Cavaliers' Williams on right route
After some early trouble adapting to college ball, receiver Deyon Williams has become a valuable contributor at UVa.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE - In order to make plays, Virginia wide receiver Deyon Williams said earlier this week, it helps to know the plays.

Most of the time, at least. On the play that resulted in his first college touchdown, a 38-yard reception last year against Western Michigan, Williams didn't know where he was supposed to be.

"O.A. just told me, 'Run the post,'" said Williams, who is still in search of his second college touchdown. "I was always asking O.A. and Ryan Sawyer what the play was."

O.A. is Ottowa Anderson, a starting wide receiver for the Cavaliers in 2003 who had eligibility issues that resulted in Williams becoming a starter this year. He has taken advantage of the opportunity, catching 15 passes, second on the team to All-ACC tight end Heath Miller.

Williams, a 6-foot-3, 188-pound sophomore from Upper Marlboro, Md., suffered a hamstring injury that caused him to miss a Sept.25 game with Syracuse but he responded with his best game of the season, catching five passes for 83 yards in a 30-10 victory over Clemson.

Although he caught only eight passes as a freshman, Williams seemed to catch everything thrown his way. What way that was, the UVa quarterbacks couldn't always be sure.

"Last year, I got thrown into the mix real early," said Williams, whose touchdown against Western Michigan was in the third game. "Coming from high school, where we had three or four basic plays, and then to have 100 different plays thrown at you, that's a lot."

Williams can't say he wasn't warned. His older brother, Lauren, is a junior at Division I-AA Liberty, where he led the team in receptions last year with 30 and is first again this year with 15.

"He told me before I came here, 'Man, you've got to get ready,'" Deyon said. "He said, 'They're going to give you a playbook about [two inches] thick and you've to learn it quickly."

It was Deyon Williams' size and speed that first caught the eye of the Cavaliers, who had him in camp in the summer after his junior year at Bishop McNamara in Forestville, Md. Williams had separate 40-yard clockings of 4.39 and 4.41 seconds.

After transferring to Suitland High School, Williams specialized in the hurdles, long jump and high jump and scored 30 of his team's 132 points in winning the Maryland state championship in its classification.

Williams, who has run 100 meters in 10.7 seconds, knew why Virginia wanted him.

"The first thing Coach Groh stressed when he got here was speed," Williams said.

Williams was the fastest of UVa's wide receivers last year, but, of course, you have to know where you're going. Moreover, in UVa's system, the receivers are expected to block. Anderson, who theoretically could return in 2005, was one of the best.

"I've gotten better," Williams said, "but, still, I'm not as good as I need to be. You've got to do a lot of blocking here to play."

If Anderson had been eligible, he probably would have joined fifth-year senior Michael McGrew as UVa's starting tandem. When Williams' classmate Fontel Mines suffered a broken collarbone in the first game, Williams virtually got the starting job by default. He could be a fixture in the Cavaliers' lineup for the next 2 1/2 years.

There is no reason to think that Williams won't be a possession receiver, but if he could become a deep threat, he would be the first in Groh's first four seasons.

"We've got a quarterback [Marques Hagans] who can throw the ball downfield and I feel I can go get it," Williams said. "I know it's going to come."

Divisions all about title game
By FRANK DASCENZO : The Herald-Sun
fdascenzo@heraldsun.com
Oct 19, 2004 : 10:59 pm ET

Just when you think you know everything, you really know nothing.

ACC commissioner and soothsayer deluxe, John Swofford, maps out the two divisions for football in 2005 and guess what? Miami and Boston College are in different divisions, which surprises me because I remember all the Golden Eagles boosters I talked to saying they were coming into the ACC because Miami was in.

Miami is like Florida State, only a little better. A cash cow is nothing to giggle at, particularly if you're an athletics director trying to fund field hockey and tennis and lacrosse and softball.

On July 1, Swofford's landscape officially will run from Chestnut Hill, Mass., to Coral Gables, Fla., giving the television world more reason to salivate.

