Cavaliers hurting, but feeling no pain
By JOHN GALINSKY
/ Daily Progress staff writer
Oct 25, 2002
|
Before the season, most folks who follow ACC football believed that
Virginia would struggle even if it stayed healthy. Throw in a few injuries
to key players, and it would be a long, lousy year for the Cavaliers,
right?
Wrong.
Instead, UVa has persevered - thrived, actually - despite having to go
without several of its top players for extended stretches. At different
times, the Cavaliers have been without their best offensive lineman
(center Kevin Bailey), best defensive lineman (end Chris Canty), their top
two returning linebackers (Angelo Crowell and Raymond Mann) and their
fastest player (tailback Michael Johnson).
In addition, three other players who started the season opener - safety
Chris Williams, linebacker Dennis Haley and guard Mark Farrington - have
missed at least one game, as have a number of reserves.
Few thought Virginia was talented or deep enough to overcome such
adversity. Yet the Cavaliers (6-2, 4-1 ACC) have won six games in a row
going into Saturday's matchup at Georgia Tech (4-3, 1-3).
"We've had our share of injuries, that's for sure," said linebacker
Merrill Robertson. "But anybody that goes down, somebody else steps up."
That has been necessary since the start of the season, when Canty
missed the first two games while recovering from a broken leg. In his
absence, freshmen Brennan Schmidt and Kwakou Robinson started at defensive
end.
Virginia started 0-2 and the season could have unraveled when Bailey
and Mann suffered knee injuries against Florida State. Bailey underwent
surgery and is out for the season, while Mann just returned last week
after missing five games.
But the Cavaliers have won every game without them thanks in part to
the play of two sophomores, center Zac Yarbrough and linebacker Bryan
White, who were thrust into the starting lineup.
Freshman guard Brian Barthelmes also has become a starter after
stepping in for Farrington, who was injured against the Seminoles. Another
freshman, linebacker Darryl Blackstock, has started the past seven games,
primarily on merit - he is tied for the ACC lead with eight sacks - but
also because Haley has not played since the opener for what Groh called
"personal reasons."
"We haven't let injuries get us down and that's a big part of why we're
winning," quarterback Matt Schaub said. "We're going with whoever is able
to play. A lot of guys have stepped in and gotten the job done."
Groh has a policy of not discussing injuries. He also forbids his
players from talking about them. That occasionally frustrates writers and
fans who want to know how long an injured player may be out of action, but
Groh said he wants to create "a no-excuses mentality" in which players
don't use injuries as a justification for poor results.
The Cavaliers seem to be buying into that way of thinking.
"We don't say, 'Oh, we're too banged up, we can't compete with these
guys.' We just go out and play," said Canty, who has returned to become a
dominant force on the defensive line.
No team ever goes through a season injury-free, anyway, so why harp on
it?
"To become a really good team - a team that's in the hunt all the time,
a team that can pursue the championship - teams have to be able to learn
to win when it's not easy," Groh said.
Nothing has come easily for the Cavaliers this season, and injuries
have made their task harder. Crowell, the team's defensive captain, has a
strained medial collateral ligament in both knees. He missed most of the
Clemson game two weeks ago, but sophomore Rich Bedesem stepped in and made
a team-high nine tackles (plus an interception) in the 22-17 victory.
Crowell played with limited effectiveness last week against North
Carolina, but once again his fellow linebackers picked up the slack.
Robertson made a career-high 16 tackles, while Blackstock recorded two
sacks.
"I had to step up because my soldier, Angelo, was hurting," Robertson
said.
The Yellow Jackets, meanwhile, have had more problems dealing with
their injuries, and for good reason. They lost Tony Hollings, then the
nation's leading rusher and scorer, to a torn ACL in the fourth game. Then
defensive end Greg Gathers, the school's career sacks leader, was lost for
the season because of a kidney ailment.
Tech's top two tacklers, linebacker Daryl Smith and Keyaron Fox, also
may miss Saturday's game with injuries.
"Our team right now is like everybody in the country, battling through
some injuries and trying to find some consistency," said coach Chan Gailey,
whose team has lost two straight games after a 4-1 start.
