Transcript from Al Groh's Weekly Press Conference
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 09/28/2009

COACH GROH: I had a very interesting college football weekend. I got a chance to get a much broader perspective on things, obviously, than when you're not playing, you have the remote in your hands, you can kind of see what college football around the country looks like.
It certainly revealed that there's probably far too many teams and players that are anointed way too early in the season and far too many teams and players that are condemned too early in the season to see the significant turnarounds that occur in so many games, that the season is to be played out rather than to be seen in microcosm. I realize that's not the reality of the way things go, but the way that they may seem but that's the reality of the way things go. It also looks like there are an awful lot of teams this year that are essentially the same teams, an awful lot, certainly more than a Top 25 poll would be able to encompass and that there are a few teams that are clearly superior, and that outside of that, it's a pretty good battle every week to see who comes out with it.
But the out comes of some of the significant ACC games were once again it's not just about fundamental execution or game plans, it's just what happens to the ball. Probably three of the most significant games in the conference were all determined by turnovers, interceptions, fumbles, blocked kicks, or returns, either the absence of them for some teams or the availability of them for the other ones that profit by that, so it's such a tricky thing as those particular things go. It's been a positively productive week for our team. We found some things to our team has done some things that certainly make us look better on the practice field, as was the case before the previous game. Also, I was intrigued by the results of those games, the three earlier opponents that we had, I think they now stand 10 1, so we would like to think that this has tested us in a way that will have us best prepared for the conference season that's coming up.
And now we are playing one of our most traditional rivals, which is always one of our most enthusiastic and energetic games from the standpoint of fans, players, everybody else and since it combines with being our first conference game of the year, that we are certainly looking forward to, I guess it is tomorrow, getting into our actual game preparation for the game.
Q. Did you practice any more last week just to kind of build on what you learned from Southern Miss than you might have ordinarily on an early bye week?
COACH GROH: Yeah, I think one of the things that I'll go back to is how we have said on so many occasions that it sometimes and certainly a lot of, I'm sure, coaches are feeling this way even more so today after some of the events of this weekend -- but sometimes it takes three or four weeks out there for teams to find an identity and by identity, I mean it's personality, it's strengths, the concerns that you have about the team, to really, really show itself.
Having had three weeks to do that, it confirms some of our thoughts that we had going into the season, also certainly pointed us in certain directions, and clearly showed that we are profiting by more time in the systems that we are in, that continued with the practices. But practice is one thing and the game is the other. But at least the practices were more efficient and particularly in terms of movement of the ball.
Q. By the way all of your first five opponents were undefeated going into Saturday.
COACH GROH: Is that right? I had not looked at it that way. All five of them almost stayed that way.
Q. Interesting weekend, probably revealed that far too many teams are anointed early in the season and too many have been condemned is there a message there for your team? Do you feel maybe some people have condemned your team at this point?
COACH GROH: That's not really our issue. Our issue is just playing better, and as it is every week, and just get ready for the next game and things that you need to do, but clearly that's based on past performance also. That's not just looking at the opponent. That's based on your past performance and where you're building strength and where is it now beginning to show that you have significant concerns that have to either be masked or overcome. There's so much going on that all a team can really deal with is what it knows internally.
Q. Obviously you can't go back and erase anything, but does the ACC kind of give you guys a fresh start? Do you look at it that way, because if you win you're 1-0 in the conference?
COACH GROH: Well, every year I think when you're in a conference, the reason that you're in a conference is to win the conference championship and so that dominates over every other circumstance and so now we get into conference play.
Probably with this team, we hope that subsequent games will confirm this. We have seen progress in most phases of the team on a week to week basis, and with the installation of some of these new operations, we hope that, as I say, that it's a trend there in taking some time in getting these things installed and going the way we want them to.
The competition steps up every week. Although clearly, I can remember saying, exactly I can remember sitting at that round table in Greensboro with the media kickoff there in saying that I thought that TCU would be a legitimate contender in this conference and somebody said to me, "You really think they are that good"? I said, " yeah, I really do." And it's easy to think, because just go on their past performance. But they now have two wins and have gone to one of the more challenging places to play, a team that was I think was picked to be one of the top contenders in that division, and won down there, so they clearly are a legitimate contender in this conference as they would be and as they certainly are in their conference.
To have now played, besides our ACC games, I think Southern Mississippi with what they did at Kansas is showing that they are comparable ACC, wherever they would rank in there, comparable ACC type competition. So we have had to go up against that type of competition, and we can only we look at the positive side of it, and hope that the lessons are what level the team has to perform to go against those kind of teams.
Q. When a team has two weeks to prepare. How much time is actually spent preparing compared to fixing your own issues?
COACH GROH: It's certainly a different circumstance with each year and each team when that bye comes. With ours coming after the third game and our belief that it takes a few weeks to really get a handle on who your team is, that when it comes to that particular stage, then regardless of what your record is at that time, it's an excellent time to make a self assessment and have a real good what are the areas that we are going to really emphasize here that can we do well, what are the areas we try to improve upon, and when you can designate and what you can really do well, and you would like to have balance between run and pass and offense and defense or whatever, but sometimes you don't, and you just go with what you have. You learn the personality of your team. I think at this stage, our first year players have been here and have been in our system for two months. Some of them now have the opportunity to have a little bit more background where they might be able to make more of a contribution.
So when it comes to this time frame, we had one after the first week, really wasn't that valuable. It just came too soon to be able to make an assessment of any production. We had one before the last game and you only get ready for the last game and rest your team. So sometime in this time frame is where it has the chance to work the best for a team. So at this stage, our priority here was pretty much taking care of ourselves rather than getting way ahead on the upcoming game.
Q. With Dominique (Wallace) out, what about the location at tailback, and Torrey (Mack) was on the field a lot against Southern Miss, does he get some of those carries?
COACH GROH: Yeah, definitely. Dominique was certainly right up there and put himself in a position to be one of the top players in that rotation. It's really an indication of his will and his toughness of how long he played in that game with that injury, when, as it turned out, over two quarters after he was hurt. That's a particularly painful injury.
In fact, before this type of surgery was developed, it was often a career ending injury. This surgery has saved the careers of a lot of players. This is the same doctor to whom a lot of NFL teams send their players and the same doctor to whom Cedric Peerman went. I had never heard of the injury frankly before I came here. Maybe we had had players with the injury that in staff meetings we were told then it was not perhaps referred to by it's medical name, but this Lisfranc fracture, I had never heard that term before and now we have had three running backs with it, two of whom it cost them the whole season. We know unfortunately quite a bit more about that than we would like to. But it would certainly put Torrey Mack up there where he has the chance to see the ball a lot more.
Q. When you decided to change philosophies before the Southern Miss game, how much did that weigh on you to make those changes? What prompted you to make the changes and what have you seen since from the team that you liked?
COACH GROH: Just the ongoing process of thinking about our team, where is it, what can it do. As I said, we are very acutely aware of that early season time frame from where competition shows you so many more things about your team than practice does. And whether it's game plan schemes that the other side thinks of that maybe your coaches didn't think of, they had a different idea, or matchups or that type of thing.
So early in the year, that's always a very ongoing thing, what to do more of, what to do less of, what we might change to, and just at that time, I felt that we had a system that had a proven record of success. It's not snake oil. It worked very well before. It's working very well around the country, and we had players who had a proven record of success.
But at that time, there wasn't a clean mesh. And clearly, more time will provide that. But we look at every week as you only get 12 of these a year, and you know, I think a player spends between five and 10 percent of his football life in games; a coach clearly spends a whole lot less, so in that one to five percent that we get to actually have games, that's pretty precious time. And so when we think some things need to be done the very next week to help us the very next week, we are very proactive on those things so, that's kind of what led to all of that.
Q. Did you suggest it to Gregg Brandon, did he make suggestions to you, did you basically decide together that something needs to be done and how involved were you and how involved was he?
COACH GROH: Does your wife make suggestions to you or do you collaborate on those things? (Laughter).
Q. So you played the role of wife in the operation (Laughter).
COACH GROH: Didn't answer the question.
Q. She makes suggestions and if I know what's good for me obviously for somebody
COACH GROH: It's funny how so many things in life overlap and are the same.
Q. The way you just put it, makes it sound like you hit him over the head.
COACH GROH: No, I didn't say that. I would say that we all want what's best for the team and we can all recognize that there are certain things that would give us a better chance.
Q. It seemed like it was how dramatic it was, there was a lot of little things, maybe not one acute difference, but a lot of little things.
COACH GROH: I'd say that's pretty accurate, yeah.
Q. When Vic does get back, is that a good problem to have, all of a sudden having two quarterbacks? Jameel seems to have gotten himself into a better flow, being the guy, definitely a little bit of a balance act there?
COACH GROH: We have got a lot more games to see how that's going to go, but where we stand right now. First of all you are exactly right. He's got a little bit of momentum going. Certainly can play better but he has been playing better. That's been his history his previous two years as a starter, to continue to get better as he accumulated more starts.
And you have to remember that this is a player who once he did get into that type of rhythm two years ago, won nine games for us. So I think as is the case in any sport when a person is proven to be successful and there is a little bit of a history of how that's come about, that when he first became a starter in ‘06, those of you who watched some of those first two or three games, it was a little bit rocky but then we went on and had some real good wins and he had some real good games. And the same thing was true in '07, and as the season picked up momentum, so did Jameel, or maybe they coincided with each other. So I think you need more than two to have an accurate sample but at least we have a little bit of precedent in that case and we can only be positive and think that history might have a chance to continue.
Q. Does Vic Hall need surgery on his hip and if so how long will he be out?
COACH GROH: Not at the present time.
Q. What were your thoughts on North Carolina watching that game?
COACH GROH: I look at the team in the big picture, not in any one particular game, so I had watched quite a few games previous to that game. Very impressed with their defensive team. There are a lot of players on that team that are really good. Obviously they showed that to us last year when they were here, and continue to do that during the course of the season.
Of the four games this year and the final half of the season last year, thinking back to their Bowl game, the only two games they lost was when the opposing quarterback had a career game. Pat White in the Bowl game last year had a career game which enabled his team to win, and Nesbitt had an outstanding game the other day, probably a career game for him, too, or one of his very best, which enabled his team to win.
