Turnovers key to Tigers' swoon
ACC Football Notebook
By Mark Berman
981-3125
The Roanoke Times

Ranked 15th in the Associated Press preseason poll, Clemson was one of September's biggest flops.

The Tigers (1-3, 1-2 ACC), who are idle Saturday, will try to snap a three-game losing streak when they visit Virginia next Thursday. Clemson has hurt itself, turning the ball over 14 times this season.

"Had we just eliminated half of them, we'd be sitting there 3-1," Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said Wednesday.

Bowden called Southern California's Pete Carroll, Michigan's Lloyd Carr, Colorado State's Sonny Lubick, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and East Carolina's John Thompson for advice on fixing the turnover problem. Clemson turned the ball over five times in last weekend's 41-22 loss at Florida State.

"I called some guys that have been successful in the past on turnovers. I just wanted to make sure they hadn't invented a new drill I wasn't aware of," Bowden said with a laugh. "I just wanted to make sure on turnovers we were doing the right thing, and it kind of confirmed what I thought."

Clemson junior quarterback Charlie Whitehurst has thrown 10 interceptions this year, including three last weekend. He had 13 interceptions all of last season. Whitehurst has completed only 70 of his 143 passes.

Whitehurst "is just pressing a little bit too hard and trying to be as good as all the newspapers said he was," Bowden said. "That in turn is just not letting him relax and fundamentally be as sound and make as good decisions as he could."

Clemson's receivers aren't helping matters. They have dropped 12 balls during the losing streak.

Bowden also wants his defense to improve. The defense has been plagued by missed tackles and has only come up with two takeaways.

Bowden said he likes the Tigers' chances for a turnaround.

"We don't have to improve 100 percent in those areas," he said. "We just make a 25-, 30-percent improvement ... we'll be in every game."

Yet to be determined

Florida State senior quarterback Chris Rix, who will be sidelined at least two weeks, might not get his job back when his sprained ankle heals.

Wyatt Sexton, a sophomore, will make his starting debut against North Carolina on Saturday. If he does well, FSU coach Bobby Bowden might stick with him even when Rix returns. Rix has completed only 50.8 percent of his passes this year.

If Sexton "were 2-0 or 3-0 when he came back, it'd cause you a little concern," said Bowden, whose team is 2-1, 1-1. "That would have to be a judgment call when he gets back. ... I haven't been faced with that in a long time."

Sexton came off the bench after Rix was hurt last weekend, completing 17 of 26 passes for 162 yards. He threw the team's first TD pass of the season.

"He did an excellent job under the circumstances," Bowden said. "It's going to take quite a few games before you can say, 'Hey, this is for real.'"

The Seminoles visit Syracuse on Oct.9 and host Virginia on Oct.16.

Air game sputtering

Miami is unbeaten, but it will be hard-pressed to stay that way unless its offense improves.

The 3-0 Hurricanes, who visit Georgia Tech on Saturday, have been idle since beating Houston 38-13 on Sept.23. Their offense scored only three touchdowns in that game. Quarterback Brock Berlin was sacked seven times and completed 13 of 23 passes for 99 yards.

"The big thing we've got to do is do a better job in our passing game - in protection and routes and just the fundamentals of passing and catching," coach Larry Coker said. "Those are things we were able to spend a lot of time on [since the Houston game]. For us to be a good team in this league or any league, we've got to be better in that area."

Time to talk

North Carolina had a players-only meeting in the wake of last Saturday's 34-0 loss to Louisville.

"There's a lot of kids there that felt a little embarrassed about the way we played offense," UNC coach John Bunting said. "Our offense can score points and I'm absolutely shocked we didn't score any."

Cavalier basketball numbers are a subject for debate
Latest recruit billed as shooter
By Doug Doughty
THE ROANOKE TIMES

When Virginia men’s basketball coach Pete Gillen was handed a vote of confidence last spring that some likened to a stay of execution, many questions were raised about the Cavaliers’ continued ability to recruit at a high level.

Developments so far this fall have confirmed one of my theories about recruiting: there’s never going to be a shortage of players to recruit.

