Terps trample Cavs
Maryland racks up 570 yards and 6 touchdowns against Virginia
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
October 2, 2005

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – For the first time all season, Maryland protected its house.

And it came at the expense of Virginia’s perfect season on a sunny afternoon in which Ahmad Brooks made his unexpected return as a starting outside linebacker.

Maryland (3-2, 2-1 ACC) won its first home game of the season in come-from-behind fashion as they scored

21 points in the fourth quarter and walked away from homecoming at Byrd Stadium with a 45-33 victory over the

19th-ranked Cavaliers (3-1, 1-1).

The Terrapins used a balanced attack - passing for 320 and running for 250 yards - and torched Virginia’s defense for 33 first downs and six touchdowns on their way to a third straight home win over the Cavaliers.

UVa quarterback Marques Hagans, who passed for

270 yards (17-for-35) and scored two rushing touchdowns, kept his team in the game for 45 minutes. Unfortunately, they played 60.

“We didn’t score enough,” said Virginia coach Al Groh. “We gave up too much [on defense], but we didn’t score enough. We didn’t do what we had to do.

“The promise of this team is in the power of the team, not the individual. It’s important that the team remain together and not become fragmented internally or externally as a result of a game like this.”

As the fourth quarter began, Brooks watched helplessly from the sidelines with fellow should-be starters left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson (knee) and center Brian Barthelmes (ankle) as Maryland, which trailed 26-24, stole the momentum and the game.

Maryland scored on a

14-yard TD run by Lance Ball on the first play of the fourth quarter. The scoring scamper was the first of two in the game for Ball, who entered averaging 32.2 rushing yards per game, but rushed for a career-best 163 yards on 17 carries.

Trailing 31-26, UVa appeared on the move for an equalizing score as they moved the ball into Maryland territory on the first two carries of the game by redshirt freshman Cedric Peerman. The drive stalled after Hagans was sacked for one of seven times on second down and threw an incompletion on third down.

UVa punted for the first time since the first quarter but the ball was downed at the Maryland 6 and back-to-back rushing attempts by Keon Lattimore netted the Terrapins just three total yards.

Facing a third-and-7 at his own 9, Maryland QB Sam Hollenbach threw a high, floating pass down the home sidelines but before the ball got near its target, UVa cornerback Marcus Hamilton was flagged for pass interference after his feet and those of Maryland receiver Jo Jo Walker became tangled.

Groh, who was visibly upset with the ruling, argued with officials to no avail. Television replays showed that the pass would have been tough to chase down.

“My perspective on it was that it was an uncatchable ball,” Groh said. “Had it been ruled as such, then we would have had the ball and not only would we have had the ball, obviously the other team wouldn’t have had the ball.

“Obviously, we are all entitled to our own opinion.”

Hamilton said he felt it was apparent that it was incidental contact.

“I didn’t think he had me by so much as to where I needed to purposely grab him and interfere with a touchdown. Not at all,” Hamilton said.

Instead of being forced to punt, Maryland kept the ball and went on to score another touchdown six plays later. This time, Ball raced in untouched from 35 yards out with 8:44 remaining on a play that the back called the “Gut-B option.”

On its next possession, Hagans magically moved Virginia down the field. He passed for 64 yards, including a 59-yard strike to Fontel Mines, and rushed for 18 yards, one of which was a 3-yard scamper as he rolled to his right and dove into the end zone on fourth-and-goal with 5:27 left.

Maryland sealed the win on its ensuing possession - the Terrapins marched 80 yards on just nine plays and scored the final TD of the game on a

1-yard run up the middle by Lattimore with 1:50 left.

After four unsuccessful plays for UVa and a handful of quarterback kneels for the Terrapins, the Maryland faithful spilled onto the field, the same field where Maryland lost earlier this season to Clemson and West Virginia.

“I’m so happy for our players,” Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen said. “They’ve worked so hard and we’ve gone through some ups and downs with inexperience and youth.

“This is a big win and I hope it gives our young guys some confidence. I’m hoping this will give our team the confidence to know that they can do it.”

In the first half, Maryland took a 7-0 lead on a 10-yard pass from Hollenback to Denny Melendez, who finished with nine catches for a game-high 125 yards.

Virginia scored 20 points in the second quarter, once on a touchdown run by Hagans with 14:53 left in the half, once on a 30-yard interception return by Chris Cook and twice on field goals from Connor Hughes. Maryland led 21-20 at the half.

Following the loss, Groh attempted to remain positive, something that seemed hard to do when his defense allowed 570 yards - the most allowed by a Virginia defense since they gave up 627 to Georgia Tech in 2000.

“Things aren’t always going to go perfect,” Groh said. “And we probably didn’t go into the season anticipating that we were going to have a perfect season and there were some points in each game that weren’t perfect.”

Groh also added that he hopes his team has the “resolve to come back and play better,” starting with Saturday’s game at Boston College.

And that’s exactly what the players claimed they would do.

“Right now, emotions are a little high, but after a couple hours, it’s just something that you have to let go,” said UVa offensive tackle Brad Butler, who played primarily at left tackle for Ferguson. “We have to learn from it on Monday when we watch film and be ready to go next week. That’s a big thing we have to learn in college.

“If we hold on to things and let it get to us, it will affect us again next week. We just have to learn from this and be ready to go next Saturday.”

 

Cavs' defense shredded by simple attack
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
October 2, 2005

COLLEGE PARK, Md.- Big Ralph Friedgen is known as much for his offensive game plans as he is his oversized belly.
Stories abound about the Maryland coach locking himself away in his office, a vast laboratory of football knowledge with stacks of game tapes and schemes dating back to his days with Bobby Ross.
But the Fridge didn’t have to go fancy on Virginia in the Terrapins’ 45-33 pasting of the 19th-ranked Cavaliers on Saturday. It was basic bare knuckles football.
All the Terps required was two running plays and an unsophisticated passing plan to roll up a staggering 570 yards of total offense on a Virginia defense that was ranked 18th nationally.
Statistics, schmistics.
The Cavaliers were exposed as frauds on the defensive side of the ball. All the fears about inexperienced players dotting the UVa defensive lineup finally surfaced as the Terps piled up the most yards on a Wahoo team in five years.

Poor timing
It wasn’t a good time for Virginia to lay an egg as a bevy of Southern bowl scouts, festooned in green blazers, watched in amazement as the Cavs couldn’t do diddly on defense.
Every time UVa’s Marques Hagans-led offense put up any kind of score, the black-jerseyed Marylanders answered faster than a Renee Zellweger marriage. Trouble was, while Virginia was settling for field goals, the Terps were celebrating touchdowns.
Hagans, who passed for a career-high 270 yards and rushed for 82 (minus 27 in an alarming seven sacks behind a patchwork offensive line), did his best to keep the Cavaliers in the game. Unfortunately, tackling and pass coverage aren’t listed under his job description.
Maryland wasn’t exactly considered an offensive juggernaut coming into Saturday’s homecoming. The Terps were ninth in the league in rushing, fifth in passing and seventh in scoring.
Quarterback Sam Hollenbach, who was ranked third in the ACC in passing, looked like Johnny Unitas as he passed for 320 yards and two scores. He shook off two early interceptions, one that handed the Cavs a TD, and cut Virginia’s young secondary to ribbons with play-action passes.

