Groh pays visit to injured Earls
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
September 24, 2007

College football fans can breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Georgia Tech wide receiver Correy Earls was released Sunday from the University of Virginia Medical Center after an overnight stay.

Earls, a redshirt freshman, suffered a head injury during Virginia’s 28-23 win on Saturday at Scott Stadium. After passing a series of radiological tests, including X-rays, CT scans and an MRI, Earls was discharged and walked out of the hospital on his own power.

“We took precaution [Saturday] because our worst fear was that there could be damage to the cervical spine,” Georgia Tech team physician Dr. John Xerogeanes said. “In any situation such as that, we are going to err on the side of caution.”

Earls had feeling in all of his extremities.

“All the tests were as positive as they could be at this point,” Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey said. “He’s moving. He’s in good spirits.”

Earls returned to Atlanta by car, Gailey said, to avoid the air pressure changes associated with a plane trip.

Before leaving the hospital, Virginia coach Al Groh visited with Earls.

“I was there a little bit before they were hoping to check out and leave for Atlanta,” Groh said Sunday during a teleconference. “It was the information that we received that he was fine functionally. He was probably a little bit sore from the result of the whole experience and he said he had a pretty good headache.

“The sketchy information I had was that they weren’t anticipating any longterm residual effects of it, which is certainly very good news.”

Earls was injured late in the fourth quarter on a 13-yard, third down run by Georgia Tech quarterback Taylor Bennett. Attempting to block on the play, Earls collided with Virginia defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald.

“Jeffrey was pursuing the ball and he tried to peel back on him and block him, and I don’t believe Jeffrey saw him coming,” Groh said. “It almost looked like shoulder pad-to-shoulder pad. It was a pretty heavy hit, but it wasn’t an overly violent collision. But [Earls] immediately went down.

“There was no question that he was hurt upon impact.”

Moments after Earls left the stadium, Virginia stopped the Yellow Jackets from converting on fourth-and-6 and held serve on the following possession, too.

The impressive win vaulted Virginia to 3-1 overall and 3-0 in the ACC. It also helped the Cavaliers receive votes in a pair of top 25 polls.

Virginia’s success against Georgia Tech (2-2, 0-2 ACC) came in numerous facets of the game.

“The only area where we came up at a significant disadvantage … was in field position,” Groh said. “This says a lot about how the players just really had a great resolve and the kind of competitive toughness that was mentioned after the game: Georgia Tech started five series with 50 yards or less to go.

“In terms of game management and relating to circumstances during the game, that was a concern as the game was progressing.”

The Cavaliers average starting position was their own 28-yard line, but the offense had scoring drives of 81 and 94 yards in the first quarter.

“We had three circumstances where we started inside the 10-yard line and actually two of them resulted in real long drives which is very fortunate for us because you usually don’t get two of those in a game,” Groh said.

Virginia will remain in first place for at least three weeks - the Cavaliers play three straight nonconference games, a stretch that includes a home affair with Pittsburgh on Saturday at 7 p.m. that will be televised on ESPNU.

“We have momentum in the ACC right now at 3-0 and on top of the division,” said Fitzgerald, who had a 25-yard interception return for a TD. “It was a big win for us. We needed it.”

Injury update

Virginia left tackle Eugene Monroe suffered a leg injury late in the fourth quarter.

The status of the junior remains unclear, Groh said.

“Actually with two plays to go in the game … some guy fell on his leg,” Groh said. “He is a little bit stiff here today. We’ll just get him assess [Monday] and see where that is.”

Zak Stair, a junior, is listed as the backup behind Monroe on the depth chart.

Extra points

Virginia finished the contest with 121 yards rushing, quite an accomplishment against Georgia Tech’s typically stout run defense. The Yellow Jackets entered the contest ranked seventh in the nation in run defense.

The results, Groh said, would raise the spirits of Virginia’s offensive line.