Whether the Cavaliers are recruiting at a quality level consistent with past Gillen classes is a matter open to debate. With three commitments in the space of 15 days and a total of four, it does not appear that numbers are a problem, or are they?

Already, the Cavaliers have had a visit from a player, 6-8 Alfred Aboya, who could give them the NCAA limit of five signees. However, if Virginia signs five players this year, it will not have any scholarships available for 2006-2007, when the new John Paul Jones Arena will open.

Presumably, it would be a bonus for the incoming class of 2006 to know that it would be playing in a new arena, but that potential recruiting boost could be lost if Virginia does not have any scholarships. Moreover, what can Virginia tell juniors like Norcom’s 6-10 Vernon “Big Ticket:” Macklin, who is rated among the top five prospects nationally?

Other promising in-state prospects include 6-4 Eric Hayes from Woodbridge, 6-foot Scotty Reynolds from Herndon and 6-6 Willard Crews from Bethel. I expect that Virginia will continue to recruit them, even if it signs five players, under the premise that not all of the projected 13 scholarship players in its program will still be around by 2006.

History would suggest that the odds of that are pretty good. Since Gillen’s arrival in 1998, 14 scholarship players have left the program before the end of their eligibility. Certainly, not all of the attrition can be blamed on Gillen. In fact, three players left (Monte Marcaccini, Chase Metheney and Craig McAndrew) without playing a game for Gillen. But it’s still not a good way to do business.

On the other hand, if Gillen did not take commitments and sign players this fall, what happens if the Cavaliers struggle this season? How difficult would it have been to sign players in the spring and if it became necessary to make a coaching change, a potential successor wouldn’t be left scrambling for players in the spring.

IF VIRGINIA HASN’T exactly cornered the market on Parade All-Americans so far, the Cavaliers haven’t been alone. From all appearances, Duke and North Carolina have been involved with virtually every top player in the country and the rest of the ACC is a tier below the Blue Devils and Tar Heels.

The Cavaliers’ commitment from 6-5 Mamadi Diane from DeMatha in Hyattsville, Md., was reminiscent of UVa’s signing last year of 6-7 Adrian Joseph from Brewster (N.H.) Academy. Like Joseph, Diane reportedly had a commitment from Maryland but the Terrapins weren’t turning up the heat.

Maryland took a low profile last year with Joseph while devoting most of their energy to in-state product Rudy Gay, one of the nation’s top prospects. By the time Gay decided to sign with Connecticut, Joseph had grown weary of waiting and already had committed to the Cavaliers.

In all likelihood, there was a wing player ahead of Diane on Maryland’s list and, if the Terrapins get him, more power to them. But, it’s clear that Virginia was more relentless in its pursuit of Diane than were the Terrapins.

IF OTHER COACHES have been bad-mouthing Virginia so far, it hasn’t had a major impact. After the Cavaliers took a commitment this week from 6-5 Brian Moten from Christian Center Academy in Cincinnati, coach Travis McAvene said rival recruiters immediately brought up Diane.

“He’s [Diane] a small forward; he’s not a two-guard,” McAvene said. “That’s the biggest thing. A lot of schools were calling here and saying, ‘Hey, Travis, do you know they signed a kid from DeMatha?’ Yes, I did. Absolutely.

“They’re two different players. Brian is 6-4 or 6-5 and is a pure shooter, where the other kid is an athletic wing. We’ve been working out since August and he’s [Moten] been very impressive. I haven’t seen a better shooter in the past 10 years.”

McAvene said he has coached at the junior-high, prep-school and high-school level for the past seven years. Until May, he was the coach at New Creations Prep in Richmond, Ind., where he became familiar with the Virginia staff when it was recruiting Devon Deans, a 6-6 Virginian who was playing for him.

Deans eventually signed with Cincinnati but did not meet NCAA eligibility guidelines and has enrolled at Redlands College, a two-year program in El Reno, Okla. There are similar academic concerns about Moten, who is taking a postgraduate year after signing last fall with Western Michigan.

MOTEN SCORED 860 on the SAT at Arthur Hill High School in Saginaw, Mich., but his grade-point in the core curriculum was close to a 2.0. In order to qualify, he would have needed a 2.4, according to the NCAA’s “sliding scale.”

