Scott rocking with success
Virginia has won seven straight and 16 of its last 17 games at Scott Stadium.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

After talking at length about developments that caused him to move into Virginia's starting lineup, Cavaliers' defensive end Kwakou Robinson suddenly volunteered, "We don't lose at home."

Not often, they don't.

Since the final game of the 2001 season, UVa has won 16 of 17 games at Scott Stadium, a success rate it hopes to extend tonight at 7:45 against Clemson in a game that will be televised nationally by ESPN and before a sold-out crowd.

The Cavaliers have won seven straight home games since falling to then-No.7 Florida State 19-14 last year.

"Toward the end of coach [George] Welsh's career and since Al [Groh] has come in there, their fan support has really intensified," Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said.

"With success has come a hunger for a game-day excitement of college football in the southeast. If they didn't have it before, they have it now. It will be loud also because of the configuration of the stadium."

For the first 29 games in the series, it didn't matter where the Cavaliers and Tigers played. Clemson won every game until 1990, when Virginia ended the drought, beating the Tigers 20-7 at Scott Stadium.

The series has been remarkably even since then (7-6-1 in Virginia's favor), but there have been some miserable moments for UVa, which experienced the biggest collapse in school history when visiting Clemson rallied from a 28-0 second-quarter deficit to win 29-28 in 1992.

That happened at approximately the same point in the season, Oct.10, and at a time when the Cavaliers were 5-0 and ranked 10th in the country with a first-year starter, Bobby Goodman, at quarterback.

Virginia (4-0, 1-0 ACC) moved up to 10th in the AP poll this week, but Clemson (1-3, 1-2) actually was ranked ahead of UVa in the preseason, when the Tigers were 15th and the Cavaliers were 16th.

Five weeks later, Clemson comes to Scott Stadium as a 16-point underdog trying to snap a three-game losing streak. In the one game they won, the Tigers took advantage of a fourth-down interference call on Wake Forest to keep alive the drive that sent the game into overtime.

Clemson quarterback Charlie Whitehurst was a hero in that game, just as he was at Clemson last year in the Tigers' 30-27 overtime victory over the Cavaliers, but otherwise he has failed to live up to his preseason billing.

Whitehurst, considered a leading candidate for ACC player of the year, if not the Heisman Trophy, stands 10th among ACC quarterbacks in passing efficiency and already has been intercepted 10 times.

The Tigers are 117th out of 117 Division I-A teams in turnover margin, compared to the Cavaliers' 17th-place ranking in that category, but Virginia's success is more a product of turnovers not committed than turnovers caused.

UVa has intercepted three passes in four games, only one by a member of the Cavaliers' starting secondary, sophomore cornerback Marcus Hamilton.

"Our sack numbers are up, so that on some of the balls were thrown under pressure in the past, well now the quarterback's going down," Groh said. "That sounds reasonable to me. I don't know if it really has any basis in fact, but it sounds reasonable to me."

Groh's chief concern expressed in a Wednesday teleconference is a Clemson return game that features junior Justin Miller, also a respected cornerback. In a 41-22 loss at Florida State, where the Seminoles led 24-22 after three quarters, Miller scored on kickoff returns of 97 and 86 yards.

Miller also had a 69-yard punt return for a touchdown against Wake Forest, but it's not as if the Cavaliers have been ineffective in that category. Alvin Pearman has had a 70-yard punt return for a touchdown, Marquis Weeks has had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and Pearman has had a 93-yard nonscoring kickoff return.

"The thing that could change the game the fastest is their kick-return operation with Miller," Groh said. "Any time we kick the ball, whether it's a punt or a kickoff, the game is in the balance."
 

Replacement for Virginia’s Canty has can-do spirit
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© October 7, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE — His name means “Male Child Born on Wednesday.”

Could Kwakou Robinson’s college career be reborn on a Thursday?

The Virginia defense is counting on it. Robinson, a junior defensive end, is stepping in for the injured Chris Canty, one of the top linemen in the nation and the emotional leader of the Cavaliers’ defense.

Robinson will make his first start in two years when No. 10 Virginia hosts Clemson tonight at Scott Stadium.

“I’m ready to play,” Robinson said. “I’m excited to get some more plays and see what I can do at this level, at a starting level.”

Robinson said he feels more prepared than at any time during his career, which thus far has not lived up to the promise he showed as a high school All-American in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Robinson was the Gatorade Player of the Year in New York as a senior. He started his first five college games while Canty recovered from a leg injury.

Robinson admits now that he wasn’t ready to play, but Virginia had no other options at defensive end. Overweight and sometimes overwhelmed, Robinson held down the starting spot until Canty returned. Then he moved to the second team.

He’s been there ever since. With Canty out for the season with a knee injury, Robinson will make his first start in 26 games tonight. Asked to compare himself as a freshman to himself now, Robinson said there is no comparison.

“I didn’t know anything,” he said. “I really was put in the fire, and I really didn’t know as much as I know now. It’s a totally different situation. I know more and can play the defense really comfortably.”

At 6-foot-4 and 315 pounds, Robinson has the physical tools to be a dominant end in Virginia’s 3-4 defense. A capable run-stopper, Robinson’s shortcomings have been his lack of stamina and his middling skills as a pass rusher.

