Mines eager to return to field
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
October 22, 2004

It has been 48 days since Fontel Mines caught a pass that mattered.
It has also been 48 days since Mines broke his collarbone. But for Mines the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.
Mines dressed last week against Florida State for the first time since the injury.
The sophomore wideout waited patiently for his number to be called. As the Seminoles slowly pulled away, Mines’ chances of playing disappeared.
Virginia coach Al Groh said Mines was available if the right situation had presented itself.
“He wouldn’t have been dressed if he couldn’t have played,” the coach said. “Even though he had been cleared and the medical people were quite optimistic about his circumstances, unless there was really going to be a circumstance where he could change the outcome of the game, the attitude going in was that we were going to be conservative with him.”
Groh admitted that there was concern of Mines aggravating the injury.
“I’ve had some experience with these collarbones, not with myself, personally, but on teams [in which] there was a break after the player was cleared to play … a repeat break.”
Fellow wideout Deyon Williams said Mines told him he was “ready” and “anxious” to play against the Seminoles.
“I know he’s happy [to be back],” Williams said. “Having him back out there helps the team out a lot.”
Adding Mines back into the mix should help the depth at the position.
Sophomore Ron Morton was left off the travel squad for the FSU game. He has just one catch this season.
Don’t expect that number to go up any time soon.
“Ron’s not in the playing mix right now, as he hasn’t been from the start,” Groh said. “Playing time is earned.”
Another option, redshirt freshman Emmanuel Byers apparently has joined Morton in the doghouse. Groh said on Thursday that Byers would not play against Duke on Saturday.

In the clear. One of Virginia’s 2005 recruits was in some hot water for a couple of days. Jason Fuller, a two-way player at Kempsville High School, was ejected in the opening quarter in Friday’s 14-6 win over Salem (Virginia Beach).
The officials ejected Fuller for throwing a punch. Virginia High School League rules require that any player who is ejected for fighting serve a
two-game suspension.
After members of the referee’s council watched video footage of the incident, Fuller’s was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Recruiting update. William Fleming linebacker Darryl Gresham committed to play for Virginia in July, a move that he is now rethinking.
“I just want to make sure I make the right decision,” Gresham told the Roanoke Times. “I didn’t take any visits before I committed.”
Gresham also said his commitment was “soft” and that he has talked to coaches from Florida, Tennessee and Virginia Tech.
While Groh is not allowed to discuss specific commitments, he did say that the program is always monitoring recruiting.
“The answer is to look at each situation individually, see what’s involved with it, talk with them, see how much they’re on the market and we usually go on the market to the same degree,” Groh said.
“If they’re looking. We’re looking. If they’re pretty firm, we’re pretty firm. That just makes sense.”

Extra points. Groh told reporters that he has liked the way the team has practiced this week. “I’ve been well pleased with their concentration and focus,” Groh said. … The biggest difference in practice has had to do with the uniforms. Typically, starters on defense wear orange jerseys. “Nobody was in orange this week,” Groh stated.

Gresham's shopping could alter UVa strategy
Scholarship wideouts out of mix
By Doug Doughty
THE ROANOKE TIMES

When Virginia took 24 football commitments by Sept. 1, more than five months before the letter-of-intent date, it was realistic to think one or more players might have second thoughts.

From what I know of UVa coach Al Groh, I was curious how he might respond to the news that promising linebacker Darryl Gresham is reconsidering his July commitment to the Cavaliers.

When I raised the issue with Groh on Thursday, the same day that Gresham’s interest in Florida, Tennessee and Virginia Tech became public in The Roanoke Times, Groh said his stance had not changed since I had asked the question 10 days previously.

Since I could not remember asking the question previously, I thank media gadly Jeff White for pointing out that the question actually was asked by a caller to Groh’s weekly call-in show.

“The answer is to look at each situation individually, see what’s involved with it, talk with them, see how much they’re on the market and we usually go on the market to the same degree,” Groh said.

“If they’re looking. We’re looking. If they’re pretty firm, we’re pretty firm. That just makes sense.”

IT SEEMS TO ME that Groh had decided to pull back on some of its recruiting efforts in Georgia, which made me wonder about reports linking the Cavaliers with T.J. Pitts, a 5-foot-10, 195-pound running back from Gainesville, Ga.

Now it all makes sense. At North Hall High School, Pitts has been coached by Bob Christmas, once the head coach at Jefferson Forest High School outside Lynchburg. At Jefferson Forest, Christmas coached Anthony Poindexter, a former All-America safety at Virginia and now a UVa assistant coach with recruiting responsibility for Pitts.

