Transcript from Al Groh's Weekly Press Conference
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 09/14/2009

Q. Looking at how it started last year for Southern Miss, it wasn't so pretty, but what has really clicked for them since that point?
COACH GROH: Well, they won seven in a row now over the course of two years. Just continuity. Larry Fedora is in there and has put in a new system in all three phases -- we can kind of relate to him a little bit. We are dealing with him in two out of three phases. We put in a new system in all three phases and just as the season went on in, watching actually in watching their season in different time frames what it looked like early, in the middle and the end and now this year, you can just see increased execution in all the different schemes.
Q. Coach, you focus with your team on just playing between the white lines and not focusing on the outside environment. Are you pretty confident heading into the first road game of the season that your team is pretty equipped to handle that?
COACH GROH: We'll see. Every team is different. We are taking a lot of players down there that we have never taken on a trip before. We began, as we have said, about a number of different things, that important for teams to understand, the lessons have to be brought up long before the occasion. We have been talking about different elements about going on the road, whatnot, for quite some time, actually, stretching back to last spring. So at least when those issues are brought up before the team here this week, it's not as if, gee, I've never heard that one before. It will be just more reinforcement to what we have talked about.
So we have also talked about the fact that we have been to these kind of places before. You know, it can be challenging environments, so those guys who have been there before need to remember, and those who haven't need to ask.
Q. You've been creative in the past with some motivational strategies, whether it was the shovel, the flashlight, so on.
COACH GROH: You're following all of that? The flashlight is on my shelf, and the shovel is back where it started. Where do you think that is?
Q. On the sideline?
COACH GROH: Back in the garage. It's fairly humble it never got a big ego over being on television.
Q. The worm.
COACH GROH: The worm. Don't remind me about that one.
Q. In those situations, how effective are they and how do you determine when to use them?
COACH GROH: Yeah, good question. One of the important things and challenging things to do for anybody who is the head coach is to spend time thinking about his team. Just what's the team need right now.
And with the combination of administrative duties, practice scheduling, whatever involvement in the schemes and the X's and O's the head coach has, sometimes it's difficult to say, slow down, sit down and think about the players on the team, what they need to hear, or a phrase that I got from somebody else quite some time ago is, "Show the face the players need to see." And it's to find that time to really think about it.
If it's always about a gimmick, then just kind of becomes like it's like Vaudeville, what's the next show going to be, what's the next act going to be. So I think it has to be take a special occasion for it, and sometimes they really work out well, in the case of those ones you cited, they had a pretty good outcome on it.
So glad you reminded me of that. I might go to something I might put the worm third, though. I don't know if I'm ready for that one, but that's a really good point. But the shovel thing really was we had a team meeting that night at 7:00, and I've just been thinking about, we need a little something here. I don't know that it wasn't so much of a dynamic, great motivator at the time as it became a lasting symbol and it took on it really did take on an identity with that particular team, for the players to kind of say, look, this is the way it is. We are going to be this way every week and it became that.
And eventually, those things, all of those symbols, anything that the players get from the outside, always diminishes relative to what we refer to as the amount of self talk that they get. Okay, the outside talk, really only lasts but so long, particularly that designed to really get them up and going. Eventually it's got to come from the player himself, what he hears from himself. But obviously some methods can kick start some of the right thoughts.
Q. From what you've told us about BJ, sounds like an issue that could be going on all season with him. Issac (Cain) moved up, do you have other options?
COACH GROH: Aaron Van Kuiken is the next one there. It's been progressing here pretty decently. It's just a case of, as it has been with a lot of guys and particularly with offensive linemen, there's no position that's as developmental as offensive lineman, and he's been here for one year and now five weeks into his second year. So he's in that developmental phase, but we are pretty positive about where he's going.
Q. With Jameel (Sewell), there was that year away from the game, and was there anything you did to maybe help him ease back in when he came back?
COACH GROH: We had a number of conversations about football, life, things on and off the field, which is none of these players, but particularly that position, that is so well known, none of them are just a helmet. They are a real person in there. And so there are a lot of things about being the person who is much more significant than just being the player that will hopefully show up a lot more in the performance than the player talk does, that the person shows up a lot more.
Q. In your previous season turnarounds, has there been a common thread in being able to reverse the team's fortunes or anything the coaches have especially emphasized in practices?
COACH GROH: Well, certainly because there have been a number of those, we have looked back at some of those circumstances. One was a great determination on the part of the players to just make things better; a willingness to continue to grind and work and a belief in the system that allowed them to maintain their confidence that, one, what we were doing and how we were doing would work out. And then along the way in each particular case, there's been some circumstances where just strategically and tactically we might have said, look, we are going to reshape things a little bit here at this particular time. So there's been elements of all of those. Certainly not the same percentage to each particular circumstance, but Alan missed all of those in each one.
Q. When I asked you last week about how the TCU game got set up, you said you really didn't know. How did this series get up and how was this series started? And as the head coach, how do you not have how does something like this happen not to your knowledge?
COACH GROH: Well, we were looking at a number of circumstances to fill, because I think as we have detailed, we had made an arrangement with the MAC conference. They called the ACC and asked with the situation they had, when Temple was going into the MAC, in order to get Temple up and going with as full a schedule as possible, they were going to have to move some games. And I think they tried to broker some games with a number of conferences, called the ACC and one of the games they were brokering was that if you have any team that's willing to go to Middle Tennessee for one game on the road, then we will promise you three MAC opponents of your choosing at home. And this is the time that the 12th game was being created.
And so we were trying to line up 12th games at that particular point and all of a sudden, here was the opportunity, seemed it would work out pretty well and the games were going to be at home at which time we were trying to move up to seven home scheduled games and they were all with Division I opponents. Seemed like it worked out perfectly. The imperfect part of it was that the MAC failed to live up to the agreement. And so therefore, we were forced to, on short notice, try to schedule a number of games.
Q. And are there any games will they be forced to live up to this agreement at some point?
COACH GROH: We don't have any MAC teams on the schedule.
Q. Just wanted to get your assessment of Jameel from last game. He seemed to show arm strength, especially the two positive plays towards the end of the game. Maybe if you want to compare it to 2007, but did he kind of assert himself a little bit more as far as when you determined how that position may play out?
COACH GROH: Good observation. Having said good observation, I'll go back and say what I said to Jameel last Thursday evening at dinner, particularly about his practice on Thursday but about his overall week all together. I told him, I thought you had a very strong presence today and you threw the ball with conviction. You know, you made your decision and threw the ball with conviction. This is where I'm going to go with the ball and I think there's going to be a good end result.
And whether every play, that doesn't mean that every play necessarily turned out perfect in the game, but those plays that he was involved in during the course of the game, he had a very good presence about him throughout the game and everything he executed, whether it was run or pass, he did with a strong conviction.
Q. Kind of a follow up to Jerry's question, when you have two new systems in place, that you're trying to get working, and they are not working real well, and the fans are starting to express their displeasure, do you worry that the players will lose faith, or do you have to do something to make sure the players stay committed to what you're trying to do?
COACH GROH: Oh, sure. That's always a factor. I don't think the players lose faith based on what fans think. I think players take their reaction based on results, because as we have said in this room on many occasions before, confidence is a result of demonstrated performance.
You have two young wide receivers the other day whose confidence is probably elevated from where it was last week. They have stepped up and made plays. They have some demonstrated performance. Jim tells me that Matt Conrath is on the list of players who might possibly be here today. He played very well in the first game and exceeded that in the second game.
So I don't think anybody needs to tell Matt Conrath anything. He can talk to himself about where he is. That's a critical issue with players all the time, individually and collectively. Your team can be doing very well and if a player is going through a tough stretch, it's just like that baseball team that has won eight in a row, but this guy has gone 0 for 19. His confidence is not as great as the other eight guys in the lineup.
Q. Tackles, some years you have rotated players to give them breaks and it looks like Nick (Jenkins) is out there an awful lot. Your thoughts? And you mentioned Matt; how is Nate doing at the other end?
COACH GROH: Nate is doing well over there. It's a position that seems to suit him well. Again another issue that I think that actually you and I had discussed one time before about the fact that had the personnel situation been a little different when Nate came in, he might have gone there in the beginning. But between the three positions, Chris (Long) was at one, Jeffrey (Fitzgerald) was at another and I think (Sean) Gottschalk was in the same class or thereabouts, and Brendan Schmidt might still have been here. At that particular time, that was the way to utilize his skills the fastest.
And we don't want to jump him back and forth all over the place. But we wanted to get the most talented players, most experienced players on the field this year and with Nick having gotten so many snaps last year, we thought that we could get them both on the field in this particular way. But Nick is doing a real nice job. Unless you are Vince Wilfork, that position is not going to have the opportunity to check in with the kind of numbers that Matt had the other day; but the two of them are in the same boat, and for us to think that the two of them in combination have only played 14 games, I mean, they are looking at careers in excess of 50 games, and they have only played 14 and performing as they do; there's significant room between where they are and where the ceiling is. So yes, he's done a real nice job.
Q. Taking a look at Southern Miss and their two wins, what's the best thing that they have done on the field in those two victories?
COACH GROH: They played two pretty good games in every respect. They are 15th in the country rushing the ball. They haven't given up a hundred yard rusher in seven games. The quarterback is performing very well. And they are off to a good start. As I say, they have won seven in a row so clearly they are playing good ball on all phases.
Q. Kind of piggybacking on what Hank was asking about the team not having the distractions bother them, do you feel that this group has done a good job of not allowing the distractions or the displeasure of the fans bother them or what the people are saying on the radio about this team? And second part to this question, do you think this is a good spot, this week, to go on the road against Southern Miss and not allow more displeasure with the team?
COACH GROH: We just what we say all the time, we play whoever, whenever they give them to us. It really doesn't make any difference to us when they give them to us.
You know, there's a lot of story to be played out in the course of this season, who is distracted, who is undistracted, who is focused, who is not focused, who is confident, who is not confident. These seasons are books. They are not chapters. You know, somebody actually brought something to my attention the other day that the longest tenured coach in the NFL and obviously one of the very best is Jeff Fisher. And because of his success and how he's done things, I mean, to be a head coach in the National Football League for 16 years is pretty remarkable and as we saw the other night, it looks like his team will be in the hunt again this year. They went through a phase a few years ago where they were 14 17 and I'm sure they did some things to switch things around or make changes personnel wise and scheme wise but they had a philosophy and belief in place, and sometimes if you just in a circumstance where all of the chips get loaded in front of to you start with, you have to shuffle them around a little bit to get things back to the way you want them to be.
Q. Moving to special teams, you said you were looking for those game changing plays this year. How has that gone so far and what will you do going forward?
COACH GROH: I think you can answer your own question, can't you?
Q. What does the unit need to do?
COACH GROH: Have you seen any? So I think that's probably the answer to the question. What's the answer always? Better execution, better performance.
Q. What is your philosophy with that particular group on going downfield in the passing game? Obviously didn't do it a lot early. You had some success late. Do you need to do it earlier in the game to keep teams from stacking the line?
COACH GROH: Depends on the type of game that you're trying to run. We had a particular plan in mind the other day. Keep in mind that we were playing the No. 7 team in the country from last year and one of the ways they got that way was to have the highest time of possession in the country. So that clearly is a factor in their success. So right away, when we see that and with when we see how they put it together, it said one of the components of being a team is you've got to get their time of possession down. And so one of the ways to do that is to maximize the amount of time that goes off the clock while you have it. And we are in a pretty good position to do that. And, in fact, although it was mpedy intention not to go back in history, we did have a third and long situation in which we stop the team. Unfortunately we have to go back on the field after that play. Had that gone the other way, there's really a real good likelihood that the half might have ended zero to zero and we would have had in place exactly what we were trying to do and that we would have gotten the game to the point where we would have been in control of the clock and the scoreboard and even with that, we had the ball longer than they did in the first half.
Now, you can clearly see the time of possession flip dramatically in the second half, and part of that had to do with the increased volume of incomplete passes. That also resulted in more plays for their team, greater time of possession and the result that we got.
So clearly we can see how one circumstance dramatically affected the conduct of the game and so I would say at that particular point, while it wasn't spectacular, it had us in position to do what we wanted to do, which was to win the game. But if you think I'm going to express that in the Herman Edwards style, I'm going to disappoint you.
Q. Could you talk about the need for going downfield in the passing game?
COACH GROH: I just gave you my answer. It's about managing the game and putting the game together in terms of giving yourself the best opportunity to win.
Now had we had a large number of incompletions based on that's usually the case with a lot of vertical passes in that particular game, and they would have had the ball for 19 minutes in the first half, then perhaps we would not have been able to run the kind of game we wanted to and get some outside interference in that, we were putting the game together the way we wanted to. And our players were going to go in at halftime against the No. 7 team in the country last year and say, hey, we got these guys here pretty good. We have got a real chance here. So clearly that event dramatically impacted the game and how we were trying to conduct the game.
Now had there been other games where we would have liked to do more, yeah. In the previous game it was our plan to go vertical the first 15 plays. So what all of these games are about, it's not so much about calling plays. It's about framing the game that gives your team the best opportunity to win.
Q. What you just said about the vertical game. Is that the strategy you plan to take throughout the season?
