More charges for UVa’s Lalich
By Bryan McKenzie
Published: September 5, 2008

Starting University of Virginia football quarterback Pete Lalich admitted to court officials that he used marijuana and alcohol while on supervised probation for an underage drinking charge, according to Charlottesville General District Court documents.

Lalich is being charged with failure to obey a court order while on probation, based on his admission, the documents show.

The documents show that on Aug. 26 Lalich admitted to using alcohol and marijuana. The voluntary admission came during a regular probation interview with officials from the office of Offender Aid and Restoration/Virginia Alcohol Safety Program.

Lalich was unable to provide a urine sample that day for drug testing, according to the documents. However, on Aug. 27, he returned to the office and provided a sample that proved negative for alcohol and drugs.

Lalich is scheduled for a hearing on the charge Sept. 26, records show.

Virginia plays the University of Richmond at Scott Stadium this afternoon, and Lalich is expected to start at quarterback.

UVa’s athletics department declined to discuss Lalich’s court case, but issued a statement Friday afternoon:

“We will not comment at this time. Peter Lalich has a scheduled court date and it would be premature to comment prior to the resolution of the matter that is pending before the court,” the statement said.

Lalich was arrested at 13th Street Northwest and Wertland Street on July 13 and given a summons for possession or purchase of alcohol while being underage. During a July 21 hearing in General District Court, Lalich was given deferred judgment on the charge, providing he completed supervised probation. He also had his driver’s license suspended until Aug. 8, 2009, court records show.

The football team has had a difficult year with some of its personnel. UVa’s previous starting quarterback, Jameel Sewell, did not return to classes in the spring due to academic issues. Others who did not return in January were Darnell Carter, Chris Cook and Chris Dalton.

In March, cornerback Mike Brown was arrested by UVa police and charged with one count each of grand larceny, possession of stolen property with intent to sell, altering serial numbers and possession of marijuana. He had been charged in connection with a fraternity house brawl in 2006 that included former Cavalier Vince Redd. Redd was later kicked off the team, attended Liberty University and now plays for the New England Patriots of the National Football League.

Brown was officially released from the UVa team on Aug. 3.

In April, J’Courtney Williams, a linebacker, was arrested for credit card fraud in connection with a card that was taken from a student at a UVa aquatics center. Williams had been previously charged in February with marijuana possession.

In July, UVa linemen Will Barker and Dave Roberts were charged with stealing beer from a cooler at Club 216 in downtown Charlottesville.

Roberts also faces charges of purchasing alcohol while a minor and possession of a fake identification. Both are scheduled to appear in court Oct. 6.

 

Orange you glad it’s Retro Day?
By Jay Jenkins
Published: September 5, 2008

Countless Virginia football players expressed a sincere interest in donning an orange jersey in recent seasons.

Those that have moved on will be envious today.

How well those retro uniforms remain their natural color may depend on the amount of rainfall absorbed in the hours prior to and during today’s contest with the University of Richmond.

With countless subplots already in place, Hurricane Hanna’s movement up the East Coast added another wrinkle.

The other stories within the game coined “Retro Day,” however, will not fluctuate.

Former Virginia defensive coordinator Mike London will trot out of the visitor’s locker room as the Spiders’ head coach. A handful of assistant coaches at Richmond that gained recent experience as graduate assistants at Virginia will do so as well.

Those will take a back seat once the ball is kicked off at 3:45 p.m.

“It’s going to be a cute story for you guys to write about, but it isn’t going to be a consideration for us,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “We’re going to prepare for this game the way we would for any other.”

Virginia (0-1) certainly needed additional prep work after being thrashed 52-7 in its season opener against Southern California, which is now ranked No. 1 in the country. The Cavaliers managed to gain only 187 yards of total offense and had four turnovers.

Richmond (1-0) is also ranked — albeit No. 3 in the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as NCAA Division I-AA.

Last season, the Spiders set a program record with 11 wins and were one win away from making an appearance in the FCS national title game.

“Offensively, they are quite a bit different from last year,” Groh said. “They’ve changed their offensive system. [The Spiders are] very diverse in the things that they do but that has become pretty much the trademark of college football right now.

“Defensively, it’s a scheme not unlike those we saw on a number of occasions last year … very sound. You can see that there has been — just in the one game that we looked at — a lot of emphasis on technique.”

