Virginia’s opponent today is 0-4, has not won a home game since 2001
and is ranked dead last among 117 Division I-A teams in total defense and
scoring defense.
So is there a chance the Cavaliers might be a tad overconfident when they face
North Carolina today at Kenan Stadium?
“Nah,” linebacker Darryl Blackstock said, shaking his head and smiling. “No
way.”
For one thing, Virginia’s coaches and players say, they have too much respect
for - and perhaps animosity toward - the Tar Heels, their oldest rival, to
approach their 108th meeting with any sort of complacency or arrogance.
Moreover, the Cavaliers (3-1, 2-0 ACC) seem to realize that they aren’t good
enough yet to take any opponent lightly, even one as seriously flawed as North
Carolina (0-4, 0-2). Over the past three years under Al Groh, Virginia has
been the underdog in a majority of games, a role in which it has thrived.
“Our mentality,” Groh said, “as we’ve proven pretty much on a week to week
basis, is we feel we’re up against the wall every week. … The way most of our
games have gone, that’s been accurate. So I don’t think that’s going to change
with our team for quite some time.”
At any rate, it shouldn’t be hard for Groh to convince his players that the
Heels are a dangerous foe, especially on offense. After a 37-0 loss to Florida
State in the opener, Carolina has scored 108 points in its past three games.
UNC junior Darian Durant has had a superb season, averaging 231 passing yards
while rushing for 41 yards per game, tops among ACC quarterbacks. Durant
produced 389 yards of offense (323 passing, 66 rushing) in a 47-34 loss at
N.C. State last week. He needs 99 passing yards to replace Ronald Curry as the
school’s career leader in that category.
“I love my quarterback and I’m a tremendous fan of [N.C. State’s] Philip
Rivers,” Groh said, “but I think Darian Durant is as good a quarterback as
there is in the league.”
The Heels also have the ACC’s leading receiver in Jarwarski Pollock and top
return man in Michael Waddell. The problem - and it’s a biggie - has been the
defense. Opponents are averaging 522 yards and 42.8 points per game against
UNC.
The Wolfpack rolled up 615 yards against the Heels last week, including 423
passing yards for Rivers. It was another long afternoon on the Carolina
sideline for third-year coach John Bunting, an ex-NFL linebacker.
“Are you kidding me?” Bunting said. “It kills me when I see us play like
that.”
Bunting used about two dozen players on defense last week. He said he plans to
use far fewer today in an effort to keep the team’s best defenders on the
field. He also says he will simplify the defensive schemes.
Nevertheless, it could be a banner day for UVa quarterback Matt Schaub, making
his second start after separating his throwing shoulder in the opener, and
tailback Wali Lundy, the ACC’s leading rusher.
That is, if they don’t go into the game overconfident. Groh hopes they
maintain the same fighter’s mentality that helped them overcome a 21-0
halftime deficit in a 37-27 victory over North Carolina last year. It also
served them well in a comeback win over Wake Forest last week.
“These guys have shown they can take a punch,” Groh said of his players. “They
don’t take a knee, they don’t blink and they come back. That’s a pretty good
thing for a team to understand.”
Virginia’s football program continued to stockpile dynamic quarterbacks
on Friday when the Cavaliers received their first commitment for the 2005
recruiting class. Vicqual Hall, currently a junior at Gretna High School,
announced he will be a Wahoo.
While several schools were beginning to recruit the dual-threat quarterback,
Virginia was well ahead of the pack.
“Virginia liked him and jumped on him quick,” said Gretna coach Robert
Senseney. “Vic really feels comfortable there.”
Hall, who passed for 2,184 yards and 20 touchdowns and rushed for 1,045 yards
and 12 TDs as a sophomore, came up last weekend for the Cavaliers’ dramatic
come-from-behind victory over Wake Forest. UVa’s coaching staff offered him a
scholarship during the visit and he nearly accepted on the spot but decided to
think about it with his family and coach.
“Vic really fell in love with Virginia’s coaching staff and really liked the
family atmosphere that surrounds the program,” Senseney said. “He also liked
the proximity of Charlottesville to Gretna because he wants his family to be
able to watch him play.”
The 5-foot-11, 185-pounder was recruited as a quarterback and is the newest
commitment among a growing list of field generals in the UVa program. Of
course, some of those will be gone by the time Hall steps onto campus for the
2005 season, which he could redshirt.
