Virginia now gets respect from 'Noles
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
October 12, 2004

One of the first questions some of the Florida State players and coaches were asked after the Seminoles’ narrow escape from upset at Syracuse last Saturday night had to do with their next opponent: Virginia.

The question posed was: “Do you think the team was looking ahead to the Virginia game?”

FSU running back Leon Washington, who saved the Seminoles with a 164-yard rushing performance, answered in the affirmative.

“Guys were probably looking ahead to Virginia and watched Virginia play on Thursday night,” Washington said.

My, how things change

Wasn’t that the question Virginia used to get asked all the time? Were you guys looking ahead to Florida State?

If nothing else, that statement in itself presents evidence that Virginia has made strides in recent years. Florida State entered last weekend ranked ahead of the Cavaliers, so who should have been looking ahead?

UVa looked so good that pollsters leapfrogged the Cavs over the Seminoles in this week’s rankings. Everywhere you turn, people are noticing Virginia.

After Coach Al Groh’s guest spot on ESPN radio Friday night, the hosts praised Virginia’s success and espoused profusely about how good the Cavaliers looked.

“When I saw them last week against Clemson, they looked as good as anybody I’ve seen,” said Florida State coach Bobby Bowden. “Virginia just looks doggone good.”

That’s all by design, Groh’s blueprint of how to build a championship football team. Bowden commented on how Groh has put together three straight quality recruiting classes and the difference it has made in advancing the Cavaliers’ program.

“I think now we’re seeing that,” Bowden said.

Virginia’s players believe this trip to Tallahassee will be different than the previous six visits to Florida’s state capitol because all that talent is beginning to show.

On an equal level

“I think our talent level is pretty equal to theirs,” said senior offensive guard Elton Brown, who will be making the 33rd start of his career on Saturday. “We’ve been building up to this point through the recruiting process and the development of our players to match the talent levels of teams like Florida State.”

For many of UVa’s players, the last time they played at Doak Campbell Stadium in 2002 it was a different story. Brown, for instance, had started the last four games of the 2001 season and the ’02 game at FSU was only the sixth start of his career.

For starting center Zac Yarbrough, it was his first collegiate action. For quarterback Marques Hagans, it was the second game of his career. The list goes on and on. Five true freshmen played in that game.

“That was the beginning of Al Groh’s program,” Yarbrough said Monday. “We were still learning the offense and defense. Three years later, we’re kind of what he molded

us in to. I think our team is a lot stronger than in the past when we’ve gone down there.”

Virginia has upgraded its size, its strength and its speed. The Cavaliers are physical.

But there’s one other factor, an intangible that Florida State always had in its favor: intimidation.

The national titles, the flaming spears, the trash talk, the willingness to mix it up a little before the game with the bewildered visiting team ... all that was part of the Seminoles’ intimidation tactics.

However, there’s a strong belief out there in the college football world that FSU’s mystique is gone. Opponents respect the Seminoles, but don’t fear them the way they used to.

Yarbrough said there use to be a strength differential between Virginia and FSU, and “a confidence issue, too.”

No longer, particularly after the Cavaliers nearly pulled off the upset in Charlottesville last season.

“We were always playing the old Florida State,” Yarbrough said. “We were always kind of intimidated. But we’re trying to be one of those teams right now that everybody else is intimidated by playing us.”

Brown said that’s the way it used to be with FSU.

“Their guys are probably going to try to intimidate us, but we have guys in this locker room that won’t budge,” Brown said. “I think we have a team that doesn’t back down. We’re not going to be scared. We’re going to go down there and play ball.”

Give Groh and his staff some of the credit for the change in attitude. Groh roamed the sidelines in some fairly intimidating places during his hey-day with the New York Giants, New England Patriots and New York Jets.

A visit to Lambeau Field, or the old Vet, or the old RFK back in the day wasn’t a stroll in the park. It didn’t get much nastier and Groh has convinced his football team that flaming spears and war chants and all that stuff mean nothing.

It’s what happens on the offensive and defensive lines that decide football games. Who can beat up whom? That’s what it boils down to.