"It hurts," said Yellow Jackets punt returner Kelley Rhino. "Losing two
potential All-Americans - Hollings was having a Heisman-type season - is
just a killer. We're doing everything we can to fight through this."
The Cavaliers hope they have gotten through the worst of their injury
problems. Only Bailey and Williams are certain to miss the rest of the
season. Everyone else has either returned or is expected back soon.
"We're getting guys back," Robertson said, "and that's only going to
make us better."
|
Top UVa
comeback? Give us your pick
UVa interest in
Joneliunas grows
By DOUG
DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Thursdays
After hearing my wife rage
Wednesday night about the selections for baseball's 10 most memorable moments,
I had the privilege Thursday of hearing the unique perspective of my neighbor,
the Taxman.
The Taxman, who hadn't watched
the World Series and admittedly is no baseball fan, said his most memorable
baseball moment occurred last month, when William Ligue Jr. and his
15-year-old son jumped out of the stands at Royals Stadium and attacked Kansas
City first-base coach Tom Gamboa.
Sad to say, this is the kind of
sadist the IRS has eye-balling your returns (at least till he retires next
month).
My wife thought that Carlton
Fisk's home run for the Boston Red Sox against the Cincinnati Reds in the 1975
World Series belonged on the list and I can't say I disagree with her. I don't
see how Joe Dimaggio's 56-game hitting streak qualifies as a moment; the
moment, if there was one, was Game 57, when he didn't get a hit.
So, what does all this have to
do UVa athletics? Probably nothing. However, I had already been trying to
research Virginia's biggest football comebacks and realized that opinions on
these matters are seldom unanimous.
I started out with the premise
that Virginia's comeback from a 21-point deficit Saturday against North
Carolina was not the only comeback from a 21-point deficit in UVa history. I
knew the Cavaliers had overcome a 22-point deficit in their 36-32 victory at
Virginia Tech in 1998, but I thought there were some other 21-point comebacks.
If there are, I haven't been
able to find them. I might have been confusing them with three games Virginia
lost after leading by 21, against Georgia Tech and Georgia in 1998, and
Brigham Young in 2000.
Of course, there was also the
time UVa blew a 28-point lead against Clemson in 1992 and lost 29-28 in
Charlottesville.
That was the biggest collapse in
the program's history and the 1998 game at Virginia Tech was the biggest
comeback, but I don't think you can go strictly by the point differential.
Time remaining has to be a major consideration.
IN THAT CONTEXT, here's how I
would rate the comebacks, under the qualification that I never saw a Virginia
game before 1968 (Cavs 63, Tulane 47) and didn't see another till 1970:
1) Virginia 36, Virginia Tech 32
(Nov. 28, 1998, UVa trailed 29-7 in the third quarter)
2) Virginia 26, Virginia Tech 23
(Sept. 19, 1984, UVa trailed 23-13 with less than 11 minutes remaining)
3) Virginia 20, North Carolina
17 (Nov. 14, 1987, UVa trailed 17-7 with less than three minutes remaining)
4) Virginia 20, North Carolina
17 (Nov. 16, 1996, UVa trailed 17-3 in fourth quarter)
5) Virginia 38, Wake Forest 34
(Sept. 28, 2002, trailed 24-7 in third quarter)
THE FIRST THING critics will
notice about the list is that the most recent Virginia-Carolina game is not on
the list and I'm not sure I would have put it sixth. I might put it behind the
1983 game, won by the Cavaliers 17-14 after trailing 14-0 in the second
quarter.
That was the beginning of
Virginia's 11-game home winning streak against the Tar Heels, who seem to be
the victim in a lot of these comebacks, as are Virginia Tech and Georgia Tech.
It's hard to leave out the 1999 UVa-Georgia Tech game, in which the Cavaliers
overcame a 24-7 second-quarter deficit to win 45-38.
This past Saturday was bizarre
in the sense that Carolina had the big lead and, before anybody knew it, the
lead was gone. With more than 11-1/2 minutes left, Virginia was sitting on a
28-21 lead and do you think Al Groh ever thought that would happen?