While Virginia was being manhandled by USC, Richmond upended Elon, 28-10, on the road.

That served as London’s debut with the Spiders. In January, London was hired to replace former coach Dave Clawson, now the offensive coordinator at Tennessee.

He must now face his old boss and a collection of friends, but expects a wrinkle to be thrown his way by the unit he led last season.

“I am quite sure that the schemes and the things that guys are working on are something that was designed for Richmond,” London said. “I can offer a little insight, but not a lot.

“You still have to block and tackle and execute and make plays.”

It will also offer Virginia offensive coordinator Mike Groh with a distinct challenge.

“It will really be the first time for me where I know a head coach really well,” the younger Groh said. “Hopefully, we will not have to play against Richmond again after this, because you hate to play against your friends.”

Beyond Mother Nature and London’s homecoming, Virginia will also honor its 1989 football team. The Cavaliers won their first-ever ACC title that season.

Regardless of the odd timing, as it will be the 19th anniversary, a host of stars from the team and coach George Welsh are expected to be in attendance.

“It was about time,” said former quarterback Shawn Moore.

 

Lalich will play despite probation violation
By Andy Bitter
Published: September 6, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Peter Lalich’s second strike with the law will not affect his status when Virginia hosts Richmond today at Scott Stadium.
The Cavaliers’ starting quarterback was cited for violating the terms of his probation stemming from an underage drinking charge in July and will be headed back to Charlottesville General District Court on Sept. 26, according to court documents filed Thursday.
Lalich’s status for today’s game has not changed, school spokesman Jim Daves said Friday. Beyond that, the athletic department offered no comment.
Lalich, 20, who was placed on pre-conviction probation for a year on July 21, voluntarily admitted on Aug. 26 to court officials that he used marijuana and alcohol while on probation, according to reports.
Four days later he earned his first college start, going 18-for-35 for 155 yards in the Cavaliers’ 52-7 loss to Southern California.
Having Lalich is good news for the Cavaliers (0-1), who will try to avoid the second 0-2 start to a season in the eight-year Al Groh era.
Virginia will be going up against a familiar face. Mike London, who was UVa’s defensive coordinator the previous two years, will walk the opposing sidelines as the head coach of his alma mater Richmond (1-0), the No. 3 team in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly I-AA).
London, who spent six total years as an assistant at UVa, took the job in January, becoming the fourth member of Groh’s staff to become a college head coach in the last three years.
“You definitely (could) see head coach potential,” Virginia linebacker Clint Sintim said. “His energy. His passion for the game. Just the way he approached the game, the way he approached coming into work every day and how he would relate to his players. He was very personal.
“I wish him the best of luck except for this week.”
London, whose Spiders beat No. 15 Elon 28-10 in his first game, said he’ll have mixed emotions about coming back to Scott Stadium.
“For professional reasons, we’re trying to beat them and they’re trying to beat us,” London said. “Before the game, during the game, those kind of feelings are first and foremost. Of course after the game it goes back to the genuine respect I have for (Groh).”
A 3-4 advocate at Virginia, London utilized a 4-3 defensive front in his first game with Richmond, with great success. The Spiders held Elon to 10 points in the opener and just 22 rushing yards.
On offense, the Spiders have quarterback Eric Ward, a dual threat, who accounted for 295 yards in the season opener, and tailback Josh Vaughan, who ran for 723 yards as All-American Tim Hightower’s backup last year and finished with 119 yards and two touchdowns last week.
Virginia, meanwhile, is trying to pick up the pieces after the demoralizing 45-point loss to Southern California, which moved up to No. 1 in the polls after the blowout.
“It’s significant (and) it’s important (to bounce back), but it’s also somewhat irrelevant how the team responds on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday,” Groh said earlier this week. “It’s all in the performance and it’s all in the record. That’s all that counts.”
Richmond, which lost in last year’s FCS semifinals to eventual national champion Appalachian State, should certainly provide a challenge.
The Spiders have beaten three FBS schools since dropping down from I-A to I-AA in 1981, including a 13-0 win at Duke last season. Virginia doesn’t want to be victim No. 4.
“We’re going to take every team the same,” Sintim said. “We’re going to treat them like they’re USC. Right now they’re 1-0 and we’re 0-1. … So it really doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we just want a win.”