He’s shored up both areas, Robinson said. His weight is down, from 325 to 312, his body fat from 25 percent to 17. His stamina is up, too, and he’s worked overtime on his pass-rushing technique.

“Kwakou’s really rising, as far as his talent and ability,” defensive end Brennan Schmidt said.

In 56 snaps this year, Robinson has five tackles, one for loss.

Canty led the team in tackles through three games and still leads in tackles for loss, with seven in four games. With his rare combination of size and speed, the 6-7, 290-pound Canty could be a disruptive force. It will take a collective effort to make up for his loss, coach Al Groh said.

“We had an exceptional college playmaker who we don’t have any more,” he said. “We have to find the plays from other players or from alterations in the scheme, or else the production, I think logically, is going to drop off.”

Robinson isn’t being counted on to duplicate Canty’s production. His job, at least initially, is to provide “solid play,” Groh said.

“We’re not trying to replace Chris,” Groh said. “When a player leaves, it’s unrealistic and unfair to say we’re going to replace that player. We’re going to put a new player in with new skills and a whole different personality.”

Robinson’s game is built on power. He feels he’s Canty’s equal as a run stopper. And while he’s not as fast as Canty, he’s quick enough to get the job done, he said.

“Within 10 yards, I’m going to get you,” he said.

Robinson figured his day would come. He just figured it would come next year. While he’s sorry that it took an injury to Canty for his opportunity to arise, he plans to make the most of it.

“I get a chance to show people the hype wasn’t for nothing,” he said.

Clemson’s skid has Bowden on defensive
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© October 6, 2004

A new columnist made his debut on the Clemson University athletic department Web site this week. In “Current Issues with Dr. Phillips,” athletic director Terry Don Phillips plans to write weekly about the “opportunities and challenges” facing Clemson athletics.

His first topic: football coach Tommy Bowden. Phillips never mentioned Bowden’s name in his 11-paragaph column, but he didn’t have to. After saying the thing he appreciated most about Clemson fans was how they’ve supported the football program even through bad times, Phillips took aim at the Bowden bashers lurking online and over the airwaves.

“What is written in talk chat rooms and spoken on radio sometimes serves as a tremendous disservice to Clemson in many areas, particularly in recruiting,” he said.

Phillips said most Clemson fans are not guilty. “Yet, whenever there are some who speculate and conjecture about the demise of a particular coach … it creates an environment of ill will and uncertainty.”

Translation: Leave Bowden alone; he’s not going anywhere.

It’s unlikely Phillips’ prose will do much to quiet criticism of Bowden, particularly if Clemson falls to 1-4 with a loss at No. 10 Virginia on Thursday night. After beginning the year ranked No. 15, the Tigers rank as the ACC’s biggest disappointment, and Bowden, as he seems to annually, is taking heat.

“I know the fans are disappointed,” he said Tuesday. “Nobody’s more disappointed than the players, who are working hard and investing the time, and the coaches.”

Clemson was projected to finish fourth in the conference . It seemed a reasonable pick, given the Tigers’ strong finish last season and the talent they had returning.

But after squeaking by Wake Forest in their opener, the Tigers have dropped three straight, the last two by an average of 20 points. Bowden blames the losses on three things: turnovers, missed tackles and dropped balls.

Clemson ranks 117th nationally in turnover margin, giving the ball away 14 times and taking it away just twice.

Bowden burned up the long-distance phone lines last week, calling coaching buddies like Bob Stoops of Oklahoma, Pete Carroll of Southern Cal, Sonny Lubick of Colorado State and Lloyd Carr of Michigan to find out what the Tigers could do to force more turnovers.

His conclusion: not much. Clemson isn’t doing anything differently in practice than any of those other teams.

“It’s eventually going to turn,” Bowden said. “The law of percentages.”

Ten of Clemson’s 14 turnovers have come on interceptions thrown by quarterback Charlie Whitehurst. A few of those were tipped balls, Bowden said. Others have been just inches off the mark.

Bowden insists that Clemson is a “couple of turnovers away” from being 3-1. For that reason, he sees no need for a drastic overhaul of the offense or defense.

“We’ve played pretty good football, minus the turnovers,” he said.

Minus the dropped passes and blown tackles as well. Clemson receivers dropped 12 passes vs. Florida State. Poor tacking has been an issue all year. The Tigers spent their open week working on those fundamentals, Bowden said.

“We’ve kind of talked about starting the season over,” he said. “We’ve played four, we had an open date, and now we’ve got a seven-game season.” Clemson was in a similar spot last year. After starting the season 5-4 and with Bowden’s status seemingly uncertain, the Tigers won their final four games, including a 27-14 victory over Tennessee in the Peach Bowl. Bowden was rewarded with a contract extension through 2010, a deal that reportedly contains a $4 million buyout clause.

For that reason, Bowden’s job could be secure, at least in the short term. Phillips has said he wants to bring stability to the program, and that Bowden is the Tigers’ coach for the long haul. For his part, Bowden said he doesn’t read or listen to coverage of his team. After 28 years in coaching, he said he has certain “core convictions” about how to succeed, and those aren’t likely to change.

“When you start being impulsive to what somebody writes or says, then I think you’re in trouble,” he said.