That's why I think UVa's
comeback from a 17-point deficit Sept. 28 at Wake Forest was more monumental.
It was on the road, it went down to the wire and, arguably, it turned around a
season.
That's why I would put the 1984
Tech-UVa game so high on the list. That game may have turned around a program,
plus it included the single most daring call of ex-George Welsh's career, a
post pattern to John Ford on fourth-and-1.
Not only are the top two
comebacks on this list against Virginia Tech, but they were both at Lane
Stadium, generally regarded as one of the most hostile sites where UVa plays.
It's hard to remember a major comeback by Virginia against the Hokies in
Charlottesville; indeed, Scott Stadium was the site of one of Tech's most
memorable comebacks, from a 29-14 fourth-quarter deficit to win 36-29 in 1995.
LOOK FOR THE CAVALIERS to step
up their involvement with Paulius Joneliunas, the 6-foot-10, 240-pound
Lithuanain postman who is spending his senior year at Roanoke Catholic.
Virginia already had taken a
look at Joneliunas even before developments of the past week brought their
scholarship situation into sharper focus.
UVa had been saving its last two
scholarships for 6-7 Luol Deng, a Sudanese native playing at Blair Academy in
Blairstown, Pa., and for the first player to commit among a group of Terrence
Roberts, Sheray Thomas and Mike Pilgrim.
Those three and 6-8 Ross Neltner
of Fort Thomas, Ky., had visited UVa officially, but now they have commmitted
or about to commit elsewhere -- Roberts to Syracuse, Thomas to Kentucky,
Neltner to LSU and Pilgrim to either Cincinnati or Seton Hall.
Virginia, with commitments from
wing players J.R. Reynolds and Gary Forbes, has an offer on the table to 6-8
Lithuanian Linas Kleiza from Montrose Christian Academy in Rockville, Md., and
already has made additional inquiries about Joneliunas, who, like Kleiza, has
indicated he will sign in the spring.
Eyeing a bowl bid, Cavs face Jackets
On the coattails of a six-game win streak, Virginia plays the Yellow Jackets
in its fifth straight ACC game
| Brett Jerasa |
| Cavalier Daily Senior
Writer |
Two former NFL head coaches face off this Saturday as Al Groh's Cavaliers
travel to Atlanta to face Chan Gailey's Georgia Tech. ABC will televise the
game at 3:30 p.m.
Virginia (6-2, 4-1 ACC) currently enjoys a six-game winning streak. But
history may prove perilous for the Cavaliers -- in 1990, Virginia won seven
games in a row before losing to Georgia Tech, 41-38, and Virginia has not won
seven in a row since. The matchup also is Georgia Tech's homecoming game, and
the Yellow Jackets have won six homecoming games in a row.
Virginia and Georgia Tech (4-3, 1-3 ACC) have split their last two
meetings. In 2000, Georgia Tech won in a 35-0 drubbing of the Cavaliers. But
Virginia sought revenge last year, winning 39-38 after a hook-and-ladder play
resulted in a game-winning touchdown with 22 seconds left in regulation.
Eleven of the past 19 contests have been decided by seven points or less,
although such close margins of victory do not concern Groh.
"I think part of it might have to do with how systems match up on each
other," he said. "In this case, you have a new operation at Georgia Tech and
you have a new operation here, so whatever circumstances and matchups cause
those types of games, I think we're starting all over again."
Junior quarterback Matt Schaub leads the new Virginia system. His
impressive playmaking ability, with 1,721 passing yards on the season and 19
touchdowns with only five interceptions, has been a welcome surprise to the
Virginia team.
Freshman tailback Wali Lundy leads the team in rushing with 458 yards. He
has also caught 40 passes for 271 yards. Groh is pleased with the improved
running game, which was rather lackluster at points in the season.
"Our tailbacks had 36 carries for 189 yards," he said in reference to the
North Carolina game. "I think that's a pretty good number."
Defensively, senior linebacker Angelo Crowell continues to be a leader for
the Cavaliers -- he has 77 tackles and two sacks. Against North Carolina,
Crowell recorded seven tackles despite an injury.
