If Cavs don't play well, neither will Groh's style
Aaron
McFarling
The Roanoke Times

On Aug. 19, the University of Virginia announced a new contract for football coach Al Groh. This was a big deal, six seasons at $1.7 million a year. It was a bold statement of faith by the administration, a celebratory moment for Groh, a nice opportunity for the Cavaliers to talk about commitment.

Except Groh didn't want to.

During a teleconference, athletic director Craig Littlepage politely and thoroughly answered all the questions he was asked. Then Groh came on, made a brief statement about the deal and said he only wanted to talk about on-the-field matters.

A reporter chimed in anyway, asking if this pact meant Groh planned to spend the rest of his career in Charlottesville.

There was an awkward pause.

"I signed the contract, didn't I?" Groh snapped, and didn't elaborate.

Great, except that didn't answer the question. After all, how many contracts has the nomadic Larry Brown signed?

But that's Al Groh. Vague for no reason. Combative for no reason. In his hands, the most innocuous of situations can become combustible.

Quirky or jerky? When it comes to sports, there's a fine line separating the two.

It's a line in the standings -- the one between "W" and "L."

Win and you're quirky. Patriots coach Bill Belichick can dress like the Unabomber on the sidelines, shield the public from injury news and get away with it. He's won three Super Bowls.

Controversial basketball coach Bob Knight was a king at Indiana until he stopped winning championships. Suddenly, the university president began to notice "a pattern of unacceptable behavior." Knight was fired.

That's why Groh could use a win this weekend. Badly.

In his five seasons, Groh is a modest 19-15 against ACC competition. He's 1-8 against the powerhouse trio of Florida State, Miami and Virginia Tech.

He's been straddling the quirky-jerky line for some time now. And last week, he took a big step away from quirky.

He lied to the media. And by extension, he lied to you. Then, to top it off, his team lost to an unranked foe.

The Ahmad Brooks situation was a mess from the beginning, but Groh has only himself to blame. The coach repeatedly refused to provide specifics on Brooks, who missedthe first three games while recovering from off-season knee surgery.

At one point, Groh dismissed the media prodding as "silliness." What's silly about wanting to give fans updates on an All-ACC linebacker?

Groh seemed to come to his senses on Sept. 15, when he offered the following quote:

"When he's ready to play, we're going to tell everybody," Groh said. "I'm going to tell the team, I'm going to tell the coaches. If he's ready to play, I'll tell you guys [in the media], 'He's ready to play. No doubt about it.' "

Last Saturday, without warning, Brooks played. Groh was unapologetic about going back on his word -- saying his obligation was to his team and not the media.

That's true, but he should be careful. This is a program fighting for exposure in its own state. Tick enough people off -- and dishonesty and perpetual grouchiness are a good start in doing just that -- and they'll simply pack up their cameras and head down the road to Blacksburg.

Whether he likes it or not, Groh is a high-profile ambassador for the university. He is among the state's highest-paid employees (maybe that's why he didn't want to talk about the contract). As such, he has a responsibility to project a positive image.

Recruits are watching. Fans are watching. Think they like what they see?

By cutting off access to his assistant coaches and building a figurative wall around his practice facility, Groh has further established himself as the face of the UVa football program.

He should know that in college, such autonomy comes with a price.

After all, he signed the contract, didn't he?

 

An early elimination game
UVa faces a Boston College team with ACC Championship aspirations
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
October 8, 2005

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Go ahead and call it an elimination game. Essentially that’s what it is.

Boston College (4-1, 1-1 ACC) and Virginia (3-1, 1-1) square off today at Alumni Stadium, and if either team has aspirations of playing in the first-ever ACC Championship game in December they must win this one.

With a loss the 18th-ranked Eagles, would fall two games behind Atlantic Division frontrunner Florida State, a team that already beat BC this year. Virginia, unranked after losing 45-33 to Maryland last week, would inch closer to the Coastal Division’s cellar, a spot housed by Duke (the only winless team in league play entering today’s games).

In their loss to Maryland, the Cavaliers struggled mightily on defense - they allowed 570 yards and 33 first downs to a team that was previously winless at home.

“There certainly were some match-up issues that we were dealing with [against Maryland],” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “And there were some scheme issues at the same time. We were trying to apply a number of different solutions at the same time, whether they were mere scheme solutions or match-up solutions.

“We were playing against different players with different players. Those were the things we were dealing with there. I’m sure that some of those issues might come up [later in the season], so we’re just trying to have better solutions next time.”

Making matters worse, sources told The Daily Progress that linebacker Ahmad Brooks did not accompany the team on the trip due to an ankle sprain suffered against Maryland.

That, coupled with a foot injury that will sideline Jermaine Dias for a second straight week, likely forces true freshman Aaron Clark into a prominent role at outside linebacker. Clark has made four tackles (one solo, three assisted) in 41 plays this season.

Without Brooks and Dias on the field, Boston College will try to expose Virginia’s depth at linebacker with its massive offensive line. The Eagles’ line averages 317.2 pounds per player.

“This Boston College line that we looked at, one of the things that I noted is that most of them, with all of the size that they have, is the efficiency right now” Groh said. “They’re a good looking line, not just physically. They’re very good technique-wise. They execute well. They’re really in synch.”

