Gould's key kick still being discussed
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
September 19, 2007

The challenged field goal seen ’round the ACC still has legs.

Upon request, Virginia kicker Chris Gould can offer a rib-tickling story about the events surrounding it.

North Carolina coach Butch Davis, while agreeing the kick was good, asked for answers to his share of questions.

None of that, however, was of interest to Virginia coach Al Groh, who took a flip-the-page approach to a field goal that came during his team’s 22-20 win at UNC.

“It was a good kick. There is no issue,” Groh said Tuesday from John Paul Jones Arena. “What was done wrong was corrected. The kick was good. We got the points that we needed. That’s all it is. Everybody is in a state of paranoia now over recent events [with the New England Patriots].”

Davis, however, wanted clarification from the ACC office in regards to challenging procedures. Could a field goal - good or bad - even be reviewed? Did Virginia illegally receive assistance from video equipment?

To Davis’ credit, his questions were fueled by comments from the sideline reporter during the game’s broadcast. Scott Pryzwansky, who worked the game for Lincoln Financial Sports/Raycom mentioned that the on-field staff was told to challenge the play by “the Virginia athletic crew and their videotaping of the game.”

Groh shot that down.

“You can tell the sideline reporter he was wrong,” Groh said, “because all the inquiries that came from the press box … there was a question on all of our parts as to what the illegal substitution penalty was for [prior to the field goal].”

According to Doug Rhoads, the ACC coordinator of officials, “scoring plays” are reviewable, although the rulebook does not mention field goals specifically.

Rhoads found no evidence that Virginia gained an advantage from “video equipment” or from television replays, which if used for “coaching” purposes are illegal.

Rhoads could have simply called Gould for the “real” story on the 48-yarder.

“I thought I saw it go over the bar, but being 50 yards out, you can’t be sure and the ref said, ‘no good,’” Gould said. “When you go back and watch the broadcast, I was staring at the field-goal post a long time in disbelief.

“As I came off to the sideline, [special teams] coach [Bob] Diaco asked what happened. I said, ‘I feel like I made it.’”

Nanoseconds later, Gould heard screaming from the team’s two managers that retrieved the ball after it proceeded through the uprights.

“Michelle and Heidi came running around the corner [yelling,] ‘You made it. You made it. It’s good,’” Gould chuckled. “We passed the word on to Coach Groh and he challenged it.”

Given the eventual margin of victory, Gould knows the importance of the kick.

“It turned out to be three big points that we needed,” he said.

While Groh acknowledged the significance of the kick following the game and again Sunday during a teleconference, the final 2006 Coastal Division standings served as sufficient reason to skip ahead to Georgia Tech (2-1, 0-1 ACC), the division’s defending champ and the Cavs’ opponent on Saturday at noon inside Scott Stadium.

“We’re moving on from that,” Groh said. “[The UNC game] was a good win for our team. The players were well-focused, very well-prepared for the game. There was a lot of toughness, a lot of character involved.

“… And at this point now, we’ve fully moved on from that and we’re focused entirely on Georgia Tech and what it’s going to take to deal with that particular situation.”

On the comeback trail?

How big is this week’s game against Georgia Tech?

Virginia wide receiver Kevin Ogletree has a different opinion than most.

According to sources, if the Cavaliers win and climb to 3-0 in the league, Ogletree plans on making a comeback near Oct. 20 when Virginia opens its final five-game stretch against conference opponents.

Ogletree tore his ACL during spring drills in March, but returned to practice the following day before the injury was diagnosed and surgery was scheduled.

Groh said Ogletree, who has two years of eligibility remaining, has shown improvement during recent practices in individual work.

“He picked it up quite a bit last week. He was running some individual routes on the side,” Groh said. “The way he’s training would lead you to believe that he’s got [a return] in mind, but I don’t think it’s fair to hold out unsubstantiated hope to a player until we get closer to that even being a possibility … we’ll just let him train hard and see where those things go.”

Last season, former wideout Deyon Williams returned from a broken bone in his foot but failed to make a significant impact.

“They are very different,” Groh said. “Deyon was a player who, in conversations with him, in his mind, was definitely ready to move on.

“He was primed for that season, but he had primed himself for that season so hard that he just couldn’t see going through the same exercise to get ready for another season in the same place.”

Wideout Cary Koch, while absent from the team-issued depth chart, is ready for a return, according to Groh. Koch traveled to the game at UNC but did not play.

“We thought he might [play] last week, actually,” Groh said. “We brought him with us for the first time, [but] circumstance didn’t present itself.”

Open mic night

If not for a contractual agreement, Groh would likely blow off his duties with Virginia’s weekly call-in show that airs Mondays.

Of late, the one-hour segment has allowed a majority of callers to make Groh, and his son, Mike, the team’s offensive coordinator, a virtual punching bag. Al Groh even refused to answer at least one question Monday night about the lack of offensive production.

When asked Tuesday, Al Groh responded with a lengthy answer about the on-air criticism.

“We know what we have to do with the team and how we have to coach the team and what’s the talent that we have with the team,” Groh said.

“You know what, I guess this is a result of how my life has gone, but, and this is really true, this is really true, I have very few opinions about anything other than my team.

“I have very few opinions about anything. I have no opinion about what the President should be doing in Iraq. I have no opinion about what we should be doing with the economy. I don’t have any opinion about anything, but I don’t have any facts, and really the only thing that I know about is my family and my team and my players.”

Groh finished his thought.

“I think I know a lot of basis of facts on those things and why we do things, why we have to do things, the reasoning that goes behind them and as I was advised a long time ago by [coach Bill Parcells] that, ‘Lots of people are going to have opinions as to what you should do, and just coach the team the way you think the team needs to be coached.”

Joining select company

Throughout ACC history, only 14 placekickers have booted five field goals in a game.

Gould became the latest addition to the list Saturday when he nailed five against UNC.

“That’s not always a good thing,” Gould said.

Three players in league history, Vince Fusso (Duke, 1976), Josh McGeem (UNC, 1999) and Jad Dean (Clemson, 2005) nailed six in a contest.

Remarkably, former Clemson kicker Nelson Welch nailed five field goals in three different seasons (’91, ’92, ’94).

Extra points …

... Virginia’s defense continues to struggle against opponents on third down - the Cavaliers rank 11th in the ACC, having allowed 21 of 50 successful conversions. Only North Carolina ranks behind UVa. … Georgia Tech and Virginia are currently the top two teams in the league in sacks. The Yellow Jackets have 13 for 102 yards. The Cavaliers have registered 11 for 63 yards. … UVa and Georgia Tech also lead the ACC in field goals - both teams have made seven.

… Through three games, Virginia defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald leads the team in tackles. The sophomore is averaging 7.3 a game, which ties him for 16th in the league.


