Building some steam
Cavs hope to ride momentum from 1st win of season
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
September 9, 2007

Tom Santi said the result allowed him to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

Considering the ramifications of the alternative, Virginia’s tight end reveled in the winning moment - and for good reason.

Entering Saturday with three career touchdown receptions in 36 games, Santi caught a pair of passes in the end zone, helping lift Virginia to a 24-13 win over Duke.

The victory was well-timed, coming seven days after a disappointing loss at Wyoming that exposed the team’s weaknesses and created major unrest among the followers of the program.

“To be honest, I didn’t read a single thing this week. I didn’t have any idea what people were saying,” Santi said. “Obviously, I don’t expect everybody to be happy with the way that we played at Wyoming, but I don’t really pay attention to it.

“A win is a win. It is always fun to win. I don’t really care how we win as long as we do.”

With the victory, Santi and the rest of the senior class guaranteed themselves a perfect 4-0 record against the Blue Devils, a program mired in a 22-game losing skid.

“Those guys for Duke have gone through a lot, and you wouldn’t know when you are out there with them,” Santi said. “They play hard. They want to win, and I give them credit for how well they played.”

The praise for Virginia (1-1, 1-0 ACC), however, was subdued. The Cavaliers, who ran for 133 yards and passed for 191, nearly self-destructed inside Scott Stadium in the second half on special teams, allowing the Blue Devils (0-2, 0-1 ACC) to race back into the contest during a forgettable third quarter.

It was during the final moments of that 15-minute period that Virginia’s season was potentially saved by a true freshman signal-caller.

Peter Lalich, after playing two possessions in the first half, replaced starting quarterback Jameel Sewell again and masterfully directed a 15-play, 82-yard touchdown drive.

“I think that drive really won the game,” said Virginia linebacker Jon Copper. “You could say the defense won the game, but that drive really helped.”

Virginia defensive end Chris Long added: “We all won the game for each other, and certainly that drive was as big a part of it as anything else. It was a great job by the offense and it bled the clock a little bit. It gave the defense a rest and it also produced points.”

Without question, it also added fuel to the Cavaliers’ quarterback controversy, something coach Al Groh has downplayed.

“We were just looking for a different style of play,” Groh said of Lalich’s insertion into the game.

Groh will monitor the situation on a drive-by-drive, game-by-game basis, depending on what style the opposing team employs.

“We emphasized to Peter and Jameel themselves and to the team that this isn’t a competition for a job,” Groh said Sunday. “They both bring talents that the team needs and that are beneficial to us.

“We are going to take advantage of those things.”

Santi said he hopes the two-quarterback system will help Virginia show improvements from its previous showing at North Carolina (1-1), the Cavaliers’ opponent on Saturday (noon). In 2005, Virginia lost to the Tar Heels, 7-5, in Chapel Hill, N.C.

“I don’t think I want to see that one again,” Santi said.

Extra points

Groh said wide receiver Kevin Ogletree (knee) began running routes last week in practice at a “controlled speed.” It remains unclear if Ogletree would attempt a return this season. … While Long had two sacks, Groh also said fellow defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald had a positive performance and cited another batted ball for the sophomore.

 

Second half drive lifts Cavaliers
After letting Duke crawl back to 17-13 deficit, Lalich drives Cavaliers to victory in fourth quarter
By Aaron Perryman, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

Despite an inconsistent offense and three bad snaps from freshman long snapper Danny Aiken, Virginia drove 82 yards in the third quarter to secure a 24-13 win against Duke Saturday at Scott Stadium.

"We were better than we were last week, but not as good as we need to be for next week," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "But that's for tomorrow. For today, we're real pleased for the players."

The majority of the Cavaliers' scoring occurred during the first few minutes of the game. After the Virginia defense held the Blue Devils to a three-and-out on their first drive, sophomore Vic Hall returned the ensuing punt 67 yards to the Duke four-yard line. Hall, who ran from the left to the right side of the field on the lengthy return, ran out of steam before reaching the end zone and was tripped up by Duke senior Patrick Bailey.

"That's a long run when you run from the left side of the field all the way around to the edge," Groh said. "That's usually indicative of the quality of the wall that was put up on the return."

Two plays later, sophomore quarterback Jameel Sewell threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to senior tight end Tom Santi for the game's first score.

After the Virginia defense held Duke to a second consecutive three-and-out, the Cavaliers scored again at the 8:13 mark in the first quarter when junior running back Cedric Peerman scampered down the sideline for a 58-yard touchdown. A final downfield block by senior guard Ian Yates-Cunningham sprung Peerman on the long run.

