White: New Offense Producing Familiar Results
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 09/13/2009
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- For the three seasons that Mike Groh served as offensive coordinator at his alma mater, UVa struggled mightily to consistently move the ball and score points.
In 2008, for example, the Cavaliers ranked 114th nationally -- out of 119 teams -- in scoring offense and 105th in total offense.
After the season, Al Groh replaced his son with Gregg Brandon, a former head coach known for overseeing productive offenses. Brandon brought his trademark spread offense with him from Bowling Green, and dramatic improvement was expected from UVa's attack.
Two games into the new season, however, the Cavaliers are 0-2, and their offense has been no better under Brandon than it was under Mike Groh.
In losses to William and Mary and Texas Christian, UVa has totaled 28 points, 19 first downs and 445 yards. Virginia ranks 112th nationally (out of 120 teams) in total offense and 103rd in scoring offense.
"Obviously, we definitely thought we'd be further along," offensive tackle Will Barker said Saturday night after UVa's 30-14 loss to TCU at Scott Stadium.
"We've had a lot of time to get this offense going and understand it. You can't really use that as an excuse anymore. We all know the offense. We can run it in practice and all that, but when it comes to Saturday, we really gotta focus and execute."
Perhaps expectations were unrealistic. From a 2008 offense that wasn't particularly effective, after all, Virginia lost its top six performers: tailback Cedric Peerman, wide receivers Kevin Ogletree, Maurice Covington and Cary Koch, tight end John Phillips and tackle Eugene Monroe.
Still, Al Groh said Sunday night, he believes there's enough talent in the program for Brandon's system to thrive.
"We have two circumstances here," Groh said. "We have a number of players on our offensive side who have a history of being successful. And we have an offensive system that has a history of being successful.
"Both of those circumstances, either with the players or with the system, are very verifiable. That doesn't belie the fact that, sure, with the lack of production that we've had, everyone in here has got concern about where we are. The challenge is to match some of these productive players with what has been a productive system."
One of the Wahoos who figured to play a leading role in Brandon's offense -- quarterback Vic Hall -- didn't take a snap against TCU. Hall, who started and ran for a touchdown against William and Mary, has a hip injury, and he may not play this weekend at Southern Mississippi (2-0).
Virginia has an open date Sept. 26, and Hall might be held out of the Southern Miss game to get healthy.
"That's the likely case, but we have some further exams scheduled for earlier in the week," Groh said, "and that's going to give everybody a much clearer picture of where this situation is."
On opening night, UVa used three quarterbacks -- Hall, Jameel Sewell and Marc Verica. Against TCU, Sewell, a fifth-year senior who started 22 games in 2006 and '07, took all the snaps, and he may well do so in Hattiesburg, Miss., too.
"The reality is that right now it looks like he's going to be the quarterback," Groh said.
Verica is a more accurate passer than Sewell, but Sewell is the more mobile of the two. Given the woes of UVa's offensive line, which allowed eight sacks Saturday night, that's no small consideration. Had Sewell not been able to occasionally evade the pass rush, TCU might have sacked him a dozen times.
Sewell, a 6-3, 225-pound fifth-year senior, ran the ball 21 times, the most by a UVa quarterback since "Bullet Bill" Dudley's 22 rushes against Lehigh on Nov. 15, 1941.
What Sewell, who passed for 2,176 yards and 12 touchdowns in 2007, didn't do often Saturday night was throw the ball downfield. He finished 8 for 18 passing, for 120 yards, but 82 of those yards came in the final 4:14, after TCU had gone up 30-0.
For the most of the game, when Sewell threw, his target was nearby. The Cavaliers' breakdowns in pass protection forced Brandon to call plays, Groh said, that didn't involve deep drops in the pocket.
"Once those issues came up, when you call the game, that clearly has to be taken into account," Groh said. "That made it pretty difficult from a play-selection standpoint."
During the Southern California-Ohio State game Saturday night, Groh said, he was struck by how often the announcers referred to "all the weapons" those teams had.
Call them "firepower, weapons, playmakers" or whatever, Groh said, those players change the outcomes of games. And Virginia had no one who filled that role Saturday night until the final minutes.
Sewell threw a 56-yard touchdown pass to wideout Javaris Brown, a redshirt freshman, with 4:14 remaining. That was UVa's longest pass play since Nov. 26, 2005. Then Sewell threw a 26-yard TD pass to wideout Tim Smith, a true freshman.
"That's the big thing," Groh said. "Playmakers put the points up there, and we had two real good playmakers at the end of the game. Javaris and Tim Smith had to go get the ball.
"When guys can go and do that for your team, and you get somebody to do that on one special-teams play for you, and you get one interception, then all of the sudden you got 28 points, and you got a very good-looking scoreboard."
It's been nearly 11 months since the scoreboard looked good for UVa. Not since Oct. 25, 2008, have the 'Hoos scored more than 17 points in a game. That was also the last time they won, beating No. 21 Georgia Tech 24-17 in Atlanta.
"Defense has to score points, offense has to score points," senior cornerback Chris Cook said Saturday night. "As a team, we have to score points. That's what wins game: points. We just got to somehow come up with some points."
* * * * * *
Riko Smalls, who came to UVa in 2008 as quarterback, moved to wide receiver this summer. With Hall sidelined, Smalls moved back to quarterback before the TCU game, to give UVa a third option at that position.
Smalls, a 6-0, 200-pound redshirt freshman, will remain at QB for the time being.
"We'll see what happens when Vic gets back," Groh said.
* * * * * *
Redshirt freshman Torrey Mack, the No. 2 tailback for Virginia against William and Mary, barely played versus TCU. He caught one pass for 7 yards in the final minute and didn't carry the ball.
Virginia's offensive strategy was to use almost all of the play clock before most snaps. That didn't have the desired effect, as the final score indicates, and it reduced the impact of several players, including Mack.
"First of all, it was one of those games where there didn't seem to be enough plays offensively to get everybody some of the work that we'd gone in hoping to get them," Groh said. "Down around 50 plays, that cuts into how all the rotations are going to go."
* * * * * *
Virginia's most experienced offensive lineman, Barker, was matched against TCU All-American Jerry Hughes.
Hughes, a 6-3, 257-pound senior, finished with a career-high 11 tackles. He was credited with 2.5 tackles for loss, including 1.5 sacks.
Barker, a four-year starter at right tackle, was "pretty decent" against Hughes, Groh said.
"The one sack he gave up at the end of the first half, and another pressure when the guy beat him inside, those were the two where he really got challenged on and got beat on," Groh said. "You can say those are only two, but by the same token, if you only have two a game, that's 24 for the year, and then that's a lot at one spot."
* * * * * *
The coaching staff's choice as Virginia's defensive player of the game was end Matt Conrath, a 6-7, 270-pound redshirt sophomore.
Conrath was officially credited with eight tackles, including two for loss. One was his first sack of the season.
"I told him, 'Look, I don't care who that [TCU offensive tackle] plays against this year or where they come from. He's not going to have any nights any more difficult than the one you gave him,'" Groh said.