So usually against a defense of that strength, it takes that, it takes the quarterback to step up and do something spectacular. Each one of those quarterbacks did it in a different way for their team and it's one of those games where -- Miami did the same thing to Indianapolis the week before, but the time of possession, but unfortunately for the Colts they had Peyton Manning and when your team only has the ball 14 or 15 minutes in the game, it's going to be difficult to get a lot of points in the game. For those circumstances, and the fact that obviously our offense is quite a bit different than the Georgia Tech offense, that we tend to not use that game a lot in terms of our preparation.
Q. As you mentioned earlier, all of the bye weeks are different in terms of timing. I think you won nine of your first 11 games following the bye week. And then last year you lost both of your games following the bye week. Is that something that you looked at this past offense and something you go back and change?
COACH GROH: Well, I had not thought about the bye weeks of last year, I think one was before the Duke game. That was when we were going through as I recall that was Mark's first game as a starter, or the other one, he really didn't have full preparation for. So that week previous to that game, we actually saw a lot of progress with the team but unfortunately that fell into the category that I mentioned this week where the teams turned the ball over six times, so those six plays in themselves made it impossible to demonstrate the degree of improvement that might have been made. Now that showed up the next week. And the next week, I don't remember who we played.
Q. Clemson.
COACH GROH: We played pretty decently in that one too but once again that was a multiple turnover game. That's just the reality of it. That's just the thing that you hear coaches about talk about this issue all the time, but that skews your results. You can have an inefficient day offensively and get points off special teams and defense because you take the ball away. Or you can have a pretty efficient day in many aspects of your team and if you give the ball away, you're going to have a hard time holding on to the game. But yet there might be a lot of players who played really well. And I know that was the case when we played Clemson. They had a lot of players who played really well in that game and against a very good team and a team that was on a real roll then but because we gave the ball away so much, the scoreboard didn't reflect that. But that's a necessity to be a good team. It's not just about your schemes or your execution, it's about the ball. Sometimes we are just bringing it to the meeting, look, all of the assignments that everybody has, and you have to adjust to this formation and you have to make this call with this person; you have this hot read, tackling is important, blocking is important.
It's about what happens to this; it's about what happens to the ball on every play that determines the outcome of the play. The ball is the thing. And so those two things now that I reflect back on it, the ball was the thing in those games. And clearly that's going to be the issue with that team when your margin of error is such or your margin of success is pretty small, as most of these conference games are, the ball is the thing. And if you have a team that gets it and doesn't give it away, you have a real good chance to accumulate a lot more wins than the other way around.
Q. Having watched a few games myself this weekend, Virginia Tech, Miami, Redskins, Lions, Colts, Cardinals, the losing team simply could not block the other team. Seems like that's been the problem with your team this year; how do you get that group to perform better?
COACH GROH: In that case a lot of drilling. If you have players that have been successful, it comes back somewhat to the question of earlier, about getting some of these players to return to what some of these players have had success doing; and that maybe they could be as successful. Most likely they could be successful doing other things, but while the season may last quite a few months, it lasts a very short time, the number of games and so we are not a knee jerk operation, but sometimes when we see things that are reality, we react to reality.
Q. As far back as signing day, you said there was a chance Tim Smith would play this season. What did you see as a high school player that made you confident and what have you seen from him thus far?
COACH GROH: The most obvious thing was speed, and that he would increase the speed level at a position that significantly needed it. Clearly he has been able to do that. Now, the speed isn't quite as striking on our videos as they were on the high school video because on most of those, he was the fastest player on the field, or thereabouts. Now he's playing against lots of players who were recruited on the same basis.
But when we look at it, it's still a case at that position, is matching up better with the other team's speed than what has been the case in the past.
Q. The wide receivers really seemed to take a step up at Southern Miss. How will that allow you to develop the offense and can you do more things as they progress?
COACH GROH: It almost feels foolish answering the question this way. But they just ran faster. And they ran faster out of conviction and confidence of what they were doing, just another week of what they were doing, because even with the interjection of some things that we have done in the past, even with those things, not many of the returning receivers have much background in those things and nobody has background in many of the other things that we are doing.
So Burd has never really played in games that we see very much, he was a special teams player last year, Brown has never played, Green has caught 12 passes in his career, Smith has never played. So there are just a lot of players in their first games and running those routes and reading the coverage for the first time so we are just seeing these things developing faster and getting into the secondary with more burst and more push, so it was just a simplistic thing like that has been part of the process.
Q. Corey Mosley -- the pass interference against Southern Miss - was than an egregious error, or is that a horrible judgment call that went against him?
COACH GROH: That was one of the easier there were some calls in that game that were challenging for the officials, but that was one of the easier calls.
Q. What kind of conversations are you having with Corey?
COACH GROH: Each one of them has really been significant in the outcome of the game. So we can't withstand too many more of those clearly. Too many, meaning, zero. If they affect games to that degree, clearly.
Q. Did Ras-I elevate his game at all?
COACH GROH: He very definitely did. We are pleased with where he went and in Cook's absence, Minnifield was really the first player this year that significantly had to be the next man up and did a nice job with that. Can he play better yes, he can. For as much as he played last year, he's just still a second year player, so there's a lot of room for that to happen but that will be our collective challenge to make sure that it does.
Q. So much talk about three leading tacklers going from last year and the task ahead. Through three games, what's your overall assessment of the linebackers?
COACH GROH: Positive, although for the last three years, and particularly through the previous two, one of the players that we were replacing was a real big play player in Clint Sintim, if I have this information correctly he led the country in linebacker sacks last year and that's a lot of big plays. If you look correctly, now that we are playing some conference games, we are starting to look at more of last year's games, when you play the non conference teams, and you want to look at us against them last year, and just to see some of his blocked destruction that he did to blow up plays and make it second and 11. So he was really a playmaker linebacker for us.
And in Jon Copper, we had a player who had some really awesome plays during the course of his career, but we can't check them off as sacks as such, but in answering your question, one of the things that comes to mind is two years ago, we played Connecticut here and we turned the ball over in the first two possessions and we have a chance to be in the hole 14 0 right away. And the defense holds both times and they kick field goals and it's 6 0. That's a tremendous difference. On each one of those plays, Jon makes a third down stop. One was third and which caused a field goal and at the end of the half Jon strips a receiver in the red zone on like the last play of the half and we get the ball so there's X amount of plays that are not going to show in the national statistics, other than a tackle for Jon but those were game changing plays. So those two players in particular contributed to a lot of plays that really changed the course of the game where it helped us manage the game. So we are getting good, solid play there but we are not getting the game changing plays yet that we have gotten previously from that position.
Q. In the case of Dominique's injury, you mentioned you have done some research during the offseason. I think in the past five years there have been about five, six NFL players is there any explanation as to the rise of this and the cause of it?
COACH GROH: We obviously have been very intrigued by that stat. We have asked our medical player to look into it. Is it more games or turf or is it more games on grass? Wali (Lundy) did it twice, one more severe than the other but both were on grass fields, one here and one at Clemson. Cedric (Peerman) did his on artificial. Dominique in this case did his on artificial. There are more games in the NFL being played on artificial turf than there have been in the past but the field turf plays so much like grass. How much like it? Well, there is no way to measure that but people that we have spoken to have said that if these were on formerly hard Astroturf surface it might be attributed to artificial but this surface plays so much like natural grass, it's difficult to say.
So really whether it's bigger, stronger players making more severe cuts; in Lundy's case, he was just running. There was no cut. In Peerman's case and Dominique's case, it was a plant and drive and it happened at that moment. Wally he was just running down the sideline and all of a sudden I remember it very well, he was just hip-hopping coming down the sideline. So in answer to your question, we have not been able to come up with anything that just leads from one to the other. We wish we could obviously.
Q. Are the coverage teams going to look different on Saturday? Have you shuffled that around at all?
COACH GROH: I could say yes or we will try to make them look somewhat the same. One of the issues with those coverage teams in the second half is that they were already looking different; that players who were not on the first half coverage teams who were I'll put it this way -- who were on the first half coverage teams, because of injury or whatever, were not on the second half coverage teams, and that definitely was we wore thin and wore out, clearly our performance in all three phases was not as strong at the latter part of the game as it was early and that as was definitely the case in terms of coverage. So we hope to be able to get some of the people who were absence on some of those back into the lineup as well as look at somewhere we think we could improve that performance.
Q. Following up on that, special teams in general, if you had won the special teams, you might have one or two wins at this point. I can't imagine you can stretch them anymore? Do you put any more emphasis on or discuss them more?
COACH GROH: One part of my answer would be to myself is regardless of how much we are discussing practicing them, we should do it more. By the same token, I also think to do more would almost say that we would abandon practicing on offense and defense. I mean, just to one third of the operation, it's difficult to we devote four significant periods a day to it now, as well as a 40 minute period on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, we devote four periods to it, and on Sunday we devote 40 minutes to it, more than half of the practice, and on Thursdays we devote 28 minutes to it.
So we are pretty heavy in the time devoted to it. So with that, sometimes you've just got to get better execution or demand better than what we are getting.
Q. What games did you watch this weekend?
COACH GROH: Well, there's a lot of things that interest me in football: Where my close friends are, what different systems are, where certain competition is. Actually, I was going to say I have the male disease of having a quick trigger finger, but Mrs. Football is pretty interested, too. So she was doing a good job with that remote herself. And so it wasn't all up to me.
We watched the North Carolina/Georgia Tech, Indiana/Michigan, a little Yale/Dartmouth for the fun of it, Alabama and Arkansas, we watched quite a bit of that, Texas and UTEP, Virginia Tech and Miami; Oregon State and Arizona, we watched quite a bit of that game because a good friend of ours is coaching there. Some of Purdue/Notre Dame. And we watched quite a bit of Houston and Texas Tech for the entertainment value of it, and managed to do a few other things, too.
Q. What are your thoughts on your running game right now?
COACH GROH: Like everything else, we want to see it get better and that's pretty much the way we feel about our team.
Q. What did Georgia Tech able to do defensively in particular? Obviously their offense is not something you're going to simulate but defensively they had a big game.
COACH GROH: Very situationally appropriate pass rush, which gave them a lot of success on third downs and contributed to their time of possession, most particularly out of number 91, Morgan. He's a good player. Our players last year, there was another player there who had quite a bit of height, Johnson. But Morgan is a player that Eugene is a pretty good guy to measure, because I think he's a pretty good judge of who is a good pass rusher -- and they were much more impressed with Morgan on Saturday. He's a real good player.
There are a lot of really outstanding players on this North Carolina defense, which is why their results have been so good, but one of the really eye catching players is number 42, the right defensive end. He can go. He's really an impressive looking player. He just comes off the edge like few players can. He and Morgan were very similar in terms of that during this game.

