The way Virginia’s football team played Saturday may or may not be good enough to win any games in November, when the schedule gets significantly tougher. Against Troy State, though, the quality of the Cavaliers’ performance was more than sufficient.
A solid first half by the offense and a game-long effort by the defense produced a 24-0 victory over the overmatched Trojans at Scott Stadium. And to UVa coach Al Groh, that’s all that mattered.
“Everybody’s got to play better in November. That’s what the stretch run is all about,” said Groh, whose team snapped a two-game losing streak. “This is about today. This isn’t about better, worse, in-between, next week. This is about today.”

The Cavaliers (5-3) took care of business early, turning two early turnovers into touchdowns and scoring all of their points in the first half. Their offense slowed to a crawl afterward, including no first downs in the third quarter, but their defense made sure things never got interesting.

Troy State (4-4) drove into UVa territory six times but wound up with no points, thanks in part to a missed field goal and three turnovers. It was the second shutout of the season for Virginia, including an opening 27-0 whitewash of Duke, and the fourth time the Trojans have been held to seven points or fewer.
Before this season, the Cavaliers had not recorded a shutout since 1998.
“It’s always good to get one of those and now we have two,” said Jamaine Winborne, who moved over from cornerback to play safety because of injuries at the position. “It shows how much we’ve improved. It wasn’t a great game, but it was a good game. We did what we’re supposed to do.”
One thing UVa’s defense had not done well this season is create turnovers, but it didn’t take long to do so Saturday. On Troy State’s fifth offensive snap, linebacker Raymond Mann punched the ball from quarterback Aaron Leak’s grasp and end Chris Canty fell on it at the Trojans’ 22-yard line.
Three plays later, after a pass-interference penalty put the ball on the 7, tailback Alvin Pearman scored standing up on a run through a gaping hole on the right side.
Pearman did the same thing from five yards out on Virginia’s next drive, which was set up by Almondo Curry’s interception. Pearman finished with 32 carries for 138 yards, both career highs, and also caught eight passes for 51 yards.
Matt Schaub passed for 189 of his 241 yards in the first half, including a 21-yard touchdown to Ryan Sawyer that made it 21-0 late in the second quarter.
Connor Hughes, whose streak of 13 straight field goals came to an end when he pushed a 40-yarder wide left, connected from 36 yards out on the final play of the half. As it turned out, the scoreboard wouldn’t change the rest of the day.
“We played well in the first half but we couldn’t get anything going in the second half,” said Schaub, who threw just eight of his 36 passes after the break. “But the defense played outstanding. They really did a great job.”
It wasn’t a dominant outing by the Cavalier defenders. Troy State actually finished with an edge in time of possession and embarked on a number of promising drives. But each one ended up getting snuffed out.
Curry set the tone early by cutting in front of receiver Jason Samples for his fourth interception of the season at the UVa 30. Jermaine Hardy also picked off a pass inside the Virginia 10 on the Trojans’ final possession to preserve the shutout.
“We had a lot of guys step up and make some big plays on defense,” Groh said. “I thought they played with a lot of resolve and I’m pleased with what they did.”
Groh wasn’t as pleased with the offense, particularly the line’s performance in the second half. The Cavaliers had trouble moving the ball on the ground, generating 51 yards on 19 carries after a 122-yard first half.
“I think offensively we certainly were spotty,” Groh said. “We had some good runs in there, but if you really want to be a good running team, you have to be able to run play after play after play after play. I wasn’t satisfied with that.”
For the Cavaliers (3-2 ACC), nothing figures to come easily the rest of the season. They play at N.C. State (6-3, 3-2 ACC) next Saturday, followed by games against Maryland (5-3, 2-2), Georgia Tech (5-3, 3-2) and Virginia Tech (6-1).
“The stretch run started this week,” Curry said. “We took care of one. Now we have to focus on what we have to do to keep winning.”