Virginia settles on a quarterback
By Michael Phillips
Published: September 14, 2009

Virginia's offense hasn't had a lot of success through two games, but it does now have a leader.

Senior Jameel Sewell, a Hermitage graduate, will step up and lead the team as the 'Hoos prepare for a game Saturday at Southern Miss.

"The reality is, right now it looks like he's going to be the quarterback," coach Al Groh said last night.

He added that the decision was based both on Sewell's performance Saturday and the estimated severity to an injury suffered by Vic Hall in the team's first game.

Hall played just one snap Saturday in a loss to TCU, failing to catch the snap on a field goal attempt. He will undergo further testing this week. His injury was listed as a hip problem, though Hall also took a blow to the shoulder during the William and Mary game.

As for the new spread offense, which has sputtered through two games, Groh said that he remains optimistic about the potential of the system.

"We have a number of players on our offensive side that have a history of being successful, and we have an offensive system that has a history of being successful," he said. "The challenge is to match some of these productive players with what has been a productive system."

With Hall out for what could be an extended time frame, wide receiver Rico Smalls has been moved to the No. 3 quarterback position behind Marc Verica.

The offense shone at the end of Saturday's game, including two long passes for touchdowns, and that gave the players reason to keep their heads up.

"Toward the end of the game we were making plays," receiver Kris Burd said. "I feel like we have something to build on."

Groh elaborated last night at length about several phases of the game, but he didn't spend much time on Gregg Brandon's offensive playcalling, saying only that it was "fine." When asked how much authority Groh exerted on the playcalls, he responded "as much as I want to have."

As for the defense, the coach commended defensive end Matt Conrath as the player of the week on that unit. His eight tackles and a sack disrupted the Horned Frogs passing game.

On special teams, Groh cited a lack of plays that "impact the flow of the game," a goal the unit set early in the season.

But the offense remained the focal point, and the players will look to put what they've learned to work as they prepare to hit the road for challenging games against Southern Miss and North Carolina.

One thing Groh will look for are playmakers -- guys who can emerge as threats to make big downfield gains or touchdowns.

Sewell hopes to provide that spark, and if he can combine his running ability with the pocket presence he demonstrated toward the end of Saturday's game, he has a chance to provide it.

The U.Va. quarterback situation appears to have worked itself out. Now it's the offense's turn to do likewise.
 

Al Groh’s Sunday take
Michael Phillips
Sep 13, 2009

A long chat with Al Groh tonight, who, no matter what you think of him, is a smart football mind when he starts dissecting the game.

More on that in a second, but first, Groh didn’t spend much time on Gregg Brandon’s offensive playcalling, saying only that it was “fine.” When I asked how much authority Groh exerted on the playcalls, he responded “as much as I want to have.”