Pitts did not make SuperPrep’s preseason list of the top 59 prospects in Georgia, but I’ve heard UVa insiders mention him in the same breath as three of the other running backs they are recruiting: Tony Baker, Mikell Simpson and Macho Harris, although Harris, the top-rated prospect in Virginia, is viewed by many evaluators as an “athlete” who can play running back or safety. (I also think he eventually will sign with Virginia Tech).

It’s safe to say that, if Virginia could award only one more scholarship -- and, that’s what the current numbers suggest -- that it will go to a running back, with preseason All-American Shane Brooks from Duquesne, Pa., remaining a possibility.

CERTAINLY, UVA NEEDS wide receivers, a situation that has become more evident with an apparent decline in confidence in sophomore Ron Morton and redshirt freshman Emmanuel Byers.

Morton did not make the trip to Florida State and Groh said Byers will not play Saturday at Duke, although he was in Tallahassee, Fla. When asked if Morton is still on the roster, Groh said Thursday, “Ron’s not in the playing mix right now, as he hasn’t been from the start. Playing time is earned.”

UVa’s only other scholarship wide receivers are senior Michael McGrew and sophomores Deyon Williams and Fontel Mines. Mines was in uniform Saturday at Florida State but has not played since Sept. 4, when he suffered a broken collarbone in the season’s opener against Temple.

“He wouldn’t have been dressed if he couldn’t have played,” Groh said Thursday. “I’ve had some experience with these collarbones, not with myself, personally, but on teams [where] there was a break after the player was cleared to play, a repeat break.

“Even though [Mines] had been cleared and the medical people were quite optimistic about his circumstances, unless there was really going to be a circumstance where he could change the outcome of the game, the attitude going in was that we were going to be conservative with him.”

Fourth-year junior Imhotep Durham, a walk-on who was awarded a scholarship this year, is listed as the back-up to Williams at one of the receiver spots. But, it shouldn’t surprise anybody that in the case of an injury to McGrew or Williams, whose late-week hamstring pull kept him out of the Syracuse game, tailback Alvin Pearman might make another appearance at wideout.

WHEN A CALLER to Groh’s radio show asked host Mac McDonald about his choices for the top five football teams in UVa history, Groh didn’t hesitate to point out that the list would have to include the two teams that shared ACC championships, in 1989 and 1995.

Some people would pick the UVa team that was ranked No. 1 for three weeks in 1990, but my choice would be the 1995 team that finished 9-4 after beating Georgia in the Peach Bowl. As impressive as a home victory over Florida State was the fact that the four losses were by a combined 13 points, two decided on the final play at Michigan and Texas.

Even Groh said that future NFL players should not be part of the criteria, but consider who was on that 1995 roster: Tiki Barber, Ronde Barber, Aaron Brooks, James Farrior, Patrick Kerney, Wali Rainer, Jamie Sharper and John St. Clair.

Nine years later, all nine of those players are still in the NFL, and that’s not counting players whose NFL careers have since ended or been interrupted like Poindexter, Will Brice, Maurice Anderson, Casey Crawford, Germane Crowell, Percy Ellsworth, Jon Harris, Patrick Jeffers, Charles Kirby, Noel Lamontagne, Bobby Neely, Shannon Taylor and Terrence Wilkins.

Of course, many of those players were in the early stages of their UVa career in 1995, but 22 NFL players off one roster is pretty strong.

Motion for the defense
FSU thrashing could lead U.Va. to lineup changes against Duke
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Oct 22, 2004
U.VA. AT DUKE
TOMORROW: 1 p.m.
RADIO: WRVA (1140), 12:30

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The University of Virginia football team left Tallahallassee, Fla., feeling blue last weekend, and that's what its defense has practiced in since then.

"Nobody was in orange this week," Cavaliers coach Al Groh said yesterday.

Members of U.Va.'s first team usually wear orange jerseys in practice. But Florida State floored previously unbeaten Virginia 36-3, and Groh didn't like what he saw. He told his front-line defenders in no uncertain terms - as the gap between the teams widened in the second half - that they'd have to win their positions in practice this week.

An empty threat? Not to senior safety Marquis Weeks, a converted tailback who moved to defense before spring practice this year.

"When the head coach says he's looking at people and he's going to find out who wants to really play and be a part of the defense or offense or special teams, you have to take that to heart," Weeks said Monday. "That's nothing to play around with."

The 14th-ranked Cavaliers (2-1, 5-1) visit Duke (0-3, 1-5) for an ACC game tomorrow afternoon at Wallace Wade Stadium.

Only once in Virginia's first five games did it allow more than 24 points, and that was against North Carolina, which rallied for two fourth-quarter touchdowns after falling behind 49-10. The then-No. 6 Cavaliers entered their showdown with then-No. 7 FSU ranked near the top of the ACC in most defensive categories.