 

Georgia Tech has history of losing at Scott Stadium
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
September 19, 2007

Having been around the block a few times, I am occasionally asked about the best game I’ve ever covered, and it never takes but an instant to reply: Nov. 3, 1990, Georgia Tech 41, Virginia 38.

Figure I must be in pretty good company because the illustrious Furman Bisher of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote last year that it was also the best game he had ever seen. He’s been around twice as long.

It’s been awhile

Considering that UVa and Georgia Tech have played 29 times and the series is even at 14-14 (with one tie), it’s rather odd that the last time the Yellow Jackets won in Charlottesville was 17 years ago.

To show just how long ago that was, current Virginia wide receiver Maurice Covington was only 3 years old and on that night, he actually sang Tech’s fight song, “Ramblin’ Wreck from Georgia Tech,” in celebration of the win.

Before you start questioning Covington’s loyalty, consider that his uncle, Thomas Covington, was a junior on that Tech team that knocked off No. 1-ranked Virginia in a thriller diller.

The Jackets went on to win their share of a split national championship with an 11-0-1 record. Virginia, which entered the game 7-0, was so deflated it lost four of the last five, including a 23-22 decision to Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl.

Cavs have Jackets’ number

Since that season, the Cavaliers have won seven in a row at Scott Stadium against the Jackets. That road losing streak matches the longest in Georgia Tech history, tying a pair of seven-game streaks at Notre Dame, the latest having ended a couple of weeks ago in South Bend.

So, why is it that Georgia Tech can win at Knute Rockne Stadium, Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium, the Orange Bowl, Between the Hedges, but can’t win in Charlottesville?

“In the game of football, a lot of things happen that are unusual from time to time,” Yellow Jackets coach Chan Gailey said Tuesday. “I don’t know if there have been other places where that has gone on, but I bet there is.”

Covington’s uncle, who still lives in Atlanta and said he may come to Charlottesville for this weekend’s game, found it strange that his alma mater has found Scott Stadium the toughest place to win since that magical day in 1990.

“I would have never believed that,” Thomas Covington told Mike Knobler of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “I would have said you were crazy.”

Big deal or no deal?

Neither Gailey nor Virginia coach Al Groh plan on making the streak an issue for their teams, who clash here at noon on Saturday.

“I may mention it, but we won’t make a big deal about it,” Gailey said.

“Every place you go, you have to play well. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve won there in a while or not. That’s not the issue. It’s two new teams, a totally different situation, a different mindset, hopefully.”

Hmmm. Was that last “hopefully,” a Freudian slip?

Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said a couple of years ago that sometimes in sports, one team just seems to have another team’s number. North Carolina hasn’t won in Charlottesville since 1981, if that’s any consolation to the Ramblin’ Wreck.

Groh, who was with the New York Giants in 1990, said Tuesday that he didn’t see the game on TV, but did recognize Tech’s hero of the game, place-kicker Scott Sisson, who booted the winning 37-yard field goal that remains a dagger in every Wahoo’s heart.

“Actually, [Sisson] was on our team,” said Groh, referring to the New England Patriots. “We drafted him. I guess as a Virginia alumnus, and a Virginia fan, and a former Patriots’ coach, I can say that unfortunately, from many different perspectives, maybe that day was [Sisson’s] crowning glory. It didn’t work quite that way in Foxborough.”

Groh was chuckling when he delivered his last line about Sisson’s failure to make the Pats’ squad. That was from the Virginia perspective.

Former UVa coach George Welsh still believed that was as good an offense as he ever was around during his college football career. Sparked by Shawn Moore, Herman Moore, Terry Kirby and others, the Cavaliers outscored opponents 464-227 that season.

The 464 points have only been surpassed six times since then by an ACC team (Florida State five of those, N.C. State once). In fact, coming into the 1990 game against Georgia Tech, the Cavs had won seven straight by double-figure margins.

No wonder they were the darlings of the national media, which descended upon our little hamlet as never before to document Welsh’s miracle in Charlottesville.

It was such a big deal that The Daily Progress put out a special section during game week, appropriately entitled “The Brawl for it All,” although my idea of “The Thrilla in Charlottesvilla” was shot down by the higher-ups.

Still, it made ESPN and every other national TV network that came in to cover the game.

Rich Murray, who was UVa’s sports information director, was so overwhelmed by national media requests that he jokingly handed out T-shirts to sportswriters with the slogan: “I squeezed into the Press Box at Scott Stadium,” with the game and date.

Still have mine.

It won’t be much of a squeeze this Saturday. The game will be hovering below the national media radar, but it’s a huge game for both teams. Neither can afford to lose.

While Maurice Covington hopes to help the Cavaliers keep the streak intact, his uncle has other designs.

“Come on now,” Thomas Covington said. “I still bleed the white and gold. This is the year that we break the unfortunate curse of not winning up there.”
 

U.VA. NOTES
Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007 - 12:06 AM
More freshmen could see time for Cavaliers

Five ACC football teams -- Clemson (11), Miami (11), North Carolina (nine), Georgia Tech (eight) and Duke (six) -- have played more true freshmen this season than Virginia. The Cavaliers have used five, including linebacker Jared Detrick, who made his debut against UNC last weekend in Chapel Hill.

One newcomer who was expected to play for U.Va. this season -- nose tackle Nick Jenkins -- may not do so, coach Al Groh said yesterday. Ahead of Jenkins on the depth chart are senior Allen Billyk and sophomore Nate Collins, and as long as they stay healthy, they'll split the snaps at nose.

Collins, who was the only true freshman to play for Virginia in 2006, batted down a 2-point conversion pass late in the fourth quarter Saturday that would have pulled UNC into a 22-22 tie.

"His game is becoming much more sound to go along with his athletic ability, so his performance is approaching more that of a starter level," Groh said.

Even if Jenkins redshirts, Groh may not stop at five true freshmen. A player may develop in the next few weeks, Groh said, to that point that U.Va. coaches "could say, 'Look, this is a guy who could really add to the team now. He wasn't prepared to play early in the season, but he can bring something to the roster, make some plays in the game that aren't being made or he can make better plays than somebody else.'"

This is Groh's seventh year as coach at his alma mater. In his first six seasons, only once did he play fewer than seven true freshmen.

Ga. Tech refusing to get caught up in its history
Virginia (2-0, 2-1) begins a two-game homestand Saturday when Coastal Division rival Georgia Tech (0-1, 2-1) comes to town. In a series that's tied 14-14-1, one trend sticks out. The Yellow Jackets have lost seven straight games at Scott Stadium since knocking off then-No. 1 U.Va. there in 1990.

"I may mention it, but we won't make a big deal about it," Georgia Tech's sixth-year coach, Chan Gailey, told reporters in Atlanta yesterday.

"Every place you go, you have to play well. It doesn't matter whether you've won there in awhile or not. That's not the issue."

