Fans speak their minds about Cavs
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
October 13, 2006

Ask any sportswriter what they dread the most other than transcribing interviews and most likely they’ll rank having to deal with a coaching search or covering a struggling team. Neither is much fun, although they can be interesting, and both topics usually bring out the worst in fans.

Regarding the past few columns about Virginia football, I have been called everything from mean-spirited to too easy going on Al Groh. I’ve been called a homer - which I dispute and despise - a voice of reason, too harsh a critic, an observer with a mature point of view, and a few other things that you can’t say in a family newspaper.

One thing is for sure, there’s no apathy toward Wahoo football. There’s a lot of passion out there, some of it misdirected in my opinion (and that is my job as a columnist to voice my opinion, which doesn’t mean you have to agree, although I’m usually privy to some information that you’re not), but I’ll take passion over apathy anytime.

Groh’s analogy of an airplane pilot didn’t seem to go over too well, and from the looks of the tons of e-mails I received, the coach might be wise to take on a PR agent.

Here’s a sample of what the reader writes:

* “Jerry, I appreciate your columns. You are a good journalist, even if you are a homer. I enjoy a homer though when that homer supports ‘my’ program. You do an excellent job.”

* “Jerry, your column today on Mr. Groh was excellent. You did a good job of explaining Mr. Groh’s circumstances without being a homer or mere apologist. Keep up the good work.”

* “Hello Jerry. I’ll admit that I have no idea how to set up a kickoff coverage team. However, I do know how to read a scoreboard. My lack of coaching experience will also not affect my decision to continue to buy season tickets or make donations to UVa Athletics. As a lifelong fan and alum, I will always support the Cavaliers. But I doubt now that I will ever support Al Groh.”

* “Jerry, thank you for bringing some reason to the world of Cavalier football. I thought today’s defense of Groh was right on ... it did not absolve him of the difficult year, but made it clear that he cares, he loves to coach those kids, has a plan, and he cares about our wonderful university. I can’t understand why so many fans want this team to be something it is not, a perennial top 25 team. The compression in today’s college game (in which there are 10 constants that challenge for the top 10 and about 10 others that, if everything breaks right, can challenge for the top 10 every four years) means that there will be years like this. So be it. We still love the team and thanks for giving those of us with a realistic view of the world a voice. I love your coverage.”

* “Mr. Ratcliffe. I enjoy your columns ... I am one of those fed up with Coach Groh. At a minimum, I don’t think 7-5 seasons and appearances in third-tier bowl games are what the university deserves for what it is paying its coaching staff and puts into facilities.”

* “With respect to not understanding coaching or football, I have my own analogy. I am a doctor. If I misdiagnose someone’s heart attack chest pain as heartburn and they go home and die, should the patient’s family not criticize me just because they know nothing about anatomy, physiology, clinical diagnosis, or the umpteen million other things one has to be proficient in to be a good doctor? Of course they should and will be critical because they were paying me to provide them with an accurate diagnosis.”

* “We may not know about ‘two-deep, three-deep zones, etc., but we know enough to be able to say that Coach Groh’s program has been languishing for years with attrition, bizarre redshirting strategies, defensive schemes that don’t seem compatible with the college game, rollercoaster offense and nepotism ...”

* “Keep up the honest and objective coverage. Hopefully Groh will get it right, and, if not, Littlepage can dump a few million dollars as he did with Gillen.”

* “Mr. Ratcliffe ... using the airplane analogy ... if the airplane has flown or is flying into the side of a mountain (as Virginia football is this season), can’t even the most casual observers rightly assume that the pilot has committed many errors and that his way of piloting leaves much to be desired? A fan doesn’t need to be a coach to see that.”

* “Can’t Coach Groh, just once, swallow his arrogance and admit that mistakes have been made that placed the program in this position, that the staff understands those mistakes and steps have been taken to ensure that those mistakes will not be repeated? That’s all most fans and alums want to hear. It’s called Public Relations 101 and it’s a necessary prerequisite to engendering a positive fan base, especially during trying times such as these. As I’m sure you know, where there is smoke, there is fire, from the casual fans all the way up to influential donors upon whom UVa is relying to reach the $3 billion capital campaign goal.”