For the moment anyway, Bowden has at least one columnist on his side.

It's showtime for No. 10 Virginia
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
October 7, 2004

All eyes are watching - as they should be.

Virginia (4-0, 1-0) is ranked among the top 10 teams in the country for the first time in seven years. And now it finally gets a chance to show why.

With a national audience tuning in on ESPN tonight at 7:45 p.m., the Virginia football team has a chance to show the college football world that the three-plus years of recruiting and coaching that Al Groh has put in has paid off, as the Cavaliers battle a Clemson team in dire need of a win.

“Thursday night starts the football week,” Groh said. “I know how much teams in the NFL and players look forward to being on Monday night, so I’m sure this is the same thing.”

With the national audience comes an added pressure for UVa.

Being ranked in the top 10 has not been a good thing for the Cavaliers in recent history. The last four times that the Cavaliers have faced an opponent while sporting a top 10 ranking, UVa has lost.

It happened in 1990 against Maryland and again in 1992 against Clemson.

North Carolina downed UVa when they were the No. 9 team in the country in 1995 and Georgia Tech upset the seventh-ranked Cavaliers, 41-38, in 1998.

Finally, Virginia is back among the elite and it has a chance for redemption.

In order to do so, the Cavaliers will need to contain Clemson quarterback Charlie Whitehurst, his speedy wide receivers and the no-huddle offense.

So far this season that has been an easy thing to do.

Whitehurst has thrown for five touchdowns, but has tossed 10 interceptions.

“The turnovers are pretty glaring,” Whitehurst told reporters this week. “If you subtract those, I don’t think I’ve played all that bad, just average. There’s been too many bad decisions and I think the ball hasn’t gone our way a couple of times.”

For Whitehurst there may be no better place than Scott Stadium to get his junior season jump-started.

In was in the same stadium two years ago that the Tigers’ QB initially showcased his talents as a redshirt freshman.

With Clemson trailing 22-10 late in the fourth quarter, Whitehurst took over the reigns for Willie Simmons and promptly completed seven straight passes against the Cavs and led the team for a late TD.

“I think unanimously, as a staff, we felt, ‘Oh, boy, this guy’s going to be a real one,’” Groh said.

For Clemson, a star was born.

Playing as a sophomore last year, Whitehurst finished second in the ACC in total offense with an average of 277 yards per game. He also rushed for a score and passed for two against UVa last year in Death Valley in a 30-27 overtime win.

Things have not been so good as of late as the Tigers have dropped three straight games.

Despite the recent rocky times, Whitehurst would love nothing better than to get that career back on track tonight.

“We’re still optimistic that we can turn this thing around,” Whitehurst said.

Virginia’s defense hopes to have an impact on that.

Groh said this week that it starts with the amount of pressure they get on Whitehurst since if they do so, “the integrity of the pocket isn’t as sound, then usually [quarterbacks] make more mistakes. And, that’s been the case here in the early games.”

Groh’s desire for pressure will have to happen without defensive end Chris Canty, who was lost for the season when he suffered a knee injury midway through the fourth quarter against Syracuse.

Kwakou Robinson will take over Canty’s spot but should get ample help in filling the void from redshirt freshman Chris Johnson and the remainder for the front seven defenders in UVa’s 3-4 defense.

“Lots of teams have space fillers on the defensive line. When you have a real playmaker on the defensive line to go with the guys that you usually think of as playmakers, that is basically your linebackers around the line of scrimmage and the guys in the secondary, then your defense is going to add up to more than it otherwise would,” Groh said. “Well, we had an exceptional college playmaker, who we don’t have anymore.

“So, we have to find the plays from other players or from alterations in the scheme, or else the production is logically going to drop off. It’s like if you have a baseball lineup. If you take a .320 hitter out, and you put a good solid .275 hitter in, you have an adequate hitter in there. You don’t have an automatic out; you’ve got an adequate hitter. But, you’ll have a lower on-base percentage and probably less RBI if you take a producer out. That’s the big challenge to us here … that’s the big question to us.”

Men's hoops to prep in Montreal
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
October 7, 2004

Basketball? October? Canada?

Not even Carnac the Magnificent could piece together that each item is tied to the University of Virginia.

The Virginia men’s basketball team journeys to Montreal this weekend for a three-game tour. The Cavaliers will face the Royal Military College on Friday, Concordia University on Saturday and conclude the trip with a contest at McGill University on Sunday.

The NCAA allows a program to make such trips as this every four years. In the summer of 2000, UVa coach Pete Gillen and his squad made a tour of Europe. That team reached the NCAA Tournament the following season and gave Gillen his only 20-win season while in Charlottesville. While the destination is a lot closer this time, Gillen hopes it can reap similar beneficial results for this version of the Cavaliers.

“We are going to try and win certainly but it’s more about giving experience to some guys, seeing some different combinations and see what looks good at this early stage and what we have to work on,” Gillen said. “I think we are just trying to see what we have in terms of different kinds of combinations and things we can experiment on.”

Perhaps the most substantial benefit of such an excursion is that NCAA allows a team 10 practice days to prepare for such travels. So instead of beginning practice next week as the rest of the college basketball world will, the Cavaliers have already been in the gym for nearly two weeks.