BC-Miami became a storied rivalry the still-incredible instant that Doug Flutie threw the Hail Mary of all Hail Marys on Nov. 23, 1984, in the Orange Bowl. Seemingly having the game won, Miami, then coached by Jimmy Johnson, went into a prevent defense.

There were three seconds left when Flutie flung the pigskin 48 yards into the south Florida breeze. BC's Gerard Phelan found his way behind Miami's defense in the end zone and caught the pass for a 47-45 victory. Never mind that the Hurricanes have dominated the series, winning all 14 games vs. the Golden Eagles since the diminutive Heisman Trophy quarterback fired the most amazing pass in college football history.

What the Eagles must have figured was that they'd be kept in the same division with the Canes and their rivalry would continue. It will, but not every year as was the case since 1993 when the two were members of the Big East. Swofford's strategy has the Golden Eagles in the Atlantic Division with Florida State, Wake Forest, N.C. State, Clemson and Maryland.

Geez, wonder who will dominate that one?

Meanwhile, there's Miami in the Coastal Division, with former Big East rival Virginia Tech, Virginia, Georgia Tech and the two basketball bastions, Duke and North Carolina. Geez, I wonder who will dominate that division?

If you close your eyes, take a deep breath and open your eyes quickly you might be able to see Miami and FSU playing in an ACC football championship game. I mean, do you think?

The new oval seal looks good, but lots of traditionalists will have you believe that you don't need it. Change brings fuel to every fire.

Maybe Swofford deserves more credit than he has received for pushing the ACC in a new, more football-oriented direction. For one, he has put the two powers, the Seminoles and the Hurricanes, in different divisions ?? a no-brainer ?? figuring they'd be pretty good picks to meet for the ACC championship year after year after year.

UNC-N.C. State in different divisions? Maryland-Virginia in different divisions? Virginia-Virginia Tech in the same division? What's happened isn't so much about maintaining rivalries but making certain the conference gets a championship game and makes megabucks in the process. Jacksonville is a wonderful place to have a big game. At least, the NFL thinks enough of the city to have its next Super Bowl there.

You've got to love Swofford's line about the seal and divisional names embracing the "geography" of the league and maintaining its "heritage." The last time I checked, Miami is the only "coastal" school in the Coastal Division. Virginia Tech is in the mountains, the Cavaliers aren't far away, the Georgia Institute of Technology is snuggled in the South's most famous city and Duke and UNC share media with Durham and Raleigh.

It will take time to warm up to the divisions. Traditionalists will take longer. The younger generation is more likely to embrace it.

But face it, it's here to stay. And if you must know why, just remember the cliché: "Money talks."

Groh opens competition on defense
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
October 20, 2004

