Despite Wyoming dud, Cavs are confident
But players insist that they will not take Duke lightly
Saturday, Sep 08, 2007 - 12:05 AM Updated: 01:37 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The players said exactly what you'd expect. Virginia's debacle at Wyoming last weekend was an aberration, they told reporters Tuesday, not evidence of a football team in disarray. They're certain that better times are coming for a program whose coach's job security is now in question.

"We know we're a lot more capable than we showed [last] weekend," said sophomore defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald, referring to the Cavaliers' 23-3 loss in Laramie.

By 3:30 p.m. today, we should have a few more answers about coach Al Groh's seventh team at U.Va. The Cavaliers (0-1) open ACC play against Duke (0-1) at noon in Scott Stadium.

If the Wahoos whip Duke, as they're heavily favored to do, that won't constitute proof that they're ready to contend in the conference's Coastal Division. The Blue Devils, after all, have lost 21 games in a row. But if U.Va. loses to Duke today, the situation would be more dire than even Groh's harshest critics believe.

The Cavaliers are known as a lousy road team. Even by their standards, though, the performance at Wyoming was dreadful. Virginia's offense produced five first downs and 110 yards. Its defense, with 10 starters back from a stout 2006 unit, allowed 27 first downs and 471 yards.

"It would be tough to go back from where we were this past weekend, so we have to get better," said Fitzgerald, a Hermitage High graduate. "That's our whole mentality. We won't settle for anything less."

Junior tailback Cedric Peerman said: "We will play better. That's for certain."

Sophomore Jameel Sewell, another Hermitage product, is expected to make his 11th straight start at quarterback for Virginia today. But true freshman Peter Lalich also will play at the position, Groh indicated this week. These are desperate times for coordinator Mike Groh's offense, and Lalich, the most touted recruit in U.Va.'s first-year class, might be able to help revive a moribund attack. Last weekend's opener marked the third time in four games that the Cavaliers have failed to score a touchdown.

"As an offense, we feel like we sort of let the defense down," Peerman said. "We just had too many three-and-outs."

Touchdowns weren't so hard to come by for U.Va. at Wallace Wade Stadium last season. The Cavaliers scored five -- one on a 23-yard fumble recovery by Fitzgerald -- in a 37-0 romp over Duke. The Blue Devils aren't expected to be much better this season, and they didn't impress in a 45-14 loss to visiting Connecticut last week.

Even so, Virginia safety Byron Glaspy said Tuesday, "we're not going to take Duke lightly."

Blue Devils coach Ted Roof isn't expecting that. Asked how the loss to Wyoming is likely to affect the Cavaliers, Roof said: "Knowing their kids, it probably makes them hungrier."

Said Peerman: "This weekend's going to be a challenge for us, so we're not taking anything lightly. But there's nothing like being at home and playing in front of your home crowd."

 

Blue Devils need a win
By BRYAN STRICKLAND : The Herald-Sun
bstrickland@heraldsun.com
Sep 7, 2007 : 10:54 pm ET

One year ago, Duke opened the season with a demoralizing loss in a winnable game at home, then had to open its ACC schedule on the road with everyone questioning whether the Blue Devils were even capable of competing.

The names of the opponents are different this time around, but the circumstances are much the same and the Blue Devils hope the turnaround is much the same.

But this time, Duke wants more than a moral victory.

"You're always going to see the best improvement between the first and second game," said Duke left guard Zach Maurides, whose Blue Devils visit Virginia today (noon, WRDC). "I expect us to come out completely tightened up, performing on third down, being consistent on every play, eliminating the mental errors and eliminating the missed assignments.

"I hope we go out there and just beat Virginia down."

Last year, Duke opened the season by losing to a Division I-AA (now Football Championship Subdivision) team for the first time in school history, a 13-0 blanking at the hands of Richmond. But a week later, the Blue Devils won the game at Wake Forest everywhere but on the scoreboard, falling 14-13.

This year, Duke opened with a 45-14 loss to Connecticut, a game that the Blue Devils led 14-11 at halftime. Now they'll try to redeem themselves against a Virginia team that endured similar struggles in its opener.

"There needs to be a lot of improvement between last Saturday and this Saturday, and if practice is any indication, there will be," Duke coach Ted Roof said. "I've seen a football team that has improved as far as the level of execution and the efficiency.

"Now we've still got to go and do it Saturday, and it will be a new environment for some of the kids. It's going to be an ACC game and all the things that go along with that."

