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Safety situation perks up
Addition of Tynes may be good timing for Cavaliers
By John Galinsky  / Daily Progress staff writer
October 20, 2003

Neither Virginia coach Al Groh nor Kenneth Tynes care to go into specifics about why Tynes took what Groh called an extended “leave of absence” from the team - a de facto suspension.
What’s important, they say, is that Tynes is back at practice, back in good standing and perhaps back just in time to help out a safety situation that seems to grow more tenuous by the week.
The redshirt freshman from Centreville High in Clifton rejoined the Cavaliers several weeks ago after fulfilling the requirements Groh laid out for him over the summer. Neither coach nor player said what those requirements entailed, though Tynes admitted Monday his issues were both academic and behavioral in nature.
“I guess you could say it was a suspension to help me see the light. I take it as enlightenment,” he said. “It was a bad situation I got myself into and I learned from it.”
Tynes said the suspension stemmed from his actions during his freshman year of school, during which he redshirted. Groh essentially kicked him off the team early in the summer, but the coach said Tynes is now like any other player.
“If there’s something to be dealt with, it’s dealt with. Once it’s done, it’s over with. I don’t have grudges,” Groh said. “He’s satisfied the conditions we set. Now we’re moving on.”
Tynes returns to a new position, however. A running back in high school, he switched to receiver last year. Now he is working at safety, a position hard hit by injuries.
One starter, Willie Davis, suffered a season-ending injury in the second game. Davis’ replacement, Jay Dorsey, was wearing a cast on his left hand Monday. Robbie Catterton, the top backup, has missed the past several games with an injury. That leaves Jermaine Hardy, the team’s leading tackler, as the only healthy safety who has played this season.
The 6-foot, 191-pound Tynes is somewhat small for the position, Groh said, but “he’s certainly got speed and range. He’ll be able to play the deep half of the field.”
Tynes joked that he has been sleeping with the playbook recently since he has no experience as a safety on any level.
“Never played a snap of defense in my career. I’m starting fresh,” Tynes said. “But I’m a hard hitter. I’m intense. I’m a tough guy. I like to hit. I like a challenge. I like to compete. The only thing I’m working on is trying to get these coverages down.”
Shaken Hagan. Saturday night was a long one for sophomore Tom Hagan, who averaged 28.5 yards on eight punts against Florida State and endured boos from some of the Scott Stadium fans.
“It was pretty embarrassing,” he said.
Hagan said he has been working hard on getting out of his current slump. Fourteen of his past 16 punts have gone 32 yards or less, and he is averaging an ACC-low 34.3 yards per kick. If anything, he said, he may be thinking about his problems too much.
So on Sunday, “I just relaxed and did some school work and didn’t think about it at all. We’ll see what happens. We’ll see if it pays off.”
Hagan said he expects competition in practice this week from other punters, including freshman Noah Greenbaum of Richmond.
Groh said he would look at other candidates but also hopes Hagan will get into a groove.
“I think he’d tell you that, more than mechanics, with Tom it’s often a case of rhythm and balance,” Groh said. “If he’s got a good rhythm and he’s in balance, he kicks the ball well. When he’s out of rhythm and out of balance, everything else is askew, whether it’s the timing of his drop or the angle of his drop. …
“I think that’s the case with most athletes, particularly those involved in a swing - a golf swing, a baseball swing.”

Feeling Franks’ pain. Groh was sympathetic when asked about Carl Franks, who was fired as Duke’s coach on Sunday.
“I guess I immediately thought of it from the perspective of the coach and his family. I understood the impact personally that it has on him,” Groh said. “This is his life, being a coach. At least for the time being, he’s not a coach. Yesterday he had a team. Today he doesn’t have a team.
“I felt badly for him. You know, it’s easy for fans to yell, ‘Fire the coach.’ It’s hard to be the coach and the family sometimes and go through things like that publicly. That’s the nature of the job. You understand that. Nobody’s asking for any sympathy. But human nature being as it is, it doesn’t make it any easier for the person and his family who’s going through it.”
Good timing. Groh said he suggested the 3 p.m. kickoff time for Saturday’s homecoming game against Troy State (4-3).
“Because we depend so much on the student crowd, as well as the older crowd, we want to give them enough time to tend to whatever needs to be tended to before the game,” he said.
Groh said he was thrilled by the fan turnout for last Saturday’s 19-14 loss to FSU. A Scott Stadium-record crowd of 62,875 attended the game and many of the students showed up early.
“I thought it was great,” Groh said.