“That’s a good test that they went against and we are going to get the same kind of test here in succeeding weeks,” Groh said. “That certainly should provide some confidence for all the members of that group.”

… True freshman Ras-I Dowling filled in for cornerback Mike Parker for a play in the second half and drew a positive review from Groh. “He was in there on one of the dime plays,” Groh said. “He did nicely. It was a man-coverage play and his technique was good.

“He played the guy good. He was in good position.” … Groh also sounded chipper about the play of defensive end Sean Gottschalk, a redshirt freshman that received the most playing time of his young career. “He earned time there and he did a pretty nice job with it for the first time out,” the coach said. “He didn’t hit any home runs, but he did a nice job with it.”

A glance at Virginia’s opponents

A look back

Only one of UVa’s previous opponents registered a win on Saturday. Wyoming (3-1) did it the hard way, rallying for a 34-33 win at Ohio. Quarterback Karsteen Sween was intercepted four times, but threw two touchdown passes and tailback Devin Moore rushed for 198 yards and two scores. … North Carolina lost for the third straight week - the Tar Heels (1-3) were drubbed at South Florida, 37-10, and did not score until the final minute of the game. Duke lost a shootout at Navy, 46-43. The Blue Devils (1-3) got 428 yards passing from quarterback Thaddeus Lewis.

A look ahead

UVa’s next two opponents, Pittsburgh and Middle Tennessee State, lost this week. Pitt (2-2) lost 34-14 in its Big East Conference opener at home against Connecticut, another upcoming foe for the Cavs. … Middle Tenn., which hosts UVa on Oct. 6, lost 20-17 on Thursday against Western Kentucky. … Wake Forest mounted a 21-point comeback against Maryland to claim a 31-24 victory in overtime. The Demon Deacons (2-2, 1-1 ACC) scored on their first possession in overtime. Maryland (2-2, 0-1 ACC) led 24-3 in the third quarter before the collapse.

 

Jackets receiver leaves hospital
U.Va. tackle Monroe suffered knee injury late in Cavs' victory
Monday, Sep 24, 2007 - 12:06 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Al Groh stopped by the University of Virginia Medical Center yesterday morning to check on Georgia Tech wide receiver Correy Earls, who was injured Saturday afternoon at Scott Stadium in a fourth-quarter collision.

The news was good for Earls, who lay motionless on the field at Scott Stadium for about 10 minutes before being rushed to the hospital. All the tests on him were negative, Georgia Tech announced, and Earls was released yesterday morning to return to Atlanta.

Groh, U.Va.'s seventh-year coach, said he was told that Earls "was fine functionally, probably a little sore from the whole experience, with a pretty good headache, but the sketchy information I had was that they weren't anticipating any long-term residual effects, which is good news."

Virginia, which rallied to beat Georgia Tech 28-23, didn't emerge unscathed from the game. On an afternoon when the Cavaliers' offensive line excelled against the Yellow Jackets' touted defense, left tackle Eugene Monroe suffered an apparent knee injury in the final moments.

"With, like, two plays to go in the game, typically of how these things happen, some guy fell on his leg," Groh said on a teleconference last night. "And so he's a little bit stiff here today, and we'll just get him assessed tomorrow and see where that is."

Monroe, a junior, was named the ACC's offensive lineman of the week for his play in U.Va.'s Sept. 15 win at North Carolina. If he's sidelined by an injury, his replacement will be Zak Stair, a 6-6, 299-pound junior who started seven games last season. Sophomore Will Barker starts at right tackle.

U.Va. (3-1) hosts Pittsburgh (2-2) on Saturday night. ESPNU will televise the 7 p.m. game. Pitt lost 34-14 at home to Big East rival Connecticut two nights ago.

The Cavaliers' fourth offensive tackle, according to the depth chart, is walk-on Isaac Cain, a redshirt freshman from Hampton. The team's other tackles include two true freshmen whom Groh would like to redshirt this season: Lamar Milstead and Landon Bradley.

