Cavaliers have improved since last trip to FSU
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
October 15, 2004

It is frequently said that Rome wasn’t built in a day.
The same can be said for football powerhouses. But a lot can happen in 776 days.
Virginia is proof of that.
In his team’s last trip to Doak Campbell Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla., Virginia coach Al Groh watched as the Cavaliers were steamrolled, 40-19, by the Seminoles. By the end of the third quarter, Florida State was pitching a 33-point shutout.
“On that particular day, Florida State was significantly bigger, stronger, faster and more experienced,” Groh said.
His players agree.
“When we went down there two years ago, they were just too much for us,” UVa tailback Alvin Pearman said. “They were too big, too strong and too fast.”
In that contest, Groh started two sophomores and five freshmen on defense. Marques Hagans was also under center, starting the first game of his college career.
Virginia was not ready to tackle a football powerhouse like the Seminoles.
Since that contest, Groh has watched his team grow up and in more ways than one.
“Within the last two years, whether through recruiting or development of the players we had, we’ve become a strong, physical, fast football team,” Pearman said. “And we feel like we can compete with anybody right now.”
They have closed the gap considerably. They have won 22 of their last 30 games. They also have cruised to a pair wins at the Continental Tire Bowl and have climbed all the way to sixth position in both national polls.
While Virginia has progressed, Florida State kept the bar held high in the ACC.
“[Florida State] still looks big, fast, strong and experienced to me,” Groh said. “That’s the constant.”
Another constant for the Seminoles and coach Bobby Bowden has been defense – great defense.
Groh has been impressed with what he has seen from the Seminoles 4-3 formation.
“The scheme has been refined over a considerable period of time,” Groh said. “What that means is that they’re very confirmed in how they want to play. It’s been very effective over the years, because they have been able to remain confirmed in that scheme.”
Groh admits that recruiting is the main reason for it.
“They’ve been able to recruit to the scheme. So the players in each particular position with each transition in personnel … as guys go out of the program and others guys are coming in, they all look basically the same at each position,” Groh said. “So they can recruit specifically to what they want. Players grow into it. They’re really very well-versed in it by the time they get a lot of playing time.”

Practice makes perfect. After practice on Thursday, Florida State fullback B.J. Dean said the main focus during this week’s practice sessions has been on “technique.”
Why? Dean said it is because of Virginia’s linebackers are “shifty.”
“[Virginia’s] been real impressive,” Dean said. “They just get better and better every year. They’ve got some good linebackers and got a good defensive front, so it’s going to be a challenge but I think that we are up to it.”

Extra points. Saturday’s game will mark just the 20th time in the Bowden era, which started in 1976, that a higher ranked team has visited Doak Campbell Stadium. It will be the first time a higher ranked team in the ACC has come to Tallahassee, Fla. … After Thursday’s practice session, Bowden said the coaching staff has not created a plan to get QB Chris Rix into the game. Rix, who entered the season as the starter, has been sidelined with a sore ankle. “We’ll play the game and see what happens from there,” Bowden said. … Virginia sophomore Ahmad Brooks was named a semifinalist on Thursday for the Butkus Award, which is given annually to the top linebacker in the country.

UVa ground attack faces a tough test
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
October 15, 2004

When Virginia meets Florida State in Saturday night’s ACC slam dance at Doak Campbell Stadium, the game will pit the fifth-ranked rushing offense in the country (UVa) against the third-ranked rushing defense in the nation (FSU).
Something’s got to give.
The Cavaliers, wearing an unfamiliar swagger after flexing their muscles in a 5-0 start, will field their most physical football team in years. They lead the ACC in rushing offense, total offense and scoring offense.
But Al Groh knows that the biggest test looms ahead. They haven’t faced a major league defense to this point, at least until they roll into Tallahassee.

Running wild
Virginia is averaging 275 yards rushing per game. The Cavs have had their way with every type of defense they’ve run up against. But the Seminoles are giving up only 65.6 yards rushing per game, less than what UVa’s Wali Lundy is averaging by himself.
Certainly, if the Cavaliers can rush successfully against the Seminoles, the performance would validate Virginia as one of the best rushing attacks in all the land.
But can a team really run the ball consistently against a defense determined to shut down that phase of an offense?
Florida State runs a version of the old 50 defense, something you don’t see much of anymore. But there’s much more to it than that base defense.
The Seminoles’ defense, coached by coordinator Mickey Andrews and influenced greatly by former NFL defensive coach Kevin Steele, runs a lot of eight- and nine-man fronts, featuring a multitude of players who can run. It is one of the fastest defenses in the country.
“They’re able to get a lot of saturation at the point of attack,” said Groh. “Now, their normal seven are pretty strong in their own right. When you add two more in there, it creates a population problem for running the ball, which is one of the reasons why they have historically been good against the run. They have a lot of tough players to block and in many cases, too many of them to block.”