UVa's top 10 clash a historic occasion
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
October 12, 2004

History will be made on Saturday night.
For the first time in 52 years, Virginia will meet a team ranked in the top 10 while they bestow the same honor.
Virginia (5-0, 2-0), which is ranked sixth in the country, hits the road for the first time since its season opener as they travel to face a seventh-ranked Florida State.
The last time Virginia played in a game when both teams were ranked in the top 10 was in 1952, when No. 6 Duke topped a ninth-ranked Cavalier squad 21-7.
It is also just the seventh game in conference history when both teams have entered the contest ranked in the top 10. It happened earlier this season when Florida State played Miami.
Virginia coach Al Groh hopes another bit of history is made.
The Seminoles have been near perfect at home (48-1) since they joined the ACC. They are also 11-1 in the head-to-head series with Virginia.
When playing on the road against a top 10 team, Virginia has lost 22 straight games.
Florida State coach Bobby Bowden knows his team will have to play better against Virginia than it did last Saturday in a 17-13 road win over Syracuse.
“They are as good as they are saying. They are a very solid football team and they are as sound as a team there is. They do everything good,” Bowden said of Virginia. “Offensively, they have a quarterback that is very dangerous, very mobile. Last year, they had [quarterback Matt Schaub] who was an excellent passer and would run a little bit. This kid here [Marques Hagans] can kill you running the ball as well as throwing the football. He has a good arm and is very accurate. Against Clemson, I think he made like 10 out of 12 3rd downs, some of them were long, and if he couldn’t find a receiver he would run the ball.”

Playing physical. Virginia prides itself on being a physical team. Groh has had the team practice that way since they opened the preseason practice period.
Florida State linebacker Ernie Sims says it will not be a factor.
“I don’t really worry about how physical they are or how mean they are. Our defense is not having that, we have one of the best defenses in the country and I feel that you are going to see a lot of tenacity out there with our defense,” Sims said. “Especially me, I don’t take anything from anyone.”

Down and out. Virginia fullback Jason Snelling is not expected to play against Florida State.
Snelling left the Clemson game when he injured his right ankle in the first quarter.
”I think it’s probably unlikely that he’ll be playing here for awhile,” Groh said on Monday.
Brandon Isaiah, a fifth-year senior, will start if Snelling cannot play.
Kevin Bradley, who stands at 6-foot-1 and 220 pounds, would be next in line if something happened to Isaiah.
Bradley is still a redshirt option, since he has not played, but Groh said the true freshman would need “to be ready to go.”

Help is on the way. During his Monday press conference, Groh indicated that sophomore offensive lineman Ian Yates-Cunningham, tight end Jonathan Stupar and wide receiver Fontel Mines are all getting close to returning from injuries.
Cunningham has been out since having off-season back surgery, Stupar broke a bone in his foot before the season opener and Mines broke his collarbone in the first half against Temple.
“I would anticipate that we’re going to start to integrate all three of them back into the operation. What that means, I don’t really know until I see some performance,” Groh said.

Talking about Brooks. When linebacker Ahmad Brooks was being recruited out of high school, Florida State was one of the schools that were hot on his trail.
Seminole coach Bobby Bowden even visited Brooks in his home.
Bowden was asked on Sunday during his teleconference if he ever felt “good” about getting Brooks during the recruiting process.
“We never felt good about getting him. But we were glad he paid attention to us,” Bowden said. “A lot of good ones say they’re going to so-and-so and don’t have time to visit. He was very nice to us.”
Bowden indicated that his staff was very high on Brooks.
“We had him rated as, if not the best, one of the top two or three linebackers in the country and I think that’s the way he’s playing,” Bowden said.

U.Va. hopes to hit ground running vs. Florida State
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© October 12, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE — No one has run the ball on Florida State this season. The Seminoles allow 65.6 yards per game, first in the ACC and third in the nation.

No one has prevented Virginia from running the ball this season. The Cavaliers average 275 yards per game, first in the ACC and fifth in the nation.

for more information, click here! In this match-up of strength vs. strength, it would seem something has to give Saturday night, when No. 6 Virginia meets No. 7 Florida State in Tallahassee.

“That’s one of the key match-ups,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “On each side, somebody is going to come out of it saying, 'Hey, we can still do what we want to do.’ The other one is going to say, 'Our inability to play to the same standards that we had before was a factor.’ ”

Both team’s standards have been high. With a veteran offensive line and two experienced tailbacks, the Cavaliers have placed an emphasis on running the ball this year. Ball control was the key to victories over North Carolina, Syracuse and Clemson.

As for Florida State, “We thrive on shutting down the run ... then go from there,” Seminoles defensive tackle Travis Johnson said after Saturday’s tougher-than-expected win over Syracuse.

Florida State’s scheme is based on denying the run. On some plays, “There’ll be nine guys within 7 yards of the line of scrimmage,” Groh said.

