Defense makes Groh see red
Starting spots on Virginia's defense were up for grabs this week.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

When the Virginia's football team took the field for practice Monday night, nobody was wearing the orange jerseys usually reserved for UVa's starting defense.

That, more than anything, reflected coach Al Groh's mood following a 36-3 loss Saturday night at Florida State.

A sideline reporter overheard Groh telling his players that there would be tryouts Monday night, which lends one element of suspense to Virginia's trip to Duke (1-5, 0-3 ACC) for a 1 p.m. kickoff today.

Nine defensive players have started every game for 14th-ranked Virginia (5-1, 2-1), linebacker Ahmad Brooks has started the last four and defensive end Kwakou Robinson the last two after a season-ending injury to Chris Canty.

"We might start a few different people or play a few different people based on competition," Groh said Thursday in his last pregame teleconference.

"Nobody was in orange this week."

Virginia's difficulty in defending Florida State's wide receivers has caused reporters to ask about freshman Phillip Brown, who has been the Cavaliers' third cornerback behind starters Tony Franklin and Marcus Hamilton, a pair of sophomores.

"Obviously, he's [Brown] been pretty good from the start," Groh said. "He played the third play of the season, when we went to our nickel package. His skills have been what they were supposed to be. His attentiveness has been good. He wants to be a really good player."

Virginia took running back Marquis Weeks and made him into a safety, but Groh said safety play wasn't as big of a problem against Florida State as the cornerbacks. Other than that, he hasn't directed his wrath at a particular unit.

"It was the whole operation," Groh said Wednesday on the weekly ACC coaches' teleconference. "A couple of our offensive coaches said that, given the fact that we put the defense out there so often by going three-and-out on offense, they felt that the defense played well for the better part of the first half.

"One of the things that was necessary to play good defense against that team was to extend possessions, so that we didn't play a heavy amount of plays on defense. We weren't able to extend too many possessions to a desirable time."

After rushing for an average of 275 yards in their first five games, the Cavaliers had 20 yards on the ground in Tallahassee, Fla.

"We've got to be able to loosen the box up better [and] get some of those guys out of there," said Groh, who wasn't talking about UVa's blocking.

He explained that Virginia needs to "do things with the ball outside that makes it too risky for them to crowd the box with nine guys."

That was a reference to the UVa passing game, although nobody was blaming junior quarterback Marques Hagans, whose scrambling enabled him to go 20-of-30 for 214 yards.

Duke already has faced the two leading rushers among ACC quarterbacks, Virginia Tech's Brian Randall and Georgia Tech's Reggie Ball, so it should know something about elusive quarterbacks.

"They're all very mobile and we're getting ready to play the most mobile of the three," said Duke coach Ted Roof. "It's amazing to me what he does back there. What gets lost is his accuracy (69.3 percent) as a passer. He's really improved that.

"He's got some of the best players in America back there on the run for eight, 10 seconds [against Florida State]. It's hard enough to play coverage for four or five seconds. Trying to limit his area of operation will be critical for our success. I don't know how you emulate guys like that in practice."

Still searching for his first victory of the year against Division I-A opposition, Roof doesn't want to hear about Virginia's problems. All the Cavaliers have done is lose a game they were favored to lose in a venue where they have never won and few teams have ever won.

"One of the things that's very important for the coach to do is assess what the team needs to hear," Groh said. "What the team needs to hear is not necessarily always makes the coach feel good saying. In that respect, it's not a whole lot different from being a parent. If you're not consistent, it's like a thunderstorm. Wait a while and it goes away.

"Sometimes, when you lose a game, one of the things a coach has to say to himself, 'Be realistic. Sometimes the reason you lose is the other team was better. They were better that night or they're better all the time.'"

Cavaliers focused on putting past behind them
With the Florida State debacle in its rearview mirror, Virginia hopes to move forward.
BY DAVE JOHNSON
247-4649
Published October 23, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Elton Brown, who has one of the best laughs in college football, is serious this time. Not rude, not even irritable. Just sick of dealing with it, quite frankly.

A week ago, Virginia was proven to be, at the very least, not ready for prime time. The Cavaliers' 36-3 loss at Florida State bounced them from the top 10 and ended any talk of a national championship. The question now becomes, can Virginia recover? Can the Cavs regroup, starting today at Duke, and not let one crushing defeat ruin their season?

Brown's answers are yes and yes. So stop asking.