Virginia is seeking vengeance, as well, after opening with a 23-3 loss at Wyoming that Coach Al Groh called "troubling." The Cavaliers showed some signs of growth under redshirt freshman quarterback Jameel Sewell late last season, winning three of their final five games -- including a victory over Miami -- to finish 5-7.

But last Saturday, the Cavaliers looked more like the team that lost to Western Michigan at home early last season. They mustered just 110 yards of total offense against Wyoming, with Sewell completing less than half his passes for 87 yards and a pair of interceptions.

"He had some very positive games for us in the second half of the season, but there were also some games in there that looked like last Saturday's game too, so it wasn't a rocket ship ride," Groh said.

Sewell didn't have to do any heavy lifting against Duke last season, when the Blue Devils imploded in a 37-0 loss in a game that they were given a good chance of winning. Duke turned the ball over five times, and quarterback Thad Lewis was sacked eight times as Virginia scored its first 30 points on drives that totaled 51 yards.

"They were one of our tougher opponents," said Duke right guard Fred Roland, who will return to action after missing the opener because of back surgery. "They're a hard-hitting team. You have to be willing to hit back just as hard.

"That's what I remember most, but I don't feel like they're really anything special."

One key will be how both teams react to mounting pressure. Many consider this a make-or-break year for Groh, who led three consecutive teams to at least eight victories, only to drop 15 of his last 27 games.

Duke has dropped nearly every game during that stretch, losing 21 consecutive contests dating to a Sept. 17, 2005, victory over another Virginia school -- VMI.

"Is the team pressing? Probably some because regardless of what people might think, this matters to them," Roof said. "It's important, and they've got a lot of pride and certainly don't like to lose. They've invested a lot.

"You can use that to motivate, but at the same time if you're walking around and putting so much pressure on yourself to perform, there's a fine line between letting it motivate you to push you forward and to make you weaker. There are probably some on both sides of the line."

 

Groh not panicking as Cavs try to bounce back vs. Duke
By DOUG DOUGHTY, The Roanoke Times
© September 8, 2007

If Virginia's most humiliating loss of the 2006 season was a home setback to Western Michigan, the Cavaliers might take that as a good omen for today.

Virginia took out its frustrations one week later in a 37-0 romp over Duke, the Cavaliers' opponent for a noon kickoff today at Scott Stadium.

Virginia hopes to atone for a 23-3 shellacking at Wyoming, where the Cowboys outgained their guests by more than a 4- 1 margin.

The Cavaliers hadn't returned to Charlottesville before Beta Bridge, a school landmark, had been painted over with the message, "Groh Must Go!"

By Tuesday, seventh-year coach Al Groh already had heard from talk-show caller Clyde Smith from Forest.

Smith had waited until the seventh week last season, blasting Groh after a 31-21 loss to East Carolina.

Virginia recovered from that loss to defeat North Carolina, N.C. State and Miami, and Groh was somewhat upbeat when he met with reporters this week.

"We've got a lot of games to play," he said. "In ' 02, we had an 0-2 team that won nine games. If you want to get anything done in athletics, you're wise not to cash your chips in too soon."

That 2002 team had a quarterback, Matt Schaub. He went on to be named ACC Player of the Year and will start this week for the Houston Texans, with whom he signed a six-year, $48 million contract in the offseason.

The Cavaliers' current starting quarterback, Jameel Sewell, repeatedly overthrew his receivers at Wyoming and was intercepted twice before giving way to freshman Peter Lalich.

U.Va. has failed to score a touchdown in three of its past four games going back to last season.

"Obviously, production in the pass ing game has been the central issue with the team for 13 games now," Groh said. "That's where the ball gets moved. That's where it happens. That's not blaming any position or player. That's just the overall deal."

The Wyoming game marked the 10th career start for Sewell, who has gone six games without a touchdown pass and has completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes in four games.

"He's got very high standards and he's got very high expectations for himself," Groh said. "As with most of us, he was the last person who had to be told it wasn't his best."

Sewell, who isn't always eager to meet with reporters, answered all questions Saturday.

"I reiterated a story to him that (Texas coach) Mack Brown told me about Vince Young," Groh said. "Vince was considerably further into his career than Jameel is now and Vince, according to Mack, had gotten to a point where something positive really needed to happen soon. And, clearly, it did.

"It comes to everybody at a different time and that's the nature of the position."

Virginia might have been able to offset Sewell's inaccuracy if it had been able to run the ball, but starting tailback Cedric Peerman managed only 18 yards on seven carries and the Cavaliers had 7 rushing yards as a team.

On the other side of the ball, Wyoming had 471 yards against a Virginia defense that did not yield more than 432 yards in a game last year and held five opponents to less than 300.