Simple yet effective
Florida State’s defense isn’t that complex. It’s not the scheme as much as it is the talent that plays the scheme. These players are aggressive, drilled to seek-and-destroy. They run well and they tackle well.
Clemson coach Tommy Bowden, whose Tigers have lost to Virginia and to his father’s FSU team already this season, likened preparing for the Seminoles’ defense to preparing to play Wake Forest’s unique offense. They’re both something you don’t see that often.
“They ain’t coming across that line of scrimmage except on blitzes,” Tommy Bowden said of FSU’s defense. “They play you east to west, not north and south like most defenses do. It’s more about technique. It’s completely different and that forces you to adjust your blocking schemes
and your plan of attack. That’s what makes them unique.”
A lot of FSU’s success is based on starting its defense from the outside in, meaning the Seminoles feature shutdown corners.
“Deion [Sanders] was the first of them, but there’s been a whole run of them, whether it was Samari Rolle, or Buckley or Corey Fuller, it has continued on,” Groh said. “That has allowed them to do things with the safeties to get them involved. So, sometimes they’ll have nine guys within seven yards of the line of scrimmage.”
So, what’s the problem?
Isn’t that when you push the pass button, go to Michael McGrew and Fontel Mines downfield, throw it to tight end Heath Miller underneath, throw it to Alvin Pearman out of the backfield?
That’s what Florida State dares you to do.
“The standard answer has been to throw the ball outside,” Groh said. “But if those guys [corners] are locking down out there, then that answer is only good on the chalk board.”
Could it be that if the running game is stymied by seven to nine in the box and the receivers are locked down on the outside, that the real answer to this game might be .... Marques Hagans?
There’s really not a defense designed to stop the quarterback. We haven’t seen Hagans take off on too many called runs, but more so when things break down. That can rip the guts out of any defensive game plan and back off those defensive backs who cheat up toward the line of scrimmage.
The old cliché is the unstoppable force against the immoveable object. Something’s gotta give.

Goals, concerns highlight Virginia media day
By Andrew Joyner and Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writers
October 15, 2004

At the annual media day Thursday, Virginia men’s basketball coach Pete Gillen talked about the team’s goal of reaching the NCAA Tournament. It’s an obvious goal for all Division I programs at the dawn of official practice Saturday. It’s certainly a goal that Gillen has stated before and during his tenure in Charlottesville.
If the team’s goals could be labeled as predictable, senior forward/center Elton Brown’s response would best be labeled emphatic.
“Anything less than a NCAA bid is unacceptable. I don’t think anyone wants to go to the NIT again,” said Brown in reference to the Cavaliers’ postseason destination the last three seasons. “If we don’t go to the NCAAs, that’s not acceptable. I think anyone would be sick of the NIT after three years straight.”
While Brown may be correctly pegged as the team’s most vocal and strident player, in this regard his words could not be more accurate. There is no better summation of the thoughts of the program’s coaches, players and supporters.
Within in the mere statement of “our goal is to reach the NCAA Tournament” as Gillen said Thursday, a myriad of storylines peel off.
Gillen was officially retained as coach by UVa Athletics Director Craig Littlepage two weeks after the team’s season-ending loss to Villanova in the second round of the NIT last March. His status as coach still remains an often-discussed topic but almost any observer would have to think that an appearance in the NCAA Tournament is crucial in Gillen’s future in Charlottesville. Some might go as far as to say it’s a must. That is a question that of course will be locked in a vacuum over the next six months.
Toward the very end of his chat with reporters Thursday, that inevitable question was asked.
“I don’t think that will be a problem. We have seven years left on the contract. Could they throw me in the river tomorrow? Yes, they could. I’m not going to worry about it and our players are just going to play,” Gillen said. “Could it be a distraction? Sure it could. … Last year our kids played their best under adversity. Our kids have character and I expect them to play their best.”
The players, whether expecting the question or not, dismissed any connection between their team goals and any relation to their coach’s status.
“Elton and I have been to the NCAA Tournament and we are working hard to do that,” senior forward Jason Clark said. “It doesn’t really cross our minds [about Gillen’s status] or we don’t allow it to. We’re here to play games and win games and not to worry about coach’s job. That is someone else’s decision and concern. We’re here to play basketball and win games.”
Lost in any discussion of Gillen’s status is the notion that this may be Gillen’s most talented and versatile team since arriving in Charlottesville in March of 1998. In one-way or another, obvious question marks have surrounded the program on the eve of practice the past four seasons. Whether it was personnel issues or off-the-court issues, some small kernel has covered the program in a veil of doubt. On the surface at least, such issues are not primary this season.
Rebounding and swingman Devin Smith’s health were last year’s questions for example and both became full-blown issues. Perhaps, however, the most persistent quandary has been the point guard situation. The last four seasons, Virginia began its campaign with the point guard position shaky at best.
While the position is not set at this point, it’s only because there are two capable players vying for it. Sophomore T.J. Bannister, who was one of the sparks of the last season’s late run in which the Cavaliers knocked off three top 15 teams in a three-week stretch, or talented and highly-touted freshman Sean Singletary will be the starting point guard.
“Having two true point guards allows us to play quicker. We want to play fast and they can create shots for other players. The great teams I’ve been a part of, we’ve had great point guards,” Gillen said. “We have guards in T.J. Bannister, who has improved, and Sean Singletary, who we feel is very talented, are going to create shots. The analogy in football is that you need a quarterback and that’s true about a point guard in basketball. We have two good point guards and that’s going to help us play better.”
Whoever emerges as the point guard or even if both are implemented at the same rate, the Cavaliers will no longer be deficient in perhaps the most important position on the court.
“It will help us a lot because now it’s a position you don’t have to worry about. In the past we had to worry about who was going to play the point. Now it’s a matter of which one will play and we don’t even have to worry about that because we play with them every day and they are both good players,” Smith said.
In addition to a seemingly solid point guard position, the Cavaliers will have depth at each position by its veteran players, which is supplanted by the influx of 6-foot-11 center Tunji Soroye and athletic 6-7 guard/forward Adrian Joseph, who has already received rave reviews from both Gillen and his teammates. Overall, the Cavaliers should simply have more versatility.
“I think we will be more versatile and have increased athleticism we can play two big guys once in a while. Sometimes we can go with two point guards at the same time. We do have increased versatility. We have a lot of guys that can do a lot of things,” Gillen said.