Thanks to the impact in the trenches, BC leads the ACC in total offense, averaging 413 yards per game.

With heavy rain expected throughout the day, Groh knows Boston College’s mentality of trying to “overwhelm the other team physically with size and number” will continue.

Virginia would love to duplicate that with its offensive line, but injuries to starting center Brian Barthelmes and left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson forced a patchwork unit on the field against Maryland. UVa senior quarterback Marques Hagans paid the price, being sacked seven times.

Both Barthelmes (ankle) and Ferguson (knee) accompanied the team on the trip and could be game-time decisions. If they can’t play, Groh said he would continue to use Jordy Lipsey at center and a combination of Brad Butler, Eugene Monroe and Eddie Pinigis at left and right tackle. Butler, a senior, remains the constant, but he shifts from left to right tackle when Monroe enters the game off the bench.

Injuries are a concern for Boston College as well. BC coach Tom O’Brien hasn’t said if starting quarterback Quinton Porter (sprained right ankle) would play today. If he misses his third game in a row, backup Matthew Ryan would get the nod. Ryan is averaging 149.8 yards passing per game, 10th-best in the ACC, and has three rushing touchdowns.

“I think as long as Quinton can play and not further injure himself or injure the football team by playing, he will play,” said O’Brien, a longtime assistant coach at UVa under former coach George Welsh. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

NEWS & NOTES. Virginia is playing its first game in Massachusetts since the Cavaliers played at Boston College in 1963. Groh, a 1967 graduate of Virginia, actually saw limited action in that contest for the Cavs. … In the only other meeting between the two schools, BC beat the Cavaliers 31-13 in the 1994 Carquest Bowl in Miami. … BC is a seven-point favorite.

 

Aging sportswsriter turns into rock critic
Beware the Terps
By Doug Doughty
THE ROANOKE TIMES

Some random thoughts while traveling to Boston from Charlottesville, site of Thursday night’s Rolling Stones concert.

According to my best estimates, it has been more than 30 years since I last saw the Stones live at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., but I don’t think they were nearly as good then as they were Thursday night.

What other 60-year-olds in whatever line of work can perform better now than they did in their 30s? Of course, technology and special effects have improved dramatically.

When a bomb threat interrupted the concert for nearly an hour, I turned to my wife and our two neighbors and said I couldn’t see how the interminable waiting wouldn’t put a damper on the experience.

As for dampers, neither the bomb threat nor a late shower spoiled the occasion. I’d easily put the Stones at the top of the list of concerts I’ve attended, followed by Fleetwood Mac, REM, the Allman Brothers, and Crosby, Stills and Nash.

To be honest, in the last three cases, all concerts at the Roanoke Civic Center, we either had to leave early to relieve a babysitter, arrive late because of an assignment or fail to hear one of the group’s signature songs, "Suite Judy Blue Eyes," by CS&N.

Sam Giles, a former Roanoke disc jockey and slow-pitch softball teammate, said activities undertaken by Stephen Stills during one of the intermissions prevented him from reaching the high notes so CS&N bagged "Suite Judy Blue Eyes."

The song I would have liked to hear that the Stones didn’t perform Thursday night was "Gimme Shelter."

"Or ‘Street Fighting Man,’ " said Zack White, seventh-grade son of the media gadfly, Jeff White of the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

I actually had been lukewarm about going to the concert but found myself signing along to such oldies as "Ruby Tuesday, Off of My Cloud" and "Paint it Black."

I had feared that the band wouldn’t get around to "Jumpin’ Jack Flash," but that was the last song of the main set, followed by "You Can’t Always Get What You Want," and "Satisfaction" during the encore.

I seem to remember "Satisfaction" being chosen as the best rock song off all time in somebody’s compilation, but there are probably 10 other Stones songs that I like just as much.

Thursday night renditions of "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Midnight Rambler" were the highlight of the evening for me.

I don’t know if I’ve bought a Stones album in 20 years, but two songs off the new "A Bigger Bang" had me thinking I need to hear more.

When I was in Durham, N.C., earlier this week, I noticed that the stage already was under construction for Saturday night’s Stones performance at Duke University. If you’re in that area, don’t miss it.

FOR THOSE of you country-music fans or for the sports junkies who couldn’t care less about my musical impressions, I’m sorry. Fridays in the air, without the office WATS line or the Internet, prevents me from going through my usual Notebook Plus routine.

What I have been thinking, since last Saturday, is that Maryland suddenly has emerged as a team that can pose some problems for Virginia Tech in the Hokies’ bid for an undefeated season.

Having picked Maryland to beat Virginia last Saturday in College Park, Md., I had convinced myself by gametime that the Cavaliers were going to win. However, somewhere along the line, the Terrapins have found something and it was a solid thrashing they laid on the Cavaliers, 45-33.

Considering that Maryland was beaten at home by West Virginia, 31-19, and then the Hokies handled the Mountaineers in Morgantown, W.Va., 34-17, comparative scores would suggest that there’s no way the Terrapins can upset the Hokies when they meet Oct. 20 on a Thursday night at Byrd Stadium.

But when you look at the way the Terrapins rung up the yardage against Virginia – 570 overall, 175 in the fourth quarter – you’d have to say, at this moment, that Maryland at Byrd projects to be a more formidable opponent than UVa in Charlottesville.