Jackets wideout Greg Smith said: "All the history of us losing up there, it's nothing we can do about that. Just go up there with a clear mind and beat them."

Locals populate Cavs' 2008 baseball roster
The Richmond area has not been well-represented in the U.Va. baseball program in recent years, but that's changing. The Cavaliers' 2008 roster includes six Richmond-area players: utility man Tyler Biddix (Mills Godwin High), outfielder David Coleman (Trinity Episcopal), pitcher Brad Grove (Deep Run), catcher J.C. Poma (Henrico), pitcher Sean Tierney (Clover Hill) and pitcher Tyler Wilson (Midlothian).

Grove is a sophomore. The other five are freshmen.

U.Va. was ousted from last season's NCAA tournament by eventual champion Oregon State.

Lacrosse team should perform on offense
The U.Va. men's lacrosse team averaged 11.3 goals last season. In the Cavaliers' final five games, however, they scored nine or fewer goals three times. They lost each of those three games.

Virginia went 12-4 and beat Syracuse, Princeton, Johns Hopkins and Maryland in 2006, but the season was a struggle at times.

Offense doesn't figure to be a problem for the Wahoos next season. Nine of their top 10 scorers are back, and those veterans have been joined by an exceptional freshman class led by twins Rhamel and Shamel Bratton. Also new is a talented transfer from Duke, midfielder Peter Lamade, who'll compete as a graduate student.

"We're more athletic, and we're more dynamic in the middle of the field," coach Dom Starsia said. "We can attack quicker from end to end. We can create some opportunities we just couldn't last year." -- Jeff White

 

Ogletree could play in 2007
Receiver back in practice; Groh says a return is possible
Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007 - 12:06 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Could wide receiver Kevin Ogletree play for the University of Virginia football team this season after all?

U.Va. coach Al Groh indicated yesterday that he hasn't ruled out that possibility.

Ogletree, a 6-1, 190-pound junior who led the Cavaliers in receiving last season, had surgery in early April to repair the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. He has returned to practice on a limited basis, and his workload is increasing steadily.

"He picked it up quite a bit last week," Groh said. "He was running some individual routes on the side, with either [strength coach] Matt Balis or a few other people putting him through those, and catching a few balls at a relaxed pace."

Would Ogletree, who has a redshirt year available, like to play this season if he gets medical clearance?

"The way he's training would lead you to believe that he's got that in mind," Groh said, "but I don't think it's fair to hold out unsubstantiated hope to a player. So until we get closer to that even being a possibility, we'll just let him train hard and see where all those things go."

The fourth of U.Va.'s 12 regular-season games is this weekend. Virginia (2-0, 2-1) hosts ACC rival Georgia Tech (0-1, 2-1) at noon Saturday.

Ogletree, who's from St. Albans, N.Y., caught 52 passes for 582 yards and four touchdowns in 2006 and received all-ACC honorable mention.

In August 2006, less than a month before the start of his senior season, another U.Va. wideout, Deyon Williams, had surgery to repair a stress fracture in his right foot. Williams had a redshirt year available but opted to play after doctors cleared him last fall.

He never approached his 2005 form. In six games last year, Williams caught only 10 passes for 87 yards and one TD.

Groh said Ogletree's situation is "very different" from that of Williams.

"Deyon was a player who, in conversations with him, in his mind was definitely ready to move on," Groh said. "He was primed for that season but had primed himself for that season so hard, he just couldn't see going through the same exercise to get ready for another season in the same place."

Virginia's starting wideouts this season are junior Maurice Covington and redshirt freshman Staton Jobe. Between them, they have 16 receptions for 143 yards. Neither has caught a TD pass.

 

U.Va. managers save field goal
Quiroga, others, have their say in 22-20 win over North Carolina
Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007 - 12:01 AM

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The back judge, Virgil Valdez, blew the call, mainly because he ducked his head and turned away as the football neared the goal posts.

"How can you observe it if you hide?" TV analyst Doc Walker would later ask during the telecast of last weekend's Virginia-North Carolina game at Kenan Stadium.

Fortunately for the Cavaliers, the team managers stationed behind the goal posts to retrieve the ball -- Michelle Quiroga, Heidi Schubel and Caio Lemos -- never flinched and never looked away. They saw that Chris Gould's 48-yard field goal was good, if just barely, and so they were shocked when Valdez motioned that the attempt had failed.

"We all looked at each other," Quiroga recalled last night.

And then Quiroga and Schubel ran over to the U.Va. sideline, yelling, "It was good! It was good!"

Gould heard them and told coach Al Groh, who approached the managers.

"He came up to me and said, "Michelle, are you sure it was good?'" Quiroga recalled.

She was sure. So Groh challenged the officials' ruling. After a video review of Gould's kick, the Cavaliers were awarded the field goal, which stretched their lead to 19-7. Those three points proved decisive in U.Va.'s 22-20 victory.

"It was a little nerve-racking," Quiroga said of the delay before the officials' decision. "Of course you're going to have that kind of initial hesitation, but I was very confident the ball had gone [through]."

A sophomore from Woodbridge, Quiroga is a graduate of Osbourn Park High. As a first-year student at U.Va., she volunteered to help with the football team. Now she's a full-time manager who serves as timekeeper during practice and assists the linebackers.

Since Saturday, she's been congratulated by coaches and players alike. Groh singled her out on a teleconference with reporters Sunday night and on his radio show Monday night.

"I was just doing my job," Quiroga said. "My job is to pay attention and make sure the game runs smoothly." -- Jeff White

 

Groh denies call from press box led to challenge
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© September 19, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE

Virginia coach Al Groh on Tuesday disputed a report that a call from someone watching video in the press box prompted him to ask for a replay challenge of a field goal in Saturday's 22-20 victory against North Carolina.

After first ruling it had missed, officials overturned the call and said Chris Gould's 48-yard kick was good. Scott Pryzwansky, a sideline reporter for Raycom/Lincoln Financial, said Groh challenged the call after someone from the U.Va. athletics staff phoned down to the field and said the kick appeared to be good.

The report conflicted with the account given by Gould and Groh on Saturday. They said a student manager who was near the end zone to retrieve the football told them the kick was good. Groh then decided to challenge the ruling on the field.

On Tuesday, Groh said members of the coaching staff did call to the field - but it was to ask about an illegal-substitution penalty that moved the ball back five yards on the previous play, turning a 43-yard attempt into a 48-yard try.

Groh said he told them he had "bigger issues" at the moment, after hearing from student manager Michelle Quiroga that the kick was actually good.

North Carolina coach Butch Davis didn't dispute that the kick was good. After hearing the TV report, however, he said Monday that he has asked the ACC to clarify rules regarding coaches use of video during games.

The ACC doesn't allow coaches in the press box to use video for coaching purposes or to decide whether to challenge a call. Other members of the athletic department staff can use video to alert a coach about a possible missed call, however.

