Matt Schaub’s pass was on target, a 10-yard spiral right into some of
the softest hands in college football. Except this time, Heath Miller took his
eyes off the ball for a split second, looking upfield, where he had plenty of
running room. The ball glanced off his hands and fell to the turf.
“No one’s perfect, I guess,” Schaub said.
But you can forgive Virginia’s players and coaches for forgetting that
sometimes, at least when it comes to Miller’s ability to catch a football.
His drop midway through the first quarter of last Saturday’s game against
Florida State may have been the first time any of the Cavaliers had seen the
sophomore tight end flub an easy catch. Even in practice, they say, the
6-foot-5, 254-pound Miller swallows up every pass he can reach with his
oversized mitts.
“It’s like he has stick-um on his hands,” said receiver Ottowa Anderson.
“One-hand grabs, over the shoulder, everything. If it’s near him, he catches
it.”
Miller leads the Cavaliers (4-3) in every receiving category with 39 catches
for 387 yards and four touchdowns. He is second among college tight ends in
receptions and his 13 career TD catches are an ACC record for a tight end.
Miller set that mark last Saturday - in just his 21st collegiate game - with
an 8-yard scoring grab against the Seminoles. He finished with a career-high
nine catches in the game, though it was the one drop that kept him up at night
after the 19-14 loss.
“I went over that play in my head a number of times,” he said. “I think I was
trying to run before I caught it. That’s a play I should have made.”
Miller’s ability to make big plays is why teammates call him “Big Money” - or
“Baby Shockey,” as guard Elton Brown prefers, referring to New York Giants
tight end Jeremy Shockey.
He burst on the scene as a redshirt freshman last season, making nine
touchdown catches and garnering second-team All-ACC honors. With the departure
of wideout Billy McMullen, Miller has become the focal point of UVa’s passing
game this season. He has at least three receptions in every game and has
earned the trust of Schaub with his reliability and instincts.
And how about those hands?
“Best I’ve seen,” Schaub said. “His ability to catch the ball and get in the
end zone is incredible. And it’s just his second year of playing tight end, so
he’s only going to get better.”
Indeed, it’s also easy to forget that Miller never played tight end before
coming to Virginia. He starred at quarterback and free safety at tiny Honaker
High in Swords Creek. Miller believes his background as a QB helps him
understand how to find the soft spot in zones and get open.
As for catching the ball, he said, “it just comes natural to me, I guess.” Not
so with blocking, a critical part of his job that has required more effort to
master. But UVa coach Al Groh likes to point out that Miller has become an
outstanding blocker.
“This speaks of Heath Miller in that he’s obviously a guy with a real feel for
the passing game, and yet he’s really interested in blocking,” Groh said. “A
lot of guys who play that position profess interest in it, but the development
of their skills speaks otherwise. But he’s very interested [in blocking] and
doing a very good job with that. But that’s what he does with everything.”
A month ago, Miller played a major role in Virginia’s 27-24 comeback victory
over Wake Forest. He had his best game as a blocker, Groh said, and also made
two spectacular catches - a leaping grab after adjusting his route for a
5-yard touchdown, and a right-handed snatch over the shoulder for a 26-yard
gain.
“Mark Bavaro could do that kind of stuff. Ben Coates could do that kind of
stuff,” said Groh, who as an NFL assistant watched those Pro Bowl tight ends
on a daily basis. “And [Miller] does something like that on an ongoing basis.”
Miller knows he benefits from what he calls “a tight end-friendly offense.”
Groh, whose first NFL job was as a special teams and tight ends coach for the
Atlanta Falcons in 1987, appreciates the impact that tight ends can make in a
game.
“We’re trying to get playmaker types at tight end,” said Groh, who also has
two other skilled tight ends on his roster in junior Patrick Estes and
freshman Jonathan Stupar. “We kind of enjoy playing with those type of guys.”
Troy State coach Larry Blakeney, whose team faces Virginia at Scott Stadium on
Saturday, said it is clear the tight end plays a big role in UVa’s offense,
though Miller’s talent makes the strategy work.
“I’m sure if [passes] were bouncing off his headgear, then he’d be on the
bench,” Blakeney said.
Don’t expect that to happen any time soon.