Moten could have graduated this summer and gone directly to a junior college, but he elected to repeat his senior year in hopes of lifting his GPA to 2.4 in the core. If he had graduated and gone to a prep school, his GPA would have been frozen, so it was either junior college or repeating his senior year.

“I felt I was under-recruited,” said Moten, who averaged close to 28 points as a senior. “That did enter my decision, but I also had a lot of problems off the court — deaths in the family, things like that.

“I’m very capable [academically]. I wasn’t applying myself. Now, that I’m applying myself, I find out that most of this stuff comes easy to me.”

Hokies have no problem spreading blame around
By KYLE TUCKER, The Virginian-Pilot
© October 1, 2004

BLACKSBURG — Someone needed to answer for this. Someone had to be blamed.

Virginia Tech quarterback Bryan Randall was sacked 10 times. N.C. State hit the Hokies for negative yards on 18 plays. Tech had 36 total yards entering the fourth quarter.

More than disappointing, it was downright embarrassing.

The culprit seemed so clear: The offensive line simply stunk. Or did it?

Offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring, who also coaches the offensive line, couldn’t wait to find the answer. He usually visits with his family right after a game. Not Saturday.

“I couldn’t leave until I watched it,” Stinespring said. “I waited for the film to be ready. I watched it twice.”

Then he tossed and turned in his bed that night, got back to the office at 6 a.m. Sunday to look at the tape yet again. It couldn’t have been as bad as it looked on game day.

In truth, it wasn’t. Not for the offensive line, at least.

After watching the massacre in slow motion, Virginia Tech’s coaching staff discovered fault all over the field. Officially, the coaches credit only one sack and two quarterback hurries to the offensive line.

A closer look showed a handful of plays in which Randall should have thrown the ball more quickly.

There were others where Randall was supposed to get the offense in a different protection, some where he should have alerted his receivers that the ball would be coming in a hurry — but didn’t.

“A couple of them fell on my shoulders,” Randall said. “I knew that when I watched the film. I don’t really think our offensive line is that bad, to give up 10 sacks.”

The running backs can claim credit for a few, too. Cedric Humes, Justin Hamilton and Mike Imoh all acknowledged Tuesday that they missed a block or failed to hold one long enough.

The tight ends had lapses as well. The receivers sometimes zigged when they should have zagged. Or they didn’t get off the line fast enough to give Randall a ready target.

Saturday’s effort was hardly the complete collapse of an offensive line that it seemed. It was more a perfect storm of individual mistakes that flooded the Hokies.

“It was a collective effort,” Hamilton said. “You can’t put it on one person. You can’t put it on one group, because everybody on the offense could have done something a little better.

“It’s something we’ll take as a team, improve as a team and correct as a team.”

That’s what Stinespring and the rest of Tech’s coaches have been preaching this week, with No. 6 West Virginia and its smothering defense coming to town Saturday.

There has been increased emphasis, at every position, on executing blocks and making sure all 11 offensive players are on the same page.

There also has been plenty of positive reinforcement for the offensive line. It’s not all your fault, Stinespring has reminded them.

“That’s the first thing I told them Monday morning at 6:45,” Stinespring said. “When the quarterback gets sacked, all 65,000 point directly at the first offensive lineman they see. We’re like the snapper on the punt team. You don’t notice him unless it sails over the punter’s head.

“That hurts their psyche.”

The silver lining from Saturday’s debacle came in the fourth quarter, when the Hokies began finding answers to the Wolfpack defense and their own ineptitude.

After making almost no forward progress through three quarters, Tech piled up more than 150 yards in the fourth.

“We stuck together,” said tackle Jon Dunn, a Tallwood graduate. “I think that was probably the most important thing. We fought to the end and stayed together.”

The Hokies allowed two sacks in the fourth quarter — a success by that day’s standards.

“That’s the reason I believe in these guys,” head coach Frank Beamer said. “I think we can get things corrected.”

So Tech will start the same five offensive linemen Saturday. They, along with the rest of the Hokies, will try to keep Randall upright this week.

For four quarters.

Because despite the final flurry, Tech lost to the Wolfpack. Telling him it wasn’t all his fault did little to ease Dunn’s disappointment.