 

White: 'Hoos Hope Bye Week Pays Dividends
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 09/28/2009
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Like a lot of other people who had the day off, Al Groh spent much of Saturday in front of the TV, watching college football.
That's not the norm for him this time of year, and it was a enlightening experience, Groh said Monday during his weekly news conference at John Paul Jones Arena.
"I had a very interesting college football weekend," he said. "I got a chance to get a much broader perspective on things. Obviously, when you're not playing [and] you have a remote in your hands, you can kind of see what college football around the country looks like."
Among his conclusions after shifting from coach to spectator for a day:
"It certainly revealed that there's probably far too many teams and players that are anointed way too early in the season," Groh said, "and far too many teams and players that are condemned too early in the season to see the significant turnarounds that occur in so many games.
"A season is to be played out rather than to be seen in microcosm. I realize that's not the reality of the way that it's seen, but that's reality of the way things go."
Groh's Cavaliers are one of those teams that many have written off for the season. Virginia is 0-3 for the first time since 1982, and it's the only winless team left in the six conferences with automatic tie-ins to the Bowl Championship Series.
Of the 120 teams in the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision, UVa ranks 97th in scoring offense and 100th in scoring defense. In kickoff returns, Virginia ranks 119th.
An unbeaten team might not have welcomed an early-season break. For the Wahoos, however, their first and only bye week may have come at an opportune time.
After losing 37-34 to Southern Mississippi in a Sept. 19 game they led 34-17 in the third quarter, the 'Hoos had the next weekend off.
The Cavaliers play their ACC opener Saturday afternoon against North Carolina (0-1, 3-1) in Chapel Hill. Still, they spent more time in practice last week working on their strengths and weaknesses than preparing for UNC.
"Our priority here was pretty much taking care of ourselves rather than getting way ahead on the upcoming game," Groh said.
If the 'Hoos can take a positive from the three losses -- to William and Mary, TCU and Southern Miss, whose combined record is now 10-1 -- it's that none was to an ACC foe. Win Saturday at Kenan Stadium, and UVa will find itself in the upper third of the Coastal Division standings.
"This is the ACC, so it's like a whole different season," sophomore safety Rodney McLeod said Monday. "We're trying to win an ACC championship. We would definitely like to get back those three games that we had, get wins, but you just gotta move on to the next game."
Groh said it sometimes "takes three or four weeks out there for teams to find an identity, and by identity, I mean its personality, its strengths, the concerns that you have about the team ... Having had three weeks to do that, it confirms some of our thoughts that we had going into the season, and also certainly pointed us in certain directions, and clearly showed that we are profiting [from more practice time].
"Practice is one thing, and the game is the other. But at least the practices were more efficient, particularly in terms of movement of the ball."
After totaling 268 yards of offense against W&M and 177 against TCU, Virginia modified its new spread attack, with impressive results. UVa piled up 390 yards against Southern Miss -- 78 rushing and 312 passing.
The 312 yards marked a career high for quarterback Jameel Sewell, a fifth-year senior who for the second straight game took all the snaps for UVa.
Vic Hall, who started at quarterback against William and Mary, has missed all but one play of the past two games with a hip injury. When Hall returns -- perhaps as early as this weekend -- Groh and offensive coordinator Gregg Brandon will have to figure out exactly what the converted cornerback's role will be.
For now, though, Sewell looks increasingly comfortable as leader of UVa's attack. He threw two late touchdown passes against TCU and then torched Southern Miss for most of the first three quarters.
"He's got a little bit of momentum going," Groh said. "Certainly can play better, but he has been playing better. That's been his history his previous two years as a starter, to continue to get better as he accumulated more starts."
As a redshirt freshman in 2006, Sewell started the final nine games for a team that finished 5-7. A season later, he started every game as the Cavaliers went 9-4.
When Sewell first got the job, in 2006, it "was a little bit rocky," Groh pointed out, "but then we went on and had some real good wins, and he had some real good games. And the same thing was true in '07, and as the season picked up momentum, so did Jameel, or maybe they coincided with each other."
Virginia desperately hopes that's the case again this year.
"The Southern Miss was definitely a tough one for us, just knowing that we had the game in our hands and we just let it slip away," McLeod said. "We just gotta move on to the next game. We know our mistakes. What we have to do. It's a new season. The ACC is here."
Not since 1982 have the Cavaliers started 0-4. That was the team's first season under George Welsh, who by the time he retired in 2000 had become a coaching legend. This is the Wahoos' ninth season under Groh, whose record at his alma mater is 56-47.