"There's nothing to talk about," said Brown, who is expected to start today at right guard despite a bruised left knee. "As a team, we all know we didn't give our best effort (at FSU). But the thing about this team is, we bounce back. It's only one loss, and we're 5-1.

"It's over, and now we're preparing for Duke. We're ready to get back out there and get this taste out of our mouths."

Chances are, 14th-ranked Virginia (5-1, 2-1 ACC) will do just that. Duke (1-5, 0-3) hasn't beaten a Division I-A team this season and is ranked near the bottom in most statistical categories. Among the 117 teams in I-A, the Blue Devils' offense is last in total yards (245.5) and 107th in scoring (17.5). Their defense is 94th in yards allowed (425).

In truth, Virginia coach Al Groh probably isn't worried about his team's chances today. What he'll be looking for are signs that the Cavaliers are ready for a stretch run that features four opponents - Maryland, Miami, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech - with a combined record of 17-7.

Virginia still has an outside chance to win the ACC championship and play in its first BCS bowl.

Based on what he's seen in practice this week, Groh is comfortable that his players have put the Florida State experience behind them. And he's not worried about a hangover effect.

"If you've got that kind of glass jaw," he said, "you're probably not going to stand very long into the season, anyway."

Today likely will turn out to be nothing more than a tune-up. And it should be an excellent opportunity to bring wideout Fontel Mines, who broke his collarbone in the opener and hasn't played since, back into the lineup.

Two other areas of concern have been pressuring the quarterback and forcing turnovers. With Chris Canty in the lineup for the first four games, the Cavs had 13 sacks. In the two games since his season-ending injury, they've gotten to the quarterback once.

The Cavs have a decent turnover margin at plus-4, but that's in large part because the offense has lost just three. U.Va. has forced seven turnovers in six games, which matches the third-fewest among conference teams.

Mainly, the Cavaliers just want to get on the field again. Last week was a nightmare, one they're already sick of rehashing.

"It's necessary to put the losses behind you," Groh said, "but valuable not to forget them."

Cavs, Devils both on the rebound
By BRYAN STRICKLAND : The Herald-Sun
bstrickland@heraldsun.com
Oct 22, 2004 : 6:40 pm ET

On paper, Duke and Virginia are polar opposites.

But on the playing field today at Wallace Wade Stadium, Duke coach Ted Roof believes his Blue Devils will have more than a snowball's chance against the Cavaliers.

"If you look at the ACC stats, they lead the ACC in every offensive category," Duke coach Ted Roof said. "So we have a tremendous challenge, but it's also a tremendous opportunity."

Virginia, even with a 36-3 setback at Florida State in a battle of top-10 teams last week, leads the ACC in total offense, scoring offense, rushing offense and passing offense. Duke, following a 24-7 loss at Georgia Tech last week, ranks last in three of those categories and next to last in the other one.

Virginia is 5-1. Duke is 1-5.

Virginia has won its last four meetings against Duke. And yes, Duke has lost its last four meetings against Virginia.

"As far as how we match up, that's why you play the game," Roof said. "If it was played on paper or in the newspaper, there wouldn't be any reason to do it. But it's played on the field."

Virginia coach Al Groh said his Cavaliers are anxious to get back on the field after their disappointing defeat at Florida State. With running back Wali Lundy running past people to the tune of two touchdowns a game, and with quarterback Marques Hagans sporting a higher completion percentage than many free-throw shooters, the Cavaliers were beginning to believe that a perfect season was possible.

Then last Saturday, the Seminoles made a perfect mess of that.

"Obviously we performed better than that on five other occasions this year, but that particular night, we have to live with the way that we performed," Groh said. "It's necessary to put the losses behind you, but valuable not to forget them.

"Our players have been very responsive. As usual, our concentration is on focusing on what we have to do with the next opponent and what we have to do to get better."

While teams aren't always motivated to take on Duke, this will make the fifth straight game where Duke has taken on a team that had a real reason to be a little more motivated than usual.

It started when the Blue Devils traveled to Virginia Tech to serve as the Hokies' opponent in their long-awaited ACC debut. Duke next faced a Maryland team smarting from a tough overtime defeat at West Virginia, then the Blue Devils hosted The Citadel in what looked like a golden opportunity for the Bulldogs to possibly knock off a Division I-A team.

Then last week, Duke met up with a Georgia Tech team seeking revenge for a 41-17 loss at Duke in 2003.

This week, Virginia is the one with the vendetta.

"I'm sure Al will have them ready to play, and I'm sure they'll play a good football game," Roof said. "As far as their attitude, we've got some things we've got to get cleaned up here and don't have a lot of time to spend on their attitude.

