Defensive weaknesses become glaring
Virginia's defense struggled at Maryland and will get no breaks from BC's mammoth offensive line.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
October 4, 2005
So now's when things get interesting, when the calendar winds into October and the Western Michigans and Dukes on the schedule give way to tough stretches, like one the Virginia football team soon encounters.

Looking at Virginia's schedule, many people saw the first three games - Western Michigan, Syracuse, Duke - and guaranteed the Cavaliers a 3-0 start. And many people were correct.

But U.Va. showed weaknesses in those games: leading Western Michigan, an 0-10 team last year, by five points with six minutes left; allowing 24 points to Syracuse, whose offense this season has been otherwise impotent; leading Duke, the ACC's perennial whipping nerds, just 10-0 at halftime.

The blemishes were revealed Saturday in a 45-33 loss at Maryland, where the Cavs missed too many tackles, failed to pressure quarterback Sam Hollenbach and, because of those two flaws, were humiliated to the tune of 570 yards.

Now comes the stretch that could break or boost the Cavs. They play at Boston College on Saturday and host Florida State on Oct. 15.

LOSE THOSE TWO, AND THE CAVS ARE WELL ON THEIR WAY TO HEAPING FORCED-GRIN PRAISE ON THE LATE-DECEMBER WONDER OF A PLACE LIKE BOISE, IDAHO. WIN THEM, AND U.VA. ANGLES ITSELF BACK ON THE PATH TO THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. CAN U.VA.'S DEFENSIVE LINEMEN GET PAST BC'S HUGE OFFENSIVE LINE?

Probably not very often.

Boston College has allowed four sacks in five games, best in the ACC. Virginia has eight sacks in four games, third-worst in the league. The Cavaliers sacked Hollenbach once Saturday as he passed for a career-high 320 yards.

BC's offensive linemen look more like small row houses than college kids: Jeremy Trueblood (6-foot-9, 321 pounds) and Gosder Cherilus (6-7, 320) at tackle, James Marten (6-8, 315) and Josh Beekman (6-2, 325) at guard and Patrick Ross (6-4, 298) at center.

IF STARTING LEFT TACKLE D'BRICKASHAW FERGUSON IS OUT AGAIN THIS WEEK, WHO PLAYS HIS POSITION?

Last week against Maryland, backup right guard Eugene Monroe took over at left tackle.

Though Monroe is just a true freshman, he's 6-6 and 330 pounds, played tackle in high school and was rated the No. 1 prep offensive lineman in the country.

HOW UNEXPECTED IS RUNNING BACK WALI LUNDY'S SLOW START?

Very. And not very.

Here's why: Yes, his 2,619 rushing yards heading into this season ranked fifth nationally among active players. But Lundy, a senior, has been slowed before by injuries. He missed the equivalent of 21/2 games in 2003 with a sprained right ankle and has had hamstring problems.

Lundy, who rushed for 864 yards and 17 touchdowns last season, sprained his left foot in the season opener. In three games, he has 18 carries for 67 yards and no touchdowns.

HOW HAVE TOM SANTI AND JONATHAN STUPAR DONE AT TIGHT END?

Fairly well.

Nobody expected Santi and Stupar to shine like Heath Miller did last season, when he caught 41 passes for 541 yards and five touchdowns - all team bests. Stupar has six catches for 85 yards, and Santi has five for 109 and two TDs.

WHO WORE NO. 77 FOR U.VA. ON SATURDAY?

In case you forgot, it's sophomore Ian-Yates Cunningham.

Two years ago as a freshman, he started the final part of the season at left guard. Then he missed all of last year, redshirting because of a back injury that required surgery.

He was listed during the preseason as a center. Then he moved back to left guard, where he backed up true freshman Branden Albert. Cunningham's sore back contributed to him missing the first three games, but he spelled Albert on Saturday.

U.Va. eyeing damage control
Officials are hoping Stones' concert won't harm Scott Stadium
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Oct 4, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- A sellout crowd of 61,500-plus is expected to pack Scott Stadium for the Virginia-Florida State football game Oct. 15.

Before the Seminoles play there, however, the Rolling Stones will, on Thursday night, and rock 'n' roll shows at stadiums aren't kind to the fields. After the Stones' two concerts at Fenway Park in late August, for example, 40,000 square feet of sod were needed to repair the field.

U.Va. officials are trying to limit the damage from the Stones' first appearance in this college town.

"This is very different than we did Dave Matthews in April 2001," said Jason Bauman, associate athletic director for facilities and operations. "This one is all about field protection."

Before that Dave Matthews Band concert, U.Va. had decided to re-sod the field at Scott Stadium, and there wasn't a major event scheduled there nine days later. The university must have a playable field for the FSU game which ESPN will televise -- and has tried to prepare for every possible scenario.

"I could re-sod the whole field if I had to," Bauman said. "I don't think we're going to be in this situation, but I've planned for everything I can think of."

Bauman spent last week in Pittsburgh, where the Stones played Wednesday night at PNC Park. Two nights later, the Pirates played the Milwaukee Brewers as scheduled there, but first the grounds crew replaced about 10,000 square feet of turf damaged by trucks hauling the Stones' stage and equipment in and out of the ballpark.

At Scott Stadium, setup for the show began around 5 a.m. Sunday. This will involve some 300 workers, 77 trucks, 13 forklifts and three cranes, The Daily Progress reported. On site all week, Bauman said, will be two turf managers whom U.Va. hired "to help us make sure we're doing everything to protect the field."

The capacity crowd Thursday will include 6,800 fans seated on the field. Under those seats, and covering about two-thirds of the field, will be Terraplas, essentially "plastic tile that lets some air in" and protects the turf, Bauman said. The Terraplas should be down by tomorrow morning, Bauman said, and then taken up by Friday morning.

The most damage is likely to come in the stage area, roughly from the base of the hill at the stadium's north end to the 20-yard line. Extra measures will be taken to protect the turf there, but U.Va. officials are realistic.

"We know we're going to have some discoloration, because it's covered," Bauman said. "But we have a lot of contingencies set up," including turf dye and sod.