COACH GROH: It goes from game to game. Or as we say, in making our plan every week, a team has to have the flexibility to play the game you need to play and every game requires a little bit different type of game to be played.
Q. With the home atmosphere how it is now, are you worried about how it is going to affect recruiting, and if so, what are you doing about it?
COACH GROH: I'm just I think myself and the team are just focused on what we have to do to get ready for this week's game. But if that be the case, then if there's somebody who is creating a less than positive impact and they really care about their team, then they would be wise not to create a less than positive impact, wouldn't you think?
Q. Can it be somewhat fortuitous that you have a road game this week you have addressed the negativity that's in the air. Is it possible maybe to just take them and go off somewhere and play a game elsewhere and you're not really worried about what impact that has on the team?
COACH GROH: We have a saying, Hank, that it's all between the white lines. That's all that really counts. Except in a few memorable circumstances, there's not much history of anybody coming off the sidelines, much less out of the stands, to impact any particular play. And so there's nobody who caught any passes for us the other day. There's nobody who sacked the quarterback the other day, other than the people who were on the field, and people can't do that at home and when you go on the road, there's nobody on the other side who can come out and make you play badly, either. It's just whatever happens in between the white lines that determines the outcome of the game.
Q. Most BCS conference schools don't visit non BCS conference schools with the frequency that you do. Is that a matter of philosophy or ethics or something of that nature?
COACH GROH: No, it's become an issue in scheduling and that's a very good question, part of it is the economics of scheduling. Now with the 12th game and the demand for these games, there's the payout that certain teams can get to go to the stadiums that have 85,000, 90,000, 95,000 and the payouts that teams can get to go to those places, that's where they are going to go.
And those schools, obviously if they are going to get 100,000 for their game, they are not going to go anywhere else that the revenue for the intake, the amount of money that goes into the bank on Monday is less than staying at home. That's why you see certain teams scheduled the way they do and playing seven, eight, nine home games. They are able to do that.
If you are in the lowest strata of that, then those are the teams that are always traveling and never get anybody to come and then there's a lot of teams in between that get in the home and home; that the payout that can be provided isn't such that you can just schedule everybody at home and so in order to get a certain level of game, you have to agree to go someplace else.
So that's how some of these games come about.
Q. You said in the teleconference that you did not want Chase (Minnifield) to catch that punt, that he caught at the three, and you did want him to catch the next one. I think in the first one, he started at the five and the next one at the 10 if I remember correctly. Just wondering if you could just discuss your general philosophy on those.
COACH GROH: Well, we don't want the ball caught inside the 10 yard line and so the issue is not where the player lines up. The issue is the decision that the player makes to catch the ball. Whether you line up on the 10 and move back yards or you lineup on the five and move forward, it's the decision as to where the ball is coming down. So it's just an issue of where we think he's got the best look. More than likely, in fact, probably had he lined up on a five yard line on the second one and had a better sense of where the ball was coming down, he would have moved up and caught the ball. So it's where it's caught, not so much where he lines up.
Q. Now that you've played Perry Jones, how do you see his role evolving as the season goes forward, and was he only on the one team kickoff return the other day?
COACH GROH: No, he was on another unit. He played ten plays total on special teams. And this is a very he's fun. You know, every day, out there in practice, he's lively. He's energetic. He's a very positive kid. He expects to do well at whatever he does. He's kind of one of those little light bulbs that light things up wherever he goes and has a high expectation of success and did a nice job; he does every play in practice that way. He did a nice job on special teams.
You know, more than likely, his primary role this year will be on special teams and we can certainly see the possibilities where that role might expand.
Q. Riko (Smalls) goes from quarterback to wide receiver back to quarterback. As a coach, how fulfilling is it to see a guy that's willing to be that Marques Hagans type guy that just wants to do what helps the team?
COACH GROH: Those are the kind of guys that a team is built around, that are really interested in whatever their contribution can be. That's a very tricky thing with a college football team, it is the trickiest of all teams, because no team has got as many players on their rosters in all of organized sports. No team has got as many players on their roster as a college football team. And therefore no team has a higher percentage of players who are not seeing significant game action. When you think that a college team has got half as many players on their active rosters as an NFL team, a college team has twice as many, and nine or ten times as many as a college basketball team. So there are a lot of different roles to be shared, and there has to be a real built in awareness of guys being willing to understand their roles and do their very best, whether that's be to scout team right guard or the starting wide receiver.
And that hopefully becomes a cultural thing within your team, and is there from year to year, but it still has to be renewed. It doesn't just automatically regrow itself.
Q. How important is it in the way you guys are trying to run the spread, to be successful running the ball in and what can you do to get that part of the game going?
COACH GROH: Like so many offenses, it really helps one, it helps control the clock, as we talked about the other day. That if you can control the clock by making first downs and by doing that, then that's one of the ways to keep your hand kind of on the tempo of the game. So that's a very important factor, No. 1.
Then obviously the balance that it creates in your selection, and how it impacts the opponent's thought process as far as pressuring the quarterback is concerned.
Q. With Vic banged up, obviously he plays a key role on the field when he's on the field. What do you see his role being on the sideline? Does he give Chase the advice that through his experiences with punting, do you see him over there in the offensive huddle, the defensive huddle, bouncing around?
COACH GROH: Certainly those of you who have had the opportunity to have a conversation with Vic, it probably is pretty clear to you that he's a person who minimizes conversations, and they are certainly never about him. They are always about the team. But as I have said about him in so many other different ways, he's right up there in the top of the list of players that we have had who have a love of their team and their teammates at the highest level, and to whom the team means everything. Throughout the course of last week, he was highly verbal in between every play in practice to the players on offense, encouraging them, coaching them, providing enthusiasm, and as much as I am between the head set and concentration, I really am not aware of very much sound during the course of a game. But that was one voice that seemed to be behind my shoulder the whole game, and celebrating successes, encouraging players when they needed it; that just confirms why we have had fun since Vic has become a major topic of conversation. We just didn't have a lot of questions about Vic for four years. All of a sudden he is there listed at quarterback and everybody wants to know about Vic, so it's giving us the opportunity. You talk about things that we have known about for a long time and that's why we have been able to say that he's one of the most respected players that we have had here and is respected by everybody in the organization, whether it's coaches, players, secretaries, trainers, whoever it might be.
Q. Does it disrupt, you're a big schedule planner guy, does it disrupt the schedule and the plan when you have more work to do on just the offense and special teams and do you do more of that and less game planning just to try to get what you guys are doing right?
COACH GROH: I didn't realize you had me psychoanalyzed that closely.
No, I think unless your team is a steam roller, which few of us have one of those kind of teams, it's a concentrating of issues and missions every week. That's what the season is.
Q. You guys gave up eight sacks against TCU. Disappointing, obviously, in the initial two days after the loss. Have you seen them kind of reassess themselves and say, hey, all right, we had a real bad game, we are going to change that?
COACH GROH: No. We are pretty happy about it. I think the players are, too. I'm sure they don't need to be told. They were the ones out there. They know the results. They saw the video.
We all want to do better. Not what we had in mind. We all want to do better and we are going to stick together to do that, continue to grind it out and keep asking ourselves the question, which we do basically every day of the year, what else can we do to get the results that we want. That's an organizational question. That's an individual question.
Q. You spoke last week about the quarterback's mobility and his ability to be a dual threat, giving the offense a 12th man and now having Riko get into a quarterback mode, is it safe to say you are leaning away from Mark Vericas as an option at quarterback?
COACH GROH: Not saying that at all. Very dangerous to do so.
Q. You said that you regretted putting Vic at holder on Saturday. When looking to his health with regards to playing quarterback again, do you have to not ignore, but sort of take his cries of, 'Coach, I'm ready,' with more of a grain of salt?
COACH GROH: Well, we know the individual fairly well. The placing of the ball and the proper spinning of it and everything is so integral to the operation. We have a player who says that, and the doctors tell us, this is okay for him to do. And obviously we are hoping that the ball gets snapped at the place that we usually expect it to be. I'm not saying that I've changed my opinion on what I said. If I knew the ball was going to be snapped over his head, it probably would have had a different decision.
But the saying goes, the time to worry is before you place the best. We will count on the ball being there for the most important part of the operation which was going to get it set down properly for the kicker who is not an experienced kicker and has been used to working with nobody but Vic. So a lot of times when a kicker gets off a little bit, it's because his holder gets changed.
So in a game where we thought every point we could get was going to be really important and in that particular case, we wanted to score first. We had a third down and eight situation beforehand which doesn't mean we don't want to make the first down, but in those circumstances, a lot of times, first time down the field, it's common for a lot of teams to say, at the very least, we want to protect the field goal. Well, we did that and then we went with the field goal. I would say really two things that don't like major events, two things that really distort a little bit the plan that we tried to put in place was the missed opportunity for points there and then the third down play we had in the second quarter which they followed up with a score in two plays.
Q. Is the decision to play him less is the doctor saying he's okay?
COACH GROH: Yeah, definitely. Vic is very important to us and the player's health is more important than anything. So if we had had any indication that his being involved in the role that he was in, now clearly we didn't feel comfortable about putting him in a more contact oriented role, but we felt very comfortable that his well being would be okay in doing what he was doing.
Q. Following up on the motivation question, how much of football is determined by talent and the execution, and then to what degree do those emotional intangibles come into place?
COACH GROH: A tremendous amount. We had some great examples the other day in games. You know, certainly the most striking one was in Tallahassee, that a team that looked like they might be a Top 10 contender the week before, if I saw the information correct, score twice in the final 14 seconds to win, against Jacksonville State. Clearly their talent didn't decrease from one week to the next so, it must have been in terms of their focus on the game, or so often is the case in competition, the athletes, or the teams, really feeling like there's something to prove.
So I think while you hear the number change, depending upon who is saying it, I heard it three to one, five to one, ten to one, but the point is the same, regardless for those people that say that morale and attitude is to talent as ten is to one. And as I've said, I I've heard it five to one and three to one, in other words, there's a great disparity between just how important, the way the mind is, and if we look at all of the performers that have tremendous success and one point that we have stressed and we have cited certain individuals, whether it's I mean, they are pretty obvious individuals and they have great natural talent, too. But whether it's Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or Tiger Woods or Derek Jeter or athletes of that nature, their most deadly weapon is their mind and their ability to focus on the task at hand and to be mentally strong and competitively tough no matter what is going on around and one of the reasons we are able to do that, we don't know what's going on around. They are just focused on that pitch, on that play, on that shot, and what the previous shot, has nothing to do with how they approach the next one or the previous pass, or what anybody else thinks about that pass, or whatever the case may be. They are just focused on performance and it takes obviously a tremendously strong mind to be able to maintain that type of focus, because there are all sorts of other events going on around them or other input, whether it's from other players, coaches, themselves, fans, whatever, and those people who are just lasered like that, you know, a guy like Derek Jeter, I mean, to do what he did, and think of who proceeded him, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, all of those players. Nobody ever got as many hits as fast as he did.
Q. Is that controllable for coaches, though?
COACH GROH: You try, I think that's a thing yeah, I'm sure that Michael Jordan was a mentally strong player. Vic Hall was a mentally strong person and a competitively tough person. And hopefully we have created an environment that he is very comfortable in. But for us to say that we made Vic into that type of competitor, you know, or Heath Miller or Marques Hagans, that would be taking ourselves awfully seriously. But we do try to promote those values and build that in those players who came in with lesser strength. That's like saying John-Kevin Dolce, if you've ever seen John-Kevin, the way he's muscled, he came to Virginia with a pretty impressive set of muscles. So what we have tried to do is run a program where he has the opportunity to continue to build on that.
But a lot of players came here not as muscled up as him so we try to conduct a strength program to allow them to get close to being that way. I use that analogy, to say that we have the same thing going on with trying to develop that type of mental strength and toughness. Some guys come in that way, but the rest of it is developing that within your team culture as players come in all the time do. It certainly is a big factor. And I think you get guys, how do players like that perform the way that they do, with a guy like Jeter, every day is important. Every at bat is important. Every pitch is important.
You know, they are trying to prove Tom Brady, every pass is important. I've been up there watching Tom in mini camps and he is running the two minute drill four months after he's the MVP in the Super Bowl like it is the Super Bowl. Well, it is, so that when he has to make that play in a game, it's the same play that he made in May, because he performs it with that urgency in May, therefore, that there are more people that are watching is irrelevant to him. It's just make the play. And the more people you can have on your team focused that way and clearly that starts with your coaches, that have that perspective on things and that's why you always hear coaches talk about that's the way they have to be and the way they have to get their teams; look, the last game doesn't count for anything. It's not going to help us win. It is not going to make us lose. Nobody can come out of the stands and make a play for us and nobody can tackle us. We have to focus on what we have to do to get ready mentally, physically, tactically and then you have to go out there and out play the other guy on every play and that's how competition goes. One more here and then we will get our players guests in here.
Q. It may not be worth a whole lot but Ras-I (Dowling) was picked to the all ACC preseason team. We are used to seeing him get his hands on a lot of balls, pick off passes. Has he been off his game at all the first couple of weeks and if so, any idea what's going on?
COACH GROH: You know, there haven't been very many balls up the field on him. We mentioned last week that I think we had 24 passes thrown five yards or less from the line of scrimmage. Well, it's going to make it hard and that's why teams do it, safeguard the ball. It's going to be difficult for any guy to get a lot of picks on that circumstance. But there have been some plays up the field that you know, I'm sure he would like to change, and then we are working with him to try to do that.