When he did his own grading of the Wyoming film, Groh was stunned to learn that Virginia had hit quarterback Karsten Sweet on 18 occasions. Even though the Cavaliers had four sacks, one on an intentional-grounding call, Sweet still completed 25 of 34 passes for 253 yards.

Today, the Cavaliers will be without fifth-year outside linebacker Jermaine Dias, a starter in all 12 games last season, who has an ankle injury. Sophomore Denzel Burrell (6-foot-4, 230 pounds) will start in Dias' place.

"He's got a very good motor, a very good energy level," said Groh, noting that Burrell was responsible for the deflection on a pass intercepted by defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald. "

 

UVa will try to find its way at home
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
September 8, 2007

If it didn’t look bad enough already, a quirky ruling helped provide a cheap shot at Virginia’s offense.
What was believed to have been a lackluster 110-yard showing in total offense against Wyoming has been adjusted statistically thanks to an intentional grounding against quarterback Jameel Sewell that goes down as a 10-yard loss on the ground.
The updated statline - UVa finished with 100 yards of total offense and minus-3 yards rushing - and a season-opening loss sent Cavalier fans into a crazed uproar and painters in action on Beta Bridge.
Luckily, Virginia (0-1) returns home to Scott Stadium’s friendly confines today with a date against Duke (0-1), a program with a losing streak that puts the Cavaliers’ woes to shame.
The Blue Devils, clinging to a 21-game losing streak, easily the nation’s longest, have not won an ACC contest since Boston College joined through expansion.
Given the unrest and pressure on Virginia’s coaching staff, the timing is certainly not in Duke’s favor.
“Knowing their kids, it probably makes them hungrier,” said Duke coach Ted Roof.
Virginia’s players admitted that they are simply asking for a second chance to make an impression in a home opener against an opponent they beat 37-0 last season.
“We know we can come back, and against Duke we feel we’re going to make a statement of who we are,” said Virginia defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald. “We’re going to try and do what we did last year, just go out and play our game and don’t let them try to determine what we do.
“We should have a great game.”
Running back Cedric Peerman added: “We are anxious to be able to get back out there and prove that we are a better team, a better offense and a better defense than what we showed.
“We feel like we’ve been through a lot of adversity in the past. We’ve been here before. We’re not going to stay here. This is not final. We’re still very optimistic. We will be better.”
Of course, after registering only five first downs and allowing 452 yards to Wyoming, the bar has been lowered.
“We were obviously disappointed in our performance and troubled by it last week and thus have focused our attention very tightly on the improvement of our performance,” said Virginia coach Al Groh.
Whether those upgrades come with Sewell or true freshman Peter Lalich under center will not be answered until this afternoon.
Lalich was inserted into the Wyoming game with 2:48 left, erasing the chance for a redshirt season.
Regardless, improvements need to be shown through the air, Groh said.
“Obviously, production in the passing game has been the central issue with the team for 13 games now,” Groh said. “That’s where the ball gets moved. … That’s where it happens and that’s where a lot of point production comes from.
“Production in that area, both in terms of yardage, first downs as a result of that, and points - it’s clear that’s been an issue. That’s not blaming any particular person or player - that’s an overall deal.”
Roof said the quarterback Duke faces would not alter what he expected from the Cavs.
“I know this: Traditionally, when you play Virginia, you are going to play a very, very physical team across the two lines of scrimmage with their offensive line and their defensive line and linebackers,” said Roof, who is 5-35 in his career. “We know that they are a physical football team and it always turns into one of those games when they play us, they try and continually pound things.
“I don’t think [today] will be any different.”

WHY VIRGINIA WILL WIN
* Duke is Duke
Connecticut hit blackjack last week, sending Duke to its 21st straight loss.
The Blue Devils are clearly the worst team in the ACC. Last year, Duke finished last in the league in total defense, passing defense, scoring offense and scoring defense and gave up 43 sacks.
Duke, which has not defeated an ACC team since 2004, has had only one player selected in the NFL Draft since 2001.

* Home sweet home
For obvious reasons, the Cavaliers play much better in Charlottesville. Since 2002, Virginia has won 25 of its 30 games played at Scott Stadium. Even when UVa was headed to a five-win season last year the home schedule provided wins over Miami, North Carolina State and UNC.
“We love playing at Scott Stadium,” said Virginia defensive end Chris Long. “There is just something about it.”
The Cavaliers have not finished with a losing record at home since 1986.

