Let them please introduce themselves
Published October 6 2005

David Teel

Unless Keith runs out of denture adhesive or Mick wrecks his wheelchair (damn those restrictor plates) at the convalescent home, the Rolling Stones play Virginia's Scott Stadium tonight. According to our ubiquitous and clandestine sources, many within the university's athletic community have been singing Stones tunes for weeks.

Football coach Al Groh negotiating his new contract: "With no loving in our souls and no money in our coats."

Groh after signing a deal that pays him $1.7 million this season and escalates to $2.17 million in 2010: "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste."

Men's basketball season-ticket holders to anyone who will listen: "I can't get no satisfaction."

Basketball coach Dave Leitao dispensing Halloween advice to his players: "Put on your high-heeled sneakers. Wear your wig on your head."

Former basketball coach Pete Gillen describing how he handled the Cavaliers' 2001 first-round NCAA tournament loss to Gonzaga in Elvis' town: "I met a gin-soaked barroom queen in Memphis."

Former football coach George Welsh grumbling in retirement: "What a drag it is getting old."

Prospective agents to offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson: "Let me whisper in your ear."

Groh disclosing where he hides his team's injury report: "Under my thumb."

Women's basketball coach Debbie Ryan on entering her 29th season at Virginia: "Wild horses couldn't drag me away."

Defensive coordinator Al Golden after the Cavaliers yielded 570 yards in a 45-33 loss at Maryland on Saturday: "Look at me, I'm in tatters."

Athletic director Craig Littlepage anticipating the Cavaliers' new basketball playpen, John Paul Jones Arena: "Baby there's a fever in the funk house now."

Littlepage to Leitao as Leitao prepares his team for Duke: "Here comes your 19th nervous breakdown."

Point guard Sean Singletary on the upcoming season: "Went to the fortune teller to have my fortune read. I didn't know what to tell her, I had a dizzy feeling in my head."

Leitao to Virginia fans disappointed the Cavaliers didn't hire Tubby Smith: "You got to roll me and call me the tumbling dice."

Lacrosse coaches Dom Starsia and Julie Myers: "Oh baby, oh baby, we got a good thing goin'."

Former athletic director and basketball coach Terry Holland: "I see a red door and I want it painted black."

Ace football recruiter Danny Rocco to Hampton High coach Mike Smith: "If I could win ya, if I could sing ya, a love song so divine. Would it be enough for your cheating heart if I broke down and cried?"

Smith to Virginia: "You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you might find, you get what you need."

Groh to Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer about Phoebus' Bill Dee: "You think you're part of a special breed. You think that you're his pet Pekinese."

Hobbled linebacker Ahmad Brooks: "My back is broad, but it's a hurting."

Quarterback Marques Hagans contemplating the defenses of Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech: "Oh, a storm is threat'ning my very life today."

Groh to Arizona Cardinals linebacker Darryl Blackstock: "What will I do without you? They say that life goes on. I'm feeling sorry for myself. I can't believe you're gone."

Groh to junior linebacker Kai Parham: "I know you want to leave me, but I refuse to let you go."

University president John Casteen explaining his insistence that Virginia Tech be included in ACC expansion: "I was bitten by a boar. I was gouged and I was gored."

Casteen after dreaming that the NCAA nabbed Beamer driving a Brink's truck to a recruit's house: "It was just my imagination, once again, running away with me."
 

Rolling Stones show--it was sweet, Virginia
By Jessica Kitchin / Daily Progress staff writer
October 7, 2005

Even a bomb threat couldn’t stop the explosion of rock ’n’ roll the Rolling Stones brought to Charlottesville on Thursday.

The self-proclaimed world’s greatest rock band electrified the 55,000 fans packed into the University of Virginia’s Scott Stadium late into the night, stopping only to allow bomb-sniffing dogs to take the stage.

A promoter confirmed that a called-in threat caused authorities to evacuate about a third of the floor seats and pause the show until after 10 p.m. The sudden halt in the show’s momentum came during band introductions early in the set.

Lead singer Mick Jagger initially told the crowd there would be a 10-minute intermission because of a “technical problem.” About an hour later, after police brought dogs to sniff through the area surrounding the stage, the show resumed.

“Off we go,” Jagger said, not missing a step as the band powered the crowd back up with “Miss You.” A moving stage carried the group through the crowd to the back of the field.

The show started just before 9 p.m., and Jagger welcomed people from Charlottesville, Virginia Beach, Richmond and, curiously, Midlothian. The band began by belting out “Start Me Up” and “It’s Only Rock ’n’ Roll,” two crowd favorites that had grown adults screaming like giddy teenagers.

At an age when most people are gearing up for retirement, the 62-year-old Jagger darted vigorously around the enormous stage. He repeatedly changed costumes throughout the show, swapping a red shirt for a pink shirt and so forth. He took the stage wearing a black jacket adorned with the Stones’ trademark lips.

With the stadium’s broad white columns as a backdrop, Jagger belted out a series of classic hits peppered with a few numbers from the group’s newest album, “A Bigger Bang.” The critically hailed album, released last month, represents a return to the busier, rawer sound of the group’s early years.

Jagger pirouetted, jigged and snaked across the stage, stepping aside at times to focus the spotlight on 61-year-old guitarist Keith Richards, 64-year-old drummer Charlie Watts and 58-year-old guitarist Ron Wood.