In injury news, it looks like Vic Hall might be out for an extended period of time. That leaves Jameel Sewell as the quarterback, and Marc Verica as the backup. Rico Smalls has been installed as the third-string player.

Matt Conrath was the player of the week on defense, with Groh telling the defensive end that “I don’t care who that (TCU) guy plays against, he’s not going to have many nights more difficult than the one you gave him.“

Words of praise also for safety Rodney McLeod: “Obviously he was in on a number of plays last night, and he’s been positively impressive from the first day of spring practice at that position. He’s still got things that hes learning every day in practice, but it’s impressive the way hes taken to the position. He knows what he’s lookng at and it makes sense.“

On the first two punt returns by Chase Minnifield, Groh acknowledged that Minnifield shouldn’t have caught the first ball, which was fair caught at the 3 yard line, and should have caught the second, which bounced from the 11 to the 3. Minnifield recovered from that point, and looks to be a solid option going forward.

One final note - opponents are converting on just one out of every five third-down conversions against U.Va., a low number we’ll explore in depth this week in the dead-tree edition of the Times-Dispatch.
 

Cavaliers stick with Sewell at QB
Jameel Sewell, Virginia's starter in 2007, played quarterback throughout Saturday's loss to TCU.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Virginia has replaced its revolving quarterback door with a more conventional model.

After switching quarterbacks six times in a season-opening loss to William and Mary, the Cavaliers stuck with starter Jameel Sewell in a 30-14 loss to TCU.

The move didn't pay immediate dividends, but Sewell sees brighter days ahead.

"We're capable of competing with anybody," said Sewell, a fifth-year senior. "We're going to win some games. We're definitely going to do that.

"Nobody's going to back down. Everybody's willing to work and get better. Nobody's too salty about the situation."

Sewell passed for more than 2,000 yards during the 2007 season, when the Cavs finished 9-4, but he has been utilized mostly as a runner this season.

In the first three quarters Saturday, Sewell completed four of 10 passes for 18 yards. He was 4-of-8 for 102 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.

"I showed them I can do anything they ask me to do pretty much," he said. "If they want me to run the ball, I don't care, I'm going to do it.

"I played very poorly [against William and Mary] and just to have them start the game with me and keep me in there when things didn't go well, that meant a lot."

Many of Sewell's 21 rushing attempts came on plays that started out as passes.

"I can't sit back there forever," said Sewell, whose linemen couldn't protect him as receivers were slow in creating separation.

Sewell's roommate and fifth-year classmate Vic Hall started the opener. However, Hall took a helmet to the hip against William and Mary and saw his only action Saturday as a holder.

When Groh said Saturday that Sewell probably would remain No. 1, he did not say if Hall's injury factored into that assessment.

"I'm taking everything into consideration," said Groh who said Sunday that Sewell's mobility gave him an edge Saturday over 2008 starter Marc Verica. "The reality is, right now it looks like he's [Sewell] going to be the quarterback."

UVa now has lost six straight games going back to the 2008 season and the Scott Stadium fans have become increasingly restless.

"I block all that out," Sewell said. "I just talk to my teammates because they're the ones who are going to help me. I came back from a year off and they didn't turn their backs on me.

"What's going on outside the lines is irrelevant."

Notes

The losing streak is UVa's longest since the Cavaliers lost the final three games of the 1981 season under Dick Bestwick, then dropped the first five games of the George Welsh era. ... The on-line service, vegasinsider.com, has UVa coach Al Groh listed first among its Division I-A college coaches "on the hot seat." Colorado's Dan Hawkins is second. ... TCU's eight sacks were the most yielded by Virginia since Florida State had nine in a 1997 game with the Cavaliers.
 

Sewell relishes chance to be full-time starter
September 14, 2009 12:36 am
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.
CHARLOTTESVILLE

--For the first time since January 2008, Jameel Sewell was the undisputed starting quarterback for Virginia.

But it remains to be seen if that will continue.

Sewell played the entire game under center in the Cavaliers' 30-14 loss to Texas Christian on Saturday in Scott Stadium.

And while he didn't play well for the first 56 minutes, two late touchdown passes have given Sewell confidence he can help turn the Cavaliers (0-2) around.

Senior quarterback Vic Hall didn't play on offense because of a hip injury; and Marc Verica was never called upon to relieve Sewell, even when he had thrown for just 18 yards through three quarters.

Cavaliers head coach Al Groh said it would be just "speculation" to say Sewell will remain the full-time starter when Hall is healthy, but for one game at least the Richmond native relished the opportunity to play a whole game.

"That helped me a lot," Sewell said of being in the game the entire time. "They believed in me as a coaching staff, even after last week's poor performance. That helps with my confidence."

Sewell admittedly had little belief in himself in Virginia's season-opening 26-14 loss to William & Mary.

He threw three interceptions in that game while splitting time with Hall and Verica.

Sewell said in the preseason he's still working on keeping his composure after such mistakes.