Notes. Sophomore forward Donte Minter suffered a fractured right kneecap in practice last week and did not play during the Cavaliers’ three games in Canada last weekend. Gillen said he is cautiously optimistic that Minter will be ready for the beginning of the season. … Virginia opens it season hosting Robert Morris on Nov. 19 and then hosts Arizona on Nov. 21.

Hagans looks to redeem himself
Marques Hagans completed one of seven passes for 4 yards in his first start in 2002 at FSU.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE - There seems to be little question that the 2002 Virginia-Florida State football game was a major turning point in the career of Matt Schaub, who ended that season as the ACC player of the year and went on to break almost every school passing record.

Although he didn't start that day, having been benched after an opening-game fiasco against Colorado State, Schaub threw three fourth-quarter touchdown passes and his career was never the same. The Cavaliers' starter that day, Marques Hagans, completed only one of seven passes for 4 yards, the kind of confidence-deflating numbers that can cause a career to fall apart.

Hagans is doing just fine, thank you.

After finishing the 2002 season as a punt returner and then spending most of the 2003 season at wide receiver, Hagans will make his second start at Florida State as quarterback of an unbeaten UVa team that is ranked sixth in the country.

It appears that Hagans has put the 2002 game behind him, or maybe he hasn't, and that could be a good thing.

"I've been thinking about it ever since it happened," said Hagans, who was a 19-year-old redshirt freshman at the time. "I think that was probably my worst game I ever had.

"It will probably stick with me as long as I play sports. I wish some things had gone better. It's just something that I won't forget.

When Schaub was injured in the opening game of the 2003 season, he was replaced by another redshirt freshman, Anthony Martinez, who bombed in his first start against South Carolina. Now, Martinez is attempting to make the Cavaliers' baseball roster after giving up football.

Groh never worried that Hagans might be scarred for life.

"Sooner or later, he was going to be in one of those kind of games," Groh said. "It's a good experience for them just to be exposed to that type of thing; it's going to happen sooner or later. It's just one of those things that has to be done."

Hagans has a 6-1 record as a starter, including the third game of the 2003 season, when he returned to quarterback from wide receiver before the Cavaliers traveled to Western Michigan and put to rest any UVa fears in a 59-16 victory.

Most of Hagans' playing time during the rest of the season came at wide receiver, but, as the backup quarterback, he watched film and practiced with the quarterbacks and learned from Schaub, a fifth-year senior and graduate student who was almost professional in his approach.

"He was a great field general," Hagans said. "He did a great job of preparing on the field and in the film room. He ran a game very well and made smart decisions."

Decision-making has been a major part of Hagans' development.

"The main thing I've learned [since starting in 2002 against FSU] is that when you get to this level of competition, there's more preparation involved," he said. "You've got to meet the challenges when the task is at hand. Florida State had a good day defensively and it wasn't a good day for me, but you learn from stuff like that."

Cavs ready to refute pundits
UVa's men have been projected to finish near the bottom of the ACC by many publications.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Virginia sophomore J.R. Reynolds is aware of the publications that have projected the Cavalier men's basketball team for eighth or ninth place in the ACC this season.

"I don't look at them," said Reynolds, a starting guard on a Virginia team that tied for seventh in the ACC last year and finished 18-13. "I know we're better than that. I know we're better than last year." Reynolds was speaking on the occasion of the media day that annually precedes the start of preseason practice, although the Cavaliers have been practicing since September.

UVa received a waiver after scheduling a three-game exhibition series this past weekend in Montreal, where the Cavaliers went 3-0.