Immediately after the show, workers will begin tearing the stage down. By Saturday afternoon, Bauman said, U.Va. expects to "have the field back, and we'll be able to assess what we have . . . Our priority will be making sure we have a safe, playable surface for the Florida State game."

NOTE: Virginia and Florida State will meet under the lights Oct. 15 at Scott Stadium. The 7:45 p.m. starting time for this ACC football game was announced yesterday. U.Va. visits Boston College this weekend.

 

Coast far from clear for BC
Eagles soar into teeth of conference schedule
By Michael Vega, Globe Staff | October 3, 2005

The month of October seemed to sneak up on the Boston College football team. But not much else has.

Now that it's October, it'll be all Atlantic Coast Conference all the time for the Eagles, who host Virginia Saturday at 1. The 19th-ranked Cavaliers dropped out of the AP Top 25 after absorbing a 45-33 conference loss at Maryland.

After the Virginia game, the Eagles host Wake Forest Oct. 15 -- an ACC foe that has proven to be a thorn in BC's side after losses in 2003 and 2004 -- before taking 12 days to prepare for a tough game at Virginia Tech Oct. 27.

''I think each and every game now is as important as any game we've ever played," said BC coach Tom O'Brien, whose team will wrap up the season in November by playing two of its last three conference games on the road: at North Carolina Nov. 5 and at Maryland Nov. 19 in the regular-season finale. ''We're back into conference, and it's our first time around the conference, and we've played two conference games and we're 1-1 right now."

After suffering its first loss of the season in its inaugural ACC contest, against Florida State, 28-17, Sept. 17, the Eagles bounced back by scoring their first conference win of the season -- on the road, no less -- against Clemson in a stirring 16-13 overtime victory at Death Valley.

Sophomore backup quarterback Matt Ryan, who guided the Eagles to their first ACC victory, made his second consecutive start for injured fifth-year senior Quinton Porter (sprained right ankle) and sparked a 471-yard effort by BC's offense Saturday. He completed 21 of 29 passes for 206 yards and a 3-yard touchdown to redshirt freshman Brandon Robinson, and rushed for 39 yards and a pair of 10-yard TDs to help the Eagles cruise to a 21-0 halftime lead against their overmatched and undermanned opponents from the Mid-American Conference.

BC's defense, meanwhile, registered its first shutout of the season -- and first since a 43-0 blanking of Central Michigan Sept. 28, 2002 -- by holding Ball State to 159 yards offense (46 rushing) while ringing up six sacks, including three by senior defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka, who surpassed Mike Ruth (29, 1982-85) as BC's all-time leader with 31 1/2.

''It's the first team that's singled him up," O'Brien said of Kiwanuka's feat. ''They took their chances in not doubling him, but the first pass play of the game they put a freshman tailback on him. Again, the guy cut him, but he was able to get up and go make the play." It resulted in a 4-yard sack, which was the first of four BC had in the first quarter.

''It's amazing," O'Brien said, ''you would think of anybody they would have doubled him and taken care of him, but that's what happens. Now Ball State was playing with two freshman tackles. It's not a fair fight."

While he expected to get back junior strong safety Ryan Glasper, who sat out Saturday nursing a nagging ankle injury, O'Brien said he would have to take a wait-and-see approach on sophomore cornerback DeJuan Tribble (hamstring) and Porter.

''I still think he couldn't have played on Saturday and would've had to be the emergency quarterback," O'Brien said of Porter. ''So he's going to have to make some improvement this week to be able to play."

O'Brien, though, had to be encouraged by what he saw not only from Ryan but also redshirt freshman Chris Crane, who came on in the fourth quarter and made an impressive collegiate debut by directing a 12-play, 86-yard scoring drive that was capped by J. Survival Ross's 18-yard TD run that provided the final margin of victory.

Asked if he felt comfortable with making Crane Ryan's backup if Porter was unable to go for the third week in a row, O'Brien said, ''As I've said all along, as long as Quinton can play and not further injure himself or injure the football team by playing, then he will play. So maybe we'll have to wait until Saturday to see how he is with his ankle.

''Now he's been throwing the ball for the better part of the last two weeks and we've worked hard to keep his arm strength up and he can stand there and throw the ball, it's just his mobility that's a question right now."
 

Patience pays off
After struggling with a sprained left foot, Virginia running back Wali Lundy is optimistic about getting his season back on track.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
October 5, 2005
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Both his parents dropped dead by the time he was 6. First his father, from a stroke. Then his mother, from breast cancer. When he was 13, an intestinal disorder pushed him to the brink of death.

So in the big picture of life, a sprained left foot means little to Virginia running back Wali Lundy. "It's given him perspective," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "But that's the past. This is the present. And he's got a lot invested in the present and the future."

In the present, four games into Virginia's season, Lundy has 18 carries for 67 yards. In 38 games heading into this season, the senior rushed for 68.9 yards per game.

Spraining his foot in the season opener against Western Michigan slowed him. It did not deter him. "My spirits have been up throughout this whole situation," he said. "I'm not the type of person to get down on myself. I know what I can do when I'm 100 percent."

In the future - most immediately, Saturday's game at Boston College - Lundy anticipates he'll be 100 percent. Groh saw Lundy returning to his regular form in Monday's practice.

But Lundy figured he'd get back there more quickly.

He jogged to the sideline after spraining his foot on a 28-yard run in the first quarter against Western Michigan. He thought he'd return to the game. He didn't. He thought that the bye week would give him enough time to heal. It didn't.

He missed the Cavaliers' game at Syracuse. He returned the next week against Duke, carrying five times in the first quarter, five times in the second, and finished with 20 yards. Last Saturday at Maryland, he carried five times for 18 yards - all in the first half.

"I felt pretty good about going in the (Maryland) game," he said. "The coaches decided to go a different way. I probably wasn't the Wali Lundy you're all used to seeing. They probably recognized it and made a good call.

"I'm the type of person that if I can't play my best game and be out there helping the team, then there's no reason for me to be on the field."

Virginia coaches have cautiously approached Lundy's situation. Groh said trainers treated the sprained foot similarly to how they'd treat a sprained ankle. Lundy sprained his right ankle two years ago and has had hamstring problems at U.Va. Backs like Lundy who often run between the tackles tend to get banged up.