Next year, Virginia will have Marques Hagans (a junior next season), Anthony
Martinez (a sophomore in ’04), Notre Dame transfer Chris Olsen (sophomore in
’04), Kevin McCabe (possible redshirt freshman in ’04) and incoming freshman
Scott Deke from Los Angeles battling for the quarterback positions.
“Virginia offered and recruited Vic as a quarterback,” Senseney said. “Coach
[Al] Groh and Coach [Ron] Prince [UVa’s offensive coordinator] have not
mentioned any other positions to him.”
Who could blame them after watching the athletic Hall do his thing?
“He can beat you with his legs or he can beat you with his arm,” Senseney
said.
Hall is a three-year starter at quarterback for the Hawks, but also has
started every year since his freshman season at Gretna in baseball
(centerfield/shortstop) and basketball (point guard). He is considered a pro
prospect in baseball but has already indicated that he wants to play college
football.
Heading into last night’s Dogwood District showdown against unbeaten William
Campbell, Hall had already passed for an even 1,000 yards and 14 touchdowns
this season (one interception), and rushed for nearly 300 yards and five TDs.
“He’s a big catalyst in the wheel,” Senseney said. “He has a great arm and has
good decision-making on the run. He’s good enough to sit in the pocket and
read but he’s also good on the rollout and at creating when things break
down.”
Hall, who has 4.4 speed in the 40-yard dash, runs a no huddle offense and
operates almost exclusively out of the shotgun formation and has a variety of
up to 30 different pass plays to choose from.
While he throws a lot, Hall’s coach said that the junior has been remarkably
accurate.
“He has completed close to 75 percent of his passes,” Senseney said. “He’s
gone 21 for 23 already in one game this season. His lowest percentage this
year was against Dan River, when he completed 10 of 15.”
Five of those completions were for touchdowns.
“Gretna has had some pretty athletic quarterbacks down through the years but I
think local people realize that Vic might be the best one to come along in a
long, long time,” Senseney said.
Street & Smith football magazine rated Hall one of the nation’s top 50 junior
prospects in its preseason publication.
The junior carries a 3.4 grade point average and has perfect attendance the
last three years.
Talent in the making at Liberty, Franklin County
UVa gets its 'Vic'
By DOUG DOUGHTY
Exclusive to roanoke.com by 5 p.m. Fridays
AT THE RISK OF coming off as an expert after covering my first high school game
of the year, I was left to believe that there were five or six players who could
play Division I-A or I-AA football in last Friday's game between Franklin County
and Liberty, won by the Minutemen 21-20.
The best player on the field was Liberty junior quarterback O.B. Blake, who
carried 20 times for 178 yards, threw a 23-yard touchdown pass, returned a
kickoff 37 yards and intercepted two passes, one of which he returned 25 yards.
While Blake is a polished option quarterback, my projection is that he would
have to play cornerback at the Division I-A level. Blake started at cornerback
for a Liberty playoff team as a freshman in 2001.
I was also impressed by two other players who were ranked among the top 25
juniors in the state at the end of the 2002 season, Liberty defensive lineman
Nathan Bryant and Franklin County safety Patrick Preston.
The questions with Preston have involved his speed, which might keep him from
playing corner at the I-A level, but he has good size. at 6-2, and enough speed
to have returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown and caught a 33-yard
touchdown pass against Liberty.
Bryant may have had the play of the game when he stopped Franklin County's
Ronnie Edwards for negligible gain on a two-point play after Preston's touchdown
catch. Bryant (6-3, 250) is a little undersized for the defensive line at the
I-A level but he held his ground against Franklin County's 6-3, 340-pound Chris
Renick.
Liberty defensive end and tight end Ian Childress (6-5, 205) also has received
some college interest and appears to have bulked up from last season. An
underclassmen to watch is 6-3, 287-pound Liberty defensive lineman Darryl
Robertson.
VIRGINIA TECH HAS had its Vicks, Michael and Marcus, and now Virginia has a Vic,
5-10, 180-pound Gretna High School junior Vicqual "Vic" Hall, who committed to
the Cavaliers on Friday morning.
"He had not been to [UVa's] camp," Gretna coach Rob Senseney said. "He was
supposed to go up there two years ago, when I first got here, but there was a
scheduling conflict. But, he had been up to basketball games and football games,
so they had seen him.
"To be honest with you, he was a [Virginia] Tech kid for a long time, but Tech
really had not shown much interest in him."
