker on the depth chart, Groh balked at naming him the starter, saying, "We've got a lot of kicks to go this week."

Get out of his way

At 6-foot-2, 281 pounds, Nate Collins isn't your typical kickoff gunner. Then again, how many college nose tackles played tailback, receiver and quarterback at times in high school?

Collins did at King & Low-Heywood Thomas High in Port Chester, N.Y., last year, showing the kind of athletic ability that makes it easy to see why he's the only true freshman the Cavaliers have played this season. He has the size to hold the line and the speed to make it down the field on a kick, which can be quite valuable.

"I've noticed in practice, it's pretty hard for anybody to stop his momentum once he gets there," Groh said with a chuckle.

Extra points

To jumpstart a stagnant kickoff return unit, Groh expects to use senior Tony Franklin on Saturday. Franklin returned kicks in 2003 and led the team with a 25.8-yard average. ? Groh said he'd like to use more of wideout Emmanuel Byers, who is almost fully healthy after dealing with an Achilles' injury during the offseason and training camp that nearly required him to have season-ending surgery. A dependable pass catcher, Byers had 21 receptions last year as a slot receiver. He has four catches this year. ? Groh was still dismissive of any talk about the return of injured wide receiver Deyon Williams (stress fracture), who dressed at Georgia Tech and ran some drills during the pre-game but did not play. "If it occurs, it will be a nice thing," Groh said, "but we don't even give it that degree of thought."


 

Orange Fever vs. Sunday formal: Is that the real issue?
Joey Mancini, Cavalier Daily Columnist

For the last three years in Charlottesville, a debate has raged about the culture and traditions of Virginia football.

This debate was spurred by coach Al Groh's request that fans wear orange shirts, rather than ties and sundresses, to football games.

Bear with me here, because I have a confession.

I went to the Virginia Tech game last Saturday.

Yep, I donned neutral colors, woke up at 6 a.m., sat in the sixth row and watched the Hokies squeak by Cincinnati.

I had a good time seeing again how they do things down there.

Now give me a few more words before you fold up the paper and put it under your chair thinking this is another "Virginia Tech football is better than we are because its culture is a better football culture" article.

I have never been able to discern that a difference in dress code added up to a substandard football tradition.

At Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, every fan wears maroon and burnt orange on game day.

When I go to a Virginia football game, I don't wear a shirt and tie.

I have no problem with people who do; in fact, most of my friends choose to don their Sunday best on Saturday afternoon.

If that is what Virginia's football tradition is, then by all means, go ahead.

In imploring that fans wear orange, Groh was attempting to combat his perception of apathy in the Virginia fan base.

The implication, however, was that fans in orange are more supportive, and ultimately more knowledgeable, than fans in ties and sundresses.

The first problem with that was that fans took offense to the suggestion.

The second was the implication that Groh connected a fan's support for the program to their attire, inherently dividing the fan base.

Virginia football is at a crossroads on the field this year -- a situation very different from Virginia Tech.

Off the field, I believe that Groh had it wrong in 2003 when he tried to peg apathy on the culture of football in Charlottesville, asking fans to wear orange to support the Cavaliers.

Virginia's traditions were a little different but not definitively apathetic.

Just like any other program, when things were going well, Virginia fans charged into the stadium two hours early.

Just like any other program, when the team is struggling, Virginia fans come to games later and later.

By bringing the issue of dress code to the forefront three years ago, Groh not only divided the fan base but implied that if Virginia fans would just put their ties and sundresses back into the closet in favor of orange shirts, the team would be all the better for it.

I'm not so sure about that.

For three years, Virginia fans have battled an inferiority complex and tried to decide if their football traditions were good enough to be those of a "big time" football program.

Many fans effectively told the coach that they would wear orange but only as long as the team was winning.

The problem now is that the team is not winning, and one of the program's primary traditions was undermined by its head coach three years ago.

Saturday, I heard some of the same commentary from frustrated fans in Blacksburg that I had heard in Charlottesville during the last few weeks.

"We need a quarterback change."

"Our playcalling sucks."

"I'm not sure about this coaching staff."

I didn't hear any debate, however, about traditions or stadium attire.

Virginia Tech, like many other programs, developed their traditions as a way to define themselves as a college football program.

And now that they have decided who they are, Hokie fans never question "the way they do things" and neither does coach Frank Beamer.

In Charlottesville for the last three years, Virginia fans and their coach have done exactly that.

Virginia Tech fans instead debate their team, not their culture. Their solutions come by winning, not through a change in stadium attire or program tradition.

Hokie fans just act like themselves, cheer on their team and focus on results.

No wonder they've been so successful.