A COACH WITH access to the tape from the Virginia-Duke football game Sept. 24 in Charlottesville said that an injury to Virginia offensive lineman D’Brickashaw Ferguson was of such apparent severity that a speedy return would be nothing short of "a miracle."

What I’m hearing is the Ferguson will be in uniform Saturday for the Cavaliers’ game at Boston College, but that the Cavaliers may be without junior linebacker Ahmad Brooks, who last week made his season’s debut following offseason knee surgery but sprained an ankle in the Cavaliers’ loss.

The Virginia-BC game could be a mess. Commentators on WEEI, the Boston Red Sox’ network, already were talking about a possible Red Sox postponement Saturday in light of a forecast for "horrific" weather.
 

Much more to position matchup
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
October 8, 2005

CHESTNUT HILL, MASS

Chances are when you watch Virginia’s game at Boston College in the Cavaliers’ first football trip here in 42 years, you’ll probably focus on the quarterbacks, the running backs, the receivers.

Try to take your eyes off the glitter positions for a few moments and treat yourself to one of the best position matchups in college football this season. Virginia All-American left offensive tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson will be battling BC’s All-American defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka (kee-wah-NUKE-uh).

Not only are they terrific players, but more importantly, terrific people. Virginia fans are obviously familiar with Ferguson, who is expected to return to action after watching his 42-game starting streak end last week due to a knee injury.

A new ACC story

“[Kiwanuka] is just an incredible kid,” said BC coach Tom O’Brien, who admittedly lucked out by taking the undersized Indiana high school kid and watched him develop into possibly a top 10 draft choice. “We were actually out there looking at Jeremy Trueblood when we noticed Mathias. Luckily, after we took him, Trueblood followed him to Boston College.”

With three sacks last week against Ball State, Kiwanuka became the Eagles’ all-time sack leader with 31 1/2, breaking Mike Ruth’s old BC record. He’s a force at defensive end and a true leader. But he gets that naturally.

Kiwanuka’s grandfather, Benedicto Kiwanuka, was the first prime minister of Uganda and was assassinated by Idi Amin’s henchmen during a reign of terror. While Mathias was born in the United States, he takes great pride in his heritage by displaying a Ugandan flag in his dorm room and with a Uganda tattoo that stretches from shoulder-to-shoulder on his back.

A difficult discussion

His parents struggled to talk about all the horror they witnessed growing up in the poverty stricken country and the atrocities committed by Amin’s regime. Kiwanuka’s grandfather attempted to help his countrymen through its tortured history until his death.

“My parents told me about how [Amin’s] soldiers would come around to the villages and grab kids and take them and use them and train them as killers,” the Boston College defensive star said. “My mom would tell me how my grandfather would put a certain kind of pepper in the children’s eyes so their eyes would swell up and the soldiers would think that all the children in the village were sick, so they wouldn’t take them.”

His father, who was on his way to becoming a priest, and his mother, who was training to become a nun, met after they had moved to the U.S. in pursuit of education and a better life. Obviously, they swayed from their original plan and got married.

His mother, one of 16 children who came over, one-by-one, as the family raised enough money to send them, has been his guiding light. The marriage split when he was a youngster and he remained with his mother, who has since remarried.

But she has kept him in touch with Uganda and his past. As a third grader, he made his first trip to the impoverished nation, back in 1991 and was touched after he was approached by many natives who came up and told him of the respect they held for his grandfather.

He has been back since, and wants to return for an extended amount of time when he feels he can make a difference.

“My grandfather obviously had a lot of power and changed people’s lives,” Kiwanuka said. “If you can change one person’s life enough to where a couple of decades later they still remember you enough to shake your grandchild’s hand, that’s something that’s unmatched.”

But for now, Kiwanuka’s work is to be done on the football field. The ACC’s preseason Player of the Year (on either side of the ball), is trying to make BC’s debut in the new league a successful one. So far, so good.

“He wants to be a top 10 draft choice, not just a first round choice,” O’Brien said. “He’s got a great motor, a lot like Chris Slade had at Virginia, although Mathias has more talent than Chris.”

O’Brien thought about what he said of the ACC’s all-time sack leader, Slade, who went on to play for the New England Patriots and gasped over his comment.

“Man, Chris is going to kill me for saying that,” O’Brien said.

It wasn’t that easy a deal for Kiwanuka. The only other real offer he had out of high school was by Indiana. He was only 200 pounds as a high school senior, a fact that scared off many recruiters.

He was big, but not big enough to play defensive end on the major college level. He was fast, but not fast enough to play wide receiver.

“Boston College took a chance on me and I appreciate it,” said the big defensive end, who grew into a 6-7, 265-pound stud, that is strong enough to win in the trenches against bigger offensive tackles.

“It wasn’t easy gaining weight,” Kiwanuka said. “Me and my roommate, Trueblood, would do a blender full of weight gainer and that stuff was gross. Then there’s a place in Boston that has two for ten, two large pizzas for 10 dollars.

“Man, after that we’d lay in our beds and try not to move because you might throw up,” Kiwanuka chuckled. “I’m glad those days are over.”

But his brightest days lie ahead both on the football field and in a less unstable part of the world where his grandfather’s memory lingers onward.