Gillen claims those practices have allowed his team additional time to literally get in basketball shape and ready for the rigors of preparation for the season. It has not, however, allowed him to pick any set lineup for the upcoming season.

“Don’t really have a top five right now. It’s tough to tell. The veterans are doing well and the first-year guys are really doing well also,” said Gillen, who added that he plans to use a different starting lineup in each game. “I don’t think we have a real superstar player but we have a lot of really good players and I think that’s better.”

When pressed about who has looked best in the early practices, Gillen resisted a little but did offer his opinion on at least who seems the most improved since last season.

“Right now, I’d say [senior forward] Jason Clark is our most improved player. He’s playing very well. He’s playing with confidence,” Gillen noted. “He’s consistent and rebounds well. It’s early and we’ve only had seven practices but in those seven practices, Jason Clark has been the best performer.”

While such trips are often taken in the summer, there is a clear and obvious advantage to doing it now. First, it’s close to the season and secondly, you can take your full squad.

The UVa freshmen - point guard Sean Singletary, forward Adrien Joseph and center Tunji Soroye - will be making the trip and are expected to play key roles this upcoming season.

“I think it will give our three freshmen players a lot of experience on playing away from home and in a different environment. I think for those reason these experiences are important,” Gillen said.

Of the trio of freshmen, Singletary has garnered the most attention since committing to Virginia in June 2003. The 6-foot Singletary is said to possess the point-guard abilities that have been absent in the Virginia program for nearly three years until the emergence of sophomore T.J. Bannister late last season.

Gillen has made certain efforts to not heap too much hype on Singletary but he also doesn’t avoid extolling the Philadelphia native’s talents.

“He’s played very well so far. … He has quickness and makes people better by getting them the ball. He can score himself from the perimeter and can also drive the lane and create shots for others,” Gillen said. “T.J. Bannister has also done very well. Our point guard play will be much improved.”

Among the skills the Cavaliers will attempt to hone this weekend will be in the area of pressure defense. A pressing style has been a staple for Gillen, but personnel has been an issue in implementing it the past two seasons. With a more athletic team overall, Gillen will once again try to press-and-run but as he cautions, not all the time.

“We want to press more than last year but are we going to do it for 40 minutes? No. We are going to take it on and take it off. We’ve added three quick and athletic players,” Gillen said. “You can’t press too much in this league because if you gamble, they will make you pay. We’re going to definitely press more because we are more athletic but we will take it on and off.”

Cavs ready-for-prime-time players?
In clash with Clemson, Virginia will try to show it can win without Canty
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Oct 7, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The eyes of the college-football world will be trained tonight on Scott Stadium, where Virginia entertains ACC rival Clemson on ESPN's Thursday-night stage.

"It's prime time," said Elton Brown, the Cavaliers' All-America candidate at offensive guard.

It's also an opportunity for No. 10 U.Va. (1-0, 4-0) to prove it can win without fallen defensive leader Chris Canty, as well as quiet skeptics who say the team's unbeaten record and lofty national ranking are the products of a soft early-season schedule.

"We can't really worry about what other people think," said Virginia quarterback Marques Hagans, who leads the ACC in passing efficiency. "All we can do is go out week in, week out and just play and let the results show for themselves."

This is the fourth straight home game for Virginia, which hasn't played since pounding Syracuse 31-10 on Sept. 25. Clemson, 1-2 in the ACC, is 1-3 overall, and that win came in overtime against Wake Forest in the opener. Still, the Tigers, who were picked to finish fourth in the conference, figure to pose U.Va.'s sternest test to date.

As usual, they're fast, they're athletic and they're talented. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they've also been error-prone this season. Clemson's 14 turnovers are the most of any team in the conference.

"If we had seven, we'd probably be 3-1," Bowden said.

Entering the season, many considered junior Charlie Whitehurst to be the ACC's premier quarterback, but he's thrown twice as many interceptions (10) as touchdown passes (five). In Clemson's overtime win over U.Va. last year at Death Valley, however, Whitehurst completed 27 of 44 passes for 265 yards and two TDs, including the game-winner. The Cavaliers worry, and with good reason, that Whitehurst will break out of his slump tonight.

"We've got to make him not feel comfortable in the pocket and disrupt his timing on the ball and just disrupt his whole operation," junior defensive end Brennan Schmidt said.

Virginia enters its date with Clemson as the ACC's top rushing team (284 yards per game). But that was the case last year, too, and the Tigers held U.Va. to 53 yards on 22 carries. Three times the Cavs ran on third and 1 and failed to pick up a first down. The same result occurred on a third-and-2 rushing attempt.

"You look back on it, and that gives us a little inspiration, a little motivation to go out and play better than we have," said Brown, who was honored as the ACC's top blocker in 2003. "We feel like we're a different line this year. We're capable of converting in those situations."

Hagans, who succeeded Matt Schaub at quarterback, gives Virginia's ground game another option. The 5-10 junior from Hampton rushed for a career-best 81 yards and two touchdowns against Syracuse and reminds Bowden of former Clemson great Woodrow Dantzler.

He's an amazingly accurate passer - Hagans has completed 76.1 percent of his attempts - but he can beat opponents with his feet, too. The Tigers have to look at him "not just as a quarterback, but as a tailback," Bowden said, "and that always presents problems for you."