Hall was named first-team All-Group AA as a sophomore, when he passed for 2,184
yards and 20 touchdowns, as well as running for 1,045 yards and 12 touchdowns.
At his size, Hall is certain to draw comparisons to current UVa backup
quarterback Marques Hagans.
ESTEEMED ROANOKE businessman and part-time Cave Spring assistant football coach
Deke Summers, a regular at Roanoke's weekly SEC roundtable, says that 6-2,
200-pound Alleghany High School junior Bosco Williams is the best high school
wide receiver he's seen in 30 years.
IN BASKETBALL recruiting, Virginia Tech would have wanted a commitment from
first-team All-Group AAA guard Marquie Cooke before now but Hokies' coach Seth
Greenberg was at Nansemond River High School on Friday. It appears that Tech has
the support of Cooke's "support group."
Former Blacksburg High School standout Jarhon Giddings was at Tech this past
weekend, and 6-6 Tacoma, Wash., junior-college swingman Justin Holt will be at
Tech next week for the Hokies' home football game with Syracuse.
Tech and UVa are both making a push for Hargrave Military Academy postman and
former Southern Mississippi signee Emanuel Willis. UVa, with two recruits in
hand, is zeroing in on post players
I UNDERSTAND IT'S a good idea to delete many of the e-mails that come across
your computer, but somehow I ended up opening an advertisement for Viagra
tablets at the "low" price of $2.50 per 50 mg dose.
The subject of Viagra had been raised earlier in the week when Roanoke Times
reporter Randy King was unable to use his home computer after it crashed while
he was in the process of ordering 100 Viagra tablets off the Internet for $94.
"A great deal," King called it, which left me wondering, "Other than Rafael
Palmeiro, who could spot a 'great deal,' on Viagra. Personally, I'm not sure I'm
going to live long enough to use 100 Viagra talents.
Sixteen conference games is just fine with UVa men’s basketball coach
Pete Gillen.
Speaking with reporters during a teleconference Friday, Gillen reiterated that
he’s pleased with the ACC’s decision earlier this week to maintain a 16-game
league schedule instead of going to 18 or 20 games with the inclusion of new
members Miami and Virginia Tech.
“I was strongly for the 16 games and I’ll tell you why. I was in the Big East
for four years and we had 18 games, which I felt was too many,” Gillen said.
“Some people wanted to go to 20 games and that would be the most equitable
because you would play everybody twice. Unfortunately, that hurts your
non-league games because you might then not want to go to tournaments in Maui
or Alaska or play big non-conference games if you have those 20 conference
games to play.”
Gillen also stressed the notion that the ACC’s current members are not given
proper credit for the difficultly of the conference slate they already play.
“I don’t think we get quite enough credit for playing 16 round robin games. If
we played 20, our coaches felt that we’d be knocking each other off and going
11-9 in the league and not getting that credit,” Gillen said. “Some coaches
were for 20 but I was strongly for 16. The Big 10 is pretty shrewd and they
went from 18 to 16 games and they’re getting a lot of teams in the NCAA
tournament. … I think we’d be shooting ourselves in the foot to play 20
games.”
Gillen, always one for a relative anecdote, told of a meeting with a group of
orthopedic surgeons from this summer and how it tied into playing a 16-game
instead of a 20-game schedule.
“I was talking to the surgeons and we were discussing about possibly playing
20 conference games. They said to me that 20 games could cause more injures,”
Gillen said. “I said, ‘Why would that be?’ and they said because four more
intense league games would be more meaningful and physical contests and likely
result in more injuries. I thought that it was an interesting point.”
In the new ACC scheduling model, each team will have two primary partners
which it will have twice every year and then have four rotating partners. A
team will play its rotating partners twice each year and then have single
games against the remaining four. The rotating partners would then be flipped
the next season.
Virginia’s primary partners are Virginia Tech and Maryland so the Cavaliers
will not be guaranteed home dates every year with such traditional rivals as
North Carolina and Duke. Instead, UVa will play those teams three times every
two years instead of four times in two years.
“We’d love to have Duke and Carolina come into our building. Everybody in our
league does. We’d love to have them twice every year.” Gillen said. “[There
are] sacrifices you have to make.”
While Virginia and Virginia Tech had played each other twice in a season
previously in this series, the schools have met for single games recently.