 

A friend in a foe
Relationships to be set aside when ex-Virginia aide directs UR today
Saturday, Sep 06, 2008 - 12:06 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE When he headed east on I-64 to become football coach at the University of Richmond, Mike London knew this day was coming. And now it's here.

Today at 3:45 p.m., in what are likely to be wet and windy conditions, Virginia (0-1) will host Richmond (1-0) at Scott Stadium. That's a venue London knows well. He served two stints as an assistant under U.Va. coach Al Groh before taking the head job at his alma mater in January.

"I spent six years of my life there, [made] a lot of good friends, recruited a lot of players there," London said.

"But because of where I am now, my responsibility is to try to get my team ready to go up there and play a good game."

It will be odd, Cavaliers safety Byron Glaspy said, to see his former defensive coordinator "on the other side of the field. But after that, once the game's going, it's just another football game. It's us versus them."

Groh said: "Mike's a dear friend and was a great colleague here . . . but for this particular week, there really are no personal feelings about it. It's just, 'What do we have to do to get our team ready to play them?' We're pretty sure they're not going to take it easy on us just because Mike likes us, either."

Games between teams from the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly Division I-A) and its Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) often are mismatches, but few expect a blowout by Virginia today. The Spiders are ranked No. 3 in the FCS, and U.Va. is coming off a 52-7 loss to Southern California. There's virtually no chance the Wahoos will overlook UR.

"We're going to take every team the same," U.Va. linebacker Clint Sintim said. "Right now, they're 1-0 and we're 0-1. . . . It really doesn't matter who we're playing. We just want to get a win."

Richmond opened last weekend with a 28-10 victory over another FCS team, Elon. London has concerns about playing a FBS opponent that figures to have superior size, speed and depth. In 2006, however, UR won 13-0 at Duke.

"Obviously in the ACC, the SEC, they have deeper depth, they have fouror five-star recruits on their squads," London said. "At Richmond, or James Madison or William and Mary, you don't find high-school All-Americans on our squads. So we've just got to coach them better. We've just got to make sure we're sound in what we do. And then a lot of times, the emotional part of these guys, playing in a big game against an ACC team or an SEC team, sometimes that rises to the surface."

Nearly 10 months have passed since U.Va. crushed ACC rival Miami 48-0 at the Orange Bowl. The Cavaliers have lost three straight since then -- to Virginia Tech and Texas Tech last season and to USC last weekend -- and they're eager to end their drought.

As embarrassed as the Cavaliers were by their performance against the Trojans, they know that one game does not a season make. After losing 21-3 at Wyoming in last year's opener, U.Va. ran off seven straight victories.

"This time a year ago, we were just trying to win a game," Groh said. "Who knew that we were going to win seven games in a row? We didn't say, 'OK, we're going to win seven.' We just tried to win the next one, and after one we'd won four, we just tried to win the fifth one. Now we've played one, and we're just trying to win the second one."

 

Lalich shows pocket poise
By Norm Wood
11:55 AM EDT, September 4, 2008

There's still plenty for quarterback Peter Lalich to learn, but Virginia coach Al Groh was pleased with the poise he saw from Lalich last Saturday in his first college start.

After completing 18 of 35 passes for 155 yards and an interception in UVa's 52-7 loss to Southern California, Lalich has spent this week preparing for a Richmond defense that won't be nearly as ravenous as the one he saw against USC. Still, after seeing film of the USC game, Groh was impressed by how Lalich stayed patient under duress.

"Somebody said to me, 'Peter looked a little anxious moving in the pocket,' " Groh said. "I said, 'What was he supposed to do, stand there and get hit?'

"He did exactly what he was supposed to do. He moved within the pocket to find the opportunity to throw the ball and made a couple of excellent throws after doing that. … Unless the guy is in that elite running category, the most important thing is the guy's ability to move within the pocket, slide and make a throw. Dan Marino was never known as a speed guy, but he had an unbelievable ability to feel the rush, move in the pocket and load up and throw. (Tom) Brady is that way."

UVa used a shotgun, spread formation against USC to try to take some heat off Lalich, who at 6-foot-5 and 225 pounds isn't the most mobile quarterback. He only was sacked twice, but he was pressured on numerous occasions.

MORE SPREAD
Running the spread was a departure from UVa's usual I-formation or pro-style offense, but there's a good chance the spread will reappear soon.