For the first time since 2002, Virginia's starters on the defensive line will include Kwakou Robinson, a 6-4, 315-pound junior who was a Parade All-American in high school. Robinson takes over for Canty, who seriously injured his left knee against Syracuse. Canty had seven tackles for loss in three-plus games and was on track to earn all-ACC and, perhaps, All-America honors.

"I just want to be judged on what I do, and not by what Chris has done," Robinson said.

Canty, one of the Cavaliers' captains, had surgery last week. He isn't expected to attend tonight's game, but he's in his teammates' hearts and thoughts and prayers.

"He's upbeat about the situation, he's trying to get through it," Brown said. "He's encouraging us, so we want to go out and try to finish this thing off for him."

Cavs Get Ready to State Case
Clemson Is Start Of Tougher Foes
By Mark Schlabach
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 7, 2004; Page D01

Even Virginia Coach Al Groh isn't sure what to make of his football team. During the past month, the Cavaliers have largely flown under the national radar, soundly beating inferior teams. The Cavaliers are 4-0 and ranked No. 10, but they've rarely been mentioned among national championship contenders such as Georgia, Oklahoma and Southern California.

Beginning with tonight's game against Clemson, though, the Cavaliers can start making their case as a contender for the ACC title and the Bowl Championship Series berth that comes with it. With Scott Stadium sold out and a national audience watching on ESPN, they finally can begin to show the rest of the nation, including their coach, how good they are.

U-Va. quarterback Marques Hagans has led team to 4-0 mark, No. 10 ranking in first season as starter. (Andrew Shurtleff -- Daily Progress Via Ap)

Hagans in Good Company

In his first season as Virginia's starting quarterback, junior Marques Hagans has played remarkably well in his first four games. Hagans has completed 76.1 percent of his passes, best in the nation, and his quarterback rating of 182.93 trails only Purdue's Kyle Orton (194.1), California's Aaron Rodgers (190.3) and Toledo's Bruce Gradkowski (185.6). Hagans has showed the ability to make quick decisions, as he has been sacked only once.
Honoring Coach Welsh

Former Virginia and Navy coach George Welsh will be honored during halftime of tonight's game. Welsh, who was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in April, turned around a Virginia program that had only two winning seasons in 29 years when he arrived in Charlottesville in 1982. By his third season, Welsh guided the Cavs to an 8-2-2 record, including a 27-24 win over Purdue in the 1984 Peach Bowl, the school's first bowl victory. Welsh retired in 2000 with a 134-86-3 record in 19 seasons at Virginia, and 189-131-4 in 24 seasons overall.
Scoring at Will

Virginia tailback Wali Lundy, right, has scored 10 touchdowns this season, and his average of 15 points per game is tied with Purdue's Taylor Stubblefield for the national lead. Lundy needs 10 more rushing touchdowns to tie Thomas Jones's school record of 36 and six more touchdowns to tie Jones's record of 40 overall. Also, Lundy needs 53 rushing yards to break into the school's top 10 rushers.
Confusing Charlie

Look for the Cavaliers to throw a plethora of defensive looks at Clemson quarterback Charlie Whitehurst, who has thrown 10 interceptions and lost three fumbles in four games this season. Whitehurst, a junior and preseason all-American candidate, has committed nine of those turnovers in the past two games. With Clemson struggling to run the ball, defenses have dropped into two-deep coverages and dropped middle linebackers into the middle of the field to take away short and intermediate routes. Whitehurst has grown increasingly impatient and his receivers are struggling to get open.
Home Away From Home

The Tigers have won 15 of their last 19 games at Virginia, but the Cavaliers have won their last six home games, including three games this year. Virginia has won 14 of its last 15 games at Scott Stadium, losing only to Florida State, 19-14, last season.

"I'd put us somewhere between 12 and 30," Groh said this week, when he was asked where he would rank the Cavaliers. "That's how much I think we know right now. We might be the sixth-best team in the country; we might be the 35th."

The teams Virginia has beaten -- by an average of more than 30 points -- have a combined record of 7-13. While Clemson (1-3, 1-2) has lost three games in a row and has fallen out of the top 25 after ranking No. 15 in the preseason, the Tigers are expected to put up more of a fight.

"We kind of see it as our debut to show the country what we can do," said Cavaliers defensive end Brennan Schmidt, a team co-captain.

The rest of the nation still doesn't know much about the Cavaliers, who have displayed a high-powered offense and stingy defense during Groh's fourth season at Virginia. Games such as tonight's -- it is Virginia's first home game on a Thursday night -- are one of the reasons why Groh left the NFL ranks to return to his alma mater in 2001.

"I think certainly it's a powerful way to get exposure to your university and your school," Groh said. "It's the national game on Thursday night. There are some teams who when the Thursday night game first started coming on, they'd play anybody anyplace on Thursday night just to get exposure to the rest of the country."

After tonight's game, the rest of the nation will know a lot more about Virginia, including:

• The Cavaliers really don't miss Matt Schaub, the school's all-time leading passer. Marques Hagans is hoping for maximum exposure in what will be a coming-out of sorts for the junior from Hampton, Va. Since replacing Schaub, now Michael Vick's backup with the Atlanta Falcons, Hagans has thrown for 770 yards and four touchdowns with only one interception, and his quarterback rating of 182.93 is the fourth-highest in Division I-A. But the former wide receiver and kick returner hasn't faced a defense as fast as Clemson's.