Extra points. Virginia’s game at N.C. State on Nov. 1 is set for 3:30 p.m. It will be televised regionally by ABC. … Groh said he was pleased by the performance of defensive end Brennan Schmidt, who made 10 tackles against Florida State to share team-high honors with linebacker Ahmad Brooks. … Troy State’s three losses have come on the road against Kansas State, Minnesota and Nebraska.

 

 

Canes hit back with suit against Big East
The University of Miami files a lawsuit alleging breach of contract and a conspiracy to defraud on the part of the conference and four schools.
BY SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN
sdegnan@herald.com

The impending divorce just got uglier.

After months of being called conspirators in ''a deliberate scheme . . . to destroy the Big East,'' the University of Miami struck back Monday in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court.

UM filed suit against the Big East Conference, the University of Connecticut, Pittsburgh, Rutgers and West Virginia, alleging breach of contract and a conspiracy to defraud on the part of the conference and individual schools.

Miami also sued UConn for defamation.

''Enough of all these lawyer-concocted claims and all the defamation and name-calling and daily press releases and press conferences,'' Miami attorney Eric Isicoff told The Herald by telephone. ``What we want to do is bring the real issue to the court here and have the court declare, `Hey, there was a contract. You have the absolute right to leave the [Big East] conference and you've done nothing wrong.'

``That's the bottom line.''

Isicoff, co-counsel Roberto Martinez and Aaron Podhurst filed the lawsuit on behalf of UM.

Isicoff said Miami is ``looking for substantial damages against the Big East and the other schools . . . and we would estimate those damages are going to range into the millions of dollars.''

UM also filed an appeal Monday with the Supreme Court of Connecticut to immediately review trial judge Samuel Sferrazza's recent order denying UM's motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction.

UM was sued in June by the four schools, but not by the Big East Conference, for, according to the original lawsuit, conspiring in a scheme to destroy the league by choosing to defect to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Miami claims in Monday's lawsuit that in 1999 it expressed to Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese that it had 16 concerns with the Big East -- including scheduling, marketing, TV rights and the ability of members to leave the conference. It claims those concerns were not addressed and that it signed an amended Big East Constitution in 2001 under false pretenses that the issues would be resolved.

Either way, Isicoff said UM legally abided by the amended constitution by giving its notice to leave the Big East by this past June 30 and by paying its $1 million exit fee.

''There was no commitment to stay in the conference for any period of time,'' Isicoff said.

``It was a revised and amended out-clause that was very clear and unequivocal: `You give your notice by June 30 and you pay your money within a year -- $1 million -- and you're free to go.

``In the past 25 years, 39 other schools have changed conferences, and there has never been a lawsuit. It's nothing extraordinary.''

UM athletic director Paul Dee said Monday in a written statement, ``We took this action very reluctantly, because we think litigation in this matter is neither productive nor desirable.

``However, the barrage of lawsuits emanating out of Big East member schools have forced us to take steps to protect our rights and reputation.''

Most recently, the four Big East schools filed a second lawsuit last Tuesday over the ACC expansion, adding Boston College, its athletic director and four ACC officers to the list of defendants.

The Big East acknowledged Monday's lawsuit, but spokesman Rob Carolla said there would be no public comment.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, the most vocally aggressive plaintiff on behalf of his side's lawsuits, told The Associated Press that UM's lawsuits are unfounded and show Miami is acting out of ``fear and anger.''

''Any harm claimed by the University of Miami plainly is self-inflicted or nonexistent, and pales in comparison to the damage it has done to its Big East partners,'' Blumenthal said.

The defendants have 20 days to respond to the complaint.
 

 

 

McLendon has knee surgery
10-21-03
By ROB DANIELS Staff Writer
News & Record

RALEIGH -- Forget the calendar, Chuck Amato says. The burning of redshirts in the N.C. State football program is becoming a justifiable conflagration.

One week after playing true freshman offensive lineman Derek Morris for the first time -- in the season's eighth game -- Amato said Monday that another rookie, tailback Reggie Davis, will see action in place of injured T.A. McLendon when the Wolfpack (2-2 ACC, 5-3) plays at Duke (0-4, 2-5) on Saturday. McLendon, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery four days ago, is almost certainly out for the Duke game, and backup Josh Brown, who has missed the past two games with a hip-flexor injury, can't be counted on for 25 carries, either.