“We don’t get to do this very often,” Jagger said as he introduced “Sweet Virginia,” a crowd-pleaser that had him playing the acoustic guitar and the harmonica.

Another high point came when the group tore through Ray Charles’ “Nighttime is the Right Time.” The group also offered up “Get Off of My Cloud” and “Ruby Tuesday,” two more classics from its 42-year career.

The Stones’ wide fan base was on display throughout the concert, and the thousands of faces, illuminated by the massive light display, reflected the group’s ability to get all ages rocking.

Many UVa students were still in diapers when the band was inducted into the Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, but they screamed out “Shattered!” with as much zeal as those fans wearing Stones’ shirts circa the 1970s.

“I’ve been a Stones fans since the beginning of time,” said Ed Supple, who went to his first concert in the 1960s and drove from Niagara Falls, N.Y., for this one. He was joined by many other fans from out of town; Interstate 64 was backed up for hours near the Charlottesville exit prior to the show.

The evening kicked off with an opening performance by former Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio, playing a Beatles’ cover and his own works to a crowd that filled about 40 percent of the seats.

Scott Stadium last held a major concert in April 2001, when more than 50,000 Dave Matthews Band fans watched the hometown boys in the largest local venue they had ever played.

In the weeks and months leading up to Thursday’s concert, many speculated that Matthews himself would join the Stones on stage. That hadn’t happened by 11 p.m., but those hopes didn’t damper fans’ satisfaction with the evening.

As thrilled as those in attendance were, Jagger repeatedly expressed his appreciation for the thousands of admirers before him. “Thank you,” he said time and again.

Even the Cavaliers will have a hard time topping the energy and enthusiasm that filled Scott Stadium on Thursday.

 

Cavs on tap to get recruit Tat?
Leitao making strong impression
By Doug Doughty
THE ROANOKE TIMES

The 2006-2007 recruiting class is coming together quickly for the Virginia men’s basketball staff, which seems to be on the verge of a commitment from Nigerian native Solomon Tat.

Tat will take the SATs on Saturday and then make an announcement. He has narrowed his choices to UVa, which he visited last weekend, and Georgia.

“All indications are, he’s just right now focusing on his test score and … he loves Virginia,” Tat’s coach, Linzy Davis, said Thursday. “My speculation is that he’s going to announce that he’s going to Virginia.

“The coaching staff, as well as administration, did an outstanding job of showing him that the situation at the University of Virginia is a perfect fit for him.”

Davis said he did not know if Tat actually had told the Cavaliers of his intentions.

“It appears that it could be Virginia over Georgia,” Davis said. “I don’t think he has told Virginia that, so I don’t know that for certain. That [speculation] comes from my conversation with him and his house parents.”

Tat has spent two years with Davis at Community Christian School, located 15 miles south of Atlanta in Stockbridge, Ga. As a junior, Tat averaged 24 points, five assists and seven rebounds for a team that finished 28-3.

“He’s 6-5 and 220 pounds of pure steel,” Davis said. “I call him the Ronnie Lott of basketball. He plays the best as a combo guard. We used him at the point, but I like him best as a ‘two’ or ‘three’ because there isn’t a player who can attack the basket like him.

“If he’s really playing in the attack mode, you can’t stop him. You’re either going to foul him or he’s going to score, and he does have a very good 3-point shot, so you can’t step off of him.”

Davis said that Tat received letters from many ACC and SEC schools and “basically could have gone anywhere,” he said. “And, I believe there are a lot of schools, if he waited to sign, that would jump in.”

Virginia entered the picture during a void when many other schools thought Tat was going to Texas.

“Everybody basically backed off when they heard it was imminent he would sign with Texas,” Davis said. “And, it looked like that was where he was going to go. Then, when the other schools heard that Virginia was in on him, they wanted to get back in, too.

“You know, as recruiting goes, Texas was looking at other people but [Tat] wasn’t really showing the interest there also. So, it was one of those mutual things. And, Texas was also worried about Georgia at that point in time.

“Recruiting is a funny thing. Teams ask themselves, ‘Do we want to go into the expense of trying to get him when it looks like 100 percent that he’s going to Georgia?’

“Then, you get somebody [with] new blood, new excitement, new coaching staff and then they have the power of a university of Virginia’s stature. They’re a little bit closer [at UVa] and they say, ‘You know, we don’t mind taking these guys on.’ “

Virginia also had an “in.” The Cavaliers’ likely starting center, 6-11 Tunji Soroye, played on a Nigerian junior national team with Tat.

“It’s a surprise how they were able to come in and take over, at least what I would consider from my distance, the No. 1 position,” Davis said.

Tat would be the third player to commit to Virginia in less than two weeks, including Sam Zeglinski, a junior point guard at Philadelphia’s Penn Charter, who will not be available for the Cavaliers until 2007-2008.

This week, the Cavaliers took a commitment from 6-9 Jamil Tucker from Gary, Ind., whose coached raved about new Virginia head coach Dave Leitao. So does Davis.

“I think he’s a coach who presents himself as a first-class individual,” Davis said. “And, he’s the kind of coach that I think is going to draw exactly what he wants into the University of Virginia.

“I think it’s only able to get stronger for him the longer he’s in there and get a gear under him. He’s going to be able to get program-changers; I don’t know what he’s got right now, but certainly he’s going to be able to offer a blue-chip player an opportunity.

“Just talking with him and analyzing him, in the D.C. area and the Northeast quadrant, I believe he’s going to get who he wants.”