“Things are better there now, but there’s a long way to go,” Kiwanuka said. “Hopefully, I can make a difference some day.”
 

After the Stones, cleanup
By Megan Rowe / Daily Progress staff writer
October 8, 2005

Friday afternoon, the soggy neighborhoods around Scott Stadium bore little evidence that the Rolling Stones had come to town. A soaked wooden sign with hand-painted blue letters advertising “Stones parking” stood in the driveway of one house, among a still-full beer funnel and crushed Miller Lite cans half-hidden in mud puddles.

At the stadium, the focus shifted from preparing for the concert to preparing for next Saturday’s home football game against Florida State University.

University of Virginia spokeswoman Carol Wood said the athletics department might not know the extent of the field’s damage until Sunday. Employees are working round the clock to clear the field.

Jesse Pritchard, a stadium groundskeeper, said he last slept on “Wednesday night, I guess.”

On Friday, plywood and other protective surfaces still covered the field, but an exposed area revealed small yellow patches and a few tufts of uprooted grass.

The rain could make things worse, Pritchard said. “The field has more of a chance of settling and rutting,” he said. “More damage is possible whenever the field is wet.”

Meanwhile, police and the FBI are still investigating the bomb threat that halted the Stones’ performance for an hour. Sgt. Melissa Fielding of the UVa Police Department said investigators had not named any suspects.

“It’s an active, open investigation, and we’re pursuing every lead that comes available,” Fielding said.

“We’re living in a different world now,” Wood said. “We have lots of security measures in place.”

Andrew Hansen, a third-year student at UVa who attended the concert, was annoyed by the bomb threat interruption. “Who calls in a bomb threat at a Rolling Stones concert?” he said. “It’s one thing if you’re trying to get out of an exam.”

Some concertgoers also endured the four-hour backup on Fontaine Avenue, U.S. 29 and Interstate 64. “The concert started at seven, and traffic was backed up for over an hour after that,” said Sgt. Gregory Miller of the Virginia State Police.

Confusion may have played a role. “I know a lot of people were not the usual football crowd, so I don’t think they knew were they were going precisely,” Miller said.

“We need to work out the issues, so we can do it better in the future,” he added.

The traffic didn’t cause problems for everyone. Angie Sheffer and her husband left their house near Zion Crossroads around 5:30 p.m. and were parked an hour later. “Now getting in was another story,” she said. “That was a little time consuming.”

Although Sheffer, 48, was disappointed that the Stones didn’t play her favorite song, “Angie,” she said the concert was awesome. “Even despite the little interruption with the bomb threat or whatever, we didn’t care,” she said. “We were gonna stay.”

 

A tough road test for Virginia
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© October 8, 2005

Time was running out in Death Valley. This would have to be the last play of the game.

With 80,000 Clemson fans howling, Virginia quarterback Bryson Spinner rolled right and spotted ever-reliable Billy McMullen in the corner of the end zone. Spinner lofted a pass. McMullen leapt and grabbed it. One second remained.

The final: Virginia 26, No.19 Clemson 24.

It was Sept. 22, 2001, Al Groh’s third game as Virginia’s coach.

That was Virginia’s last road win against a ranked team . The Cavaliers have dropped seven straight at Top 25 teams since, not counting a Continental Tire Bowl win over West Virginia at a neutral site.

Virginia can reverse the trend when it meets No. 18 Boston College today in Chestnut Hill, Mass. A U.Va. victory would be the first over any ranked team since 2003.

“One of our team statements was, 'Let’s go out and win a big game,’” said tailback Wali Lundy, a team captain.

Virginia’s 2004 season was defined in part by an inability to rise to the occasion against elite teams . The Cavaliers started 5-0 and rose to

No. 6 in the AP poll. They fell to No. 7 Florida State 36-3 on the road, then lost at home to No. 18 Miami and at No. 11 Virginia Tech.

Virginia is 1-4, home and away, vs. ranked teams since 2003 .

“Every year it’s the same old thing,” linebacker Ahmad Brooks said. “We always beat ... the teams we always beat. Every time we play those elite Florida schools, it’s like, I don’t know what it is, we never win. We just need to get over that hump.”

Speed, or the lack of it, has played a role. Florida State and Miami have been noticeably quicker than Virginia . A pair of big plays — a punt return and a touchdown catch — from speedster Roscoe Parrish separated Miami from U.Va. last season. Florida State’s tailbacks scooted through the Virginia defense all night.

But Brooks doesn’t buy the argument that Virginia has not been fast enough or talented enough to beat the big boys.

“We’re just as talented, man,” he said. “We work just like them. We put on our drawers the same way they put on their drawers. We bleed just like them.

“It’s basically, (whether) you want it or not.”

Wanting it and making it happen are different things, especially on the road. Last year’s team, loaded with veterans, seemed equipped to handle the challenges of the hostile environment, the unfamiliar surroundings. Virginia won three of five on the road, but two were over weak sisters Temple and Duke.

“I think part of it is perhaps a competitive maturity,” Groh said earlier this year. “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 at hand, and you play better, you win, home or away.”

This year’s team is younger . More wide-eyed, too. Before the Syracuse game, Groh told the freshmen, who were making their first road trip, that because they would be taking an international flight, they would need their passports.