 

Now is the time of year when Al Groh puts his Virginia team into the playoff mentality. And like any good coach worth his salt, Groh knows that once November rolls around, football games are won with defense and a good running game.

While the Cavaliers still have some things to prove in terms of a ground attack, the defense appears poised to take a step toward the next level. It was at about the same point last season when the Wahoos bowed up on defense and knocked off No. 20 N.C. State and No. 18 Maryland, then No. 14 West Virginia in the postseason, with a 21-9 loss to No. 22 Virginia Tech sandwiched between.

When Groh walked off the Scott Stadium turf on Saturday evening, following a 24-0 win over Troy State, the Cavaliers’ coach felt pretty good about what his defense had accomplished. Having been a defensive coach for much of his pro coaching career, Groh knows the key to a strong finish is how his defense performs.

Another level

After five straight quarters of shutout football and having given up only one touchdown in the last two games (a first quarter TD by sixth-ranked Florida State last week), there’s signs that bring a twinkle to Groh’s eyes.

“I’m pleased with the way the defense played,” said Groh after watching his Cavaliers post their second shutout of the season (including a 27-0 win over Duke in the opener). “We’ve been trying to get to this level [on defense] for a couple of seasons.”

Indeed. UVa hasn’t posted two shutouts in a season since 1998. But it’s not about shutouts as much as it is just playing better defense.

Granted the Wahoos didn’t exactly run into a rolling ball of butcher knives in Troy State on Saturday but a shutout is a shutout and built momentum and confidence coming off the strong performance against Florida State. The Trojans didn’t smell the end zone, in fact, never once penetrated Virginia’s red zone. Twice, the Cavs stonewalled the Alabamians at the 26-yard line.

Fruits of labor

“The defense has come a long way during my time here,” said UVa senior linebacker Ray Mann, who led the Wahoo defensive parade with nine tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and a quarterback hurry. “We’ve been in this defense for more than two years and it’s really coming together. We’re trying to become a great defense.”

Only a couple of hiccups cost them against the high-scoring Seminoles last week. FSU struck early with a 79-yard scoring strike as a receiver slipped past coverage. Late in the game, with a potential upset on the line, Virginia couldn’t stop the Seminoles on the ground and never got the ball back the final six minutes.

Saturday wasn’t completely dominating as Troy State gained 314 yards, but those aren’t the numbers that concern Groh. The only figure Groh paid close attention to was the ZERO on the scoreboard.

That’s a step toward taking it to the next level.

“Collectively [the defense] has a real good resolve and a good confidence about them right now,” the UVa coach said. “A team gets a couple of first downs on them, makes a score or whatever and it doesn’t deflate them at all. They have some real good moxie.”

Even at the end, when many of the 57,580 fans had poured out of Scott Stadium and there wasn’t anything left to prove, the Cavaliers fought hard to preserve the shutout against a visitor determined to get a taste of the turf in Virginia’s end zone. But Jermaine Hardy came up big with a one-handed interception at the UVa 9 with 1:37 to play.

It was the fourth Trojan turnover of the game, a positive response to Groh’s complaining earlier in the week that his team wasn’t creating enough takeaways.

With senior Jamaine Winborne moving from cornerback to starting safety except during third down passing situations, and redshirt freshman Tony Franklin getting his first start in Winborne’s corner spot, the secondary still operated effectively.

“We’re ready for the final stretch,” said UVa’s other senior corner Muffin Curry, who made his fourth interception of the season. “We have four straight tough opponents coming up but we’re getting better every week of practice on defense.”

Groh strongly pointed out before he left the stadium that he wants this team to win its way into the postseason and there’s only one way to do so, to play its best football down the stretch.

“There’s four or five teams clearly the best in college football and about 35 others that are pretty much the same,” Groh said. “Some of those pretty-much-the-sames are going to end up 9-3. Some are going to end up 6-6. It’s going to be all about who’s going to get things going for the stretch run, who understands how you play these kinds of games, and make themselves hard to beat in those kinds of games.”