Left guard Zak Stair said the Cavaliers ran the spread almost exclusively in the preseason. The idea is to spread the defense and create gaps on the field, which brings new challenges for offensive linemen.

"It's definitely a different style of football," Stair said. "As an offensive lineman, pass-blocking is certainly different and there are different problems, but we've been doing a lot of (the spread). We played that way all (August), so we were ready to do it."

Virginia looks for a rebound in Richmond game
The Associated Press • September 6, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE — The Virginia Cavaliers have been here before: 0-1 after a thorough trouncing that raised questions about just how long and dreary a season it would be.

Last year, it was a demoralizing 23-3 loss at Wyoming that had Cavaliers fans wondering whether the team was affected by the high altitude or was really as awful as it looked.

"Who knew that we were going to win seven in a row," said Virginia coach Al Groh, whose Cavaliers exceeded expectations by earning a trip to the Gator Bowl and finishing 9-4.

Virginia will be looking to start a similar rebound this week against Richmond, trying to put behind them a 52-7 rout by Southern California, which then vaulted from No. 3 to No. 1.

"That's physically the finest looking team we've seen," said Groh, who was not at all surprised by the size, speed and athletic ability displayed by the perennial powerhouse Trojans. "The team we played was the team we expected to play."

However, Groh also knows the thumping was worse than it should have been. While there was little the Cavaliers could do about the Trojans' superior talent and depth, there was plenty they could have done to keep it more respectable.

"What was disturbing to us was things like we had five poor snaps in the game," Groh said. "That's not a USC-caused circumstance. We had a block in the back on a kickoff return. USC didn't cause that, our decision caused that. We had two illegal procedure penalties back to back that put us in a deep hole. Then we had a 32-yard punt after that. Those weren't USC things, those were Virginia things."

So the Cavaliers are focused on correcting those types of mistakes starting this week against the Spiders and first-year coach Mike London, the Cavaliers' defensive coordinator for the past two years. Richmond is No. 3 in the Football Championship Subdivision after a season-opening victory at Elon.

"We have a little built-up anger about what happened," said Virginia receiver Cary Koch. "We have to be more physical, a little sharper."

Groh acknowledged that it's impossible to predict whether his players will use that pent-up anger to their advantage Saturday or let the hangover from the previous week's beat-down cause them to lay an egg against a team from college football's second tier.

"You don't ever know until you take the field," Groh said. "It's all in the results."

But based on '07, the Cavaliers understand that one bad loss does not a season make, safety Byron Glaspy said.

"After we lost last year, our mind-set was 'that's enough.' That's what drove us last year," he said.

London said he expects to see a highly motivated Virginia team that has forgotten about the opening day nightmare and is intent on just getting its first victory. He expects that in part because he has witnessed firsthand Groh's ability to keep his players focused on the task at hand.

"He's going to have them ready," London said. "We're just going to have to match their energy and intensity."

That's often not a problem for FCS teams going up against Bowl Championship Series teams, and London expects the Spiders to be jacked up for the opportunity to pull off an upset against a team with a significant advantage in talent, even if it started so poorly.

"We're going to play as hard as we can and play a lot of people and see what happens," he said.

Kickoff is slated for 3:45 p.m.

 

London calling on Cavs today's game
September 6, 2008 12:20 am
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.
CHARLOTTESVILLE--

Al Groh knew one job would entice Mike London, his former defensive coordinator at the University of Virginia.

London was a standout defensive back at the University of Richmond from 1979 to '82 and served two stints as an assistant coach on the Spiders' staff.

After Dave Clawson was chosen as Richmond's head coach over London and other candidates in 2004, Groh said he'd make sure his assistant got the job whenever it reopened.

So when Clawson resigned after last season to become the offensive coordinator at Tennessee, Groh figured he might have to search for a new defensive leader.

Said Groh: "I remember we had a conversation that went something to the effect of: 'We'll make sure the next time this opens up, you get the job.'"

That came to fruition in January when London was hired as Clawson's replacement. Today at 3:45 p.m. in Scott Stadium, London will lead Richmond (1-0) against Virginia (0-1) and his former mentor.

London said he has thought about how weird it's going to feel entering David A. Harrison III Field as a visitor.

"I remember a long time ago at a [Virginia] spring game, I was on the opposing side, and it was the first time I had been in the other locker room," London said. "It will be interesting for sure."