Terps run wild
But the most embarrassing aspect of Virginia’s bubble-bursting loss was its ineptness in stopping Maryland’s running game.
Friedgen’s game plan was as simple as well water. It was just a read option by the quarterback with a few draw plays kicked in to keep the Cavs honest.
You would have thought you had gone back in time to when Alabama’s Bear Bryant surprised No. 1 Southern Cal with a new wishbone offense and shocked the Trojans when Alabama unveiled its wishbone offense against No. 1 Southern Cal in the Los Angeles Coliseum, stunning John McKay’s Trojans in the 1971 season opener.
Stunned USC had no idea how to stop the Tide’s option.
Virginia’s coaches may have known on Saturday, but the players were clueless as the Terps pounded out 250 yards on the ground.
Hollenbach’s role wasn’t that challenging. All he did was read whether there was daylight for his tailback between Virginia’s nose guard and defensive ends. If there was a hole, he handed off on the dive play. If the hole was clogged, a rare occurance on this day, the Terps quarterback kept it and rolled to the corner.
The Cavaliers are still trying to figure out what hit ’em.
Most of the yardage was gained in the proverbial box. Groh admittedly tried everything to stop the siege, three-man fronts, four-man fronts, and five-man fronts. The Cavs tried blitzes. They even tried different personnel, once resorting to placing 600-plus pounds of beef in the middle with nose guards Kwakou Robinson and Keenan Carter playing side-by-side.
Nothing worked.
Terp tailback Lance Ball, who more resembled a bowling ball with his 5-foot-9, 225-pound frame, did most of the damage. Ball entered the game with a mere 129 yards rushing in Maryland’s four previous games but rambled for 163 and two TDs, averaging nearly a first down (9.6 yards) for every touch.
“The read option was something we really weren’t prepared for and we should have adjusted to it,” said UVa defensive co-captain and senior defensive end Brennan Schmidt. “The read option is tough to play in our defense, but [Maryland] schemed our defense well.”
Even when the Cavs made adjustments, it didn’t seem to make any difference.
Still, Virginia (now 3-1 overall, 1-1 in the ACC) remained within striking distance with 5:27 remaining as the Cavs trailed 38-35. With Hagans’ arm and his magical feet, anything was possible.
If only the defense could have made a stop. Didn’t happen as the Terps marched methodically for the deathblow, an 80-yard TD drive that finished the job.
“We’re not making any excuses, Maryland played great,” said sophomore defensive end Chris Long. “But we need to grasp how to stop these plays because anybody can run them.”
Anybody as in next Saturday’s opponent in Beantown. Boston College coach Tom O’Brien, a strong disciple of the power running game, is already making notes. Even Saint Bobby, who has etched his name in college football history on the wings of a bold passing game, knows the old option junk that he cut his teeth on back in the day.
Meanwhile, Virginia’s assignment for the week will be as much about sticking together as toughening its run defense.
“This is what football is all about,” Schmidt said. “The high times and wins, that’s all great. But football is also about learning how to bounce back from a loss like this.”
Groh is well aware of what lies ahead.
“This is where the challenge comes in,” the head coach said. “To have the resolve to come back and play better.”
Anything less could turn Virginia’s 3-0 getaway into 3-3 in a hurry. Anything less and bouncing back is just verbage.

 

Cavalier Football Notebook
October 2, 2005

BROOKS IS BACK: It was a bit of a shock and for various reasons.
After missing the first three games of the season, Virginia linebacker Ahmad Brooks made his return to the gridiron, and not only as a starter but as an outside linebacker. He has played primarily as an inside linebacker at Virginia since his arrival three years ago.
Brooks, who was credited with two tackles, said he was happy to be back in the lineup but his return from offseason knee surgery was soured by 19th-ranked Virginia’s 45-33 loss to Maryland.
“It felt good but the results determine everything,” Brooks said. “Now, I’m not feeling so good because we have to ride back on the bus. Everybody is mad that we lost the game but that’s just something that we will have to overcome.”
When asked when the decision was made to start Brooks, Virginia coach Al Groh said he didn’t think the question was “important,” but quickly added that the determination came “later in the week when it was apparent that [Brooks] was functional.”
Brooks said his preparation for the Maryland game was in fact, the first time during the preseason that he practiced in full pads and he had to wear a wristband with plays on it as a cheatsheet to help him.
“It was my first time playing outside linebacker, this weekend, so it’s kind of hard to pick up everything in one week,” Brooks said. “Conditioning was a factor out there also.”
Brooks said he rehabbed his knee in the offseason at home, while his teammates trained in Charlottesville.
“Really, I haven’t had the training that everybody else has had for the past five or six months,” said Brooks, who played in 25 plays in the opening half. When asked how Brooks performed, Groh said “alright.”
Brooks was a tougher critic on himself saying that he didn’t have many positives plays, with the lone exception being a quarterback pressure in the second quarter. Brooks raced after Maryland quarterback Sam Hollenbach and forced him to throw an interception that was returned 30 yards for a touchdown.
“I had some pressure [on that play],” Brooks said. “I threw my hand in his face. That was all I could do. They weren’t running at me today.”
Brooks was forced to watch Maryland rally for the win from the sidelines. Prior to the fourth quarter, Brooks sprained his ankle and said he told Groh that he could not return.
“It was frustrating,” Brooks said. “It was kind of like last week [against Duke], when I was on the sidelines. You really can’t help your team on the bench. The only thing that you can do is root.”

SCORING IN BUNCHES: Virginia placekicker Connor Hughes scored 15 points against the Terrapins. He kicked four field goals (from 43, 39, 29 and 36 yards out) and three extra points.
Hughes, a senior, is now tied with former Virginia placekicker Rafael Garcia with 272 career points. Former Cavalier legend Eugene Mayer holds the all-time record with 293 points, set from 1912 to 1915.
The 43-yard field goal by Hughes was his longest kick of the season.

DOING IT THE HARD WAY: Maryland tight end Vernon Davis had a 47-yard touchdown called back by an instant replay reversal in the second quarter. The junior got the last laugh as he scored later in the drive on a 24-yard touchdown reception.
Davis, a junior, finished with four receptions for 59 yards and has 411 receiving yards now on the season.

ON THE RUN: Maryland ran at will against the Cavaliers, finishing with 250 yards on 46 carries.
“A great majority of the runs came off of about two or three different plays and we tried four or five solutions to them,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “In the long run, no matter what the call or the adjustment was, too many guys got blocked. You’ve got to beat blocks. If you don’t beat blocks, you are going to give up some yardage.”
Individually, sophomore Lance Ball paced Maryland with a career-day, turning 17 carries into a career-high 163 yards. It marked the first time that Ball rushed for over 100 yards in a game.
Ball’s rushing total was the most for a Terp tailback since Bruce Perry rushed for 237 yards against Wake Forest on Nov. 29, 2003.