But he said he's experienced no setbacks while recovering from the sprained foot. "I'm almost there," he said.

Monday's practice seemed to indicate that. Lundy participated after not practicing last Monday.

"For the first time (Monday) evening," Groh said, "we started to see the player that we saw in training camp."

Lundy came into the season having cut his weight from 215 to 208 pounds to help him handle the workload of being the Cavs' No. 1 running back; he was the second option last season behind Alvin Pearman.

But Lundy insisted his goals for this season haven't changed. He said he feels no sense of urgency to catch up to the achievements of his first three seasons, when he rushed for 2,619 yards, had 33 rushing and eight receiving touchdowns - a modern-day U.Va. record for total touchdowns.

"It's disappointing, but you've gotta learn to stay encouraged with things like this," he said. "Stuff happens to people all the time. It could be a lot worse for me."

Cavaliers fighting injuries
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
October 5, 2005
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- If you're keeping anatomical score, it's one sprained knee, two sprained ankles and two sprained feet. Those are the injuries plaguing five of Virginia's starters.

Left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson has a sprained left knee. Center Brian Barthelmes a sprained left ankle. Running back Wali Lundy a sprained left foot. Outside linebacker Jermaine Dias a sprained foot. Inside linebacker Ahmad Brooks a sprained ankle - and the surgically repaired right knee that sidelined him for the first three games.

Brooks returned Saturday at Maryland, starting at outside linebacker for Dias. Coach Al Groh on Tuesday revealed some specifics about Dias' injury, saying it is similar to Lundy's sprained foot. But Groh said he was unsure which foot Dias sprained.

Brooks sprained his ankle against Maryland and was one of several players who did not practice Monday. Groh refused to name the others.

"It's an issue at present," Groh said of Brooks' ankle.

Groh said Brooks played about 34 or 35 of 79 plays against Maryland. But Groh indicated Brooks might not play more than that this Saturday at Boston College.

"I think if we got to that many plays," he said, "it would be unrealistic to think we could go too far beyond that many plays."

Ferguson and Barthelmes did not play at Maryland, though Barthelmes dressed. Is Groh confident they'll play?

"No, I couldn't say that right now," he said. "Whatever the week it is, I would suspect - whether it's this week, next week or whatever - that it's gonna go right to the end, whatever week it is that they come back."

Groh was curt about Dias' status.

"We know the nature of the injury and the extent of it," he said. "The seriousness of it is now calculated in missed games or missed practices."

CLOSE CALL

Groh still seemed annoyed about a Maryland touchdown that was not reviewed.

With 4:34 left in the second quarter, tight end Vernon Davis caught a 24-yard touchdown pass. As he grabbed it, U.Va. safety Nate Lyles knocked the ball out. Groh thought the play was close to an incomplete pass and wanted a replay review. The officials apparently disagreed with him.

After watching the game film, Groh felt the same. "It was bing, bing," he said.

Has he talked to anyone at the Atlantic Coast Conference offices about it?

"I think they're aware of my feelings," he said.

FAMILIAR FACE

Boston College coach Tom O'Brien was an assistant under former Virginia coach George Welsh from 1982-96. Though this is the Eagles' first year in the ACC, Groh said he knows O'Brien better than any other coach in the league.

That's because Groh and O'Brien recruited against each other in the early 1980s, when Groh was Wake Forest's head coach. Then O'Brien coached Groh's son Mike, who played quarterback at U.Va. from '91 to '95.

O'Brien also gave U.Va. defensive coordinator Al Golden his first full-time college job. When O'Brien took over at Boston College in 1997, he made Golden his outside linebackers coach.

U.Va. report
The Virginian-Pilot
© October 5, 2005

BC’s offensive line poses mountainous challenge for Cavs

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Patrick Ross stands 6-foot-4 and weights 298 pounds.

They’ve got a name for him at Boston College.

Tiny.

Compared to the BC center’s teammates on the offensive line, Ross is a shrimp. From left to right, BC tackle Jeremy Trueblood weighs 321 pounds. Guard James Marten goes 315. Guard Josh Beekman tips the scales at 325 and right tackle Gosder Cherilus weighs 320.

“They’ve got some big boys,” Virginia defensive end Clint Sintim said.

Rangy, too. Trueblood stands 6-9, Marten 6-8 and Cherilus 6-7.

The line has been intact for two years and powers an offense that ranks first in the ACC at 413 yards per game.

BC is known for its power running game and Virginia coach Al Groh expects the Eagles to come right at his team, between the tackles.

“It’s a dedicated, downhill running game,” Groh said. “It’s rare that balls even go to the outside.”

That’s cause for concern for Virginia, which gave up 250 rushing yards to Maryland last Saturday.

“It was a learning experience,” Sintim said.

One the Cavaliers would rather not repeat.

Lundy talks about injury, stays hopeful

Tailback Wali Lundy spoke to the media for the first time since preseason on Tuesday. He said that when he sprained his foot early in the season opener against Western Michigan, his first thought was:

“I’ll go to the sidelines and it’ll go away.”

But it didn’t. Lundy missed the Sept. 17 game at Syracuse. He returned Sept. 24 against Duke and carried 10 times for just 20 yards. He carried just five times for 18 yards against Maryland last Saturday.

On the season, Lundy has carried 18 times for 67 yards, less than a typical game’s output for a player who entered the season with 2,619 yards in 38 games.

Not surprisingly, Lundy said it’s been a frustrating season. But he’s confident he’ll be back at full strength, perhaps as soon as Saturday. Lundy looked better at practice Monday than at any time since pre season, Groh said.

“I know what kind of player I am when I’m healthy,” Lundy said. “And the type of plays I can make.”

Both BC quarterbacks armed and dangerous

The Cavaliers are not sure which quarterback they’ll face Saturday, senior Quinton Porter or sophomore Matthew Ryan.

But it shouldn’t matter much, Groh said. “They’re looking at a pretty good run of being able to play in a similar fashion,” Groh said.

Porter, the regular starter, sprained an ankle Sept. 17 against Florida State and has not played since. BC has not missed a beat with Ryan at the controls, beating Clemson and Ball State.