* Defense can dominate
Virginia’s defense, stuck on the field for almost 70 percent of the game last week, did not offer a true glimpse of how good it can and will be.
The talent is there, especially on the defensive line. UConn, lacking the stars that the Cavaliers boast, blanked the Blue Devils after halftime last week.
With a vastly improved punting game, Virginia should see similar results.
“With the lack of production offensively, turnovers, the punting game and then big plays on defense, we played the whole second half on a 50-yard football field,” said Duke coach Ted Roof. “When you do that, you’re not going to win. And that’s what that came down to.”

WHY DUKE WILL WIN
* Mind over matter
Duke’s schedule this season includes eight teams that played in a bowl game last year. Virginia was not one of those elite programs, giving the Blue Devils the belief that they can compete with the Cavs.
Besides, this is the same Duke team that was a last-second field goal away from beating ACC champ Wake Forest and a play from topping Miami last year.
It will not be easy, but Duke believes it can, and that is half the battle.

* An aerial assault
Duke’s strength on offense matches up perfectly with Virginia’s weakness on defense. The Cavaliers struggled against the pass last week and last season at times, and the Blue Devils do not hide their love to move the ball with their wide receivers.
Eron Riley and Jomar Wright are two of the best targets in the ACC, Virginia coach Al Groh said.
“Of all the players returning in the ACC, [Riley] has the highest yards per catch of any of the returning receivers this year,” Groh said.
“Wright has been playing a long time, so we’re fairly familiar with them and they’ve enjoyed some good plays against us, so we see that as a critical area from a match-up standpoint and one of the strengths of their team.”

* Under pressure
The paint slapped onto Beta Bridge told the story. A large contingent of Virginia fans were ticked off with the season-opening loss at Wyoming. Virginia coach Al Groh and his son, Mike, who is the offensive coordinator, need to produce and quickly.
Al Groh said he was “troubled” by the opener and understands why fans would be upset.
“When you’re the head coach, [it’s only natural] that you’re going to take your hits,” the head coach said. “It’s like playing quarterback. You know you’re going to get hit. If you can’t get hit and get back up, then you can’t play the position.”
The coaching staff also drew the ire from fans for burning the redshirt season of quarterback Peter Lalich. How the situation plays out with Lalich and expected starter Jameel Sewell will be under a microscope.

 

Cavs hope to capitalize on do-over
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
September 8, 2007

Mulligans.

You don’t get ’em in football, but Virginia gets the closest thing to that this afternoon when Duke comes to Scott Stadium. That’s not a reflection on Duke coach Ted Roof, a solid guy who coaches his fanny off under difficult conditions.

But how often does a team get to bounce back from a season-opening debacle by hosting an opponent with a 21-game losing streak?

A shot at redemption

The eyes of Wahoo Nation will be watching closely today, trying to gauge whether this bunch of Cavaliers is the real deal. On paper, this was supposed to be the Virginia team that got things back on the winning track, back to a bowl game, back to contention for the Coastal Division title.

Last week in Wyoming, the Cavs looked eerily similar to last year’s team that struggled to a 5-7 record. The 23-3 loss to the Cowboys (no, not the ones from Dallas, the ones from Laramie) deflated UVa rooters that expected much more. Even coach Al Groh found it difficult to contain his excitement about this team’s potential.

The loss, however, which extended Virginia’s touchdown futility to 10 straight quarters without one, only turned up the ire of the program’s fan base a few notches. If Groh thought his seat was hot before, well ....

UVa faithful still waiting

A week ago, there were high expectations. After all, there were 10 starters returning to a defense that finished 17th nationally in total defense a year ago, and an experienced line, and experienced quarterback, and a stable of good tight ends and running backs.

Today in Scott Stadium, everyone may be holding their collective breath until the Cavaliers cross the goal line and until starting quarterback Jameel Sewell gains their trust. After a just awful performance last Saturday, where the deer and the antelope play, Wahoo fans have a lot of questions about whether or not Sewell can lead this team to a bowl game.

That’s right, a bowl game. Clearly anything less than seven wins by this football team is unacceptable.

They started with 12 tries. One down, 11 to go, meaning UVa has to win seven of them. Easier said than done.

Broad side of a barn?

Sewell had a good training camp. The wrist in question appeared good to go. He said he had not only a good grip on the football, but on the mechanical side of the game that gave him so much difficulty as a rookie last season.

Once he hit the field in Laramie, it was like the youngster had forgotten everything he had absorbed over the past year, almost as if he had drawn a complete blank. His passes were off - way off. What did Tommy Lasorda once say about a guy that couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat?