Still, since no one in the press box called about the kick, there is no issue, Groh said.

"What was done was, a wrong was corrected," he said.

Ga. Tech offers big test

Virginia could move to 3-0 in the ACC and grab early control of the Coastal Division with a win Saturday against Georgia Tech, which has not won in Charlottesville since 1990. It would be heady territory for a Cavalier squad that began the year with a 23-3 loss at Wyoming.

The Cavaliers are operating on the assumption that they'll face the usual blitz-happy Yellow Jackets defense and an offense that features Tashard Choice, the ACC's leading rusher last season. Choice remains questionable after injuring a hamstring in Saturday's loss to Boston College, but Groh said the team is "going forward with the full expectation that he will play."

Ogletree on the way back

Groh said receiver Kevin Ogletree, who tore a knee ligament in spring practice and was expected to miss the season, has "picked it up quite a bit" in his rehabilitation.

Ogletree, who led the team with 52 catches in 2006, has begun running routes and catching the ball at a "relaxed" pace, Groh said.

Asked if Ogletree seemed determined to return this year, Groh said, "The way he's training would lead us to believe he's got that in mind."

Quick kicks

Receiver Cary Koch, who missed the first two games with a hamstring injury, should be ready to play Saturday. Groh said he had planned to use Koch against North Carolina, but the circumstance didn't present itself.... Defensive end Chris Long said learning that his brother, Kyle, was OK after being taken off the field in a high school game Friday night probably "loosened him up" against North Carolina. Long had four tackles, a sack, a tackle for a loss and an interception in the win. His brother, who has committed to play baseball at Florida State, was taken off the field on a stretcher after suffering a neck injury but was released from the hospital Saturday morning. "It shows you there's more to life than just football," Long said.
 

Long discovers finishing touch
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- To some, it might have looked like a fist pump when Chris Long sacked North Carolina quarterback T.J. Yates in the second quarter Saturday.

On further review, it was the letter "L."

"I think I was sitting at the dinner table with my brothers one night, just joking around, and I told them I'd throw something up for them," said Long, the senior leader of Virginia's defense. "Wherever we play, it's one little thing we can have between us.

"I don't think it's approaching a Chad Johnson-esque celebration, It's just a little 'L,' but it's got some spontaneity to it. After a couple of weeks, I don't think about it."

Long didn't have enough sacks in his first three seasons to want to draw any special attention to them.

With five sacks in three games this year, he already has surpassed his season high and holds the ACC lead.

"I'm just finishing plays better," said Long, who had 47 quarterback hurries in the past two seasons but only seven sacks. "I'm making some of those plays that I was missing in the past.

"It's just focus. As the game slows down, you can actually remind yourself, 'Now, make the play.' That's something I probably couldn't have done my first year, because the game was moving so fast."

Virginia has 17 quarterback pressures after three games and Long has nine of them. Junior outside linebacker Clint Sintim is next with three.

Ogletree progress

Barely five months have elapsed since wide receiver Kevin Ogletree underwent reconstructive knee surgery, but Ogletree -- for one -- hasn't ruled out the possibility of returning this season.

"The way he's training would lead you to believe that he's got that in mind," said Groh, indicating that Ogletree had picked up the pace last week, "but I don't think it's fair to hold out unsubstantiated hope for a player. Until we get closer to that even being a possibility, we'll just let him train hard and see where all those things go."

In 2006, Deyon Williams tried to come back from a broken foot sustained early in training camp and had 10 receptions, down from 58 the previous year. Like Williams, Ogletree played as a true freshman and has a redshirt year at his disposal.

"They're very different," Groh said. "Deyon was a player who, in conversations with him, was definitely ready to move on. He had primed himself so hard for that season that he couldn't see going through the same exercise to get ready for another season in the same place."

Cranky callers

Things got testy on Groh's radio show Monday, when an early caller complained that the Cavaliers (2-1 overall, 2-0 ACC) are "not being creative" once they got inside an opponents' 20-yard line, commonly known as the "red zone."

Groh started to say that the Cavaliers ran four option plays Saturday, but he and host Mac McDonald were talking at the same time. When McDonald subsequently asked if Groh wanted to comment, there was silence and McDonald ended the exchange with "are you going to let it go?"

Groh's inability to respond further sparked the ire of a second caller, who challenged Groh on the perceived absence of creativity. Groh responded by saying he didn't feel that the earlier caller's assessment had been accurate and that he didn't want to get into an argument.

"Maybe that's why we can't recruit in the state -- your attitude," the second caller told Groh.

"Chris, you're gone," said McDonald as he ended the conversation.

Choice matchup

Virginia junior Cedric Peerman, who carried seven times for 18 yards in UVa's first game, has taken over the ACC lead after rushing for 137 and 186 yards in the next two. Peerman's 113.7-yard average gives him a slight edge over Georgia Tech's Tashard Choice (112.3).

Choice had 15 carries for 31 yards Saturday before a hamstring injury ended his night against Boston College. A transfer from Oklahoma, Choice led the ACC in rushing with 1,473 yards last year, when his 297 carries ranked first in the conference and fifth in Division I-A.

Odds 'n' ends

Georgia Tech (2-1 overall, 0-1 ACC) is a four-point favorite for Saturday's game at Scott Stadium, where the Yellow Jackets haven't won since 1990. ... After four consecutive noon starts, the Cavaliers will entertain Pittsburgh at 7 p.m. on Sept. 29. That game will be televised by ESPNU. ... Groh said that junior wide receiver Cary Koch was in uniform for the first time Saturday after a knee injury caused him to miss the first two games. Koch had 23 receptions as a true freshman for Tulane in 2005. ... Mike Parker, a redshirt freshman cornerback, leads the team in fumble recoveries with two.
 

Monroe anchors UVa. O-line
Eugene Monroe overcomes a dislocated kneecap to help give Virginia's running game a big boost.
By MELINDA WALDROP | 247-4634
7:06 PM EDT, September 18, 2007 

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Last spring, Eugene Monroe was preparing to take over at left tackle for Virginia, replacing first-team All-American D'Brickashaw Ferguson as the Cavaliers' chief quarterback protector.

Then, in the third practice of 2006, Monroe dislocated his left kneecap.

He missed the rest of spring workouts and was limited in preseason practice. But with Ferguson gone, Monroe was the Cavaliers' only experienced option to entrust with protecting a right-handed quarterback's blind side.

Nevermind that he usually was in pain so severe that he couldn't bend his knee enough to get proper leverage in and push from his stance at the line of scrimmage.

"It was difficult playing injured," Monroe said. "I had to play, so I was out there trying to figure out a way to get it done. Now that I'm finally healthy, it makes things a lot easier for me."