TAKE IT TO THE HOUSE: True freshman Chris Cook made history in the second quarter. Cook picked off a pass (his first as a Cavalier) from Terp QB Sam Hollenbach and raced 30 yards for a touchdown.
It had been 26 games since a Virginia player returned an interception for a touchdown. The last player to do so? Current Cavalier Tony Franklin picked off a pass against Western Michigan on Sept. 13, 2003 and raced 45 yards for a touchdown.
Interestingly enough, Franklin’s interception return for a score actually came after former Cavalier Almondo “Muffin” Curry took a 23-yard interception return in for six points.
The interception was the first of Cook’s career.

EXTRA POINTS: Virginia’s travel roster included four quarterbacks - Marques Hagans, Christian Olsen, Kevin McCabe and John Phillips, who serves as the holder on extra points and field goals. … Defensive lineman Ron Darden carried the flag out of the locker room for Virginia, but offensive lineman D’Brickashaw Ferguson spent the day holding the flag in street clothes. … Among the attendees at Saturday’s game was former Albemarle High and Maryland placekicker Nick Novak. During the second quarter, Novak was displayed on TerpVISION, which drew a loud ovation. … UVa TE Jonathan Stupar made the longest reception of his career - a 22-yard catch - in the first quarter, only to beat that feat with a 24-yard gain when he caught a pass from quarterback Marques Hagans in the third quarter. … UVa sophomore Nate Lyles picked off his second pass of the season. … Sophomore Ian Yates-Cunningham played at left guard for UVa in the second quarter. It marked the first time that Cunningham has played since 2003. He redshirted last year after undergoing back surgery. ... UVa senior Wali Lundy, who missed the Cavs’ game at Syracuse (Sept. 17), struggled for the second straight week. Lundy started against Maryland but managed just 18 yards on five carries. He eventually was replaced by junior Michael Johnson (10 carries for 46 yards). ... Maryland wore black jerseys for the first time under five-year coach Ralph Friedgen.

 

Terps shell Cavs' defense
Maryland rolls up 570 yards of total offense and hands Virginia its first loss of 2005.
Doug Doughty
The Roanoke Times

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Add another reel to Al Groh's collection of Byrd Stadium horror flicks.

Maryland didn't just beat Virginia, a 312-point favorite Saturday. The Terrapins unmasked their unbeaten visitors as Top-25 imposters, 45-33

It was Groh's third visit to Byrd Stadium as Virginia coach and his third loss -- and this one was hauntingly familiar to the second.

In 2003, unheralded Maryland running back Josh Allen rushed for 257 yards in a 27-17 Terrapins' victory. This time, it was sophomore Lance Ball, listed as a third-teamer in Maryland's preseason media guide.

Ball, who had rushed for a total of 129 yards in Maryland's first four games, carried 17 times for 163 yards and two touchdowns as the Terrapins (3-2 overall, 2-1 ACC) rushed for 250 yards against a UVa defense that previously was yielding 91 yards per game.

In addition, Maryland quarterback Sam Hollenbach passed for 320 yards and the Terrapins' 570 yards in total offense was the highest against UVa (3-1, 1-1) during the five-year Groh era.

"A great majority of the runs came off of about two or three different plays and we tried four or five solutions to them," said Groh, whose team had been ranked 19th. "In the long run, no matter what the call or the adjustment was, too many guys got blocked."

Groh may have thought he had a secret weapon in junior linebacker Ahmad Brooks, who made his first appearance of the season. But Brooks was credited with only two assisted tackles and eventually left the game with a sprained ankle.

Groh had advised the media that "when he's [Brooks] ready to play, we're going to tell everybody," but there was no announcement before Brooks ran on the field as a starter in place of injured outside linebacker Jermaine Dias.

Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen also had a surprise for his players and a homecoming crowd of 52,656. When his red-clad players returned to their locker room after pregame warmups, they found black jerseys in their lockers.

"When they came in from warming up and they saw the black jerseys hanging in their lockers, they went nuts," Friedgen said. "I secretly bought those this year and I thought, for big occasions, we'd do something different.

"I'll do anything to try to get these kids to play well and it worked out today, [but] I don't think the jerseys did it, I think the players did."

Besides, any motivational gimmicks had been forgotten by the fourth quarter, when Maryland scored 21 points in erasing a 26-24 Virginia lead.

The Terrapins took the lead, 31-26, on a 14-yard Ball touchdown run with 14:55 left and Ball broke the game open when he raced 35 yards for another score with 8:44 left.

That capped an eight-play, 94-yard drive that was kept alive when UVa cornerback Marcus Hamilton was called for interference with Maryland facing a third-and-7 from its own 9-yard line.

Hamilton was running down the left sideline with Maryland receiver Jo Jo Walker when their feet became tangled and Hamilton stumbled, landing on Walker's ankle as Hollenbach's pass whizzed overhead.

"I wasn't trying to interfere with him," Hamilton said. "I wouldn't do that. What sense would that make?"

Virginia had another chance to force Maryland to punt, but Hollenbach found Danny Melendez for 15 yards on third-and-10 from midfield.

Groh didn't argue that Hamilton interfered with Walker.

"My perspective on it was that it was an uncatchable ball," Groh said. "Had it been ruled as such, we would have had the ball. I think we're all entitled to our own opinion."

Virginia cut the deficit to 38-33 with quarterback Marques Hagans' second touchdown run of the game and, with 5:27 remaining. There was plenty of time for another UVa drive if the Cavaliers could get a defensive stop.

That didn't happen.

With everybody in the stadium knowing Maryland would run the ball, Walker took an option pitch from Hollenbach and went 12 yards on the Terps' first play from scrimmage. Then Ball went 15 yards on the second play.

Even when a false start put Maryland in a first-and-15 situation, the Terps picked up a third first down on a 20-yard pass from Hollenbach to Walker on third-and-4.

Hagans had 325 yards in total offense (55 rushing, 270 passing) on a day when the Cavaliers had 406 as a team.

Moreover, UVa did not have a turnover and got a defensive touchdown on a 29-yard interception return by true freshman Chris Cook.

"We gave up too much," Groh said. "but we didn't score enough. That's our mentality. We didn't do what we had to do."

 

'Rusty' linebacker can't rescue Cavs
Ahmad Brooks makes two assisted tackles in his first game back since offseason knee surgery.
By Jim Reedy
381-1673
The Roanoke Times

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The clock at Byrd Stadium showed 47 minutes till kickoff when Ahmad Brooks jogged onto the field for his first game in 10 long months.

He stretched with his Virginia teammates. He slapped hands with Kai Parham and Mark Miller and ran through warm-up drills with his fellow linebackers.

He was the conquering hero, ready to storm back from offseason knee surgery and three games on the sideline. His frustration would pour out over Maryland's quarterbacks and running backs alike.

Or maybe not.

As it turned out, UVa coach Al Groh was right when he warned the public not to expect Brooks to ride to the Cavaliers' rescue with the type of performance that last season made him an all-American and a Butkus Award finalist.

The 6-foot-4 junior didn't have much of an impact in Virginia's 45-33 loss, save for one strong pass rush that helped force the interception Chris Cook returned for a touchdown.