Groh was joking, but a handful of freshmen went to the football office to ask the secretary how they could get a passport on short notice.

“I’m sure we’ve made some strides since then in terms of their worldliness,” Groh said.

Virginia beat Syracuse by engineering a game-winning drive as time ran down at the Carrier Dome, generally considered one of the nation’s tougher places to play. The Cavaliers hoped the experience would carry over to last week’s game at Maryland, but they fell 43-35.

That loss dropped Virginia from the Top 25 and left them 3-1 heading to BC. The Cavaliers host perennial nemesis Florida State next Saturday.

Two ranked teams. Two chances to win the elusive “big game.”

“We’ve just got to do it, to get over the hump,” Lundy said. “That’ll do tremendous things for our confidence as a team.”

 

Cavs in need of midseason boost
Sluggish start to ACC play has Virginia looking for some key veterans to emerge against BC.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

Time is starting to grow scarce for Wali Lundy if he wants to have a memorable final season, and the same can be said for the Virginia football team he serves as a co-captain.

"I think the mood of the team is wanting to go out there and prove themselves," Lundy said earlier this week. "We just want to go out there and play.

"We don't feel like we're the team that everybody saw last Saturday. But, you can't really redeem yourself until you play again."

Virginia, a 45-33 loser last Saturday at Maryland, visits 18th-ranked Boston College today for a 1 p.m. kickoff that will reunite Eagles' coach Tom O'Brien with his former employers.

O'Brien was a Cavaliers' assistant for 15 years before being hired by BC following the 1996 season. He has a nine-year record of 61-40, including 39-17 since December 2001.

The Eagles (4-1 overall, 1-1 ACC) made their ACC debut as a preseason choice for second in the Atlantic Division. Virginia (3-1, 1-1) was a preseason choice for third in the Coastal Division, although the Cavaliers had higher aspirations as they moved up to No. 19 in The Associated Press poll.

That was before UVa ran into an ambush at Maryland, where the Terps had 570 yards in total offense -- the high against the Cavaliers during the five-year Al Groh coaching era.

Virginia had 406 yards in the same game, but too much of the Cavaliers yardage came between the 20's and too much came courtesy of quarterback Marques Hagans.

Hagans passed for a career-high 270 yards and had a career-high 325 yards in total offense on a day when he led the Cavaliers in rushing for the third time in five games dating back to the 2004 season.

There was reason to believe that Lundy might have a big year after rushing for 800 yards or more in three consecutive seasons, but he suffered a sprained foot while running for 28 yards on his third carry of the season.

"When it happened, it was kind of like, 'All right, Maybe I'll go to the sidelines and it will just go away,'" Lundy said. "The next day, I was feeling like, 'OK, it's going to be better.' But, we had a bye week and good things happen in a bye week.'"

Lundy dressed for UVa's second game, at Syracuse, but did not play. He started the next week against Duke but in 10 carries managed only 20 yards.

This past Saturday, Lundy carried four times for 19 yards in the first quarter. He carried once for a 1-yard loss in the second and did not play in the second half.

"I felt pretty good on Saturday," Lundy said. "It was a coaches' decision. It was their call. Can't complain about it."

Groh said after the Duke game that Lundy had lacked "juice" and said he would hold him out of practice the following Monday. He got more work this past Monday.

"For the first time, we started to see the player that we saw in training camp," Groh said. "The absence of three or four guys that he got used to running behind last year might be a contributing factor, but I think his injury was it more than anything."

Last week, Virginia was without preseason All-America offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, who had started 42 consecutive games, as well as fifth-year center Brian Barthelmes, the second-most experienced member of the line.

Barthelmes dressed last week and went through pregame drills, so his return could be imminent. Ferguson is more iffy and an injured ankle could sideline linebacker Ahmad Brooks -- one week after his belated debut following offseason knee surgery.

It's hard to overlook the injuries, but what the Cavaliers need more than anything, according to Lundy, is a breakthrough win to restore their confidence.

"Got to," he said, then repeated himself. "Got to. Think that's all it is. Just got to win a big game."

 

BC presents ranked challenge for U.Va.
dslater@dailypress.com 247-4641
October 8, 2005

History says there is trouble ahead for the Virginia football team. The Cavaliers play at No. 18 Boston College at 1 p.m. today. And the phrase "at No. 18" has spelled failure since coach Al Groh arrived in 2001.

Groh's U.Va. teams are 1-7 on the road against ranked teams; 7-11 against ranked teams anyplace; 9-15 on the road overall.

The Cavs' last road win over a ranked team was their first Atlantic Coast Conference game under Groh, a 26-24 victory at Clemson in 2001. U.Va. lost its next seven road-ranked games by an average of 16 points.

"Every year, it's the same old thing," junior inside linebacker Ahmad Brooks said.

Explaining the problem is harder than stating it.

"It's not that nobody's scared or anything like that," Brooks said. "I guess I would say that they want it more than we want it.

"We're just as talented. We put on our drawers the same way they put on their drawers. We bleed just like them."

Virginia has never shined in road-ranked games. The Cavs were 8-17-1 under George Welsh, Groh's predecessor.

But after losing 45-33 last Saturday at Maryland, these Cavs desperately need a big win to spark their season. They still must play three of the ACC's best teams - Florida State, Virginia Tech and Miami - after this weekend.