That issue was apparent when he started 22 games from 2006-07 before he was suspended from school in January 2008 because of academics. It was also apparent against the Tribe.

"I played with no confidence last week. None whatsoever," Sewell said. "This week I tried to play with a lot more confidence. I tried to show the team I'm confident and I'm capable of being the quarterback. I'm capable of making plays."

Sewell's confidence built slowly against TCU, but it was mostly because of decent running plays, including a 29-yarder in the first quarter.

The passing game struggled, however, partly because the offensive line gave Sewell little time to throw. He was sacked eight times.

Still, Sewell said it wasn't all the line's fault.

"I can't sit back there and hold the ball forever," he said. "The line isn't going to be able to block forever. I've got to throw the ball away."

The lack of a quick release wasn't Sewell's only malfunction against the Horned Frogs.

He also struggled with operating Virginia's no-huddle offense. The Cavaliers wanted to wait until there was less than five seconds on the play clock to snap the ball to limit TCU's time of possession.

The plan didn't work because the Horned Frogs still held the ball nearly 10 more minutes than Virginia. It also created confusion for Sewell, who said the strategy was occasionally "a downfall" for the Cavaliers.

Sewell also said he would've preferred throwing the ball deep more often. Cavalier fans gave a mock round of applause when Sewell finally threw a deep incompletion in the final five minutes of the game.

On the next play, he found redshirt freshman wide receiver Javaris Brown for a 56-yard touchdown pass. He connected with true freshman wide receiver Tim Smith on a 26-yard scoring pass with 1:48 remaining.

"As a quarterback, you want to air it out," Sewell said. "But sometimes it's not the right thing to do. You've got to go with the flow of what's called."

The Cavaliers visit Southern Mississippi next Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

 

Free-falling Cavaliers continue tailspin
No. 16 TCU dismantles Virginia in 30-14 embarrassment Saturday as team opens season with two home losses for first time since 1982
Cayce Troxel, Cavalier Daily Sports Editor
Featured / Football / Sports
September 14, 2009 0

Senior quarterback Jameel Sewell completed just four passes in the first three quarters of Virginia’s loss against TCU Saturday. The Cavaliers compiled only 177 yards of offense to the Horned Frog’s 380. Photo by Bennett Sorbo.
After a 34-yard punt return into Texas Christian territory, Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell took the snap from center and nimbly dropped back to pass on first down. Standing tall in the pocket and biding his time behind a rock-solid offensive line, Sewell proceeded to throw a 26-yard rope to freshman wide receiver Tim Smith in the left corner of the end zone for a Cavalier touchdown — and his sixth completion of the day.

Unfortunately for Virginia, the well-executed score came with only 1:48 remaining in the half — the second half, that is — and did little to salvage a deflating 30-14 loss against the No. 16 Horned Frogs (1-0) Saturday at Scott Stadium. The uninspired performance — which came on the heels of last week’s embarrassment at the hands of FBS opponent William & Mary — leaves the reeling Cavaliers 0-2 for the first time since 2002 and marks the first season since 1982 that the team has dropped its first two home games.

“I don’t think things can really get any worse,” Sewell said. “We’ve just got to use it as a stepping stone.”

Such an approach is easier said than done, however, as was proven early on against the Horned Frogs. After a disappointing debut against the Tribe, new offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon’s spread offense again sputtered against a TCU team which finished last season ranked first in the nation in both total and rushing defense.

“We understood it was going to be rugged moving the ball,” Virginia coach Al Groh said.

Despite Groh’s forewarning, Virginia nevertheless appeared ignorant of the Horned Frogs’ ability to stop the run. Sewell, who started in place of injured senior Vic Hall and played the entire game in a stark departure from last week’s three-quarterback system, ran the ball on seven of the Cavaliers’ first nine plays from scrimmage while only attempting three passes in the entire first quarter.

The offense’s only trip into TCU territory in the period came on Virginia’s opening series and resulted in a turnover on downs after junior Danny Aiken launched a long-snap too high on a 40-yard field goal attempt by sophomore Robert Randolph. Hall, who Groh said was likely inhibited by his hip injury and in retrospect should not have played at holder, watched helplessly as the ball soared over his head and was pounced on by Randolph for a loss of 19.

“I trust [Hall] so much,” Groh said. “I believe in him. Had the ball been where it was supposed to have been, I’m sure he would’ve gotten it down great.

The Horned Frogs took the ball on their own 42-yard line and, combining a methodical running game featuring the tailback tandem of senior Joseph Turner and freshman Ed Wesley with efficient passing by junior quarterback Andy Dalton, pieced together their first drive into Virginia territory.

The Virginia defense responded by forcing two straight Dalton incompletions, however, and it appeared as though TCU would be forced to punt when open wide receiver Jimmy Young dropped a pass on third-and-nine from the Virginia 36-yard line. A late hit personal foul on Cavalier sophomore safety Corey Mosley was called on the play though, resulting in a 15-yard penalty to extend the Horned Frog drive.