Senior Gordie Sammis, a reserve guard, appeared in three games at tackle as a freshman. During training camp last month, junior defensive end Alex Field cross-trained at offensive tackle, and he received positive reviews for his work there. But Field is No. 3 at his position and a key member of the defensive rotation.

"He's a down-the-line option" at offensive tackle, Groh said. "We still got enough flexibility within the offensive line that it hasn't gotten to that point where we would have to do something like that."

 

The science of winning
Eric Kolenich, Cavalier Daily Sports Columnist

You know what they say about the best-laid schemes? Sometimes they work perfectly.

With his third win in three weeks and an undefeated record in the ACC, Al Groh has winning down to a science.

The plan is simple:

Start with a phenomenal running back, like Cedric Peerman, for example. Get a great game from him every week. Have him average 4.9 yards per carry and have him net 138 yards on the day.

Get solid quarterback production, like Jameel Sewell's 16 completions on 25 attempts and one touchdown. Get ahead early -- 21-7 at the end of the first quarter should be sufficient.

Now, whether it's Duke, Carolina or Georgia Tech, you're going to face an offense that can hold its own. And you probably can't stop the big pass. So get ready for the opposition to make the game close. Get ready to lose the lead.

But don't fret. Somewhere near the end, have a player step up. Make a game-changing, career-defining, crowd-shocking play to turn things back in your favor.

Peter Lalich can do it one week, like he did against Duke. Or Chris Long and Nate Collins can do it in another week. Or why not use a whole litany of no-namers, like Aaron Clark, Trey Womack and Staton Jobe?

Winning is just that simple.

"Usually when you win, it's because your guys stepped up and made plays," Groh said. His words seem obvious, but look back at each Virginia victory this season and you'll find at least one player to credit for making the catch, the pass or the stop that sealed the victory.

Saturday was no different.

Georgia Tech quietly erased the first-quarter 21-7 deficit and took a 23-21 lead in the third quarter.

With 9:02 remaining in the game, Virginia punted from its 31-yard line. Georgia Tech junior Andrew Smith was back deep to receive the ball. Virginia junior Aaron Clark was in on the coverage team. As soon as the ball landed in Smith's lap, Clark put a mind-numbing hit on Smith, jarring the ball loose. Then Virginia freshman Trey Womack was there to fall on the ball at Georgia Tech's 26 yard line.

"This is what you work for all summer," Womack said. "This is what we came together and worked as a team for."

Knowing Groh, I expected him to take it easy and settle for the field goal if needed.

Lucky for us all, I guess I don't know him as well as I thought. Groh went for the kill -- the quick and merciful defeat of the Yellow Jackets.

Sewell stepped back and shot the ball to Staton Jobe, who missed a tackler and walked in to the end zone. One play. 26 yards. Six seconds.

"The play developed perfectly," Jobe said. "Jameel threw the perfect ball, [There was] great blocking by the line and I just made the catch."

Perfect, huh? That seems to be the way everyone was describing it Saturday.

"It was the perfect coverage, and he was wide open in the perfect play called," Sewell said.

You've really got to hand it to Al Groh for what he did Saturday. He wasn't his over-conservative self. He knew what it took to win and he did it.

"We wanted to be pretty bold with our play-calling," Groh said. "I thought the game was called very well -- very aggressively."

And he's got plenty to show for the risks he took. Virginia is 3-0 in the ACC for the first time since 2003, a point the Cavaliers have reached from a humble beginning. Just about everyone was down after the Virginia opening loss to Wyoming and no one thought the Cavaliers could take on Georgia Tech.

And you know what? That doesn't bother me.

"It's really almost a double standard for a player," Long said. "When fans are up and fans think you're pretty good, you got to ignore it. When fans think you're no good, I like to pay attention to that, and I think that's what a football player should do. There were a lot of guys who came out angry [Saturday]."