Gillen was asked Friday if he felt playing the Hokies twice will now add spice
to the basketball rivalry, which has traditionally trailed its football
counterpart.
“I think it will change the rivalry. Now, they are in the league and it should
make it even more. The football rivalry is unbelievable and the basketball
rivalry had been excellent but now it will be turned up four or five notches,”
Gillen said. “There will be a lot of emotion there. … The league will help
them a lot. They have a good program now but the ACC will make them better and
better and better.”
After short spell, Blizzard is back
Virus sidelined UNC tight end, former Crabber
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published October 4, 2003
This wasn't the way it was supposed to go. After all the twists and turns that
had become his collegiate career - the broken commitment to Virginia, the NCAA
investigation at Kentucky - this was supposed to be Bobby Blizzard's breakout
year at North Carolina.
Instead, he was on his back in a hospital bed, flattened by a vicious viral
infection that, to say the least, had ruined his week. A couple hundred yards
away at Kenan Stadium, the Tar Heels were building a big lead against Syracuse,
only to lose a heartbreaker in triple overtime. Bobby Blizzard, Carolina's
starting tight end, was too zonked on meds to help.
The good news is that today, Blizzard is on the mend. The bad news is he missed
two full games and a good half of a third.
"At first, I was really down," he said. "I felt I had messed up my whole senior
year. But I still have eight games to play. I feel everything happens for a
reason."
Blizzard, a senior from Hampton, is hard-pressed to find an explanation. He
averaged a team-best 15.7 yards per catch last season and was considered one of
the top returning tight ends in the nation. But on Sept. 2, four days before the
Tar Heels were to play the Orangemen, he lost 15 pounds during practice.
The trainers thought he had become dehydrated and pumped him with fluids. But
the next day, Blizzard still felt like he had been run over by a truck. The
headaches were constant, the nausea occasional. Finally, he was sent to UNC's
Student Health Services for testing. On Saturday - game day at Kenan - he was
admitted to UNC Hospital.
"All I could do was hear the sound from the stadium," Blizzard said. "The fans
cheering and the band playing."
The next few days were awful. Headaches intensified to the point that he had
blurred vision. Teammates stopped by to visit, but Blizzard feared he might have
been contagious and made them stay in the hallway. The only positive is that his
mother, LaVerne, came down. She slept on an air mattress in his apartment.
"I was concerned for his health," coach John Bunting said. "It was a mysterious
illness. He was in really bad shape."
Though he checked out of the hospital by the end of the week, he wasn't
completely well. He rested at home while LaVerne served as his nurse.
Eventually, he was able to go outside and get some air. Eventually, he was able
to attend practice and be with his teammates.
Finally, he returned to practice last week. Though Bunting told reporters he
wouldn't play against N.C. State, Blizzard progressed quicker than expected. He
saw about 30 plays Saturday, half what he would normally get. He caught a pass
for 5 yards, which must have felt like catching a touchdown.
"It's great to have him back with a smile on his face," Bunting said. "He had
really prepared himself to have a banner senior year, and he's had a very
difficult start."
Blizzard is used to difficulty. On Sept. 4, 1997, in the early weeks of what
would become a decorated senior season at Hampton High, Blizzard joined Crabber
teammates Ronald Curry and Darnell Hollier in committing to Virginia. Of the
three, only Hollier made it to Charlottesville. Curry signed with North
Carolina, where he completed his eligibility in 2001. Blizzard eventually picked
Kentucky.
Except it wasn't that simple. With his test scores not what they needed to be,
Blizzard registered at Hargrave Military Academy in the fall of 1998. He arrived
at UK four months later, enrolling in the middle of the academic year.
He took part in spring drills and played in '99 as a true freshman. In his
sophomore year, playing primarily wide receiver, he had 23 catches.
Blizzard was happy in Lexington, but that quickly changed when UK launched an
internal probe into reports of rampant recruiting violations in the football
program. That eventually led to Hal Mumme's resignation as coach and a
three-year probation period imposed by the NCAA in January 2002.
Concerned about the change that elevated offensive line coach Guy Morriss to
head coach, Blizzard decided to transfer in the spring of 2001. One of the first
calls he made was to North Carolina, a finalist for his services three years
earlier and where Curry was going into his senior year. As a transfer, Blizzard
had to sit out the '01 season, which was just as well. At 280 pounds, he was no
condition to play.