 

U.Va.'s young linebackers learning on the job
The Cavaliers' freshmen may get a tough lesson at Boston College on Saturday.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
October 7, 2005
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- They are similar to most true freshmen trying to find their bearings in this strange new football world of big opponents and bigger stadiums. Except they're not learning by watching - they're learning by playing.

And that's not what Virginia coach Al Groh would prefer. Especially with these three true freshmen playing linebacker, a key position in Groh's 3-4 defense.

Injuries have forced Aaron Clark, Olu Hall and Antonio Appleby into duty.

"They're really in an orientation, development stage," Groh said.

The Cavaliers started the season with sophomore Jermaine Dias and redshirt freshman Clint Sintim at outside linebacker. Junior Kai Parham and senior Mark Miller started at inside linebacker, with Miller taking over for injured junior Ahmad Brooks.

When Brooks returned against Maryland, he and Clark rotated at Dias' outside spot. Dias was out with a sprained foot. Hall has played mostly on nickel packages. Appleby has played just nine plays on defense and special teams, but he's listed as Miller's backup entering Saturday's game at Boston College. Clark is again listed as Brooks' backup at outside linebacker.

Dias' status is uncertain because Groh won't address it.

The linebackers must play well against the Eagles, who often run the ball up the middle behind a monstrous offensive line (average weight: 315 pounds). "They're like a different breed of person," BC quarterback Quinton Porter said.

"It's a dedicated downhill running game," Groh said. "It's unusual that balls go to the outside."

The Eagles mix passing plays (182 this season) and running plays (204). But when they run, they do it well. Running backs L.V. Whitworth and Andre Callender combine to average 125.4 yards per game. They've combined for just 13 lost yards this season - a testament to the line.

Groh is excited about Clark's, Hall's and Appleby's potential, but, as he said, "That's in the future." Clark has four tackles this season, Appleby two and Clark none. They're currently part of a Virginia defense that allowed 570 yards against Maryland - the Cavs' most since 2000. The Terrapins rushed for 250 yards and were most successful with a draw play up the middle.

"To know that there was a point in the game where you could just see they're gonna be running this play," Sintim said, "and for us not to be there to make the stop or to make the tackle is a little demoralizing."

Said Groh: "With some more veteran players, the last time we played against a similar type of scheme, we didn't really have much trouble with it."

Last year, the Cavs started Brooks and Parham inside. Junior Darryl Blackstock and senior Dennis Haley started outside.

Brooks, U.Va.'s best linebacker, had two tackles on Saturday and was involved less than usual because the Terps ran away from his side of the field. Groh said Brooks would've played inside if not for Dias' injury.

"Had we not had the need outside," he said, "we certainly wouldn't have done that and said, 'OK, let's put him outside to get him ready.'"

"Ready" is something for which Clark, Hall and Appleby strive. They're just taking a different route than most true freshmen.

"The only thing is just to give them as many turns as possible," Groh said. "The best on-the-job training is going in games."
 

Tom O'Brien has helped Eagles fly
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
October 7, 2005

Tom O’Brien believes the best thing that ever happened to his Boston College football program was to join the Atlantic Coast Conference. So, far the Eagles, which host Virginia this Saturday, have fared pretty well.

After losing a heartbreaker at home to Florida State, BC won at Clemson in overtime in its only two league games thus far and stand 4-1 overall when the Cavaliers travel to Beantown this weekend.

O’Brien downplays his longtime connection with Virginia because he has been at BC for nine years now, but he didn’t mind playing tour guide for Wahoo fans making their first trip to the newest ACC member.

“Well, you’re not going to park [around campus], so forget driving to the stadium,” the BC coach said. “We have a great mass transit and taxi cab system.”

Somewhere between 42,000 and 44,000 fans will cram into Alumni Stadium, which is somewhat reminiscent of Georgia Tech’s Grant Field.

“The sidelines are only about 10 yards from the stadium seats, so the fans are right on top of you and they’re loud,” O’Brien said.

A better fit

In some ways, O’Brien believes that Boston College is more of an ACC school, or at least fits the ACC model, more than some of the schools that have been in the league for years.

The school rests in the beautiful setting of Chestnut Hills, is paralleled by Commonwealth and Beacon Streets. You can’t drive through campus, which sits in a million dollar neighborhood at the famed Heartbreak Hill (5.2 miles from downtown). About 7,000 undergrads live on campus in a city driven by 250,000 college kids that attend the numerous colleges and universities in the area.

When O’Brien left the comfort zone of Virginia’s football program where he had coached under George Welsh and reversed the Cavaliers’ gridiron fortunes, he took over a Boston College program that had enjoyed only three winning seasons in the previous 10 and was shrouded in a point-shaving scandal that rocked the college football universe.

“I don’t remember much about my first year there,” said O’Brien. “There were so many things that we had to solve.”

Turning the corner

After back-to-back 4-7 seasons, O’Brien and the Eagles made strides in the important third year of a contract, when coaches are expected to make an impact. BC went 8-4 and returned to postseason play.

“We went to a bowl and got waxed by Colorado because I did a bad job,” the coach said. “We went out to enjoy the bowl game instead of going out to win.”

Lesson learned, things became tougher because now BC popped up on everybody’s radar as a serious football program.

“We went 7-5 and beat Arizona State in a Hawaii bowl game,” O’Brien said. “We’ve been a pretty good football team ever since.”