* “Hello Jerry. Getting older gives me a dose of reality. UVa football is never going to be a consistent top-10 program in my armchair opinion. The recruits you need to win a title cannot get into or stay in school here ... most of the top recruits who like UVa end up going to Tennessee or Southern Cal, etc. I do not think any coach would make a difference. I like the passion Groh has, and I think he is a good, but not great, coach. I do not think you can win on the collegiate level with a defense playing a 3-4. If you do not put pressure on the quarterback, you will not win.”

* “Your article a week or two ago was right on when you talked about experience at the quarterback position. Great college quarterbacks can dominate a game. ... Also, if Virginia Tech was not as good as they are, it would help Groh and Virginia. ... I hope Groh is around and can have a good season next year, but seven or eight wins a year is about the max we can get. Thank God we have lacrosse, soccer, tennis and baseball.”

* “Hey Hootie (that’s my nickname in case you’re wondering), my question is why does Groh have to spar with the fans at all? It would have been simple enough to say what he said about nobody is having less fun than he, and left it at that. But it’s as if he wanted to attack those that criticize him.”

* “I find Chris Long’s postgame ECU comments very interesting ...”

* “I thought this would be a 5-7 type season, and could still be, but the losses to Western Michigan and ECU are ridiculous.”

* “Jerry, I’m one of those fans out there who was energized by the Welsh years and then reenergized by the early Groh years. He put a lot of pressure on himself with his comments about chess and checkers, and teams with schemes but no players are unimportant teams ... stuff that gets misquoted and misinterpreted. And he is arrogant. When you win championships, you can afford to be arrogant. When you lose 13 of your last 25, you cannot.”

* “I know this about college football ... no top 25 program runs a 3-4 defense. West Virginia runs a 3-3-5, so it’s a technicality, but they give up a lot of points to good offenses. That has to tell you something.”

* “Jerry, I have enjoyed your coverage this season and your candor. I still struggle with Groh. I don’t do the ‘hate board’ stuff but just wonder how he is credited with getting such great classes each year when, after five years, he has just about the worst team in I-A football (based on rankings among all the schools in the various categories of team production)?”

... Like I said, plenty of passion.

Odds and ends

While I have your attention, we did get an update on Peter Lalich’s statistics through the midpoint of West Springfield’s season. We figured it was close to 1,500 passing yards in our Scattershooting on Thursday.

Here’s the official numbers for Lalich this season: 103 of 147 passes (70 percent) for 1,580 yards and 13 touchdowns. We think he has five interceptions, all in the same game (three of them in the opponents’ end zone).

Also, one of my favorite people in the world, former ACC commissioner Gene Corrigan, who is celebrating his 60th high school reunion in Baltimore this weekend, called Thursday to let football fans know about the rebirth of the Charlottesville chapter of the National Football Foundation.

The NFF will sponsor a Q&A with the ESPN Thursday Night Football broadcast team of Kirk Herbstreit and Chris Fowler, next Wednesday night (5:30 to 7 p.m.) at the Omni. All football fans are welcome. Light hors d’oeuvres will be served. If you love football, you’ll be there.

 

Simpson waiting in the wings
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
October 13, 2006

Patience is a virtue.

Mikell Simpson is finding out the hard way.

The redshirt freshman running back has no choice but to smile and wait. Stuck behind seniors Jason Snelling and Michael Johnson and sophomore Cedric Peerman on Virginia’s depth chart at tailback, Simpson’s chances to shine have been few and far between.

It would appear, however, entering Saturday’s game between Virginia (2-4, 1-1 ACC) and Maryland (3-2, 0-1 ACC) at Scott Stadium (3:30 p.m.) that Simpson has made the most of his opportunities.

Playing strictly in garbage time at Pittsburgh and Duke, Simpson has seven carries for 45 yards, which gives the Pennsylvania native a team-best average of 6.4 yards per carry.

“I am just waiting my turn,” Simpson said after Wednesday’s practice. “Things will play out. You just have to sit back and wait your turn. Hopefully, I will get another opportunity soon to showcase my abilities and take advantage of it.”

Simpson has proven that biding time is one of his best qualities.