Elton Brown was named most valuable player after scoring 17 points per game and Reynolds, who played at Roanoke Catholic and Oak Hill Academy, averaged 14.7 points

In the first game, a 111-52 romp over Royal Military College, Reynolds made seven 3-point field goals in the first half and finished with 23 points in 16 minutes.

"No, that's not a misprint," Reynolds said.

Coach Pete Gillen had feared that 2003-04 team MVP Devin Smith would be unable to play three games in three days after May back surgery to repair two disks, but Smith did not miss a game and was 10-of-21 on 3-pointers.

Sophomore post man Donte Minter has a knee problem that kept him out of the games in Canada, but he should be available by the time Virginia opens the season Nov.19 at home against Robert Morris.

"High and tight" getting it done for Cavs
Lundy fumble a shocker for team
By Doug Doughty
THE ROANOKE TIMES

Fumbling has become such a rare occurrence with Virginia’s football team that even the slightest bobble is dissected for days.

While Wali Lundy’s fumble at the Clemson 6-yard line last Thursday would not qualify as a “slight” bobble, it did represent the Cavaliers’ first lost fumble of the season and only the seventh in 18 games over the past two seasons.

“It was a shock,” Lundy said Tuesday. “It hurt me. I was so frustrated that I didn’t get over it until a day or two ago. Things like that happen. The best fumble. I’ve got to look at the things I did right and did well and try not to focus on that too much, but I know I’ve got to hold onto the ball.”

Fumbles do happen. Ahman Green, one of the NFL’s premier running backs, had an early fumble Monday night in the Packers’ 48-27 loss to Tennessee and carried only 10 times for 33 yards in the game. Lundy did not have a carry Thursday night after Clemson recovered his fumble on the first drive of the second half.

“That wasn’t just turning the ball,” coach Al Groh said. “It was turning points over. That was going to be a three- or seven-point possession. You can’t have that kind of mistake. That’s on the list of things that, if we’re going to stay in the hunt, we can’t afford.”

Former Virginia star Tiki Barber had an NFL-high nine fumbles last year for the New York Giants, losing five of them. That might have jeopardized his starting job with coach Tom Coughlin coming in new, but the Giants studied the way Barber was carrying the ball and changed his technique. He doesn’t have a fumble all year.

On the play where Lundy fumbled, he appeared to have the ball secured when it was punched out of his arm from behind.

“I look at the play a lot,” Lundy said. “I had the ball high and tight up on my chest. The game just came along as I was going down and hit it at the right time, and it popped out. He made a great play on the ball. Can’t say that he didn’t. But, I still should have put two hands on it to prevent it.”

The Cavaliers lost six fumbles as a team during a 13-game 2003 season — two by wide receiver Art Thomas and one apiece by Anthony Martinez, Kase Luzar and Heath Miller. The sixth was charged to the team.

If you thought Lundy’s reduced playing time Thursday was attributable to the fumble, check out what happened to Thomas after back-to-back lost fumbles against Wake Forest and North Carolina. He had one reception over the next six games before catching three balls against Virginia Tech, including a 49-yarder.

Counting fumbles recovered by the offensive team, the Cavaliers had 16 fumbles overall in 2003, including two by Lundy in 227 rushing attempts and one by Alvin Pearman in 134 rushing attempts. Throw in a combined 92 receptions and 11 Pearman punt or kickoff returns and that’s 464 “touches” with only three fumbles, none of them lost.

“It’s definitely something that the coaches have put an incredible emphasis on throughout this season, beginning in [preseason] camp,” Pearman said. “Literally every day, he’d [Groh] show pictures of the right ball security on the projector. He’d call it ‘high and tight,’ not waving the ball around, but high and tight on your chest, on the top of your number.

“That’s the most effective, safe way to carry a football. There are prime examples. Tiki Barber is doing an incredible job with exactly [the technique] that coach is talking about right now.”

Pearman had one lost fumble as a freshman in 2001 and two during the 2002 season before he suffered a season-ending injury in the 10th game (out of 14). He carried the ball differently at the time.

“I think everybody did,” Pearman said. “I think everybody had to make an adjust to the right way that the coaches are now teaching it. You’re seeing it more frequently, across the country, with the high and tight.”

Southwestern Va. Follows Miller's Rising Star
Cavs' Tight End Is 'Pride and Joy' Of Rural Home
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, October 15, 2004; Page D03

SWORDS CREEK, Va. -- The best tight end in college football is a fourth-generation son of southwest Virginia, born and raised in a community of a few thousand people near the coal fields of the Appalachian Mountains. Here among miners, school teachers and factory workers, Heath Miller learned a lot about work ethic and modesty. He says it was critical to making him the man he is today.

But to hear others tell it, Heath Miller has helped this area more than it helped him -- not just because he is a star athlete, first at Honaker High School and now at the University of Virginia. It's the kind of star Miller has become that plays so well in Russell County, which includes his home town of Swords Creek and nearby Honaker.