There’s a lot for O’Brien to be proud of. When he stepped foot on campus, he set three goals: to be champions in the classroom, in the community and on the football field. All three of those were finally accomplished last year.

“In the last three years we won the graduation award [graduating 93, 100 and 95 percent of his players]. We won nine, eight and nine games. This year, our football team was voted the No. 1 team at our school in community service, which is a big deal. And, we won a piece of the Big East Championship. Now, we’ll try to do the same in the ACC.”

And, he did it without a lot of high profile recruits, which makes the accomplishment seem even more amazing.

“The kids that graduated this year won more games in four years than any team in BC history, yet not one of them was drafted and I don’t think we beat a big school [a BCS school] for any one of those kids, recruiting-wise,” O’Brien said.

He has compiled a record of 61-40 and has won five straight bowl games as BC moved from the Big East to the ACC.

While it was a move that O’Brien felt the school needed to make, Boston College teams endured a lot of unpleasant situations during its final year or so in its old league.

“The worst part was that it wasn’t pleasant for the players and they had nothing to do with the decision,” O’Brien said. “The bad thing is the lead came from the administrators in the Big East. They obviously gave the fans the go ahead and do anything they wanted. Nobody stepped up and said anything.”

BC still has hard feelings about the way it was treated that final year.

Buses got cut off. Players, bands and cheerleaders all had things thrown at them. All sorts of nasty incidents that weren’t called for happened. That’s one reason O’Brien will not play any Big East teams on future schedules for at least eight to 10 more years, and then, perhaps only Syracuse, the one league school that did not file suit against BC.

Now a full-fledged member of the ACC, O’Brien believes that the new league will raise exposure for his school.

“It gives us exposure south of the Mason-Dixon line,” he said. “You take a small, parochial school from Boston that maybe wasn’t known outside of Boston except for a pass in the Orange Bowl against Miami in 1984, and now this gives us national exposure.”

The league has also raised the program’s profile in Boston, which O’Brien calls the best sports town in America the past three years.

“I’ve always said we’ll find our niche in Boston if we’re good enough and I think we’ve found it,” the coach said. “It was a year ago, we’re playing an afternoon game at home and we’re sold out and down at Fenway, starting a half hour before us, you have Clemons pitching against Martinez and they’re sold out. So, if we can sell out when they’re sold out, then we’ve got a pretty good fan base.”

 

BC, UVa similar in style
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
October 7, 2005

Some have said that if the Boston College Eagles looked into the mirror they might see a reflection of Virginia staring right back at them.
That comparison is only natural, since BC coach Tom O'Brien and UVa coach Al Groh share many of the same philosophies. Take care of the football. Run with power. Intimidate with defense.
O'Brien, a former assistant coach at UVa under George Welsh, doesn't see it that way.
"I don't think so," said O'Brien, whose 18th-ranked team hosts unranked UVa (3-1, 1-1 ACC) on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Chestnut Hill, Mass. "In doing our preseason work, in talking to a lot of people, all they talked about was what a great job [UVa] 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 three, four years. They have tremendous talent."
The same can be said for the Eagles (4-1, 1-1), who thanks to league expansion are competing in the conference for the first season. BC ranks second in the country in rushing defense (53.0 yards per game) and fourth in total defense (248.4 ypg).
More importantly, the Eagles have allowed an average of just 10.2 points per game, the fourth-best figure in the nation.
"That is impressive in that they've played against two teams who obviously have scoring power - Florida State and Clemson," Groh said. "I think Florida State had 27 [points], 14 of which were directly a result of defensive scores. Florida State ended up with 13 offensive points against them, Clemson with 13 offensive points. That's two teams that, from our own experience, we know have strong capability to score."
The Eagles' dominant run defense "has allowed us to do some things and to create some third-down situations that we've been successful in," O'Brien said.
In BC's 38-0 victory last week over Ball State, the Eagles stopped their opponent from converting on 12 of 14 third downs. As impressive as that was, the Eagles were even better at Clemson (on Sept. 24) when they stopped the Tigers on each of their 11 attempts to convert on third down.
"I think that's the best thing we've done," said O'Brien, "and that's got to carry over this week because, as I've said, [Virginia] is the best rush team we'll have played this year."
Through four games, the Cavaliers rank second in the ACC in rushing offense (176.2 ypg) and boast the ACC's best 4.5 yards per carry average. Those numbers took a hit against Maryland, a game that UVa lost 45-33, as the Cavaliers rushed for 136 yards on 35 attempts.
O'Brien said that game was just one game.
"I expect we'll get their best effort. As far as the numbers go, this is our first time through the conference, and we're still trying to figure out who's who and what the matchups are," O'Brien said.
"I knew going into the [Maryland] game that the home team always won the last couple of years, so I guess it wasn't a surprise.
"I think we'll get a fanatical effort out of Virginia on Saturday. And if we play with anything less, we won't stand a chance to win."