That’s what Virginia did last year and that’s what Groh wants this November. How the Cavaliers finish will likely depend on whether this defense has what it takes to get the job done.

 

Thirty-two carries. Eight receptions. Forty touches in all.

Isn’t that a lot of work for a 5-foot-10, 198-pound tailback?

“Nah, it’s fun,” said Alvin Pearman. “It’s always fun to get that many touches on the ball. I enjoyed it.”

The Virginia junior has proved to be many things over the course of his career: fast, elusive, tough and versatile. Now you can add durable to the list.

With the team’s other tailbacks slowed or sidelined by injuries, Pearman has become a workhorse for the Cavaliers. He tied an ACC record with 16 catches last week against Florida State, then became even busier Saturday in a 24-0 rout of Troy State at Scott Stadium.

Pearman carried 12 times for 79 yards and two touchdowns in the first quarter alone. He finished with 138 yards on 32 carries, both career highs, and again figured prominently in the passing game, catching eight balls for 51 yards.

“Alvin stepped up and carried the load for us,” said QB Matt Schaub. “He grinded out the running game. He made plays in the passing game. He’s stepping up for us in a big way and becoming the playmaker for us like we knew he could.”

Before last week, Pearman had never recorded more than 20 carries or seven receptions in a game. Now, in the past two games, he has generated 347 yards on 39 carries and 24 catches.

“Alvin was very productive again today as he was last week,” said UVa coach Al Groh. “He’s got a good spurt to him. He’s got a lot of heart to him. He’s got good endurance for his size, too. I thought Alvin produced quite a bit of good yardage for us today.”

The Cavaliers have leaned heavily on Pearman because of injuries to Wali Lundy and Marquis Weeks. Lundy was the ACC’s leading rusher when he suffered a sprained foot on Oct. 11 at Clemson. He did not play against the Seminoles and saw limited action Saturday, rushing six times for 25 yards and catching two passes for 20 more.

“Hopefully I can come back and play a lot more next week,” Lundy said.

On Saturday, the offense revolved around Pearman, who handled the ball on Virginia’s first four plays and 15 of 22 overall in the first quarter. He made them count with runs of 22, 10, 12, seven, eight, seven and six yards, and three catches covering 16 yards. He scored standing up on rushes of seven and five yards to give the Cavaliers a commanding 14-0 lead.

The line “did a great job in the first quarter. There were holes left and right,” Pearman said. “You’ve got to be able to carry that on, though, and we didn’t do that.”

Pearman found little running room in the second half, rushing 15 times for 41 yards.

“You know those runners all run the same when there’s no hole,” Groh said. “I was expecting we’d have some better holes than what we had.”

But Pearman says he did not tire despite the heavy workload. He certainly didn’t seem particularly winded or banged up afterward.

“I feel fine,” he said, smiling.

 

After last Saturday’s loss to Florida State, Virginia coach Al Groh said he would be evaluating his team’s punting situation. That evaluation is certainly ongoing after Saturday’s 24-0 victory over Troy State at Scott Stadium.

Starting punter Tom Hagan punted three times to an average of 34.0 yards and was later replaced by freshman Noah Greenbaum who punted twice with a 31.5 average.

Those results still don’t sit too well with Groh.

“I think we can punt the ball better than we did today,” Groh said.

Last week, Hagan punted eight times to just a 28.5 yards per punt average. Entering the Troy State contest, Hagan was averaging just 34.3 yards a kick, down from his 36.7 average during his freshman campaign last season.

Hagan’s performance has gained negative criticism from the Virginia fans that were quite willing to voice their displeasure last week.

“It’s been a pretty hard week. It’s been about the hardest week after any sporting event I’ve ever competed in,” Hagan said. “At this level, you have to perform and step up. I didn’t do that last week. I worked hard this week and performed a little better but I still need to be more consistent.”

After a 26-yard punt on his first attempt, the fans at Scott Stadium unleashed a smattering of boos.