"He's the pride and joy of our community," Honaker Mayor C.H. Wallace said. "He's the example of what we hope that all of our young kids will be. He's very soft-spoken, very hardworking. He leads by his abilities and his play and not necessarily with his mouth. He's sure not a hot dog."

The only thing flashy about Miller is the nickname given him by his U-Va. teammates: Big Money, a reference to his reliability in clutch situations. He is by nature unassuming and understated, if not quite shy. Ask him a question, and you will receive a direct answer. Nothing more.

"That's just the way he is," Honaker High football coach Doug Hubbard said. "That's Heath."

"My parents have always been the types to kind of deflect attention," Miller said. "They would rather just go about their business and go unnoticed, pretty much. That's just kind of the way that I've become. I'd rather do my work and give credit to the team and other players."

With his résumé, Miller doesn't have to brag. Arguably the best all-around athlete to come out of southwest Virginia in recent years, the 6-foot-5, 255-pound junior already ranks among the most productive tight ends in ACC history with 117 receptions for 1,370 receiving yards and a conference-record 19 touchdowns. As a sophomore last season, he led the nation's tight ends with 70 catches for 835 yards, which also are conference records for his position.

His statistics through five games this fall -- 14 catches for 208 yards and four touchdowns -- aren't as gaudy, largely because the Cavaliers run the ball more than in the past, but Miller's place among the best is secure. He likely would be the first tight end selected in April's NFL draft if he decides to forego his final season of college eligibility.

"If you were going to pick a tight end, he's the kind of guy you'd want," said Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden, whose seventh-ranked Seminoles host sixth-ranked Virginia on Saturday night.

Bowden said Miller compares favorably with ex-Miami star Kellen Winslow Jr. and ex-Florida star Ben Troupe, both touted NFL rookies this season. "But let me give him one mark ahead of those other two," the coach added. "He's smoother than any I've seen."

In Honaker and Swords Creek, the unincorporated town next door where the Millers live, it seems everyone follows the Cavaliers through television, radio and the Internet. Scores of fans make the four-hour drive to Charlottesville for home games.

Miller, who turns 22 next week, says he gets home about three times a year these days. But reminders of him abound. Honaker High still has some of his trophies and plaques. Social studies teacher Alex Zachwieja uses him as an example to his students at least once a day in one context or another. Principal Tony Bush keeps on his desk the coin flipped in December 2000 at the Tigers' first appearance in the Virginia A Division 2 football championship game (final score: King William 25, Honaker 15). In late September, Bush also had at his left hand, atop a mound of papers, a copy of a recent U-Va. game program that featured Miller on the cover.

"He shows other kids here at our school that there's a lot more opportunities out there for them," Bush said. "Although Heath's doing it in football, another kid can use those same qualities that Heath has as an individual to go out and do well in something else."

Sometimes that path can be hard for an adolescent to envision. As Heath's mother, Denise, pointed out with a laugh, Honaker and Swords Creek have running water, electricity and cable and satellite television, despite the stereotypes of southwest Virginia. But the area is quiet and rural, with a total population of less than 3,500. It has little need for stoplights. Wallace, the mayor, also is the proprietor of the only hardware store and the secretary-treasurer of the 30-person volunteer fire brigade.

"It's an area that really likes a lot of character in people," Hubbard said. But it is also an area without many career opportunities. In addition to the coal mines, many residents work at a quarry in Swords Creek or at one of the handful of local automotive parts plants. Heath's dad, Earl, works with his hands, as did his father. He co-owns a small construction company with his brother-in-law, William Davis. They spend their days building houses, usually just the two of them.

"It's a simple life," said Denise Miller, who works at nearby Southwest Virginia Community College, helping local students find college opportunities.

Bush estimated 60 percent to 70 percent of his students go on to either a two- or four-year college.

"But they're not going to come back here to work," Zachwieja said. "They're not going to be contributing members to our community, because there's no work for them."

"We're motivated to be different and do something different than what we saw back at home," said Amanda Miller, an 18-year-old U-Va. freshman who, like her brother, was a top student and three-sport athlete at Honaker.

Sports became the primary vehicle for Heath Miller's achievement, but initially it was simply "what I did to have fun and keep myself busy," he said. It was the main diversion for most local kids -- better than just hanging out at each other's houses or driving a few towns over for dinner or a movie.

Miller stood out immediately in each sport he played -- football, baseball and basketball. "Everybody knew that he was special," said Thad Ball, one of Miller's best friends since middle school. At Honaker High, Miller exceeded his already sizable billing, winning the Group A player of the year award in both football and baseball and taking the Tigers to some of their greatest heights.

"He's a once-in-a-lifetime type of athlete for us," said Zachwieja, an assistant coach with the football and baseball teams.

Yet Miller doesn't act that way. He receives what is for him an uncomfortable amount of attention whenever he goes out in public in Honaker or Swords Creek, but he stops and talks with whoever approaches and signs autograph after autograph for kids wearing U-Va. jerseys with his name and number on the back.