“I try to make every play I can,” Miller said, “If they throw the ball to me, I want to catch it.”
Freshman WR a deep threat for UVa
Williams pushes for playing time
Deyon Williams leads UVa in yards per catch and has shown that he can take a hit
and not fumble.
By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Although he has played in only five of Virginia's seven games
and caught a total of five passes, Deyon Williams' team-high 18.0-yard average
can't be dismissed.
Williams may be the deep threat that UVa has been seeking since Germane Crowell
completed his career in 1997.
No Cavalier wide receiver since Crowell has had Williams' combination of size
(6-3, 185) and speed.
"All receivers have to find a way to create space," UVa coach Al Groh said. "To
do that, a receiver must have some distinguishing qualities.
"One of those is great vertical speed. Another is savvy and elusiveness, and the
third one is size. The really blessed guys have two or three of those
qualities."
Williams also has demonstrated the ability to hold onto the ball. On at least
two occasions in the last two weeks, he has been hammered by defensive backs
after tough catches.
Groh made his point to the receivers when senior Art Thomas, who had been
starting, was benched after fumbles against Wake Forest and North Carolina,
"I don't know that he was in the doghouse," Groh said."Doghouse isn't a word
that I like to use. It's just that fumbles will cause you to lose. [Bill]
Parcells used to have a saying, 'How many times have you got to get hit in the
face by a skunk before you smell it?'
"Two in two games is pretty strong evidence that you better be wary. Some guys
go a season and don't have one. Lots of guys go a season and don't have one. If
a guy shows a propensity to turn the ball over, that affects how much playing
time he gets."
Thomas did not play at wide receiver after his fumble on the opening possession
and has had one reception in scant playing time over the last two games.
"You've got to look at something like that and learn from it," said Williams,
whose first name is pronounced DAY-on. "It could happen to me, too. Everybody
makes mistakes like Art did. I know he's better than that. He knows he's better
than that."
Thomas was replaced in the starting lineup by fifth-year senior Ryan Sawyer and,
so far, playing time has come sparingly for Williams and fellow 2003 signee
Fontel Mines.
One reason was a high-ankle sprain that limited Williams' work late in the
preseason. Another was the complexity of the Cavaliers' playbook.
"I think I'm making real good progress," said Williams, a graduate of Suitland
High School in Upper Marlboro, Md. "At the beginning of the year, I had a
problem with learning my plays and learning my assignments.
"For me, I have to run the plays before I actually learn them, instead of
looking at them in some book."
Williams had a spectacular catch on third-and-six that kept alive Virginia's
first touchdown drive in a 19-14 loss to seventh-ranked Florida State, but what
fans didn't see or remember was the play that preceded it.
"I loused up my route," said Williams, a first-team All-Washington Metro choice
in football and outdoor track, "but the coach [Anthony Poindexter] told me,
'Don't worry about it.' All I did was calm down and made up for it."
There should be ample playing time next year, when Sawyer and Thomas will have
completed their eligibility and slot receiver Marques Hagans may be a full-time
quarterback. Michael McGrew is expected back after suffering a broken leg in the
preseason, but it will be difficult to keep Williams off the field.
"There were three or four things that came up on other patterns [Saturday] night
that probably a more experienced receiver would have been able to handle
quicker," Groh said. "Somebody else might have been able to get open more
quickly and gotten the ball, rather than us having to go to somebody else."
Virginia may have lost the battle in its 19-14 loss to Florida State last Saturday night. But at the same time, the Cavaliers may have gained some precious ground in the war to win the ACC championship somewhere down the road.
While the Wahoos lost a heartbreaker to the perennial ACC champs, there were a whole lot of talented players closely observing what was going on. Recruits, blue-chippers from all over the place, were visiting UVa either officially or unofficially and taking in every moment of their weekend.
Apparently they liked what they saw and heard and felt during a near-magical night at Scott Stadium. Following the Cavaliers’ 19-14 loss to the Seminoles, UVa coach Al Groh had an opportunity to spend a lot of time with many of those prospects.
Almost there
“After the game, some of those kids came over to me and said, ‘Coach, what a great game,’ or ‘You guys really played great,’ or ‘What a great environment,’ or ‘Coach, you just need a little bit more,’” Groh said.