INJURY UPDATE: News came to light this week in regard to what originally sidelined UVa linebacker Ahmad Brooks from competition in the Cavaliers' first three.
"I had a cyst in my knee," Brooks told the Daily Press via telephone.
The team's orthopedic surgeon, Dr. David Diduch, reportedly removed the cyst from Brooks' right knee in mid-March. Brooks rehabbed for next seven months, making his season debut on Saturday at Maryland. He assisted on two tackles and recorded one quarterback pressure.
Did Brooks worry his professional career during the lengthy rehabilitation process?
"Everybody thinks about the NFL," said Brooks, who sprained his ankle against Maryland and missed practice on Monday and Tuesday. "When the opportunity comes, if I'm able to go there, then I'll do it. Right now, I'm just thinking about rehabbing and getting back on the field and doing the things I used to do.
"Some people might say that it might mess up your draft status. ... Whatever I decide to do, I'm capable of getting back to where I used to be."
Brooks and fellow linebacker Kai Parham, both juniors, are eligible to enter the 2006 NFL Draft following the season. Brooks could have entered the draft in 2005, but elected to return for his third year in Charlottesville.

UNDER THE RADAR: Perhaps from some urging of his wife, Groh said prior to Thursday evening's Rolling Stones concert that he would be going to some of the show - some.
"I'm trying to make plans to arrive a little late and leave a little early," Groh admitted.
As preparations continued on his gameplan on Thursday, Groh said he listened to some of the bands greatest hits in the background.
"There have been a few songs played through the machine here today to get in the mood," Groh laughed.
Providing some humor during his weekly teleconference, Groh snuck some song titles into a finishing line. "I know 'You can't always get what you want,' but hopefully you can get some 'Satisfaction.' As it turned out, these two songs were the final two played by the Stones during an encore."

SOUNDING OFF: "This will probably be the toughest quarterback we have faced since the Vick brothers [Michael and Marcus] down in Virginia Tech," Boston College coach Tom O'Brien on playing against Virginia quarterback Marques Hagans.

 

Cavaliers looks to avoid domino effect
After disappointing loss to Maryland last weekend, Virginia travels north to Massachusetts to take on No. 18 Boston College
Walker Freer, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

Winning college football games is a little like knocking down dominos. Set up 11 in a row and then go out and try to knock them all over. If the dominos -- or games -- are set up correctly and properly prepared for, all 11 will get knocked down. If any of them are out of place, the chain halts and must be restarted. While knocking over 11 dominos in succession is rather easy, winning 11 straight football games -- unless you're USC -- is nearly impossible.

Virginia didn't have too much trouble knocking over the first three "dominos" of its 2005 season, but the Cavaliers found the fourth one, a 45-33 loss at Maryland last weekend, to be a little out of place.

Now, with Virginia staring down the barrel of games like No. 18 Boston College (4-1, 1-1 ACC) Saturday, No. 4 Florida State (4-0, 2-0) and at much improved North Carolina (2-2, 1-1), the first losing domino that fell at Maryland could prove to be costly to the Cavaliers' postseason hopes.

Saturday, Virginia hopes to restart its domino chain of victories enjoyed early in the season against a Boston College team that is as big and physical as any Virginia has faced. Since starting quarterback Quinton Porter injured his ankle in a 28-17 loss against Florida State on Sept. 17, the Eagles have leaned more on their punishing offensive line to clear paths for sophomore running backs L.V. Whitworth and Andre Callender, who combined have rushed for 627 yards through five games. The Eagle's hulking offensive line starts three players who are 6-foot-7 or taller, a fact that has caught the attention of the Virginia defense, as well as head coach Al Groh.

"Boston College -- they're some big boys," redshirt freshman linebacker Clint Sintim said. "I've seen a little bit of tape on them already -- they're big physical kids. I know from what I've seen that they like to run the ball at you. They're not scared from contact. They're a big physical team. But at the same time, I do think we're a big physical team as well."

Groh also focused on BC's physical nature.

"One of the biggest [BC threats] is just size and power," Groh said. "That's the nature of their game. That's how they're geared ... to play with size and power, to try to overwhelm the other team physically with size and with numbers."

The line also has been counted on to provide protection for incumbent sophomore quarterback Matt Ryan, who in Porter's absence has led the Eagles to two straight victories. His first victory also happened to be BC's inaugural ACC win, a 16-13 overtime victory at Clemson two weeks ago. Ryan had no trouble functioning in raucous "Death Valley," nor did he struggle last week playing at home in the friendly confines of Alumni Stadium, directing a 38-0 trouncing of Ball State in which he threw for 206 yards and one touchdown while rushing for two more.

Even so, Virginia's players look poised to knock over the next domino in line.

"This is going to be a very exciting week for us -- it's going to be a bounce-back week," Sintim said. "Me personally, I'm going to need a better performance, and I'm sure a lot of other members of our defense are going to do the same."

 

Lipsey making most of his time at center
Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 7, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Virginia center Jordy Lipsey is a firm believer that things are going to work out the way they’re supposed to. So he didn’t get upset when he didn’t win the starting center job coming out of training camp.

“I saw it as an opportunity … for me to work on my game and get better,” said Lipsey, a redshirt sophomore. “And hopefully when I got a chance … that I would be ready to go.”

Lipsey got his chance earlier than he thought he would. With fifth-year senior Brian Barthelmes (leg) out, Lipsey has played the majority of the last two games at center, starting against Maryland.

The top center prospect coming out of Lake Brantley (Fla.) High in 2003, Lipsey had a tough time adjusting to the college level initially.

“I was frustrated because I was used to being good at something and you come here and it’s a whole new world and you’re not the best at something,” he said. “It’s tough to deal with and I think a lot of people get in a shell and kind of just try to run away from things instead of just moving on and trying to deal with your problems.”

Lipsey has persevered, though, getting some helpful advice from his father, Michael, who is a consultant for the real estate industry, where he does motivational speaking.