The Seminoles weren't impressed. They piled up 470 yards against a U.Va. defense that battled gamely for much of the first half but crumbled after the break. Virginia committed untimely penalties, blew coverages, missed numerous tackles and recorded only one sack.

"For the rest of the season, that's going to be the focus: just never let the things that happened at Florida State happen again," said Weeks, whose 11 tackles tied linebacker Ahmad Brooks for the team lead Satur- day night.

As displeased as he was with his defense, Groh wasn't any happier with Virginia's offense and special teams.

"It was the whole operation," Groh said on the ACC coaches' teleconference Wednesday morning. In fact, he added, a couple of his offensive assistants "said that, given the fact that they kept putting the defense out there by going three-and-out on offense, they thought the defense for the better part of the first half played quite well."

After picking up two first downs on its opening drive, U.Va. didn't get another one until its final possession of the half.

"One of the things that was going to be necessary to play very good defense against that team was to extend possessions so that we didn't play a heavy amount of plays on defense," Groh said.

The FSU game was Virginia's second without defensive end Chris Canty, an All-America candidate who suffered a season-ending knee injury Sept.25. The 6-7, 290-pound senior had seven tackles for loss in U.Va.'s first four games, and his replacements haven't been nearly as disruptive.

"With a great player like Chris you're going to lose some of those plays . . . because he's a special guy," Weeks said. "It would have been a big help to have him out there at Florida State, but there's still no excuse for the way we played."

With the Cavaliers unable to mount a serious pass rush, FSU quarterback Wyatt Sexton had ample time to locate his gifted receivers, who made an inexperienced secondary look inept at times. Virginia's starters at cornerback are sophomores Tony Franklin and Marcus Hamilton, and its top reserve there is true freshman Philip Brown. At safety, only senior Jermaine Hardy had started on defense before this season.

"We had a bad game as a unit," Weeks said. "We let them hit soft spots in our defense, and as a secondary, we just need to step our game up."

Don't expect a repeat tomorrow. Duke has little in common with Florida State other than membership in the ACC. The Blue Devils rank last among conference teams in scoring offense and total offense.

 

Cavs' Williams Is Catching On
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, October 22, 2004; Page D08

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The Virginia Cavaliers were in the midst of what would become a blowout victory at Western Michigan last season when rookie wide receiver Deyon Williams came to the line of scrimmage early in the second quarter, still looking for his first catch in three games as a collegian.

Unfortunately, Williams hadn't quite understood the play called in the huddle and had no idea what pattern he was supposed to run. He turned and asked veteran receiver Ottowa Anderson for help. "Just run a post," Anderson said.

Former Suitland star Deyon Williams is second on the team in receptions with 15, 12 of which were for first downs. He's also averging 46.4 yards per game. (Phil Coale - AP)

So at the snap, Williams started upfield for 10 or 15 yards and then slanted right, streaking through the secondary. He looked back for the ball, caught it in stride and eased in for a 35-yard touchdown.

It wasn't the only time last season the 2002 All-Met from Suitland High School got lost in Virginia's playbook. It also wasn't the only time he made up for it with his natural athletic skills.

"That's how I was last year," he said.

This season has been a vast improvement. Williams isn't a football genius just yet, but he has learned enough to start at split end for the 14th-ranked Cavaliers (5-1, 2-1 ACC) and catch 15 passes for 232 yards. At 6 feet 3, 188 pounds, the former track star at McNamara and Suitland high schools is perhaps Virginia's fastest and most gifted wide receiver.

"When he touches the ball, anything can happen," right guard Elton Brown said as the Cavs prepared for Saturday's game at Duke (1-5, 0-3). "He's one of those type of players."

Williams, whose first name is pronounced DAY-on, ranks eighth in the ACC with an average of 46.4 receiving yards per game and is second among Cavaliers in receptions behind all-American tight end Heath Miller. Twelve of Williams's catches have produced first downs, including four third-down conversions.

The Cavaliers expect there will be plenty more to come. Because Williams, 19, played three sports in high school and spent each week last fall in game preparation, this past offseason was his first opportunity to focus on his overall development as a wide receiver. He added 10 or 12 pounds to his lanky frame, polished his route running and blocking and strived to earn Coach Al Groh's highest compliment as a "dependable" player.

Two weeks ago -- days after sitting out the Sept. 25 game against Syracuse because of a hamstring injury -- Williams put together an excellent week of practice that culminated with the most productive game of his career: five catches for 83 yards as Virginia beat Clemson in a Thursday night game shown on ESPN.