He played only 36 of the Cavaliers' 80 defensive snaps, splitting time with freshman Aaron Clark, and made just two assisted tackles before sitting out Maryland's final two drives because of a minor ankle injury.

"I felt rusty," Brooks said, noting the awkwardness of the precautionary brace on his right knee and the effects of his long layoff from full-time conditioning drills.

Groh said he expected as much.

"He did all right," Groh said. "While he was healed, it doesn't really mean he was ready to get back on his game."

As if the layoff didn't present enough of an obstacle, Brooks also had to learn a new position.

An inside linebacker his first two seasons, he shifted to the outside this week in the absence of injured starter Jermaine Dias (knee).

Brooks crammed with Groh and outside linebackers coach Danny Rocco during the week, focusing on a handful of basic functions of the position:

Rush the quarterback. Set the edge on running plays. Know when and where to drop into pass coverage. Keep Vernon Davis, Maryland's dangerous tight end, from getting a clean release from the line of scrimmage.

During the game, Brooks wore on his left wrist the type of cheat sheet often worn by quarterbacks.

"It's kind of hard for me to just pick up everything in one week," he concluded.

Equally frustrating was the discovery that playing on the outside meant being essentially out of the play if it went to the other side of the field. For much of the game, Brooks said, the Terrapins seemed to be avoiding him.

By the end, he was wholly powerless to stop them, watching quietly from the sideline as Maryland methodically churned through the game-clinching drives, piling up yardage like no Virginia opponent in five years.

Can Brooks do more to prevent such a scenario from happening again? He hopes so.

The knee feels good, he said. The ankle shouldn't be a major problem.

"We have the utmost confidence in him," defensive end Brennan Schmidt said. "I know he's going to bounce back."

 

Maryland throws Cavaliers' defense a change-up
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- It has been nearly a quarter of a century since Charlie Taaffe was Virginia's quarterbacks coach and there is a reason behind his longevity.

Taaffe, in his fifth season as Maryland's offensive coordinator, hasn't lost his fondness for X's and O's.

It would be easy to say that Maryland abused Al Groh's beloved 3-4 defense Saturday in a 45-33 win over the Cavaliers, but Taaffe knows better than that.

"They played the same defense last year and stuffed us," said Taaffe, referring to UVa's 16-0 victory in Charlottesville, Va.

No way did Taaffe think that Maryland would ring up 570 yards Saturday.

"Not in my wildest dreams," said Taaffe, whose Terp offense was averaging 360.8 yards before Saturday and had not reached 350 in its previous three games.

This time, Maryland quarterback Sam Hollenbach passed for 320 yards and the Terrapins, whose top rusher was ranked 13th in the ACC, ran for 250.

"We've struggled all season with any consistency in the running game," Taaffe said. "One thing we decided after studying [Virginia's] tape was that we were going to run the ball out of the shotgun and more traditional passing sets.

"Against three wide receivers or four wide receivers, they've been playing a lot of two-deep zone. With two-back sets, they're going to load up the box with eight guys to stop the run while playing man-on-man outside."

Maryland has tried to run the ball out of the shotgun before, but never with as much success as it did Saturday.

"Sometimes, people will play three-deep coverage, which means they got an extra guy in 'the box,' even in the one-back set," Taaffe said. "Then, you're one-on-one and you've got to throw it, but Virginia plays cover 2.

"Then, they've got four guys on the wide receivers. They've got to take a linebacker out of the box to cover up the slot and now the numbers are six-on-six. To our guys' credit, they executed very well."

Mounting toll

On a day when All-ACC linebacker Ahmad Brooks made his season debut, the Cavaliers were without three players who had started one week earlier against Duke -- preseason All-America offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, center Brian Barthelmes and outside linebacker Jermaine Dias.

Brooks, an inside linebacker for the past two seasons, replaced Dias, who did not make the trip. Ferguson made the trip but did not dress and Barthelmes dressed but did not play. It ended a streak of 42 consecutive starts for Ferguson, who had started every game of his UVa career.

First-time starters included sophomore center Jordy Lipsey and sophomore offensive tackle Eddie Pinigis, who took over on the right side after regular right tackle Brad Butler took over Ferguson's spot on the left. Pinigis is a graduate of Jefferson Forest High School.

Sophomore Ian-Yates Cunningham and true freshman Eugene Monroe also took turns at left guard and left tackle, respectively. It was the first action since the 2003 season for Cunningham, redshirted in 2004 following back surgery, while Monroe had been a guard until this week.

"We're not even talking about [Ferguson and Barthelmes]," Groh said. "They weren't in the game, so they're not an issue. Maybe they won't be back all year. Who knows?"

n Aaron Clark from Rockbridge County saw considerable playing time in Dias' absence and had three tackles, one unassisted.

Next week

The Cavaliers (3-1, 1-1 ACC) visit Boston College (4-1, 1-1) at 1 p.m. It will be the third meeting between Virginia and the Eagles, new members of the ACC who defeated visiting Ball State 38-0 on Saturday. BC won both earlier games with UVa -- in 1964 and 1994, when the Eagles prevailed 31-13 in the Carquest Bowl in Miami.

 

Virginia's defense collapses
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 2, 2005

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Virginia’s defensive players filed out of the locker room one-by-one, a bit confused, a bit stunned and a bit embarrassed after watching Maryland rack up 570 yards of total offense at Byrd Stadium in a 45-33 win on Saturday.

Most didn’t think they’d ever see an opponent have their way with them like the Terrapins did.

“Anything’s possible if you play badly like that,” UVa defensive end Chris Long said.

It was hard to find a player for the Terrapins (3-2, 2-1 ACC) who didn’t have a career day on Saturday. Sophomore tailback Lance Ball, who had rushed for 130 yards in his career prior to Saturday, ran for 163 yards on 17 carries, scoring twice, part of a 250-yard Maryland rushing attack.

Quarterback Sam Hollenbach completed 25 of 33 passes for a career-high 320 yards and two touchdowns. Wide receiver Danny Melendez was his favorite target, catching nine balls for 125 yards, both career highs.

It was a reality check for 19th-ranked Virginia (3-1, 1-1), which feasted on a weak early season schedule and entered the game holding opponents to 274.7 yards per game, the 18th lowest total in the nation. Maryland more than doubled that on Saturday, the most yards a Cavaliers defense surrendered since 2000 when Georgia Tech gained 627 yards.

“Honestly, they just made a lot of big plays,” UVa linebacker Kai Parham. “Ultimately, that’s what hurt us. We didn’t really play that good and they played a heck of a game.”

The Cavaliers simply couldn’t stop the Terrapins when they needed to. Maryland moved the ball 80 yards or more on three straight second-half possessions, all of which culminated with touchdowns in a 21-point fourth quarter.

Even the presence of preseason UVa All-American linebacker Ahmad Brooks, who made his first start of the season at outside linebacker after offseason knee surgery, couldn’t slow what was a schematically sound Maryland attack.

The Terrapins kept Virginia off-balance with essentially two running plays out of the shotgun - an inside draw play to Ball and an outside option involving Hollenbach and wide receiver Jo Jo Walker.