Miller does what he can to keep his fans and even his family from making too big a deal of his achievements, but the attention inevitably leads to a question about his next big decision: Will he stay for a senior season at Virginia? His parents have a stack of mail at home from prospective agents who would love to broker his first professional contract.

"I haven't really given it much thought, to be honest with you," said Miller, who is on pace to earn a degree in sociology in May. "I've got another year left and as of right now, I'm planning on taking advantage of that year. . . . I realize that it could be a decision that I could make in the winter, but that's about the extent that I've thought about it."

Until then he will just keep his head down and work hard. Russell County has taught him well.

"People do need a hero," Denise Miller said. "These kids need a hero, and Heath just happens to be it right now."

TE Irons lives for blocking
By Steve Ellis
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

Paul Irons could be forgiven for being envious of Virginia tight end Heath Miller as he runs routes on Saturday. Miller leads Virginia with 14 catches and four touchdown receptions. Irons has nine receptions in his career.

But five games into his senior season, Irons understands his role as being primarily a blocker at Florida State. This season, that responsibility has meant more than most as FSU has not only established a running game but also enjoyed success with Leon Washington and Lorenzo Booker breaking free to the outside.

"I'd love to catch the ball, but I'm not going to throw a hissy fit if it doesn't come to me," said Irons, the only fully healthy tight end available Saturday. "Other tight ends get noticed because they catch the ball. You're always being asked, 'When are they going to throw to the tight end?' I know blocking is important to what we're trying to do with our running game this year."

Washington and Booker have combined for more than 900 yards rushing. And Washington has averaged 7.8 yards per carry thanks in part to some large spaces opened on the edges.

"It's second nature to me," said Irons, an offensive guard at New Orleans St. Augustine High. "It's fun (blocking for Washington and Booker). I know they are looking to get to the open field. They are looking for the edge, and I'm on the edge. We had one like that this week (against Syracuse)."

Opening up the corners will be more difficult against Virginia and outside linebackers Dennis Haley and Darryl Blackstock. Haley has 26 tackles and Blackstock has 17.

"They have one of the top-ranked if not the best linebacking corps in America," Lilly said "Because of their scheme, their guys on the edges are considered linebackers. Both Haley and Blackstock - both of those guys are awfully good players."

Irons said he'll mostly match up with the inside linebackers if, and when, the ball is thrown his way. Irons said he'll get more chances to introduce himself to Haley and Blackstock. Virginia will put both outside linebackers at the line against a two-tight-end formation. Against one tight end, the outside linebacker on the weak side may be walked back.

"In the 50 front, there is usually someone on the strong side who is deliberately on the outside saying, 'You are not going to run out here,'" Irons said. "My man will be the contain player - the linebacker on the line outside of me saying 'You're not going to get out here.'

"It makes it hard to run against the 50 front because it's a defense where they plug almost every gap."

FSU will have injured Matt Root and maybe Matt Henshaw available. But Lilly understands he has a good one in Irons, who expects to graduate in the spring in finance/real estate.

"He's always got a positive attitude," Lilly said. "I'm sure he'd like to get the ball more, but he does an excellent job with what we ask him to do. The thing about Paul that I give him a tremendous amount of credit for is that he's really made himself into a very, very good college football player.

"He's improved every year and he's probably improved every game this year. He's playing his best football which is what you expect from your seniors."

That's good news for an FSU team facing the nation's sixth-ranked total defense, and for Irons who has a chance to take some of the spotlight from Miller.

"I've watched him play - he can block and he can catch," Irons said. "Of course they are going to be looking at him, and when you are looking at a tight end from one team, hopefully they look and see, 'What about this other guy.'

"So I definitely think it's an opportunity for me."

Rix ready if Sexton stumbles
By Steve Ellis
DEMOCRAT STAFF WRITER

Florida State coaches have seen enough of Chris Rix this week to be confident about playing him against Virginia. But Bobby Bowden and offensive coordinator Jeff Bowden insist they have no plan for Rix, who has missed most of the past three games with a high ankle sprain.

Wyatt Sexton will start.

"Chris' ankle looks fine to me," Jeff Bowden said. "There won't be a set plan based on series or anything like that. We're going to let (Sexton) go out there and play the game. If we're just struggling, struggling, struggling then you got to do what you got to do."

Sexton has prepared for Virginia knowing that Bobby Bowden said on a couple of occasions that if he had a healthy backup available, he would have likely substituted when Sexton struggled in the first half at Syracuse.

"That definitely bothered me somewhat," Sexton said. "I didn't really understand that, but he sees what he sees and he has his own opinion and of course I respect that.

"I need to perform to the best of my ability and that won't be an issue."

And did Sexton feel any pressure this week knowing that Rix, who has started 37 games at FSU, is healthy enough to play?