"We're going to spend it on getting our attitude where it needs to be in order to have a chance to win."

While Groh's team is coming off its first poor performance, Roof still is searching for his team's first complete performance. The defense has played well since a shellacking at the hands of Maryland a month ago, but the offense is coming off its first single-digit scoring game of the season.

So far this season, the Duke offense has produced the same number of touchdowns -- 10 -- as Lundy.

"We've got to score more," Roof said. "We've got to execute and take care of the football. We've got to make some plays that we're in position to make to keep drives alive and to get some big plays to loosen some things up.

"I don't think we need to whole-heartedly change. I think we just need to do what we do but do it better."

Each game counts as one for UVa
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
October 23, 2004

DURHAM, N.C.

The theme Virginia’s football team brought to Tobacco Road for this afternoon’s ACC game against Duke was as simple as well water: They each count one.

Every game in the conference counts as either one win or one loss. It doesn’t matter if the win comes over Duke or Florida State, it’s only good for one win. You can’t redeem a win over an upper echelon team for two wins because it felt twice as nice, and a win over the bottom feeders doesn’t count as half a win.

The same goes for losing.

That has been the one message that coach Al Groh has been pounding into the Cavaliers in a physical week of practice coming off an embarrassing loss at Florida State last Saturday night. His mission has been to keep Virginia focused because even though the Cavs dropped a lopsided, 36-3 game to the Seminoles, Groh’s team is still alive.

In the hunt

How many times has the Wahoos coach said that his mission was to reach Nov. 1 and still be in the hunt for the ACC title. Well, if the Cavs beat Duke today, then take their next home game against struggling Maryland, guess what?

They will be in that hunt with a 7-1 record and will have a chance to impact the conference race with Miami coming to Charlottesville on Nov. 13.

“We’re 5-1 and we can’t get all psyched out because we lost to Florida State,” said senior right guard Elton Brown. “We’re still good. We took our loss and we’re ready to move on.”

Don’t get Brown wrong. He and his teammates were shocked with the result in Tallahassee, Fla. The Cavaliers figured to give the defending league champs a game, but the Seminoles proved too much to handle after a week of FSU bashing on the national sports talk shows following their slim escape from Syracuse the week before.

“We don’t have to dwell on the loss,” said senior safety Marquis Weeks. “We should never forget it ... I’m never going to forget it for the rest of my life. This was my last chance to beat Florida State. But we’re going to use that as motivation for the rest of the season and never let that happen again.

“We’re still a good team and we know that,” Weeks said. “The reality check was that we had to step up our game and we didn’t. You can’t play like that against Florida State.”

No second chances

Could it be that losing to the Seminoles might be the best thing that has happened to the Cavaliers? They were rolling along at 5-0, ranked No. 6 in the nation and every game had been a stroll in the park.

Now they know they’re in a fight. They also know they can’t afford another slip or it’s all over.

There is still time to get back into the ACC race. FSU has one loss and could run the table. Miami is unbeaten, but has to get by N.C. State later today, then has to come to UVa and to Virginia Tech.

This thing isn’t settled quite yet.

Virginia must get its focus back today against a stubborn Duke team that will put up a better fight than you might expect from a 1-5 football team. But the Cavs have been pretty good in the bounce-back department.

In fact, they have won the last five times in games following losses to ranked teams.

Duke coach Ted Roof, who played in this league as a roughhouse linebacker at Georgia Tech, and who has coached at Tech and Duke, knows what Virginia has brought to town.

“If you look at the ACC stats, [Virginia] leads the ACC in every offensive category,” Roof said. “So we do have a tremendous challenge, but also a great opportunity. They lead the ACC in everything for a reason.”

The challenge for Virginia today will be to re-establish its running game, which was almost nonexistent at FSU, against a Duke defense that concentrates in shutting down the rush by presenting a lot of different looks up front and with their linebackers.

Roof will probably fill the box like the Seminoles did and dare Virginia to throw it. That’s where quarterback Marques Hagans comes in. He will have to do a better job of getting out on the edge with bootlegs or lateral passes to back off Blue Devils linebackers and defensive backs and open up the rush lanes.

If that happens, Virginia could get back on the same track the Cavaliers were riding before getting derailed in Tallahassee. Then it comes down to November.

They all count just one, and the Cavs need this one in the worst way.

Virginia looking to dominate Duke
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
October 23, 2004

Is a road trip to Duke just what the doctor ordered for the Virginia football team?