Groh is downplaying facing his former assistant, whom he called "a dear friend and great colleague."

Groh said he prefers to not go up against old co-workers, but the series with the Spiders was set before London became the head coach. He and London remain close friends. They spoke last week, but Groh said this week is very "impersonal."

"We think he did an awful lot for us while he was here," Groh said. "But for this particular week, there really are no personal feelings about it. It's just what we have to do to get ready. We're pretty sure they're not going to take it easy on us just because Mike likes us, either."

Virginia's players certainly like London, who was replaced by Bob Pruett. He was known as a fiery competitor who was very demonstrative when he was excited about a play.

Cavaliers senior linebacker Clint Sintim said he knew London would eventually become a head coach because of the way he effectively related to his players.

"He knows how to get the best out of you," Sintim said. "I think he's going to be very successful at Richmond."

The Spiders had some success before London arrived, advancing to the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals last year. This year, they're ranked No. 3 in the nation in the former Division I-AA.

They're coming off a 28-10 victory over Elon in their season opener, while the Cavaliers are still smarting from a 52-7 beating by now-No. 1 Southern California.

"Probably other than knowing Mike's workout routine and what he prefers on his pizza," Groh said, "there's not much we're going to be able to apply."

Notes

Virginia quarterback Peter Lalich admits he used marijuana and alcohol while on probation for an underage drinking charge. At a Sept. 26 hearing, he will be charged with failure to obey a court order while on probation.

Lalich was arrested on the drinking charge July 13 and was given a deferred judgment provided he completes supervised probation.

Virginia running back Mikell Simpson (leg), cornerback Ras-I Dowling (leg) and guard B.J. Cabbell (foot) are listed as questionable for today's game because of injuries.

Today is Retro Day at Scott Stadium, celebrating the Cavaliers' 1989 Atlantic Coast Conference championship season. Tickets are $16, the price in 1989.
 

Saluting some of UVa’s best
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: September 5, 2008

One hundred and twenty years of Virginia football and only one Cavalier team managed to win 10 games in one season: the 1989 squad.

While researching a book that I recently wrote on the history of Wahoo football — insert shameless plug here (The University of Virginia Football Vault ... a history of the Cavaliers, Whitman Publishing, coming out in October) — and having covered that team, it was evident that the ’89ers were one of the greatest UVa teams to ever grace the field at Scott Stadium.

Looking back in time

Today’s game against Richmond has been tagged Virginia’s “Retro Game,” celebrating a 10-year era of the program from 1984 to 1993, a span in which Hall of Fame coach George Welsh led Cavaliers football out of a 30-year darkness. When the Wahoos take the field today, they will wear uniforms similar to those of that era, the familiar orange jersey and white helmets with an orange and blue stripe.

The $16 ticket prices are also a throwback to those glory days, back when UVa used to appreciate the fans who did show up.

While this is only the 19th anniversary of the 1989 team’s accomplishments, the players from that season will be the focus of today’s festivities. Several of those players are expected to have their jerseys (not their numbers) retired or honored today. Certainly such an honor is long overdue for Herman Moore, one of the greatest receivers to ever come this way.

A ton of the players from ’89 will be there, including Shawn Moore, Herman Moore, Marcus Wilson, Chris Slade, Ray Savage, Roy Brown, Kevin Cooke, Trevor Ryals, Jake McInerney, Johnny Wilson, Tony Covington, Scott Griese, Paul Collins, Ron Carey, Keith McMeans and more.

“That was the first team we had that won a lot of games ... great talent, great leadership,” said Welsh, who will also be there. “The offense’s execution was unbelievable and we had a pretty good defense.”

First shot at ACC glory

It was also the first ACC football championship for Virginia, shared with Duke, which the Cavaliers pummeled earlier that season.

The Cavaliers finished 10-3 that season, having opened up against No. 2 Notre Dame, the defending national champions, at the Meadowlands. It was a game that Welsh lobbied hard for, convincing the Kickoff Classic folks that his team had finished the 1988 season with five straight wins, had most of its starters returning, with Moore-to-Moore, a big-time offensive line, and good running backs in Wilson and rookie Terry Kirby.

Virginia lost, 36-13 to Lou Holtz’s Irish, but the loss helped the Cavaliers in the long run as they played 11 consecutive weeks with only a 34-20 setback against No. 15 Clemson stopping a 10-win rampage.