That last phrase in particular grabbed the coach’s attention.
“It was obviously me saying, ‘Well, you’re the little bit more,’” Groh noted.
“I know if we add [those prospects] to what’s already here and to what’s already committed, then we will have everything that we need,” Groh said. “What we have standing on the sidelines in street clothes is as important as what was standing there in Virginia uniforms.”
Potent future
Groh’s staff has already experienced two great back-to-back recruiting efforts and is off and running on a third. If blue-chippers continue to pour into Charlottesville, there’s no telling where this thing will end up. The head man believes it will be Pasadena or New Orleans or Miami or Phoenix, destinations of the big dogs in college football every year.
“One of the top players that we had here on his official visit said that he wants to make all his official visits during the season because he wants to see what the fan base is at each school,” Groh said. “Well, he volunteered this to me. He said, ‘It was awesome.’ All of his other visits have been to Southeastern Conference schools.”
Wish granted
A record crowd of 62,875 showed up early and loud for the FSU game. Virginia fans have responded in a big-time way to Groh’s request to turn Scott Stadium into a major football house.
That’s the second time this season that UVa has set an attendance record. Fans are showing up earlier and making more noise. Most have ditched the traditional ties and dresses and adopted more practical football attire: all orange and body paint.
“That recruit was right,” Groh said. “It was a great environment. The time that the student body filled up the student section was unprecedented since I’ve been here. The enthusiasm they had and
all the orange in the stands was great.”
Scott Stadium has turned into Big Al’s Orange Groh-ve.
“There was a constant theme amongst the recruits about what a great environment it was Saturday night,” Groh said. “And they all mentioned they couldn’t believe how the students never sat down.”
No one takes a loss harder than Groh, so it takes a lot to bring his spirit back after a setback. But the comments from those visiting prospects the other night revived him quicker than normal.
“We’re trying to win the ACC championship and we lost by five points to a team that you had to beat to win the championship,” Groh said. “That’s the only way I saw it.”
He wasn’t alone in that line of thinking.
Culpeper’s Kent Hicks, the No. 4-ranked safety in the nation by Rivals, reacted this way to what he saw:
“Virginia was one bad snap away from pulling the game out,” Hicks said. “The crowd was very into the game and all I could see was orange.”
Hicks, who is considering Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Boston College and Maryland, said that UVa moved a couple of clicks closer to getting him because of his experience here.
Tight end Rory Nicol of Beaver, Pa., the No. 4 prospect in the nation at his position by Rivals, reported similar feelings and rated his unofficial visit a 10.
Atlanta’s 330-pound tackle Courtney Abbott, among the top 25 prospects in Georgia, fell in love with UVa during the weekend and could commit to the Cavs over Kentucky, Auburn, Georgia, LSU and Florida State at any moment.
Dwayne Jarrett, the big-time wide receiver from New Brunswick, N.J., said the Virginia experience topped his visit to Iowa.
“The fans were outstanding,” said Jarrett, who is still considering the Hawkeyes, Southern Cal, Pitt and Syracuse. “They roared from the opening kickoff until the end of the game. Virginia definitely has the better fans of the two [UVa and Iowa].”
Fairfax defensive end Olu Hall, considered the top prospect in the state of Virginia, certainly liked what he saw and heard.
“The stadium was rocking. The crowd was absolutely on fire,” Hall said. “I have never heard a crowd be so loud for an entire game. It was great.”
He said he could see himself being part of a defensive unit that impressed him, particularly linebackers Ahmad Brooks and Darryl Blackstock.
“Man, those guys are animals,” Hall told Jamie Oakes, who assists Rivals East Coast recruiting analyst Mike Farrell. Farrell writes a weekly recruiting column for The Daily Progress and he ranks Hall as one of the top five defensive ends in the country.
Last, but certainly not least, was Ahmad Bradshaw, the No. 7 all-purpose back in the country from Bluefield. Bradshaw, who is considering UVa, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Maryland and West Virginia, said, “I had a blast.”
Now you can see why Groh was feeling a little better about the weekend by Monday afternoon. Those are the kinds of players who can help take Virginia to the next level in a hurry.
Like a recruit told Groh, ‘Coach, you just need a little bit more.’