"[Cunningham] did a great job of getting out and running," Peerman said. "He really showed his ability right there. He's a hard worker so I'm just happy he's that way and he got the job done."

Up by 14 early in the game, the quick start allowed the Cavaliers to get a stranglehold on the game.

"[The quick start] was very positive and uplifting," Groh said. "Obviously it let us get the initiative on the game."

Beginning with the first of three poor long snaps by Aiken, things began to go downhill for Virginia. Aiken's punt snap sailed over the head of senior punter Ryan Weigand and through Virginia's endzone for a safety -- Duke's first score -- late in the first quarter. In the second quarter, another bad snap by Aiken cost Virginia a field goal when senior kicker Chris Gould could not get the ball up and the resulting kick was blocked by Duke.

Sewell was taken out midway through the second quarter because of cramps. Freshman Peter Lalich entered and guided the Cavaliers on a late drive, producing a field goal to put Virginia up 17-2 at the half.

After trading turnovers, Aiken blundered again when another punt snap sailed over Weigand's head for a 30-yard loss. Duke scored when sophomore quarterback Thaddeus Lewis hooked up with Duke senior wide receiver Jomar Wright for a 16-yard touchdown late in the quarter. A successful two-point conversion made the score 17-10, and the Blue Devils found themselves within a touchdown of the Cavaliers. The score was aided by yet another Aiken miscue.

"I just didn't keep my butt down," Aiken said of his errant snaps. "That's the only thing that happens on my high snaps."

Virginia continued to hurt itself on the following kickoff return when junior running back Andrew Pearman fumbled the ball, giving the Blue Devils an excellent field position at Virginia's 19-yard line. Duke settled for a field goal, closing the gap to 17-13.

But four points was as close as Duke could get. Lalich, who played intermittently with Sewell, completed a 15-play, 6:18 drive to put the Blue Devils away for good at 24-13 with 9:39 left in the game. The scoring play was another touchdown catch for Santi, this one from four yards out.

"I told the guys that it was the biggest series of the game and we needed to score and put them away," Lalich said. "I guess they listened - they blocked and they caught and we won."

Lalich is the first true freshman to play under center for Virginia in many years.

"[Lalich] orchestrated it," Santi said. He did well under pressure and had a lot of poise and it was exciting."

Lalich finished 13 of 18 for 131 yards and a touchdown, while Sewell was 9 of 14 for 60 yards and one touchdown.

Even though Lalich led the offense on its best drive, Groh emphasized that there is no quarterback controversy.

"We're going to use both players," Groh said. "They both bring some significant things to the team. They give us two set of weapons:? the players themselves, the team is in consort with it ... We were just looking into switching into a different style of play."

For now, the team knows it played well in some facets of the game but will need to improve when it plays at North Carolina next week.

"We got our first ACC win," Santi said. "We're 1-0 in the conference. We'll take them one at a time and we'll celebrate this win and get ready for next week."

 

A system that works -- for now
Eric Kolenich, Cavalier Daily Columnist

Repeat after me: There is no quarterback controversy.

Whether in politics, gossip or football, there's nothing better than a good fight. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, but we have no such thing here in Charlottesville.

We've got something much, much better. We've got sophomore Jameel Sewell and freshman Peter Lalich. And why choose only one?

"It's not a competition," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "It's utilizing all the weapons that we have and using all the players in their best capacity."

Groh planned to use both players when the game began. When Sewell started cramping in the first quarter, Groh decided it was time to start switching things up.

"We were just looking to switch in to a little different style of play," Groh said.

Different style of play? Wasn't the team winning 14-2 at this point? If there's one thing Groh believes, it's "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Was Sewell broken?

Well, he had good numbers Saturday, going 9-14. But he threw for only 60 yards, and he didn't throw downfield until the end of the first quarter. His longest pass of the day was 14 yards. His next longest was seven.

Nevertheless, there are things he can do that Lalich can't.

"What [Lalich] didn't have was much knowledge of what to do," Groh said, though he also complimented Lalich's poise and physical ability.

On a third down, with the ball a few yards out of the end zone, Lalich failed to see a completely uncovered Staton Jobe standing in the end zone trying to get Lalich's attention.

It's a freshman mistake. And even when Lalich completes 13 of 18 passes for 131 yards, he's still bound to make freshman mistakes.

Sewell is a quarterback who can run with the ball -- he had four carries for 33 yards Saturday -- and throw it outside the pocket. There's no reason why Virginia should throw away an element to its offense.

It doesn't matter who the "starter" is, because the starter is just the quarterback who plays the first play. That's it.

Now don't for one second think the Cavaliers have found the answer to their offensive woes.

They haven't. Wyoming was no fluke.