Hagans has played "about as well as a rookie quarterback could," Groh said. "I know he's been in there a little bit before, but this is the first time he's ever really been 'the guy.' "

• Tailback Wali Lundy is pretty good when he's healthy. The junior battled injuries the past two seasons, but now that he's healthy, he has rushed for nearly 400 yards and 10 touchdowns, tied for third-most in Division I-A. With Lundy and sophomore Michael Johnson sharing carries, the Cavaliers rank fifth nationally in rushing with 284 yards per game. Virginia has scored 25 touchdowns and its 45.5 points per game is the fourth-highest average in Division I-A.

• Virginia's defense isn't all about its linebackers. While sophomores Ahmad Brooks and Kai Parham and junior Darryl Blackstock form one the nation's best linebacker corps, the secondary has played surprisingly well. It features two new starters, cornerback Marcus Hamilton and safety Marquis Weeks, but Virginia has conceded only two touchdown passes, tied with four other teams for third-fewest in the nation. The Cavaliers will be playing their first game without senior defensive end Chris Canty, who will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.

If not for Clemson's success in Charlottesville -- the Tigers have won 15 of their last 19 games there -- tonight's game would probably be considered another tuneup for Virginia. With a game at No. 8 Florida State looming, the Cavaliers can't afford to be looking forward.

"It's not pressure," Cavaliers guard Elton Brown said. "We play every Saturday. We've been in big games, been in big stadiums. If anything, it's sort of what you live for. You come to college, you want to play in one of these games."

The stakes get much higher after tonight. The Cavaliers will play four of their final six games on the road, including an Oct. 16 game at Florida State. Virginia must still play No. 4 Miami, No. 23 Maryland and Virginia Tech, as well.

"I'd say we're moving up from Double-A or Triple-A now to the major leagues," Groh said. "We'll see how well we hit major league pitching here for the next seven weeks."

Clemson calls on UVa
Cavaliers put top-10 ranking on the line against Tigers
By HANK KURZ JR, The Associated Press

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. -- The numbers suggest a mismatch: Virginia is 4-0 and ranked No. 10. Clemson has lost three straight.

But records only tell part of the story, at least where the Tigers are concerned. Their most telling number so far would appear to be 14. That's how many times Clemson has turned the ball over, skewing everything.

"If we just cut the turnovers out, I think we'll get it together," Clemson quarterback Charlie Whitehurst said. "We're not that far off, just a couple of plays here and there."

The Tigers (1-3) try get back on track tonight at Virginia.

Virginia's players need to think back no further than last season to be reminded of how good Clemson can be. After rallying for a 17-10 lead, the Cavaliers had all the momentum until a freak bounce on a near sack turned into a Clemson first down, and the Tigers won 30-27 in overtime.

Memories of that are just one of the things that could have been on the Cavaliers' minds over the past 10 days. They also climbed into the top 10 for the first time since 1998, will be playing before a national television audience for the first time this year and will be without defensive end Chris Canty, lost for the year to an injury against Syracuse on Sept. 25.

None of it will be a distraction, guard Elton Brown said.

"We're just ready to get out there and let it go," he said. "This is a big game for both teams. We're trying to stay undefeated. Those guys are trying to win a game. ... We know they're coming in here hungry."

Virginia also knows Clemson can play, in spite of its struggles.

Whitehurst is last in the ACC in passing efficiency, largely because he's thrown 10 interceptions, but second with a 210-yard average. Last year he threw for 265 yards against Virginia with two touchdown passes, including the winner in overtime, and he ran for a touchdown, too.

Linebacker LeRoy Hill leads the ACC in tackles with an average of 10.2 per game, and last year had twice as many in the game against Virginia.

"He attacks the hole just like he had the ball," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "He's really quick. He's instinctive. If you don't do something about him, he's going to have a whole truckload full of tackles."

Groh doesn't expect Clemson's no-huddle offense to give his team much trouble because they've seen it before, but he said the Cavaliers' kick coverage team will have to be sharp to keep speedy Justin Miller in check.

Miller has a 36.4-yard average and brought two kickoffs back for touchdowns in a 41-22 loss at Florida State.

"We've got some veteran guys there that have covered a lot of kicks," he said. "Hopefully, they'll be as effective as they have been."

Canty, an inspirational leader as well as one of Virginia's best players, won't be with the team. He's recovering from surgery last week and will be replaced by Kwakou Robinson, a 6-foot-4, 327-pound junior.

Robinson is eager to keep the Cavaliers' early season run going. The Cavs are allowing 12 points per game, and scoring 45.5 behind quarterback Marques Hagans and tailback Wali Lundy.

"I feel they're [Clemson] the same team as last year," Robinson said. "I feel that they're just waiting to erupt, and last year they erupted on us."

No-huddle no problem for Cavs
In the Huddle
Jim Laise

Virginia coach Al Groh knows from no-huddle offenses. When he was the head coach of the New York Jets, he can remember trying to combat Buffalo's standout quarterback Jim Kelly and the NFL's Bills' version of the no-huddle.