 

White: UVa Football Notebook
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 09/14/2009
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- UVa's football team will play in a hostile atmosphere this weekend at M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Miss. It will be the Cavaliers' first road game, but, like it or not, they've been exposed to unfriendly crowds this season.
Fans at Scott Stadium booed the home team late in UVa's opening-night defeat to William and Mary, and they did the same Saturday during Virginia's 30-14 loss to Texas Christian.
The Wahoos are off to an 0-2 start for the first time since 2002, and many fans haven't hesitated to voice their displeasure.
"It does bother me a little bit, but you got to look past that and just focus on the game," sophomore defensive end Matt Conrath said Monday afternoon at John Paul Jones Arena.
Asked if he understood why fans are unhappy, Conrath said, "I do understand, but then again, they're our fans, so ... We understand that right now it's only the people on our team that really believe in us. So it doesn't matter where we play. We're just focused on our team."
After Virginia's loss to William and Mary, ninth-year coach Al Groh predicted that his team would have to deal with "negativity," and he acknowledged that some would be deserved.
His players are doing their best to ignore the criticism.
"We're just going to focus on ourselves," junior offensive guard Isaac Cain said Tuesday afternoon. "We can't worry about what other people think, because when we play, it's just us."
Sophomore offensive guard Austin Pasztor said: "I'm not really that affected by the booing. It doesn't get to me. Obviously it would be nice if they were cheering and the stands were packed, but we just try to go out there and play no matter where we are.
"Obviously when we play away, we hear a lot of boos, especially at Virginia Tech ... It's not a big deal to me. It doesn't bother me."
UVa plays at Southern Mississippi (2-0) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. CBS College Sports will televise the game.
Pasztor, for one, won't mind playing away from home.
"Going on the road's a little bit different," he said, "and it'll give us an opportunity to be in a different circumstance and try to get our first win."
* * * * *
Groh was asked if he worried that the criticism might cause his players to lose faith in UVa's system.
"I don't think the players lose faith based on what fans think," Groh said. "Players take their reaction based on results, because as we've said in this room on many occasions before, confidence is the result of demonstrated performance.
"You have two young wide receivers the other day whose confidence probably is elevated from where it was last week. They've stepped up and made plays. They've had some demonstrated performance."
Groh was referring to redshirt freshman Javaris Brown, who caught a 56-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jameel Sewell, and true freshman Tim Smith, who caught a 26-yard TD pass from Sewell to make it 30-14 with 1:48 left.
* * * * *
The attendance figure announced for the TCU game -- 48,336 -- was the smallest at UVa since Scott Stadium was expanded to 61,500 seats before the 2000 season.
The small crowd, coupled with the boos, didn't impress high school standouts who attended the game. Groh was asked about the negaative impact that's having no UVa's recruiting efforts.
"I think myself and the team are just focused on what we have to do to get ready for this week's game," he said. "But if that be the case, then if there's somebody who's creating a less-than-positive impact, and if they really care about their team, then they'd be wise not to create a less-than-positive impact, don't you think?"
* * * * *
Pasztor was so excited about the Cavaliers' first touchdown against TCU -- Sewell's long pass to Brown with 4:14 left -- that he forgot he was on the unit that lined up to attempt a two-point conversion.
"We scored the touchdown, and I was celebrating, congratulating Javaris," Pasztor said. "He's a friend of mine and that was his first touchdown. I kind of jogged off the field with him, and then everyone started cheering when we scored those two points, and I realized I was supposed to be out there."
Even without Pasztor, tight end Colter Phillips scored on a run to make it 30-8.
"Actually, we ran it behind where I was supposed to be," Pasztor said with a sheepish smile. "I don't think anyone really noticed until the guys who were on [the PAT unit] came off and they were like, 'Where were you?'"
* * * * *
Groh said his players are well aware that the team is struggling, and he doesn't intend to pile on.
"They don't need to be told," he said. "They were the ones out there. They know the results. They saw the video.
"We all want to do better. It's not what we had in mind. We all wanted to do better, and we're going to stick together to do that, continue to grind it out, and keep asking ourselves the question, which we do basically every day of the year: What else can we do to get the results we want? That's an organizational question, that's an individual question."
* * * * *
Losing can divide a team, but that hasn't happened at UVa, Conrath said emphatically.
"No one's pointing the finger at anyone," he said. "We're definitely together. Both sides of the ball could have played better [against TCU]."
* * * * *
Cain, who came to UVa as a walk-on from Hampton High, was put on scholarship this season. He reached another milestone against TCU when he started for the first time as a Cavalier. He replaced B.J. Cabbell, who's dealing with an injury, at right guard.
"I just kept working hard," Cain said of his development at UVa. "I wouldn't crack. Just kept pushing. Didn't let my circumstances bring me down."
Did he dream that he'd one day be awarded a scholarship?
"I don't think I ever looked that far in the future," Cain said. "I just kept looking to get a little bit better every day."
His teammates treat him no differently now that he's on scholarship, Cain said.
"As far as football goes, it doesn't mean anything. It just means a little less responsibility for my parents financially," he said.
"Everyone on the team's important, and we don't try to belittle anyone because of their status on the team."
* * * * *
Cabbell started all 12 games last season. With Cabbell hobbled, Aaron Van Kuikenhas moved up in the rotation at guard. He's a 6-7, 305-pound redshirt freshman.
Van Kuiken is progressing well, Groh said. "It's just a case of, as it has been with a lot of guys and particularly with offensive linemen, there's no position that's as developmental as offensive line, and he's been here for one year and now five weeks into his second year. So he's in that developmental phase, but we are pretty positive about where he's going."
* * * * *
Pasztor, who's from Ontario, leads the Canadian contingent on the UVa roster. The team's true freshmen include defensive end Brent Urban and offensive linemanHunter Steward, who are also from Canadian.
At first, Pasztor said, he made sure to look out for Urban and Steward. "I thought I should kind of be a mentor to them, or whatever, just to get them used to living here and playing big-time football, because it's a little different in Canada. But they're good, and they're on their own now, and I don't spend too much time with them."
 