With the first loss of the season, a 36-3 defeat at Florida State, in the rearview mirror, the 14th-ranked Cavaliers are eager to get back to doing what they opened the season doing so well - winning football games.

On the stat sheets, Duke (1-5, 0-3 ACC) appears nothing more than a minor speed bump. The Blue Devils are mired in last place in the ACC and would secure their 10th consecutive losing season with a loss today.

Virginia (5-1, 2-1) has owned Duke in recent years, winning four in a row against the Blue Devils and 13 of the last 15 contests.

Lucky for the Blue Devils and coach Ted Roof, the game will be played on the field at Wallace Wade Stadium at 1 p.m.

“Play it on paper or in the newspaper [and] there wouldn’t be any reason to do it, but we are playing on the field for a reason, and we will find out where we are,” Roof said. “We do have a tremendous challenge, but it is also a great opportunity.”

It is also a great opportunity for Virginia to showcase its powerful running game.

Despite rushing for just 20 yards against Florida State, the Cavaliers still boast the best rushing offense in the ACC with an average of 232.5 yards per game.

Duke enters the contest ranked 10th in the league and 103rd in the country in rushing defense. Maryland, Navy and Virginia Tech all rushed for three touchdowns against the Blue Devils.

The problems are obvious on the other side of the ball too.

Duke’s offensive unit ranks last in the conference in passing, scoring and total offensive categories.

“As far as we match up, well, they lead the ACC in everything for a reason,” Roof said. “They have good coaches and good players.”

The Blue Devils opened the season with a pair of tough losses to Navy and Connecticut.

Duke trailed Navy 13-12 in the third quarter before giving up two unanswered touchdowns. UConn outscored the Blue Devils 16-0 in the fourth quarter to rally for a 22-20 win.

“[Duke] had two games right there in the beginning [against] Navy and Connecticut, that they were right at the end of the game with the opportunity to win,” Groh said. “Now, obviously, they didn’t. That they were there with the opportunity says significant things about them. That they didn’t win, it says other significant things.”

Duke got its lone win of the season on Oct. 2 against The Citadel. The Blue Devils beat the I-AA school, 28-10.

Virginia offensive lineman Elton Brown says the team is still approaching the contest in Durham, N.C., like any other contest.

“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.”

Extra points. Today’s game will not be televised. It marks the third time this season that the Cavaliers have played in a non-televised contest. … Virginia will have a bye next week before returning home to Scott Stadium for back-to-back games with Maryland (Nov. 6) and Miami (Nov. 13). … Duke’s last win over a ranked football team came in 1994 when it beat 23rd-ranked Virginia, 28-25, in Durham, N.C. … The Blue Devils are wearing white helmets this season for the first time since 1993. The lids feature a black facemask and a royal blue Iron “D” on the side. For the past 10 years the program wore blue helmets with a black script “Duke” on each side.

Cavs eager to put loss behind them
U.Va. aims to enter bye week with a win over punchless Duke
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Oct 23, 2004

"It's Duke week."

If you're a college basketball player and have a date with Coack K's club looming, that phrase will get your blood pumping. If you play college football, those words are more likely to elicit yawns.

Nonetheless, Virginia hasn't lacked motivation during preparations for its visit today to Durham, N.C., and Wallace Wade Stadium, whose game-day atmosphere should not be confused with that of nearby Cameron Indoor Stadium. In their first game since getting hammered 36-3 at Florida State last weekend - a defeat that caused them to drop eight spots, to No. 14, in The Associated Press poll - the Cavaliers (2-1, 5-1) will face ACC foe Duke (0-3, 1-5) at 1 p.m.

"We're anxious to get back out and get another win and get this taste out of our mouths," U.Va. offensive guard Elton Brown said Monday.
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Before its trip to Tallahassee, Fla., Virginia had won eight straight games dating to last season.

"So it kind of brings us back to reality what it's like to lose," Brown said. "Personally, me, I don't want to feel it again. I know that's the mind-set I'm taking, I know that's the mind-set the team's taking."

More than a few college football analysts picked U.Va. to prevail last weekend, but the Seminoles seized control in the second quarter and won going away. Before a sellout crowd and an ESPN audience, Virginia looked nothing like the ACC title contender it had been billed as.

"I'm a believer in, 'You are what you are,'" said Cavaliers coach Al Groh, who indicated during the week that he might shake up his starting lineup today.

"If that's what our talent level was last Saturday, then it's up to us to dispel that by a better performance. Obviously, we performed better than that on five other occasions this year, but that particular night, we have to live with the way we performed."