Porter and Ryan are both 6-foot-5, and have posted similar statistics. Ryan has thrown for 599 yards, Porter 589.

Extra points …

Groh said it’s too soon to tell whether injured linemen D’Brickashaw Ferguson (sprained knee) and Brian Barthelmes (sprained ankle) will play Saturday. Both missed the Maryland game. … Ahmad Brooks was held out of practice Monday to rest a sprained ankle but is expected to be available Saturday. Brooks, who had been recovering from off-season knee surgery, played last Saturday for the first time this season. He made two tackles in 36 plays while rounding into game shape. … Kicker Connor Hughes, a religious studies major with a 3.1 grade-point average, has been named 1 of 184 semi finalists for the Draddy Trophy, which is considered the academic equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

— ED MILLER

 

Hagans staves off cramps with IV
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Spectators at the Virginia-Maryland game last Saturday may have been taken aback at the sight of UVa quarterback Marques Hagans running to the locker room in the third quarter, only to return before the next series.

Hagans, experiencing the onset of cramps, elected to receive fluids intravenously. The Cavaliers had No. 2 quarterback Chris Olsen warming up in case Hagans was delayed.

"We kind of had to make a decision," coach Al Groh said. "Maryland had the ball. Time was running down in the third quarter and we thought, 'We can hustle him in there. There will be some time while we change quarters [and] there will be some television commercials. Maybe we can get all this done.

"Fortunately, it worked out that way. I didn't inquire as to how many ounces it took, but apparently it was sufficient to rejuvenate him. There were no problems in the fourth quarter, so obviously it served its purpose."

Virginia had 70 offensive plays in the game and Hagans was directly involved in 52 of them -- 35 pass attempts and 17 runs. It was the most passes and the most runs he has had in a game.

"There might be some games where that's too much but it comes down to how we have to play each particular game," Groh said.

The rushing attempts were misleading because seven were the result of sacks.

"We thought that three were protection sacks and, [with] maybe three or four in there, had the ball been gotten rid of, the sack would not have occurred," Groh said.

Some of that might have been a reflection on the coverage, Groh said, and not necessarily a reflection on Hagans.

Hagans had career highs for passing yardage (270) and total offense (325) and stands ninth and 10th on those respective UVa career lists.

Undeterred

Groh revealed Tuesday that sophomore defensive back Ryan Best, who was in for 18 plays Saturday and had a tackle on a kickoff, was diagnosed with a form of lymphatic cancer earlier this year.

"He was a great inspiration to the players and coaches," Groh said. "On those days when he had to take chemo and radiation, he was at practice that day and sometimes the cumulative effects would cause him to miss the next day, but the time when he wasn't active in the program was minimal."

Best came to UVa as a scholarship soccer player and was the starting goalie for the soccer team in 2003. Although he joined the football team as a walk-on in 2004, the Cavaliers could not use him in a game without his soccer scholarship automatically converting to football.

Best, a reserve running back in the spring, accepted Groh's invitation to move to defense and was used in "nickel" situations Saturday, taking the place of outside linebacker Jermaine Dias, who has a sprained foot and did not make the trip.

About BC

Virginia, which visits 18th-ranked Boston College on Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff, has never won a football game in nine trips to Massachusetts, including eight games at Harvard between 1915-1938. The Cavaliers have not played a game in the Bay State since losing to the Eagles 30-21 in 1963.

The surface at 44,500-seat Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill is FieldTurf, marking the third time in its last four games away from Charlottesville that UVa has played on an artificial surface, including Bronco Stadium in Boise, Idaho, and the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.

Numbers telling

In its last three losses dating back to the 2004 season, Virginia has given up 166 yards in the fourth quarter at Virginia Tech, 143 yards in the fourth quarter to Fresno State and 175 yards in the fourth quarter at Maryland. In the last case, that's a 700-yard-per-game clip.

At Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers trailed 10-7 after three quarters and lost 24-10. In the other two games, UVa led after three quarters, 24-17 over Fresno and 26-24 against Maryland before losing 37-34 in overtime (Fresno) and 45-33 (Maryland).

Weighty matters

Updated heights and weights were reflected in Virginia's game-day roster last Saturday. Among the most interesting changes from last year were linebacker Ahmad Brooks' 259 pounds, up from 249 last year; defensive end Brennan Schmidt's 289 pounds, up from 269; tight end Tom Santi's 238 pounds, up from 225; nose tackle Keenan Carter's 307 pounds, down from 324, and offensive guard Marshal Ausberry's 309 pounds, down from 324.

Odds and ends

Virginia had spent 21 consecutive weeks in The Associated Press Top 25, including every week of the 2004 season, before the Cavaliers were 26th in the voting this week. ... Virginia has lost nine of its last 10 road games against Top 25 opposition, including six in a row since the Cavaliers beat then-No. 19 Clemson 26-24 in the third game of Groh's first season in 2001.
 

Cavs try to move on
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
October 5, 2005

Al Groh has been here before.
Virginia’s fifth-year coach has lost his fair share of games - 62 college games to be exact. And he will surely lose another. That’s the nature of football.
That does not make Saturday’s 45-33 loss at Maryland any easier, but as Groh and his staff attempt to pick up the pieces, they have monitored the mood of the team.
Groh admits that he must ensure that his team does not become fragmented internally or externally as they prepare for yet another road game - a Saturday showdown against 19th-ranked Boston College (4-1, 1-1 ACC). The contest starts at 1 p.m. and will be televised by ABC.
“There’s no formula for it. You just keep your eyes and ears open,” Groh told reporters on Tuesday. “But, in this particular case, I don’t think it requires any due diligence.
“The players, from the start, have been very alert and very resolute in the fact that part of our formula this year is going to have to be team power. It’s not going to be individual or unit brilliance. That’s just not the make-up of the team, at least at this present moment.”
Perhaps feeding off the comments of their coach, a number of Cavaliers echoed those same comments on Tuesday and said that the setback at Maryland needs to trigger a better team effort this weekend.
“I think it is real important,” tailback Wali Lundy said of the Boston College game. “One of our team statements [on Monday] was ‘let’s go out and win a big game.’ I think a lot of guys feel like it’s a big challenge that awaits us.”
Boston College enters Saturday’s game averaging a league-best 413 yards of total offense. Defensively, the Eagles rank first or second in the ACC in total defense, rushing defense and scoring defense.
“We know that BC is a very good team,” Lundy said. “They are very well-coached and they have some real tough guys on that team, so it’s going to be a real tough challenge to go up there in a hostile environment and win.”