Once Barthelmes returns, it is assumed he will resume being the starting center. Lipsey is OK with that. He figures he has plenty of time to show what he can do.

“If you can get two or three years to play, that’s a long time,” he said. “I realize the first two years it’s all right to learn and it’s all right to not play. Obviously at the time it didn’t seem like it was the right thing to do, but right now, I mean, I still have a long time to play.”

Mirror image

It remains uncertain if UVa left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson (left knee) will play on Saturday. Even if he doesn’t, his athletic equivalent will be on the other side of the field.

UVa head coach Al Groh likened 6-foot-7, 262-pound Boston College defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka to the 6-foot-5, 289-pound Ferguson. Kiwanuka, an All-American in 2004, and Ferguson, a preseason All-American this season, are similar in their unique athletic abilities.

“(Kiwanuka’s) kind of a defensive version of our guy,” Groh said. “He’s very tall. He’s rangy. He’s a little lean for his position. He runs way beyond the norm for his position. I’m sure that if they were standing next to each that they would look quite similar.”

A left defensive end, Kiwanuka will be matched up against either Brad Butler or Eddie Pinigis this weekend on the right side of UVa’s offensive line.

Tires and batteries

He doesn’t draw much attention, but kickoff specialist Kurt Smith has been instrumental in Virginia’s field position advantage this season. Smith, a senior, has touchbacks on 14 of his 26 kickoffs, reaching the end zone 22 times.

Following kickoffs, UVa opponents have had an average starting field position at the 20-yard line. The Cavaliers, by comparison, have averaged starting at their 31-yard line.

“This whole idea of field position is something that’s really not very interesting to fans. It’s like talking about tires and batteries,” Groh said, drawing an analogy to a car. “You know, just talk to me about upholstery and what kind of sound system do we have in the car, not the tires and the batteries. But that’s what field position is.”

Leaving on a jet plane

Asked if the younger players on the team would be better acclimated to air travel when going to Boston College this weekend after already taking a plane trip earlier this year, Groh related a story prior to the Syracuse game.

In the later part of that week, coaches facetiously reminded players that since they were taking an international flight, they would need to bring their passports.

“Because they were really trying to please and they’re obedient kids, three or four of them stopped by the secretary’s office to find out how fast they could get a passport,” Groh said with a laugh.

“So I’m sure we’ve made some strides since then (in) their worldliness as far as travel is concerned.”

 

Cavaliers' linebackers losing numbers game
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Oct 7, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The eight linebackers listed on Virginia's two-deep early last week included three true freshmen, a redshirt freshman, a seldom-used sophomore and a former walk-on.

Ahmad Brooks, who wasn't among the eight, ultimately was cleared to play against Maryland. But Brooks, Virginia's leading tackler in 2003 and '04, had a limited role in a game in which Maryland rolled up 570 yards and won 45-33.

How did the Cavaliers come to have so little depth, experience and proven talent at the marquee position in their 3-4 defense? This is Al Groh's fifth season as U.Va.'s coach, and his corps of lineback- ers figured to be well-stocked with big-time upperclassmen by now.

VIRGINIA AT BC
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That's not the case. A combination of recruiting misses, attrition and injuries at linebacker have Virginia (1-1, 3-1), which plays at 18th-ranked Boston College (1-1, 4-1) tomorrow, stuck in an undesirable position this season.

"Truthfully we're down two or three of the numbers that we would like to be working with, at least in terms of veteran players," Groh said. "We have some players that we're very enthused about as young prospects, but they're really in an orientation, developmental stage."

Of U.Va.'s starting linebackers in 2004, only Dennis Haley was a senior. But pass-rushing specialist Darryl Blackstock decided to forgo his final season of eligibility and enter the NFL draft. Then in March, Brooks had surgery to remove a cyst in his right knee, a procedure that would keep him out of the lineup until this month.

Blackstock isn't the only one who might be playing linebacker for U.Va. this season but isn't. Remember these names?

James Terry. He signed with U.Va. in 2003 and again in '04, but never cleared admissions. Terry now starts at Division I-AA Youngstown State, where he's third on the team in tackles.
Devonta Brown. This Charlottesville High graduate, who entered U.Va. in 2004, was declared academically ineligible after the school year. He's no longer enrolled at Virginia, though he hopes to return next summer.
Darryl Gresham and Lamont Robinson. Each of these touted prospects committed to U.Va. in 2004, only to later renege. Gresham signed with Florida; Robinson with Oklahoma.
Brian Cushing. A Parade All-American from New Jersey, Cushing favored U.Va. early in the recruiting process last year but ended up choosing Southern Cal.
Vince Redd. He's still at U.Va., where he worked at outside linebacker in 2003 and '04. But the 6-6 Redd grew out of the position -- he now weighs 280 pounds -- after last season and now plays defensive end.
Groh seems determined not to lose the numbers game again. The Cavaliers' first-year class includes inside linebackers Antonio Appleby and Darren Childs and outside linebackers Olu Hall, Aaron Clark, Denzell Burrell and Jason Fuller. Appleby, Hall and Clark have played this season. Virginia has commitments for 2006 from five linebackers and expects to add to that total.

U.Va.'s projected starters heading into the season were redshirt freshman Clint Sintim and sophomore Jermaine Dias on the outside and juniors Brooks and Kai Parham inside. With Brooks unavailable when the season opened, 6-0, 224-pound senior Mark Miller moved into a leading role. A former walk-on, Miller has an excellent grasp of the 3-4's complexities but is undersized for his position.