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Virginia's next home game, Oct. 10 against Indiana, will start at 3:30 p.m., the ACC announced Monday. The game will be available over the Internet on ESPN360.com.
That's Homecomings weekend at UVa. The Cavaliers haven't played at Scott Stadium since Sept. 12.

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Sophomore safety Corey Mosley, a second-year starter, has committed a costly penalty in each game this season. Against Southern Miss, he was called for pass interference on a third-and-37 heave.
That gave the Golden Eagles an automatic first down. The drive ended with a touchdown that pulled Southern Miss to 34-31.
"There were some calls in that game that were challenging for the officials," Groh said, "but that was one of the easier calls."
Asked what he's said to Mosley about the penalties, Groh said, "Each one of them has really been significant in the outcome of the game. So we can't withstand too many more of those, clearly. Too many, meaning zero."

* * * * * *

Three of UVa's four starters at linebacker last season -- Clint Sintim on the outside, Jon Copper and Antonio Appleby on the inside -- were seniors.
At inside linebacker, redshirt freshman Steve Greer and senior Darren Childs have played most of the snaps this season. On the outside, returning starter Denzel Burrell, a senior, is splitting time with classmate Aaron Clark and sophomore Cameron Johnson.
The play of the linebackers has been positive, Groh said, but the defense has missed Sintim and Copper in particular. Sintim led the nation's linebackers in sacks last year, and Copper led the Cavaliers in tackles for the third consecutive season.
"We are getting good, solid play there," Groh said, "but we are not getting the game-changing plays yet that we have gotten previously from that position."


 

White: Scott Stadium to Undergo Transformation After U2 Show
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 09/25/2009
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The Rolling Stones played at Scott Stadium on Oct. 6, 2005. Nine days later, UVa upset Florida State in football on that same field.
Fast forward four falls. Another world-famous rock 'n' roll band is coming to Scott Stadium. U2 plays there Thursday night -- Oct. 1 -- and UVa again is looking at a quick turnaround after the concert.
Virginia hosts Indiana at Scott Stadium on Oct. 10.
"Our goal is to be able to go from a rock show to a football game in nine days," said Jason Bauman, UVa's associate director of athletics for facilities and operations.
This will be the third concert at Scott Stadium this decade. The Dave Matthews Band played there April 21, 2001, but that was out-of-season, and crews didn't have to work overtime to get the field ready for a sporting event.
The Stones show fell in the middle of football season, and UVa had contracted to buy replacement sod if necessary. The field survived the concert, however, and was in good condition by the Florida State game.
UVa doesn't expect to be that fortunate this time. U2's stage, located in the stadium's south end, is massive. Aluminum panels stretching about 75 yards, from the south end zone to the opposite 35-yard line, will cover much of the field for more than a week.
"It's likely the grass will die and not be safe and playable," Bauman said.
Still, a final decision won't come until Oct. 4, when all the concert equipment has been removed. UVa's football team has five home games left, starting Oct. 10, and the Virginia High School League will play two state finals at Scott Stadium on Dec. 12.
Live Nation, which is promoting the concert, will bear the financial responsibility if the field must be replaced.
"This has been a partnership with Live Nation," Bauman said. "They understand we have football games to play. They want that to go well for us, and they want the concert to go well, too."
If the field has to be replaced, a Charlotte-based company, Carolina Green, will begin removing the playing surface Oct. 4. A day later, the installation of thick cut sod, grown for UVa in Maryland, will begin.
Thirty tractor-trailers would deliver the sod to Charlottesville, said Jesse Pritchard, UVa's sports turf manager.
The sod would cover the playing surface, as well as a six-foot perimeter around the field. Thick cut sod weighs 18 pounds per square foot. Normal sod weighs two to three pounds per square foot.
The schedule calls for the sod installation, if necessary, to be completed Oct. 7 and the field to be painted Oct. 8 and 9.
"It's a tight schedule, but we've got the right contractor and the right sod," Pritchard said.
Bauman said: "We're not like an NFL stadium that [replaces its field] routinely, so there's a little trepidation, but Jesse is really good."
U2 played at Soldier Field in Chicago on Sunday, Sept. 13. A week later, after the turf was replaced at Soldier Field, the Bears hosted the Steelers there.
Pritchard has talked to his counterpart in Chicago and to other turf managers who have worked with U2. He's confident UVa will have the field ready for the Oct. 10 game.
"It'll work," Pritchard said.
If the thick cut sod is installed, it'll be gone by the start of the 2010 season. New sod that's more compatible with UVa's sand-based system would be installed in the spring.
"This would be a temporary field to get us through this season," Bauman said.


 

Davis doesn't plan any personnel changes
BY J.P. GIGLIO - Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL -- Quarterback T.J. Yates watched the film of North Carolina's 24-7 loss to Georgia Tech and didn't recognize his own team.

The errant passes, the missed blocks, the missed kicks, the turnovers and the defensive lapses, that wasn't the UNC team that started 3-0.

"It was not really us as a team," Yates said. "That's not our identity."

Out of the national rankings for the first time this football season, the Tar Heels are searching for a consistent identity. They looked like the best possible version of themselves in a 31-17 win over East Carolina two weeks ago, only to have the worst possible version show up in Atlanta.

The Heels vowed to work harder and learn from their mistakes on Monday. What they won't do, coach Butch Davis said, is change for the sake of changing.

The starting lineup from Georgia Tech will be the same for Saturday's home game against Virginia (0-3).

"We're playing the best players that we've got," Davis said. "The worst thing that we could do is try to do some kind of a magical hodge-podge."

Davis stressed the Heels weren't back to square one after their first loss; rather, they needed to re-evaluate what went wrong and play better.

On offense, that means establishing a running game and expanding their passing game. UNC gained 17 rushing yards on 18 carries against Georgia Tech.

Receiver Erik Highsmith was the highlight on offense with six catches for 107 yards and the team's only touchdown. However, the passing game needs to do more than just take some chances downfield with Highsmith.

In two games without injured starter Zack Pianalto, the Heels haven't completed a pass to a tight end and have found scant room over the middle of the field, where Pianalto usually works.

Chunks of their passing yardage came on deep throws against ECU's soft zone, and Highsmith's touchdown, a 40-yarder, was a double-move to the outside. Georgia Tech limited Yates to 137 yards, and he was just 11-of-26, after going 19-of-24 against ECU. The Jackets blitzed early and often and rushed Yates into throws he didn't want to make. They also intercepted him twice.

"[T.J.] just had one of those days that he wishes he had over again," Davis said.

Yates said a slow start, 20 minutes without a first down, didn't help UNC's cause.

"We couldn't find a rhythm to start the game, and then we started to force some things," Yates said.