Early in the third quarter when he booted a 43-yard punt, Hagan received what is best described as a mock or sarcastic standing ovation from a portion of the crowd.

“Yeah, I heard that. The crowd is pretty fickle. You get it on both ends of the stick but it’s better to be on the higher end.”

That would be Hagan’s last punt of the afternoon as he was replaced by Greenbaum, a recruited walk-on from the Collegiate School in Richmond.

Greenbaum’s first punt went 31 yards and his second went for 32 yards.

“I wanted to get him in the game so if that’s something we decide down the long road, he will have already been in the game,” Groh said.

During the course of the past week, Greenbaum had been elevated to the second-string punter. Groh instructed both Hagan and Greenbaum to warm up during the second half.

“My punting was okay today. It can definitely be better. It was good to get those first two under my belt,” Greenbaum said.

As for his replacing Hagan, Greenbaum clung tight to the kicking fraternity.

“We don’t view it as competition at all. We encourage each other. I viewed it more as just getting game experience rather than coming in to replace Tom. I really thought Tom did pretty well today,” Greenbaum said. “It was more in case Tom goes down or whatever that I’d be ready.”

 

Pearman on roll. Junior tailback Alvin Pearman, who hauled in a school single-game record 16 passes in the close loss to Florida State last week, caught eight more against Troy State for 51 yards.
But it was the running game where the Charlotte, N.C., product made a statement on Saturday. Pearman rushed the ball 32 times for a career-high 138 yards, 30 yards better than his previous high two seasons ago against Wake Forest.
That was a total of 40 touches for Pearman in the game.
In fact, his 24 catches in back-to-back games was a Virginia record.
“He’s got a lot of heart and he’s got good stamina,” UVa coach Al Groh said of his tailback.

Lundy returns. After suffering a sprained ankle against Clemson two weeks ago and missing the Florida State game, sophomore starting tailback Wali Lundy returned briefly against Troy State.
Lundy played for one series in the second quarter and looked good as he rushed six times for 25 yards and caught two passes for 20 yards.

Quote of the day. Troy State coach Larry Blakeney on Virginia in comparison to Kansas State, Minnesota and Nebraska, teams his Trojans have faced already this season: “Virginia can compete with any of those guys. Virginia, because they’re more multiple offensively, I think they would maybe even beat Nebraska. They look like those teams. Defensively, they’re getting there. They’re not quite as good, maybe, as Nebraska’s ‘Blackshirts.’”

Eye openers.
l Pearman became the first 100-yard rusher against Troy State this season.
l This was only the second game this season that the Trojans failed to enter the red zone (Nebraska was the other).
l The 57,580 fans were the fourth-largest crowd to ever watch Troy State play.
l When UVa place-kicker Connor Hughes’ 40-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter sailed wide left it snapped a streak of 13 consecutive converted field goals for the sophomore. A 14th would have tied a school record. It was also Hughes’ first miss of the season after 11 straight. However, he made his next attempt, a 36-yarder as the first half ended.
l The Cavaliers have now won seven straight non-televised games dating back to the 2001 season.
l Pearman’s 138 rushing yards were the highest by a UVa back since Antwoine Womack piled up 153 against Penn State in the 2001 season finale, also a Cavalier win.
l Tight end Heath Miller’s three catches for 48 yards gave him 42 receptions this season, which tied Bruce McGonnigal for the most by a tight end in UVa history. McGonnigal made his 42 catches in 1989.
l Wide receiver Ryan Sawyer set career highs for catches (six) and yards (94), while scoring his first touchdown of the season.
l Three Wahoos made their college debuts in the game: redshirt freshman Kenneth Tynes on special teams, punter Noah Greenbaum and Kevin Dixon, a junior walk-on, on special teams.

The series. This was the first meeting between the two schools, but was UVa’s homecoming game. The Cavaliers have now won 11 of their last 12 homecomings. Troy State was the first independent team UVa has faced since 1994 when the Cavs met Navy.