And for others, apparently. Monroe, a 6-foot-6, 310-pound junior, is the ACC's offensive lineman of the week after helping the Cavaliers roll to 197 rushing yards -- U.Va.'s highest road total in two years -- in last Saturday's 22-20 victory against North Carolina.

The Cavs' offensive line also kept Virginia's two QBs, Jameel Sewell (a lefty) and Peter Lalich, upright and unhurried for most of the game. (Sewell was sacked four times, but one was a coverage sack and another came after officials ruled his knee touched the ground before he scrambled for a big gain).

After gaining just 100 total yards in a 23-3 season-opening loss at Wyoming, the Cavs' offense has progressed in back-to-back wins against North Carolina and Duke that have put U.Va. (2-1, 2-0 ACC) atop the conference's Coastal Division standings. Cedric Peerman has consecutive 100-yard games, while Sewell and Lalich have each sustained drives and made key plays.

"It's very rewarding because finally we're seeing production -- not just me personally, but as an offensive line and as an offense as a whole," Monroe said. " ... The biggest thing for me was just hearing the congratulations from my teammates. I'm there with them every day. They see how hard I work, and I see how hard they work, so they motivate me. That was the biggest joy that I got out of (the award)."

A Parade All-American, a first-team All-USA selection by USA Today and a Rivals.com five-star player who didn't allow a sack in his final 25 games at Plainfield (N.J.) High School, Monroe played guard in his freshman season of 2005.

Virginia coach Al Groh said the coaches wanted Monroe to get game experience, which couldn't come at tackle with Ferguson still on the field.

Monroe saw some time at tackle after a knee injury to Ferguson, and he was primed to become the full-time starter there as a sophomore. He hadn't planned on doing so with one leg.

"He really became starting left tackle here -- obviously a pretty significant position -- with a real minimum of training at that position and, as a result of the lack of training, probably a small amount of development in terms of his game," Groh said. "It was very difficult for him, because he's a very prideful player, and things weren't going well. ... We had to, at certain times, be very supportive of him and build his confidence up and let him know that our expectations weren't dimmed of what he could be."

Monroe kept playing, and when spring practice rolled around again this year, he hit the ground healthy and determined, winning the Rock Weir award as the team's most improved offensive player.

"Here's a guy that comes in with just a wealth of physical capabilities that could make him so dominant, and he's hit with some injuries early on," U.Va. senior defensive end Chris Long said. "That's tough. I know he was frustrated, but as a credit to him, he never said a word about it. I didn't even know he was really that hurt. He comes out this year, starting this spring, and he's just a dominant guy. You're like, 'Who is this kid?' I think he's one of the better tackles I've ever played against."

These days, the big scar on Monroe's left knee is the only reminder of his long road to such praise. "I feel really good now," he said. "It almost feels like nothing happened."

The Monroe file

EUGENE MONROE

Age: 20.

Class: Junior.

Position: Left tackle.

Height/Weight: 6-6, 310.

Notable: Played in every U.Va. game in 2005 and 2006. Was listed as the top offensive lineman in the country out of Plainfield (N.J.) High School by SuperPrep, Scout.com, CollegeFootballNews.com and Student Sports. ... Went the final 25 games of his career without allowing a sack. ... A Newark Star-Ledger's first-team all state selection as a senior and a junior.

 

ACC: Review of FG correct
UNC's Davis asks for clarification
Robbi Pickeral, Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL - Virginia's 48-yard field-goal attempt Saturday was reviewable, ACC coordinator of officials Doug Rhoads said Monday, and Al Groh's coaching challenge was legal.
Now, the league just has to relay that to North Carolina coach Butch Davis, who asked for explanations on both decisions in his weekly game report submitted to the ACC.

"We're just asking for clarification," said Davis, whose Tar Heels lost to the Cavaliers 22-20. "The kick was good, make no mistake about it, the kick was good."

The problem occurred early in the third quarter, when Chris Gould's low kick was ruled no good by back judge Virgil Valdez -- who ducked and turned away as the ball came toward him -- and field judge Frank Overcash. Each official was standing under an upright to judge whether the ball went inside the vertical bars; the back judge usually is responsible for determining whether the ball makes it past the horizontal crossbar.

Groh said he decided to challenge the ruling when Gould and a pair of team managers (who were behind the goalposts to retrieve the ball) said the attempt had cleared the left inside corner.

Davis was concerned, though, after watching a replay of the game and hearing Scott Pryzwansky, sideline reporter for Lincoln Financial Sports/Raycom, explain that the Cavs' coaching staff had been tipped off by "the Virginia athletic crew and their videotaping of the game."

Under NCAA rules, television replay or monitor equipment is "prohibited at the sidelines, press box or other locations within the playing enclosure for coaching purposes during the game."

Rhoads said he looked into the circumstances of the challenge and determined that it did come from advice from the sidelines. But even if it had come from someone in the athletics department watching a replay in the press box, it would have been legal as long as the informant wasn't watching the replay "for coaching purposes."

"If it's not in the coach's box or on the sideline, Joe Blow can be watching the game at home and pick up and call someone on the sideline if he wants to ... and it's OK," Rhoads said.

A gray area, too, was whether the play was reviewable at all. Field goals are not specifically listed as a reviewable play in the NCAA football rulebook.

But it does state that "Reviewable plays governed by a side line, goal line or an end line include ... scoring plays, including a runner in possession of a live ball breaking the plane of a goal line."

"If you really look at Rule 12, the key term is "scoring plays," Rhoads said. "... All scoring plays can be reviewed, whether it's a safety, a field goal, a touchdown. The thing that's hazy is the rule doesn't specifically exclude field goals but doesn't specifically include field goals.

"But the crossbar is the equivalent of the end line."

Rhoads said he has spoken to the officials who made the incorrect call, but he wouldn't comment on what specifically went wrong.

"They're graded, and if there was an issue, their grade will be affected," he said.

"... I understand people thinking, 'That was weird.' But the bottom line is, thank goodness for instant replay. In the end, the correct call was made."

 

Made of solid Gould
Kyle O'Connor, Cavalier Daily Columnist

The man who has led the Virginia football team in scoring for the past two years stands just over six feet tall; weighs in at a (comparatively) delicate 204 pounds; and answers to the nickname "Beep."

Think that will intimidate Georgia Tech Saturday? You better believe it will.

You see, Chris Gould (pronounced "Gold") is not used to being the center of attention -- at least not the way he was after the Cavaliers' two-point victory against North Carolina last weekend. In fact it took a record-tying five successful field goals, including a 51-yarder in the first quarter, for the media to notice Gould and his hamstring from heaven. Talk about fairweather friends.

Not since Connor Hughes held target practice at Scott Stadium two years ago has a kicker been able to present coach Al Groh with the game on a silver platter the way Gould did against the Tar Heels. Dialing in from all over the field on a day when junior Cedric Peerman provided the Cavaliers' only touchdown, the senior from Lock Haven, Penn.? kept the Cavaliers one step ahead of Carolina's pass attack down the stretch.