Superiors keep eyes on Groh
Doug Doughty takes his beat reporting to blogging. Join him for an interactive look at UVa news.

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Executive associate athletic director Jon Oliver was instrumental in Virginia's selection of new head basketball coach Tony Bennett, and there's little doubt that Oliver would be heavily involved in a football change.

Oliver did not avoid the issue last week in an appearance on "Best Seat in the House," a program on the Cavaliers' flagship station, WINA, in Charlottesville.

Either Oliver or athletic director Craig Littlepage has a segment on the show each week.

Virginia was eighth last year in the Directors' Cup competition for all-sports performance, matching its best finish, but the Cavaliers had losing seasons in both football and men's basketball.

The football team lost its last four games of the season, and an 0-2 start this year has left the Cavaliers with their longest losing streak since 1981-82.

"We've been very public about our goals for the department," Oliver told host Jay James, "and, we need to be clear that those goals aren't just for Olympic sports.

"We want to compete for championships on an annual basis. And, if we're not doing that, I think you can check Craig's track record to see how that gets handled."

Four-year men's basketball coach Dave Leitao was dismissed after the 2008-09 season. Nearly three quarters of UVa's programs have changed coaches in the past decade.

Littlepage's record also suggests that he is not inclined to make in-season changes.

"I'm not big on changing coaches in the middle of the season," Oliver said. "And, we're not even talking about the middle of the season. We're talking about the beginning of the season.

"You don't know yet what this team is capable of. If you clearly look at the changes on the staff and putting in a new offense, this clearly was a huge hiccup. But I think it's very premature to think of making changes in the middle of the season. I think, many times, you create more dysfunction by doing something like that."

Fan factor

Fans seldom have been as vocal as they were Saturday during a 30-14 loss to TCU. The Cavaliers go to Southern Mississippi, then will observe an open date before visiting North Carolina.

Virginia won't be at Scott Stadium again until Oct. 10. Home games usually present an opportunity for recruits to visit games, but even periodic booing can have an adverse effect on prospects.

"If there's somebody who is creating a less than positive impact and they really care about their team, then they would be wise not to create a less than positive impact," Groh said. "Wouldn't you think?

"I don't think players lose faith based on what fans think. I think players take their reaction based on results. You have two young receivers the other day [Javaris Brown and Tim Smith] whose confidence is probably elevated because they made plays."

Silver lining

Groh said that sophomore Matt Conrath, a 6-foot-7, 270-pound defensive end, was the staff's choice as team defensive player of the week. Conrath was credited with eight tackles, two of them for loss, and a sack.

"He played very well in the first game and exceeded that in the second game," said Groh, who mentioned nose tackle Nick Jenkins in the same breath.

"They are looking at careers in excess of 50 games, and they have only played 14. Performing as they do, there's significant room between where they are and where their ceiling is."

Personnel

Redshirt freshman quarterback Riko Smalls, who was moved to wide receiver at the beginning of preseason practice, took snaps at quarterback again last week after an injury to Game 1 starter Vic Hall.

n Perry Jones, named Group AAA player of the year in 2008 for Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake, played 10 plays on special teams in his college debut. Jones, a linebacker in high school, is listed as a defensive back.

"He's fun," Groh said. "Every time out there in practice, he's lively. He's energetic. He's a positive kid. He expects to do well. He's one of those light bulbs that lights things up everywhere he goes."

Odds 'n' ends

Virginia's research indicates that Jameel Sewell's 21 rushing attempts were the high for a Virginia quarterback since Bill Dudley had 22 against Lehigh in 1941. Dudley led the team in passing that year but some would have described him as a single-wing tailback.
 

Cavs aim to get beyond boos
VIRGINIA AT SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
Saturday:2:30 p.m.
By Michael Phillips
Published: September 15, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Virginia hits the road this week, and not a moment too soon.

Two disheartening losses at Scott Stadium resulted in a disgruntled fan base, which was starting to turn home-field advantage into anything but. On Saturday, the lowest crowd in 10 years was on hand for a game against a Top 25 opponent on a beautiful afternoon.

Inside the locker room, coach Al Groh is telling his players to look beyond the discontent and focus on improving their play as they prepare for a dangerous Southern Miss team.

"I don't think the players lose faith based on what the fans think," Groh said. "I think players take their reaction based on results."

Nowhere are the results more mixed right now than on the offensive side of the ball, which failed to get moving for the first 55 minutes of a loss to Texas Christian last Saturday.

The team practiced Sunday -- yesterday was an off day -- and focused on costly fundamental errors.

"When we watch tape, we realize it's usually not the defense that's preventing us from running the play well, but ourselves," left guard Austin Pasztor said.

Still, the unit is not lacking confidence, and it has a new face to rally behind in Jameel Sewell, the team's No. 1 quarterback. Marc Verica will serve as the backup while Vic Hall recovers from a hip injury.

Sewell used his athleticism to rescue plays several times, and he is the team's leading rusher with 75 yards, 11 more than starting tailback Mikell Simpson.

He said the big difference between his showing against TCU, and the one against William and Mary, was that he had "no confidence" in the first game, but now feels he is in charge running the offense.

Groh has worked to impart that confidence during practice, taking Sewell aside last Thursday to commend him for his "strong presence."

The rest of the offense is also feeling the confidence, partially as a result of having success with the spread offense during spring and fall practices.

"Our schemes are sound, we just have to execute them," offensive lineman Isaac Cain said. "We've just got to work at it."

That improvement may need to come sooner rather than later, as road games loom against Southern Miss and North Carolina, followed by a homecoming game against Indiana, where an 0-4 team might not get a warm reception, though the players say their confidence isn't shaken.

"Our offense has kind of been sputtering lately, but it doesn't mean that we don't have faith in them -- we do," Pasztor said. "Coming out of camp we were very confident in our offense, and we still are."

During the TCU game, Groh planned to throw downfield three times in the first 15 plays, though sacks and defensive coverage ultimately stymied those plays and led to the fans booing at halftime.

That booing won't be an issue on the road, but the players say they tune it out and work to keep confidence in each other.

"It does bother me a little bit, but you've got to look past that," defensive end Matt Conrath said. "We understand that right now, it's only the people inside our team that really believe in us."
 

Southern Miss week begins at Virginia
Michael Phillips
Sep 14, 2009

Even without USC on the schedule this year, the U.Va. football team has assembled a reasonably strong non-conference schedule, including a trip to Southern Miss this weekend. The Golden Eagles knocked off Central Florida 26-19 on Saturday to move to 2-0 this season. U.Va., of course, is still looking for its first victory.

Today we’ll hear from Virginia coach Al Groh, Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora, and a handful of U.Va. players, starting here about noon.

Even after Saturday’s game, the senior leadership on the team was adamant that things would turn around. It’s something Marc Verica was saying last week, and Jameel Sewell re-emphasized it yesterday - this is a team that’s had some cold streaks, but always seems to salvage at least something. We’ll see if that trend can continue.

“We still have tons of football left,“ senior linebacker Denzel Burrell said. “We are in the hole at 0-2, but we can come out of it just as quickly next week.“
 

Groh pleased with Sewell’s ‘conviction’
Michael Phillips
Sep 14, 2009

Here we go:

—Regarding Southern Miss, Virginia coach Al Groh said that the team installed a new offense last year, struggled at first, and now has built up seven-straight wins dating back to last year, which gives his team hope that the new spread offense has yet to see its best days.

—Several players will be a part of the travel team for the first time, and Groh said that he’s prepared the team to tune out the road environment, but there’s no way to account for how the young players would react.

—Quarterback Jameel Sewell had a great week of practice, culminating in a strong Thursday showing. Groh told him at dinner that night that “I thought you had a strong presence, and threw the ball with conviction.“

—Groh said that the Southern Miss game was part of a scheduling scramble after a deal with the MAC for three home games fell apart. The three home games were in exchange for traveling to Middle Tennessee State three years ago, but the deal still hasn’t been fulfilled.

—The team will continue to keep a “flexible” game plan, with Groh noting that if it weren’t for the “outside circumstances” of a penalty and botched fake punt, it would have been a 0-0 halftime score, and the team would have considered its game management solid to that point. In the second half, the time of possession battle swung the other way, ultimately hurting the Cavs.

—He acknowledged that cornerback Ras-I Dowling was struggling, saying it was something the cornerback would be working on.
 

Isaac Cain on driving buses, playing o-line
Michael Phillips
Sep 14, 2009

Virginia offensive lineman Isaac Cain revealed that during the offseason, he drives a bus on campus for UTS, the on-campus transportation company. He’s also a History/German major, and used to play the trombone. That’s a well-rounded student-athlete.

Fellow lineman Austin Pasztor revealed that he once got on Cain’s bus, and when he got off the door mysteriously closed on him.

Cain got his first career start on Saturday, and said that said that the offensive line continues to work to reach its potential. Pasztor added that the schemes are familiar by this time, it just comes down to execution.

“It seems natural now to be on the no-huddle,“ he said.

Defensive end Matt Conrath also joined, saying that the team would remain unified, and that there would be “no finger pointing.“ He’s a sophomore whose game has improved in the last 12 months.

“I’m a lot faster, and I react instead of just being out there and thinking it out,“ he said.
 

Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora
Michael Phillips
Sep 14, 2009

Comments from Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora:

On Virginia: “First of all, they’re big. They’re big on both sides of the ball. I really believe they’re a well-coached football team. They had a bit of staff chancges, and they’re probably still getting used to that. We really believe they’ll come in here firing on all cylinders and be ready to get a win.“

Playing at home: “This is huge for us to, one, for us to be able to schedule a game like this and bring a quality oponent into the Rock. We take a lot of pride in our tradition there.“

Dealing with size: “Obviously we’re not going to get any bigger this week, so we’ll have to do a great job with the speed and quickness we have.“

Virginia in a slump: “It’s something that I think about, I really do think about it, because there’s a lot of differnet ways they could handle it, and coach Groh is a heck of a coach - he’s been in this situation before. I think he knows exactly how to handle this team, and I think they’ll be hungry to get a win.“

On Jameel Sewell: “I think their quarteback is an exceptional athlete. They’re going to go as he goes. I think up front they average 6-6, 310 pounds on the offensive line. We’ll have our work cut out for us up front; they’re big guys.“
 

Groh: Downfield passes were planned
Michael Phillips
Sep 14, 2009

Virginia football coach Al Groh said today that during the TCU game, when the team was criticized for failing to throw downfield, long passes were part of the game plan.

“It was our plan to go vertical 3 of the first 15 plays,“ he said. “So what all of these games are about, it’s not so much about calling plays. It’s about framing the game in a way that gives your team the best opportunity to win.“

The offense was hurt by a strong TCU defensive line, as well as a lack of production from receivers. Groh said that as in the past, the offense will be called on a game-by-game basis to account for the opponent.
 

U-Va.'s Groh Has Motivating History
By Zach Berman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 15, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Sept. 14 -- In 1994 as an assistant with the New England Patriots, who were stuck in a 3-6 hole, Al Groh found a shovel in his garage and told his team they were going to dig out of the losing one shovel-full at a time. The shovel remained on the sideline while the Patriots won every remaining regular season game and reached the playoffs.

During his year as head coach of the New York Jets in 2000, Groh distributed flashlights to each of his players, darkened the room and, with each light flashing, told his team they could collectively outshine opponents with stars.

And before a game against North Carolina while Groh was Wake Forest's coach in 1984, he told his team about an Alaskan ice fisherman who kept worms warm by storing them under the lower lip to catch the best fish.

Then, Groh ate a live worm. The Demon Deacons pulled off the upset.

"The worm . . . don't remind me about that one," Groh said 25 years later as he navigates through his most trying season as Virginia's head coach.

The Cavaliers are 0-2, including a loss to division I-AA William & Mary. Scott Stadium had the smallest crowd in a decade during Saturday's loss to Texas Christian.

"There's a lot of story to be played out in the course of this season," Groh said. "Who is distracted, who is undistracted, who is focused, who is not focused, who is confident, who is not confident. These seasons are books. They are not chapters."

Groh remains calloused by operating in similar spots before -- both in his previous eight seasons at Virginia and in dozens of years as an assistant and head coach in college football and the NFL.

"One of the important things and challenging things to do for anybody who is the head coach is to spend time thinking about his team," Groh said. "Just what's the team need right now? And with the combination of administrative duties, practice scheduling, whatever involvement in the schemes and the X's and O's the head coach has to -- sometimes it's difficult to say -- slow down, sit here and think about the team or certain players on the team and what they need to hear."

This is the system Groh used to identify times when the motivational tactics were necessary. He picked the shovel out of the garage in 1994 thinking the Patriots needed a boost. He prepared for a 7 p.m. team meeting and found the shovel, which served as a symbol for the team to repeatedly reference. Groh still keeps his flashlight from the Jets in his office, a reminder of motivation.

"If it's always about a gimmick, then it just kind of becomes like -- it's like Vaudeville: What's the next show going to be, what's the next act going to be?" Groh said. "Take a special occasion for it, and sometimes they really work out well."

Plus, he needs the players to be correspondingly motivated. Groh said he believes morale and attitude are more important than talent, and has heard the ratio mentioned anywhere from 3 to 1 to 10 to 1 in favor of the intangibles. Only so much can come from the coach, though, before a player must rely on his own personality.

"Anything that the players get from the outside always diminishes relative to what we refer to as the amount of self-talk that they get," Groh said. "The outside talk really only lasts so long, particularly that's designed to really get them up and going. Eventually it's got to come from the player himself, what he hears from himself. But obviously some methods can kick-start some of the right thoughts."

Groh said players do not lose faith by what fans think. Groh said their reactions come from results, which are currently a source of trouble for Virginia. Shovels, flashlights and worms make for good stories, but it might take more to stimulate an offense that has reached the red zone only once this season and has averaged 14 points per game.

"I hear complaining, but they always talking about 'We lost,' " guard Isaac Cain said of fans. "They're just outsiders like everyone else."

Groh has looked into past seasons when the Cavaliers rebounded from poor starts. In 2002, the Cavaliers won nine games after opening 0-2. Groh cites the intangibles, but he also said there were occasions when he reshaped the team "strategically and tactically."

Groh said the Cavaliers have an offensive system that has proven successful elsewhere and offensive players that have individually been successful before. He must figure out how to merge the two to resuscitate the team, leaving him in a position to draw from past experiences.

"I might go to something," Groh said. "Might put the worm third, though. I don't know if I'm ready for that one again."



 

Groh: Sewell Is Front-Runner in Battle to Replace QB Hall
By Zach Berman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 15, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Sept. 14 -- Jameel Sewell might be close to becoming Virginia's full-time quarterback, Coach Al Groh said after Saturday's loss to Texas Christian and reiterated during a teleconference Sunday.

Although Groh said Monday it would be dangerous to eliminate Marc Verica from the discussion, a hip injury to opening-week starter Vic Hall combined with the running skills needed in Virginia's spread offense make Sewell the most appealing option.

After a three-interception performance in the opener in which he said he lacked confidence, Sewell passed for 120 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 35 yards on Saturday.

Hall has medical examinations scheduled this week. Depending on the outcome, Groh will likely keep Hall out of Saturday's game at Southern Mississippi and let him rest while the team is idle the following weekend.

"It's killing him," Sewell said of Hall, his roommate. "Everybody knows how much of a competitor he is. He's trying to stay positive with this team and be a leader. He's our captain. You can hear him on the sideline. You can hear him over everybody. And in practice he's still right there."

Quarterback-turned-wide receiver Riko Smalls, a redshirt freshman, is back practicing with the quarterbacks because of Hall's injury. He moved to receiver during the preseason while Virginia appeared strong at quarterback and inexperienced at receiver.

"We'll see what happens when Vic comes back," Groh said.

Payne's Future Plans

Although former Oakton standout Keith Payne left Virginia's team two weeks ago, he remained enrolled at Virginia and plans to earn his degree this spring. Payne will then try to transfer elsewhere next year to complete his remaining season of eligibility as a graduate student.

"I just thought it was my time," Payne said in a telephone interview. "It just wasn't a good fit all the ways around."

Payne emphasized that he did not leave because of any problems with Groh and added that he keeps in communication with his former coach, who offered to help Payne find his future destination.

"No hard feelings toward the program," Payne said. "I didn't leave the program with any type of grudge."

Cain Gets His Shot

Virginia turned to junior Isaac Cain as its starting right guard against TCU while B.J. Cabbell struggles with a lingering injury. Cain, a former walk-on, earned a scholarship before the season. He did not start playing football until his junior year of high school.

"I wouldn't crack," Cain said. "I never looked that far in the future. I just thought of getting a little better every day."
 

Shelving trombone, Cain takes up tackle
Walk-on sees first start against TCU in place of injured B.J. Cabbell, moonlights as UTS bus driver in offseason
Andrew Seidman, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor
Featured / Football / Sports
September 15, 2009 0

Junior tackle Isaac Cain started his first collegiate game Saturday. Cain, who was awarded a scholarship at the start of this season, walked on as a freshman after playing only two years of high school football. Until then, the history major’s extracurricular interest had been playing trombone for the marching band. Photo courtesy Virginia Sports.
Five years ago as a sophomore in high school, Isaac Cain was suited up and ready to take the field for Hampton — in the marching band, that is, playing the trombone. Now, as a junior at Virginia, he assumes a very different role on the football field.

“I haven’t seen that [trombone] in a long time,” Cain said.

Saturday’s game against No. 16 Texas Christian University marked the first start of Cain’s career, filling in for injured junior guard B.J. Cabbell. But the road to that special moment was unorthodox, to say the least.

Cain was essentially ordered to play football as a junior in high school.

“Coach Mann just told me, ‘you’re big, and I’m gonna have you play football for our team,’” Cain said.

After playing just two years of high school football, Cain was ready to sign with Norfolk State. A week before signing day, however, coach Al Groh asked Cain to come visit Virginia. And that’s all she wrote.

“It was a pretty rough start,” Cain said, referring to the rigorous conditioning program he underwent after joining the team. “I just knew it wasn’t gonna click and I was gonna take whatever they threw at me.”

But after serving two years as a walk-on, Groh finally ‘threw’ Cain a scholarship before the 2009 season. But the financial bonus did not changed Cain’s mentality.

“As far as football goes, it doesn’t mean anything,” Cain said. “It just means a little less responsibility for my parents financially.”

Indeed, Cain was very much a part of the team even before he was awarded the scholarship and given significant playing time. In addition to offseason workouts, Cain forged bonds with his teammates in a more unconventional way. During the summers of his freshman and sophomore years, Cain drove a University Transit bus — the Green route, to be specific — four days a week, sometimes picking up fellow football players.

“At first they were kind of shocked,” Cain said. “But now it’s kind of normal.”

He even drove his teammates to “Meet the Team Day” last year.

“It’s pretty different [from driving a car],” Cain said. “It was pretty intense training. You’ve just got to learn you can’t see a third of your bus; you can’t see what’s around you.”

Cain’s job description offers an interesting metaphor for Virginia’s offensive line. After the Cavaliers incurred eight sacks against TCU, it could be argued that the line couldn’t “see what was around” it.

“Obviously we’re pretty ticked off about that,” Cain said. “It’s a combination of some physically getting beat, and some is just mental errors.”

The letdown on pass protection against TCU is just the most recent instance of Virginia’s struggles operating in the new spread offense.

“Yeah, of course we all thought we’d succeed,” Cain said. “It is stifling. We just got to keep working at it.”

Groh insists the offensive line’s mistakes are independent of any system, however.

“Those things really aren’t scheme-related,” Groh said. “It doesn’t make any difference whether your scheme is called. That’s just individual execution in those circumstances.”

