| Favorite status no favor to Cavaliers |
| Virginia, which has generally played better as an underdog during Al Groh's tenure, will face Duke as a 12-point favorite. |
By DOUG DOUGHTY THE ROANOKE TIMES |
At his program's current stage of development, Virginia football coach Al Groh finds it hard to believe that the Cavaliers would be a 12-point favorite to anyone, even recent ACC doormat Duke. "I feel kind of the opposite," said Groh as UVa (3-2 overall, 1-1 ACC) prepared to visit Duke (2-3, 0-1) at noon today at Wallace Wade Stadium. "Of course, I didn't know what [the spread] was. I didn't know what it was last week." The Cavaliers were a two-point underdog at Wake Forest, where they rallied from a 17-point third-quarter deficit to defeat the Deacons 38-34. In fact, the argument could be made that they play better as underdogs. "I think that's because we've been the underdog the majority of the time since we've been here," said Groh, in his second season as the Cavaliers' head coach. "We've also had some of our worst games as the underdog, meaning generally that's what we've been." Under Groh, the Cavaliers have lost twice when they were the favorite, last year against Wake Forest and this season against Colorado State. As an underdog, Virginia beat Clemson, Georgia Tech and Penn State last year, followed by wins over favored South Carolina and Wake Forest this season. The Cavaliers have had a tendency to struggle in games they have been expected to win handily - against Richmond last year and Akron this year - and face a Duke team today that appears to be on the rise. The Blue Devils ended a 23-game losing streak when they beat East Carolina 23-16 in the opening game, led until the fourth quarter before losing 26-21 at Northwestern, then pounded Navy last week 43-17. Duke's revival has coincided with the emergence of Alex Wade, a 6-foot-1, 250-pound junior who had rushed for 315 yards in 20 games coming into the season. Wade, listed in the Duke media guide as a fullback, moved to tailback after an injury to Chris Douglas and has four 100-yard games. That's not good news for Virginia, which is 1-9 over the past two seasons when yielding 100 yards or more to an opposing running back. However, the Cavaliers prevailed 31-10 last year in Charlottesville on an afternoon when Douglas rushed for 101 yards. Douglas, who led the ACC in all-purpose yardage last year, is rounding into form after an early-season injury and will provide a change of pace from Wade, the latest in a series of jumbo backs faced by the Cavaliers. Virginia already has had to contend with Florida State's 6-1, 248-pound Greg Jones and South Carolina's 6-foot, 255-pound Andrew Pinnock. "I like [Wade] better than Pinnock," Groh said. Virginia is rated 112th out of 117 Division I-A teams in rushing defense. Duke is a little better than that (75th) against the pass but has not faced anybody with the numbers of UVa quarterback Matt Schaub. Schaub is first in Division I-A in completion percentage (71.54), second in touchdown passes (15) and third in passing efficiency. "It was like night and day from what I saw last year," Wake coach Jim Grobe said. "We saw a kid [in 2001] who didn't seem to be real, real confident, seemed to have happy feet in the pocket a little bit, just did not seem to be a take-charge kind of kid. "This year, [it was] completely opposite: a guy who seemed to have control of the offense, seemed to understand the offense, sits in the pocket well and, I thought, made all the throws. He's got a nice touch underneath but against us the difference was deep balls. "There were a couple throws that he made, I don't care how well we played them, they were going to be completions. I was very impressed." |
Devils hope to break ACC skid
against hot Cavaliers
Duke has lost its last 18 ACC games, a streak that dates to Nov. 20, 1999, but will have another chance to end the streak today when it plays Virginia at noon at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham.
Only one Duke player, linebacker Jamyon Small - the team's only senior - knows what it's like to play in an ACC victory, but he senses that the futility will end soon.
"At this point in the season, there's definitely a different attitude," Small said. "There's been a different attitude the whole season. We made some changes.
"We've got a real young group of guys here, but we've found a way to get them to believe in the system. They're committed, and they'll go out there and bust their tails every day. It's showed on the field."
If Duke (2-3, 0-1 ACC) wins today, it will be the first time since Oct. 10, 1998, that it has been at .500 this late in the season. Virginia (3-2, 1-1) is on a three-game winning streak.