After going on a strict regimen of diet and exercise, Blizzard lost the flab. He
had a strong junior season, using his size and speed to give the Tar Heels a
valuable weapon - a tight end who can go deep.
Bunting praised Blizzard's offseason work and said he was "in the best shape of
his life."
But for almost all of September, Blizzard was in lousy shape - too sick to his
stomach to eat, too weak to move. He knew others had it worse but couldn't help
wondering why this was happening to him, especially in his senior year.
"It was pretty hard for me," he said.
Now he has his health again. He feels stronger each day and has regained about
10 of the 30 pounds he lost, putting him around 255.
"As far as feeling completely fine, I'm getting there," he said. "But as far as
getting my body back the way it needs to be, it's going to take me a while. My
body feels like I'm back in training camp as far as being sore. I'm just using
my muscles again after laying in a bed for 21/2 weeks. I don't know where I got
it from, but it was a bad time to get it."
Groh using youth differently
BY NEIL AMATO : The Herald-Sun
namato@heraldsun.com; 419-6672
Oct 4, 2003 : 1:05 am ET
CHAPEL HILL -- John Bunting and Al Groh took over as football coaches at their
alma maters the same season. Virginia plodded along to a 5-7 finish that first
year, and Groh realized his team lacked the talent necessary to win. So he went
out and did something about it.
"I think he's recruited some good players," Bunting said. "I think we need to do
that."
Last season, Virginia went 9-5, ripped West Virginia in the Continental Tire
Bowl and became one of the nation's biggest surprises. The Cavaliers did it all
despite playing 14 true freshmen and five redshirt freshmen. Nine true freshmen
started at least one game, and several others played regularly.
This season, despite playing nearly three games without stellar quarterback Matt
Schaub, Virginia is 3-1, 2-0 in the ACC heading into today's game at winless
North Carolina.
Those sophomores don't look so young anymore.
"We felt like the team would best improve when [the freshmen] were on the
field," Groh said. "That was what happened."
North Carolina finished 8-5 and won the Peach Bowl in Bunting's first year.
Since then, the Tar Heels' record is 3-13, including an 0-4 start this year as
Bunting tries to pull off his own youth movement at a gradual pace. Though a
total of 15 freshmen (three redshirts) have played, few have started. Most play
on special teams, which Bunting said was difficult enough to force on the
rookies in preseason practice.
The Tar Heels are getting younger today against the Cavaliers. Linebackers Melik
Brown and Larry Edwards will start as true freshmen, with Edwards making his
first start. It's one move Bunting hopes will make his team, particularly his
defense, better.
"We're playing more players, but that's not always good," Bunting said, going
against the thinking of coaches such as N.C. State's Chuck Amato and Florida
State's Bobby Bowden. "I'm playing sometimes too many players because I'm trying
to give some kids an opportunity on defense to see if they can help us win. The
continuity factor in both practice and games is not [what] you'd like to have."
Other teams, good teams, use their depth to wear down opponents. Florida State
has made a living off playing 45 to 50 players in the first quarter because the
Seminoles have speed up and down the roster. UNC doesn't have that luxury.
Neither did Virginia at the start of last season, so Groh decided not to mix in
the freshmen gradually. He just threw them out there.
The Cavaliers won nine games, but few were easy. Four wins were by five points
or fewer. Opponents rushed for 208 yards a game on Virginia, which got clutch
play from Schaub (28 touchdown passes, seven interceptions). The Cavaliers were
plus-15 in turnover margin and penalized an average of only 35 yards a game.
During its six-game winning streak in the middle of the season, including a
rally from 21-0 at halftime against UNC, Virginia had fewer yards than all but
one opponent. Even Akron, which lost 48-29, outgained Virginia.
Groh realizes that he walks a fine line with so many young players, but he
walked it last year and survived. He survived against UNC despite a
three-touchdown deficit. He insists that last year's on-the-brink season will
keep his team from being overconfident against the Tar Heels, who rank last
nationally in yards and points allowed.
"Every game we've played we've felt like our backs are against the wall," Groh
said. "I don't think that's going to change with our team in quite some time."
Bunting is hoping for a quick change on his side, after four straight losses and
no fewer than 37 points allowed. On his radio show Thursday night, he insisted
that he's not considering the removal of defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable or
any other members of his defensive staff.
"I have no intention of changing my staff on defense," he said. "They work
extremely hard; [they're] very bright. They're working hard to get players in
the right position to make plays. ... We have pared back the defense a little
bit to try to let them play a little bit freer. Defensively, we've just got to
hang in there. We will be better this week than we were last week."