THE WALKING WOUNDED: Virginia has a number of players battling with injuries, including center Brian Barthelmes (ankle), linebackers Ahmad Brooks (ankle) and Jermaine Dias (foot), left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson (knee) and quarterback Marques Hagans (elbow).
While four of those players remain on the team-issued depth chart, Dias was not listed. The sophomore was replaced on the two-deep in favor of Brooks at outside linebacker.
Speaking of Brooks, the Butkus Award candidate who made his season debut at Maryland, was among a large number of players who were held out of Monday’s practice.
Brooks, who was in for 36 plays against the Terrapins, was sidelined with a sprained ankle, an injury he suffered while combining with Chris Long on a tackle.
Brooks was credited with two assisted tackles, a number that Groh said was limited because Maryland placed its tight end opposite Brooks and ran away from his side.
To shed light on Brooks’ situation, Groh used a comparison to the rehabilitation process that Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling underwent after having offseason surgery.
“When [Schilling] was certified as medically ready to go, the Red Sox sent him down to Pawtucket for two weeks, now that he was ready to try to get his game in shape,” Groh said. “Well, we don’t have Pawtucket. There’s a lot of catching up here to do with Ahmad’s game, the things that he has not done since August 5 to improve and polish his game.
“So, we’re solving a need as well as trying to get him some action, you know, get him a little time there at Pawtucket.”
Groh did not give an update on the injuries to Barthelmes or Ferguson but said, “whatever the week it is that they come back, whether it’s this week, next week, or whatever, I would expect it would go right to the end of whatever week they come back.”
Lundy, recovering from a sprained foot that he suffered in the season opener, did practice on Monday night and received rave reviews from his head coach.
“For the first time last evening,” Groh recounted, “I’d say we started to see the player that we saw in training camp.”

AIRING IT OUT: During the fourth quarter against Maryland, Hagans did his best Doug Flutie impression.
Flutie, a former Boston College quarterback, is known for his uncanny ability to make jump throws.
After scrambling away from pressure and to his right, Hagans jumped off one foot and slung a deep ball to wideout Fontel Mines. The broken play turned into a 59-yard gain.
“I was on the move so I didn’t really have time to stop and set my feet,” Hagans said. “Maryland was coming in trying to take my head off. That is something I used to do as a kid.”
When told of the comparison of Flutie, who like Hagans, stands well under 6-foot, Virginia’s signal-caller laughed.
“The funny thing is, I never even heard of Doug Flutie coming up as a kid,” Hagans said. “I didn’t. In college I heard of who Doug Flutie was.”
Hagans did admit that during his time in college he watched a clip of Flutie’s execution of a play called “Flood Tip,” a hail mary that gave BC a last-second win over Miami in 1984.

THROWING STONES: Groh was asked on Tuesday if he would be attending Thursday’s Rolling Stones concert.
“My wife is holding a ticket for me claiming that I’ll end up there,” Groh quipped. “As she says, Thursday night is my night to come home earlier. I’d be home at that time anyway.
“The Stones, that is a pretty good beat to the music. That kind of gets you going … I don’t know that my mood is a Rolling Stones mood right now.”
So what is his mood?
“More like Gladiator music.”

 

Prospect plan: UVa recruiting in northeast
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
October 5, 2005

There’s a strong pipeline being constructed from New Jersey to Charlottesville, but it has nothing to do with fuel.

Well, maybe it’s a different kind of fuel. The kind that can help Virginia’s football program compete for an ACC title down the road.

When Englewood, N.J., outside linebacker Darnell Carter committed to the Cavaliers a few weeks ago, he became the sixth prospect from that state to choose UVa. There are a dozen New Jersey players already dotting the Wahoo roster this season.

The state has become fertile recruiting territory for Virginia along with a segment of the northeastern corridor that includes eastern Pennsylvania, metropolitan New York, on up the coastline to Connecticut. It’s totally by design.

Those areas are heavily populated, feature good academics in the high schools and good football. And, oh, yeah, there’s the proximity thing. It’s an easy drive down 95 to reach Virginia, which makes things a lot more convenient for players hailing from that area and their families.

A natural target

Coach Al Groh, who grew up in New York and spent a lot of time in the area as a pro football coach, believes that outside of the immediate Virginia recruiting areas, that the northeast is where the Cavs have their greatest marketability.

“Other rich football areas are certainly much further away from here, which means we have less access to them on an ongoing basis, but so, too, do the players have less access to us,” Groh said.

His logic is that if there’s a prospect of the same ability, same credentials in South Florida as there is in New Jersey, the southern recruit is likely to visit Charlottesville one time on an official visit. Miami is about 1,000 miles away from UVa, while the northeast is a simple drive.

“If the player from New Jersey is really interested in us, he can come to a game any time he wants and there’s a good likelihood that he might be in our football camp,” Groh said.

It’s also likely that the prospect might come down for the spring game, and, or make a basketball game during his junior year.

“Now, he’s been down here four, five, six times,” the UVa coach said. “Now, we have a relationship with that player, which enhances our chances of getting a top player in competition with the top teams as opposed to being in competition against the same top teams but having no relationship with the player.”

Good track record

Certainly that strategy helped lure the likes of Eugene Monroe, the massive New Jersey lineman who was ranked as the No. 1 high school prospect in the nation last season. Other notable New Jersey players already playing prominent roles on UVa’s roster include tailback Wali Lundy, cornerback Mike Brown, linebacker Jermaine Dias, safety Lance Evans, and backup quarterback Christian Olsen.

Of course, the strategy sometimes backfires as in the case of prized wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett, now a star for No. 1 ranked Southern Cal.