An improving Duke defense will most likely be under pressure all game. Virginia has one of the hottest quarterbacks in major-college football in Matt Schaub, whose passing is backed by an improved running game and an assortment of trick plays.
Schaub had a rocky start, but he has been rock-solid since the second game. He has completed 71.5 percent of his passes, by far the best accuracy rate in the ACC. Since coming off the bench in the second half of a loss at Florida State, Schaub has completed 73.8 percent of his passes (79 of 107) and has thrown for 14 touchdowns, with only two interceptions.
Coach Al Groh of Virginia said he hasn't seen Schaub make many mistakes, passing or otherwise.
"All of his decisions are coming faster, and, as a result, his actions are proportionately faster as well," Groh said. "Our goal this year was to raise our completion percentage. We are currently exceeding that figure.
"We were striving for 63 percent, and we figured in order to do that in games, we needed to complete 70 percent of our passes in practice. While I didn't expect 71 percent, it does make me greedy to keep it up there."
Duke has defended the run reasonably well but not the pass. Opposing quarterbacks are averaging 229.6 yards and completing 56.1 percent of their passes.
Franks is confident that Ted Roof, Duke's first-year defensive coordinator, will devise a game plan that will limit Schaub's productivity. Duke's players have to do the rest. Franks said that from what he has seen, Duke can put some pressure on Schaub with its pass rush.
"We've got to give him different looks," Franks said. "We can't line up in one (formation) and play the same thing all the time. We've got to do some things that will confuse him."
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- Duke and Virginia were filled in first on many Atlantic Coast Conference preseason polls back in July -- at the bottom of the ballot.
There was good reason. The Blue Devils owned a 23-game losing streak and had just one returning senior, while the Cavaliers were coming off a losing season and were the youngest team in the league.
Well, two of the ACC's biggest surprises meet Saturday in Wallace Wade Stadium.
Duke has used a bruising ground attack to start 2-3 and Virginia can secure its first four-game winning streak since 1998 with a win over the Blue Devils after starting 0-2.
One of coach Al Groh's toughest tasks this week in practice may have been convincing his guys this isn't the same Duke team that once owned the nation's longest losing streak before beating East Carolina in the season opener.
"Duke is a very high motor team," Groh said. "They've got a lot of guys who are very impressive in terms of how aggressive and how intensely they play."
The Blue Devils will try to run the ball this weekend, while the Cavaliers have turned into one of the ACC's top passing teams.
Duke features 260-pound fullback Alex Wade, who has four 100-yard games, and a now healthy Chris Douglas, who last season was one of the nation's best all-purpose backs.
"We're preparing for the runs, regardless of who's got them," Groh said. "From what I've seen so far the offensive play-calling is pretty consistent with whoever is in the game, but the players have to be mindful of which tailback is in the game because their styles are a little bit different.
"It's a very tough, strong-minded and physical offense. We would be foolish not to put a priority on any back who has gained 100 yards four of out five games this year. I'm very alert to Wade and I'm very impressed with him."
Matt Schaub has been equally impressive as Virginia's quarterback, throwing 14 TDs in the last four games after being benched at times in the season-opening loss to Colorado State.
Duke's defense, the worst in ACC history a season ago, is allowing 110 yards less a game in 2002. However, the Blue Devils' pass defense is ranked seventh in the league.
"What is going to be tough is their ability to throw the football," Duke coach Carl Franks said. "We haven't defended the pass very well.
"We've got to make sure we're playing our assignments correctly, that we can get a pass rush and give them some different looks. We'll need to try to confuse him."
Schaub was masterful in the second half last weekend, leading a comeback against Wake Forest after the Cavaliers trailed 27-10 at the break.
"We're similar to Wake Forest in that our corners aren't the biggest guys in the world," Franks said.
Duke's secondary will have to contend with 6-foot-4 all-ACC receiver Billy McMullen, who is averaging 17.2 yards a catch this year and has four career TDs against the Blue Devils.
"Sometimes people are big and tall and that's all," Franks said. "But when you've got the ability to jump, the ability to control your body and catch the ball, adjust to the ball, it makes it tough. He's got all those qualities that make him very dangerous. We just can't leave one guy on him all by himself all the time. If we do we better get to the quarterback."
There were some bitter times in this rivalry dating to 1989, but things have settled down somewhat recently.