ACC EXPANSION
Some win, some lose with schedule shift
A closer look at the ACC's new expansion-mandated football and men's basketball
scheduling formats announced Wednesday:
FOOTBALL
BOTTOM LINE
Each team in the 11-member ACC will play eight league games against the same
eight teams the next two seasons.
YOU'RE HAPPY IF ...
You're Virginia Tech, Florida State, Maryland or Duke. The Hokies and Florida
State don't play each other either year and the Terrapins avoid Miami. The Blue
Devils steer clear of N.C. State and Miami.
YOU'RE UNHAPPY IF ...
You're North Carolina, Virginia or Wake Forest. All three play the power trio --
Miami, Florida State and Virginia Tech -- both years. Also, N.C. State won't
have automatic-win Duke on its schedule.
QUOTING
"This is one of those it's-time-to-worry-before-you-place-the-bet deals." --
Virginia coach Al Groh.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
BOTTOM LINE
Each team's 16-game conference schedule (the same number of games on the current
schedule) will be broken into three parts the next two seasons:
• Home-and-home series with two "primary partners."
• Home-and-home series with four other schools one season, single games the
next.
• Single games with the four other schools one season, home-and-home series the
next.
YOU'RE HAPPY IF ...
You're North Carolina, Duke or Maryland fans. All of you get your biggest rivals
as primary partners -- Duke and N.C. State for North Carolina, North Carolina
and Maryland for Duke, Duke and Virginia for Maryland.
YOU'RE UNHAPPY IF ...
You're a player at North Carolina, Duke or Maryland. You have guaranteed
intense, draining games against your primary partners. Also, Wake Forest gets
the odd pairing of rival N.C. State and Georgia Tech as its primary partners.
QUOTING
"I haven't even thought about (not playing Duke and North Carolina each twice
per season). I've only been in the league two seasons, and I'm not the quickest
study, but I've already figured out it's very, very hard to win games in the
ACC, no matter who you play." -- Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser.
No rest for woeful UNC defense
Tar Heels face balanced Cavaliers offense bolstered by return of QB Schaub
By RACHEL CARTER, Staff Writer
Last week, North Carolina's defense gave up 615 yards to a N.C. State team
missing tailback T.A. McLendon. That performance left the Tar Heels ranked the
worst defensive squad in Division I-A football .
This week, the Heels face what probably is the most complete offense they have
come up against since their opener against Florida State, which smashed UNC
(0-4) with a mixture of tough tailbacks and a talented quarterback.
Virginia has that same potent combination.
Quarterback Matt Schaub threw for 326 yards against Wake Forest last week in his
first game back from a shoulder injury.
With Schaub ailing, Virginia (3-1) has turned to its ground game, and sophomore
tailback Wali Lundy leads the ACC and is 26th nationally with 95.3 yards rushing
a game.
Lundy's backup, junior Alvin Pearman, is gaining 4.7 yards a carry.
"Their running backs are real fast," UNC defensive tackle Chase Page said.
"Their tackles are athletic. They run the sweep real well on both sides and get
out on the edge well and block. Their running backs have a lot of speed to the
corners, so we've got to shut down the outside running game and force it back
down the middle."
Doing that is not likely to be easy for UNC, as its performance on the perimeter
has been poor. FSU exposed the Heels' perimeter problems in its 37-0 victory in
which the Seminoles rushed for 236 yards.
As he did last season, free safety Dexter Reid leads the Heels in tackles , a
fact that cannot please head coach John Bunting.
UNC's trouble with opponents with strong running games has continued from last
season. The Heels, last in the ACC in rushing defense last season, again are
worst in the conference -- giving up 216.8 yards a game.
Lundy is a particular threat because of his good hands. Last season, he caught
58 passes for 435 yards in addition to his 826 rushing yards. This year, the
Cavaliers have not thrown to him as much, but he had two catches against Wake
Forest.
"His game is right on schedule in terms of its development," Virginia coach Al
Groh said. "He's got better awareness of the plays and the anticipation of the
cuts. He's got a lot more strength and durability than what he had last year."
Lundy's improved performance will not help a Tar Heels defense that allowed him
108 rushing yards on 18 carries in Virginia's 37-27 win last season in
Charlottesville.