Injury report. Virginia reported no serious injuries in the game.

On Deck. Virginia is now 3-2 in the ACC and 5-3 overall. The Cavaliers are in a fierce battle for second place in the league, tied with N.C. State, Georgia Tech and Clemson at 3-2 in the league, with Maryland just behind at 2-2. Virginia travels to N.C. State on Saturday for a 3:30 (ABC regionally-televised) kickoff. The Cavs still have to play Maryland and Georgia Tech in the league.
Troy State is now 4-4 overall. The independent plays at North Texas State on Saturday at 7 p.m.

 

MIXED RESULTS: A week after the Virginia Cavaliers were credited with nine rushes - for minus-5 yards - in a 19-14 loss to Florida State, they ran the ball 42 times for 173 yards yesterday in a 24-0 win over Troy State.

In the second half, though, U.Va. gained only 51 yards on 19 carries. Junior tailback Alvin Pearman finished with a career-high 138 yards rushing, but 79 came in the opening quarter.

"We had some good runs in there today," Virginia coach Al Groh said, "but if you really want to be a good running team, you've got to be able to run the ball play after play after play after play. I wasn't satisfied with that . . . I was expecting maybe today that we'd have some better holes than we had."

NOBODY'S PERFECT: After making his first 10 field-goal attempts this season, Virginia sophomore Connor Hughes finally missed. His 40-yard try 10 minutes before halftime sailed wide left.

Had Hughes made it, he would have tied a school record. He had made 13 straight attempts dating to last season. Jake McInerney made 14 consecutive from Virginia from 1989.

Hughes bounced back to make a 36-yarder on the final play of the second quarter, and he was 2 for 2 on extra points.

ANOTHER OPTION: Virginia's struggling punter, sophomore Tom Hagan, averaged 34 yards on three boots yesterday, after which Groh made a switch. Noah Greenbaum, a freshman walk-on, made his first appearance for the Cavaliers. The Collegiate School graduate punted twice, following a 31-yarder with a 32-yarder.

"I wanted to get him in the game," Groh said, "so if that's something that we decide down the road, he's already been in the game."

Greenbaum said: "I was happy to get the first couple under my belt, and I'm feeling a little more comfortable. I thought I hit the second one pretty good, but it hung up in the wind and just kind of died."

Two other Virginia players - redshirt freshman Kenneth Tynes and junior walk-on Kevin Dixon - made their college debuts. They played on special teams.

QUICK HEALER: Virginia's Wali Lundy, who missed the FSU game with an injured right foot, played one series in the second quarter. The sophomore tailback looked sharp. Lundy, who entered as the ACC's leading rusher, ran six times for 25 yards and caught two passes for 20 yards.

"I'm real glad to be back," Lundy said. "It felt real good to get on the field, even though it was limited."

MEDICAL REPORT: Junior tight end Patrick Estes, who injured his right knee against Florida State, did not dress out. Freshman safety Robbie Catterton suited up for the first time since injuring an ankle Oct. 4 at North Carolina, but he didn't play.

SECONDARY SHAKEUP: As usual, senior Jamaine Winborne started, but he wasn't at his customary position. Winborne, who had started the previous 21 games at cornerback, took Jay Dorsey's place at safety alongside Jermaine Hardy. Tony Franklin, a redshirt freshman who also returns kickoffs for U.Va., made his first start at cornerback.

Dorsey, a junior, had surgery on his right hand Thursday. With his hand heavily wrapped, Dorsey played yesterday on the Cavaliers' nickel and dime defenses. Franklin made six tackles and broke up a pass.

GOOD BLOODLINES: Chris Gould, who recently committed to U.Va., is the younger brother of Penn State kicker Robbie Gould. The Nittany Lions invited Chris Gould, who punts and kicks, to walk on, but he had scholarship offers from U.Va., Ohio State, Pittsburgh and Indiana.