“They did more of certain things and less of other things,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “That’s what good teams do. The don’t use smoke and mirrors.”

After Connor Hughes gave Virginia a 26-24 lead with 1:44 left in the third quarter with his fourth field goal of the afternoon, Maryland went on the offensive. The Terrapins marched 80 yards in six plays, taking a 31-26 lead after Ball took a draw play 14 yards up the middle for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The Terrapins were backed into a corner on their next drive after UVa punter Chris Gould pinned them at their own 6-yard line, but on third-and-7, the Terps were bailed out by a pass interference call against Marcus Hamilton, who tripped wide receiver Derrick Fenner on a deep ball.

“My perspective on it was that it was an uncatchable ball,” Groh said.

“I didn’t intentionally interfere,” Hamilton said. “I wouldn’t do that. That’s not football.”

Given a fresh set of downs, Maryland kept marching. Hollenbach completed a third-and-10 pass to Melendez to get the ball to the Virginia 35 before Ball broke loose up the middle on the same draw play for a TD run to make it 38-26.

“They did a great job of keep pressing us and pressing us until we cracked,” UVa defensive end Brennan Schmidt said.

The Cavaliers scored quickly to make it 38-33. Marques Hagans, who turned in another Herculean effort with 270 passing yards and 55 rushing yards, scored on a 3-yard run, his second of the day, after completing a 59-yard pass to Fontel Mines.

But with the Virginia offense primed to get another chance, the defense couldn’t get off the field. Melendez kept the chains moving with two third-down conversions on Maryland’s next drive. The second catch was a 24-yarder on third-and-8 after UVa cornerback Chris Cook slipped, putting the ball on the Virginia 1.

That set up a Keon Lattimore touchdown run.

“Things aren’t always going to go perfect,” Groh said. “We probably didn’t got into the season anticipating that we would have a perfect season. … Now we’ve had a game where the outcome wasn’t perfect. So this is where the challenge comes - with the resolve to come back and play better.”

 

The defense rests in U.Va.'s case
Maryland racks up 570 yards in handing Virginia its first defeat
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Oct 2, 2005
MARYLAND 45 VIRGINIA 33

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- The video crew won't need much tape to string together the highlights of Virginia's defensive effort yesterday at Byrd Stadium.

The Cavaliers came up with two turnovers against ACC rival Maryland, including an interception that cornerback Chris Cook returned for a touchdown early in the second quarter.

Don't bother looking for additional SportsCenter-worthy plays from U.Va.'s defense. Maryland totaled 570 yards and whipped 19th-ranked Virginia 45-33 before an announced crowd of 52,656. Not since allowing 627 against Georgia Tech in 2000 had the Cavaliers surrendered so many yards. The last team to score so many points against Virginia was N.C. State, in a 51-37 win in 2003.

Even the return of junior Ahmad Brooks -- who in his 2005 debut started at outside linebacker, instead of his customary spot inside -- didn't help a U.Va. defense alternately overwhelmed and confused by the Terrapins' offense. Maryland punted only once in the final 56 minutes and manhandled Virginia's defenders at the line of scrimmage.

"There were about two or three plays that we had difficulties with today," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "We tried four or five different solu- tions to them, as early as the middle of the second quarter. But in the long run they did a very good job of executing them. The ultimate solution to everything on defense is, you've got to beat blocks. If you don't beat blocks, you're going to give up yards."

Who had career days for the Terrapins (1-1, 3-2)? Who didn't?

Sophomore tailback Lance Ball ran 17 times for 163 yards -- his first game over 100 -- and scored on runs of 14 and 35 yards in the final quarter. Four Terps had at least 55 yards receiving, led by wideout Danny Melendez (nine catches, 125 yards, one touchdown). Junior quarterback Sam Hollenbach settled down after throwing his first-half picks and finished 25 of 33 passing for 320 yards and two TDs. U.Va. (1-1, 3-1) sacked him only once.

"Our coaching staff put us in position to make big plays," Hollenbach said.

Virginia, down 21-20 at halftime, rallied to take a 26-24 lead on senior Connor Hughes' fourth field goal, a 36-yarder with 1:44 left in the third period. The Terps answered with a drive that ended with Ball's first TD run, and Dan Ennis' extra point made it 31-26.

The Cavaliers went three and out on their next series, but Chris Gould pinned Maryland at its 4 with an excellent punt. Virginia seemed poised to get the ball back in good field position, only to self-destruct. On third and 7 from the Terps' 8, Hollenbach heaved a long pass toward wideout Jo Jo Walker, running a streak route along the right sideline. The pass fell incomplete, but U.Va. cornerback Marcus Hamilton's feet got tangled with those of Walker on the play. Hamilton was called for interference, giving Maryland a first down at its 23.

"My perspective on it was it was an uncatchable ball," Groh said, which would have meant no penalty. The officials disagreed, and the Terrapins continued pulverizing U.Va.'s front seven. On first down from the Cavaliers' 35, Ball raced untouched up the middle for a touchdown that made it 38-26 with 8:44 left.

As poorly as its defense played for the final three quarters, Virginia still might have pulled out an improbable victory. After Ball's second TD, senior quarterback Marques Hagans led the Cavaliers on another scoring drive. Highlights included Hagans' 11-yard scramble for a first down, his 59-yard completion to junior wideout Fontel Mintes on a broken play and, finally, his 3-yard TD run on fourth and goal.

Hughes' PAT pulled Virginia to 38-33 with 5:27. When the Cavaliers' defense desperately needed to stop the Terrapins, however, it failed repeatedly to do so. On third and 4 from U.Va.'s 47, Hollenbach completed a 20-yard pass to Melendez along the visitors' sideline. Moments later, on third and 8 from the 25, Hollenbach and Melendez hooked up again, this time on a 24-yard completino. Keon Lattimore then ran over from the 1 with 1:50 left to seal Maryland's third straight home victory in this series.

On an afternoon when Virginia amassed a more-than-respectable 406 yards of offense, Hagans completed 17 of 35 passes for 270 yards. He threw no interceptions but was sacked seven times. Hagans carried 17 times for 55 yards and two TDs.

"Defensively, like most teams, we struggled against Marques Hagans," Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen said.

The Cavaliers scored twice early in the second quarter to take a 14-7 lead. The second touchdown came when Cook, a true freshman, picked off an ill-advised throw by Hollenbach and raced 30 yards for a TD. The Terps' offense encountered little resistance thereafter, however, and now the Cavaliers must try to regroup before their trip next weekend to Boston College (1-1, 4-1).

"This is what football's all about," said senior defensive end Brennan Schmidt, one of U.Va.'s captains. "The high times and the wins and all that, that's great, but football's also about learning to bounce back from a loss like this. And that's what we're going to do."


 

Brooks makes quiet return to Cavaliers
Linebacker back in the fold, albeit with a large brace on his leg
Richmond Times-Dispatch Oct 2, 2005

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - U.Va. coach Al Groh promised reporters recently that he'd let everybody know when all-ACC linebacker Ahmad Brooks was ready to play this season.

No such announcement came before Virginia's game yesterday at Byrd Stadium. But when the Cavaliers' defense took the field for the first time against Maryland, there was No. 34.