"It was very verifying to him, I think, that that kind of week produced that kind of results," Groh said. "Plus, he started to get a little picture of what might be out there for him. . . . I think he can get a lot done. . . .

"I don't mean this in a demeaning way, but he didn't have any knowledge last year. As it is with a lot of young players, it was . . . 'Okay, this is where I line up and this is where I'm supposed to go.' Then the process from then until now is how to get there, how to refine the techniques in getting there, how to make the adjustment reads as you get there. That process is still going on, but the [Clemson game] showed there's been substantial movement in that direction."

Last weekend at Florida State, Williams had three catches for 34 yards against a pair of tough cornerbacks. "I'm improving as each game comes along," he said. "I'm learning how to be that starting receiver that I'm supposed to be."

Cavaliers Notes: Groh confirmed he is considering adjustments to the starting lineup and the distribution of playing time after last weekend's 36-3 loss, though he declined to give specifics. Virginia's defensive players all wore blue in practice this week, with no one in the orange jerseys that signify first-team defenders. . . .

Wide receiver Fontel Mines was in uniform at FSU and could have played if needed, but the Cavaliers were glad to be able to take the conservative approach and give his broken collarbone another week to heal. He likely will play against Duke. . . .

Groh, 60, grew up on Long Island rooting for Mickey Mantle, Bob Turley and the New York Yankees, but his baseball allegiances shifted when he coached with the New England Patriots from 1993 to '96. "Living in Boston, I kind of got the flavor of the Red Sox and Fenway and that business," he said. "I wouldn't say that I'm a Red Sox fan, but if there's a team that I occasionally see what's going on with them, it's the Red Sox." . . .

Brown (Lombardi Award) and sophomore inside linebacker Ahmad Brooks (Butkus) are among 12 semifinalists for national awards at their respective positions.
 

Cavs fight injuries before battling Duke
Starters Hagans, Brown sustained injuries versus Seminoles; both expect to play Saturday aftenoon versus last place Devils in Durham
Jeremy Root, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

Injuries can ravage a football team's season. And in a collision sport like football, they tend to occur more often than in other big-time college and professional sports such as basketball, soccer and baseball. Besides the season-ending injury to captain Chris Canty and the ankle sprain to fullback Jason Snelling, the Cavaliers have stayed relatively healthy on the injury front.

But when No. 14 Virginia (5-1, 2-1 ACC) enters this weekend's contest versus ACC bottom-feeder Duke (1-5, 0-3), two of the Cavaliers' offensive stars will be questionable. Both quarterback Marques Hagans, the ACC's leading passer, and guard Elton Brown, named to the Midseason All-America team this week, sustained injuries during Virginia's 36-3 self-destruction at Florida State and left the game early.

Virginia coach Al Groh is very discreet about his players' injuries. He said Monday he expects both players to play, but he was waiting to see how they performed this week.

"Given the degree of discomfort that the two players had at the end of the game, I don't expect that they're just going to spryly leap out there the first couple of days this week," Groh said. "Both of them were less uncomfortable given their circumstances on Saturday night than I thought would have been reasonable to expect."

If Hagans can't go on Saturday, that will push sophomore transfer Christian Olsen into the lineup. Olsen saw limited action against the Seminoles after Hagans left in the fourth quarter with a hip injury. The sophomore was six of eight for 47 yards.

The Cavalier starting six on the offensive line (including tight end) has been one of the strongest points of the team. They have paved the way for Virginia's No. 1 rush offense in the ACC at 232.5 yards per game. Before Virginia's dismal offensive output versus Florida State (20 total rushing yards), the Cavaliers were averaging 275 yards per game on the ground. All six men, including three three-year starters -- Brown, center Zac Yarbrough and tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson -- have started together every game this season in a remarkable display of consistency. If Brown is unable to play, freshman Marshal Ausberry or sophomore D.J. Bell would likely step in to the starting role.

The 6-foot-6, 328-pound right guard was injured last Saturday after he made a heads-up play to catch a deflected pass from Hagans to avoid a Seminole interception. Once he made the grab, Brown began to run up field before a Florida State defender tackled him with his helmet on Brown's knee. Brown said he expected to play this weekend.

"Just a little banged up," he said Monday of his status.

Luckily for the Cavaliers, this might be the best time to sustain the injuries. They face off with a dismal Duke team that ranks second to last in almost every defensive category in the ACC and last or second to last in every offensive category. The Blue Devils' only win was a 28-10 triumph versus The Citadel of Division I-AA. The Cavaliers then have a bye week to rest their injuries after Duke.

"It doesn't matter who we play," Brown said. "Duke presents a challenge just like Florida State presented a challenge. They're on their home turf, and they're going to defend their home field. We want to take that losing taste out of our mouth and go play football."