Gould has a 4.0 grade-point average and scored 1,060 on the SAT. His father, Robert, played college and pro soccer.

 

 

Virginia is happy, at least on one side
Cavs post second shutout of the season, but offense struggles late in the game
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Oct 25, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Virginia's defenders headed into the October night in high spirits after posting their second shutout of the season. The Cavaliers who line up on offense weren't as upbeat.

"No, we're not happy with the way the offense played today," junior tailback Alvin Pearman said. "Not to rain on anyone's parade, but you can't win with an effort like that offensively . . . We're lucky we really sputtered in a game like this when the defense played so well."

Before a homecoming crowd of 57,580, U.Va. blanked Troy State 24-0 yesterday at Scott Stadium. The VIRGINIA 24 TROY STATE 0final score looks impressive enough, but that was the halftime score, too. The Cavaliers (5-3) picked up a mere four first downs - none in the third quarter -- and gained only 103 yards after intermission. They also turned the ball over on downs inside the Trojans' 5-yard line in the fourth quarter.

"I feel with the offense struggling a little bit that we got to step our game up to help them out," said senior outside linebacker Raymond Mann, who had one of U.Va.'s two sacks and forced a fumble. "That's what we did today."

The Trojans (4-4) did not shut down Virginia's attack by any means. The Cavaliers totaled 423 yards of offense and got superb efforts from Pearman and senior wideout Ryan Sawyer. Pearman rushed 32 times for a career-high 138 yards and two touchdowns. Sawyer caught six passes for 94 yards - both career highs - and one touchdown, his first in more than a year. Sophomore kicker Connor Hughes was wide left on 40-yard field-goal attempt in the second quarter - his first miss of the season - but later connected from 36 yards.

"I thought we did a lot of good things the first half," said senior quarterback Matt Schaub, who completed 23 of 36 passes for 241 yards and one TD but also threw an interception.

"We were able to run the ball and throw it with success and put points on the board. I thought we hurt ourselves in the second half with penalties and poor execution. We just have to clean those things up, especially with the opponents we have coming down the road."

With 6 minutes left, the Trojans took over at their 5 after breaking up Schaub's fourth-down pass in the end zone. Facing U.Va.'s second-team defense, they marched easily and quickly up the field. So, after a 26-yard completion moved Troy State to the U.Va. 42, defensive coordinator Al Golden put his starters back in.

Two plays later, junior safety Jermaine Hardy intercepted a Hansell Bearden pass to preserve the shutout. Also coming up with turnovers for the Cavaliers were junior defensive end Chris Canty (fumble recovery) and senior cornerback Almondo Curry (interception). Virginia turned each of the Trojans' two first-half mistakes into touchdowns.

"You always have a good chance to win a football game when you get turnovers on defense," said Curry, who had two tackles for loss, including a sack, and broke up a pass.

"Thank God the defense played so well," Sawyer said.

Mann and inside linebacker Ahmad Brooks, a true freshman, led U.Va. with nine tackles apiece, and Curry had seven. The Trojans finished with 314 yards of offense, but 70 came on their final drive. A week earlier, in a 19-14 loss to then-No. 7 Florida State, Virginia had allowed only one touchdown.

"We're real pleased with the way the defense played," third-year coach Al Groh said. "We've been trying to get to this level here for a couple of seasons . . . I thought we had a lot of guys step up and make some big plays on defense. I thought they played with great resolve."

U.Va. entered the game having forced only 12 turnovers, so it drew encouragement from its production yesterday.

"At this time of year," Groh said, "those teams that take the ball away, those teams that don't give it away, those are critical factors when you come down the stretch run."

The Cavaliers' stretch run begins in earnest next weekend when they visit N.C. State (6-3 overall). Both teams are 3-2 in ACC play. Then come games with Maryland, Georgia Tech and, in the regular-season finale, Virginia Tech.

"We'll definitely have to play better than we have with the four-game stretch we have coming up," Schaub said.