"I did for about 25 minutes, and then I said I'm going to forget about that and focus on what I need to do.

"I feel real good about the game."

Injury update

A decision won't likely be made regarding starting nose guard Brodrick Bunkley, out last week with a sprained ankle, until game time Saturday night. Defensive end Eric Moore isn't expected to play.

"It's not optimistic," Bobby Bowden said of both. "Bunkley might could go."

FSU could have receiver Willie Reid and tight end Matt Henshaw available. "Willie Reid practiced (Thursday) and he practiced pretty good," Bobby Bowden said. "He just might be limited. Henshaw, I'm sure, is going to want to play."

Success, suddenly, is a snap
U.Va. center Yarbrough deserves to be described as a chip off the old block
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Oct 15, 2004
VIRGINIA AT FSU
TOMORROW: 7:45 p.m. ON THE AIR: TV - ESPN; radio - WRVA (1140), 7 p.m.

CHARLOTTESVILLE - When he looks at the Virginia Cavaliers' starting center, Nelson Yarbrough sees a striking resem blance to one of the greatest football players in University of Florida history.

The center is Nelson's nephew Zac. The Gator is Nelson's brother Jim.

The father is more intense than his laid-back son, but from "a physical appearance, in a uniform walking down the field, it's like a clone," said Nelson Yarbrough, a Manchester High School graduate who starred at quarterback for U.Va. in the 1950s.

After leaving Florida, Jim Yarbrough spent a decade with the Detroit Lions as an offensive lineman. Zac Yarbrough, a fifth-year senior from outside Orlando, Fla., isn't a lock to play in the NFL, but he's had a college career few would have predicted when he enrolled at U.Va. as an unheralded, undersized tight end.

In games Yarbrough has started, the Cavaliers are 21-6. Not bad for a guy who began the 2002 season third on the depth chart at center. Yarbrough was the first-team long-snapper on field goals and extra points, though, and figured he had a pretty good gig.

"I think I had a different attitude toward football then," Yarbrough said this week. "Once I got in the game and had a chance to play, I saw what it'd be like, and that's made me work a lot harder to get better and enjoy this experience."

His opportunity came Aug. 31, 2002, at Florida State. Injuries to the team's top two centers, Kevin Bailey and Mark Farrington, forced Virginia coach Al Groh to turn to his easy-going sophomore from the Sunshine State.

"And so the long snapper-slash-center went into the game, and he's done a great job for us ever since," Groh said.

Except for a three-game stretch last season when Bailey started, the 6-4 Yarbrough has been Virginia's first-team center since the fateful game that FSU won 40-19. A 265-pounder on that August afternoon two years ago, Yarbrough has bulked up to 285 pounds and ranks among the ACC's best at his position.

"Once he got his chance down at Florida State, he stepped up to the challenge," U.Va. offensive guard Elton Brown said.

Tomorrow night, the Cavaliers return to Doak Campbell Stadium for the first time since the game that changed the course of Yarbrough's career. This time Virginia seems better prepared to challenge the mighty Seminoles, who are 49-1 in ACC home games. The No. 6 Cavaliers (2-0, 5-0) are ranked one spot ahead of FSU (2-1, 4-1), and a victory would stamp U.Va. as a legitimate ACC title contender.

"I'm looking at this as the biggest game of my life," Yarbrough said.

During Virginia's nationally televised rout of Clemson on Oct. 7, ESPN analysts marveled at Yarbrough's pulling on running plays, a talent not often associated with centers. Credit his varied childhood pursuits. As a boy, Yarbrough spent more time in the pool, swimming competitively and playing water polo, than he did on the football field. He also played basketball.

"Zac is a very athletic person for the offensive line who's kind of gotten himself big and strong enough to be an offensive lineman," Groh said.

Yarbrough had regularly visited his uncle Nelson, a Charlottesville dentist, and wanted to play football at U.Va. But Yarbrough weighed only about 215 pounds coming out of Winter Park High, and then-coach George Welsh wasn't sold on him. So, at the recommendation of his uncle, Yarbrough enrolled in Fork Union Military Academy's postgraduate program in 1999. A scholarship offer from Virginia followed, and Yarbrough joined Welsh's program as a tight end in 2000.

At the end of that season, during which Yarbrough redshirted, Welsh retired, and Groh took over. Yarbrough's athleticism notwithstanding, the new coaching staff quickly concluded that he "wasn't going to have the firepower to be a vertical tight end," Groh said.

"He was kind of out of that box, and because he came in here being able to long-snap, it was like, 'Well, he doesn't look like a guard and he doesn't look like a tackle and he's not fast enough to be a tight end, but he does long snap, so I guess he's a center.'"

Yarbrough said: "When Coach Groh told me I was switching, I was kind of disappointed, but I can't even imagine playing tight end now. I love center . . . Everything has to start with me, and I kind of take pride in that."