“The last thing I wanted to do was be unsportsmanlike,” Mosley said. “Coach told us, ‘Block to the ball every play, play hard, play every play like it’s my last one.’ That’s what I was doing. I didn’t mean anything bad by it.”

Dalton completed a 19-yard pass up the middle to sophomore wide receiver Jonathan Jones on the very next play, and on first-and-goal from the Virginia two-yard line, junior wideout Jeremy Kerley tumbled into the end zone to give TCU an early 7-0 lead.

Senior running back Mikell Simpson carried the ball just eight times for 32 yards in Virginia’s 30-14 loss. A swarming Horned Frog defense held the Cavaliers to 80 yards of total offense in the first three quarters. Photo by Bennett Sorbo.
“[The penalty] turned out to be a seven-point play,” Groh said. “The other team was stopped and was probably going to have to turn the ball over. Instead, they had the ball deep down in [our] territory.”

It didn’t take long for Virginia to make its next costly mistake, as one failed offensive series later, the Cavaliers found themselves facing fourth-and-two from their own 48-yard line. Attempting to infuse a little energy into his team’s lifeless attack, Groh called for a fake punt attempt and rush by junior tight end Joe Torchia. But the Horned Frogs were quick the recognize the trickery, stopping Torchia short of the first down and regaining the ball on downs at midfield. Capitalizing on the short field, TCU scored six plays later on a one-yard run by Turner.

Although Sewell opened the next drive with two longer runs to earn the Cavaliers just their fourth first down of the game, the senior was sacked on two of the final three plays of the half as the hosts entered the locker room to a chorus of boos, down 14-0. The Horned Frogs racked up 13 first downs in the opening half while holding Virginia to three pass completions for 11 yards and 72 yards of total offense.

Groh remained optimistic, despite the fact that his Cavaliers had yet to reach the red zone, much less score against the stout Horned Frog defense.

“Fourteen points is 14 points,” Groh said. “You can’t exactly say it’s even-steven, but again, the message to the players was, ‘Look, we got one drive stopped. An unfortunate circumstance allowed the drive to continue.’ It was a seven-point play … [then] I made a mistake and put you in bad position. Outside of that, I think you would’ve shut them out.’”

Although it may have been easy for Groh to convince himself of such a notion after 30 minutes of play, the defensive lapses that would transpire during the next quarter and half would not be as easily ignored. The Cavaliers’ defensive line broke down in the third quarter to give up 40 rushing yards, and a porous secondary allowed Dalton to go 7-7 for 97 yards in the period.

A 31-yard strike from Dalton to Young — who had gotten behind junior cornerback Ras-I Dowling on a straight downfield route — put TCU ahead 21-0 barely four minutes into the second half. After a Mikell Simpson carry for a loss and two Sewell keepers failed to result in a first down on the Cavaliers’ next possession, the Horned Frogs strung together a six-minute drive which ended in 28-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Ross Evans, giving TCU a 24-0 lead.

Sewell had only one completion in the third period, and at one point, the Cavaliers’ offense had gone 17 plays without a successful pass en route to compiling only 80 yards of total offense.

“Obviously it’s a different offense where you spread the defense out and get the ball going vertically,” senior tackle Will Barker said. “We just couldn’t do that today.”

After three quarters, Virginia’s longest completion was for eight yards, and the Cavaliers’ longest play downfield by a player other than Sewell was on a nine-yard Simpson run in the second quarter.

“The ability of a quarterback on a team to go down the field is based significantly on the amount of time he has to do so,” Groh said. “Those are pretty long routes — they take a long time to get there — and unfortunately, [Sewell] was under quite a lot of duress in doing that.”

After TCU opened the fourth quarter with two more field goals, the Cavaliers finally managed to find some offensive rhythm. Facing mostly second-team TCU defenders, Sewell aired it out for the first time all game — a decision that was sarcastically applauded by what was left of the crowd of 48,336, the smallest at Scott Stadium since a 1999 game against Buffalo.

“As a quarterback, you want to air it out sometimes, but sometimes it’s not the right time to do it,” Sewell said. “You’ve got to go with the flow and make something happen with what’s called.”

The results were instantaneous. A 56-yard arrow to freshman Javaris Brown and a successful two-point conversion helped the Cavaliers avoid their first shutout since 2006, while the touchdown pass to Smith two minutes later may serve to remove some fans’ doubts about Virginia’s new offense, which has otherwise done little thus far to impress this season.

“We got beat up a lot but we never quit,” said Sewell, who was sacked a total of eight times on the day. “There’s nothing you can do about it now. It’s over with … You get roadblocks, but you’ve got to go through them … I’m going to ride with the fellas all day, no matter what.”

The Cavaliers will need to build off the little momentum they may have gained from the late touchdown passes if they wish to avoid another disappointing finish when they travel to Southern Mississippi for their first road test of the year next Saturday. Though the Golden Eagles do not boast the same illustrious defensive statistics as the Horned Frogs, their offense has scored a combined 76 points en route to a 2-0 start.