In actuality, the no-huddle means what it says. Opposing offenses fail to huddle between plays to speed up the game and throw off opposing defenses. Opposing quarterbacks either call the plays at the line, or gather them from intricate hand-signals coming from their coaches on the sidelines.

"The tough thing about Kelly and the Bills was that he would call plays at the line of scrimmage himself. That was tough. For a while, we refused to ever substitute on defense (for fear of being flagged for illegal substitutions or having defensive players confused at the line), but as we progressed with it, we kind of got used to it, and went through our normal sub routine," Groh said.

Whether the we Groh was talking about is the Jets or his current football team, Virginia, is irrelevant because the coach says now when he and his players and staff are faced with a no-huddle offense like Clemson will bring to Charlottesville on Thursday before ESPN cameras and a sellout crowd at 7:45 p.m., "We won't throw our hands up in the air and say 'Gee, what is this?' "

Reason being, Groh, who coached at Wake Forest, with the Jets and has returned to his alma mater for the last four years, has been around the block a while. Too, the Cavaliers (4-0 and ranked as high as ninth in the national polls) have seen the no-huddle already once this season.

Temple no-huddled throughout a 44-14 Virginia victory to open the season.

"We saw it from Temple, and the good thing is, we practiced for it during the preseason because they were our first game, so we went against it extensively," said Groh.

In Groh's lexicon, every opposing offense will throw a wrinkle at a defense to "aggravate the defensive coach."

Syracuse used multiple players, formations and substitutions throughout its 31-10 loss to the Cavaliers, with the theory being that even though the substitutions might confuse the Orange, the idea is that they will perplex the defense more. The difference should make for an optimistic product. Or at least that was the Cuse's theory.

Meantime, Tiger coach Tommy Bowden brings in a no-huddle that he and current West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez developed together when Rodriguez was Bowden's offensive coordinator at Tulane. The Green Wave went undefeated during Bowden and Rodriguez's final year there.

Not only has Groh seen it three times in close encounters with Clemson - the fourth-year coach is 2-1 in nail-biters with the Tigers - his players have as well, making for a more efficient ability to play the gimmick.

Anyway, according to Groh, his players are schooled in "what happens after the ball is snapped" rather than keeping up with the speed between snaps and whatever calls are made at the line.

College no-huddle repetitions often take a bit more time than the pros, because almost all colleges have coaches on the sidelines who transfer signals in from the game-plotting that goes on upstairs in their coaches' box in the pressbox. Information comes down and then is hand-signaled out onto the field.

In the case of another pro team that no-huddles, the Indianapolis Colts, a quarterback like Peyton Manning need not wait for the signal to come in. He already knows what he wants to call, so his barking and gesturing at the line of scrimmage may be a dummy action, or he could actually be audibling once he brings his offense to the fore.

College quarterbacks have no such rights; they still have to wait until the play comes in. Then, too, officials are becoming more mindful of the tact. This year they are waiting for both lineups to set up before allowing the play to be run. Note the referee standing over the ball until it's snapped.

Still, Groh adheres to the dictum, "It's not so much what happens before the ball is snapped, but it's what happens after it's snapped that counts."

"We tell our players not to worry about what the quarterback's saying, whether it's 'blue' or 'brown.' If you get into a game of trying to outguess the offense about what it's going to do, you forget what you're going to do." And thus miss the play, said Groh.

Groh is blessed with a defensive front that remains grounded no matter what the snap count, huddle formation, audible and/or all the rest. In defensive end Brendan Schmidt, the team's co-captain, and nose guard Andrew Hoffman, a senior, the Cavaliers' front is experienced, even though junior Kwakou Robinson will be earning his first start.

Outside linebacker Dennis Haley, backup inside linebacker Rich Bedesm and safeties Jermaine Hardy and Marquis Weeks are seniors. Darryl Blackstock is a junior with numbers of games to his favor, and sophomore linebackers Kai Parham and Ahmad Brooks have started off and on for two years.

"I just think it's best to concentrate on what you do, and leave the rest for somebody else to figure out," said Groh.

What Virginia does on defense is positive. Brooks averages eight tackles a game and has totaled four and a half sacks. Parham averages 5.2 stops and has picked up one sack. Brooks also ranks high in ACC stats with 0.25 fumbles forced per game.

Virginia ranks third in total defense (258 yards per game allowed), second in rush defense (95.5) and second in scoring defense (12 points per game).

Clemson has been productive passing the ball, but is dead last in ACC stats in running it (103).

What the Tigers do well is get to the passer. They are tied with Florida State for the league lead with 15 sacks for 106 yards. They are also skilled in the return area, ranking just below the Wahoos in kickoff returns (31.7 yards). Punt-return man Justin Miller has brought six back this season for an average 12.7 yards per carry. He has scored three times already on returned punts. "At this rate," Groh said, "he'll have nine before the year is out."

Groh also likes defensive Tigers Leroy Hill, a linebacker, and safety Jamaal Fudge. He and his players have faced both Clemson players in the past.

"Hill is a downfield linebacker," Groh said. "You know you here people say they know about a 'downfield runner'? Well, Hill is a downfield tackler. He gets to the hole."