Although the TCU defensive line — led by 2008 All-American left end Jerry Hughes — probably deserves credit for penetrating the gaps to Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell, Cain did not shirk responsibility for the breakdown in pass protection.

“It just comes down to the small things,” Cain said. “You have got to be uncommonly good at common things.”
 

Almost-competitive conference?
Eric Strow, Cavalier Daily Columnist
Sports
September 15, 2009

Flash back a few weeks:

When I was asked to write an article for The Cavalier Daily’s Gridiron special about parity in the ACC, I thought it would be a good chance to defend the conference against the many haters out there. I remember e-mailing a few Cavalier Daily Sports staffers when I found the ACC had more teams in the preseason Top 40 than any other conference, because who wouldn’t be excited to finally have the chance to fire back at those who belittle our ACC? This would finally be the year we got some respect.

Back to present time.

Only two weeks into the season, I feel betrayed. The conference is in shambles. There’s parity, all right, but not the kind there should be after a dozen or so early season, non-conference games. Seven teams are 1-1, and Virginia is 0-2 (as if you don’t know), while only four teams have made it through these apparently grueling two weeks unscathed.

Looking back, I guess I was foolish. I mean, we all should have seen it coming that Virginia and Duke would lose to FCS teams William & Mary and Richmond in their season openers, right? How did we ever expect ACC schools to win purposely scheduled “pay-per-victory” games against teams from the lower conference? I guess I was just delusional to expect teams that can give absurd amounts of scholarships and have highly paid coaches to win these kinds of games.

Also during week one, Maryland got blown out by preseason-No. 12 California, and Virginia Tech lost to powerhouse then-No. 5 Alabama; considering the opponents, those results are somewhat understandable. But N.C. State barely did anything against unranked South Carolina, and Wake Forest dropped a close game to Baylor, another unranked team. Those are not necessarily “should-win” games, but for the conference to get on the national radar, it needs those types of wins against respectable but beatable opponents.

During week two, Virginia fell to No. 16 TCU — an inevitable result, I’m sadly resigned to say — but one that brought the ACC’s non-conference loss total to seven. The only thing I can say for the Cavaliers: At least they didn’t get shut out. All those fans dressed as steel benches must have been thrilled to see those two late touchdowns.

Last year, the ACC’s regular season non-conference record was 41-17, good for a .707 winning percentage. So far this year, the ACC is 12-7 in non-conference games. Not to mention that of those 12 wins, nine were “gimme” games (with UConn, Stanford and Army being the only somewhat legitimate opponents). ACC schools have defeated the following teams: Northeastern, Jacksonville State (twice), The Citadel, Kent State, James Madison (in overtime), Murray State and Marshall. Not exactly an all-star list, and a pretty bad drop-off from last year.

So what does this all mean? The ACC won’t win all the games it should win and has lost the games it needed to win. It’s kind of depressing, but if there is any silver lining out there, consider this: If everyone in the conference is good for a few awful losses this year, maybe Virginia has a chance to win a game.
 

Curious conversations
Andrew Seidman, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor
Sports
September 14, 2009

 I’ve always wondered what goes on at football practice. I learned a lot from Saturday’s game against TCU.

It starts off with coach Al Groh explaining to his punt returners, “OK, guys, listen — I don’t care if you’re inside the two-yard line — whatever you do, don’t make a decision until the LAST second. We want to keep all our options open.”

Sophomore Chase Minnifield nods in approval.

“Yeah, yeah, listen, coach. Can we just go over that fair catch thing —“

— “CHASE, Chase. Just remember one thing: Last second — if you don’t know what you’re going to do, the defense won’t either. It’s basic physics — Newton’s second law. Got it?”

Taking this advice to heart, Minnifield calls for a fair catch on his first punt return of the game, stranding quarterback Jameel Sewell and the Virginia offense on their own three-yard line. A typical three-and-out drive ensues. Alas! He gets another opportunity with 5:08 left in the first quarter. In an effort to keep the defense — or himself — off-guard, Minnifield decides to run away from the 10-yard line (manageable, but not ideal field position), allowing the ball to drop and tumble all the way to the familiar Virginia three-yard line. Practice makes perfect.

Groh now moves on to the quarterbacks.

“Jameel, you threw three interceptions last week against *school that shall not be named.* We’re gonna need you to never throw the ball again, at least not until the fourth quarter of a completely unsalvageable game.”

“Got it, coach. So I’m just gonna run it —“

— “ EXACTLY, Jameel, exactly. I don’t care if we’re down 14-0 to a bunch of frogs. You will run the ball. I am NOT putting Verica in, capisce?”

“Yeah, yeah, coach. I’m your man. Just one question — should I run straight into the defensive line, or try to cut back to the right —“

— “ANYWHERE. Run anywhere, Jameel. I AM NOT PUTTING VERICA IN.”

Sure enough, Sewell keeps the ball for seven carries in the first quarter — which, barring the act of divine intervention that spurred a 29-yard burst down the sideline, would have resulted in a horridly mediocre 10 yards. Through three quarters, he rushed the ball 17 times for a net gain of only 47 yards. Third downs were as predictable as they were pathetic. By the 4:39 mark in the fourth quarter (the logical place to stop counting stats — with the score 30-0, the game was finished; those two Virginia touchdowns came against second-stringers and TCU townies), he had only attempted two passes on 12 third downs. Sewell, or some other version of his incompetent self (running backs Mikell Simpson and Rashawn Jackson come to mind), ran the ball on the 10 other third down occasions, converting only two of them for firsts.

Not only does this lack of execution point to a serious problem in Virginia’s running game, it also brings into question offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon’s play-calling. I’d like to see this playbook — just to make sure it actually exists. What has been heralded as a breakthrough in the way humanoids conceive of the world, a literary masterpiece and more simply, an effective design for coordinating a football team, has been reduced to a fable about why the sky is blue, a formulaic two-play system: quarterback keeper or five-yard pass play.

When it is aware to everyone with an IQ higher than that of seaweed that Sewell will not or cannot throw the ball downfield, it is rather difficult to fool a defense — especially one as strong as TCU’s, which ranked first in overall defense in the nation last season — with short screens and passes that rarely flirt with first down territory. Even Groh seemed to have had enough. After the game, he took responsibility for the highly entertaining fake-punt Virginia attempted with 5:25 remaining in the first half.

“In retrospect, I think that was a poor decision on my part — it had the same effect as a turnover,” Groh said. “We really hadn’t generated anything close to making us think we’re gonna get any points offensively. So, the thought was to try to generate some field position and some movement and maybe turn that into some points.”

There’s nothing wrong with getting creative. I think, perhaps, the previous play — third down and four — provided the perfect opportunity to pull the trigger on one of Brandon’s alleged golden gadgets. Instead, Brandon called another predictable quarterback keeper, and Sewell was tackled after a two-yard gain to the 50-yard line.

Indeed, the Cavaliers’ reluctance to pass the ball until the game was well out of reach was truly remarkable. It may have had something to do with last week’s practice.

Groh approaches the offensive line.

“Guys, guys, good players make good plays.”

Senior right tackle Will Barker smiles.

“I’m a good player, right —“

— “WILL, my friendly red-haired giant. Good players … make GOOD plays.”

“Right, but what about that TCU left end, Hughes — “

— “AND GOOD TEAMS, good teams are the ones that have those good players.”

With this sage advice in mind, the Cavalier front four proceeded to self-destruct in ways that would make former (or so they say) offensive coordinator Mike Groh proud. The line welcomed Jerry Hughes and Co. with open arms. ‘Please, sack our quarterback,’ seemed to be the strategy. To characterize the line as porous would really be giving it too much credit — it would suggest that the linemen actually stood in front of the defensive line for a second or two, and then just stepped aside when the ball was snapped. No, no — that never happened. I saw a quarterback pressured on virtually every play. And for all the difficulty Sewell had throwing and running the ball, it must have required tremendous courage to even line up under that nonexistent center. The bottom line is this: seven first downs, eight sacks. No further analysis is needed.

“Giving up that many sacks, especially coming off the year we did last year — leading the ACC in sacks allowed — it was just protection break down,” Barker said. “We just couldn’t execute.”

The offensive line is an easy scapegoat for the bombshell Virginia dropped Saturday, and it certainly deserves plenty of credit for leading an offense that was essentially counterproductive. But I’ll point to a few other glaring mistakes that take home honorable mention awards for embarrassing the University.

How about that impeccable two-minute drill Sewell orchestrated at the end of the first half? Staring at the sideline … staring … a little more staring, then, after wasting a solid 30 seconds waiting for the play-call, Sewell dropped back into the arms of Hughes, who sacked the quarterback to end the half. Trailing 14-0 with the play clock dwindling and the ball at midfield, a few passing plays were probably warranted. Sewell only got off one.

How about those two dropped balls on kick-off returns? The number of times Ras-I Dowling got beat downfield? If the TCU receivers haul in a couple more very catchable balls, this game is finished at halftime. And, lest I forget, the fall of CavMan from his high-horse. Bad omens and bad plays across the board left Sewell understandably somber after the game.

“I’m not gonna predict any wins or anything,” Sewell said.

Don’t worry, Jameel. I’m not going to, either.
 

Cavaliers aim to block out all the negativity
September 15, 2009 12:35 am
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.
CHARLOTTESVIILLE

--Even as it struggled through a 5-7 2008 season, the Virginia football team could count on its quarterback remaining upright.

The Cavaliers gave up just 16 sacks last season, the fewest in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

But as they've gotten off to a sloppy 0-2 start to this year, they're already more than halfway to that total. Virginia has allowed nine sacks, including eight in a 30-14 loss to Texas Christian on Saturday.

"We're pretty happy about it. I think the players are, too," Cavaliers head coach Al Groh said sarcastically regarding the offensive line's performance. "I'm sure they don't need to be told. They were the ones out there. They know the results. They saw the video."

It couldn't have been a pleasing sight.

Players said the poor performance has been surprising because they were confident in the offensive line's ability after fall practice.

Four starters return from last year's team, leaving the adjustment to the newly installed spread offense as the most likely explanation for the shortcomings.

"We gave up eight sacks. That's not what we're about," Virginia sophomore left guard Austin Pasztor said. "We allowed the fewest sacks in the ACC last year. We take pride in that. We're working in practice to fix all the sacks we gave up."

Pasztor said the Cavaliers still have faith in the spread offense, although it focuses more on one-on-one blocking schemes than Virginia's previous system.