For the first time this season, the defense had its share of problems, too. The Jackets rushed for 317 yards and converted 10 of 19 third-down opportunities.

"That's bad defense," junior cornerback Kendric Burney said. "We weren't real happy, but as a veteran team we know exactly what we have to do to bounce back. We have to do the little things."
 

UVa looks to curtail hits on Sewell
Doug Doughty

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Jameel Sewell's combined 69 passing and rushing attempts at Southern Mississippi are a school record that coach Al Groh would rather not see broken.

Sewell has accounted for 73.1 percent of Virginia's offense in three games, but how much pounding can he take?

Sewell had 23 rushing attempts in a 37-34 loss to Southern Miss and no other UVa back has more than 14 attempts for the season.

"We're very conscious of those things," Groh said during an off week. "There were only eight or nine called quarterback runs in the game.

"The rest of those were his reaction to certain pass plays. Eight or nine would be a desirable number going into the game, but we realize there are going to be some spontaneous situations."

Maybe it would help if the Cavaliers blocked somebody. Virginia also has allowed more sacks (4.33 per game) than any other Division I-A team.

In 2007, when he started every game in a 9-4 season, Sewell averaged 28 pass attempts and just under 10 rushing attempts per game. That year, he accounted for 57.1 percent of the team's offense.

Those numbers are slightly misleading because, on passing plays, there also is a receiver involved.

In 2002, when Matt Schaub set the previous UVa record for "plays" with 64 in a game against Georgia Tech, he had 58 pass attempts.

"If he could have a Matt Schaub-type game, that would be beautiful," Groh said. "But, this is part of [Sewell's] game.

"To inhibit him would be to take away a talent that he has and an attribute to the team. So, we just talk to him about good judgment."

Sewell has not missed a game because of injury since taking over as UVa's starting quarterback in the fourth game of the 2006 season. The only interruption came when he was on one year's academic suspension in 2008.

"I try to stay in touch with him as to what his stamina and endurance is [and] how much is good for him," Groh said. "He's a good communicator about that.

"Right now, it's clearly to our advantage to let him go ahead and be himself."

Virginia had 90 offensive plays against Southern Miss after slowing down the tempo and taking only 51 snaps in a 30-14 loss to TCU.

"It was an extraordinarily long game," Groh said of his team's Hattiesburg, Miss., appearance. "It was three hours and 41 minutes. I didn't realize that till I looked at [the final stat book] on the plane on the way home.

"I'd say that I'd never been in a game of regulation time that went three hours, 41 minutes. We played [81] plays on defense in the first game and I think that's just part of what's going along with teams now not going into the huddle.

"Unless teams decide to slow it down, they're using up a lot less of the 40-second clock."

By the numbers

Virginia ranks 111th out of 120 Division I-A teams in total offense, continuing a trend that could land the Cavaliers outside the top 100 for the fourth straight season.

The Cavaliers are 112th in rushing offense and also rank outside the top 100 in passing efficiency (106th), turnover margin (111th) and time of possession (107th).

But, here's the kicker: The Cavaliers are 119th in the country in kickoff returns (15.2) and 120th in kickoff-return defense (34.0). That's despite the much-heralded return of former aide Ron Prince as special-teams coach.

Groh said that part of him feels that regardless of how the Cavaliers practice special teams now -- four periods during each practice -- that they need to practice more.

"By the same token, to do more would also say that we would abandon practicing on offense and defense," he said.

Odds 'n' ends

Game time for the Virginia-Indiana game has been set for 3:30 p.m. in a game that will be available on ESPN360. Kickoff for the Cavaliers' game this Saturday at North Carolina is noon. Virginia has won six of the last seven meetings between the teams and nine of the last 11.
 

Sports columnist Aaron McFarling: It's Groh's show
Aaron McFarling

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Al Groh watched football last weekend. A lot of football.

He says he took in Indiana-Michigan, Miami-Virginia Tech, Texas Tech-Houston and a bunch of other games. He said he even watched a little Yale-Dartmouth (although those two teams didn't actually play each other -- he must have meant Cornell at Yale, which was viewed by dozens on Versus) "for the fun of it." Because we can all agree that few things are more fun than watching Ivy League gridders get after each other.

But that's Al. He's a football nut. Games were on all day, so he watched them. He did the same thing Sunday.

The one thing Groh did not do last weekend was get the axe as the football coach at the University of Virginia. The Cavaliers' bye week came and went, and rumors had swirled since the preseason that this was the two-week period when something might happen.

Yet there was Groh at his weekly press conference Monday, looking sharp and refreshed in a black suit, informing us media types about the latest circumstances surrounding his 0-3 team.

And this is for the best. Even those who want Groh gone at the end of the year -- and that's a pretty strong consensus these days -- should want Groh here now. As lame-duck coaches go, you could do a lot worse than Al. He's going to fight the remaining battles for his alma mater even if he's lost the war for his job. The last thing he would do is mail it in, and you can't say that about all embattled men.

Besides, you've at least got to give the guy October. That's his time to harvest. He's 7-1 the past two seasons during Filipino American History Month, including 4-0 last year. He's 17-10 in October since 2002, the year UVa began its memorable run of back-to-back Continental Tire Bowl championships.

And for better or worse, this weekend's ACC opener against North Carolina truly does have a fresh-start feel to it. Look around. See any similarities at all to the preseason? The two biggest topics in August outside of Groh's job security -- Vic Hall getting his shot at quarterback and Gregg Brandon bringing the spread offense to Charlottesville -- both turned out to be nonstarters.

Hall is hurt, leaving Jameel Sewell as the guy at QB. The senior threw for 312 yards and two touchdowns against Southern Mississippi, a sign that perhaps he could heat up like he did in the nine-win season of two years ago.

"As the season picked up momentum, so did Jameel," Groh said of 2007. "At least we have a little bit of precedent in that case, and we can only be positive and think that history might have a chance to continue."

If it does, we won't have Brandon's spread to thank. The system essentially has been thrown to the scrap heap -- at least for now -- as Groh has determined that his current personnel isn't suited to run it effectively.

Against Southern Miss, the Cavs cut down on their linemen splits, occasionally brought duel running backs in for max protection and threw to their tight ends -- all elements more characteristic of last year's offense than the one Brandon is known for.

"We are not a knee-jerk operation," Groh said. "But sometimes when we see things that are reality, we react to reality."

The timing of the move speaks to an evaluation failure in the spring and summer. But it also speaks to continued maintenance of institutional control by Groh. The coach says he and Brandon collaborated on the changes, but you can bet Al did most of the talking.

If this hybrid offense can continue to produce like it did against Southern Miss, then Groh will have done his team a great service. If it can't, then he's an oaf again.

Either way, there's no question who is in charge here. No question who is doing everything he can to win a few in the ACC. No question who deserves the blame or praise for the remainder of 2009, even if he won't be around in 2010.

And like an Ivy League gridiron showdown, there's something refreshingly simple about that.
 

Cain another U.Va. walk-on success
By Michael Phillips
Published: September 29, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE Isaac Cain spends Saturdays trying to take defensive linemen for a ride. During the offseason, it's students at Virginia who are getting the ride.

Cain is an offensive lineman who joined the team as a walk-on, driving a campus bus route to earn a little extra money in his early years.

Now he's getting regular playing time. His story isn't unique among Virginia players, as the team is flavored by walk-ons.

"It's an equal-opportunity team, walk-on or scholarship," receiver Matt Snyder said. "If you work hard as a walk-on, you can do things."

Snyder would know, as the sophomore from Deep Run has played his way into the starting lineup this season.

As for the scholarship players, they welcome the team's added depth, as well as having extra players for practices.

"They're going everything we're doing, and not getting paid for it," linebacker Aaron Clark said. "So we immediately respect anybody who will do that."

In Cain's case, it was an unorthodox path to college football.

He played just two years of high school football, starting as a junior after spending two years of playing trombone with the band on game nights. He said his mom may have influenced that decision.

"I might have played sophomore year, but she wasn't keen on that idea," he said. "And my dad wanted me to focus on school."