You could almost hear Groh breathe a sigh of relief as Gould's fifth and final kick sailed through the uprights midway through the fourth quarter, allowing the Virginia defense to play like a last-place Pee Wee football team during UNC's final drive and still come out with a win.

While Gould doesn't have a touchdown dance, a mirrored visor or a sweatband on every appendage, the fact remains that ever since taking over the kicking duties for Groh and Co., he has been responsible for more Virginia points than anyone else on the roster. More than Sewell, more than Ogletree? and more than any of the half-dozen Peermans who enjoy hanging out in the Cavalier backfield.

This season alone, Gould's 25 points make up more than half of the team's total -- and this from a kid who must look like a chicken nugget in shoulder pads to most defensive linemen.

Although he may not be used to getting noticed for his understated performance, Gould has been groomed to quietly strike fear into opponents since he could walk.

Born into a family with freakishly strong legs (his father Robert played professional soccer in the 1980s, and his older brother Robbie kicked for the Chicago Bears in the last Super Bowl) the junior Gould grew up competing against the best at home and on the field.

"In our earlier years, we were really competitive," Chris Gould told virginiasports.com earlier this month. "I was always pushing to be better than [my brother] was, and he was pushing to be better than me. I think that's one thing that has really propelled us."

After arriving in Charlottesville, Gould was forced to push himself again, this time against Hughes, a player often considered the best to ever kick at Virginia.

While Hughes was busy setting school career records for points (322), field goals made (66) and attempted (79), and extra points made (134) and attempted (138), Gould took a back seat and played cleanup -- performing any and all foot-related tasks when needed.

This involved shouldering the punting duties in 2005, a year when Gould averaged 40 yards per punt and routinely dropping snaps inside the 20-yard line while Hughes kicked the lights out.

Gould's emergence as a reliable scoring threat for the Cavaliers this season could not have come at a better time. With offensive production all over the map in the team's first three games (Peerman had 18 yards rushing against Wyoming and 137 the next week against Duke), not the mention the offense's tendency to stall inside the red-zone, reliability on the Virginia sideline is hard to find. That's where Gould comes in, serving as Groh's security blanket in a year when a handful of games will surely be decided by three points or less.

If the Cavaliers can count on Gould to put points on the board within a square mile of the goalposts, as he has over the past three games, the team will have an enormous ace in the hole down the stretch (especially in those pesky situations when Mike Groh calls a three-yard swing pass on third and eight).

Oh, and in case you were wondering about the nickname? Although there was a rumor going around that "Beep" was the sound a Volkswagen Beetle made when Gould crushed it with his quadriceps muscle, it turns out the real story is a little tamer.

According to Jay Jenkins of The Daily Progress, Chris's moniker came from a game he used to play with his grandfather when he was young. Back then, the future Wahoo would climb up on the old man's recliner where his grandfather would tap him on the nose and say, "Beep!", causing Chris to tumble down giggling.

Now if that doesn't strike fear into opposing defenses, I'm not sure what will.

 

Long drought for Jackets at Charlottesville
By MIKE KNOBLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/18/07

The last time Georgia Tech won a football game at Virginia, 3-year-old Maurice Covington sang "The Rambling Wreck" to celebrate uncle Thomas Covington's victory against the No. 1-ranked Cavaliers.

When Tech returns to Scott Stadium on Saturday, Maurice Covington, a junior, could be catching passes as a Virginia wide receiver.

It has been that long.

In an improbable twist, the site of one of the landmark victories in Yellow Jackets history instantly became the hardest place for the Jackets to win. Tech has lost seven consecutive games in Charlottesville, Va.

Who could have known the 41-38 triumph that keyed Tech's 1990 national championship run would be followed by so much misery?

"I would never have believed that. I would have said you were crazy," Thomas Covington said Monday.

Covington was a junior on the Tech team that carried a 6-0-1 record and a No. 16 ranking into that Nov. 3, 1990, game against a Virginia team that was 7-0 and had won all seven by double-figure margins.

"We had a team that was very confident," Covington said, "and they were standing in our way."

Tech trailed by 14 at halftime, but the confidence remained.

"Not one of us was nervous," Covington said.

Virginia had Shawn Moore and his 344 yards passing and Herman Moore and his 234 yards receiving.

But Tech had Shawn Jones, who threw for 257 yards and ran for 52, and Calvin Tiggle, who dived in out of nowhere to break up a potential touchdown pass, recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass.

And Tech had Scott Sisson, who kicked the game-winning 37-yard field goal.

The Jackets' celebration was so huge it extended all the way back to Atlanta, where the Bobby Dodd Stadium goalposts came down.

Since then, however, it's Tech teams that have crashed to the ground. The losing streak in Charlottesville is as long as any road losing streak in Tech history. It matches two losing streaks at Notre Dame, one of which ended this month.

Thomas Covington might travel to Saturday's game, and although Maurice will wear orange and blue, his uncle plans to pull for Tech.

"Come on, now," said Thomas Covington, who does management consulting and runs a franchise business in Atlanta. "I still bleed the white and gold.

"This is the year that we break the unfortunate curse of not winning up there."

 

Three-man corps to replace Choice
By MIKE KNOBLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/19/07

Georgia Tech is preparing for Saturday's game at Virginia under the assumption Tashard Choice won't be able to play, Tech coach Chan Gailey said on Tuesday.

"If you get him it's a bonus," Gailey said.

If not?

"I think it would be running back by committee, and I'm not ready to say who would take the first snap," Gailey said.

The committee would consist of Jonathan Dwyer, Rashaun Grant and Jamaal Evans.

Dwyer, who played for Kell High School last season, leads Tech with five touchdowns and ranks second to Choice with 181 yards and 23 carries. Grant, a senior who missed the season's first two games with a hamstring injury of his own, carried three times for 23 yards Saturday against Boston College. Evans, a sophomore, had more carries than Grant last season but averaged only 3.8 yards per carry this season against Notre Dame and Samford.

Choice, the defending ACC rushing champion, strained a hamstring injury late in the third quarter of Saturday's loss to Boston College. The injury is day to day, Choice said.

"We'll have to see what happens," he said. "If I don't [play], those guys will go in there and play their butts off."

Smith has different take on refs' calls

Greg Smith leads Tech with nine catches. He thinks it should be 10. Replay reviews went against him twice in Saturday's 24-10 loss to Boston College. The first cost him a reception that would have gone for a first down. The second cost him first-down yardage.

"I hate to say it, but I didn't step out of bounds, and I caught that pass, too," Smith said. "But you know, that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. I've never experienced nothing like that before.

"My opinion really doesn't matter. It's all about the referees. And everybody makes mistakes. It's all good."