“I guess it makes you feel better, but I’d rather get blamed for everything and win,” Dunn said.

If the Hokies win, though, no one will be talking about the line.

No QB? No problem
By FRANK DASCENZO : The Herald-Sun
fdascenzo@heraldsun.com
Sep 30, 2004 : 6:03 pm ET

Ah, excuse me, but where have all the quality quarterbacks gone?

The ACC right now seems like a quarterback-less conference. No Philip Rivers. No Matt Schaub. No Scott McBrien. Don't ask me what's happened to the kid down at Clemson, and have you seen Florida State's Chris Rix lately?

Can you win a national championship without a big-time quarterback? I guess it's possible. Didn't Nebraska do it once? Or was it twice?

Guess who is the ACC pass efficiency leader at the moment. If you said Charlie Whitehurst of Clemson, shame on you. Whitehurst is one of six Tigers pictured on the cover of Clemson's 2004 football media guide and for good reasons. Coming into the season, the son of former Packers QB David Whitehurst owned 33 Clemson passing records in only 18 career starts.

Whitehurst is called an All-America candidate. It says so, right on page 143 of Clemson's 360-page media guide. So far, Whitehurst leads the ACC in interceptions with 10, and Clemson (1-3) is by far the league's biggest disappointment.

Marcus Hagans -- right, a household name -- leads the ACC in pass efficiency for the 4-0 Virginia Cavaliers. Nevermind that the Wahoos haven't lined up against anybody fierce yet. The point is that Hagans is getting it done. He has thrown one pick, four touchdown passes and owns an efficiency rating of 182.9.

On the first day of October, the two ACC quarterbacks who figured to be at the top of the rankings are near the bottom in pass efficiency -- Whitehurst ranks No. 9 and Rix No. 10. By the way, behind Hagans is Maryland's Joel Statham, whose seven touchdowns and seven interceptions will not wow anybody.

Without a big-time quarterback teams are forced to rely on other means to win enough games to become bowl eligible. N.C. State had the ultimate luxury, in Rivers, for four years but finished no higher than fourth place in the ACC.

Now Coach Chuck Amato has the inexperienced Jay Davis and Marcus Stone, but the Wolfpack's weapons are different this time. N.C. State's suffocating, physical defense is tremendous. Ask the Buckeyes and Hokies.

Without a big-time QB, N.C. State could finish higher than fourth -- even without Rivers. Don't say it's amazing. It's simply a cycle taking place. And, yes, you can win big without a great QB.

Virginia is talented in running the ball and kicking it and playing pretty good defense. The Cavaliers don't need Hagans to perform miracles, although their schedule toughens later on and they just might need a big game from the signal caller.

Rix, who sprained his right ankle last week, won't start Saturday against a sinking North Carolina team that is coming off a 34-0 spanking by Louisville in what was Tar Heels QB Darian Durant's poorest game. Here's how disappointing it has been for Rix -- he has completed 33 passes, one more than Jay Davis.

In the Miami-Georgia Tech game, Canes' QB Brock Berlin is matched with the Yellow Jackets' 2003 ACC rookie of the year, Reggie Ball, who couldn't produce a win in Chapel Hill a couple weeks ago. Ball has thrown seven touchdown passes but has been intercepted five times. Berlin has thrown two of each.

To its credit, N.C. State already might have seen the ACC's best quarterback in Virginia Tech's Bryan Randall, one of four senior QBs starting in the conference this season. How many sacks did the Wolfpack get on Randall -- 10?

N.C. State, Miami, FSU and Virginia are the top four defensive units in the ACC. Virginia Tech is fifth. All are likely to remain in the bowl picture, with only the Hokies having a legitimate QB threat. If that sounds amazing, it should not.

Remember, Virginia already has rushed for 19 touchdowns behind an experienced offensive line, and Maryland, even with Statham's inexperience, is second to the Cavs in scoring offense. Having Nick Novak and his nine field goals in four games sure helps the Terps.

The ACC will make a point this season that a conference can have several good teams without a big-time quarterback.
 

Sack leader Kerney bags big NFC honor
By MATT WINJKELJOHN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 9/30/04

FLOWERY BRANCH -- Patrick Kerney is a man of sudden impressions, like when the defensive end stuck out like a road runner among slower birds when the Falcons first practiced last spring.