 

Cavs' special teamer not only big, but fast
Richmond Times-Dispatch Sep 27, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE - On a special-teams unit dominated by defensive backs, Nate Collins stands out. When the U.Va. football team kicks off, the 6-2 Collins - all 280 pounds of him - is among the players who race down and try to make the tackle.

It's unusual for a player that big to cover kickoffs. Then again, U.Va. coach Al Groh noted yesterday, "It's unusual, at least for us, that we have a nose tackle who played quarterback, linebacker and running back in high school."

Collins, the only true freshman Groh has played this season, backs up starter Allen Billyk at nose in Virginia's 3-4 defense. In his career at King & Low-Heywood Thomas School in Connecticut, Collins was timed at 4.76 seconds in the 40-yard dash and played numerous positions.

"My biggest thing is speed," Collins said when he committed to Virginia last year. "I know I'm big, but I've always been a quick guy."

Until this season, Groh said, never at U.Va. had he used a player as heavy as Collins in kickoff coverage.

"When you can get a defensive lineman who can help there, that's a big bonus in terms of depth at the position," Groh said. "And obviously, if you can get a big, fast one who's involved, that gives you something that's very unusual to deal with."

Collins, from Port Chester, N.Y., is still learning the nuances of his special-teams assignment, Groh said, but "he does get down there pretty good. And we've noticed in practice, it's pretty hard for anybody to stop his momentum when he gets there." - Jeff White
 

U.VA NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Sep 27, 2006

COASTAL CLASH: Since beating Division I-AA Virginia Military Institute 40-14 last September, Duke has lost 11 consecutive football games, including its first three this season.

Virginia has won six straight and 19 of its past 23 meetings with the Blue Devils. Still, sixth-year coach Al Groh's players say they're taking nothing for granted heading into their second ACC game.

U.Va. (0-1, 1-3) meets Coastal Division rival Duke (0-2, 0-3) at noon Saturday in Durham, N.C.

"We have to go down there and win," Cavaliers cornerback Marcus Hamilton said yesterday. "We've had a rough stretch of games this season so far, and we need to right this ship that we're on. We have to come back with a victory."

Defensive end Chris Long said: "Obviously, this week is huge for us. I feel like we have a lot of things that we need to address from our performance standpoint, that we're going to have an opportunity to address down at Duke.

"And at this point, I don't care how many games we've won in a row vs. Duke. I don't care who the opponent is. You have to play every game like it's a Super Bowl when you're 1-3."

M.I.A.: Heath Miller's alma mater would like to be known as "Tight End U," but the Cavaliers at that position have done more blocking than receiving this season.

Junior Tom Santi has 16 catches for 124 yards - he ranks No.2 on the team in both categories - but classmate Jonathan Stupar has only four receptions for 51 yards. The rotation at tight end also includes sophomore John Phillips, who has yet to catch a pass this season.

In U.Va.'s 24-7 loss to Georgia Tech on Thursday night, Santi had one reception (for 8 yards). On most pass plays, the tight ends stayed in to block.

"One of the things that they understood very well," Groh said yesterday, "is that if the quarterback is under siege, nobody's going to get the ball anyway. So it doesn't make much difference if they're out in the pattern. They've been very unselfish about it."

RETURN TO GLORY? Virginia, traditionally one of the ACC's leaders in kickoff returns, has been mediocre in that area this year.

Sophomore Cedric Peerman has averaged 23.6 yards on his nine returns to rank fourth in the conference, but senior Michael Johnson's average is only 18.1. And so Groh is shaking up the lineup.

Groh said yesterday that safety Tony Franklin, who was excellent as a kickoff-returner as a redshirt freshman in 2003, will be back in that role Saturday against Duke.

"That's another spot where we're looking for a little more production," Groh said, "so we'll see whether the opportunity-slash-competition is a good thing or a bad thing."

In 2003, Franklin averaged 25.8 yards on his 13 kickoffs. Since then, he's run back only one, for 18 yards against Temple last season.

Against Georgia Tech, Peerman had a 28-yard return, the last part of which he dragged defenders along as he battled for more yardage.

"I pointed out very strongly the other day to the players that if we had 10 individual efforts to go along with what Cedric's was," Groh said, "then we might have gained more yards."

NEGATIVE CAMPAIGNING: Of the 19 players who have committed to U.Va. for 2007, many "continue to be recruited very aggressively by other programs," Groh said. "So we have tried to be equally aggressive ourselves."

Those other programs don't hesitate to point out to recruits that the Wahoos, off to their worst start in 20 years, are struggling. All is fair, it seems, in recruiting.

Groh said he's sure that if other schools continue to recruit U.Va.'s commitments, "they recruit them on any basis possible."

- Jeff White