Under NCAA rules, playing even a down in the second half of the season ends all chance of a redshirt year.

"We've got to get (Davis) in there, whatever the number of snaps," Amato said. "We were going to do it last week, but T.A. came along well in the last couple of days. And here it is again. I feel bad, but if he can help us get through a game, he still has three years in front of him."

The loss of McLendon for the Duke game was not the only ailment to afflict the Wolfpack offense. Lineman Ashley Wingate, whose role had increased because of injuries to others, suffered a broken leg in a car accident Friday that killed the driver of the other vehicle. Police said Wingate was the passenger in his car and the driver of his vehicle was not at fault.

The compound fracture ends the college career of Wingate, a senior.

"He's lucky to be alive and he's lucky he was in a big car," Amato said.

McLendon was deemed highly doubtful after tearing a meniscus during Thursday's win over Clemson. Trainers had to straighten the leg several times to keep him in the game, but postgame diagnosis deemed surgery necessary. Doctors estimated the recovery time at seven to 10 days. The 2002 ACC Rookie of the Year has missed three games and has been limited in the contests he has played. After averaging nearly 19 carries per game last season, he has gotten 12.6 attempts per contest in 2003.

"Every day you have to pray for that guy," said wide receiver Tramain Hall, expressing empathy. "He might be walking downstairs and sprain an ankle."

The decision on whether to play a true freshman for the first time in late October is a topic on which successful coaches disagree. Former Virginia coach George Welsh said if a player could help his team win, he'd use him even for a few plays. Others believe that burning a redshirt can only be justified if the rookie would see considerable action.

Amato, in his fourth season as State's head coach, believes his program lacks the depth necessary to support holding out every rookie under all circumstances.

He anticipates Brown will play, but fifth-year senior Cotra Jackson has averaged only 2.7 yards a carry this season and can't be considered a reliable backup.

Davis comes to the Wolfpack as a highly recruited player out of Tallahassee, Fla., where Amato roamed the sideline as a chief aide to Bobby Bowden at Florida State for 19 years. Few observers anticipated N.C. State would be able to get another quality runner in the immediate aftermath of McLendon's success, but Amato didn't give up on the concept and is especially pleased to have Davis.

"Tailbacks know that tailbacks can get hurt," the coach said.
 

 

 

FSU defense excels in adapting
By Steve Ellis
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

Mickey Andrews, in the challenge created by Virginia's unexpected offensive strategy, found even more to like about his Florida State defense.

Virginia entered Saturday's game ranked second in the ACC, averaging 162 rushing yards, but asked its running backs to carry the ball just seven times against FSU. Instead, Virginia surprised the Seminoles with a steady diet of horizontal passes - screens and short passes that led to two touchdowns. With the benefit of a bad Virginia snap but also some important third-down stops, FSU finally shut the Cavaliers down in the final 1½ quarters.

"I thought the big thing they did was finish," Andrews said of his players. "When you take the second half, (Virginia) had less than 100 yards of total offense. I thought (FSU players) were into the game pretty good. Virginia is a good football team ... and they do some things that create problems for you. ... We stopped them we when we had to."

Andrews said Virginia, which was without leading rusher Wali Lundy, went against its offensive tendencies. Matt Schaub completed 39 of 53 passes but had just one completion of 25 or more yards.

"We worked all week on stopping the running game ... and it's a matter of you're trying to make adjustments," Andrews said Monday. "The hard thing about it is they're doing it for the most part out of their run formation.

"Their running plays were evidently those flare passes and what we call dart passes or angle passes where the running back starts in the flats and breaks over the middle. Their whole thing was like 'We're going to isolate and attack the backers in man or zone.'"

Andrews said he and his staff should have provided solutions more quickly but he was happy with the way his defense responded. His biggest disappointment came at the end of the first half.

"We let them score with 21 seconds left in the half. You cannot do that," Andrews said of a screen play that cut FSU's halftime lead to 13-7.

Overall, Andrews likes what he has seen from a defense that ranks second in scoring defense behind LSU in allowing just 10.4 points per game. FSU also ranks in the top10 nationally in total defense (273.5 ypg), rushing defense (81.7 ypg) and pass defense. Although FSU has just one sack in the past two games, he said his group is applying good pressure. Schaub released the ball so quickly that getting to him was difficult.