“USC took Jarrett, who was pretty much coming here until they got into the picture,” Groh said. “A linebacker from up there who we were recruiting very hard last year also went out there.”

Overall, the Cavs have had a pretty good success rate in the region, getting All-American D’Brickashaw Ferguson and starting nose guard Kwakou Robinson out of New York, along with tight end Jon Stupar, defensive back Chris Gorham and kicker Chris Gould out of Pennsylvania, among others.

“New Jersey has developed over the last decade when it comes to D-I talent and is still on the rise,” said Mike Farrell, the national recruiting analyst for Rivals.com and ESPN News. “It is a notch below Pennsylvania, but getting closer. For any east coast team north of Georgia, New Jersey is a must on the recruiting trail.”

Farrell estimated that New Jersey produces about 80 Division I football prospects a year, a far cry from the 350 out of Texas and Florida, but again, there’s the question of proximity. While the last two years have been judged very good and next year looks the same as far as talent in New Jersey, 2005 has been described as a down year in the state, particularly with offensive and defensive linemen.

However, there are several solid prospects that Virginia has secured and is fighting for more. The Cavs aren’t alone.

“There’s three or four Big Ten teams in there regularly,” Groh said. “Now, we’re seeing a lot of national [programs] in there as well.”

The fact that Groh has some name recognition in the region from his professional days and the fact that four of his assistant coaches (Mike Groh, Al Golden, Mark D’Onofrio and Bob Price), all went to high school in New Jersey doesn’t hurt either.

“They feel comfortable recruiting up there because they know how to get around, they know the schools, they know the historically good programs,” said Al Groh. “They all have a name up there and contacts that go with it and an enthusiasm for going up there.”

Farrell said there’s a good reason because Jersey players are known to be hard workers, physical and tough. The state has become known more for its defensive players, but prospects like Jarrett and Chris Simms are changing that a little.

“Boston College has won five straight bowl games and beaten some Southern speed schools like Georgia, Clemson, North Carolina and Virginia Tech with many Jersey kids,” Farrell pointed out. “BC had 20-plus Jersey kids a few years ago.”

So, as the pipeline continues to build, look for Virginia to become a major player for talent in the northeast. Groh is hoping that the highways of the northeast will eventually lead his program to Jacksonville.

 

Will Groh ever find the final piece to the BCS puzzle?
Walker Freer, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

Since returning to Virginia in 2001 to coach his alma mater, Al Groh has preached about needing the right players to fit his NFL power offense and his complex 3-4 defensive scheme. And for five years, students, alumni and fans alike have waited with patience for the time when Groh would have the desired pieces in place to bring Virginia the National Championship that first enticed him to leave his post as head coach of the NFL's New York Jets.

Last year seemed to be Virginia's year -- when the right combination of personnel and scheduling could merge to form the Cavalier's missing piece to the BCS puzzle. But if Virginia's 45-33 loss at Maryland taught the Cavalier faithful anything, it's either that "Groh's time" was last season and has since passed, or that it's still a long way off.

Saturday's loss wasn't a case of Virginia's players not "getting up" for Maryland. No, Saturday, Virginia was simply outmanned in every facet of the game, aside from special teams play. A Cavalier defense that in its first three games of the season had allowed an average of only 275 total yards gave up 289 yards by halftime and 570 on the day. Maryland's Sam Hollenbach, a junior quarterback who only two years ago was fourth on the depth chart, threw for 320 yards and two touchdowns. Hollenbach, who looked like an All-American instead of the first-year starter he is, repeatedly found wide receiver Danny Melendez open downfield for big gains, two coming late in the fourth quarter on third and long situations for gains of 15 and 24 yards.

Lance Ball, the Terrapins third-string tailback at the start of the season, ran for 163 yards on only 17 carries. If you're keeping track at home, that's an average of 9.6 yards per carry. More often than not it looked as if Ball was running the same delayed up-the-middle draw play but consistently bulled his way through the Virginia front seven and into the secondary. Even the secondary, which repeatedly held Ball to between 10- and 20-yard gains throughout the first three quarters, couldn't stop him from scampering untouched for a 35-yard touchdown run with 8:44 remaining.

And while the corners and safeties manning Virginia's skies were certainly reacting to plays -- see Nate Lyles's vicious hit on Jojo Walker in the second quarter for proof of that -- they weren't making solid reads or getting good jumps on Maryland's play calls. Too many times the young and inexperienced corners and safeties seemed to react once the ball was already in the air or already secured by the receiver. Even though Lyles's hit on Walker earned him the No. 1 spot on Saturday's Sport Center's Top Plays, Walker still managed to hold onto the ball for an 18-yard gain and a first down.

As the game wore on, even the defensive coaching staff seemed bewildered at Maryland's offensive attack, switching away from Virginia's 3-4 base defense into a 4-3 scheme, in addition to using nickel packages to try to slow the Terrapins. But none of it worked. Five times the Maryland offense started drives inside its own 20 yard line, and, five times, it marched the length of the field for touchdowns. The only thing stopping the Terrapins from running up 60 was their own mistakes. After punting on their first drive of the game, they were forced to punt only once more, in the third quarter after a holding penalty backed them inside their own 10 yard line. Hollenbach also threw two interceptions, one of which was returned for a Virginia touchdown.

"Things aren't always going to go perfect," Groh said after the game. "We probably didn't come into the season expecting to have a perfect season. At some point in each game we weren't perfect, and now we've had a game that the outcome wasn't perfect, so this is where the challenge comes in -- to have the resolve to come back and play better."

With their perfect veneer tarnished, the Cavaliers can find solace in the fact that this Saturday's game at No. 18 Boston College offers them a fresh opportunity to prove themselves anew to their fans and the rest of the ACC. Unfortunately, Boston College is a bigger and better team than the one that manhandled Virginia last weekend in College Park and will assail Virginia's defense with a physically bruising offensive line and rushing attack.

Despite giving up 570 total yards of offense, Virginia still found itself with the lead at the start of the fourth quarter and wasn't totally out of the game until Maryland's final touchdown put the score out of reach.

Senior kicker Connor Hughes, who aside from four made field goal attempts watched the game from the sideline as an observer, summed the game up best.