If they heard the question once this week, U.Va.'s players heard it a hundred times: How will they respond to such an embarrassing loss?

"It wasn't our best effort out there on Saturday," Brown said, "but the thing about this team is we always like to bounce back. It's the first time we've had to face adversity this season. Maybe it's a good thing."

Ted Roof, in his first full season as Duke's coach, hasn't spent much time worrying about Virginia's state of mind.

"I'm more concerned with what our mind-set is," Roof said. "We're spending all our time and all our energy to make sure our mind-set is right, because we can't really do anything about theirs. Al is a great coach, and I'm sure he'll have his team ready."

After Duke officials fired Carl Franks and named Roof as interim coach last Oct. 19, the Blue Devils showed dramatic improvement. They won two of their last five games, including the finale against North Carolina, to finish 4-7. Duke lost many of its 2003 standouts, however, and this season has beaten only a Division I-AA team, The Citadel.

Duke's first two games - losses at Navy and Connecticut - were close, but they've been less competitive against I-A foes since then.

The Blue Devils had chances to win late in each of those first two games, but "obviously they didn't," Groh said. "That they were there with the opportunity says significant things about them. That they didn't win says other significant things."

Virginia is favored by more than three touchdowns today. A fifth straight victory over Duke would make the Cavaliers bowl-eligible for the third consecutive season and send them into their off week on a high note.

Stumbling at FSU hurt Virginia, but it was "only one loss," Brown said. "We're 5-1. We can't get psyched out. We're still good."

Duke wants strong finish, with Virginia on tap today
By Bill Cole
JOURNAL REPORTER

Duke has five games left this season, but no margin for error if it is to avoid another losing season.

Duke is 1-5 overall (0-3 ACC), and a loss to Virginia today would leave it with its 10th consecutive losing season and its 14th in 15 years.

Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham.

Coach Ted Roof said that a strong finish is still possible, and his players, although frustrated by the lack of success, haven't given up.

Defensive end Justin Kitchen said that the Blue Devils haven't lost their energy, enthusiasm or willingness to keep going.

"I just feel like we're right there sometimes, right there about to grasp (victory)," Kitchen said. "It just slips away sometimes. I think that's what Coach Roof is starting to hone in on the most: We've just got to hold on. We've got to start believing more, and we've got to hold on."

Injuries are no longer a problem for the Blue Devils, but Roof said he's still not seeing the sharp, precise play that he wants. He stressed fundamentals in practice this week, telling his players that they had to execute better.

Roof especially wants sharper play from the offense the rest of the season, and Cedric Dargan should help the running game. Dargan returned last week for Duke's 24-7 loss at Georgia Tech, playing for the first time since Sept. 4. He had 20 carries and was sore afterward, but Roof expects him to help an offense that struggles to find consistency.

Breakdowns continue to hamper Duke, and little problems lead to setbacks. Offensive tackle Jim Moravchik was called for two false starts at Georgia Tech on plays that he said typified the team's trouble with concentration.

"I think we need to just focus," Moravchik said. "There are some times in the games where we seem to lose focus. Maybe it's the injuries. I can't speculate. It seems like there's always one mistake on offense, a missed block or a dropped ball. One guy messes up on every play.

"I don't know where (our focus) goes. It's not like we're looking at the TV or looking at the JumboTron or at the cheerleaders. It's just a mental lapse."

The Cavaliers (5-1, 2-1) could be in a nasty mood today after last week's 36-3 loss against the Seminoles. The loss knocked the Cavaliers out of the top 10 in the national rankings and damaged their chances of winning the ACC title. Kitchen said that many of the Blue Devils were shocked by the outcome because they consider the Cavaliers a top-notch team.

Guard Elton Brown of Virginia, said that the loss to Florida State was shocking, but that it could prove useful for the last half of the season and for the three consecutive road games that will close Virginia's schedule.

"We hadn't lost to that point so, (the decision) kind of brings it back to reality for us, what it feels like to lose," Brown said. "Personally, I don't want to feel it again. I know the mindset I'm taking and our team is taking. We don't want that taste in our mouth anymore."

Tight end Heath Miller said that Virginia won't be caught off guard by Duke - which hasn't defeated Virginia in Durham since 1998 - and will be ready at the start.

"You learn you have to be prepared and play your best every weekend or you'll be embarrassed like we were last Saturday," Miller said. "We didn't play as well as we wanted, and Florida State took it to us."