Along the way, UVa bounced back to stun No. 12 Penn State in Happy Valley in the season’s second game, 14-6, then won over Georgia Tech, Steve Spurrier’s Duke team and a stubborn William & Mary squad before the loss to Clemson. After that, UVa relled off six straight wins over UNC, Wake, Howard Schellenberger’s Louisville, No. 18 N.C. State, Virginia Tech and Maryland before losing to Jeff George’s Illinois squad in the Citrus Bowl.

The Cavaliers finished 18th in the final Associated Press poll that season, but were probably better than their ranking.

Welsh thought his team was a bit in awe of playing Notre Dame in the Meadowlands. The Cavaliers hadn’t yet been a part of such hype, and it showed.

“We got psyched out and played poorly in the first half,” Welsh remembered. “I think we evened it up in the second half. But it helped us a lot psychologically, because when the team looked at what we did in the second half, I know they realized that they played Notre Dame pretty evenly, and that helped us the next three or four years.”

Welsh also learned that he had worked his team too hard in preparation on game week, causing him to back off a little in ensuing games. In fact, Penn State coach Joe Paterno had told Welsh that the Cavaliers looked sluggish against the Irish.

However, that wasn’t the case the next game at Penn State. Because the Notre Dame game had been on a Thursday night, UVa had 10 days before facing the Nittany Lions. This group of Cavaliers was fresh.

In fact, after Virginia pulled off the upset, Paterno told Welsh that the Cavs played like they were in midseason form.

Two big plays in the game involved Penn State star tailback Blair Thomas — a called back touchdown run where he stepped out of bounds, then a great defensive play by Savage, UVa’s linebacker, who had covered Blair man-to-man on a pass route to the end zone late in the game.

“You know how far [Thomas] was out of bounds?” Welsh said. “He was right in front of me. He hit the chalk ... it was about an inch.”

Virginia won a close call against Louisville, 16-15 on a McInerney field goal set up by one of Shawn Moore’s runs.

However, it wasn’t close three weeks later when the Cavs battered Maryland in Byrd Stadium to clinch the ACC crown. Led by Moore, who had a hand in five touchdowns that chilly night in an incredible offensive show, UVa won 48-21 in a nationally-televised game.

“It was cold as hell that night,” recalled Shawn Moore, the only player from that team to have his number (12) retired. “I’m not a cold-weather guy. But there’s something about playing in cold weather when quarterbacks tend to throw a tighter spiral and it seemed like everything I threw that night was on the money.”

The Duke game was always a sore subject for UVa. There was bad blood between the two programs, and Spurrier fueled the flames after the two teams shared the ’89 ACC title with identical 6-1 league marks.

Virginia had hammered the Blue Devils 49-28 at Scott, and so after the season when UVa players said they shouldn’t have to share the crown with Duke, Spurrier went off. He claimed that because UVa had lost to Clemson (the ’88 champion) and Duke had upset Clemson, that Duke shouldn’t have to share.

Spurrier said that Virginia had never beaten Clemson and probably never would, although he didn’t stick around to the very next season when UVa ended the Tigers’ 29-game stretch of series dominance. By then, Spurrier had high-tailed it out of Durham to take the Florida job, getting out while the getting was good.

“We scored touchdowns on seven straight possessions in that game,” Welsh said of the Duke win. “I’ll tell you what, I might have been able to score 70 that night if I had wanted to.”

Both Welsh and Moore agreed that looking back on things that the ‘89 team is probably overshadowed in history by the ‘90 squad, which was ranked No. 1 in the nation for a three-week span.

Today will be filled with memories about one of the golden seasons in Wahoo history.

Meanwhile, coach Al Groh is hoping his 2008 squad can begin to build some memories of its own. A win over the visiting Spiders would get things rolling.

 

UVa says Lalich remains in lineup
The Cavs QB is evidently still playing, although a published report states he violated his probation.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

Despite his latest brush with the law, Virginia sophomore quarterback Peter Lalich will play for the Cavaliers today.

UVa spokesman Jim Daves said Friday that Lalich will play in the 3:45 p.m. game against Richmond.

Lalich, 20, was charged Thursday with a violation of his probation on a July charge for underage possession of alcohol. He will appear in Charlottesville General District Court on Sept. 26 on the probation violation charge.