So you want to keep hating on this team? You want to tell me they're pretenders and these three victories were a fluke?

Fine by me.

 

Ex-Falcon Schaub's loss no failure
By STEVE HUMMER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 09/24/07

Houston — The canonization of quarterback Matt Schaub was reaching critical mass this week. "Sports Illustrated" spread his face across an inside page. Various national publications and far-flung radio shows were lining up to snag a few of his carefully crafted quotes. And the world woke up to the surprising discovery that there was football life in this town after Dan Pastorini and Warren Moon.

"It's nice to finally be relevant," said celebrated center Steve McKinney, a Houston Texan since the franchise's birth in 2002.

All because of a little stolen property from Flowery Branch.

If Schaub had somehow managed to beat the world champion Indianapolis Colts and their own alpha quarterback Sunday, why, he would've arrived at the Georgia Dome next week by popemobile.

Falcons fans were spared that indignity when the Colts hammered out a 30-24 victory over the Texans, thanks in no small part to one of the first demonstrably bad decisions Schaub has made as a Houston starter. Now when he returns to play the Falcons next Sunday, the reunion that will make the Falcons management sit uncomfortably has at least this recent mitigating defeat.

After launching the Texans to their first-ever 2-0 start, Schaub was left to explain his third-quarter red zone interception that crippled his team Sunday. Finally, it was a former Falcons quarterback confessing, not just the current one.

"We're right there," he said when asked how close the Texans are to the champions. "We hurt ourselves with a couple of turnovers, and a bad decision on my part down in the red zone."

With the Colts leading 24-10, five minutes left in the third quarter, the Texans got new life with a 74-yard punt return that delivered them to the Indianapolis 18-yard line. On the next play, Schaub threw into coverage and incurred his second interception of the day.

"In hindsight, you'd like to see him go to his number three [receiver]," Houston head coach Gary Kubiak said. "We made a big play, we were fixing to get right back in the ballgame. We probably got a little greedy. But he knows he can't turn the ball over for us to have a chance to win this game."

Until that moment, Schaub seemingly could do no wrong so long as he wore the Houston bull on his helmet. Traded away by the Falcons a month before the Michael Vick dogfighting story broke, Schaub's first two Texans starts were barbed reminders of another quarterback who got away. He was a Brett Favre starter set.

He engineered two impressive victories. He was doing all the things that Joey Harrington wasn't — delivering the ball decisively, evading the rush, winning. With much the same offensive line that had gotten predecessor David Carr crumpled at a record pace, Schaub had been sacked only twice in the first two games.

These signs appeared in the stands Sunday, typical of community reaction to their new quarterback:

"Schaub, you're my new hottie."

"We upgraded our Carr to a Schaub."

Meanwhile, in Atlanta, they were wondering which Harrington would win more this year — Joey or Padraig (his PGA Tour cousin who has one victory in the bank)?

The offense that Schaub will bring to Atlanta is severely damaged. Once running back Ahman Green left early Sunday with a sore knee (Ron Dayne already was out with bad ribs) the Texans were without the producers of 97 percent of their rushing yardage. Pro Bowl receiver Andre Johnson — accounting for 58 percent of their receiving yards — is out with a sprained knee. McKinney (knee) left on crutches.

Still, Schaub finished the day 27 of 33 for 236 yards and a touchdown. After that bad interception, he completed all 13 of his subsequent passes, for 146 yards and the touchdown. He kept his team viable. In the end, the Schaub story was no sob story.

"He's a competitor. He's going to make some plays and help the team through this thing," tackle Ephraim Salaam said.

"They've got a quarterback who they believe in and is keeping them in games and making plays," said Colts coach Tony Dungy, who with Peyton Manning on his side knows a little about the subject.

"I learned about myself what we learned as a team, and that is we're willing to fight, no matter what," Schaub said.

So, now, he's adept at crisis management, too? Just one more trait the Falcons might envy when Schaub makes his return in a week.