"Here's a guy who did a marvelous job the other day," Groh said. "He played
with two of the injuries that most players don't play with. He had two MCLs.
He wanted to play in the game and help his team win, which he did."
Senior linebacker Merrill Robertson leads the team with 83 tackles, and he
also has three sacks. Joining the two veterans at linebacker is freshman
powerhouse Darryl Blackstock, who has eight sacks this season, tying the
freshman record.
"The only agenda these players have is to win," Groh said.
Gaily acknowledges the spirited play of the linebackers and "how
aggressively they flow and attack the line of scrimmage."
"Their defense is what I have been looking hardest at this week," he said.
Georgia Tech's starting lineup has been ravaged by injury. Leading rusher
Tony Hollins and All-American defensive end Greg Gathers are both out for the
season, and standout linebacker Keyaron Fox also is out with a sprained ankle.
But solid play from quarterback A.J. Suggs and ACC-leading receiver Kerry
Watkins should keep the Yellow Jackets competitive.
The Cavaliers hope to continue their second-half surges and reign on
Georgia Tech's homecoming parade. A Saturday win would indeed make Virginia
bowl eligible and show the continuing improvement of the young Cavalier squad.
Recruits note sparkle from NFL jewelry
John Hollis -
Staff
Friday, October 25, 2002
Recruits can't help but notice Virginia coach Al Groh's
two Super Bowl rings --- and that's just the idea.
The rings are from Groh's days in the NFL and are among the first things
prospective players and their parents ask him about during in-home visits.
Whether it's the rings or not, many of those prospects have been buying what
Groh is selling and will be on the field Saturday when the Cavaliers play
Georgia Tech.
"There's a lot to be said for walking into a kid's living room and showing
him a national championship ring," said recruiting analyst Jamie Newberg of
TheInsiders.com. "But if you show a Super Bowl ring, that's even more
impressive."
Groh isn't the only ACC coach with NFL ties. First-year Georgia Tech coach
Chan Gailey and second-year coaches John Bunting of North Carolina and Ralph
Friedgen of Maryland are also former NFL assistants.
Groh and Gailey are among the eight Division I-A head coaches with NFL head
coaching experience, joining Pete Carroll (Southern California), Dennis Erickson
(Oregon State), Lou Holtz (South Carolina), June Jones (Hawaii), John Mackovic
(Arizona) and John Robinson (UNLV).
Both Gailey and Groh, longtime NFL assistants, had short stints as NFL head
coaches.
Gailey, who was the Miami Dolphins' offensive coordinator before succeeding
George O'Leary in December, was head coach of the Dallas Cowboys from 1998-99.
He and Groh, who spent one season as the New York Jets' head coach in 2000, have
a combined 24 years of NFL assistant coaching experience between them and have
participated in six Super Bowls, four for Gailey.
"There's a lot of things going on [at the college level]," Gailey said.
"Instead of 45 lives in the NFL, you have 100 lives to deal with. I'm working a
little in football and a lot in other things, too."
Groh's NFL influence is perhaps the most obvious. A longtime assistant under
Bill Parcells, his day-to-day approach to the college game is similar to that
seen in the NFL. Like the NFL, Virginia opens its locker rooms to the media
following games. And like Parcells, Groh's program is a one-voice system.
Assistant coaches are off-limits to the media. Groh often refers to fall
practices as training camp and still has game plans in his office for almost
every NFL game in which he ever participated. A replica Vince Lombardi Trophy
and an autographed Lawrence Taylor jersey adorn his office.
"We try to run the same tempo, the same type of organization," Groh said.
"We're pretty much ingrained in that."
Tech freshman tailback Ace Eziemefe had committed to the Yellow Jackets
before O'Leary's sudden departure to Notre Dame. He was more than a little
concerned about the coaching change, but felt reassured upon hearing that Gailey
would be his coach.
"He's been in the pros," Eziemefe said. "Every place he's been, running backs
have been successful."
GEORGIA TECH REPORT
John Hollis -
Staff
Friday, October 25, 2002
The second half of recent games couldn't have turned out
more different for Georgia Tech and Virginia.