Al Groh knows defense. A quick glance at his résumé proves it.
Before taking over the program at Virginia in 2001, Groh coached some of the NFL’s greatest defensive players, including nine Pro Bowl linebackers.
Groh also knows that playing defense takes heart. Apparently he did not see enough of that against Florida State.
During ESPN’s broadcast of the Cavaliers road game at FSU on Saturday, the network’s sideline reporter Erin Andrews reported that Groh barked at his defense and went as far to say that the starters on the unit would be subject to tryouts on Monday.
Apparently, the message broke through.
“Everyone’s going to be out there competing for their job, like Coach Groh said. He said that he would be looking at people and find out who really wants to play,” said senior Marquis Weeks, who starts at safety. “When the head coach says that he’s looking at people and he’s going to find out who wants to really play … you have to take that to heart. You have to step your game up if you want to play.”
Florida State rushed for 192 yards and passed for 278 yards. They were also 5 for 5 in the red zone.
“I think Coach Groh is looking for that never to happen again,” said Weeks, who made 11 tackles against the Seminoles. “He’s going to give people a chance to keep their jobs and, if he feels they’re not stepping up to the challenge, then he is going to find somebody who is.
“Your position on the team is never solidified,” Weeks added. “If someone starts playing better than you, you can at any time lose your job, but just the way we lost and some of the mistakes we made, it’s going to be more of a focus.”
As they do in spring practice and in the preseason practice period, starters on defense can easily be spotted by the orange-colored jerseys that they are wear. Weeks doesn’t appear ready to part with his orange jersey.
“I couldn’t live with that but, if that’s what happens to me, if somebody goes out and has a better practice and coach puts him in front of me … I’m going to come with a better attitude and try and get my position back,” Weeks said.
But where would the changes be made if Groh elected to bench a starter? Of the non-starters on defense, only linebacker Jermaine Dias and cornerback Philip Brown have played more than 90 plays.
Dias, who redshirted last year, has made eight tackles this season, but has only one in the past three games. He is listed behind Dennis Haley on the depth chart at outside linebacker.
Brown, a true freshman, has been on the field for 140 plays, the most of any non-starter. To move into the starting lineup at cornerback, Brown would need to jump over Tony Franklin or Marcus Hamilton on the depth chart.
Inside linebacker Rich Bedesem is the lone backup that has started a game this season. In the season opener at Temple, Bedesem started in place of Ahmad Brooks, who earned his starting spot back by the second game.
Another linebacker, Vince Redd boasts a big frame for a rookie at 6-foot-6 and 265 pounds, but he’s listed behind Darryl Blackstock.
Statistically, Blackstock has struggled. In the Cavaliers six games, the junior has made just 21 tackles, which ranks 10th on the team, and has registered just 2.5 sacks. But Blackstock’s lack of productivity is not a concern to Groh.
“I just think that it’s a statistical issue. He’s doing what I want him to do. It’s a non-issue, really,” Groh said.
Local product Chris Johnson has looked good at times backing up Kwakou Robinson but Groh admitted on Monday that it’s too early to get a feel for the redshirt freshman’s progression.
“I don’t think there have been enough plays to draw a conclusion here after two games,” Groh said. “He’s just a young player playing in the games. He has done a nice job with that but to say that I could get any reading off of that would be a little premature.”

A whole new world. Throughout his four years in Charlottesville, Groh has been asked repeatedly about the differences in the NFL and college football. Add another answer to the list.
Chris Long, a true freshman from St. Anne’s-Belfield, has been sidelined since the Clemson game on Oct. 7 with mononucleosis.
“Seldom do you lose a player in the NFL to mononucleosis. It must be an age-group thing,” Groh said with a smile.
As of Monday, Long had not returned to practice.

Ernie who? Florida State linebacker Ernie Sims talked openly before the showdown with Virginia about how he would shut down Cavalier tight end Heath Miller.
Miller, who made nine catches for 110 yards, said the linebacker had little impact on how he readied for the contest. Sims boasted during the week that he would shut Miller down.
“I had heard about [his comments], but I didn’t let it affect my preparation,” Miller said. “I aim to play my best every week. Just because someone says something about me doesn’t affect my preparation for the game.”

Getting recognized. Elton Brown, who plays guard on UVa’s offensive line, was named one of 12 players still in the running for the 2004 Lombardi Award on Tuesday.
The senior is one of three offensive linemen to advance to the list of semifinalists.

Brown cut off at the pass
U.Va. offensive lineman's stint as a receiver proved to be brief and bruising
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Oct 20, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE For a man who stands 6-6 and weighs nearly 340 pounds, University of Virginia offensive guard Elton Brown is remarkably quick on his feet. No lineman in college football pulls better than Brown, and he's spoken good-naturedly of wanting to use his athleticism to contribute to the team in other ways.

During U.Va.'s training camp each August, fans at open practices have occasionally seen Brown back with the punt-returners, taking his turn catching the ball. Don't expect to see that during a game; not after Brown's misadventure Saturday night at Florida State's Doak Campbell Stadium.

With about 5:30 left in the third quarter, Virginia quarterback Marques Hagans dropped back to pass. An FSU defender deflected Hagans' pass, but Brown alertly plucked the ball out of midair in the backfield and started running.