But even with the late start, he distinguished himself on the field. He was about to sign at Norfolk State when Virginia gave him a call and asked him to join the squad as a walk-on.

With more than 100 players on a college football team, roster fluctuation will happen throughout the season. When a scholarship came available, it was Cain's turn to join those ranks.

Still, he said that the scholarship hasn't changed his standing with the team, that the walk-ons have the same shot as four-star recruits.

Players like Snyder are thankful for that.

"There are kids that fall through the cracks," he said. "I'm just happy Virginia gave me the opportunity."
 

Wallace dodges a bullet
September 29, 2009 12:35 am
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.
CHARLOTTESVILLE

--Several years ago, the injury suffered by Virginia freshman running back Dominique Wallace would've been career-ending.

The Chancellor High School grad sustained a Lisfranc fracture in the Cavaliers' 37-34 loss to Southern Mississippi on Sept. 19.

The injury is a dislocation of the midfoot. Former Virginia running backs Wali Lundy and Cedric Peerman also experienced it in their careers.

Wallace said he underwent a "very successful" surgery last Friday and is now wearing a soft cast and using crutches to get around. It was the first surgery for Wallace, the 2008 Free Lance-Star Player of the Year.

He'll miss the rest of the season, but should resume his career next fall.

"This surgery has saved the careers of a lot of players," head coach Al Groh said yesterday at Virginia's weekly press luncheon.

Wallace is certainly hoping that's the case with him.

Groh said Wallace should be eligible for a medical redshirt because he played in just three games, but that won't officially be determined until after the season.

Groh praised Wallace for continuing to play against Southern Miss despite the injury. He rushed for 35 yards on 11 carries (both career-high totals) against the Golden Eagles.

"Dominique certainly put himself in a position to be one of the top players in that [running backs] rotation," Groh said. "It's really an indication of his will and toughness of how long he played in that game with that injury. That's a particularly painful injury."

Wallace said the injury has given him a chance to focus on academics and the mental aspects of his position.

He said he's shocked that he currently isn't in much pain. He said he's unsure when he'll be able to begin rehabilitation.

"The first couple of days when they said I was going to have season-ending surgery, hit me hard," Wallace said. "But I now realize that everything happens for a reason, so I'm not really stressing it too much."

Virginia running backs coach Wayne Lineburg told Wallace to seek Peerman's advice on recovery because their injuries were identical.

Peerman suffered the injury midway through the 2007 season. He returned the following year and earned honorable mention all-Atlantic Coast Conference honors. He's now a member of the Cleveland Browns.

"I'm not sure when that's going to take place," Wallace said of a conversation with Peerman. "I have no time frame for that. But that's a good person for me to talk to."

For now, Wallace said he's going to relax. He said he's looking forward to visiting his family because he hasn't returned to Fredericksburg in two months.

He said he'll attend Virginia team meetings and stand on the sidelines for home games. He won't travel to road contests, including winless Virginia's trip to North Carolina (3-1) on Saturday.

Wallace said he plans to attend Chancellor's game at Eastern View on Friday.

"I'll still be a part of the team," Wallace said. "I'll be learning more about football, so when it's my time to come back, I'll be 100 percent ready both mentally and physically."

 

A productive bye week
By Jay Jenkins
Published: September 29, 2009

With an ACC opener at North Carolina on the horizon, common sense would indicate that Virginia’s football players would have tuned in for the Tar Heels’ showdown on Saturday against Georgia Tech.
Think again.
Defensive end Nate Collins took in some of the Virginia Tech drubbing of Miami. Safety Rodney McLeod followed suit.
“I had already seen tape of North Carolina,” Collins said.
McLeod added: “I didn’t really catch the [UNC] game … there was a lot of good games going on.”
Virginia coach Al Groh, with the assistance of his remote control and his wife Anne’s assistance operating it, did watch the Tar Heels lose 24-7 in Atlanta.
And he watched Indiana lose to Michigan. And he caught Texas Tech fall. And he witnessed Oregon State fall.
It was a well-timed, eye-opening weekend for Groh as Virginia enjoyed its lone bye week.
“I had a very interesting college football weekend,” the coach admitted. “I got a chance to get a much broader perspective on things [and] when you’re not playing, you have the remote in your hands, you can kind of see what college football around the country looks like.
“It certainly revealed that there’s probably far too many teams and players that are anointed way too early in the season and far too many teams and players that are condemned too early in the season to see the significant turnarounds that occur in so many games. The season is to be played out rather than to be seen in microcosm. I realize that’s not the reality of the way things go, but the way that they may seem but that’s the reality of the way things go.”
Play on Saturday in the Atlantic Coast Conference was a prime example.
North Carolina State and Virginia Tech were underdogs, but managed to win. Clemson was a favorite, but stumbled at home to Texas Christian.
“It also looks like there are an awful lot of teams this year that are essentially the same teams, an awful lot, certainly more than a Top 25 poll would be able to encompass,” Groh said. “There are a few teams that are clearly superior, and that outside of that, it’s a pretty good battle every week to see who comes out with it.”
Groh did his best to create a positive spin for the lone winless team in a major conference, a contingent that includes the ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, PAC-10 and the SEC.
During the games that Groh watched from his couch, he noticed that it was the little things, something Virginia has worked to perfect during its time off, that led to numerous wins.
“The outcomes of some of the significant ACC games were not just about fundamental execution or game plans — it’s just what happens to the ball,” Groh said. “Probably three of the most significant games in the conference were all determined by turnovers, interceptions, fumbles, blocked kicks, or returns … either the absence of them for some teams or the availability of them for the other ones that profit by that.”
While Groh has often said that the timing of a bye week means little, the additional practice time was “positively productive” for the winless Cavaliers (0-3).
“Our team has done some things that certainly make us look better on the practice field, as was the case before the [Southern Mississippi] game,” Groh said. “Also, I was intrigued by the results of those games — the three earlier opponents that we had, I think they now stand 10-1.”
“So we would like to think that this has tested us in a way that will have us best prepared for the conference season that’s coming up.”
Despite ranking last in the ACC in total offense, rushing offense and scoring offense and last in the nation in sacks allowed, Virginia clings to hopes of making a run at a Coastal Division title and a trip to the league’s title game in Tampa.
“This is the ACC, so it’s like a whole different season,” said McLeod, the team’s lone player at the weekly press conference. “We are trying to win an ACC championship.
We would definitely like to get back those three games that we had, get wins, but you just got to move on to the next game.”
Birthday boy
On Thursday, Virginia quarterback Vic Hall turned 23.
He has had better birthdays.
Hall has not logged time at quarterback since the season-opening game against William & Mary. During that contest, the helmet of a Tribe defensive lineman drove into Hall’s hip as he dove for a fumble.
Should he be unable to return, landing a medical redshirt remains a tricky option since Hall redshirted in 2005.
There are factors to believe that Hall will return: Virginia has yet to announce Hall officially “out” for a game, he dressed against TCU and Southern Miss and worked in a limited fashion in pre-game drills and he has worked in numerous practice exercises of late.
Groh was asked on Monday if Hall would need surgery.
“Not at the present time,” he replied.
Extra points ...
With little appeal nationally, it was logical for the upcoming Virginia-Indiana game on Oct. 10 not to be televised. That was the case. The two teams will play at 3:30 p.m. It can be seen, however, on ESPN360.com. ... The Tar Heels (3-1, 0-1) are a 14-point favorite on Saturday. The contest will be the first of three straight home games for UNC. ... Against Georgia Tech last week, UNC managed just 17 yards on the ground.
 