"It was good to see him out there," Virginia linebacker Kai Parham said. "I'm glad he's back."

Brooks, a 6-4, 260-pound junior, led the Cavaliers in tackles in 2003 and again in '04, when he was a Butkus Award finalist. Both seasons he started at inside linebacker, alongside Parham, in Virginia's 3-4 scheme.

With starter Jermaine Dias sidelined yesterday with a knee injury, Brooks' role changed. He lined up at outside linebacker.

"They just threw me in there this week," said Brooks, who added that his coaches simplified his reponsibilities.

Before leaving with a sprained ankle in the third quarter, an injury he said wasn't serious, Brooks split time with true freshman Aaron Clark. Brooks, who had surgery on his right knee in March, played with a heavy brace. He was credited with two tackles, both unassisted.

"I felt rusty, yeah," he said.

Groh said he decided "later in the week" that Brooks would play against Maryland, "when it was apparent that he was functional."

Brooks said he's "been ready to play, but I was actually waiting to fully be healthy . . . It was my decision. Whenever I felt as though I could run and jump and take on blockers and hit people like I used to, that's when I was ready to do everything." - Jeff White

 

U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Oct 2, 2005

SHORT-HANDED: In its 45-33 loss to Maryland yesterday, 19th-ranked Virginia played without two of its best offensive linemen.

All-America candidate D'Brickashaw Ferguson, a four-year starter at left tackle, was in street clothes on the visitors' sideline at Byrd Stadium, holding the U.Va. flag. Fifth-year senior Brian Barthelmes, the Cavaliers' first-team center, dressed for the game but didn't play.

U.Va. coach Al Groh, who detests talking publicly about injuries, refused to use their absence as an excuse.

"We're not even talking about those guys," Groh said. "They weren't in the game, so they're not an issue. Maybe they won't be back all year. Who knows? This is the team we have, and this is the team we're going forward with."

Sophomore Jordy Lipsey started at center and played the whole game. Senior Brad Butler moved from his customary place at right tackle and started on the left side. Sophomore Eddie Pinigis, in his first career start, took over for Butler on the right.

Later, however, offensive line coach Ron Prince inserted true freshman Eugene Monroe at left tackle and moved Butler back to the right side. Also, sophomore Ian-Yates Cunningham made his 2005 debut, playing several series at left guard. Cunningham, a former starter, missed the 2004 season because of back problems.

STARTING OVER: Ferguson's streak of 42 consecutive starts ended yesterday. Senior defensive end Brennan Schmidt now leads U.Va. with 43 career starts. Like Ferguson, Schmidt never has played in a game for the Cavaliers in which he didn't start.

NOTHING DOING: Senior tailback Wali Lundy, who entered the season as an all-ACC candidate, is struggling to regain the form he showed before spraining his left foot early in Virginia's Sept. 3 opener.

Lundy, who sat out U.Va.'s Sept. 17 game at Syracuse, wasn't effective last weekend against Duke. He started yesterday but carried only five times for 18 yards before giving way to junior Michael Johnson.

Johnson ran 10 times for 46 yards, and redshirt freshman Cedric Peerman added 17 yards on three carries. Virginia's leading rusher was senior quarterback Marques Hagans, who ran for 55 yards and two touchdowns. Had Hagans not been sacked seven times, his rushing total would have been considerably higher.

ON TARGET: Virginia kicker Connor Hughes, 5 for 5 on field goals against Georgia Tech in 2003, was 4 for 4 yesterday. Hughes, a senior, connected from 43, 39, 29 and 36 yards. He now has 272 career points, and that ties him with former kicker Rafael Garcia for first place on U.Va.'s modern-era scoring list.

INVITING TARGETS: Sophomore tight ends Jonathan Stupar and Tom Santi played well for the Cavaliers. Stupar had three catches for 51 yards, and Santi caught one pass for 33 yards. Junior wideout Fontel Mines, a Hermitage High graduate, had two receptions for a career-best 77 yards, including a 59-yarder that set up U.Va.'s final TD.

SECONDARY CONCERNS: On an afternoon when U.Va.'s defensive backs generally struggled, youngsters Nate Lyles and Chris Cook each contributed an interception. The pick was the second of the season for Lyles, a sophomore who starts at safety. Cook, a second-team cornerback, is a true freshman. He returned his interception 30 yards for a second-quarter touchdown.

LESSON LEARNED? In the locker room, Groh stressed to his players the importance of keeping yesterday's loss in perspective.

He reminded them "that things aren't always going to go perfect," Groh said. "We probably didn't go into the season anticipating that we were going to have a perfect season. There have been some points in each game that weren't perfect, and now we've had a game that the outcome wasn't perfect. So this is where the challenge comes on, [finding] the resolve to come back and play better."

BACK IN BLACK: For the first time in five seasons under coach Ralph Friedgen, the Terrapins wore black jerseys. The new look pumped up Maryland players and fans alike.

"I secretly bought those this year, and I thought for a big occasion we'd do something different," Friedgen said. "I always like to mix our uniforms . . . The kids were begging me to wear them. I didn't tell them we were going to wear them, and they warmed up in the red jerseys. When they came in from warming up and they saw the jerseys hanging in their lockers, they went nuts."

UP NEXT: Virginia plays on the road for the second straight weekend. U.Va. (1-1, 3-1) faces the ACC's newest member, No. 21 Boston College (1-1, 4-1), at 1 p.m. Saturday in Chestnut Hill, Mass. BC, whose coach is former U.Va. assistant Tom O'Brien, blanked Ball State 38-0 yesterday. - Jeff White

 

Cavaliers' 'D' earns an F against Terps
JOHN MARKON
POINT OF VIEW Oct 2, 2005
Contact John Markon at (804) 649-6892 or jmarkon @timesdispatch.com
COLLEGE PARK, Md.

Official statistics from yesterday's game insist that University of Virginia defenders participated in 69 tackles in what would ultimately be a 45-33 loss at Maryland.

Sorry, but I'm not buying that without proof on tape. It's hard to remember more than maybe five or six. The previously undefeated, 19th-ranked Cavaliers (3-1) were ripped for 250 yards on the ground and another 320 in the air as they were exposed, at least for the time being, as an early-season, soft-schedule mirage.

"Unmasking" is usually a phenomenon associated with the last day of October rather than the first. Maryland (3-2), a team that's already lost two games this season at Byrd Stadium, didn't stop running, passing and scoring until the Cavs reached the safety of the final gun.

"We made no plays at all," admitted Virginia defensive end Chris Long. "We'll recover, but there's got to be some self-evaluation done after a result like this."

U.Va. coach Al Groh said he wanted to review video before doing too much analysis, but Groh sounded like a man who already knows what he's going to find.

"A great majority of their runs," Groh said, "came off just two or three plays. We tried four or five different solutions, but, whatever our adjustment was, too many of our guys were just getting blocked."


Virginia's greatest difficulty seemed to come with what Groh and his players called Maryland's "read option," which was explained after the game by U.Va. defensive tackle Brennan Schmidt.