As for Schaub, he separated his right shoulder in Virginia's opener against Duke
but has returned more quickly than expected. Last season's ACC Player of the
Year, he was a Heisman Trophy hopeful at the beginning of the season, but his
absence hurt his chances.
"I was kind of hoping he wouldn't be back for our game," UNC's Page said.
Schaub missed two games and returned last week against Wake, helping the Cavs to
a 27-24 win. He had a great first half, going 18-for-22 for 203 yards, but he
threw three interceptions in the second.
Schaub finished 30-of-45 with 326 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.
"He didn't have as much steam as he normally would, although I thought he had a
lot on a few balls," Groh said. "He threw a lot of balls during the course of
the game. Technically, he was only out for two games, but he really hadn't
played in full-speed action since last December."
Without Schaub, the Cavs' passing offense languished at the bottom of the ACC,
gaining 136.3 yards per game through its first three games. Virginia started
redshirt freshman Anthony Martinez in its 31-7 loss to South Carolina and
Marques Hagans in its 59-16 defeat of Western Michigan.
Schaub said Tuesday that his shoulder was feeling fine.
Cavs charting path to end zone
But Tar Heels can score, too
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Oct 4, 2003
The University of North Carolina football team has the nation's worst defense.
You can look it up. Of the 117 teams that play Division I-A football, UNC ranks
117th in scoring defense, allowing 42.8 points per game. The Tar Heels are dead
last in total defense, too, giving up an average of 522 yards.
No wonder they're winless in four games. Yet UNC scares opponents, and here's
the main reason why: Darian Durant.
The junior quarterback already is Carolina's career leader in touchdown passes,
with 40, and he's a dangerous runner, too. Durant, in fact, is bidding to become
the first player to lead UNC in both rushing and passing since 1968. He has
scored both of the Heels' rushing touchdowns since this season and thrown eight
of their 10 TD passes.
In a league whose quarterbacks include reigning ACC player of the year Matt
Schaub of Virginia, Heisman Trophy candidate Philip Rivers of N.C. State and the
erratic but talented Chris Rix of Florida State, Durant can get overshadowed in
the public eye. But the ACC's coaches know all about him. "I love my
quarterback, and I'm a tremendous fan of Philip Rivers," Virginia's Al Groh
said. "And I think Darian Durant's as good a quarterback as there is in the
league."
Groh's Cavaliers (2-0, 3-1) meet the Tar Heels (0-2, 0-4) this afternoon at
Kenan Stadium. Two seasons ago in Chapel Hill, Durant completed 10 of 16 passes
for 162 yards to help UNC hold off Virginia 30-24. Last season at Scott Stadium,
he threw only four incompletions in 18 attempts, passing for 226 yards and three
TDs before leaving in the third quarter with torn ligaments in his right thumb.
Durant's absence made it easier for Virginia to pull off a stunning comeback.
The Cavaliers outscored the Heels 37-6 after intermission and won 37-27.
"This is not a game where we want to play 80 plays of defense and let this guy
throw 40, 45 passes," Groh said.
Carolina ranks last among ACC teams in rushing offense, but it's No. 2 in
passing offense and averages 27 points per game. Junior wideout Jarwarski
Pollock leads the ACC in receptions per game (8.5) and ranks second in receiving
yards per game (91.8).
"Their offense is very explosive," Schaub said.
Which probably means this: If U.Va. is to beat the Heels for the fifth time in
six seasons, Schaub, tailback Wali Lundy, tight end Heath Miller and the rest of
Groh's offense better produce big numbers, too.
"That's the way we're looking at it," Schaub said. "We've got to be able to put
up points and keep scoring on a continuous basis to put ourselves in a position
to win."
The Tar Heels are coming off a 47-34 loss to archrival N.C. State, a game in
which they amassed 550 yards of offense but yielded a staggering 615. Two UNC
players suffered serious injuries against the Wolfpack and probably will miss
the rest of the season: starting cornerback Cedrick Holt (broken left ankle) and
reserve wideout Daunte Field (broken right foot).
U.Va. won't be at full strength either. Groh declined to discuss his team's
health this week, but the Cavaliers figure to be without at least some of these
players today: offensive guard Elton Brown, linebacker Rich Bedesem, defensive
end Chris Canty and kick-returner Marquis Weeks.
Even so, Virginia is favored to pick up only its second victory at Kenan Stadium
in the past decade. But Groh said he's not worried about his players falling
victim to overconfidence. A week ago, the Cavaliers needed late-game heroics to
beat Wake Forest 27-24 in Charlottesville.