"Just looking at him, you're like, 'Something's wrong with this dude. Where's he get all this energy? Is there enough oxygen to keep him running?' " said defensive tackle Rod Coleman, who was new to the team in March. "He's like a measuring stick."

Kerney's measuring up. He leads the NFL with five sacks, and on Thursday found rarified air upon becoming the first Atlanta player since former cornerback Deion Sanders in 1993 to win NFC Defensive Player of the Month honors.

The former first-round pick (1999) has a work ethic that's impossible to miss.

"Ever since I started playing sports, when someone would say sprint, I'd sprint," said Kerney, who also had 20 combined tackles and assists as the Falcons went 3-0 in September.

Coach Jim Mora practically had to rub his eyes after that first practice.

"We were talking about effort pursuing the ball," the coach said. "I remember saying, 'When we get to a point where every player looks like No. 97, and he doesn't stand out on film, then we're somewhere closer to where we want to be.' I've never seen anything like it. I take that back. I have seen that in [former 49ers wide receiver] Jerry Rice."

Kerney's had help. He and his linemates combined for 12 of the Falcons' 14 sacks. Atlanta is No. 2 in the NFL in run defense, too, allowing 61.3 rushing yards per game.

Coleman fell in pace quickly with Kerney, nose tackle Ed Jasper, end Brady Smith and veteran Travis Hall. Coleman and Smith have three sacks apiece, Jasper one.

A strong middle rush helps flush quarterbacks to Kerney and Smith outside, and vice-versa. "The pressure we're getting up the middle is a huge advantage," Kerney said.

"I don't think I've ever seen him take a play off, either in practice or a game - not give maximum effort," Mora said. "And that's so valuable because it sets a standard that other players have to try and achieve."

It's helped Coleman.

"It was hard [keeping up] at first, but I said, 'I'm not going to let these guys be the only ones selling out. I'm going to run my butt off, too,' " he said.

If Kerney's satisfied by the award, he's more content with his teammates.

"The first day of [spring practice], coach Mora said, 'Stop having this guy stand out.' And the next day, I was just another guy lost in the pursuit," he said. "It's pretty cool to see the effort."

Canty ready to head down long road back
Lost for the season, defensive end awaits surgery, rehabilitation
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Oct 1, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Chris Canty hasn't spoken to reporters since sustaining a season-ending knee injury last weekend, but the all-ACC defensive end sounded - and appeared - upbeat in a segment videotaped Tuesday for a University of Virginia Web site.

"I've come to grips with the in- jury, its severity and that deal," Canty said, "and I'm just looking forward to getting back on the road to recovery and working really hard to put myself in a position to get ready for the next level."

His comments can be found at virginiasportstv.com. The nature of Canty's injury hasn't been disclosed, but the damage was so severe that those close to the U.Va. program are concerned it may hurt his NFL prospects.

"I just know it's going to be really tedious, it's going to be a lot of hard work, and I'm just looking forward to getting ready to rehab," said Canty, who earned his bachelor's degree in African-American studies last spring. "I'm anxious to have the surgery and get it done."

Canty is one of four captains at U.Va., along with offensive guard Elton Brown, tight end Heath Miller and defensive end Brennan Schmidt.

"I expect the team to rally behind each other in my absence," Canty said. "There are a lot of great leaders on this team, and they're not going to miss Chris Canty too much. This team is going to do some great things, and I'm glad that I could be a part of it."

The 12th-ranked Cavaliers (1-0, 4-0) are off until Thursday, when they play host to ACC rival Clemson (1-2, 1-3).

"Chris was one of the players who really supplied the heart of the team," U.Va. coach Al Groh said.

"Chris has been very passionate about football in general, but he's also been very passionate about his team, his teammates and this university. So it's not just our right defensive end who left, a little bit of our heart left with Chris. But we can't afford to have less heart going through the rest of the season. So it's incumbent upon all of us to add a little bit more heart than what we have been."