He said it's been a challenge for the scout team to match the abilities of opposing defenses in practice.

He also said that because Virginia recruits a different style of defensive player than it faced against TCU, it was hard to prepare for the Horned Frogs.

"I don't know how to compare them to any other team," Pasztor said. "They're a little bit different from the ACC teams as far as their D-line. They're a little bit smaller, or shorter at least."

The Cavaliers need to get their offensive line in shape quickly.

They visit Southern Mississippi on Saturday in their first road game of the season. The Eagles (2-0) have won seven straight games dating back to last season.

Still, Pasztor said the road trip could be a welcome getaway as the pressure mounts in Charlottesville. Someone painted the popular chant "Groh must go" on a campus bridge following the TCU game.

The phrase was also painted on the same bridge in 2007 after the Cavaliers lost 23-3 to Wyoming to open the season. Virginia rebounded to finish 9-4 but may not have the personnel to pull off a similar comeback this year.

Players said students are getting restless because of the poor start. The crowd of 48,336 against TCU was the smallest to see a Virginia home game since 1999.

"We understand that only people inside the team believe in us right now," sophomore defensive end Matt Conrath said.

Said junior guard Isaac Cain: "[Students] say, 'We lost.' But they're outsiders like everyone else."

They still have opportunities to show their displeasure. Some boo. Others just don't show up to the games. Groh said he's not concerned about the scene in Scott Stadium affecting visiting recruits but added that if fans really care they would think twice before creating a negative atmosphere.

"If there's somebody that's creating a less-than-positive impact and they really care about their team, then they would be wise not to create a less-than-positive impact," Groh said.

However, Groh's greatest worries remain on the field.

He admitted he's cautious of the players losing faith because of the lackluster start. He's contemplating breaking out old motivational tactics he used as a coach in the NFL.

"That's always a factor," Groh said of players losing confidence. "I don't think players lose faith based on what fans think. I think players take their reaction based on results."

 

An odd path to Southern Miss
By Jay Jenkins
Published: September 15, 2009

At least one coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference has stated his unwillingness to ever play another game at Southern Mississippi.
Couple unbearable humidity and the problems that arise with the logistics of mapping out the trip to the third-largest city in Mississippi to face an unknown foe and disaster can be on the horizon.
Virginia may soon find that to be reality — the Cavaliers
(0-2) play Saturday at Southern Miss (2-0) at 3:30 p.m. as temperatures could reach 90 degrees.
Why would Virginia schedule such a game when league foes such as North Carolina and N.C. State are doubling up on opponents from the I-AA ranks?
Thank the powers that be in the Mid-American Conference.
“[The MAC] called the ACC and asked with the situation they had, when Temple was going into the MAC, in order to get Temple up and going with as full a schedule as possible, they were going to have to move some games,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “And I think they tried to broker some games with a number of conferences, called the ACC and one of the games they were brokering was that if you have any team that’s willing to go to Middle Tennessee for one game on the road, then we will promise you three MAC opponents of your choosing at home.”
That happened to coincide with the addition of a 12th game to the college football schedule, leaving Jon Oliver, the school’s associate athletic director, and Groh to feel comfortable about the future non-conference schedules.
“Seemed like it worked out perfectly,” Groh recounted.
Think again.
“The imperfect part of it was that the MAC failed to live up to the agreement,” Groh said. “And so therefore, we were forced to, on short notice, try to schedule a number of games.”
That is where Southern Miss entered the picture, exchanging games with Virginia. The Cavaliers will host the Golden Eagles in 2011.
Groh is fully aware of the issues that could arise with an afternoon kickoff and the temperatures sweltering in Mississippi.
His son, Mike, is currently a graduate assistant at Alabama and the Crimson Tide practice indoors on Thursday, he said, in order to keep the players out of the heat. It is a common practice at many of the southern-most programs.
“We just have to keep the players hydrated,” Groh said.
Boo birds
At points in the first and second half on Saturday against TCU, Virginia’s fans voiced concern over the struggles that the team was having on offense.
It would seem logical that the booing at home contests could have a negative impact on recruiting should it persist.
There is a simple cure in Groh’s eyes.
“I think myself and the team are just focused on what we have to do to get ready for this week’s game,” Groh said, “but if that be the case, then if there’s somebody who is creating a less than positive impact and they really care about their team, then they would be wise not to create a less than positive impact, wouldn’t you think?”
Virginia does not return home until hosting Indiana on Oct. 10.
Promising Perry
Many diehard fans were upset to see Virginia insert true freshman Perry Jones onto the field against TCU, burning his redshirt season for plays merely on special teams.
In all, Jones played 10 plays and was on two special teams units, Groh said.
A bigger role could be on the horizon for the 5-foot-8 rookie from Chesapeake.
“He’s fun. You know, every day, out there in practice, he’s lively,” Groh said. “He’s energetic. He’s a very positive kid. He expects to do well at whatever he does.
“He’s kind of one of those little light bulbs that light things up wherever he goes and has a high expectation of success and did a nice job … he does every play in practice that way. He did a nice job on special teams. More than likely, his primary role this year will be on special teams and we can certainly see the possibilities where that role might expand.”
Jones, listed as a running back, finished with two kickoff returns for 27 yards against TCU.
Rating Ras-I
In the preseason, Virginia cornerback Ras-I Dowling was named an All-ACC selection.
The stats would lead you to believe that Dowling has been anything of the sort to date. The junior has given up a pair of deep plays, including a touchdown against TCU on a double-post play, and has just nine solo tackles on the season.
Progress can be made, but the plays that have been called by opposing teams, however, must be taken into account, Groh said.
“There haven’t been very many balls up the field on him. We mentioned last week that I think we had 24 passes thrown five yards or less from the line of scrimmage. Well, it’s going to make it hard, and that’s why teams do it, safeguard the ball.
“It’s going to be difficult for any guy to get a lot of picks on that circumstance. But there have been some plays up the field that you know, I’m sure he would like to change, and then we are working with him to try to do that.”
Extra points …
Virginia is just 2-6 in road openers during the Groh era. … The Cavaliers, losers of 10 of the past 16 games and six straight, have not won a non-league game on the road since upending Middle Tennessee State in 2007. … It will mark the first game in program history for Virginia in the state of Mississippi. … Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell was credited with 21 rushing attempts on Saturday, the third-most in program history. Legendary quarterback “Bullet” Bill Dudley had 24 carries against Virginia Tech in 1941 and 22 carries that season against Lehigh. It is worth noting that the eight sacks against Sewell were considered runs.
 

Has Groh used up nine lives?
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: September 15, 2009

Funny how some things stick in your mind.
When I was part of a panel speaking on college football recently at Boonesboro Country Club in Lynchburg, along with Dave Glenn of the ACC Sports Journal, Mike Burnop of Virginia Tech radio, and Liberty head coach Danny Rocco, it was interesting listening to one of Rocco’s responses to a question from the audience.
The question concerned Al Groh’s status at Virginia and just how hot his coaching seat might be this year. After a rocky start, and that’s putting it mildly, Rocco’s answer intrigued me.
“Of all the people I’ve coached with over my career, the one guy who is the most dangerous when his back is against the wall is Al Groh,” Rocco said. “He’ll fight, dig, claw and find a way to win. I wouldn’t bet against him.”
Rocco should know. He played for and worked for Groh at Wake Forest, with the New York Jets and at Virginia.
Certainly in his nine years at UVa, Groh has used up some of his nine lives.
Bouncing back
The 2002 season was the best example when the team started 0-2, came back and won six in a row and went 9-5, tied for second in the ACC and beat No. 15 in the Continental Tire Bowl (48-22).
In 2007, even the most loyal of Wahoo supporters predicted gloom and doom when the Cavaliers were dominated in the season opener at Wyoming. Yet, the team reeled off seven straight wins, went 9-4, finished second in the Coastal Division and nearly upset Texas Tech in the Gator Bowl.
Last year, due to a quarterback debacle involving the handling of the Peter Lalich case, the Cavs sputtered to a 1-3 start, including a second-half collapse at Duke. The team won four in a row and had it not been for some untimely interceptions by new quarterback, would have gone to a bowl game.
A common thread
Today’s question is, has Groh used up all his nine lives?
Not if you believe in what Rocco believes.
Virginia hasn’t started a season 0-3 since George Welsh took over the program in 1982 and eventually built the Cavaliers into consistent winners with one of the best coaching jobs in college football history.
Groh’s assignment for this Saturday is to find a way to survive in hostile territory, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, unfamiliar territory for Virginia’s program. For years, Southern Miss built a reputation on knocking off the big boys from BCS conferences.
But remember what Rocco said.
During Monday’s weekly press conference with Groh, I asked him has there been any common thread in those seasons where the Cavaliers’ backs were truly against the wall and the coach’s response was long and insightful.
“Because there have been a number of those, we have looked back at some of those circumstances,” Groh said. “One was a great determination on the part of the players to just make things better ... a willingness to continue to grind and work and a belief in the system that allowed them to maintain their confidence, that, one, what we were doing and how we were doing it would work out.
“And then along the way in each particular case, there’s been some circumstances where just strategically and tactically we might have said, ‘Look, we are going to reshape things a little bit here at this particular time. So, there’s been elements of all of those.”
Don’t expect Groh to take his team halfway across the country to play status quo football, particularly with rumors flying that his job could be squarely on the line if the team continues to shoot itself in the foot.
With an offensive line that apparently hasn’t adjusted well to the no-huddle spread tactics, leading to a shoddy running game, and a not so threatening passing game, something must be done.
The defense has played pretty good football, considering the length of time it has been required to stay on the field and considering some of the circumstances it has been put in by the offensive woes.
We’re still waiting on the special teams to be special.
But the offense, something that has held the program back for quite some time now, has to make a showing this weekend. So far, the offense has been so anemic that we heard some disgruntled fans mutter on Saturday, “Bring back Mike Groh,” who carried the brunt of the blame for the previous three years.
There has been some debate since last weekend’s 30-14 loss to TCU about whether or not Groh should stick with the spread or shelve it until he gets personnel more suited to run it and go with something more conservative.
The old coaches will tell you to stick to your guns, that you can’t lose faith in your own system, to endure the growing pains and hope for the best. Their logic is you can’t make that kind of a change three weeks into the season.
However, those coaches probably weren’t coaching with their jobs on the line.
Right now, it would make sense if Groh decided to — remember his words in the aforementioned statement — “there’s been some circumstances where just strategically and tactically we might have said we are going to reshape tings a little bit here.”
We won’t know what that means until the Cavaliers line up in Hattiesburg on Saturday, but remember what Rocco said, too.
Groh may still have a couple of lives left.
 