The Hampton High graduate didn't get far. Brown was tackled for a 3-yard loss and, in the process, hurt his left knee. The injury isn't believed to be serious, but Brown sat out the final 20 minutes of Virginia's 36-3 loss to the Seminoles.
Click Here.

"He's always telling me, 'Coach, I can return punts. Coach, I can pass,'" Al Groh said Monday. "I told him yesterday, 'I bet you're glad your receiving days are over.'"

Brown, who yesterday was named one of 12 semifinalists for the Lombardi Award, which is presented to the nation's most outstanding lineman, plans to play Saturday against Duke. His role likely is to be limited to blocking.

"After that, I won't catch another pass," he said with a smile.

It's make or break for Gillen
BOB LIPPER
POINT OF VIEW
Oct 20, 2004
Bob Lipper
Contact Bob Lipper at (804) 649-6555 or e-mail blipper @timesdispatch.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE The crutches and braces and canes hang from the walls of St. Joseph's Oratory in Montreal. Hundreds of crutches and braces and canes, in fact - testament to miraculous healing powers that annually draw pilgrims to the mammoth basilica

Pete Gillen took his basketball squad to St. Joseph's during a three-exhibitions-in-three-days excursion across the border a couple of weeks ago.

Reports that the wall display now includes a worn clipboard and numerous shattered game plans could not be confirmed.

Virginia's Cavaliers need a remedy for what ails them. This is their 100th season of playing Dr. Naismith's game, and Nos. 97-99 were nothing to whoop about. The Cavs were a creampuff-inflated 18-13 last year, 7-11 against ACC competition. They haven't cracked an NCAA bracket since 2001, haven't escaped the first round of that event since 1995, haven't survived the ACC tournament quarterfinals during Gillen's six-season tenure, were maybe three Todd Billet jump shots from being 15-16 last season and sending their coach packing.

Billet is gone. Gillen is back. Asked at last week's media day if he fears his precarious job status might distract or burden his team, Gillen took three or four sentences before saying, "We have seven years left on our contract."

It's a recurring reference point for him. Whether alums and boosters are thrilled to be reminded is highly debatable.

Gillen's crew needs to make an NCAAs-or-bust move this season or he's probably a goner. It's not an unfair stipulation. The man has been paid silly money to put a slapdash product on the floor. He's shown a cheesy tendency to pass the buck and blame to his players. His roster is a revolving door - at least five ex-Cavs currently reside on other campuses.

He's been leap-frogged by Paul Hewitt and now has to fend off rear-guard attacks from Leonard Hamilton and Oliver Purnell. And let's not even discuss Coach K, Skip, Herb or those Williams guys.

That's not a record of distinction. Yes, the Cavs showed some spunk down the stretch last season - one reason Gillen deserved another shot. No, they're not without assets. Elton Brown can score inside, Devin Smith and J.R. Reynolds can shoot, freshman ballhandler Sean Singletary is said to be a talent. But the ACC figures to be brutal this year. It's a coin flip whether this embattled coach can shepherd this step-behind squad through the minefield.

"I don't think it's going to be difficult at all if we stick together," said sophomore swingman Gary Forbes. "I think we can be a really good team. There is pressure, but I think the team - we're not paying attention to that. If we just win games, there's not going to be pressure."

Easier said than done. Gillen has been good for a showy homecourt win or two per year. What he has done so far is establish a coherent modus. He's a month removed from the launch of this make-or-break campaign. The players have no choice but to go along for the ride.

"The coach's job is not in our hands, it's in the athletic director's hands," senior forward Jason Clark observed. "A lot of the experts don't expect us to do that well. We're out to prove those people wrong."

They'll start with a half-dozen or so nonleague setups. Beyond that, most everything is up for grabs. Gillen at media day said his team "can play with anybody on our schedule" - but he also raised some flags. He described two rookie big men as "still raw." He suggested Brown, a senior, continues to have weight and conditioning issues. He said of the excitable Forbes, "I've got to do a better job of building his confidence."