Sewell, who has now gone 26 consecutive quarters without throwing a touchdown pass, is simply going to have to do better than that or else hand over the keys to this offense to freshman Peter Lalich, a prized recruit with a golden arm, a fast release, accuracy, and a photographic memory. At least he won’t forget what the playbook tells him.

If it sounds like we’re placing all the blame on Sewell’s shoulder pads, that would be wrong. The defense, even though it was on the field long enough for sophomores to become juniors, doesn’t get off the hook. Part of the problem, as defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald so aptly put it, was that they couldn’t stop Wyoming on third down.

You can’t get off the field if you can’t stop teams on third down. It seemed all that Cowboys’ quarterback Karsten Sween had to do on third-and-anything, was call for a pass underbelly of the coverage or isolate a receiver on one of Virginia’s linebackers, who for some reason seemed to chug like slow trains to the football.

Everyone was excited about the potential of a Wahoo running game. My goodness, Eugene Monroe and Branden Albert line up side-by-side on the left side of the line, which must have resembled a new mountain range to the smaller Cowboys last week.

Still, with five returning starters on the line and an assortment of what we guessed were potent, physical running backs, we saw nothing. How embarrassing.

One of the worst things someone can do during a casual round of golf is to waste a good mulligan. We’re wondering if the Cavaliers will waste theirs?
 

Weigand off to a booming start
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
September 8, 2007

Jeff Weigand tracked his son’s best game in unusual fashion - on his cell phone.

Despite being a 15-hour drive away from Virginia’s football game in Wyoming, parenthood called for the California native.

Instead of watching Ryan Weigand boom punt after punt in Wyoming’s thin air, Jeff Weigand decided to watch his younger daughter, Alexa, compete in a soccer tournament.

“My dad watched GameTracker on his cell phone,” Ryan Weigand joked, pointing out that his parents prefer to attend home games. “He would check it periodically.”

Jeff Weigand, who also has a son punting at Richmond, was surely smiling after Ryan drilled a pair of 57-yarders in the second half and completed his nine-punt outing with a career-best 61-yarder.

With an average of 51.6 yards, Weigand assumed the top spot in the national rankings.

“It’s an awesome feeling, but I realize it is only one game, granted, I had nine punts,” said Ryan Weigand, a senior. “It’s one game. I have to continue that throughout the season.”

Given what the 23-year-old has encountered at Virginia, it was a special day in the spotlight.

Last season, Weigand was told he was the team’s top punter during training camp, but Virginia coach Al Groh decided to use placekicker Chris Gould instead.

Weigand said the coach was concerned with the lack of “hang time” on his punts.

“They were worried about returns,” he said.

After Gould started tiring with the double duty, Weigand was given an audition and finished the season with a 42.4-yard average.

Weigand solidified his spot on the 2007 roster with a solid performance at Virginia Tech.

He remains cognizant, however, that when he punts with regularity it likely means Virginia’s offense struggled.

“Obviously, the more I punt it means the offense probably isn’t producing as much as we would like, but on the flip side, the further I punt the better field position that we give the defense,” Weigand said. “I look at it as two-sided.”
 

Football games a big part of hoops recruiting
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
September 8, 2007

Recently, a fan on a University of Virginia sports Web site posted this message: “I sure hope DL limits our recruits’ exposure to football games.”

“DL” is Virginia basketball coach Dave Leitao, and the fan was subscribing to a fairly common belief among college sports fans - that a school’s poor performance in one sport, say football, can have a negative impact on recruiting in another sport, say basketball.

Leitao believes it’s hogwash.

“You can look at it two ways,” Leitao said. “I think the better the [football] team is doing, the healthier for the visit. The [recruits] can see the excitement and all those kinds of things.

“If the team’s not doing well, it tends to put more focus on basketball, and some [recruits] like that part of it.”

Duke, Virginia’s opponent on the gridiron this afternoon, is a good example. The Blue Devils, riding a 21-game losing streak, clearly haven’t lost out on any McDonald’s All-Americans because of the school’s ineptitude in football.

However, the environment in Durham, N.C., in regards to football is one of apathy. Fans are more likely to stay at home than go to the games and voice their angst - something Virginia fans will likely do if their team falters today.

Leitao says he doesn’t worry about the fact that the impressionable teenagers who he is trying to recruit may witness 60,000 boos raining down on the home squad.

“Obviously, I’m a fan of the football team and we would all like to see them do well and have a great environment,” Leitao said, “but either way, I don’t know that it matters all that much.”

This is one of the biggest times of the year for Leitao and his staff. Several key recruits will be in town taking their official visits in the next few weeks.

After losing out on five-star, in-state stud Ed Davis to North Carolina, Virginia desperately needs some size for its 2008 class.