Groh signed a six-season contract extension in August that pays him $1.7 million this season and $2.17 million in the deal's final season. So he needs a big win to justify that money. Groh is 1-8 against FSU, Tech and Miami. He's 19-15 in the ACC.

Virginia players stressed the importance of today's game during Monday's practice, since BC is the first ranked team U.Va. will face this season.

"One of our team statements was: Let's go out and win a big game," running back Wali Lundy said. "Got to. I think that's all it is: Just gotta win the big game, just to get over that hump."

Indeed, significant wins have kept U.Va. from becoming an elite ACC team, and Virginia players are fully aware of that. The Cavs lost three league games last season: FSU, Tech and Miami.

"You can't be considered on the same line as the best teams until you beat the best teams," quarterback Marques Hagans said.

Cavs seek first road win over ranked team since '91
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 8, 2005

It's tough to define exactly what constitutes a big game.
Virginia coach Al Groh doesn't buy into the concept, preferring the every-game-counts-one train of thought instead.

His players aren't all of similar thought.

"We've got to (win one)," UVa tailback Wali Lundy said. "Got to. That's all it is. We've just got to win a big game. Just to get over the hump."

It's safe to say that if Virginia can win at No. 19 Boston College today, in what would be the Cavaliers' first victory over a ranked opponent on the road since they toppled No. 19 Clemson in 2001, that would be considered big.

In Groh's four-plus years, Virginia is 6-11 against ranked opponents, including an 0-5 mark in the last two years. The highest-ranked team Virginia has beaten was No. 15 West Virginia in the 2002 Continental Tire Bowl.

A win this week would be key if not for the program's sake, but for the season's.

After a 3-0 start against inferior competition, UVa (3-1, 1-1 ACC) lost handily 45-33 at Maryland last Saturday.

Things don't get any easier. Five of Virginia's remaining seven games are against ranked opponents, a slate that includes games versus No. 4 Florida State and No. 3 Virginia Tech and at No. 9 Miami.

Groh concedes that in order to pull off wins in any one of those games, Virginia will have to get by with more than just talent.

"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," Groh said.

"It's not going to be individual or unit brilliance. That's just not the makeup of the team, at least at this present moment. It's going to have to come from the overall power of the team, the intangible nature of that, and the coordinated performance of the three units."

While solid, Boston College (4-1, 1-1) is not too different from Virginia as far as the program's national standing. The Eagles have had a similar stretch of success under coach Tom O'Brien, George Welsh's right-hand man for 15 years at UVa, that while commendable has left fans wanting more.

The Eagles have won seven or more games in each of the last six seasons, winning bowl games the last five years. But none of those were top-tier bowls, nor were they against top-notch opponents. Under O'Brien, Boston College has finished the season in the Associated Press Top 25 twice, in 2001 and 2004 (Groh has two top-25 finishes in four years).

O'Brien, too, has been accused of not being able to win the big one, with a 6-16 all-time record against top-25 foes. To be fair, though, that includes a marquee win over No. 4 Notre Dame in 2002, something lacking on Groh's r?sum?.

But with a BCS bowl berth in the balance last year, Boston College lost to Syracuse at home 43-17 and instead went to the Continental Tire Bowl. Three weeks ago, the Eagles lost at home to Florida State, a game in which a win would have announced their arrival as a force to be reckoned with in the ACC.

Sound familiar, Virginia?

Nevertheless, Boston College presents a formidable road challenge for a Virginia team searching for answers after the Maryland loss.

The Eagles have the fourth-ranked scoring defense in the country, giving up an average of 10.2 points per game. That unit is led by Mathias Kiwanuka, a quarterback punishing defensive end.

Boston College is equally physically dominating on offense, where it boasts an offensive line of NFL-sized proportions, with three players 6-foot-7 or taller and four of the five at 300 pounds or more.

"One of the biggest (issues with Boston College) 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."

A favorable comparison would be last year's veteran Virginia team, which simply overwhelmed some teams up front.

Labeling this year's group of Cavaliers is harder. After the Maryland fiasco in which the Terrapins racked up nearly 600 yards, maybe the best way to describe the Cavs now is hungry.

"The team is just trying to get out there and prove ourselves," Lundy said. "Everybody just wants to play again. I don't think we're the team that everyone saw (last) Saturday. ? You can't really redeem yourself until you play again."

 

Smarting Cavs go where Eagles soar
U.Va., coming off a big loss, has tough challenge in No.18 Boston College
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Oct 8, 2005

BOSTON -- Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, Bruins . . . Eagles?

Professional sports grab most of the headlines in this city, and that probably always will be the case. But Tom O'Brien has a good thing going in nearby Chestnut Hill, and the locals have taken note.

A sellout crowd is expected today at Boston College's Alumni Stadium, where O'Brien's 18th-ranked Eagles (1-1, 4-1) meet Virginia (1-1, 3-1) in what likely will be a wet and windy ACC game.

"It's a big challenge that awaits us," U.Va. senior tailback Wali Lundy said.

BC, which bolted the Big East in July, has won two consecutive since losing at home Sept. 17 to Florida State. A week later, in a game the Eagles desperately needed to win, they bounced back to beat host Clemson 16-13 in overtime.