Will changes pay off for Cavs?
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: September 29, 2009

The wagons are circled at Camp Wahoo as Virginia’s football team braces for its ACC opener against ancient rival North Carolina this weekend.
Starting off 0-3, the Cavaliers’ worst start since George Welsh dared to take over the laughing stock of ACC football back in 1982, Virginia has its work cut out heading into Chapel Hill.
While much of the gridiron world is down on UVa’s immediate future, the players and coaching staff travel across the state border knowing that a win against the Tar Heels will make the Cavaliers 1-0 in the ACC, which would most likely put them only one back of Virginia Tech in the Coastal Division (the Hokies play at Duke are almost certain to advance to 2-0 in league play).
New philosophy
While the rocky start isn’t anything to e-mail home about, 1-0 is what’s on the Cavaliers’ collective minds. Sure, they could easily be 2-1 if they hadn’t coughed up the pigskin so many times against a good William & Mary team, and if they hadn’t resembled a Three Stooges fire drill on their kickoff coverage at Southern Miss a week ago.
Give Al Groh credit for being flexible enough to change things after two weeks of fizzle and flop in the no-huddle spread. If it’s broken, then fix it and that’s what he appeared to do with UVa’s offense, changing philosophy more than anything else in resorting back to the previous offense, which still kept some of the elements of the spread.
Obviously, the offensive line just wasn’t suited for the spread and its wide line splits and there was some question if the quarterbacks really had grasped that philosophy as well.
There was a big change in the offense in Hattiesburg. For a change, Virginia scored enough points to win a football game. Everyone in the program was baffled at how the rest of the team folded under pressure, particularly the special teams coverage units essentially blew the win.
Preparing for UNC
It’s not easy for a coach to make such a transition in a matter of three or four days, but Groh did and with an extra week to refine the system and to prepare for Carolina, one would think that Virginia would go to Chapel Hill thinking it can win.
Don’t forget that Groh’s teams are 9-4 after bye weeks, and two of those losses came last year when the team was in transition from Pete Lalich to Marc Verica, and the other came late in the season when Virginia should have beaten Clemson. The Cavs were plagued with turnover problems in both losses.
Still, it is interesting to revisit Groh’s change in philosophy, to go back to the former offense where he knew his teams had experienced some level of success last season in wins over nationally ranked teams and in an offense where the offensive linemen seemed to have flourished rather than struggled.
“I felt that we had a system that had a proven record of success ... it’s not snake oil,” Groh said of the spread. “It worked very well before. It’s working very well around the country, and we had players who had a proven record of success.
“But at that time there wasn’t a clean mesh,” Groh explained. “Clearly, more time will provide that. But you only get 12 [games] a year ... that’s pretty precious time. And, so, when we think some things need to be done the very next week to help us, we are very proactive on those things.”
Without question the line blocked better, although the pass protection for quarterback Jameel Sewell still needs to improve. The Cavaliers were the best protectors in the ACC last year, giving up only 16 sacks. In three games, they’ve already surrendered 13 and that’s inexcusable.
Still, the offense displayed signs of life as Sewell showed flashes of his 2007 self.
At this point it appears that so goes Sewell, so goes Virginia, at least offensively. That may not be bad because he led the Cavaliers to the Gator Bowl two seasons ago, albeit a bunch of close calls.
His 335 yards of total offense at Southern Miss was the sixth-highest individual yardage by an ACC player this season and his 312 yards passing was the seventh-most passing yardage by an ACC quarterback so far this year.
Not a bad guy to hook your wagon to if he can continue to deliver those types of performances. After all, Sewell has passed for 4,030 yards for his on-again, off-again career at Virginia, currently the seventh-best in Wahoo history.
Of UVa’s 78 offensive plays last week, he ran or passed for 69 of those and leads the ACC in number of total plays per game.
The trick is, can Sewell do it at Carolina in the South’s oldest rivalry game?
Carolina’s defense is ranked 14th nationally in total defense, third in tackles for loss, and 17th in passing efficiency defense.
One would think that with Groh’s proven ability to bounce back off bye weeks that the Cavaliers will at least have a fighting chance to beat their crusty old rival. Only five men have coached more games in the ACC than Groh: George Welsh, Bobby Bowden, Bill Dooley, Earle Edwards, and Frank Howard, so the guy knows what must be done.
Now that he’s made the necessary changes, the question is can Virginia get the job done?
 

UVa unveils baseball schedule
By Jay Jenkins
Published: September 29, 2009

When Virginia was shipped to California last year for the nation’s deepest regional, one member of the selection committee barked about the non-conference schedule that the Cavaliers entertained for justification of the move.
Should Virginia be snubbed again in 2010, a new excuse will be needed.
The Cavaliers, fresh off a 49-win season and their first trip to the College World Series, announced their upcoming schedule on Monday, one that includes an intriguing three-game series at perennial power East Carolina during the opening weekend of the season.
In all, Virginia will face 11 opponents that advanced to the NCAA Tournament last year, and 12 games against foes that advanced to the Super Regional round.
After facing the Pirates in Greenville, N.C., the Cavaliers will entertain Rhode Island (Feb. 26-28) and a round-robin tournament with Wright State and Dartmouth the first weekend in March.
“On the first three weekends in out-of-conference play, three of the four teams that we play are NCAA teams and the one team that wasn’t, Rhode Island, was very deserving of being in the tournament,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “I don’t really care about what the critics are saying about our schedule.
“Obviously, it didn’t hurt us in having one of the top five RPI’s in the country last year. Our schedule will remain to be the same.”
While Dartmouth, Rhode Island and Wright State combined to go 87-68 last year, the series inked with East Carolina is viewed as a win-win situation and will provide the Cavaliers a marquee contest at Davenport Field in 2011.
“I am excited about our two-year agreement with East Carolina. We will open up the
season at their ballpark this year and they return it during the second weekend of the season in 2011,” O’Connor said. “They have a very good baseball program and it is a chance for two really good programs to meet.
“Their coach and I have always talked about how we should play and finally it becomes a reality.”
O’Connor envisions the feisty slate preparing Virginia for a tough draw to open ACC play — the Cavaliers open at Florida State (Mar. 12-14) before hosting Boston College (Mar. 19-21) and Clemson (Mar. 26-28). All three played in the postseason last year.
“We are challenged right out of the gate in conference play at Florida State, so in order to be prepared and have a chance to win an ACC title in the regular season we needed to be challenged in the first three weekends,” O’Connor said. “It will help us be that much more
prepared for what we will experience.”
The Cavaliers will also host Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia Tech in league play. The final four road trips will be made to Duke, Maryland, Miami and N.C. State.
Virginia will attempt to defend its ACC Tournament title from May 26-30 in Greensboro, N.C., where the event will be held after a deal fell through again to host it at Fenway Park in Boston.
In addition to the series at ECU, Virginia will play three non-conference games on the road. The Cavaliers travel to William & Mary (Mar. 10), James Madison (Mar. 17) and VMI (Apr. 14).
Virginia, which has 35 home games, will open play at Davenport Field on Feb. 24 against George Washington.
General admission season tickets will go on sale Oct. 15 at the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office. Packages for adults are $100 and $75 for youth, seniors (60 and over) and current university staff and faculty.
 

Virginia looks right at home, nabs three titles
Singh, Shabaz sweep through singles draws; Jenkins’ strong freshman campaign continues
Matthew Diton, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
Featured / Men's Tennis / Sports
September 29, 2009 0

Junior Sanam Singh captured the A-2 singles title at the Plus One Invitational with a straight set victory against Tennessee freshman Rhyne Williams. Photo by Bennett Sorbo.
Against some of the country’s premier competition, the men’s tennis team captured three titles Sunday afternoon, defending its turf at the U.Va. Plus One Invitational.

In the A-2 bracket, junior Sanam Singh defeated Tennessee freshman Rhyne Williams, 6-4, 6-4, for the title. Coming off a difficult three-set match in the morning against Nebraska sophomore Christopher Aumueller, Singh managed to jump out quickly against Williams, easing to a first set victory and a 5-1 advantage in the second. Fatigue may have caught up to Singh shortly thereafter, however, as Williams rallied to take three straight games.

“He was a good player, so I knew it was going to be tough,” Singh said. “I played a couple of loose points but managed to come back, so I feel good about that. I mentally stayed in there.”

The scare was short-lived though, as Singh rebounded to win the final game. The junior used his speed and ability to place the ball all over the court to his advantage, causing the young Williams to grow more and more frustrated as the match wore on, eventually throwing his racket and drawing a point penalty.