BC's game plan did the job vs. Jackets

The Eagles held Tech to 63 yards rushing and shut the Jackets out for three quarters.

"They game-planned us very well," Tech right guard Nate McManus said. "Everything between the tackles was closed down with various blitzes and stuff they had designed to take care of what we had shown as tendencies."

A road map for future Tech opponents?

"I don't know if it will be that easy for them," McManus said. "Plus, from this we can learn. We can learn and change."

 

After Peerman opens up, Cavs speak volumes
Peerman beginning to emerge for the Cavaliers
Date published: 9/19/2007
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.

CHARLOTTESVILLE--Senior defensive end Chris Long is the University of Virginia football team's unquestioned leader on his side of the ball.

In the past two seasons, the Cavaliers have lacked that type of influence offensively, but junior running back Cedric Peerman is changing that.

Peerman (341 rushing yards, two touchdowns) is leading the Atlantic Coast Conference in rushing yards through three games.

However, it isn't statistics that have his teammates believing in him.

Long and Cavaliers head coach Al Groh said Peerman energizes the team with a combination of hard work in practice, intensity on the field and humbleness off of it.

Peerman will help lead the Cavaliers (2-1, 2-0 ACC) into a noon home contest against Georgia Tech (2-1, 0-1) on Saturday in Scott Stadium.

"It's been great watching Ced just kind of come into his own these past couple of weeks," Long said. "I don't know if there was a day he decided that he was just going to start carrying this offense on his back from an energy perspective, but he's just brought a whole new level of energy. He gets up after a big run and looks at the guys, and it just energizes the sidelines."

The soft-spoken Peerman has set career-highs in rushing the past two weeks. He rushed for 131 yards and a touchdown in Virginia's 24-13 win over Duke Sept. 8.

On Saturday, he topped that with 186 yards and a score in the Cavaliers' 22-20 victory over North Carolina.

"You don't hear from him much, but he leads by example," Long said. "You don't have to say much when you drag three tacklers for a first down."

Peerman broke free from his quiet demeanor with a fiery halftime speech to his teammates against the Tar Heels.

Frustrated that the Cavaliers could muster just one touchdown and three field goals despite dominating the first half offensively, Peerman made sure his teammates didn't let up from the third quarter on.

"He doesn't speak much, so when he does speak it's worthwhile to hear," Cavaliers' sophomore cornerback Vic Hall said. "It's going to be something that's going to boost the morale of the team."

Peerman once needed a morale boost, too.

The former William Campbell High School star admitted to being frustrated because he wasn't playing much as a freshman and sophomore.

He totaled just 146 carries in his first two seasons, and he saw the numbers drop from 70 as a redshirt freshman in 2005 to 46 last year while serving as Jason Snelling's backup.

"It was a matter of being able to understand the situation," Peerman said. "I had guys that were in front of me, guys that had more experience. I knew I had to be patient. I knew that my time would come soon enough."

Peerman wasn't playing up to par his first two seasons, partly because the avid weightlifter may have been too strong.

Groh said he was a stiff runner, so Peerman tried to change that in the offseason by working more on flexibility and less on upper body strength.

He also returned to what Groh calls a "one cut" style of running. Peerman said he feels "overall better" on the field.

Groh noticed in spring and fall practice that Peerman could be poised for a breakout season.

"This is what he has put into it since the last week of March," Groh said. "So from that respect, it's just coming true on the main stage what we had seen developing in the practice area."
 

Long among nation's sack leaders
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
September 19, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE - It started out as a joke at a Long family dinner. Kyle and Howie Jr. were toying around with different sack celebrations that could be displayed by their older brother Chris, Virginia's star defensive end.
They settled on an "L," with Long flexing his right arm to flash the letter.

"I don't think it's approaching a Chad Johnson-esque celebration or anything like that," Long said. "It's just a little 'L.' It's got some spontaneity to it."

He's been flashing it a lot lately. Through three games, Long has five sacks, tied for the second most in the nation behind South Florida's George Selvie, who has 5 1/2.

While Long has been an impact player throughout his career, he's never had the sack totals to accompany it. His career high is four, set last year, though he did have 21 quarterback pressures.

"I'm finishing plays better," Long said. "As the game slows down, you can actually focus on things. As you get into the backfield, you think more than you just react. You remind yourself, 'OK, now make the play.'"

Long also had a first last week - an interception. The senior snagged a T.J. Yates pass at the line and returned it 25 yards in the fourth quarter before getting tackled while trying to hurdle a defender.

Did Long have a touchdown celebration in mind if he made the end zone?

"No," he said. "I can't dance."

Replay redux

The Tar Heels sought clarification from the ACC on Chris Gould's 48-yard field goal in the third quarter on Saturday. It was initially ruled no good but was overturned by replay following a Virginia coach's challenge. The kick gave UVa a 19-7 lead and proved crucial in the Cavaliers' 22-20 win.

Through a transcript provided by the UNC sports information staff, Raycom/Lincoln Financial sideline reporter Scott Pryzwansky said members of the Virginia athletics staff called down to the coaches on the field after seeing the replay on video.

ACC rules prohibit coaches in the press box and sideline from using video to determine whether to challenge a call.

Groh reiterated Tuesday what he said after the game: That team managers sent to retrieve the ball said it went through the upright, prompting the challenge. He said the conversation with coaches in the press box was about why Virginia was flagged for an illegal substitution penalty right before the kick.

"I was saying to them I've got bigger issues to deal with right now than that," Groh said.

"The reality of the story is exactly what we said," he added. "It was a good kick. There is no issue. What was done was a wrong was corrected. The kick was good. We got the points we needed. That's all it is."

Ogletree improving

Injured wide receiver Kevin Ogletree has intensified his rehab work in the last week. The junior, who tore his ACL in spring practice, began running individual routes on the side during practice and has caught more passes.

While it's an encouraging step, Groh cautioned not to get too optimistic that Ogletree, who can still redshirt, will make a comeback this season.

"The way he's training would lead you to believe that he's got that in mind," Groh said. "But I don't think it's fair to hold out unsubstantiated hope for a player. Until we get closer to (a return) even being a possibility, we just let him train hard and see where all those things go."

Ogletree's 52 receptions last year were the third most in the ACC. His 582 receiving yards were seventh.

Extra points

Gould and left tackle Eugene Monroe were both honored by the ACC for their performances on Saturday. Gould was the specialist of the week after tying a school record with five field goals. Monroe helped UVa run for a season-high 197 yards, continuing his rapid progression after overcoming a left knee injury that hobbled him for most of last season. "Starting this spring, he was just a dominant guy," Long said of the top offensive line recruit coming out of high school in 2005. "It's like, who is this kid? He's unbelievable." ? Wide receiver Cary Koch is back from the sprained knee that kept him out of most of preseason practice and the first two weeks of the season. He traveled with the team last week and dressed but did not play. ? Virginia's Sept. 29 home game against Pittsburgh has been scheduled for 7 p.m.