Virginia comes in smarting from its first loss. That worries O'Brien, who remembers the mind-set his team took to Death Valley last month. The Cavaliers surrendered 570 yards in a 45-33 loss at Maryland last weekend.

"I think it puts their backs to the wall," said O'Brien, who spent 15 years as an assistant under George Welsh at U.Va.

Virginia plays host to unbeaten Florida State next week and then visits Chapel Hill, N.C., for an Oct. 22 game against North Carolina, one of the ACC's most improved teams. It's difficult to overstate the importance of today's game for U.Va.

"You end up almost in a do-or-die situation, especially going on the road," O'Brien said. "We were in that situation heading to Clemson."

A high ankle sprain forced BC's No.1 quarterback, Quinton Porter, to miss the Eagles' game against the Tigers and last weekend's rout of Ball State. His replacement, sophomore Matthew Ryan, has ably directed the Eagles' offense. BC leads the ACC in total offense, thanks in large part to the play of the conference's biggest and best set of linemen.

Equally impressive has been the Eagles' defense. Led by 6-7, 262-pound end Mathias Kiwanuka, a probable All-American, BC ranks first among ACC teams in rushing defense and second, behind Virginia Tech, in total defense and scoring defense.

Its impressive statistics aside, Boston College has yet to face a quarterback with the myriad skills of U.Va.'s Marques Hagans. In addition to passing for 841 yards and six touchdowns, the 5-10 senior has rushed for 154 yards and three TDs this season. His improvisational skills have extended numerous drives.

"Just when you think you got him, he escapes," O'Brien said.

U.Va.'s offense should be healthier than it was against Maryland. The foot Lundy sprained in the Sept. 3 opener has steadily improved, and two starting linemen who missed last weekend's game because of injuries tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson (knee) and center Brian Barthelmes (ankle) -- might play today. Both made the trip to Boston yesterday.

The medical report on the defensive side is bleaker. U.Va.'s traveling party didn't include starting linebackers Ahmad Brooks (ankle) or Jermaine Dias (foot). That means a true freshman, probably Aaron Clark, is likely to start at one of the outside spots, which doesn't bode well for a defense Maryland overpowered last weekend.

Still, the Wahoos are determined to redeem themselves.

"I'm not going to sit here and make excuses," outside linebacker Clint Sintim said Tuesday. "Whether we were out of position or we were losing blocks, [the Terrapins] came in here and ran the ball right down our throats and made plays, and when we had the opportunity, we couldn't stop them.

"We're a way better defense than that . . . and we're going to have to prove that somehow [against BC] and in the upcoming weeks."

 

Cavaliers Still Seek Breakout Victory
UVa. Has Stalled Against Top 25
By Mark Schlabach
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, October 8, 2005; E01

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass., Oct. 7 -- In some ways, Virginia Coach Al Groh's signature is a lot like his five-year tenure at his alma mater: It begins with a sweeping arch, as if to announce a grand arrival, rises again and then falls sharply.

After leaving the New York Jets to return to Virginia before the 2001 season, Groh assembled back-to-back recruiting classes ranked among the country's best. After a 5-7 record in his first season, the Cavaliers won nine games in 2002 and eight in 2003 and seemed to be blossoming.

But last season, with seven players who would be chosen in April's NFL draft, the Cavaliers lost three of their last four games, including a 37-34 setback to Boise State in the MPC Computers Bowl.

Under Groh, Virginia is 7-11 against opponents ranked in the Associated Press top 25 poll. The Cavaliers haven't beaten a team ranked higher than No. 15 in any of the last four seasons and have lost their last four games against ranked foes.

With the Cavaliers still reeling from a 45-33 loss at Maryland last week, this hardly seems like the time Virginia can give its coach the signature victory he needs.

"We need to win a big game," Virginia tailback Wali Lundy said. "We really, really need to win a big game. I think it would do a lot for this team."

Starting with today's game against No. 18 Boston College at Alumni Stadium and next week's nationally televised home game against No. 4 Florida State, the Cavaliers have two chances to shed their label of an underachieving team that can't beat teams they aren't supposed to beat.

The Cavaliers failed miserably in similar opportunities last season, as a 36-3 loss at then-No. 7 Florida State, a 31-21 loss to No. 18 Miami and a 24-10 loss at No. 11 Virginia Tech knocked them out of the ACC championship race and into another lower-tier bowl game. More alarming was the fact Virginia wasn't very competitive in any of those games.

Under Groh, Virginia has beaten only one ranked team on the road (a 26-24 victory at No. 21 Clemson on Sept. 22, 2001).

"You always want to play the best and beat the best," Cavaliers quarterback Marques Hagans said. "Until you win a game against one of those teams, you can't be considered among the best."

While Groh's future at Virginia has never before seemed so secure -- he signed a new six-year contract shortly before the Sept. 3 opener against Western Michigan that will pay him $1.7 million annually -- the Cavaliers have never seemed so fragile during his tenure.

Three of the team's star players -- leading rusher Lundy, all-American linebacker Ahmad Brooks and left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson -- have been hobbled by injuries. Ferguson, who might be the first offensive tackle taken in April's NFL draft, might not play against the Eagles because of a sprained knee. Brooks, who missed the first three games before playing at Maryland, is still recovering from offseason knee surgery and sprained his ankle against the Terrapins.