Ready for the saddle again
By McGregor McCance
Published: September 15, 2009

Cavman is OK.
He’s a little tender after being tossed by his thoroughbred mare on the 30-yard line at Scott Stadium Saturday, but ready for another chance to charge onto the field to rev up football fans before Virginia home games.
“I’m fine. Obviously I’m a little sore,” Cavman said Monday.
The person behind the popular University of Virginia mascot is Albemarle County resident Kim Kirschnick, a contractor and longtime UVa sports fan who has charged, saber in hand, onto the field for about six or eight seasons now.
The pregame ritual — timed with an animated Cavman adventure on the stadium jumbotron — has grown into a popular routine that whips fans into a frenzy before kickoff.
And for Kirschnick, the routine typically goes off without a hitch.
For the team’s home opener against William & Mary Sept. 5, Lady Isla performed perfectly. It was the horse’s first ride on game day into the stadium. (Kirschnick retired Trinda, another thoroughbred mare, after last season.)
Saturday’s routine before the TCU game wouldn’t go as smoothly.
Kirschnick waited in the stadium tunnel to storm out at a time choreographed with the animated arrival of Cavman on the giant video screen.
As he always does, Kirschnick stood in the stirrups, urging the horse ahead as thousands of fans screamed for his arrival.
At about the 30-yard-line, Lady Isla hit the brakes. Kirschnick knew there was no sense trying to stay aboard.
He flew forward, hit the turf and rolled before springing up and trying to get back in the saddle.
Looking back, Kirschnick said, the horse may have sensed that the scene on the field was a bit different than the previous time. But it’s impossible to know for sure.
“She just got a little worked up and excited,” he said Monday. “At halftime she was fine.”
After climbing back up, Cavman made his usual rounds to the corners of the field to fire up the crowd. Fans wondering if the rider was injured were relieved to see him return at halftime for the second part of the routine.
This is not the first time a horse has bucked Kirschnick, who has played polo for 20 years. But it’s the clearly the biggest audience to see it happen. Video of the spill was on ESPN and uploaded to YouTube, where it had been viewed almost 16,000 times through Monday evening.
Kirschnick’s voice mail was jammed to the limit and not capable of taking new messages.
“Everybody wants to know if you’re OK,” he said. “After that, there’s an amount of good-natured ribbing that starts.”
The horse is fine as well. Kirschnick rides Lady Isla during polo matches and plans to work with her more for the Cavman adventure before UVa’s next home game on Oct. 10 against Indiana.
“I’m humbled and happy to be part of the gameday experience,” he said. “My whole goal is to get everyone excited about football.”
Kirschnick predicted rider and horse would be confident the next time.
“I’m gonna believe we’re going to do it. We are going to do it.”

John Crotty sighting - David Teel

Since he's athletic department royalty, John Crotty's sideline presence Saturday at Virginia's football game against Texas Christian was hardly surprising. As the basketball program's career assists leader, he should have the run of the place.

But Crotty in an Orange Bowl blazer? Unbeknownst to us, he's been a member of the game's organizing committee for a couple of years.

Now few, if any, anticipate the Cavaliers qualifying for any bowl this season, let alone the Anita Bryant special. But since the Orange Bowl is home to the ACC champion, it sends reps to games throughout the conference, affording Crotty an expense-account boondoggle to his alma mater.

Chatting as the clock expired in Virginia's 30-14 defeat, Crotty was as amicable as he was from 1987-91, when he played point guard like few Cavaliers before or after.

Crotty, 40, lives in South Florida with his wife and their two daughters. His day job is commercial real estate, but he also works as the television analyst for 51 Miami Heat games per season, all 41 at home and 10 on the road.

The Heat was among seven teams Crotty toiled for during an 11-year NBA career -- no other Virginia player has lasted as long in the league. He was undrafted but stuck around as a reserve for Utah, Cleveland, Miami, Portland, Seattle, Detroit, Utah again, and Denver.

At Virginia, Crotty backed up John Johnson as a freshman before starting for three seasons. Those last three years saw the Cavaliers earn NCAA tournament bids and Crotty compete against iconic point guards such as N.C. State's Chris Corchiani, Georgia Tech's Kenny Anderson and Duke's Bobby Hurley.

Crotty made third-team all-ACC as a junior and senior. He set school records for assists in a career (683) and season (214) and ranks as Virginia's No. 12 all-time scorer with 1,646 points.

While in the NBA, Crotty crossed paths with Charlotte Hornets point guard Tony Bennett, entering his first season as Virginia's head coach. Crotty reconnected with Bennett last weekend and praised him for reaching out to former players (left unspoken was former coach Dave Leitao's failure/refusal to do so) and for being not only an effective recruiter, but also "just a regular guy."

Bennett certainly has wasted little time securing commitments for the 2010 class. His fourth came yesterday from James Johnson, a 6-foot-9 forward from San Diego. He joins guard K.T. Harrell from Montgomery, Ala., forward Will Regan from Buffalo, and guard Joe Harris from Chelan, Wash., in a geographically scattered group that speaks to Bennett's western ties -- he came from Washington State -- and the ACC's national appeal.

Crotty certainly doesn't hail from typical Virginia basketball recruiting territory. He graduated from Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft, N.J., on the central Jersey Shore.

Best we can tell, the most recent U.Va. basketball player from Jersey was Donald Hand, a guard from 1997-2001.
 

Cavs lure top-100 forward
By Norm Wood
| 247-4642
September 15, 2009

Virginia men's basketball coach Tony Bennett and his staff have traveled to the West Coast to pick up another commitment from a top-notch prospect, adding James Johnson to an already impressive 2010 recruiting class.

Johnson, a 6-foot-9, 220-pound forward from Elsinore High in Wildomar, Calif., is considered by most recruiting analysts to be among one of the nation's top 100 recruits for the '10 class. He turned down several scholarship offers to commitment to U.Va., according to Elsinore coach Pete Rettinger. California, Arizona, Arizona State, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State also were among Johnson's finalists. He visited U.Va. last weekend.

"I think it was the relationship he has built up with coach Bennett and his staff that made him feel really comfortable with the situation," Rettinger said.

Johnson joins a '10 class at U.Va. that includes guard Joe Harris from Chelan, Wash., guard K.T. Harrell from Montgomery, Ala., and forward Will Regan from Buffalo, N.Y. Some recruiting analysts are projecting the class could be one of the top 10 in the nation.

Johnson has spent the summer impressing on the AAU and camp circuits, but this winter will mark his first season of high school basketball competition on American soil. Before the start of his junior year, he moved with his family from Alberta, Canada, to California. He attended Samuel F.B. Morse High in San Diego, but wasn't cleared to play basketball because he and his family lived in the Elsinore school zone.

He transferred to Elsinore in the summer and had an opportunity to work out for a few weeks with Elsinore's players in informal workouts. Rettinger, who also teaches Johnson's economics class, said he doesn't think it'll be difficult for Johnson to adjust to the American game.

"I don't think it should be a concern at all," said Rettinger, who added Johnson has a grade-point average around 3.3.

"After playing in AAU tournaments in the summer, and playing against other college caliber young players, I think he's going to do very, very well. The biggest thing he'll have to work on this year is just the timing — getting his footwork down and things of that nature, but he'll transfer very well to the college game."
 

Cavaliers look to clear Mount, nab home win
Following disappointing loss against ACC foe Duke, team hopes to fix stagnant offense
Meryem Karad, Cavalier Daily Senior Writer
Men's Soccer / Sports
September 15, 2009 0

Senior midfielder Neil Barlow has notched a goal and an assist in three games. Photo by Albin Oh.
After a highly contested loss to No. 19 Duke in double overtime, the No. 16 Virginia men’s soccer team seeks its first home win of the 2009 season as it takes on Mount St. Mary’s in non-conference action Tuesday night.

The Mount (1-3) enters the matchup coming off three straight defeats and will be desperate for a win. For the Cavaliers, the mid-week test presents the perfect opportunity to regain their footing after a demoralizing loss at home in front of a season-high crowd of 4,692.

“Duke [was] hard to play against,” coach George Gelnovatch said. “They’re athletic, they’re big, they’re strong, they closed us down really well. I think they caused us a lot of problems during the game.”

Despite taking 14 shots to Duke’s eight and controlling the time of possession, the Cavaliers never found the back of the net against the Blue Devils.

The Blue Devils, meanwhile, made the most of their best offensive opportunity of the game. Capitalizing on a disarrayed three-shot assault on Virginia junior goalkeeper Diego Restrepo, Duke scored the winning goal early in the second overtime to hand the Cavaliers their first loss of the season and an 0-1 record to start their conference schedule.

“We had them in their half most of the time,” Gelnovatch said. “I think that last [goal] was their best chance of the game.”

The shot was initially deflected by a Virginia defender, set back into motion, shot and saved. Duke sophomore midfielder Daniel Tweed-Kent pounced on the rebound off the second save, however, and quickly fired to catch Restrepo off guard.

“The performance was one we could definitely improve on,” sophomore forward Chris Agorsor said. “We’ll go back in training, work hard this week and just get ready for the next game. We can’t dwell on this.”

St. Mary’s most recent loss came against UMBC Saturday in Baltimore, Md, where the Moutaineers fell 2-1. Although the Mountaineers were outshot 15-8 against the Retrievers, they have matched their opponents in goals this season and have outshot their challengers overall, 63-54. Sophomore forward Chris Wheeler and sophomore midfielder Ian Hendrie lead the team with two goals apiece.

Like Duke, Mount St. Mary’s has a tendency to produce in the final minutes, which could prove problematic for the Cavaliers if Virginia fails to make the most of its early opportunities. Seven of the Mount’s eight goals this season were scored in the second half, and the Cavalier defense must prepare for an offensive assault that most likely will not tire late in the game.

Sophomore midfielder Tony Tchani, a Hermann Trophy candidate, will look to reverse the Cavaliers’ recent late-game misfortune. Tchani leads Virginia with two goals this season, while senior midfielder Neil Barlow, freshman forward Will Bates and sophomore defender Greg Monaco also have found the back of the net thus far.

Virginia will be only the second nationally ranked team Mount St. Mary’s has played this season. The teams’ last meeting came in 2007 — a 3-0 Virginia win in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers also lead the all-time series with The Mount, 6-0.

Virginia will return to its grueling conference schedule Friday, hitting the road to face No. 1 Wake Forest in Winston Salem, N.C.