In town this weekend is John Brandenburg, a 6-foot-10 post player out of St. Louis. Brandenburg, rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, has narrowed his choices to UVa and Stanford.

Other big men high on Virginia’s radar, and who are expected to visit, include Frank Ben-Eze and DeShawn Painter (class of 2009).

UVa is also still in the hunt for five-star guard Elliott Williams of Memphis, one of the top players in the entire 2008 class.

Per NCAA rules, Leitao isn’t allowed to comment on any of the recruits. However, the ACC Coach of the Year says he has noticed a change in the perception of the Virginia program since he took over two years ago.

“I think there is more of an acceptance of who we are - that we may not yet be 100 percent a legitimate player in this business of recruiting, but we’re much more of an acceptable entity,” Leitao said. “[They’re] going to pick up the phone and listen to what we have to say, and that’s a major step.”

With some of the most impressive facilities in the country, Leitao’s job is a lot easier once he can get the recruits on campus.

In a typical official visit, which is only allowed to last 48 hours, a recruit will arrive in Charlottesville on Thursday night so that he can get an early start on Friday.

The recruit will attend classes with his host - a player on the team - and talk to faculty members from his intended area of study.

In the afternoon, he’ll visit John Paul Jones Arena and watch player workouts. If the visit occurs during the season, he can watch a practice - and witness Leitao’s intense style first-hand.

However, that’s not the only side that Leitao wants recruits to see.

“Although he’s fiery on the court and he’ll get in faces and challenge guys,” said Virginia assistant Bill Courtney, “I think what makes him different is that he really cares about them as people off the court.”

After the basketball-related portion of the afternoon, the recruit usually goes out to dinner with his host. Family members sometimes come along. Later in the evening, the recruit will hang out with other players on the team.

“We’re fortunate in that we have good guys,” Leitao said, “so that doesn’t include running around and drinking, like at some other places - putting themselves in harm’s way.”

On Saturday, the recruit attends a tailgate at Scott Stadium with the entire basketball team. “We throw a football around,” Leitao said, “and just have a little fun before the game.”

The recruit returns home early Sunday morning. Then Leitao and company cross their fingers.

Dunks

Leitao says the interview process is still ongoing for the Director of Basketball Operations position on his staff that became open when Drew Diener was officially promoted to assistant coach last week. Somewhat surprisingly - given the fact that he was reportedly in the mix for the Temple head-coaching position - Leitao said that former NBA guard Rick Brunson, who he once recruited while at UConn, is in the running. Leitao says he hopes to make a hire within the next seven to 10 days. He has “two or three” other candidates, including current Assistant Director of Basketball Operations Oliver Winterbone.

 

Hokies' statewide run still has ways to go
Brunson likely to be hired by UVa
By Doug Doughty

Early returns show Virginia Tech with 17 commitments from in-state football recruits, including 14 from seniors, and the best may be yet to come.

Of the nine Virginians named to SuperPrep’s preseason All-America team, only eighth-ranked Dyrell Roberts, a running back from Smithfield High School, has committed to Tech.

All three of the uncommitted preseason All-Americans from Virginia, offensive tackle Vinston Painter from Maury High School in Norfolk (No. 3), running back Ryan Williams from Stonewall Jackson in Manassas (No. 4) and offensive lineman Jimmy Bennett from West Potomac in Alexandria (No. 8) have the Hokies at or near the top of their lists.

Prospects who have made commitments to out-of-state programs include No. 1 E.J. Manuel (Florida State), No. 3 Mike Glennon (N.C. State) and No. 7 Marcus Dowtin (Georgia). It is unlikely that the Hokies will get No. 2 Deion Walker from Christchurch, who has expressed interest in UVa but probably will land out of state.

Tech is also the favorite for Ocean Lakes quarterback and wide receiver Marcus Davis, who is 10th on SuperPrep’s list, but, at some point, you’d think the Hokies might run out of scholarships.

The Division I-A scholarship limit is 25 and Tech is at 22, although insiders say the Hokies may take 26 recruits. That stems from the likelihood that committed Goochland High School running back D.J. Coles may require a postgraduate season.

The same could be said for an uncommitted Hokies target, 6-7, 335-pound Lynchburg Christian offensive lineman Bobby Massie. I could see Tech signing 26 players if the 26th is Coles and the 27th is Massie.

Wide receiver Ben Barber from Edison High School in Alexandria is the brother of former Tech safety Willie Pile and is said to favor the Hokies, too, but does Tech run the table and get Painter, Williams, Bennett, Davis, Massie and Barber? I can’t see where there’s room for all of them.