Virginia junior Michael Shabaz followed teammate Singh’s example, as he defeated Boris Conkic in the A-4 bracket after the Tennessee junior was forced to retire following a split of the first two sets. Conkic won the first set but dealt with cramps the entire day and constantly called for ice from the trainer. He eventually succumbed to the pain and withdrew.

“Michael’s fitness paid off for him today,” Virginia coach Brian Boland said. “He was a little bit stronger physically today.”

The premature ending belied what had been a very competitive match. The seemingly even opponents played the first two sets to a draw, and things were shaping up for a climatic third set.

“He [Conkic] played some good serves in the first set,” Shabaz said. “[I] won some baselines in the second set, and unfortunately for him, he had to default, but that’s just part of the game.”

Drew Courtney was the third Cavalier of the day to play in a final, but unlike Singh and Shabaz, he was swept 6-4, 6-3 by Duke freshman Henrique Cunha. Although Courtney played a solid match, he appeared slightly conservative, and the lefty from Duke capitalized.

Despite the loss, Boland had nothing but praise for his team’s performance in the tournament.

“It was a great tournament against some of the top players in the country,” said Boland. “We’re getting better in the week and we were able to put into match play what we put in at practice.”

The lone area of concern for the Cavaliers’ coach was the performance of his doubles teams. The team of Shabaz and freshman Jarmere Jenkins won the A-3 doubles, but the team of Courtney and senior Lee Singer lost in the championship draw.

“We need to work on doubles,” Boland said. “We can do it, but it’s going to take some work. We have Tulsa in a week, which gives us a chance to work on the doubles.”

Despite this minor disappointment, Boland was pleased with the team’s overall performance, as it continues to add to an already successful season.

Virginia takes the court next week at the ITA All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla.
 

No. 11 Cavaliers shoot to batter Rams
After disappointing loss to previously winless Clemson, team learns no opponent should go overlooked
Stacy Kruczkowski, Cavalier Daily Staff Writer
Men's Soccer / Sports
September 29, 2009 0

Sophomore Greg Monaco is part of stalwart Cavalier defense that has given up only four goals in seven games this season, three of which were shutouts. Photo by Iram Shaikh.
The Virginia men’s soccer team hopes to leave behind a dreary weekend in Charlottesville and make the most of two new opportunities to pad its statistics.

The No. 11 Cavaliers (5-2, 1-2 ACC) look to regain momentum at home tonight as they host non-conference opponent VCU in the last game of a three-game homestand.

Despite not having won a game since Sept. 15, the Rams (3-2-1, 0-1 CAA) enter Tuesday’s game ready to prove themselves against an erratic Virginia squad. Boasting a stalwart defensive line, VCU has allowed only 1.33 goals and 10.7 shots on goal per game this season.

“Every opponent we play against is going to be a tough one,” senior midfielder Ross LaBauex said. “Teams get up to play us, so we’ve gotta make sure that we don’t take VCU lightly. We don’t take any of our opponents on the field lightly because if you do, they can sneak up on you and get one in, so we just have to make sure we stay focused.”

Virginia is coming off one such upset loss, falling to previously winless Clemson, 1-0, Saturday at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers failed to score despite outshooting their conference rival 16-7 and taking seven corner kicks compared to the Tigers’ four.

“It’s a game of how many goals do you score,” LaBauex said, “and we just couldn’t put the ball in the net, so we need to work on that.”

The Tigers were not the Cavaliers’ only opponent Saturday night, however, as the elements also contributed to Virginia’s second loss to an ACC foe.

“The conditions made it really tough for us,” Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. “I mean, obviously they had to deal with those conditions too … In the first half we had a little bit of a breakaway and some loose balls in the box that we didn’t capitalize on.”

Virginia will have to make sure it capitalizes Tuesday against the Rams to keep its season on track. Six of the Cavaliers’ seven games have been decided by one goal, and although Virginia has shut out opponents three times this season, the offense has been held to one goal or fewer four times.

After taking a brief respite Sunday, Gelnovatch urged his team to move forward from Saturday’s defeat and prepare mentally and physically for the matchup against VCU.

LaBauex also stressed the importance of the team bouncing back.

“[Saturday] just didn’t go our way,” LaBauex said. “We just have to get back to practice and work on things in front of the goal.”

After Tuesday’s game, the Cavaliers travel to Chapel Hill to take on ACC rival North Carolina on Friday.
 

Coach Maes makes it as easy as 1-2-3
Team’s foundation built upon three simple steps to success; coach favors consistent effort
Abbey Lou Hendricks, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor
Sports / Volleyball
September 29, 2009 0

Now in his second season as Virginia’s coach, Lee Maes has always encouraged his players to follow three basic rules: continually strive to improve, treat each opponent the same regardless of ranking and always stay in the present. Photo courtesy Virginia Athletics.
The Virginia volleyball team lives and dies by three fundamental rules: always get better, treat each team the same way and focus on one match — even one point — at a time.

These three simple rules were first installed when coach Lee Maes signed on with the program before the 2008 season. Since then, Maes has incorporated a cut-and-dry system that deviates little from these guidelines.

“I think that [Maes] is very consistent in what he does,” senior outside hitter Lauren Dickson said.

Maes preaches how vital it is to always improve.

“We’re always going to be a work in progress,” Maes said after the team captured the Jefferson Cup title earlier this season. “We’re never going to be satisfied and we’re not going to settle.”

The Cavaliers continually look for weaknesses even after a victory like the one earned at their first home tournament. After each game, the team identifies areas of concern on which to concentrate during the week of practice before to its next match.

“Our focus is primarily on how we can improve,” Maes said.

With a schedule full of big names — Nebraska, Northern Iowa, Texas A&M, UCLA and Florida State, just to name a few — it seems as though the Cavaliers might gear up for playing such high-caliber teams differently. But Virginia refuses to psyche itself out, keeping its approach constant regardless of the opponent.

“We’ll definitely be preparing just as we’ve done for any of the matches,” freshman middle hitter Jessica O’Shoney said before last weekend’s match against No. 18 Florida State.

Even though the Cavaliers go into each match with the same mindset, they must remember one important guideline: Practice with their opponent’s strengths and strategies in mind.

“We’re going to spend this week in preparation for some of the things that we can expect they’re going to stress us with,” Maes said before the team’s match against in-state rival Virginia Tech in the Marriott Cavalier Invitational.

Most importantly, Virginia always takes its season one game at a time. The Cavaliers even refuse to look a single set ahead, taking their matches point by point.

“Our goal as it is for every match is to give ourselves an opportunity to win every point first and foremost,” Maes said. “If we get to the mentality of focusing on winning one point at a time, we feel that it will allow us to not look ahead. If we are competitive for every single point, we’ll have a chance to win every single set and have a chance to win each match.”

Despite a losing 1-2 record in conference play thus far, the Cavaliers are optimistic about bouncing back. Practicing these three basic principles, Maes and his squad hope to refocus and emerge a strong contender in the highly competitive ACC.
 

Bernardino adds one more accolade to already long list
Sports / Swim and Dive
September 29, 2009 0

Having already established one of the nation’s most prestigious collegiate swimming programs, Virginia coach Mark Bernardino has decided to take on yet another challenge.
The College Swimming Coaches Association of America announced last week that Bernardino will succeed Johns Hopkins coach George Kennedy as the organization’s next president to serve a two-year term.

As head of the CSCAA — the oldest coaches’ association in the country — Bernardino said he hopes to preserve swimming’s integrity at the college level while it continues to grow in stature on the international scene. He also will work to solve the sport’s economic problems, as the recent explosion of technology and the subsequent ever-escalating price of high-tech swimwear has forced teams to increase their budgets 7 to 10 percent on average. At the same time, many colleges are being forced to downsize their athletic departments in accordance with budget cuts, and oftentimes swimming is one of the first sports to be eliminated.

During more than three decades at Virginia’s helm, Bernardino has led the Cavalier men’s and women’s teams to 19 conference titles combined and has been tabbed ACC Coach of the Year 24 times in all. Last year, the team — and coach — made a clean sweep of the postseason accolades en route to placing in the top 12 at the NCAA Championships.