Brooks started at outside linebacker against Maryland but sprained his left ankle in the third quarter. Dias sprained his foot Sept. 24 against Duke and didn't accompany the team to Byrd Stadium. Brooks said Wednesday night that he expects to play against Boston College, but Dias will probably miss another game.

All of which has meant extensive on-the-job training for young players struggling to adjust to a defensive scheme that few teams outside the NFL use.

"Experience is a big part of the 3-4," senior defensive end Brennan Schmidt said, "because show me how many 3-4 high school defenses there are."

Brooks, a Butkus Award finalist last season, started as a true freshman in 2003. But he'd enrolled at U.Va. the previous January and had gone through spring practice, which "made a big difference," Brooks said. Players such as Clark, Hall and Appleby haven't had that extra training.

Compared to the true freshmen, Sintim is well-versed in the 3-4. In reality, though, he's a novice, too.

"I'm pretty sure it's difficult for some of those young guys," said Sintim, who played defensive end at Gar-Field High. "I know myself it's still a little difficult for me, just adjusting from where I used to be to where I am now, but you've got to step up to the challenge."

 

No need to defend job
BC ranks with best in country
By Michael Vega, Globe Staff | October 6, 2005

Every week, it seems Boston College's fourth-ranked defense has been able to hang its hat on one statistical superlative or another.

In the season opener at Brigham Young Sept. 3, the Eagles held the pass-happy Cougars to 8 yards rushing and even fewer points (3) after BYU barraged the Eagles with 60 pass attempts.

The following week in BC's home opener, the Eagles' defense was dealt a slap in the face when Army marched 80 yards in 12 plays to score on its opening possession. The Eagles responded, though, by holding Army scoreless for the remainder of the game and allowing only another 170 yards total offense, while forcing three turnovers (2 fumbles, 1 interception).

Then, in its ACC debut against Florida State Sept. 17, BC's defense gave a strong acquittal of itself in a 28-17 setback, holding the Seminoles to 13 yards rushing.

At Clemson the following week, in the cement cauldron that is Death Valley, BC astounded everyone by shutting out the Tigers on all 11 of their third-down conversion attempts in a stirring 16-13 overtime triumph.

And last week against Ball State, BC's defense posted its first shutout in two years, 38-0. The winless Cardinals were held to 46 yards rushing and allowed the Eagles to ring up a season-high six sacks, including a career-high three by senior defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka.

''All the games, we went in there and just challenged them," said BC defensive coordinator Frank Spaziani, ''and every week, they've responded."

Spaziani, who is in his ninth year at the Heights, is the architect of a defensive unit that is ranked second nationally in rushing defense (53.0 yards per game) and fourth in total defense (248.4 yards per game) and scoring defense (10.2 points per game).

This week, the 18th-ranked Eagles (4-1, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) will be supremely challenged when they resume conference play by hosting Virginia Saturday at Alumni Stadium.

Though the Cavaliers (3-1, 1-1) absorbed their first loss of the season in a 45-33 setback at Maryland last Saturday, Virginia prides itself on its power-running game under fifth-year coach Al Groh.

''I think, thus far, the defense against the run has allowed us to do some things and to create some third-down situations that we've been successful in," said BC coach Tom O'Brien. ''I think that's the best thing we've done and that's got to carry over this week because, as I've said, this is the best rush team we'll have played this year."

Virginia ranks second in the ACC in rushing offense, averaging 176.2 yards per game (4.5 per play).

''We have set goals before the game, but our primary thing is to stop the run," said junior strong safety Ryan Glasper. ''If we don't stop the run, then the offense has its way with you.

''I'm sure their coach is going to come out with the mind-set that he's going to prove to everybody that we shouldn't be the No. 2 rushing defense in the country," said Glasper, who sat out last week's game nursing an injured left ankle but is expected to start Saturday.

When it comes to stopping the run, however, few teams have done it better this season than the Eagles. ''Statistics are always skewed, but we're going to find out real quick about that one," Spaziani said.

Only Virginia Tech ranks ahead of BC in the league's defensive statistics in total defense (226.4 yards per game), and scoring defense (8.0 average). On third downs, BC's defense ranks third in the ACC (just ahead of the Hokies), having allowed just 18 of 70 conversions, stopping all but two of the last 25 it has faced.

''They're very swarming," Groh said, when asked for his impressions of BC's defense. ''They have a lot of guys who are very active on their defense. Their linebackers are all downhill linebackers, that is, they're attacking the openings at the line of scrimmage just as if they were running backs.

''They cause a lot of problems on first and second downs through penetrations and linebacker run-throughs. They get a team behind schedule and then they turn Mathias loose, or they turn those blitzes loose."

The secret of BC's defensive success is no secret, really, to its players. ''A lot of us have been together for so long and we have a special team," said senior linebacker Ray Henderson, BC's leading tackler with 26 stops (17 solo). ''We know everything we need to know about a team, even what kind of gum they chew, it's that precise. And Coach Spaz, he always has a great game plan and he always seems to make the right calls that put us in the right spot."

Said Spaziani, ''We've given it a real solid effort. Once you don't give a solid effort, it shows up on defense first, for whatever reason. But we've come to play every week and really have responded. We've really flown around and hustled and guys have paid attention to what we're trying to say and have taken criticism.