"It's not a game we could have won -- it's a game we should have won," Hughes said. "We'll look at it as a learning thing and move on."

 

Workload taking toll on Hagans
Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 4, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE - There is little debate that quarterback Marques Hagans is the Virginia football team's most potent offensive weapon. The Cavaliers aren't hesitating to use him, either.
Hagans had career highs with 35 passes and 270 yards in a 45-33 loss to Maryland on Saturday. He also ran a career-high 17 times for 55 yards.

The workload took its toll. Suffering from cramps, Hagans headed to the locker room to get an IV just before the end of the third quarter when the Terrapins had the ball. He returned in time for UVa's next possession at the start of the fourth.

But when does it become too much?

"Never," Hagans said. "You just keep going until you can't go no more. Whatever the game plan calls for, that's what we're going to do."

Hagans said he was similarly exhausted at Syracuse, receiving an IV treatment after that game. The only difference was that UVa beat the Orangemen.

"I don't care if I can't even walk off the field, as long as we win. That's all that matters to me," Hagans said. "I'll pass out dead tired on the field as long as we win. That's the point I'm willing to go to to win."

Hagans doesn't expect similar cramping problems at Boston College, where the weather figures to be less hot and humid.

Best foot forward

Many Virginia fans are aware that junior safety Ryan Best gave up a soccer scholarship to join the football team. Head coach Al Groh divulged another nugget on Tuesday that makes Best's story even more remarkable.

Best had a form of lymphatic cancer that he received treatment for earlier this year.

"He was a great inspiration to the players and coaches," Groh said. "And on those days when he had to take chemo and radiation frequently, he was at practice that day. Sometimes the accumulative effect would cause him to miss the next day, but times where he wasn't active in the program was minimal.

"It took a tremendous amount of courage on his part and certainly confirmed to everybody what his resolve was to be part of this (team)."

Now with a clean bill of health, Best, who switched from tailback to safety in training camp, has made his biggest on-field contributions on special teams. He made a solo tackle on Maryland's Jo Jo Walker at the 12-yard line on a kickoff return on Saturday.

Learning curve

Freshman cornerback Chris Cook experienced highs and lows against Maryland on Saturday.

Cook, a Heritage graduate, returned his first career interception 30 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. Groh said on his radio show that Cook intercepted five passes during last Thursday's practice.

"(Practice) gives me a lot of reps at breaking on the ball, so that's what I do in the game," Cook said.

But Maryland threw for 320 yards. In the final minute, the Terps converted on a third-down situation when quarterback Sam Hollenbach connected with a wide open Danny Melendez up the left sideline to get the ball to the UVa 1-yard line. Cook slipped on the play.

"I enjoyed (the game), but I didn't enjoy it as much," Cook said. "I helped, but I didn't help as much as I could have. It would have been better if we had won."

Extra points

Groh said he was unsure if left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson or center Brian Barthelmes would play this week. "Whatever week it is, I would suspect, whether it's this week, the next week, whatever, that it's going to go right to the end (of the week to make a decision)." ? Linebacker Ahmad Brooks is listed at one of the outside linebacker spots on the depth chart in place of the injured Jermaine Dias. Brooks made two tackles in 36 plays at outside linebacker in his first action of the year last week. ? Kicker Connor Hughes is one of 184 semifinalists for the 2005 Draddy Trophy, the equivalent of the academic Heisman. A religious studies major and a sociology minor, Hughes has a 3.1 GPA.
 

Sports Focus: Virginia Football
Schmidt chose a new path Defensive end ignored brotherly ties while picking U.Va. over BC
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Oct 5, 2005
VIRGINIA AT B. COLLEGE
SATURDAY: 1 p.m. ON THE AIR: TV WRIC-8; Radio WRVA (1140), 12:30

CHARLOTTESVILLE Had his heart told him he belonged at Boston College, Brennan Schmidt might be getting ready for a football game against the University of Virginia. Instead, the 6-3, 290-pound defensive end from McLean is preparing to make his 44th consecutive start for U.Va., which meets BC at 1 p.m. Saturday in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

On Feb. 7, 2001 -- national signing day for football recruits -- "I woke up and decided on Virginia," Schmidt, a fifth-year senior, recalled yesterday at University Hall.

"The night before I really had no idea where I wanted to go. It was really tough."

As a senior at DeMatha High in Hyattsville, Md., Schmidt had taken official visits to Northwestern, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Maryland and Syracuse.

"None of them was a fit for me," Schmidt said, and so he started looking at other schools. He ultimately narrowed his choices to U.Va. and Boston College, where his brother J.D., two years older than Brennan, was a linebacker.

George Welsh retired as U.Va.'s coach in December 2000. His successor was Al Groh, whose first moves included hiring defensive line coach Mike London away from Boston College.

Schmidt hadn't interested Welsh's staff. Soon after London's arrival, however, the Cavaliers offered Schmidt a scholarship.

Boston College quickly followed suit. Had BC offered him earlier in the process, Schmidt might have ended up playing alongside his brother. But he said yesterday that the Eagles' indecisiveness wasn't why he chose U.Va.

"I picked Virginia because Virginia was the place for me," Schmidt said.

J.D. Schmidt, who now lives in the D.C. area, is married to a former BC track star. For one game, however, he might have to cheer against the Eagles.

"I think he's a U.Va. fan now," Brennan Schmidt said. "He just loves me too much."

 

U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Oct 5, 2005

STAYING POSITIVE: In his first three games last season, Virginia tailback Wali Lundy rushed 58 times for 319 yards and nine touchdowns.

His three-game totals in 2005? Eighteen carries, 67 yards, zero TDs.

Less than five minutes into the Sept. 3 opener, the 5-10, 210- pound senior sprained his left foot during a 28-yard run. Virginia was off Sept. 10, but Lundy wasn't ready to play a week later at Syracuse.

He finally returned Sept. 24 against Duke. Lundy started that game but, lacking his usual burst, got only three carries. He started again against Maryland last week but didn't carry the ball in the second half.

"It's disappointing, but you've got to learn to stay encouraged with things like this," said Lundy, who ranks seventh in career rushing at U.Va. "Stuff happens to people all the time. It could be a lot worse for me. I figure I'm going through this for a reason, and God's going to bring me out of it."