The Charlottesville Daily Progress reported that court documents show Lalich admitted to court officials on Aug. 26 that he used marijuana and alcohol while on his supervised probation.

The voluntary admission occurred during a regular probation interview with officials from the office of Offender Aid and Restoration/Virginia Alcohol Safety Program, the newspaper reported.

The newspaper reported that, according to the documents, Lalich was unable to provide a suitable urine sample for drug testing on Aug. 26. The following day, he returned to the office and provided a sample that proved negative for alcohol and drugs, the newspaper reported.

A reporter from another Virginia newspaper asked to view the documents later in the day, but was told they had been sealed.

Lalich is on probation because he was charged on July 13 with unlawful alcoholic purchase and possession, a misdemeanor. He was in Charlottesville General District Court on July 21 on that charge.

That case was continued until July 21, 2009, at which point charges were to be dropped if there was no recurrence. Lalich's reported Aug. 26 admission calls into question of how that original charge will be handled.

Court records show that Lalich's punishment for the first charge also included the suspension of his driver's license until next August, according to the Daily Progress.

Lalich threw for 155 yards in UVa's loss to Southern Cal last weekend.
 

Cavs to recall '89 co-champs
UVa will suit up in retro jerseys and honor the squad that shared the ACC title with Duke.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

Silver, gold and diamonds are widely associated with 25th, 50th and 75th wedding anniversaries, but how do you celebrate a 19th anniversary?

With aquamarine. That's the 19th anniversary birthstone. You can look it up.

The 1989 Virginia football team, the Cavaliers' first to win or share an ACC title, will celebrate its aquamarine anniversary today in conjunction with UVa's 3:45 p.m. football game with Richmond.

"It is kind of weird," said Shawn Moore, star quarterback for UVa's 1989 team.

The event is being promoted as a "retro game" in which tickets have been priced at $16 and Virginia will celebrate the era from 1984-1993.

Former Virginia defensive back Ronde Barber was recognized last week with the retirement of his jersey, No. 19. His plaque wasadded to a "Legends Walk" behind the Scott Stadium scoreboard, along with five players whose numbers have been retired and two others, Chris Long and Barber's twin brother, Tiki, whose jerseys have been retired.

Former UVa coach George Welsh said the 1989 team is being honored today in an effort to retire jerseys of as many as five or six other players.

That group most likely will include former wide receiver Herman Moore, running back Terry Kirby and defensive end Chris Slade. All have indicated they will return for today's reunion.

"That's what they're doing now, retiring the jerseys," Welsh said. "I don't believe in that, though. If somebody's that great, you retire the number. If we're going to get into retiring jerseys, it's going to go on and on and on."

Welsh always been one to speak his mind and spent the latter part of the 1989 season exchanging digs with then-Duke coach Steve Spurrier. The Cavaliers and Blue Devils shared the ACC title, but Spurrier felt his team was a more worthy champ because it had beaten 1988 champ Clemson.

"If a guy wants to beat Mike Tyson, he's got to beat him," Spurrier said at the time. "He can't beat Bonecrusher [Smith] or somebody like him."

Virginia had beaten Duke 49-28 in the fourth week of the 1989 season.

"We scored on seven straight possessions in that game," said Welsh, asking to be quoted on the subject. "If [Duke] hadn't recovered a couple of onsides kicks, it could have been worse. I might have been able to score 70 that night, if I'd wanted to."

Virginia had opened the season in the Kickoff Classic against 1988 national champion Notre Dame and had been hammered 36-13 in a game that was 33-0 in the third quarter.

"I thought two things," said Welsh, whose 1988 team had gone 7-4 but could not a parlay a five-game, season-ending winning streak into a bowl bid. "The first thing was, we were a little bit in awe of Notre Dame. [Secondly] I think I made a mistake in coaching. When we went to New York, I thought we were a little tired."

Practices weren't as intense the next week and the Cavaliers beat then-No. 12 Penn State 14-6. UVa's only regular season loss was to Clemson, 34-20, with Moore on the sidelines with an injured shoulder.

Virginia beat Clemson the next year, ending an 0-29 drought against the Tigers. The Cavs also were ranked No. 1 in the country for three weeks, but the '89 team won more games.