''So now we're ready to move on to the next challenge."

And the next superlative.
 

Kiwanuka Reaches Into History
Defensive End's Grandfather Was First Prime Minister of Uganda
By Mark Schlabach
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 7, 2005; E06

When Boston College defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka was a third-grader in 1991, his parents decided to take him and his brother and sister to Uganda, the country his mother and father fled nearly two decades earlier because of political unrest.

Before leaving Indianapolis for the east African country, Kiwanuka's mother took her children to a candy store and gave each of them $100. "Go buy candy," she told them.

"As a third-grader, that was heaven for me," Kiwanuka said, as he retold the story in August during the preseason ACC news conference. "Then we went home, and she took the candy. I didn't see it again until we got off the plane in Uganda, and she started handing out candy to all these kids. The first thing I thought was, 'That's my candy.' But that all changed when I saw how happy the kids were."

Kiwanuka also learned how important his family is in Uganda. Growing up, Kiwanuka heard stories about the great leader his grandfather, former Ugandan prime minister Benedicto Kiwanuka, was and how he pushed for education, women's rights and higher minimum wages and crop prices for the working class. Kiwanuka also knew his grandfather was brutally tortured and then assassinated by political opponents more than 10 years before he was born.

"From an early age, my parents told me bits and pieces about it," Kiwanuka said this week. "But it took a while for me to realize the magnitude of it all."

After studying law in South Africa and then London, Benedicto Kiwanuka returned to Uganda in 1956 and became a successful attorney in his homeland and was politically active. In 1958, Kiwanuka was elected president general of Uganda's Democratic Party and three years later won the country's general election and became its first prime minister. Under his leadership, the country gained its independence from Britain on Oct. 9, 1962.

But Kiwanuka's party was defeated by an alliance of Uganda People's Congress and Kabaka Yekka in 1964, paving the way for A. Milton Obote to become the country's second president. Obote imprisoned Kiwanuka in 1969, and he remained jailed until Idi Amin overthrew Obote's government two years later.

Amin, hoping to win the popularity of the country's working class and acceptance from the international community, installed Kiwanuka as chief justice of Uganda. But Kiwanuka quickly became a dissident and wouldn't overlook the atrocities committed by Amin's brutal regime.

Amin sent soldiers to Kiwanuka's chambers and arrested him. When foreign governments demanded the judge's release, Amin tried to claim rebels kidnapped Kiwanuka and his troops had rescued him.

Amin tried to force Kiwanuka to sign documents claiming as much, and when the judge refused, Amin told him, "Don't you know I can kill you?"

"I do," Kiwanuka responded, according to the 1996 biography, "Benedicto Kiwanuka: The Man and His Politics," by Albert Bade. "But I can not deceive the world."

Amin's troops tortured and killed Kiwanuka on Sept. 22, 1972. Amin remained in power in Uganda until he was overthrown by Tanzanian forces in 1979. He and his troops were blamed for the deaths of nearly a half-million people.

"My grandfather was a very revered man who changed a lot of people's lives," Mathias Kiwanuka said. "He was a champion for education and women's rights. His death was something that's still hard for my parents to talk about."

Kiwanuka's father, Emmanuel Kiwanuka, fled Uganda shortly after his father was assassinated. His mother, Deodata, the daughter of poor school teachers, arrived in the United States around the same time. Kiwanuka's father was studying to be a priest; his mother was going to be a nun. Instead, they married and raised three children in Indianapolis.

Emmanuel and Deodata Kiwanuka divorced when Mathias was in sixth grade, and he has been estranged from his father since. After the divorce, his mother quit her job as a nurse and started a cleaning business.

After Kiwanuka's father left, the family briefly lived in a hotel before moving into an apartment and then a house. Deodata Kiwanuka often worked 20 hours per day to ensure her children could attend a private Catholic school in Indianapolis. Kiwanuka's sister, Mary, was a graduate student at George Washington and a law student at Catholic University.

Deodata Kiwanuka remarried three years ago and runs a commercial cleaning business with her husband.

"When I make it to the NFL, she's going to take a vacation," Kiwanuka said.

There is little doubt Kiwanuka will be playing in the NFL soon. He might have been a first-round selection in April's NFL draft, but decided to return to Boston College for his senior season. He was named the ACC preseason player of the year and has 3 1/2 sacks entering tomorrow's game against Virginia at Alumni Stadium. In last week's 38-0 victory over Ball State, Kiwanuka broke the school record with 31 1/2 career sacks.

"He's really quick off the edge and is a great pass rusher," Virginia Coach Al Groh said. "He's very tall. He's very rangy. He's a little lean and runs way beyond the norm for his position."

Wherever football takes him, Kiwanuka certainly won't forget where he and his family started. A red, yellow and black Ugandan flag has hung in his Boston College dormitory room since he and his sister found it in a store in the District four years ago. On July 4, 2004, Kiwanuka got a five-inch tattoo of the Ugandan presidential seal on his back as a tribute to the grandfather he never met.

"People back in Uganda would just come up and shake my hand, saying, 'I have a tremendous amount of respect for your grandfather,' " Kiwanuka said. "People appreciate honest, genuine individuals. From my standpoint, it motivated me not necessarily to aspire to be a big political figure, but if you can change one person's life that dramatically, so that a couple of decades later people want to shake your grandchild's hand, that's something that is unmatched."