Virginia, on the other hand, might be on the verge of its most unproductive in-state recruiting year ever. The Cavaliers’ lone in-state commitment to date is from Norview defensive lineman Klinton “Buddy” Ruff, who did have an offer from Virginia Tech. To their credit, the Hokies don’t deny that they liked Ruff, but it’s not like he had their undivided attention.

Where Virginia could make up some ground at this point is with players who might emerge during their senior years. An example would be John Bivens, a former baseball standout at Prince George who ended up signing with the Cavaliers in 2006. Bivens wasn’t on any football recruiting lists in the summer of 2005, but there are cases like his every year.

Chima Okoli, a defensive lineman from Salem High School in Virginia Beach, didn’t have anything going until the end of the regular season in 2006 but ended up signing with Penn State over Virginia Tech.

The talk at Hollywood's, site of Friday’s SEC Roundtable, turned to Virginia Tech’s offensive line. How could there be so much talent elsewhere on the Hokies’ team and the offensive line be so lackluster?

To me, it speaks to the growing trend in football recruiting toward earlier and earlier commitments. Nobody gets recruited off of senior-year performance any more. The first time that a player may be offered a scholarship in writing is Sept. 1 of his junior year and, if a team doesn’t come through with an offer on that day, it could be left behind.

From all reports, Stone Bridge defensive lineman David Wang, who committed to Tech last weekend, is the real deal. But, honestly, how can anybody be sure when he has barely played one game in his junior year?

A COACH WITH AN interest in the basketball operations job at Virginia said he was told that the opening has been filled, although there has not been an announcement.

From all indications, the Cavaliers probably will hire 35-year-old Rick Brunson, a “player development coach” since January with the Denver Nuggets. Brunson, a Temple University graduate, played for nine teams in parts of 10 NBA seasons.

Brunson once was mentioned as a possibility for the job that came open when assistant coach Rob Lanier left after two seasons to join the staff at Florida. Head coach Dave Leitao announced this week that Drew Diener had been promoted to assistant coach after spending the past two seasons in operations.

The Cavaliers this weekend will entertain John Brandenburg, a 6-foot-10 center from St. Louis who is expected to announce his college choice in the next week. Brandenburg already has visited Stanford, his other finalist.

Also on hand for the Duke-Virginia football game will be Deshawn Painter, a 6-9 junior from Booker T. Washington in Norfolk. Painter is considered the state’s top rising junior.

Sylven Landesberg, a 6-6 wing player from Flushing, N.Y., was in Charlottesville last weekend and the Cavaliers plan to bring four other seniors to campus this fall for official visits.

They include 6-4 Elliott Williams from Colliersville, Tenn., and 6-7 Lance Goulbourne from the Hun School in Princeton, N.J., who will be in Charlottesville over the weekend of Sept. 22.

Expected for visits later in the fall are 6-10 Frank Ben-Eze from Bishop O’Connell in Arlington and 7-foot Assane Sene from Senegal by way of South Kent (Conn.) School. Connecticut will be hard to beat for Sene, who attended Huskies’ coach Jim Calhoun’s elite camp.

Ben-Eze is from Nigeria, home to current Cavaliers Tunji Soroye and Solomon Tat.
 

Is Duke the recipe for Cavs' doldrums?
Date published: 9/8/2007
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.

Usually when the University of Virginia and Duke meet in football, the Blue Devils are the only hapless unit on the field.

But with the way the Cavaliers opened their season last Saturday, they may be in for a long year, too.

The Cavaliers and Blue Devils were outscored by a combined 68-17 last week. Duke was blitzed 45-14 at home by Connecticut, while the Cavaliers' road trip to Wyoming ended in a 23-3 loss to the Cowboys.

"We were obviously very disappointed and troubled by our performance last week," Cavaliers head coach Al Groh said. "Thus, we have focused our attention very tightly on improving our performance."

No matter how badly Groh and Virginia fans feel this week, their team's struggles don't compare to Duke's run of futility. The Blue Devils have lost 21 consecutive games.

Head coach Ted Roof hopes the streak ends today, but said the Cavaliers likely will be fired up when the teams meet at noon in Virginia's Scott Stadium.

"Knowing their kids, it probably makes them hungrier," Roof said of the Cavaliers' loss to Wyoming. "When you play Virginia, you're going to play a very, very physical team across the line of scrimmage."

That's what Roof has been accustomed to seeing from the Cavaliers since he began coaching at Duke in the 2004 season.

But it hasn't been the case lately, especially on offense.