Senior fullback Rashawn Jackson remains hopeful that the Cavaliers still have the potential to turn their season around.

“It’s sort of like the first touchdown,” Jackson said. “You get the first touchdown — obviously you’ve seen today — the second touchdown is just contagious. You just follow the flow.”
 

Cavaliers look for positives
By Jay Jenkins
Published: September 14, 2009

Perhaps it was grasping at straws.
Virginia’s offensive players, including starting quarterback Jameel Sewell, tried desperately to take the positives from the program’s sixth-straight setback.
Yes, the Cavaliers (0-2)
managed a pair of lengthy touchdown passes in garbage time against reserves, but for a group that had gone five-plus quarters without a score it something to enjoy.
“We had some really good individual plays,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “Jameel shook loose. Javaris [Brown] stayed with his route. That’s how you score points.”
Unfortunately for Virginia, Brown’s touchdown and another that followed by rookie Tim Smith became a mere footnote in a 30-14 rout by No. 16 Texas Christian, which held a 203-yard advantage in total offense and appears headed in a different direction.
The Cavaliers are left to regroup with their first road game just five days away at Southern Mississippi (2-0).
As odd as it may have sounded in retrospect, Virginia took solace in the fact that yards were managed early on the ground against a stout rushing defense. On their first 13 carries, the Cavaliers gained 43 rushing yards.
“The running game was
pretty smooth in the first half if you actually watched,” Virginia running back Rashawn Jackson said. “We had a lot of success running the ball between the backs.”
Virginia right tackle Will Barker added: “As an offense we want to get things going, run and pass. We tried to set the tone early by running the ball. Kind of as we got down we were forced to pass to try and get back in the game. It is good to see when runs are working because, obviously, that tells us things about the future and what could come out and execute and perform the way that we prepare.”
The positives for Groh’s team included a shutout that was pitched three-plus minutes into the second quarter against one of the nation’s best offenses a year prior.
It slowly changed as TCU pulled away and continued to tack on points in the second half with scores on four of its first five possessions in that stanza.
It would have been natural for Virginia’s defensive players to question why little assistance was offered offensively during the early moments of the stalemate.
But to this point, however, the locker room is not divided, yet another positive for the Cavaliers.
“I am not pointing the finger at anyone,” Virginia cornerback Chris Cook said. “The only thing that finger-pointing does is break us a part and we are
trying to stay together.
“Us being together is going to help us win some games. Hopefully next week we are going to get a win at Southern Miss.”
Regardless of the personnel that was employed by TCU late in the contest, the inability to roll over also stood out to Virginia’s players albeit in an ugly loss.
“Even when the score was 30-0 everybody was still in it,” Virginia linebacker Denzel Burrell said. “We were pushing everybody to get over the hump. We knew we just needed a little bit of momentum.
“We were trying to swing it on defense, but we couldn’t get the turnover that we needed. We couldn’t turn it towards the end and unfortunately there wasn’t enough time left.”
 

Johnson chooses Virginia
By Whitey Reid
Published: September 14, 2009

San Diego prep star James Johnson could have chosen almost any place in the country to play his college basketball.
On Sunday, the redheaded Johnson mildly surprised experts and picked Virginia.
After taking his official visit to Charlottesville over the weekend, the 6-foot-9, 220-pound forward canceled scheduled visits to Arizona and Oklahoma, both of which had offered him scholarships.
Johnson, rated as 4-star recruit by Rivals.com, is one of the most highly sought after players to commit to UVa in recent memory.
“He just seemed to really hit it off with the coaches from the very beginning,” said Ted Johnson, James’ father. “Being back on campus this weekend just really sealed the deal.
“He said, ‘Dad, I just feel like Virginia is the place for me.’ Coach Bennett was just tremendous, as were the other coaches. There was just something about those guys.”
Bennett’s first recruiting class is shaping up to be much stronger than anyone anticipated. In addition to Johnson, the new Virginia coach has landed guards K.T. Harrell and Joe Harris, and forward Will Regan. Harrell is also a four-star prospect.
Ted Johnson said his son just went with his gut.
“What he liked was that Coach Bennett was very honest with him,” Johnson said. “He didn’t promise him he’d get to the NBA someday or that he’d even start as a freshman. He said that he would have to earn his position.
“He said all that he could promise was that he would do everything in his power to help him reach his potential and that he would be coming to a place with some of the finest facilities in the country.”
Johnson said there were other factors, too.
“It was the combination of academics and athletics — the Virginia degree and the network of alums meant a lot,” he said. “Playing in the ACC was also a big draw, though he was also starting to get really wooed by the PAC-10 and Big 12.”
The final check mark in Virginia’s favor was the fact that Johnson’s older sister, whom he is very close with, goes to school just up the road at Liberty University.
 