The Seminoles can get away with that because they’ve traditionally had speedy, “shutdown” cornerbacks who can blanket receivers on the outside. That allows the FSU safeties to play closer to the line of scrimmage, cheating up to defend the run.

This year, the Seminoles have allowed teams to run for 100 yards twice. Miami managed 109 yards rushing and North Carolina gained 100.

Virginia (5-0, 2-0 ACC) hasn’t rushed for fewer than 225 yards in a game. The Cavaliers have rotated tailbacks Wali Lundy, Alvin Pearman and Michael Johnson, all of whom are averaging more than 5 yards per carry.

Florida State (4-1, 2-1) has a two-back system of its own, with Leon Washington and Lorenzo Booker roughly splitting the carries. Washington is second in the ACC in rushing, at 108.2 yards per game, while Booker is eighth, at 74.2.

“These are two really fast players,” Groh said.

As usual, FSU’s speed is the main concern for Virginia’s defense, which has also been effective against the run, allowing 85.4 yards per game. Washington ran for 164 yards against Syracuse on Saturday.

With the erratic Chris Rix and now the inexperienced Wyatt Sexton at quarterback, the running game has been the one thing the Seminoles have been able to count on offensively.

“They’ve got big offensive linemen who can move and great backs,” Cavaliers defensive end Brennan Schmidt said. “They’ve got the whole deal going.” The team that keeps the deal going, and is able to run the ball effectively could well be the one that prevails Saturday.

“We have a fast and athletic offensive line; they have a fast defense,” Virginia guard Elton Brown said. “We’ll get our test this week.”

FSU readies for Cavs collision
'Noles defense tries to fix quirks before Virginia rush; offense wants more points
By Steve Ellis
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

Florida State coordinators Mickey Andrews and Jeff Bowden aren't ready to hand over a mid-season report card. Ask them after seventh-ranked Florida State hosts No.6 Virginia on Saturday.

Virginia ranks fifth nationally in total offense, rushing offense and in the top 10 in total defense and scoring defense.

"We'll have a better understanding Saturday night than we do today," Andrews said. "You can see why (the Cavaliers) are ranked where they are on offense. Something's going to give Saturday. We play pretty decent run defense. We're giving some points away we shouldn't have and some yards, but I think you're going to see an outstanding offense play against a team that is trying to become an outstanding defense."

Although his defense gave up some big plays against Syracuse, Andrews said the group will enter its biggest game since Miami knowing it did plenty right.

"The kind of things they were doing - a lot of shifting and motion causes some alignment problems," Andrews said. "The biggest (bad) thing was we go out there, (and) in the second play of the game a guy don't do his job so we give up a 32-yard run right off the bat. In the same series you got a guy (Antonio Cromartie) who goes to sleep and doesn't cover his man and (they) get a 44-yard touchdown.

"It wasn't all bad up there. We held the team under 15 points - that's our goal. We held the team under 300 yards - that's our goal. We got a lot of positive things out of it."

Syracuse started three drives in FSU territory and didn't score. Syracuse was stopped on third-and-long 70 percent of the time according to Andrews. And the Orange were just 2 of 13 on third-down conversions. And FSU made big plays.

"We get the fumble down on the 5-yard (line in the second quarter) that Charles Howard caused and (Bryant) McFadden covered, that was huge," Andrews said. " We stopped them two of three times in the red zone. We had not actually had a red-zone stop until that game and we had two of them. Get down there at the end of the ballgame ... and Sam gets that interception that was huge for us. There were some very big plays in the ball game, and we've got to have those."

While FSU has played well enough to win, Jeff Bowden is looking for more from his group. FSU has not averaged as many points as Bowden wanted, but his group is accomplishing a preseason goal of eating up the clock.

"It's not where I want it yet, because we're not averaging enough (points)," Bowden said of a unit that is averaging 25.2 points per game. "The bottom line is to win. But still when you put (up) 427 yards, we ought to show more points for that. We moved the ball well but didn't finish the drill.

"... If you ask me, what I'm frustrated with more than anything is not being able to throw the ball more. That's maybe why they are giving us big chunks of yardage on the ground. I'm like everybody else - I like them fast scores. We haven't been able to get deep. When we get one-on-one it seems like the defenders are right there with us. I don't have a problem with us if they are going to allow Leon Washington to get 10 yards a clip.