"They'll set their quarterback up in the shotgun," Schmidt said, "and he'll look over the defense. Depending on his read, he'll keep the ball himself or make an inside handoff to the running back.

"We weren't really prepared for their read option and we should have adjusted to it better. . . . The QB [Sam Hollenbach] made great reads and choices today."

Or it could have been that Hollenbach was taking a test where there were no wrong answers.

Lance Ball, the Terrapins' previously anonymous sophomore tailback, had never rushed for more than 51 yards in a game. Yesterday, he was the designated runner on "read option" and cruised for a buck sixty-three on only 17 carries.

Hollenbach threw for a career-high 320 yards with a pair of touchdowns. He looked at 11 third downs and converted seven of them. One of the misses was a third-and-1 that he picked up with a fourth-down sneak. Four of the makes were third-and-9 or longer. In the third quarter, when the Cavs stopped a third-and-25, it was high-fives all around on the Virginia sideline.

Who could blame them?

"They did a good job keeping us off balance," said safety Nate Lyles.

"I don't know about that," countered linebacker Ahmad Brooks. "To me, it was more like . . . if you're running a play and the defense doesn't stop it, you just run the same play again."

Brooks, it should be noted, had yet to appear this season but viewed the Maryland game from between rather than behind the sidelines. While the Cavaliers' offensive line was missing two injured starters, the defensive front seven had few excuses.

There's a purging process that has to take place after a crash-landing such as yesterday's and most of the Virginia defenders seemed eager to get on the bus and get it underway.

"I want to get back to Charlottesville, look at these films, learn what we need to learn and put the game itself out of my mind as soon as possible," Schmidt said. "We'll bounce back . . . and we can't start too soon."

No, they can't. Groh has another road game next weekend at Boston College. In less than six days, he and his staff will need to find strategic and emotional fixes for a defensive unit that surrendered 7.2 yards per snap against Maryland.

"I don't think anyone anticipated," Groh said, "that we'd have a perfect season."

What people might be anticipating now . . . he probably doesn't want to know.
 

Dressed for success, Terps energized by black jerseys
Originally published Oct 2, 2005
Peter Schmuck

There was a point early in yesterday's 45-33 victory over 19th-ranked Virginia when the Maryland Terrapins were torn between their new, tough-looking black jerseys and that dark place inside where they wondered whether they were really good enough to compete in the new Atlantic Coast Conference.

No one would admit it, but all you had to do was look at the homecoming T-shirt on the back of Sam Hollenbach after the game and you knew where they were coming from ... though maybe not where they are going:

"Staying Alive in '05."

Now there's a confident slogan.

The Terps (3-2) came within one missed Navy tackle of starting the season 0-3 and arrived at Byrd Stadium yesterday with the ability to take the rest of this season in either of two directions.

Two futile drives and one Hollenbach interception into the first quarter, and it was anybody's guess which direction that would be. Two quick Cavaliers touchdowns at the start of the second quarter and it looked like those black jerseys were headed for an early retirement.

It was at that difficult juncture in a so-far winless home schedule that a lot of players reached down into those shirts and found something more than just the will to survive. The Terrapins scored on their next three drives and went on to run up their biggest point total since their 55-point performance against Duke last September.

This wasn't Duke. This was a ranked team with a top-20 defense, but Hollenbach had a career day and running back Lance Ball more than doubled his season rushing total with 163 yards, and the Terps made a real statement with their first home victory of the year.

"I think that is a testament to how much the mental game comes into it," Hollenbach said. "This team, we always felt like we had players who could make plays. We just weren't doing it. We made a few plays and the confidence started growing and then we just couldn't wait to get back out on the field."

Next week's game at Temple should be a gimme, bringing the Terps back to Byrd in 2 1/2 weeks for a nationally televised midweek confrontation with No. 3 Virginia Tech. Maybe it's a good thing they got the redemption out of the way with an uplifting homecoming victory yesterday, but they don't have to beat the Hokies - or win at Florida State nine days later - to remain bowl eligible.

They do, however, have to build on yesterday's terrific offensive performance to stay alive with three of their last four ACC games on the road.

"I told them Monday night that you have to win four of seven to be bowl eligible," coach Ralph Friedgen said. "Now, we've got to win three of the next six. I haven't given up on playing in Jacksonville [the site of the ACC championship game]. That's my goal."

That may not be realistic, but it would have bordered on pure fantasy if the Terps had not stepped up yesterday. Friedgen is coming off his first down year as Maryland coach after resurrecting the program with 31 wins in his first three seasons. He railed a bit at the "doomsayers" in the media when he was confronted with a couple of what-if questions after the uplifting victory, but he knew coming in that Virginia was going to be the litmus for the rest of 2005.

Maybe that's why he brought the week of preparation to an emotional climax with the change in uniform color, which might seem like an insignificant thing until you talk to the players about it.

"It definitely turned the energy level up a notch," Hollenbach said.

The Fridge insisted that the dynamic offensive resurgence had nothing to do with the black jerseys, though the players were very excited to see them hanging in their lockers before the game.

"I was planning on breaking them out at West Virginia, but word got out," Friedgen said. "They've been begging me for them. I didn't even tell them that we had them, but they started seeing them in the bookstore and they figured it out.

"When the kids came in from warmups, they went nuts. I told them jerseys don't win football games ... but if you lose this game, you'll never wear them again."

 

These Roomies Stay Connected
By Mike Wise
Sunday, October 2, 2005; Page E16

Imagine the depressing conversation at a College Park campus apartment last fall, the one shared at University Commons by Sam Hollenbach and Danny Melendez.

Hollenbach was fourth string on the Maryland quarterback depth chart, meaning he had a better shot at calling signals for an intramural flag-football team than the Terrapins. Melendez, the wideout who played in only five games before a hamstring injury ruined his season, also was about to hit his nadir.

He was hurt, the staff wasn't sure he wanted to block and Melendez was quickly falling out of favor with Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen. Two Pennsylvania kids were essentially put in the Fridge's crisper, where they wilted from neglect and seriously considered transferring.

"Last year, neither one of us knew where we were going to be at," Hollenbach said. "There was a time when both of us were thinking about leaving."

Hollenbach shrugged at the memory, letting it trickle away like Maryland's futility against Virginia last season. He spoke with gee-whiz graciousness and candor after throwing for 320 yards and two touchdowns. Melendez caught nine of Hollenbach's 25 completions, piling up 125 yards and one touchdown. The passing game opened up the running game and vice versa. Everybody but the redshirt freshmen had career days in a convincing 45-33 homecoming upset of 19th-ranked Virginia, sending the Cavaliers and their perpetually fidgety coach, Al Groh, back to the drawing board in search of new ways to avoid a return trip to Boise, Idaho, in late December.

Groh recently signed a five-year contract extension for $1.7 million per season. That's Frank Beamer money to play in the Smurf Turf Bowl.

Virginia's inability to control the line of scrimmage aside, Maryland's victory may have said much more about the Terps than the Cavaliers.

It was not merely the 570 yards of total offense piled up, nor the six touchdowns that made Friedgen feel like he was benefiting from the same schemes that pulverized Maryland's competition in his first three seasons. It was how those yards were piled up.