Virginia (1-1, 3-1) plays ACC newcomer Boston College (1-1, 4-1) on Saturday afternoon at Chestnut Hill, Mass. Lundy, who ran well in practice Monday night, said he expects to be close to 100 percent by game time. That wouldn't surprise Cavaliers coach Al Groh.

"For the first time last evening, I'd say we started to see the player that we saw in training camp," Groh told reporters yesterday.

PANTHER POWER: Junior wideout Fontel Mines wants to be known as more than a superb blocker, and the former Hermitage High star had two spectacular receptions in Virginia's 45-33 loss at Maryland.

On the first, the 6-4, 217-pound Mines reached back to catch a high pass from quarterback Marques Hagans for an 18-yard gain and a first down. On the second, Mines outleaped a defender to catch a deep throw from Hagans for a 59-yard gain that set up U.Va.'s final touchdown.

"Those weren't your average catches, either one," Groh said. "Both of them he used his size to great advantage, but the second one he really had to go up and take the ball away. He's coming on very nicely."

Mines has four catches for 102 yards this season.

HOLDING PATTERN: Basketball standout Jamil Tucker, a 6-8, 210-pound forward from Gary, Ind., visited U.Va. last week. Tucker liked what he saw, and the interest is mutual.

He's an average student, though, and before U.Va. can take a public commitment from Tucker, the school's admissions department must approve. A decision is expected this week.

After Tucker headed home Friday, two other prospects visited U.Va. over the weekend: Solomon Tat, a chiseled 6-5 small forward from Community Christian in Stockbridge, Ga.; and Karolis Petrukonis, a 6-11 center from Norfolk Collegiate.

Petrukonis, who is Lithuanian, committed Monday night to Clemson. Tat's finalists are U.Va. and Georgia, and he may choose soon. Tat is from Nigeria, as is Virginia sophomore Tunji Soroye.

First-year coach Dave Leitao is still hoping to land Jon Mitchell, a 6-7 forward who visited U.Va. last month. Mitchell is scheduled to visit Florida this weekend.

OVERSEAS SUPPORT: The U.Va. Health System Telemedicine Program is seeking Central Virginia residents who have family members in the U.S. Armed Forces stationed in the Al-Asad, Taji, and Fallujah sections of Iraq. Soldiers serving there will appear, thanks to telemedicine technology, on the giant video screen at Scott Stadium during the Virginia-Georgia Tech football game Nov. 12.

Central Virginia family members are invited to attend the game for free to see the presentation. For information, call Richard Settimo or Carolyn Craig by Nov. 1 at (434) 924-5470.

IN THE CREASE: The first of two fall scrimmages went well for the U.Va. men's lacrosse team. Virginia, which edged Navy 10-8 in an NCAA quarterfinal last season, defeated the Midshipmen again Saturday at Virginia Beach. The final was 16-7 in an event whose proceeds benefited the family of former Cavaliers star John Driscoll, who died in 2002 at the age of 44.

Among the highlights for Virginia were senior midfielder Matt Poskay's two assists, which unfortunately for him won't show in his career stats. Poskay had 29 goals but nary an assist in 2005.

"He said he started to get lightheaded when he passed the ball [Saturday]," Cavaliers coach Dom Starsia said.

Junior Kip Turner ended last season as U.Va.'s first-team goalie, but Collegiate graduate Bud Petit, a sophomore, has "had a great fall," Starsia said. "Kip's played very well, but give Bud a lot of credit. He's more than just hanging in there. He's really competing."

U.Va. scrimmages Washington and Lee in Lexington on Friday night. -- Jeff White

 

Cavalier view of talent
Virginia's success tied to recruiting
By Michael Vega, Globe Staff | October 4, 2005

At first glance, the Boston College and Virginia football programs appear mirror images. But Eagles coach Tom O'Brien, who served as an assistant to former coach George Welsh at Virginia from 1982-96, doesn't necessarily view BC's Atlantic Coast Conference matchup against the Cavaliers Saturday that way.

''I don't think so," said O'Brien, whose Eagles climbed from No. 21 to No. 18 in the Associated Press Top 25 after a 38-0 shellacking of Ball State in their final nonconference game of the season. ''In doing our preseason work in talking to a lot of people, all they talked about was what a great job [Virginia] has done in recruiting the last four years. I think they've been one of the top-ranked recruiting teams in the ACC the last 3-4 years. They have tremendous talent.

''They're very physical up front on defense and they've got big linebackers and their offensive line looks almost as big as ours, or bigger. They've got good speed at wideout [Deyon Williams] and a great quarterback [Marques Hagans]. This will be the toughest quarterback we've faced since the Vick Brothers at Virginia Tech, so it'll be a big challenge."

The Cavaliers were without some of their talented personnel in Saturday's 45-33 conference setback at Maryland. Virginia (3-1 overall, 1-1 ACC) absorbed its first loss playing without standout left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, left guard Brian Barthelmes, and outside linebacker Jermaine Dias.

Virginia was bolstered by the return of senior linebacker Ahmad Brooks, who sat out the first three games after offseason knee surgery. Brooks did not factor in the outcome, however, as Virginia's defense allowed the Terrapins 570 yards total offense (320 passing, 250 rushing; both season highs), the most the Cavaliers have surrendered since Al Groh succeeded Welsh in 2001.

The loss snapped a bit of an odd streak for Virginia, which had won four consecutive road games against unranked opponents, the longest stretch since a nine-game road winning streak from 1988-90. Groh's record dropped to 8-8 against unranked teams away from Scott Stadium after the 19th-ranked Cavaliers dropped out of the AP Top 25 following the loss to the unranked Terps at College Park, Md.

''It's hard for me to explain, I really don't know," said Groh, referring to the road loss. ''I think part of it, perhaps, is a competitive maturity. I don't think it should be that way. It really shouldn't make any difference. If you do a good job of preparing for the issues that are at hand and you play better, you win -- home or away."

Said O'Brien, ''I think we'll get a fanatical effort out of Virginia here on Saturday, and if we play with anything less we won't have a chance to win."