"It's hard for our guys to put themselves in the place of years ago," Franks said. "I don't think it's been that big of a rivalry in terms of trash-talking on the field the last few years. But there was some animosity for awhile back in the late '80s."
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Devils aim to get even |
| By Bryan Strickland : The Herald-Sun bstrickland@heraldsun.com Oct 5, 2002 : 1:17 am ET As a history major, senior linebacker Jamyon Small knows why those outside of the huddle would assume that Duke is doomed to repeat recent history on the football field. The Blue Devils entered this season with a 23-game losing streak, and most observers expected more of the same this season: Of the 86 pollsters who cast votes in the ACC preseason poll, 85 picked Duke to finish dead last. But the Blue Devils stand at a promising 2-3 heading into today’s homecoming game against Virginia and have a chance to reach .500 for the first time at this point of the season since 1998. "People doubted us and looked over us and looked past us, but that’s to be expected," Small said. "It’s not a surprise or a shock in any way, shape or form. Following two 0-11 seasons and you look at the roster and see only one returning senior, you do the math and put all that together, obviously you’re going to say that this team isn’t going anywhere. "But those people that said that aren’t in the locker room every day, they’re not in the weight room and they’re not here all summer watching." The Blue Devils have paid their penance to get to this point in a multitude of ways — from the sweat expended on the practice field to the money expended to upgrade facilities and the coaching staff. The Blue Devils began claiming their dividends in the season opener, a 23-16 victory over East Carolina that cost Wallace Wade Stadium its goal posts. They continued the turnaround last Saturday, with a blowout victory at Navy. "There’s no better feeling in the world than that Saturday night and Sunday after a win — everything’s a lot better in life and you look at things a lot differently," Duke coach Carl Franks said. "It’s a world of difference in how our players feel and how our coaches feel. They have a little different spring in their step." Still, the Blue Devils realize they have yet to turn the corner completely. Their victories have come against teams with a combined record of 2-6, and their 26-21 loss at Northwestern came against one seriously struggling team. Virginia (3-2, 1-1) was picked just ahead of Duke in the ACC preseason poll, but the Cavaliers are listed as 12-point favorites today. So barring some major shift in the oddsmakers’ way of thinking, the Blue Devils will be the underdog in every game left on their schedule — just as they were in their first five games of the season. The Blue Devils have stopped their overall losing streak at 23 games and their road losing streak at 15 games, but they still have an 18-game skid in the ACC. "With the chance to be .500 when some people weren’t picking us to win any games, it’s just fantastic, but we’ve got to take it all in perspective," Small said. "It sounds nice and everything and we’ve already exceeded a lot of the expectations that people had for us, but if we don’t go out and perform, we’d be letting ourselves and everybody else down as well. "Everybody sees that we’ve made improvements and that we can go out there and play, so now we’ve got to go out there and do it and keep focused throughout the whole season. If you don’t, playing the tough competition in the ACC, then you’ll get embarrassed out there." Those outside of Duke’s locker room are surprised that the Blue Devils are 2-3, and so are the Blue Devils — for a much different reason. Franks said Duke should be 3-2, and with good reason: The Blue Devils led Northwestern 14-3 before turnovers cost them the lead and eventually the game. When the season is done, the Blue Devils might regret that loss even more than they do now. Today’s game and next week’s at Wake Forest appear to be the ones remaining on the schedule that Duke has the best chance of winning. If the Blue Devils had handled Northwestern and could pull out victories in their next two games, they’d only need to win one of their final five games to finish at .500 and become bowl eligible. But as it stands, even if they beat Virginia and Wake Forest, the Blue Devils must win two of their final five — against N.C. State, Maryland, Clemson, Georgia Tech and UNC — to finish .500. The Blue Devils, of course, aren’t looking that far ahead. But they also aren’t looking back and simply settling for the pair of victories that have made talk about a .500 season and bowl eligibility relevant. "I think we have a lot left to prove to everyone else and ourselves," Small said. "If we went the rest of the season and didn’t win another game, we wouldn’t be happy. We would have shown some progress, but I think everybody knows we’re even better than that. "So we’re going to go out and try to win all the
ballgames that we have left. With the way we’ve been playing, we have the
opportunity to go out and play with everybody left on our schedule. We can
show the whole country that Duke football is back." |
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