Duke had its game plan Saturday, and it almost worked.

"Make sure [the] quarterback doesn't get destroyed today," Groh said of the Duke system. "Get the ball out of there in a hurry, short drops, quick throws."

Duke played conservatively, minimized mistakes and made sure the Virginia offense didn't control the game.

Three bad snaps from freshman Danny Aiken and a fumbled kickoff from junior returner Andrew Pearman and suddenly Virginia has almost beaten itself.

Down 17-10, Duke was six yards away from tying the game. But sophomore Nate Collins had two stops and Duke could only get halfway there. Settling for a field goal, Duke still had 16 minutes left in the game to climb back.

But it was Lalich who was able to do something that Virginia hadn't done all day – put together a solid offense drive.

It took more than six minutes and virtually ended the game for the Blue Devils. And if Virginia is going to compete against Georgia Tech or Pittsburgh later this season, it'll have to do this much more often.

And Lalich is the one who can sustain drives and move the Virginia offense. But Sewell will add something dynamic that will give Virginia only more options.

When Groh first compared his two quarterback system to the 2006 Florida system, I laughed. And because Groh was sitting 15 feet away from me, I tried to keep it under my breath. But this could actually work.

As great as 24 points is for Virginia, even Connecticut, which might just have the worst defense in the country, scored 45 points against Duke in week one,

We didn't learn that much about our team this weekend. Duke couldn't tackle junior running back Cedric Peerman, allowing him to get 10.1 yards per carry, a slight improvement over his 2.6 yards per carry the week before. We learned that we have a system that could work. Virginia now has a game plan it can apply for the rest of the season. It worked once, against Duke. But the schedule only gets harder from here. Just how good the Lalich-Sewell tandem is has yet to be determined.
 

Peerman big in UVa win
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- With 120 rushing yards at the half, Virginia junior Cedric Peerman was on school-record pace Saturday.

He had to settle for the first 100-yard rushing game of his college career, which wasn't a bad consolation prize.

Peerman carried 19 times for 137 yards, including a 58-yard touchdown run, in the Cavaliers' 24-13 victory over Duke.

"I don't mean this disrespectfully [because] I love Cedric; he's important to the team," UVa coach Al Groh said. "Maybe he isn't going to win the Heisman Trophy, but there are certain backs that have to carry the flag for your team.

"They do that with their heart as much as with their skill, and that's the great value Cedric has for our team."

In addition to his touchdown scamper, Peerman had first-half runs of 13, 15, 21 and 17 yards. He had 11 carries for 17 yards in the second half, but didn't go down easily when the Cavaliers were trying to kill the clock.

"That's Cedric the runner," Groh said Sunday. "You can't take that away from him. That's how he runs every day. That would be trying to change his game."

n Sophomore fullback Rashawn Jackson, whose inactivity had prompted questions after a 23-3 loss to Wyoming, carried four times for 13 yards Saturday. Jackson was a reserve linebacker in 2006. ... Peerman had seven carries for 18 yards against the Cowboys and his longest rushing attempt before Saturday was on a 36-yard non-scoring run last year.

Invisible man

Almost everybody in the stadium could see that wide receiver Staton Jobe was uncovered on the play before Virginia's final touchdown, but the Duke defense was oblivious to Jobe and quarterback Peter Lalich didn't see him either.

"I didn't find out till I got back to the sideline and talked to coach Mike [Groh] on the telephone," Lalich said. "Next time, that's definitely going to be a good play."

They said

Preseason All-American Chris Long said after Saturday's game that he could sing Lalich's praises all day. Groh had the same sentiments for his defensive lineman Sunday when Long's name came up.

According to the coaches' grades, Long had 11 tackles, including two sacks and two other tackles for loss. Long also caused two holding penalties.

"Those are All-American and Outland Trophy numbers," Groh said. "For anybody who doesn't have a definition in their mind of what an All-American is, just watch him play. He's so physical and he's so relentless."

Notes

Virginia's victory was the 600th in its football history, improving the Cavaliers' record to 600-521-48. Twenty-nine Division I-A schools have won 600 games. ... Virginia has won 21 of its last 25 meetings with Duke, improving its record to 32-27 in the series. Duke once held a 12-game advantage. ... Senior tight end Tom Santi had never scored two touchdowns in his college career before Saturday. ... Groh said that wide receiver Kevin Ogletree has started to run some controlled routes but is "quite a ways away" from being considered for game action. ... Senior Chris Gorham, a former starter at cornerback, got the first reception of his college career. ... Groh said that freshman snapper Danny Aiken, a Cave Spring High graduate, was raising his shoulders "way too quickly" on two snaps that went over the head of punter Ryan Weigand.