Coming out of Harrisburg (Pa.) High, Simpson was one of the last players in the Class of 2005 to make his decision. In fact, when Simpson picked Virginia over Alabama on ESPNews on Jan. 25 of that year, he was the 22nd commitment in Groh’s recruiting class.

Sure, Simpson had missed most of his senior year with a torn ACL, and sure, he was waiting on the decision of other tailbacks such as Toney Baker, who eventually picked N.C. State, but finding the perfect package was the overriding factor.

“I just wanted to make sure the decision was right,” said Simpson, whose lead recruiter was assistant coach Bob Price. “I didn’t want to rush into it. I didn’t want to end up changing my mind and de-committing at the last minute.

“If they had other running backs coming in, I would have took that into consideration and possibly went some place else or maybe … the opportunity presented itself here for where I could fit in best so that’s why I took it.”

Simpson knows he will likely watch Virginia games from the sidelines for now. Playing time follows only when UVa is winning or losing by a large margin. So be it, he says.

Until then, he is soaking up everything he can from Snelling and the other veteran running backs.

“I try to pick up some of their tendencies on how they prepare for the games and the practices and their techniques they use on picking up blitzes,” Simpson said. “That’s what I try to mainly watch.”

That’s a good thing to monitor. Past backs including Alvin Pearman and Wali Lundy, both in the NFL now, commented on UVa coach Al Groh’s biggest pet peeve: learn to pick up blitzes or pick up a clipboard.

Simpson has also tried to work on becoming a powerful running back, something his teammates have noticed.

“He definitely has gotten a lot better in between the tackles,” Snelling said before cracking a smile. “Now he will run in between the tackles, but he still doesn’t like to get hit … so he just makes sure he makes guys miss in between those tackles.”

It has helped that Simpson added to his frame. After arriving at UVa last summer at 185 pounds, the four-star recruit has bulked up to 197.

What’s the secret?

“It is pretty much whatever they have at the cafeteria,” Simpson joked. “I just try to eat as much as possible.”

There has to be more to it, right?

“Well, on weekends, I try to cook a home-cooked meal and try to cook my favorite foods.”

Simpson admits those weekend feasts, including his personal favorite of pepper steak, taste a lot better after a Cavalier win. Despite the sluggish start to the season, Simpson feels the team could just as easily be 4-2 or even better.

“It’s hard [losing], but we just have to cut down on the mental errors and the mistakes in games,” Simpson said. “If we take away that, we could play with any team so far.

“We just have to play better ball.”

Luckily, Simpson is a patient man.

 

Williams' rise is no surprise
Cavs senior receiver matured into role as a locker room leader
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Oct 13, 2006
MARYLAND AT U.VA.
TOMORROW: 3:30 p.m. RADIO: WRVA (1140), 2:30 INTERNET: ESPN360 TICKETS: Call (800) 542-8821 for availability

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Talk to Deyon Williams these days, and it's hard not to marvel at the transformation of the 17-year-old from Upper Marlboro, Md., who arrived at the University of Virginia in the summer of 2003.

U.Va. was like no place Williams, a product of rough-and- tumble Suitland High, had known. He struggled to adjust as a student and a football player.

"When I came in, I was pretty much rebellious to the system," recalled Williams, now a team captain. "I thought it was me against the world."

Cavaliers coach Al Groh expected things to be done his way. Williams, a gifted but unpolished wide receiver, had other notions.

"I'd guess you'd say that, if I was a cowboy instead of a coach, he would have been a hard horse to get a saddle on," Groh said yesterday. "But he's a player that I would say always inspired significant efforts toward him, because whatever else was in place, his passion for football from the start was very apparent."

Williams, who turned 21 last month, turned the corner after a sophomore season in which he lost his starting job before the MPC Computers Bowl.

In his first two seasons, he had 27 receptions for 383 yards and two touchdowns. His production shot up in 2005, when he caught 58 passes for 767 yards and seven TDs and earned all-ACC honorable mention.

Credit Debra and Ricky Williams for their younger son's turnaround.

"It was 100 percent my parents," Deyon Williams said. "I went through some things my first couple of years here, and my mom and dad told me, 'Sometimes you just got to bite your tongue and listen to people and do what you're supposed to do, and things will work out.'"