"I try to on average (go deep) five times a game. The coverage has been there. Now two games ago (Chauncey Stovall) got us one deep. Maybe the past week should have been a little more split-end game. I might should have directed more balls to (Stovall) to the split side."

Jeff Bowden criticized himself for calling a reverse against that failed on FSU's second drive. And there were mistakes - Lorenzo Booker's fumble and center David Castillo blocking to the wrong direction on one short-yardage play. FSU also missed two field-goal attempts and Stovall was ruled out of bounds on one potential touchdown pass. Bowden was also unhappy with another attempt by quarterback Wyatt Sexton to the end zone that was nearly intercepted.

"I thought it was a touchdown on Stovall, "Jeff Bowden said. "You make two field goals and you get that touchdown, it's a different game and there's some momentum."

Momentum is also something FSU has in the win column after taking four straight since losing to Miami.

"I know offensively what we talk about. We're approaching every game like a batter with two strikes," Bowden said. "We've taken our loss and cannot lose another ballgame. This is just another game we need to go out there and find a way to win."

Bobby would've pulled Sexton
By Steve Ellis
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

Bobby Bowden said he would have substituted for Wyatt Sexton in the first half against Syracuse had a healthy backup been available. But offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden does not concur.

"That's Dad. I didn't feel that way," Jeff Bowden said. "...I didn't feel like we were sharp in the first half throwing. If we weren't throwing it as well as we would have liked in the first half, (Sexton) didn't show panic in the second half.

"He made nice throws in the second half. There were non-spectator issues that we as coaches want him to get better at."

Apparently Jeff Bowden also didn't agree with everyone on the choice of attack after the offense sputtered early.

"There was a lot of feelings about spreading the field out and let's just start throwing," Jeff Bowden said. "And I felt like we were fine in the 'I.' We were moving the ball. Thank goodness we were able to stay with that. Leon (Washington) ran like a scalded dog. Ray Willis and Bobby Meeks I thought maybe played two of their best games to date. The receivers read too much (press about their blocking). They just flat-out stunk blocking."

Special teams

Breakdowns in the special teams remain an obvious concern for FSU coaches two days after FSU dropped two punts and missed two potentially critical field goals.

"You're not going to beat good people when you don't dominate the kicking game, and we haven't done that in a while," defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews said. "It's just a combination of things. People out of position.

We're working on and meeting on it more now than we ever have, but it doesn't show on the field.

"It's like punt catchers, we got to go back to Dominic (Robinson) to get the ball caught. You'd think when you fumble a punt (as Chris Davis did), you already made one mistake, don't make another one by trying to pick it up and run with it. Then the penalties. Maybe we're playing the wrong people."

Davis has likely seen his last work as a punt returner, especially if Willie Reid soon returns from injury.

Missed field goal attempts by Beitia in clutch moments are likely to dictate Jeff Bowden's play calling.

"If I can reduce yardage where it is a fourth-and-one or less than one, I'll go for that dadgum thing," Jeff Bowden said.

Injury update

FSU's defense played without starting defensive linemen Brodrick Bunkley and Eric Moore, and three safeties - B.J. Ward, Kyler Hall and Roger Williams - were out with injuries.

Andrews is optimistic that Ward and Bunkley will play against Virginia.

"Eric's going to be close, and it's going to be close on Roger (who sprained his ankle against Syracuse)," Andrews said.

Andrews praised Claudius Osei for filling in at the deep safety position in FSU's long-yardage defense.

On offense, Chris Rix is ready to receive more work in practice according to Bobby Bowden. Rix sprained his right ankle against Clemson three games ago. Wyatt Sexton will start against Virginia.

"It's a case of I don't think Chris is ready right now," Bowden said. "Rix is probably better off than Drew (Weatherford, also injured)."

Noteworthy

• This will be just the sixth time since FSU joined the league in 1992 that its ACC opponent is ranked in The Associated Press top10. Miami was ranked fifth in this year's season opener. Maryland was ranked 10th when FSU played them in 2001. Clemson was 10th in 2000, as was Georgia Tech in 1999. North Carolina was fifth in 1997.

• The FSU-Wake Forest game on Oct.23 will be broadcast by ABC at 3:30p.m.

• ESPN's GameDay crew will not be here for the FSU-Virginia game.

• Leon Washington was named co-offensive back of the week in the ACC.

U-Va. Dares to Look Goliath in the Eye
Cavaliers Visit FSU With Higher Ranking, Aiming for Validation
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, October 12, 2004; Page D08

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Oct. 11 -- Much of the trip to Florida State this weekend will be familiar for Virginia's football team. Same flight, same field, same stadium full of fans clad in garnet and gold, chanting and chopping as one. Same reigning ACC champions on the home sideline.