"It's unfortunate that team doesn't get recognized," said Moore, who admits that his thoughts invariably turn to the 1990 team when reminiscing on his career. "Look back at the achievements of that team: First conference championship team. First 10-win season. The number of guys [six] who were all-conference."

Moore -- a Martinsville native who is now an assistant headmaster at St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., was the first team All-ACC QB in 1989 and 1990, as well as the conference player of the year in '90.

"Shawn Moore, [Penn State's] John Hufnagel and Aaron Brooks were the perfect quarterbacks for college football because they could run, they could throw, they could break tackles, they had speed and they were very clever with the football," said Welsh, who had Brooks on his 1998 team.

"I would hesitate to say who was the best of the three, but Shawn Moore came along at the right time for us."
 

When did orange become so powerful?
Beamer faced midnight challenge
By Doug Doughty

In conjunction with the ceremony at which his University of Virginia jersey was retired last Saturday, Ronde Barber joined his twin brother, Tiki, in raising a “Power of Orange” flag for the first time.

The flagpole is located between the Scott Stadium and the United States flagpole and UVa would like to turn the flag-raising process into a tradition involving former UVa players or celebrities.

That raises a question that has crossed my mind several times over the years:

What, exactly, is the attraction to the color orange and who would consider it powerful?

As a poster on one of the UVa fan sites wanted to know, if orange is so powerful, why does Virginia usually wear blue?

Virginia Tech fans can also participate in this discussion because, at one time, orange was the Hokies’ principal color.

My impression is that Virginia Tech’s rise toward the upper reaches of college football coincided with the gradual disappearance of orange in favor of maroon. When that matter was posed at the SEC Roundtable today, the four Hokies in attendance said the transition had occurred around 1993.

I think it’s safe to say that 1993 was a watershed year for the Hokie program, which had gone 2-8-1 in 1992.

I remember sitting around a late-night gathering in the tower of the Homestead, where reporters had met for an annual golf tournament and were joined on that occasion by five-year Tech head football coach Frank Beamer.

“Win two games again next year and you’ll be able to play golf all you want,” a saucy Randy King, then The Roanoke Times’ NASCAR reporter, told Beamer.

Two years later, Beamer was going to the Gator Bowl and King was there to cover him.

Most historians have traced the Tech turnaround to changes that Beamer made to his staff, not without some prompting from then-athletic director Dave Braine. Also, the Hokies started recruiting better, eventually getting a larger share of the state’s top prospects than once-dominant UVa.

The move to Maroon wasn’t responsible for that, but coaches are superstitious by nature. Beamer wasn’t about to go back to the orange.

The guys at the roundtable today pointed out that other schools have been successful with orange as their color. Many people would place Tennessee among the top 10 football programs in the country and the Volunteers wear orange.

Texas’ color “burnt” orange, but I don’t know if that counts. Clemson wears orange, but maybe that’s one of the Tigers’ problems. Aside from the national title that Danny Ford won during the early 1980s, the Tigers underachieve more often than not.

I was reading through some posts on the Denver Broncos’ board and came up with the following: “I think the Orange looks awesome but you can’t deny it’s bad luck.”

When Virginia breaks out the orange jerseys, it’s mostly for basketball. It’s not a matter of whether the color looks good or not, but it just strikes me as soft, squishy like the fruit.

I can’t say I was paying attention March 26, when the Virginia athletic department introduced the “Power of Orange” T-shirt as the official 2008 football team T-shirt. All-American Chris Long was pictured in the advertisement with the following quote:

“The ‘Power of Orange’ is when the opponent at Scott Stadium feels like they can’t breathe because there’s so much pressure, so much atmosphere, noise and energy,” Long said. “It’s late in the game against Florida State two years ago. It’s anytime you can remember when you can’t hear yourself think. To me, that’s the ‘Power of Orange.’ “

I’m not about to minimize the contributions of Virginia’s crowd in some of the Cavaliers’ biggest wins. No ACC team had more home victories from 2001-2007 than the Cavaliers, not counting victories that Virginia Tech and Miami claimed before expansion, but I don’t think it had anything to do with what the fans were wearing.

The official T-shirt was one thing. Other schools do that. Virginia Tech has Orange-Effect and Maroon-Effect T-shirts. This week, VT fans are being asked to wear white. But, the “Power of Orange” flag and flagpole? That was a little much.

See if Virginia beats Southern California first, and then decide whether or not you’ve started a tradition.