The Cavaliers' offensive output has steadily declined in the past two years. Running backs can't seem to find creases, and although the offensive line has protected the quarterback, the Cavaliers' passing game has been a constant source of displeasure for Groh.

"We need to get that progressing, very definitely," he said. "There were certainly very encouraging signs to that effect going into the [Wyoming] game, which is why the end result is so troubling."

"Troubling" is a word Groh used several times this week. But starting center Jordy Lipsey remains optimistic.

Lipsey said the offense can get back on track, but it has to erase the memories of last week's debacle, when Virginia rushed for 7 yards and amassed just 110 total yards, its lowest production since 1980.

"I think we are just trying to work some things out," Lipsey said. "Once we do that, I think we will be a much more explosive offense and we will score more points."

Wyoming gained 410 yards, but Virginia's defenders have received a pass from harsh criticism, mostly because of the amount of time the unit spent on the field.

Virginia's offense held the ball for just 19 minutes, 41 seconds. Wyoming ran 88 plays, compared with the Cavaliers' 46.

Quarterback Jameel Sewell threw two interceptions and completed only 11-of-23 passes. He was eventually replaced by true freshman Peter Lalich.

Groh said expectations for Sewell may have been too high heading into this season.

"Jameel had some very positive games in the second half of [last] season," Groh said. "But there were some games in there that looked like last Saturday's game, too. So it wasn't a rocket-ship ride from the second half of the season on."

 

Duke couldn't arrive at a better time for UVa quarterback
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
September 8, 2007

It was at Duke a year ago that Jameel Sewell first started to show why Virginia tabbed him as its quarterback of the future.
Making just his second career start, the redshirt freshman completed 14 of 20 passes for 105 yards and no interceptions in a 37-0 win in Durham, N.C.

Sewell hopes facing a porous Blue Devils defense will provide a similar boost when the Cavaliers (0-1) open the home portion of their schedule at noon today.

The sophomore's season opener at Wyoming can best be described as disastrous. The enigmatic Sewell epitomized UVa's dreadful offensive day, going 11-for-23 with two interceptions. He led the offense to just four first downs.

"When a player at that position's performance isn't up to what he wanted it to be or what he expected it to be, then that's when you really find out who can play quarterback," Virginia coach Al Groh said.

"Jameel's going to bounce back," tailback Cedric Peerman said. "We're still very confident in him. He's proven himself in the past and we feel like he's going to prove himself this weekend."

Sewell looked out of sort with his passes. Some flew over open receivers' heads. Some skipped to their intended targets. One slipped out of his hand and wobbled into the waiting arms of a Cowboys defender for an interception.

The erratic day is not abnormal for Sewell, whose brief career has been dotted with inconsistency. His completion percentage was higher than 60 percent in five games last season. UVa went 3-2 in those games. It was also under 50 percent three times, all losses.

"He can be a streaky thrower," Groh said. "There are some games where he's as hot as the weather and there are some days where it's not that way."

Fair or not, the benchmark for every Virginia quarterback in the near future will be Matt Schaub, the school's career passing leader and 2002 ACC Player of the Year. Among Schaub's myriad of talents, the most impressive might have been his accuracy, a trait he exhibited right away. He had a career 65.3 completion percentage.

"(Schaub's) travails early on came about just through inexperience of getting the looks to make the right decision," Groh said. "Once he got those, the game easily made sense to Matt. He figured it out pretty quickly. He just needed enough looks at the puzzle to know what it was."

Sewell thought the majority of his problems at Wyoming were mechanical. He saw the right throw. He just didn't make it.

"It was just my feet," he said after the game. "It wasn't with my arm or anything. It starts with my feet, and my feet weren't set properly. Sometimes they were too wide and I (would) overstride or they were too close together and I wasn't stepping toward who I needed to throw the ball to."

Virginia finished with 110 yards of offense, its worst effort of the last 27 years. The Cavaliers have failed to reach 200 yards in three of their last four games.

The offense's continued struggles and the ongoing worries about the health of Sewell's surgically-repaired throwing wrist led Groh to burn the redshirt of talented true freshman Peter Lalich, who played in mop-up duty at Wyoming and did not look overwhelmed.

Sewell is still the starter, though, and facing the Blue Devils (0-1) could be just what he needs. Duke gave up 487 yards in a 45-14 loss to Connecticut last week and ranked 105th nationally in total defense last year.

Regardless of the opponent, Sewell is ready to put the opener behind him.

"I have no choice," he said immediately after the Wyoming loss. "That's not going to help us if I'm lingering on with the last game. That's not going to help us at all. That's not what we need.

"We need to go ahead and see some leadership from me being able to bounce back."