The biggest difference will be the Cavaliers themselves. Undefeated after five games, they are ranked sixth, the highest they've been in 14 years. They bear little resemblance to the out-gunned, overwhelmed bunch that lost in Tallahassee two years ago by a deceptively narrow 40-19 margin.

Wide receiver Fontel Mines, No. 6 Virginia are confident they won't get plowed under by the Seminoles like on this play last year. (Scott K. Brown -- AP)

Florida State, which still has lost only once to Virginia, scored the first 33 points that August afternoon and emerged with a rushing total that neatly summarized the game: 397 yards. The Cavaliers used 19 talented but raw freshmen, including 12 members of the touted recruiting class that had arrived on campus just a few weeks earlier.

"On that particular day," Virginia Coach Al Groh said flatly, "Florida State was significantly bigger, stronger, faster and more experienced."

Virginia's young defense allowed Greg Jones, Florida State's bruising tailback, a career-high 173 rushing yards. Three other Seminoles ran for at least 50 yards, helping the team average 6.6 yards per carry.

"It was crazy," recalled Cavs defensive end Kwakou Robinson, who that day was playing in his second college game. "I mean, their line was huge. Their running back was huge. Greg Jones, he's a big dude."

At least nine Cavaliers limped home with significant injuries. Others such as rookie linebacker Darryl Blackstock, run over by Jones on one memorable play, wounded only their pride.

But now Blackstock and classmates such as D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Brennan Schmidt, Brian Barthelmes, Heath Miller and Wali Lundy are third-year starters for the Cavaliers. Marques Hagans, a first-time starter that afternoon in Tallahassee, has been better than any other ACC quarterback this season.

The gap between the teams is smaller than it has been in years, as evidenced by this week's national rankings. For the first time in 13 games against FSU, Virginia will be the higher-ranked team, having leapfrogged the No. 7 Seminoles (4-1, 2-1 ACC) after their uninspired 17-13 win against the same Syracuse team the Cavaliers (5-0, 2-0) trounced a week earlier.

"I feel like our talent level is pretty equal to theirs," senior right guard Elton Brown said.

Those rankings suggest this could be one of the biggest games in the 115-year history of the Virginia football program. Only twice before -- in 1947 and 1952 -- have the Cavaliers been one-half of a matchup of top-10 teams. And though they profess little interest in national polls at this point in the season, Groh and his players recognize the importance of this game as it pertains to their goal of winning the ACC championship. Virginia and Miami are tied for the conference lead, with FSU a half-game behind after its season-opening loss to the Hurricanes.

"I'm looking at this as the biggest game of my life," said senior center Zac Yarbrough, who grew up near Orlando. Beating the Seminoles "would do a lot for our confidence all the way around. I think it would show everyone that we can play with the best."

While they express confidence, the Cavaliers make sure to emphasize their respect for the Seminoles, who look as big, fast, strong and experienced as they did in 2002 and last season, when they scratched out a 19-14 win in Charlottesville after Virginia faltered on a handful of key plays.

"They're still, I think, significantly faster than we are," Groh said, "but historically this has been one of the faster teams in the country. They're able to recruit to that, so they're able to stay fast."

Yet in that regard, as many others, the Cavaliers are far better off than they were on their last visit to Doak Campbell Stadium.

"In the past they were more athletic. They were deeper," senior tailback Alvin Pearman said.

"Now we can trade punch for punch with them across the board. We know that, and I think they know that."

Cavaliers Notes: Starting fullback Jason Snelling likely won't return "for a while," Groh said, because of the ankle sprain he suffered against Clemson. His backup is fifth-year senior Brandon Isaiah. . . .

Virginia began working wide receiver Fontel Mines (collarbone), offensive guard Ian-Yates Cunningham (back) and tight end Jon Stupar (foot) "back into the operation" in practice Monday, Groh said. "What that means [for their availability Saturday] I don't really know until I see some performance." . . .

Freshman defensive end Chris Long also is out indefinitely because of mononucleosis. . . . Ferguson, the left tackle, was named ACC offensive lineman of the week after helping the Cavaliers amass 464 yards, including 239 on the ground, against Clemson. . . . Virginia's Oct. 23 game at Duke will begin at 1 p.m. It will not be televised.
 

VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Oct 12, 2004

SIDELINED: Sophomore fullback Jason Snelling apparently will miss sixth-ranked Virginia's clash with No.7 Florida State at Tallahassee, Fla., on Saturday night.

Snelling, a former L.C. Bird High star who's one of Virginia's most versatile players, injured his right ankle early in the first quarter last week against Clemson.

"I think it's probably unlikely that he'll be playing here for awhile," Cavaliers coach Al Groh told reporters yesterday.

Fifth-year senior Brandon Isaiah will start in Snelling's place. Isaiah's backup is Kevin Bradley, a 6-1, 220-pound true freshman from Fayetteville, N.C. Bradley hasn't played yet but has "to be ready to go," Groh said.

Asked in August about Bradley, Groh called him "a pretty rough, tough customer. That's what we wanted him to bring into the program, that's what we'd expect of him, and that's what he's been."

REINFORCEMENTS: Neither tight end Jon Stupar (foot) nor offensive guard Ian-Yates Cunningham (back) has played this season. Sophomore wideout Fontel Mines started the Sept.4 opener but hasn't played since breaking his collarbone in that game. Some or all of that group may play against FSU.

"I would anticipate that we're going to start to integrate all three of them back into the operation," Groh said. "What that means, I don't really know until I see some performance."

Stupar is a redshirt freshman. Cunningham started Virginia's final five games last season.

HIGH PRAISE: Of Groh's upperclassmen, maybe none has a profile lower than that of Matt Stone. A defensive end from Boca Raton, Fla., Stone committed to the Cavaliers when George Welsh was their coach.

Stone has played in only two games during his college career, but Groh singled him out when discussing the attributes of the class that entered U.Va. in 2001.

"There's not a better kid on the team," Groh said. "There's not a harder worker, more diligent, more committed player, better student."

WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN: Zac Yarbrough, a three-year starter at center for Virginia, spent his redshirt season in 2000 at tight end, the position at which teammate Heath Miller has become an All-American.

"He's lucky I moved to center, or they'd be calling me 'Big Money,'" Yarbrough said, referring to Miller's nickname.

Yarbrough smiled. "That's what I tell him at least," he said.

RARE OCCURRENCE: Only twice has U.Va. played a football game in which both teams were ranked in the top 10. In 1947, the No.10 Wahoos lost 19-7 to No.4 Pennsylvania. In 1952, sixth-ranked Duke beat ninth-ranked Virginia 21-7.

The Cavaliers' No.6 ranking in The Associated Press poll is their highest since they were No.1 on Oct. 30, 1990.

BLOCK PARTY: The ACC's offensive lineman of the week is U.Va.'s D'Brickashaw Ferguson, a three-year starter at left tackle. The 6-5, 290-pound junior helped the Cavaliers total 239 yards rushing and 464 overall in their 30-10 win over Clemson. Ferguson has been so honored three times in his U.Va. career.

OH CANADA: The Virginia men's basketball team capped a successful trip to Montreal by whipping McGill University 83-46 on Sunday. In the first of the Cavaliers' three exhibitions, they blitzed Royal Military College 112-52 on Friday. They beat Concordia 88-76 on Saturday.

Six Cavaliers averaged in double figures on the tour: senior center Elton Brown (17 ppg), sophomore guard J.R. Reynolds (14.7), sophomore swingman Gary Forbes (13), sophomore forward Devin Smith (12.7), freshman point guard Sean Singletary (10) and freshman small forward Adrian Joseph (10).

Brown, who had 23 points and 13 rebounds Saturday, was named MVP of Concordia's two-day tournament. Donte Minter, a 6-8 sophomore, sat out the three exhibitions with an undisclosed injury.

Virginia opens its seventh season under coach Pete Gillen on Nov.19 against Robert Morris at University Hall.

SWOOSHED: The Cavaliers unveiled their new uniforms in Montreal. Gone is the AND 1 apparel that many U.Va. fans disliked. The Cavaliers are wearing Nike, which outfitted Gillen's teams at Xavier and Providence.

"We're glad to be back with Nike," said Gillen, whose first three teams at Virginia wore Reebok.

IN THE CREASE: The Virginia men's lacrosse team plays its second and final fall scrimmage Saturday against Ohio State. Starting at 1 p.m., the teams will play four quarters at the U-Hall Turf Field, but the younger players from each squad will have a short scrimmage beginning at 12:30 p.m.

In their first scrimmage, the Cavaliers edged Navy 11-10 at Virginia Beach. - Jeff White