He's got to do a better job at far more than that. A program's stability and his fate are on the line. He's gotta win. There's no other cure.

Cavs take lessons from FSU debacle
On the Front Row
Chris Graham

Virginia football was ready to make a statement.

The Cavaliers entered their game at Florida State last weekend ranked sixth in the nation and a season full of hype heaped on by the college-football cognoscenti that had made the UVa. juggernaut the trendy pick to break bad on the BCS.

With that as the backdrop, the 36-3 dose of reality dealt out by Bobby Bowden's Seminoles Saturday night could end up being the type of thing that beats the 'Hoos down the rest of the season.

Al Groh's task now is to figure out a way to make it that the loss doesn't hang over the 2004 season like the Sword of Damocles.

"If you've got that kind of a glass jaw, you're probably not going to stand very long into the season anyway," Groh said on Monday in his weekly news conference.

After watching the videotape of the one-sided defeat, the fourth-year coach said there wasn't too much about what the 'Noles did that surprised him.

"There's a lot of things that we did that we should expect to do better at, and be accountable for not doing them better," Groh said.

The key thing that stood out in the tape of the game: the gap in talent depth between the two teams. As an example of the gap, FSU coach Bobby Bowden was able to rotate 12 defensive linemen into the game in the first half of the game.

That's right. Twelve.

As in a dozen.

"I don't think most teams can do that. I think there's a lot of really good teams, there are a lot of teams in that pool of good teams that I've spoken about. There's a lot of pretty good teams who can't do that," Groh said.

The depth of Florida State set them apart in last weekend's nationally televised game.

"Coach Bowden has been building this depth and recruiting to this particular system, it's been, whatever it is, 25 years, 28 years, whatever the case may be," Groh said. "Like Bill Parcells says when he said, 'If you ask me to cook the meal, you ought to let me buy the groceries.' Well, they've gone to the grocery store 28 or 29 times. The pantry is pretty full.

"OK, we've gone to the grocery store three or four times. I like the groceries. There's still a few more places on the shelf. Does that make sense?"

So the talent gap is narrowing - as Groh learned on the trip down to Tallahassee.

"The first couple of teams that we played against Florida State with probably had no players on it that were recruited by Florida State. Now, there are a number of guys, on the way down there, telling us what they did on their recruiting visits. So if they're using the same evaluation system that they had, I would take that to mean, probably, that they thought they were Florida State-type players. They want 35 or 40 of them, saying that," Groh said.

"But, critical issues in the game, besides some obvious game-circumstance things, were, on an overall basis, Florida State's a faster, deeper team. For example, seldom are there more than three or four plays on defense where there's not another defensive line in there. Seldom are there more than three of four plays offensively when there's not another set of receivers in there.

"OK, if you took the jersey numbers of all of them, you couldn't tell much difference. You wouldn't know who was in there. To go along with the speed that they have, they don't get very tired, because they don't play very many plays.

"Now that's not just a circumstance that just Virginia faces when they play them, that's fairly common to most of the teams who play them, even those who match up pretty well against them at the outset. That's why I say that some of those factors didn't surprise me. They obviously use those factors to their advantage," Groh said.

The challenge now is for Groh's team to take what it has learned about itself from the Florida State loss and try to move forward.

"I have said this before, and that doesn't mean that I can automatically put a Teflon shield up and whatever people say hits and slides off, but a team's agenda is going to be set every week. Somebody's going to set the agenda for the team. And that agenda is usually based on input. And it's important for a team that the agenda be set internally, not externally, whether the players set the agenda, or the coach sets the agenda," Groh said.

"It's important that the team sets its own agenda, whoever the catalyst to that may be. So that's an important thing to do. But as I say, there's no foolproof way to spray all these guys with Teflon and say that once we've set our agenda, that nobody's agenda can infiltrate their thinking," Groh said.

"I do think that this team pretty well understands the importance of making sure that, because it's articulated to them on many occasions, that it's very important that the agenda for the team and the team's understanding of what needs to be done in order to win is determined internally, not externally," Groh said.