The Yellow Jackets, who will host the Cavaliers on Saturday, have endured
major collapses after the break in losing back-to-back games to Wake Forest and
Maryland.
Virginia, on the other hand, has made a reputation of second-half heroics
with four consecutive victories after trailing at halftime.
Last weekend's surge from a 21-0 halftime deficit to North Carolina to a
37-27 victory marked the second-greatest comeback in school history.
Winners of six consecutive games overall, the Cavaliers have averaged 22.1
points and 214.4 yards of offense in the second half, compared with 9.6 and
148.9 in the opening half.
The second half hasn't been as kind to the Jackets' defense as of late,
starting with its problems against Wake Forest.
In last week's loss to the Terrapins, Tech surrendered 28 points and 189
yards rushing in the second half after holding the Terps to six points and 33
yards rushing in the first.
"The last two halves of the last two games, we just fell apart," senior free
safety Jeremy Muyres said. "We have a lot of football left. We need to get our
act together."
Going way back
Tech coach Chan Gailey and Virginia coach Al Groh share more than just a
common NFL coaching experience. They worked together for a year at the Air Force
Academy in 1979, when Groh was defensive coordinator and Gailey was one of his
defensive assistants.
Wishing the best
Gailey said he plans to send a congratulatory note to Dallas Cowboys running
back Emmitt Smith, who enters the weekend within reach of the NFL's career
rushing record held by the late Walter Payton.
Gailey coached Smith while he was Dallas' coach from 1998-99.
Cavs riding hot streak into stretch drive
Associated Press
RALEIGH -- Bobby Bowden had one thought as he walked off the field after
beating Virginia in late August.
"I got the feeling I wasn't anxious to play them next year," the Florida
State coach said of the young Cavaliers. "I said, 'Oh my, they're going to be
mean and bad next year."'
The Cavaliers were an immature team on Aug. 31 after a 40-19 loss to the
Seminoles. But Virginia has reeled off six straight wins since that defeat two
months ago in Tallahassee, Fla., to become the surprise team of the Atlantic
Coast Conference.
The Cavaliers (6-2, 4-1 ACC) head to Georgia Tech this weekend with a chance
to nail down the program's first seven-game winning streak since starting 7-0 in
1990. That team, ranked No. 1 at the time, lost 41-38 to the Yellow Jackets at
home and ended the year a disappointing 8-4.
This year's club has been built on talented youth -- coach Al Groh has played
more than a dozen true freshmen -- and the improved play of junior quarterback
Matt Schaub. On defense, linebacker Darryl Blackstock leads the nation in sacks
by a freshman with eight.
"You could see that young talent, and when that young talent starts playing
mature then you've got it," Bowden said. "That's what they're doing."
Virginia's four straight ACC wins over Wake Forest, Duke, Clemson and North
Carolina have been by a combined 24 points. While not very impressive on the
scoreboard, the Cavaliers have gained confidence with the winning streak after a
rocky 0-2 start.
And any kind of a winning streak is gravy for a team that is now approaching
bowl eligibility despite being picked to finish eighth in the ACC's preseason
poll.
"Every week any misstep and we're out of the race," said Groh, whose team now
sits in third in the ACC behind Florida State and North Carolina State. "We know
what needs to be done here and the challenge of it."
Virginia has a week off after the Georgia Tech game, then starts a brutal
finishing stretch that includes No. 18 Penn State, No. 12 N.C. State, Maryland
and No. 3 Virginia Tech.
Groh, the former head coach of the New York Jets, said the hard part of this
phase of the season is knowing when to back off to keep your team fresh, yet
keep an edge. That balancing act can be even more difficult with younger
players.
"I know it happens to old guys, too," Groh said when asked about his team
possibly wearing down. "I've seen it happen to NFL players who have been
training 12 months a year for years and years. The body, regardless of what age
number is on it, is going to get tired.
"I do think you have to make allowances if you want your team to be fresh and
able to play well down the home stretch. You have to acknowledge the reality of
the circumstances. We'll do that with our team."
Groh doesn't need to be reminded that his club is one of a handful that will
play 13 games, a major grind for college football players.