"Defensively, the thing that you measure how well you are doing - are you keeping the opponents from scoring enough points to win a football game?" Andrews said. "We didn't do that againt Miami, and lost the football game. ... All those stats you have don't mean a hill of beans. All of that is really just for ego."

Andrews was also appreciative of FSU's last offensive drive that ate up the final 6:19 on the clock with 12 plays. "That was one of the prettiest drives I've seen around here in a long time," Andrews said.

Andrews belives future opponents will borrow from Virginia's offensive playbook. But he expects to see a completely different look from Wake Forest and its flexbone offense this week. Wake Forest scored 42 points against Duke but attempted just four passes.

"Scheme-wise, we don't play anybody like them," Andrews said. "They are going to run the gut play inside, and there's always a reverse fake off it or there is a reverse. They do a lot of stuff that gets you out of position."

In a different way, Virginia did that to FSU on Saturday. But in time, FSU secured a win that Andrews said was important for the program.

"I'm not sure they understood how big that game was," Andrews said of his players. "You probably had more coaches excited than some of the players."
 

 

 

Players’ online pages pulled
Kelly, Hall deny knowledge of adult content on school's Web site
By KEN TYSIAC
Staff Writer

CLEMSON — School officials deleted pornographic photographs and other objectionable material from Clemson football players’ Web pages on the university’s server Monday as some players questioned how the material got there in the first place.

Tailback Yusef Kelly and tight end Ben Hall had pornographic photographs stored on their university “ePortfolios,” which is what Clemson University calls its students’ Web sites. Both of them said they had no idea how the photos got onto their Web sites.

Both players said they haven’t looked at their Web sites since they placed nonobjectionable material, including photos of themselves, on them as freshmen in class assignments. Both are juniors.

“I haven’t even checked it,” Hall said, “and today it was brought to my attention that it had some pornographic pictures on it, and I can’t even recall or think about who or how it would have got there without me doing it myself. And I didn’t do it.”

The players’ Web pages could be viewed by anyone with access to the World Wide Web through links provided in the online phone book on the university’s official Web site.

At least six players — Kyle Browning, Brandon Cannon, Airese Currie, Jamaal Fudge, Clifford Harrell and Eric Sampson — had photos of scantily clad women displayed on their sites.

Fudge’s site also included a link to a Web site that showed a 78-second video of dogs savagely attacking pigs. Fudge said he placed the lingerie photos and the dog link on his page.

“It was for a class,” Fudge said. “I just put stuff on it, and I really didn’t think about it.”

According to an explanatory link on the Web sites, every Clemson student was given, beginning in the fall semester of this year, a Web address where he or she could build a Web page. The sites explain that many instructors ask their students to create an ePortfolio, consisting of Web pages, project files and reflections.

By Monday afternoon, Clemson campus officials had blocked the Web sites that had displayed objectionable material. Clemson sports information director Tim Bourret said Monday night that objectionable material had been removed from the Web sites.

“We are going to check into this type of activity, and I will say this: This type of activity is totally inappropriate for someone that represents Clemson University,” Clemson athletics director Terry Don Phillips said.

Efforts to reach university officials to determine Clemson’s policies governing student Internet access and Web page content were unsuccessful.

Bourret said players will not be disciplined because the objectionable material could have been placed on their Web sites without their knowledge.

The majority of the players’ Web pages don’t contain objectionable material and are filled with information about their class schedules, hobbies, friends and football aspirations. A few pages are impressive — tailback Duane Coleman’s page features a Power Point presentation with photos of things he likes, dislikes and fears.

But Kevin Youngblood’s Web page featured a cartoon of a boy urinating on a cactus and an objectionably worded put-down of somebody who apparently has been impersonating Youngblood in Internet chat rooms.

Toure Francis’ Web page included a profanity. Eric Coleman’s site consisted entirely of one line of text: “hey, clemson is the worst school in america”, but Coleman said he didn’t post that material.

“I haven’t looked at my Web page since freshman year, I think it was,” said Coleman, a defensive tackle.

Coach Tommy Bowden talked about the Web pages with the team Monday and encouraged each player to check his site.

“The things I addressed was that a lot of these guys have Web sites and haven’t looked at them in two or three years,” Bowden said. “ ‘So y’all better check them because people can go in there and add stuff. Y’all are held accountable because you represent Clemson University.’ ”

Students at USC are not allowed to set up Web pages on the school’s main server, said USC Web presence coordinator Kenny Edwards. But students in the department of computer science and engineering often create Web pages as part of their curriculum.
 