"I think we're all pretty clear about the fact that we're not invincible," Groh
said. He added, though, that his players "have really shown that they can take a
pretty good punch. They don't go down to their knees, and they don't blink, and
they come back."
Schaub, Cavs likely to test Heels' defense
UNC will try for first win against visiting Virginia
By Bill Cole
JOURNAL REPORTER
At a time in the college-football season when most teams are firmly entrenched
in their plans for the year, North Carolina is still tinkering around in search
of solutions.
UNC stands winless in four games, two of them in ACC play, and burdened by an
eight-game losing streak at home. Sinking almost as fast as Rush Limbaugh's
sportscasting career, UNC will try today to snap both streaks in a game against
Virginia at 1:30 p.m. at Kenan Stadium.
North Carolina is confronted with another demanding assignment: Virginia is 3-1
overall and 2-0 in the ACC and has quarterback Matt Schaub back at the helm.
UNC will try to contain Schaub and Wali Lundy, the ACC's leading rusher, with a
defensive strategy less complex than the one employed last week in a 47-34 loss
at N.C. State, and freshman linebackers Fred Sparkman and Larry Edwards might
play more to add quickness.
The UNC defense is allowing 42.7 points per game, 522 yards and 305.2 yards
passing, production that Coach John Bunting said cannot continue if the losing
streak is to end. UNC will be without cornerback Cedrick Holt, out after
breaking an ankle at N.C. State, and will start Lionell Green, a junior-college
transfer, in his place.
'I try to go week to week,' Bunting said. 'I know what we're dealing with. I'm
playing 24 and 25 players (on defense) and that's too many. But there's a reason
behind doing that -- I'm trying to shake it out. I'm trying to find out who can
help us play better in this season.
'Obviously I always want to try to get better next season, but I'm trying to
look where we can get better this season. I'm trying to get better week to week.
And sometimes, when you play a lot of players like we're doing, it takes its
toll. There's a risk, but I'm hoping that there's going to be some reward here
sometime soon.'
UNC's defense this week will be simple and basic. Bunting decided that the
strategy at N.C. State was too detailed because of concern about N.C. State's
advantage in speed. Whether simplicity can generate a pass rush and stop running
backs remains to be seen.
'It kills me when I see us play like that,' Bunting said. 'We did make
improvement from week one to two to three and we took a step back this past
week. Part of that has to do with Philip Rivers and a host of very, very fast
players.'
Schaub, when healthy, is every bit the equal of Rivers, who passed for 423 yards
last week and led N.C. State to 615 yards of offense. Schaub played last week
for the first time since Aug. 30, when he suffered a separated shoulder in the
opener against Duke, and led a 27-24 win over Wake Forest.
He completed 18 of 22 passes in the first half for 203 yards. He struggled in
the second half and completed 12 of 23 passes for 123 yards. He was intercepted
three times after halftime.
Schaub didn't hold back because of the injury. He was forced to run on
Virginia's first offensive play and gained four yards. Later he threw a key
block that helped Lundy gain 12 yards on the way to 137 yards, his career high.
'I'm healthy,' Schaub said. 'It's good to get back and get in a rhythm again.'
The performance wasn't vintage Schaub, but it was close enough for Coach Al Groh
and a team that can contend for the conference championship when Schaub is
healthy.
'I thought (Schaub's performance) was much more than what might have been
expected,' Groh said. 'He was in good rhythm. He had real good timing -- not
more than I expected in the game but going into the week more than I thought
might be the case.
'He missed some looks that might have gotten us some more yards. He missed a
couple of throws at the end of the game or had a couple of interceptions that I
think probably wouldn't happen later in the year. But overall, as was pretty
obvious if you saw the game, we couldn't have won the game without him.'
Bunting thought his players did not have urgency at N.C. State last week but at
least seven will have extra motivation today. The seven players live in
Virginia. Most have friends or former high-school teammates who play at Virginia
and this is their rival game.
Maybe their incentive will be enough to lead UNC to the season's first win.
'I don't want to lose to them because I don't want to hear my friends mouth for
the rest of my life because this is the last time I'll play against Virginia,'
Bobby Blizzard, UNC's tight end, said. 'There's five over there that I played
with in high school and I'm trying to not give them bragging rights for the rest
of their life if they beat me twice.'