"We played the first game of the college football season, so that means we've
been going at it longer than anybody," Groh said. "An off week will be good for
the players mentally, just a little change of pace, as well as the physical
benefits."
Virginia has the attention of Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey.
"You better know where No. 11 and No. 33 are at all times," Gailey said of
wide receiver Billy McMullen and running back Wali Lundy. "And Schaub is playing
great right now. And they've got a ton of sacks on defense this year, so you
better pay attention. It's a full-time job worrying about all they have."
Many
Happy Returns
U-Va.'s Runback, Kick Coverage Teams Have
Become Special
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Wednesday, October 23, 2002; Page D06
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Oct. 22 -- The low point for Virginia's special teams
came in the third game of the season, a nationally televised home contest
against then-No. 22 South Carolina. Midway through the second quarter,
Cavaliers Coach Al Groh decided the kickoff coverage team could not be
trusted after it allowed a 95-yard touchdown that gave the Gamecocks the
lead. On the next three kickoffs, Virginia lofted relatively short,
conservative kicks, hoping to minimize the chance of another big gain.
More than six weeks later, the special teams players are no longer
walking on eggshells, trying not to make mistakes. Since a handful of
changes during the bye week that followed the South Carolina game, the
Cavaliers (6-2, 4-1 ACC) have made steady improvement covering and returning
kicks and punts. Now, they are the aggressors in the midst of a six-game
winning streak.
The formula was relatively simple, Groh said -- "changed personnel,
changed the scheme, got better at it."
Saturday's 37-27 win against North Carolina marked perhaps its best
special teams performance of the season. Sophomore kick returner Marquis
Weeks and freshman punt returner Marques Hagans combined for 211 yards on
eight returns, including a 100-yard touchdown return by Weeks. The kick
coverage team limited the Tar Heels to 112 yards on seven returns and pinned
them inside the 22-yard line six times.
"So much emphasis is put on it," Weeks said. " . . . Make big plays
wherever you're put. Special teams is a great place to make big plays."
Weeks, who earned ACC specialist of the week honors with a program-record
172 kick return yards, picked a great time for Virginia's third special
teams touchdown of the season. With the Cavaliers trailing 21-0, he scored
on the opening kickoff of the second half. Weeks received a game ball after
each of the past two games (Clemson, UNC); he had never received one
previously.
"That reinforced the belief," Groh said of the return against North
Carolina. "The players went out there [for the second half] wanting to
believe that they could win, but you need demonstrated evidence of that.
"It's the psychology of results. We're all affected by it. That's human
nature. So all of the sudden we got a big result like that, when nothing
very positive had happened in the first 30 minutes. . . . The points were
very important and in this particular case the affirmation of belief
certainly carried us for a while."
The kick return team had produced seven returns of more than 30 yards
since the bye week, but was itching to spring Weeks or his kick return
partner, freshman Wali Lundy, for a touchdown.
"We've been so close all year and to finally run it back at that time, it
was just perfect," sophomore Jay Dorsey said, holding one of the "Virginia
Special Teams" T-shirts that special teams coach Corwin Brown hands out for
top-notch play. "It turned around the game."
The Cavaliers kick coverage team has done its job as well. In the past
five games, Virginia's opponents have returned kickoffs past their 30-yard
line just five times in 34 attempts. At times, Dorsey, Weeks, senior Alex
Seals, junior Ryan Sawyer and freshman Jason Snelling seem to have less
trouble beating opposing blockers than they do outracing each other in their
zeal to get to the return man.
"It's very competitive right now on our kickoff team," said Seals, a
former walk-on who forced fumbles against South Carolina and Akron that were
returned for touchdowns. "Everyone's flying down there, trying to make a
play, trying to make a tackle."
The punt coverage team has allowed 3.2 yards per return in the past six
games -- down from 13.9 yards in the first two games -- and has stifled two
of the conference's best return men, Wake Forest's Fabian Davis and
Clemson's Derrick Hamilton, in recent weeks. |
Former QB still calling the plays
Rave reviews for U.Va.'s Musgrave
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Oct 25, 2002
CHARLOTTESVILLE He's bright and analytical and holds a finance degree from the
University of Oregon. Shouldn't Bill Musgrave be working at, say, some Wall
Street firm, and not coaching football?