 

 

U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Oct 21, 2003

SYMPATHY: Duke trailed Wake Forest 42-0 at halftime Saturday and ended up losing 42-13 at Wallace Wade Stadium. The next morning, Duke fired fifth-year coach Carl Franks.

When he learned of Franks' dismissal, Virginia coach Al Groh said yesterday, "I guess I immediately thought of it from the perspective of the coach and his family. I understood the impact personally that it has on him. This is his life, being a coach. Now, at least for the time being, today he's not a coach. Yesterday he had a team, today he doesn't have a team."

Virginia opened the season by crushing Franks' club 27-0. Duke is 0-4 in the conference and 2-5 overall this season and has dropped 29 straight ACC games.

"It's easy for fans to yell, 'Fire the coach!'" Groh said. "It's hard to be the coach and the family sometimes and go through things like this publicly. But that's the nature of this job."

WAVE AFTER WAVE: In its 19-14 victory over U.Va. on Saturday night, then seventh-ranked Florida State "played six linebackers and 10 defensive linemen," Groh said. "That was quite a bit more than we had in the rotation" at those positions.

"A few times I've spoken of 'mature programs,' and that's what you get over a period of time," said Groh, who's in his third season at U.Va.

"That's why I have said on occasion here that we've had two really [recruiting classes]. We get a third one now, and we'll really start to fill in all the blanks. We have a fourth one, and we'll have them all filled in. That's why every day is a recruiting day as well as a coaching day."

FRESH START: Before the season, Groh suspended Kenneth Tynes indefinitely for an undisclosed reason. Tynes, a 2002 graduate of Centreville High who redshirted at U.Va. last season, remained in school and continued to work out, and he was reinstated to the team this month.

"I got a chance to see that football really meant a lot to me," Tynes said yesterday.

He declined to disclose what led to his suspension, but Tynes said he and Groh "reached an agreement. There were some things that me and him agreed on that had to be changed as far as me rejoining the team. I took those steps and I did what I needed to work on, and he kept his word, so that stuff's in the past."

After spending last season and spring practice this year at wide receiver, Tynes has been shifted to safety, where the Cavaliers are perilously thin.

"I'm real comfortable there," Tynes said. "I've only been practicing there about a week, but I definitely feel I can make that my home."

He has never taken a snap on defense in a game, Tynes said with a smile, not even as a youth-league player. But he played on special teams at Centreville and said, "I can tackle, definitely."

The 6-0, 195-pound Tynes may not have experience at safety, but he has the speed and range to play there, Groh said.

TAKING A BREAK: After averaging 28.5 yards on eight punts against Florida State - a performance he yesterday called "pretty embarrassing" - sophomore Tom Hagan tried a new approach Sunday.

A punter in a slump can "either worry about it too much or practice too much, or you can take a day off and not think about it at all," Hagan said yesterday. "Yesterday I just went back and relaxed and did some schoolwork and didn't think about it. We'll see what happens, see if it pays off."

Hagan's average of 34.3 yards is by far the lowest of any starting punter in the ACC this season. The conference leader, Wake Forest's Ryan Plackemeier, is averaging 46.1.

REST AND REHAB: Sophomore tailback Wali Lundy, the ACC's leading rusher, isn't listed on the two-deep for Virginia's homecoming game against Troy State on Saturday. Lundy hasn't played since hurting his right foot Oct. 11 at Clemson.

"I feel fine," Lundy said yesterday, "but I want to feel close to 100 percent when I come back."

ON THE AIR: ABC will broadcast Virginia's Nov. 1 game at N.C. State. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m., the ACC announced yesterday.

RECRUITING: U.Va. is a heavy favorite to land Charlottesville High linebacker Devonta Brown, freshman defensive end Chris Johnson said yesterday. Johnson, who played with Brown at Charlottesville last season, said his friend is "real close" to committing.

"I'm definitely trying to get him up here," Johnson said.

The 6-6 Johnson, who's redshirting this season, weighed about 280 pounds when he arrived at Virginia. He's down to 265. "That's just from cutting fat," he said.

Among the prospects who visited U.Va. over the weekend was Courtney Abbott, a 6-9, 340-pound offensive tackle from Atlanta. Virginia offensive guard Elton Brown is listed at 6-6, 333, but Abbott towered over him when they stood side by side.

"That's a big dude," Brown said. - Jeff White