Hill currently is tied for the league lead in tackles with North Carolina's Fred Sparkman (both average 10.2 per game). He also has totaled four sacks for the season.

Fudge, meantime, averages 8.2 tackles and has sacked opposition ballcarriers.

"He is aggressive in the open field and brings a truckload when he hits you," said the UVa. coach.

Groh was quizzed several times Sunday before the weekly polls were produced by the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN about where he thought his team would end up. Assuredly it was destined for the top 10 after Ohio State and West Virginia lost.

"I really don't speculate on that right now," said the coach. "Sometimes these games in the early season seem like upsets, and then we get to December and they aren't upsets at all. The right team won. Our theory is to get to Nov. 1 and still be in the hunt."

Huddle or no huddle, "That's what we tell our kids."

Tigers present tougher test than predicted
J.D. Moss, Cavalier Daily Columnist

The first 29 times Virginia played Clemson, the Tigers emerged victorious. In fact, the Cavaliers fell by a double-digit margin 21 of those times.

The times, however, have changed. After the Cavs first knocked off then-ninth-ranked Clemson in 1990, the series has been dead even, though Virginia has won two of the three games in the Groh era.

All three have been outstanding games, decided by a combined total of 10 points. In 2001, the Cavaliers, after squeaking a one-point victory over Richmond, went into Death Valley and somehow upset the 19th-ranked Tigers. To this date, it remains Groh's sole road win over a top-25 program.

In that game, Billy McMullen hauled in a one-yard touchdown pass with one second remaining to lead the Cavs past Clemson, 26-24, despite Tiger cries that McMullen pushed off.

McMullen again led his Cavaliers past the Tigers in 2002, scoring on an end-around on fourth-and-goal early in the fourth quarter, giving Virginia a lead it never relinquished. The Tigers made it close, however, scoring with 91 seconds left to close the gap to 22-17, but an onside kick attempt failed.

Last year, it was Clemson that played the spoiler role when they hosted the then 25th-ranked Cavaliers.

Clemson's Kevin Youngblood, in an episode of déjà vu, pushed off to free himself in the endzone in overtime to give the Tigers a 30-27 victory. This came after Virginia rallied from a 13-0 halftime deficit to force overtime.

"Virginia got us two years ago just like this," Clemson quarterback Charlie Whitehurst said to reporters at the time. "It just happened to them this time. We were on the other side and felt the joy of winning."

Which brings us to this season, when Clemson has not felt much of that joy.

When Virginia released its 2004 schedule, I immediately circled today. Clemson was a program on the rise, as were the Cavaliers, so this figured to be a matchup between two top-25 teams.

Clemson, led by preseason Heisman hopeful Whitehurst, figured to be relying on an explosive aerial attack, despite inexperienced receivers, and many experts, in addition to myself, saw them coming into Charlottesville at 3-1, falling only to Florida State.

In summer practice, however, the Tigers lost starting tailback Duane Coleman to a broken foot, compounding the pressure on Whitehurst. Left with just one veteran receiver and no consistent ground game behind a green offensive line, the junior has struggled, tossing an astounding 10 interceptions, committing four fumbles and completing just 49 percent of his passes in four games.

Without Coleman, the Tigers ran the ball only 11 times against Florida State on Sept. 25, allowing defensive linemen to key on the pass rush.

Coleman, however, is back and will start tonight, which means the Tigers will run more and ease the pressure off of Whitehurst. Plus, great quarterbacks don't struggle forever, making tonight scary given the struggles of Virginia's secondary and the loss of defensive end Chris Canty.

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers have been nothing short of dominant this season. The Cavs have vaulted into the national spotlight, with pundits mentioning the idea that they could win the ACC, and Vegas making them 2.5-point favorites against fourth-ranked Miami on Nov. 13.

Despite the Tigers' record, there is no doubt that Clemson will be the Cavs' toughest test yet. The Tigers may be down, but they should not be 16.5-point underdogs, especially given the series' recent history. In 2001 and 2003, the ranked home team fell victim to an upset by the unranked visitor.

The next nine days will bring two of the biggest games of the Groh era. Since fall break does not allow me a column next week, I need to squeeze in my take on eighth-ranked Florida State.

The possibility exists that for the first time in school history, a top-10 Virginia team will square off against another top-10 squad.

Florida State's offense is not the explosive force it was in the 1990s under genius offensive coordinator Mark Richt, who left prior to 2001 to take the Georgia head coaching job. Since then, Richt has a better record at Georgia than Bobby Bowden's Seminoles.

Florida State quarterback Chris Rix is out again this week nursing an ankle injury, but those in Wahoo Nation should hope for a speedy recovery for the turnover-prone quarterback.

Yet the 'Noles are stocked with weapons all over the field. Their team speed is astounding. Coaches have been known to prepare their offenses for Florida State's defensive athleticism by putting 13 defenders on the practice field that week. And the game is at night, at a hostile stadium in which Virginia has never won.

Still, this Cavaliers squad has been designed to win on the road, something Groh has yet to prove against quality teams. The power running game can control the clock, and the defense can force big turnovers.

It certainly is an exciting time to be a Cavalier fan, and, looking ahead, the Florida State matchup will be an epic battle. Clear your calendar next Saturday night. You won't regret it.