ACC quarterbacks cut off at the pass
BOB LIPPER
POINT OF VIEW
Oct 1, 2004

Bobby Bowden cried for Chris Rix's sins. He watched his gifted, can't-miss quarterback misfire on and off the field for three-plus seasons. He watched him alienate his Florida State teammates. He watched him lose five times to Miami. He watched him force throws into coverage and put more balls on the ground than croquet players in Cheltenham and Sussex.

He watched him sprain his right ankle Saturday.

Holy intervention! With coach-in-the-stands whipping boy Rix hobbled and stapled to the sideline, the unheralded Wyatt Sexton bounded off the depth chart to lead four touchdown drives in FSU's 41-22 cruise past Clemson.

Sexton wasn't dazzling, mind you. But he wasn't Rixian careless, either. He threw 26 passes. None wound up in Clemson hands. By recent'Noles standards, it was a Joe Montana moment.

Came Monday, and Bowden announced Sexton would be his QB for this week's outing against North Carolina and the foreseeable future.

"The other guy's on crutches," Bowden reasoned at his weekly press briefing. He went on to say that FSU's trainer couldn't predict how long it might take Rix to be mobile enough to take snaps. Saint Bobby has a longstanding policy that starters don't lose their job because of injury but he suggested he might make an exception in Rix's case.

"We don't even have to worry about that now," Bowden said. "If [Rix] comes back, we'll see what is the best thing to do."

If 2003 was the year of the quarterback in the ACC, 2004 is the year of the hemorrhaging (a certain 5-10 whippet in Charlottesville excepted) quarterback. From College Park to Coral Gables, the guys under center have lurched their way toward the sort of midseason form that drives coaches nuts. Roll over Philip Rivers and tell Matt Schaub the news.

A season ago, Rivers (N.C. State) and Schaub (Virginia) were precision-tool specialists who passed their teams to bowls and themselves to the NFL draft. Rivers alone was good for 4,491 yards and 34 touchdowns and tossed only seven interceptions. Schaub, Maryland's Scott McBrien, Clemson's Charlie Whitehurst, North Carolina's Darian Durant, Georgia Tech freshman Reggie Ball and, yes, even Rix made statements of their own.

This year, only U.Va. junior Marques Hagans he of the 76-percent completion ratio, waterbug moves and gives-the-Cavs-a-shot-to-win-the-whole-darn-thing electricity has lit it up with anything approaching consistency. Everyone else this side of Wake Forest's as-much-runner-as-passer Cory Randolph could use a lantern to get on track.

Miami's Brock Berlin, for instance, was good for all of 99 yards at Houston last week and is on a short list of QBs most likely to derail their team's national-title hopes. Durant was muffled in a 34-0 home loss to Louisville. Ball had three interceptions when the Jackets lost two Saturdays ago at UNC. Rix began his season with four turnovers against Miami a performance Bowden assessed as "beyond frustrating."

Joel Strathan lost four fumbles in Maryland's opener against Northern Illinois and already has more interceptions (7) than McBrien (6) totaled last season. No one expected Jay Davis or Marcus Stone to fill Rivers' shoes in Raleigh, but no one expected them to need 12 pairs of sweat socks apiece, either.

Then there's Whitehurst, the heir apparent who threw for 3,561 yards as a sophomore but already has 10 interceptions during Clemson's wobbly 1-3 liftoff. He was 10 for 24 for 88 yards last week at FSU and won't find it easy to get well when he next suits up at U.Va.

"I think I'm letting some guys down," Whitehurst told reporters in Tallahassee. "We're not going to win with me playing like this, so I've got to change something."

Bobby Bowden probably had similar notions. Those high ankle sprains come in handy sometimes.