Virginia's 3-4 defense -- Groh is one of the few Division I-A coaches who still uses the scheme -- is built around its linebackers, but without a healthy Brooks and Darryl Blackstock, who left early for the NFL draft, the Cavaliers have largely been defenseless.

After the Terrapins handed Virginia one of its worst losses during Groh's tenure, he expressed concerns about his team fragmenting as it reached the most important stretch of its season.

"There's no formula" for preventing it, Groh said. "You just keep your eyes and ears open. In this particular case, I don't think there's any need for due diligence."

Lundy says beating the Eagles, who are in their first season in the ACC, would cure many of the Cavaliers' ailments.

"One of our team goals was, 'Let's go out and win a big game,' " Lundy said. "It's a big challenge that awaits us. We know Boston College is a very good team. You've just got to go win. I think that's all it is. You've got to win a big game to get over the hump."

 

BC's attitude not cavalier
Virginia to provide a test
By Michael Vega, Globe Staff | October 8, 2005

All week long, as his team prepared for today's Atlantic Coast Conference showdown against the University of Virginia, Boston College football coach Tom O'Brien tried to instill his 18th-ranked Eagles with a sense of urgency.

O'Brien wanted to see his team (4-1, 1-1) play with the same urgency it showed in its 16-13 overtime triumph at Clemson Sept. 24, the Eagles' first ACC triumph, after suffering a 28-17 loss to Florida State the week before in their inaugural conference game. The victory came in the cement cauldron of Death Valley, where the Eagles -- with sophomore backup quarterback Matt Ryan at the helm -- refused to wither.

Adding to BC's sense of urgency today will be the status of fifth-year senior quarterback Quinton Porter, who missed the last two games nursing a sprained right ankle he suffered in the third quarter of the loss to the Seminoles.

If Porter is unable to play, Ryan, now 2-1 as a starter for his career, will make his third consecutive start.

''As I keep preaching to our team," said O'Brien, a longtime Virginia assistant (1982-96) to former head coach George Welsh, ''you look at how you went into Clemson, and Virginia's going to come here and be that way, too. Or more so."

The game is at 1 p.m. at Alumni Stadium on Channel 5.

Virginia (3-1, 1-1) dropped out of the Top 25 last week after suffering its first loss, a sobering 45-33 setback at Maryland, where the Cavaliers surrendered a season-high 570 total yards (320 passing, 250 rushing). It was the most yards allowed by one of coach Al Groh's Virginia teams.

''The history in that series is that the home team has won the last four games before this year," O'Brien said, when asked if Virginia's loss at Maryland was to be regarded as an aberration. ''It's been a rivalry for many years and it's an important game for both schools, but that's the way this conference is. Each and every game we're involved in may be like that. I mean, you could show up and someone could thump you at any time. Not that Virginia wasn't ready to play, but Maryland was clicking on all cylinders."

The Cavaliers, led by elusive quarterback Marques Hagans, are chasing unbeaten Virginia Tech (5-0, 3-0) in the Coastal Division. They have returned to Boston for the first time in 42 years intent on keeping alive their hopes for a berth in the ACC championship game Dec. 3 in Jacksonville, Fla.

BC wrapped up the nonconference portion of its schedule with a 38-0 shutout of visiting Ball State last week. The game offered the Eagles, who are chasing the Seminoles (4-0, 2-0) in the Atlantic Division, the opportunity to dine on an appetizing morsel from the Mid-American Conference. BC now sinks its teeth into the meat of its schedule against Virginia, the first of six conference opponents the Eagles will face over the next seven weeks.

''Each game is an elimination game," said O'Brien. ''You get a second loss in the conference . . . Jacksonville's a long shot now having one, thinking who's going to beat Florida State. But you need two teams to beat Florida State, because if they only end up with one, then they go [to Jacksonville] by the tiebreaker because they beat us. So two [conference losses] and you're done as far as having any chance to get to Jacksonville.

''I think that's probably true on both sides of the equation now with the way Virginia Tech's playing," O'Brien added. ''You have Virginia Tech without a loss and Florida State is the only one on our side without a loss, so they're in the driver's seat and the rest of us are trying to catch up to them."

This game, however, could have huge postseason implications for both teams.

As one BC assistant put it, ''It could mean the difference between going to play on the blue turf [in Boise, Idaho] or going to a beach bowl."

When it comes to playing in Boise, though, Virginia's been there and done that, suffering a 37-34 overtime loss to Fresno State Dec. 27 in the MPC Computers Bowl. BC, meanwhile, has made six consecutive bowl appearances and owns the country's longest bowl winning streak at five.

A victory today could bring the Eagles to the threshold of bowl eligibility.

BC, though, will first have to contend with Virginia's potent running attack, which ranks second in the conference (176.3 yards per game). The Eagles will have to rely on their nationally fourth-ranked defense, whose rush defense (53 yards per game) is rated the best in the ACC and second in the nation behind Ohio State.

''[The Cavaliers are] a power-running team and they're going to come downhill at us," said senior linebacker Ray Henderson, BC's leading tackler with 26 stops. ''Al Groh is big on the run. It's going to be a tough challenge. They were first or second in the league the last couple of years in rushing, so it's going to be the best vs. the best, and we'll see who comes out on top."