U.Va. hoops snags a recruit
Michael Phillips
Sep 13, 2009

This weekend wasn’t all bad in Charlottesville. New hoops coach Tony Bennett continued building a solid recruiting class with the addition of California prep star James Johnson.
Johnson, listed at 6-8, 200, and given four stars by both major recruiting services, committed after visiting the Virginia campus this past weekend. He was also reportedly pursued by Oklahoma, Arizona, and several California schools.
He is entering his senior year at Elsinore High, near San Diego, and will join U.Va. for the 2010-11 school year.
 

More on UVa commitment
James Johnson, a 6-foot-9 frontcourt player from Wildomar, Calif., canceled scheduled visits to Oklahoma and Arizona on Sunday after making an oral commitment to the Cavaliers.

Johnson, rated the No. 99 prospect in the country by rivals.com, earlier had taken an official visit to California.
Johnson, whose family lived in Canada for nine years, went to Morris High School in San Diego last year but was not allowed to play because of California Interscholastic Federation rules.

This year, he will play at Elsinore High School in Wildomar, located an hour's drive north of San Diego.

Johnson has an older sister, Joanna, who is a sophomore at Liberty. Johnson's father, Ted, said he would have liked at one point for Liberty to recruit Ted but that former Flames coach Ritchie McKay going to UVa as an assistant was "the best of all worlds."

Posted at 09:53 by Doug Doughty
 

Cavaliers Strike Early to Down Seton Hall 4-0
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 09/13/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE – The No. 16 Cavalier women’s soccer team extended its unbeaten streak to six games with a 4-0 victory over Seton Hall in the final game of the Virginia Nike Soccer Classic at Klöckner Stadium. Virginia scored three goals in the first 26 minutes and rolled to their fourth victory of the season (4-1-2).

“It was good to get a result after a hard fought game Friday against West Virginia,” said head coach Steve Swanson. “We were able to get some goals that gave us confidence early against a very dangerous Seton Hall team. We were able to settle into the game in the first half and then were able to use our depth in the second half.”

Virginia took an early lead in the 12th minute of play. Caitlin Miskel (Boca Raton, Fla.) threaded a ball to Meghan Lenczyk (McLean, Va.) at the top of the box, who took a touch before firing a shot into the upper corner to give the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead. Eight minutes later, Amanda Fancher’s (The Colony, Texas) cross was headed in by Lenczyk for her second goal of the game and her team-leading fifth of the season. In the 26th minute the lead was extended to 3-0 as Sinead Farrelly (Havertown, Pa.) found Jess Rostedt (Kent, Ohio) in the box, who fired in her fourth goal of the season.

In the second half, the Cavaliers tacked on one more goal in the 56th minute. Lauren Alwine (Elizabethtown, Pa.) sent a through ball into the box that found the run of Lindsey Miller (Nashua, N.H.), who scored her second goal of the season.

Virginia outshot the Pirates 13-2 in the contest and had a 4-1 corner kick advantage. Chantel Jones (Midlothian, Va.) and Carrie Wisman (Bristol, Va.), who made her collegiate debut, didn’t need to make a save to combine for the shutout. Jennifer Pettigrew made three saves for Seton Hall.

Jones, Lenczyk and Farrelly were named to the All-Tournament team. Dartmouth captured the title with their 1-0 victory over West Virginia in Sunday’s first game. The Big Green had defeated Seton Hall 1-0 in double overtime on Friday.

“The nice thing is we now have a week before our next game,” said Swanson. “It will give us some opportunities for training to work on some things. With our schedule and travel over the past few weeks we haven’t had many opportunities recently to do that.”

The Cavaliers return to action to host American on Sept. 20 at 2 p.m. The game is the final non-conference game of the year for Virginia before starting ACC play.

VIRGINIA 4, SETON HALL 0

Seton Hall (3-3-0) 0 0 0
#16 Virginia (4-1-2) 3 1 4

Scoring Summary
UVa. Meghan Lenczyk 4 (Caitlin Miskel 3) 12’
UVa. Meghan Lenczyk 5 (Amanda Fancher 1, Julia Roberts 2) 20’
UVa. Jess Rostedt 4 (Sinead Farrelly 1, Maggie Kistner 2) 26’
UVa. Lindsey Miller 2 (Lauren Alwine 5) 56’

Shots: UVa 13, SHU 2
Corners: UVa 4, SHU 1
Saves: UVa 0 (Jones 0, Wisman 0), SHU 3 (Pettigrew 3)
Fouls: UVa 10, SHU 8

Weather: 79 degrees, clear
Attendance: 754

Game Notes: Rostedt’s goal was her 29th career goal, moving her into 10th place on Virginia’s career list … Fancher became the 15th different Cavalier to record a point this season.