"There's no question that I thought he'd be good at it," said Rich Brooks, for
whom Musgrave starred at quarterback at Oregon. "But I was maybe a little
surprised when he decided to go into coaching because he's smarter than that."
Musgrave followed his heart.
"I always pictured myself doing something that involved athletics and
competition," he said in August.
What he does these days is call plays and tutor quarterbacks at the University
of Virginia, where he's in his second season as Al Groh's offensive coordinator.
Musgrave doesn't turn 35 until next month, but he's rising quickly in his chosen
profession. The Sporting News recently called him the ACC's top coordinator, and
the magazine isn't his only admirer.
Cavaliers fullback Kase Luzar recalled a recent conversation with his brother,
Jaguars rookie Chris Luzar. The former U.Va. tight end "was just kind of raving
about how much football [Musgrave] knows," Kase Luzar said.
Musgrave, who, like Groh's other assistants, is off-limits to the media during
the season, oversees an offense with a patchwork line and only two seniors. That
hasn't fazed him. His creative playcalling - no U.Va. game is complete, it
seems, without some trickery - generally has kept opposing defenses off balance.
At times, particularly in the fourth quarter, Virginia has highlighted its
running game. At other times, it's relied primarily on the pass. Both methods
have produced victories for a team with one of the ACC's weaker defenses.
Eleven Cavaliers have scored at least one touchdown. Tailback Wali Lundy has
thrown a TD pass, as has tight end Heath Miller. Virginia (4-1, 6-2) averages
31.8 points and has won six consecutive. Nearly 70 percent of its scoring has
come after Musgrave's halftime adjustments.
A native of Grand Junction, Colo., Musgrave is the all-time leader in passing
yardage and total offense at Oregon, a school that's turned out quarterbacks
Joey Harrington, Dan Fouts, Akili Smith and Norm Van Brocklin.
Musgrave, who as Steve Young's backup completed his only pass in San Francisco's
Super Bowl XXIX romp, never became an NFL starter. But his pro experience helped
prepare him for his next line of work. He learned from teammates such as Young,
John Elway and Peyton Manning. His coaches included Denver's Mike Shanahan.
"You know you can learn something from [Musgrave] every time you talk to him,"
said U.Va. quarterback Matt Schaub, No.6 nationally in passing efficiency.
Groh, who'd spent 13 years coaching in the NFL, returned to his alma mater in
December 2000. Before hiring Musgrave, he interviewed Jeff Rutledge, who was
then Vanderbilt's quarterbacks coach. But Musgrave's candidacy got a boost when
Rutledge, the front-runner for the coordinator's job at U.Va., decided to stay
at Vandy.
Groh didn't know Musgrave well but had followed his career from afar. Like
others, Groh took note when the Raiders hired Musgrave, who had no coaching
experience, to work with their quarterbacks shortly after the Broncos released
him in 1997.
Brooks, the St. Louis Rams' coach in'95 and'96, said that as soon as Musgrave
"started coaching, word spread pretty fast that this was a bright, young coach."
Musgrave was the Eagles' offensive coordinator for the final 10 games of'98. He
joined the Panthers as quarterbacks coach in'99 and added the title of offensive
coordinator the following season. After four games in 2000, however, Musgrave
unexpectedly quit because of a poor working relationship with then-coach George
Seifert.
Having worked on numerous NFL staffs, Groh said yesterday, "I could understand
how something like that could develop. He was so upfront with his explanation, I
could see it as just one of those things that unfortunately happens."
Musgrave and his wife, Neely, have two sons and a daughter, all under the age of
5. The kids' father works at a school about which he knew little before his
interview with Groh.
"Just what Patrick Jeffers had told me," said Musgrave, whose Denver teammates
in'96 included the former U.Va. wideout.
For nearly a decade, Musgrave drew a paycheck from one NFL team or another. Does
he miss the pro game?
"Not really," he said. "I had such a good experience playing collegiately that,
with those fond memories, it's a wonderful environment to be around."