 

Martinez makes Virginia's fall roster
By Andrew Joyner and Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writers
October 1, 2004

Anthony Martinez is going from taking hits to trying to get them.
After going through non-scholarship tryouts, Martinez has earned a spot on the Virginia baseball team’s fall roster.
Martinez was a quarterback on the UVa football team for the past two years and for three games this year, but left the team after the Akron game on Sept. 18.
After taking some time to address personal issues, Martinez contacted Virginia baseball coach Brian O’Connor about joining the team.
O’Connor allowed Martinez to try out for the team with 11 other Virginia students.
Martinez made a quick impression. After the opening day of tryouts, O’Connor moved Martinez onto the fall roster.
“He showed enought through our walk-on process to warrant an opportunity to take a closer look at him,” O’Connor said.
Martinez earned the spot with his bat and not his arm, as many expected.
“He has shown in a short period of time that he possesses something that every college baseball program looks for and that’s raw power,” O’Connor said. “He displayed that in batting practice. I’m looking forward to getting an opportunity over the course of time here to see how he handles live at-bats in a scrimmage-game kind of situation.”
While Martinez has shown natural power at the plate, the redshirt sophomore has room for improvement in the field after taking three years off from the sport.
“The bat is the first thing that’s going to come,” O’Connor said. “He is going to need some work on his defensive skills and we will work with him everyday and see how he progresses.”
Martinez will not work with assistant coach Karl Kuhn’s pitching staff.
“Pitching at this point is not an option,” O’Connor said. “It may be something that we look at later on in the fall but right now we are just going to let him swing the bat a little bit and evaluate him from that point.”
O’Connor said he has been impressed with the positive energy that Martinez had shown.
“Anthony is a great kid. I think his intentions are very, very good,” O’Connor said. “If I felt differently, I wouldn’t have given him this opportunity. I think he has shown enough ability to take a good close hard look at him.”
O’Connor said a final decision on Martinez’s future with the program will be made after the fall practice period.
“He’ll continue, throughout fall baseball, to be evaluated on a day-by-day basis,” O’Connor said. “At the end of the fall, I will sit down with Anthony and we’ll make an assessment on what his opportunity might be with the baseball program, whether he will continue with us or not.”
Martinez has not been the only player turning heads in practice.
O’Connor said the entire team has looked impressive and shown a drive to improve off last year’s record-setting season.
“It has been great,” O’Connor said. “We have been at it for two days and the overall attitude and the way the guys are working is tremendous and we are picking up right where we left off last year.”

Road warriors. With its game against Richmond on Tuesday postponed because of rain, the No. 3 Virginia women’s soccer team now heads out on the road for its next two contests.
The Cavaliers (9-0, 2-0 ACC) travel to Wake Forest tonight and then will go to Maryland next Tuesday. The Cavaliers will attempt to remain unbeaten as they are off to the second best start in the program’s history.
In 1990, the Cavaliers opened their season 16-0.
The Cavaliers will return home next Saturday night when they host Duke at 5 p.m. That will be the first game of a men’s and women’s doubleheader as the No. 22 Virginia men’s soccer team hosts Davidson at 7:30 p.m.
The Virginia women will then host James Madison on Oct. 12 before traveling to No. 2 North Carolina on Oct. 16. Conceivably, the contest with North Carolina could pit the top two teams in the ACC and two of the top three teams in the nation against each other.

Lacrosse scrimmage. The Virginia men’s lacrosse team plays its first fall scrimmage tonight against Navy, which lost to Syracuse in last year’s national title game. The game will be held at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex and will begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for players, students and members of the U.S. military.

Saturday night live. The No. 22 Virginia men’s soccer team, which defeated UMBC 3-1 on Wednesday night, hosts N.C. State on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
Virginia (6-2, 1-1 ACC), which lost at North Carolina last weekend, will attempt to secure another key ACC victory against the Wolfpack (4-3-1, 0-1-1 ACC).
“In many ways, it’s the same team that they had last year. They have their full team returning. [Junior forward] Aaron King is a game-breaker. He runs through teams and we have to contain him,” UVa coach George Gelnovatch said.
In recent years, the Cavaliers have had strong success in Saturday night play at Klockner Stadium. They have defeated a ranked opponent on Saturday night games in four of the past five seasons.
“If you looked at other team’s weekend night games you would find similar things. When we are home for ACC weekend games, we come out hard and pumped up. We know what’s at stake,” Gelnovatch said. “We’ve been on the road for two ACC games so far and we’ll be really excited to be here Saturday night.”

New digs. Former UVa basketball player Jason Dowling was recently named an assistant coach at Robert Morris. Dowling, a 2002 UVa graduate, played for the Cavaliers four seasons as a walk-on. Last season, Dowling was an assistant coach at Marymount University in Arlington.