Pinpoint accuracy by Hollenbach, whose two interceptions made him more determined than gun-shy. Money, web-tipped catches by Melendez, Jo Jo Walker, Vernon Davis and Derrick Fenner. There was a big-play execution almost unseen in College Park for two years.

Leading 31-26 with 12 minutes 49 seconds left, the Terps embarked on an eight-play, 94-yard drive. Lance Ball crushed through the line and rumbled 35 yards to make it awfully hard for Virginia to come back. The big play? Hollenbach's 15-yard pass to Melendez on third and 10 from midfield, a slant in which Melendez was hit and kept going.

The roomies hooked up again in the final four minutes when Hollenbach dropped back on third and four from the Virginia 47-yard line and rifled it to Melendez for 20 yards, a deep square-out pattern on the left side that killed all hope for Groh's team.

The evolution of a fourth-string afterthought to a rifle-armed starter able to knock off a top 20 program is fairly impressive. From Friedgen's perspective, the best thing about Hollenbach's development is that he understands he still has a long way to go.

The coach called the 6-foot-5, 218-pound junior into his office Friday, asking the kid where he thought Maryland's offense ranked in the 12-team ACC. "I don't know, lower half," Hollenbach replied.

"No," Friedgen said. "Fourth."

Then the coach asked Hollenbach where he believed he ranked in passing efficiency. Hollenbach had no clue.

"You're number one in passing efficiency in the ACC," Friedgen said.

"I am?"

Relating the story yesterday at the postgame news conference, the message behind the anecdote was clear: Friedgen was building Hollenbach up, making him believe in himself as much as Friedgen already believed in him.

Hollenbach spoke about his first touchdown, a pretty play to Melendez that involved a last-ditch slant in the back of the end zone. He said his roommate was the fourth read on the play, meaning he looked off three other receivers before finding the right one after Virginia's zone coverage had stifled everything else.

"I don't think we've ever hit that in practice," Hollenbach said.

This was large for Maryland for at least a couple of reasons. First, the Terps are now within three victories of being bowl eligible, which would be a huge accomplishment for Friedgen's corps of freshmen and sophomores. Second, Friedgen and Groh do not exchange recipes; they go toe-to-toe for incoming freshmen and don't appear to like each other all that much.

Davis, Maryland's junior tight end from Dunbar High School, remembered the fierce struggle for his services a few years ago. How Groh "asked if it was possible to go to church with my grandmother." There was one story about Davis's grandmother shooing away a Virginia assistant who wanted to drive her to Sunday services, but Davis could not remember that.

"They had a nice bond," Davis said. "It went beyond just trying to get me to go to school there. When I told Ron Prince [Virginia's offensive coordinator] I wasn't interested, he was crying. They were really hurt."

The Virginia staff bore no hard feelings yesterday. They told Davis how proud they were of his career at Maryland, which won a game yesterday as much as another recruiting war.

 

Ball Carries Terps to Upset of No. 19 Cavaliers
Maryland 45, No. 19 Cavs 33
By Dan Steinberg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 2, 2005; Page E01

The Maryland offense hadn't been right for more than a year, and the identity crisis continued early yesterday afternoon. The Terps threw the ball three straight times on their first possession against No. 19 Virginia, failing to get a first down. They lost two turnovers in little more than a quarter. And they quite literally didn't look like themselves, taking the field in black jerseys that had never been used during Coach Ralph Friedgen's tenure.

By the fourth quarter, though, the Terps had popped the cork on an older vintage: 2003, perhaps, or maybe even 2001. Running backs glided through the Cavaliers' defense with ease, luxuriating in wide-open spaces. Third downs flowed naturally into first downs, and trips to the end zone lost their infuriating detours. Lights flashed on the scoreboard, the marching band played again and again, and when the 45-33 victory was completed, there were mobs of joyous fans standing between the Terps and their locker room.

"It felt," Friedgen said, "like old times."

In Friedgen's first three seasons, Maryland scored 30 or more points 24 times in 39 games; yesterday, the Terps did it for the first time in 12 games. With its second straight win, and with struggling Temple on deck, Maryland (3-2, 2-1 ACC) suddenly moved into position to contend for a postseason bowl and possibly more.

Virginia (3-1, 1-1), meantime, must travel to No. 21 Boston College next week and faces No. 6 Florida State a week later. The Cavaliers were without injured starting offensive linemen D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Brian Barthelmes, but for the first time this year they had the services of all-ACC linebacker Ahmad Brooks, who left the game after spraining his ankle in the third quarter. But even with Brooks on the field, Virginia had no answer.

After quarterback Sam Hollenbach threw his second interception early in the second quarter -- which Virginia's Chris Cook returned 30 yards for a touchdown -- the Terps' offense turned invincible. Of their next seven meaningful possessions, five resulted in touchdowns, and a sixth yielded a field goal.

The Terps' 45 points -- which included 21 in the fourth quarter alone -- were their most since a romp at Duke last September. Ditto for their 250 rushing yards. And their 33 first downs. And their 570 yards of offense, the most Virginia had given up since 2000.

"You just get this feeling, you don't know what it is," Maryland guard Donnie Woods said. "Every time you touch the ball, you know you can drive down the field."

Which is why the Terps took the field for the game's most important drive looking not to play it safe, but to continue their onslaught. Lance Ball's first career touchdown had given Maryland a 31-26 lead early in the fourth quarter and the defense held; a 48-yard punt then trapped the Terps at their own 6-yard line. And the ensuing 94-yard trek erased virtually every offensive problem that had plagued Maryland in its first three games.

Penalty flags had previously b een signals of a Maryland miscue, but here was receiver Jo Jo Walker speeding down the sideline underneath a floating pass, Virginia's Marcus Hamilton diving at his feet with the ball still in flight, a yellow hanky delivering the Terps from the shadow of their end zone.

Third downs had previously been an occasion for Maryland fans to abandon all hope, and the Terps' offense soon faced another: third and 10 from the 50-yard line. But here was Hollenbach sending a short pass to Danny Melendez, who broke a tackle and scurried 15 yards to keep the drive alive. The Terps entered the game with a 23 percent third-down conversion rate, 112th in the nation; yesterday, they converted 7 of 11 chances.

The handoff had previously been a hit-or-miss endeavor. But here was Ball on the very next play, slicing through the middle of the defense as he had all day, and his 35-yard touchdown run -- Maryland's longest run of the year -- gave the Terps their first double-digit lead.

"We came out in the second half saying we could run it on these guys, throw it on these guys, they can't stop us," Ball said. "I believe that we wanted it more."

The final box score was thus littered with career highs. Ball had the best rushing performance of his career by halftime and finished with 163 yards, the most by a Maryland back since 2003. Melendez had nine caches for 125 yards, both career highs. Hollenbach threw for 320 yards -- another career high -- and completed 17 of his last 19 attempts.

Those, too, were numbers from a recent past, when Maryland annually contended for ACC titles. And they had Friedgen promising further flashbacks.

"We're going to win ACC championships, and we're going to win national championships before it's all over," he said. "We're going to be a success here. I promise you that."