 

Blast from past
John St. Clair says he relived his days as a tight end at Fleming.
Greg Echlin

CHICAGO -- It was no secret that William Fleming High School graduate John St. Clair was an eligible receiver when he lined up at the Kansas City Chiefs' 2-yard line Sunday. The crowd of almost 60,000 heard it announced on the PA system. But few could have expected the Chicago Bears tackle to be so wide open for his first NFL touchdown reception.

St. Clair, who is in his eighth NFL season and third with the Bears, lined up on the right side, flanked out and hauled in the 2-yard floater from quarterback Rex Grossman for Chicago's only offensive touchdown. It opened the scoring en route to the Bears' 20-10 victory over the Chiefs.

"It's great, man. Anytime an offensive lineman scores, you remember it the rest of your life, especially in the NFL," St. Clair said.

St. Clair, 6-foot-5 and 315 pounds, had an inkling his moment would come when the Bears installed the play during their week of preparation for the Chiefs. The night before the game, head coach Lovie Smith told St. Clair he would call the play.

"Thank God the coach had confidence in me to run the play," said St. Clair, who was drafted in the third round out of Virginia in 2000 by the St. Louis Rams. The Bears are his third NFL team after tours of duty with the Rams and the Miami Dolphins.

St. Clair's only previous NFL reception was in 2003, when he played the whole season as a Rams reserve after starting all 16 games the year before. He caught an 18-yard pass against Cleveland on Dec. 8.

The catch was reminiscent of St. Clair's days at Fleming when he doubled as a defensive tackle and a tight end. St. Clair was among The Roanoke Times' Top 25 high school players in Virginia before enrolling at UVa. After playing as a reserve tight end in his redshirt freshman season with the Cavaliers, St. Clair was moved to the offensive line as a sophomore and played center.

St. Clair was glad to have the feeling of catching a pass in a game situation again.

"You've got to have soft hands to play the position," he said. "Hopefully these hands weren't too beat up to catch the ball. They weren't today."

After the second-quarter reception against the Chiefs, St. Clair was mobbed by his teammates on the field.

"It's a big game, man. You've got to be serious about it because it's a potential game-changer," he said.

It gave the Bears a lead they didn't relinquish.
 

Cavs have influx of new faces
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
September 19, 2007

At the first few fall practices last week, Virginia baseball coach Brian O’Connor kept a roster close by.

With 16 new players donning a practice jersey, seven of whom can pitch, O’Connor had justification.

“It is very similar to where it was two years ago when we had 14 new players,” O’Connor said. “We do have some veteran players returning, but we have a lot of new faces.

“We have a lot of guys that have to learn the game the right way so there’s a lot of teaching of the details of the game of baseball at this level.”

The new layout for the fall practice period has helped in the transition - the NCAA extended practice opportunities to 45 days, allowing O’Connor and his staff almost 10 additional sessions.

“I actually like it. It allows our guys to lift throughout the fall consistently,” O’Connor said. “Hopefully, we are going to see the benefits of that from strength work, whereas in the past when we had fall baseball for five weeks, we wouldn’t really lift during that time. Hopefully, it allows them to get stronger and puts more emphasis on the days that we do hold intrasquad scrimmages.

“In the past, we practiced six days a week and we had intrasquad games in five of those days. Now, it’s spread out to where we can practice an hour and then allow the players to lift weights.”

Entering his fifth season, O’Connor hopes to see some early results in an exhibition Friday - the new-look Cavaliers host the Ontario Blue Jays at Davenport Field at 5 p.m. Admission is free.

“This is a great opportunity for our team to be put into some live-game situations,” O’Connor said. “I am sure our fans will enjoy the experience, too.”

The contest could serve as foreshadowing for how Virginia’s lineup will appear in 2008. The Cavaliers lost five players that were selected in the Major League Baseball draft in June and lost seven position players in all. That figure included the program’s top four outfielders.

For now, O’Connor is not reaching for the panic button.

“I was asked the same question two years ago,” he said. “You lose [Ryan] Zimmerman and [Kyle] Werman and all of a sudden you have three true freshmen starting for you in the infield.

“If I am going to have new players, I would much rather have new players in the outfield and not the infield. They will figure it out, but I know there will be some growing pains. There was a lot of comfort in having Tim Henry and Mike Mitchell in centerfield for four years. I think that is going to be the big key: who will we find to play center field?”

O’Connor, citing Brandon Guyer’s transition from third base to left field three years ago, said converting an infielder remains a viable and likely option.

“I think we have a lot of good athletes in the outfield, and I also think we have some infielders that are good athletes that can swing the bat and move into the outfield, too,” he said. “It will all play out.”

Regardless, O’Connor said he feels comfortable leaning on a collection of proven, yet quiet, veterans for stability.

“I think we have some very good leaders on this team from the way that they go about their business and the expectations,” O’Connor said. “I would rather have our new players learn from somebody in our program that displays their action the right way - those older guys that do play and approach the game the right way.”

Jeremy Farrell, a junior, said the upperclassmen learned from previous veterans.

“Our class, we are not ‘rah-rah,’ but we lead by example,” said Farrell, who is focusing solely on first base. “As a group, we are going to try to show them how to do it.

“You just try to take some of the guys and stick them under your wing and show them the ropes like some of the guys did for us.”

Tyler Wilson, who arrived days later than the other members of the freshman class, said the workmanlike approach was apparent instantly. Wilson pitched for the Team USA Junior National Team in the 11-country Pan American Junior Championships in Mexico earlier this month.

“You see great players like David Adams and Jacob Thompson, and these are the guys that you grew up watching and wanting to play alongside,” Wilson said. “You can see how they get fired up sometimes … but they are not always screaming.

“The way they carry themselves on the field is better than if they were to yell at you and get you motivated that way.”

O’Connor said the program has decided to alter its annual Orange and Blue World Series. What was typically a three-game series will now become a seven-game series. The series will start sometime next month.

VIRGINIA BASEBALL

A look at the Cavs’ rookies:

Kevin Arico, RHP, Flemington, N.J.

John Barr, OF, Ivyland, Pa.

Tyler Biddix, INF/OF, Richmond

David Coleman, OF, Richmond

Jake Cowan, RHP, Roswell, Ga.

Phil Gosselin, INF, West Chester, Pa.

Dan Grovatt, LHP/OF, Virginia Beach

Sean Lucas, LHP, Fishkill, N.Y.

Robert Morey, RHP, Virginia Beach

Jarrett Parker, OF, Stafford

J.C. Poma, C, Glen Allen

Sean Tierney, LHP, Moseley

John Weaver, INF, Lexington, Ky.

Tyler Wilson, RHP, Midlothian