2009 Virginia Nike Soccer Classic Standings
Dartmouth (2-0-0)
Virginia (1-0-1)
West Virginia (0-1-1)
Seton Hall (0-2-0)

All-Tournament Team
Myra Sack (Dartmouth) - MVP
Becky Poskin (Dartmouth)
Kelsey Quick (Dartmouth)
Erin Fleischli (Dartmouth)
Sinead Farrelly (Virginia)
Meghan Lenczyk (Virginia)
Chantel Jones (Virginia)
Kerri Butler (West Virginia)
Carolyn Blank (West Virginia)
Bry McCarthy (West Virginia)
Jennifer Pettigrew (Seton Hall)
Megan Mills (Seton Hall)

 

Doubles Team Takes Title at William & Mary Invitational
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 09/13/2009

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- The Virginia women's tennis team wrapped up play Sunday at the William & Mary Invitational, its first tournament of the season. On the final day of play, the team of Jennifer Stevens (Miami, Fla.) and Hana Tomljanovic (Boca Raton, Fla.) won the A Flight Doubles title.
Stevens and Tomljanovic defeated Deanna Bailey and Michaela Kissel of Marshall 8-4 in the final. Also in Flight A doubles, the team of Lindsey Hardenbergh (Fairfax Station, Va.) and Erin Vierra (Norwell, Mass.) won the back draw with an 8-5 win over Hamza and Lauten of Virginia Tech.
In singles Flight A, Hardenbergh won the backdraw with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over her teammate, Stevens. Vierra also won in the backdraw, topping No. 107 Ragini Acharya of William & Mary. In Flight B, Tomljanovic won the third place match, defeating Helen Cunningham of Richmond 6-0, 6-1.
The Cavaliers return home next weekend to host the UVa Fall Invitational at the Snyder Tennis Center. The event runs Friday-Sunday and is Virginia's only home tournament during the fall.

 

Kohles 66 Helps Cavaliers Move Up to Fourth Place at Maryland
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 09/13/2009

Cambridge, MD - Led by sophomore Ben Kohles' 5-under 66 during the second round of play, the Virginia men's golf team moved up to fourth place after the second round of the Maryland Intercollegiate at the River Marsh Golf Club. The second round was completed Sunday morning after being suspended due to darkness Saturday.
Kohles enters the final round in second place at 5-under 137, just one shot behind VCU's Lanto Griffin. Kohles' score was the lowest single-round of his career, improving on the 67 he posted at last year's Maryland Intercollegiate.
UVa shot 2-under 282 as a team during the second round after shooting 292 to start the tournament. VCU leads the field at 559 followed by NC State (566), North Carolina (566) and the Cavaliers (574).
Kohles was one of four UVa golfers who improved their scores between the first and second rounds. Amory Davis shot even par 71 and moved into a tie with teammate Will Collins for 19th place at 4-over 146. Collins shot 72 during the second round. Gregor Orlando moved up to 24th with a second round 73 to stand at 147. Kyle Stough was in 52nd place at 151. He and Bruce Woodall both posted 78s in the second round. Woodall, competing as an individual, was in 42nd place.

Maryland Intercollegiate
Par-71, 6,766 yards
River Marsh Golf Club
Cambridge, MD
Second Round Results
1. VCU 284-275-559
2. NC State 286-280-566
2. North Carolina 280-286-566
4. Virginia 292-282-574
5. Kent State 283-295-578
6. Maryland 290-289-579
7. Akron 288-295-583
8. Xavier 298-295-593
9. Texas State 293-301-594
9. Old Dominion 300-294-594
11. Towson 298-299-597
12. Georgetown 300-301-601
13. William and Mary 298-305-603
14. East Carolina 306-299-605
15. Pennsylvania 300-315-615

Virginia Results
2. Ben Kohles 71-66-137
19. Amory Davis 75-71-146
19. Will Collins 74-72-146
24. Gregor Orlando 74-73-147
42. Bruce Woodall* 72-78-150
52. Kyle Stough 73-78-151
* Playing as individual
 

Cavaliers Blank Ohio 5-0
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 09/13/2009

ATHENS, Ohio - Sophomore Paige Selenski tallied her first career hat trick to lead the sixth-ranked Virginia field hockey team (6-0) to a 5-0 win over Ohio (1-4) Sunday at Pruitt Field. All five of Virginia's goals came in the first half.
Selenski's hat trick is the first for the program since Mia Link scored three times against Longwood in 2004.
The shutout marked the fourth of the season for the Cavalier defense. Junior goalkeeper Kim Kastuk finished with two saves in the cage.
Virginia outshot the Bobcats 15-7 and had an 8-4 advantage on penalty corners.
Selenski notched the first goal just 3:11 into the game to put the Cavaliers up 1-0. Senior Traci Ragukas and junior Haley Carpenter then recorded back-to-back goals at 20:02 and 22:34, respectively. Selenski finished off the scoring efforts with two more goals within the final 10 minutes of the half, including Virginia's first penalty stroke opportunity of the season.
All five Virginia goals were unassisted.
The Cavaliers return to action at 7 p.m. Thursday on the road against William & Mary.