 

U.VA. BASKETBALL NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Oct 15, 2004

CENTER OF ATTENTION: At media day for the Virginia men's basketball team, no player attracted a bigger crowd than freshman Sean Singletary.

It's been ages, it seems, since U.Va. has had a point guard who ranked among the ACC's best at that position. Todd Billet, a senior last season, battled gamely, but he was a shooting guard in a point guard's body.

Now, however, with the addition of Singletary, among the most touted recruits to enter the program during coach Pete Gillen's tenure, and the return of sophomore T.J. Bannister, the Cavaliers (18-13 in 2003-04) look strong at the point.

"We have two very good point guards," senior forward Jason Clark said. "No matter who starts or who's out there on the court, we have a true point guard out there. My first three years, we didn't really have a true point guard out there for the full 40 minutes."

The 6-0 Singletary averaged 23 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals for Penn Charter last season and was named Philadelphia's prep player of the year. The 5-10 Bannister started 10 of Virginia's last 11 games in 2004-05 and helped Gillen's club close the season with a flourish.

"Regardless of how good your big men or small forwards are, you can't win without a point guard," senior center Elton Brown said. "The point guards we got this year are real good."

In Virginia's three exhibition games in Montreal last weekend, Singletary averaged 10 points, four assists, 3.7 steals and 3.7 rebounds. Gillen, who's in his seventh season at U.Va., called him "a workaholic," and Singletary did not disagree.

"I want to be the best, and in order to be the best, you got to work the hardest," he said.

TARGET PRACTICE: In 31 games last season, Bannister made only four 3-pointers. He attempted only 21, which made life easy for opponents.

Bannister, a deft penetrator, knows he can't be gun-shy, and so he shot 300 to 400 jumpers daily in the offseason.

"I've got to keep the defense honest," he said, "because if I don't shoot it, they'll just play off of me and pack the lane and take away the strongest part of my game."

VETERAN LEADERSHIP: U.Va.'s captains are its three seniors: Brown, Clark and 6-5 forward Devin Smith, who's moving well after recovering from offseason back surgery. In little more than 24 minutes per game, Smith averaged 12.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals last year.

"I think he's one of the top 10 players in the league," Gillen said, "which is a big statement, but I think he's terrific."

HOBBLED: Virginia is practicing with only 10 healthy scholarship players. Sophomore Donte Minter has been sidelined since dislocating the patella in his right knee late last month. Doctors don't believe surgery will be required, said Gillen, who hopes to have Minter back for the Nov. 19 opener against Robert Morris at University Hall.

"It's real discouraging," said Minter, who sustained the same injury last season.

A 6-8, 245-pound left-hander with an impressive array of low-post moves, Minter didn't miss any games after hurting his knee in late January. But the injury bothered him until the eve of the ACC tournament, and Minter believes he may have returned too soon.

"I wanted to push it, because I felt I could help the team," said Minter, who averaged 5.6 points as a freshman. "But in reality, when I ran up and down the court and tried to cut on it, there was pain shooting through my knee."

This time, he said, "I want to get as healthy as possible before I come back." - Jeff White

Virginia to focus on Booker, Washington
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.

It's been a long time since Florida State has concentrated on running the ball as it has this season.

But Lorenzo Booker and Jacksonville's Leon Washington make it easy for Coach Bobby Bowden to keep the offense moving on the ground.

They don't hang out or go to the movies together, but the squat Washington and Booker, a tall, lean Californian, maintain a mutual admiration society for one another on the field.

The tandem will be countered Saturday by a similar setup used by sixth-ranked Virginia, which actually has a trio. Tailbacks Wali Lundy, Alvin Pearman and Michael Johnson have combined for 1,024 yards, with Lundy getting about half the carries.

Florida State's twosome splits the load equally. Booker has 75 carries to Washington's 69.

"It's one of those things where we've got a back come in and we're not losing a beat," Washington said. "We complement each other well."

Washington, Florida's "Mr. Football" coming out of high school, reminds observers of Emmit Smith, a former Florida prep great and the NFL's all-time rushing leader. Booker wears ex-Seminole Warrick Dunn's No. 28, and has shown flashes of Dunn's elusiveness.

They've got Virginia coach Al Groh's attention as well.

"The only one we've seen or observed ... I'd say would be comparable this year would be Lorenzo Booker," Groh said when asked it he'd seen any back like Washington. "These are two really fast players."

The seventh-ranked Seminoles (4-1, 2-1 ACC) haven't had a 1,000-yard rusher in a single season since Dunn did it three straight years between 1994 and 1996. It's possible Florida State could have two this season with seven games left, including a bowl game.

Washington has 541 yards and Booker 371 through five games, an average of nearly 182.4 yards a game between the duo. Washington's 7.8 per carry average is the best in the nation with backs who have more than 500 yards this season.

The Florida State record for most yards by two backs in the same season (1,909) has existed since 1987 when Sammie Smith ran for 1,230 yards and Dexter Carter added 679.

Washington is on pace for 1,298 yards and Booker 890.