All was working out well this year until early in training camp, when the 6-3, 196-pound senior reported soreness in his right foot. An examination revealed a stress fracture of the fifth metatarsal, and he had surgery Aug. 11.

Williams missed four games before playing Sept. 30 at Duke. His repetitions in practice are limited, but he's been cleared for full participation in games. U.Va. (1-1, 2-4) hosts ACC rival Maryland (0-1, 3-2) tomorrow at Scott Stadium.

A season ago, the Terrapins whipped the Cavaliers 45-33 in College Park.

"If I lose, it'll be hard for me to go home," said Williams, whose best friend, Josh Wilson, starts at cornerback for Maryland. "I know I'll hear about it for the rest of the year. . . . That's not something you want to hear when you go home."

He never redshirted, so Williams had the option of sitting out this season after he got hurt. Even after returning to play against Duke and East Carolina -- he had four catches for 42 yards and a TD in those games -- Williams could have applied for a medical redshirt had not his foot not felt right. He chose to try to help the Cavaliers, off to their worst start since 1988, salvage the season.

"I'm going to play the rest of the year," Williams said Tuesday.

On his left foot he wears a size-12 cleat. On his right is a 12½. Inside his cleat are an orthotic and a metal plate, and he wears a protective brace around his foot. The extra weight -- 1½ pounds slows him a little, but Williams said he's ready for the Terrapins.

"We beat Duke, but that's something we're supposed to do," he said. "We beat Duke every year. To beat a physically tough team like Maryland would be a good accomplishment and hopefully would put some confidence in our team."

 

History lesson favors Cavaliers
Cavs have played only one true freshman
Doug Doughty

With every Virginia loss, there have been growing comparisons to the Cavaliers’ 1986 football team, but I’m not sure that’s such a bad thing.

Like this one, the ’86 team had a six-game record of 2-4, en route to an overall mark of 3-8, UVa’s worst in the last 25 years.

Presumably, coach Al Groh would prefer to the Cavaliers’ 1988 team, which also went 2-4, only to win its last five games. But there are more similarities to the 1986 team and, besides, that losing season was followed by 13 straight winners.

The greatest similarity, in my mind, was that the 1986 season was George Welsh’s fifth and the 2006 season is Groh’s sixth. Latter-day fans tend to remember the Welsh era fondly, but, in 1986, people were voicing some of the same qualms about Welsh that they’re now voicing about Groh.

After a glorious 1984 season (8-2-2) that was capped by a Peach Bowl victory over Purdue in Virginia’s first-ever bowl, the Cavaliers fell to 6-5 in 1985 and, when the slide continued in ’86, nobody was viewing Virginia as a budding power.

Within four years, however, the Cavaliers were ranked No. 1 in the country.

That’s not saying that I expect Virginia to be ranked No. 1 again in 2010, but I could see the Cavaliers becoming a Top 25 team.

For one thing, Virginia has two promising young quarterbacks stacked up, current signalcaller Jameel Sewell and recruit Peter Lalich, providing he lives up to his commitment, which appears likely.

Sitting out the 1986 season as a redshirt was quarterback signee Shawn Moore, who went on to enjoy a career that was among the best in UVa history.

What should concern some people is that if another Shawn Moore came along today, he probably wouldn’t go to Virginia. If Tiki and Ronde Barber came along today, they probably wouldn’t go to Virginia. If Thomas Jones came along today, he probably wouldn’t go to Virginia.

Why? Because Danny Wilmer isn’t around to recruit them.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Not retaining Wilmer as an assistant coach was the most ill-advised decision of Groh’s coaching tenure.

“It always comes back to Wilmer,” media gadfly Jeff White chides me.

Yes, it does.

Groh wasn’t alone. Then-new North Carolina coach John Bunting interviewed three coaches off the Welsh staff. He hired Andre Powell and Gary Tranquill, but passed on Wilmer.

Count Bunting not hiring Wilmer as one of the best things to happen to Virginia during the Virginia era.

There are 24 Virginia players on current NFL rosters. More than half of them were recruited by Wilmer, and he hasn’t been around since December 2000.

I’VE BEEN CRITICIZED before for always trotting out Wilmer. Some people have said Groh and Wilmer couldn’t have co-existed, but I don’t believe that.

At times during Welsh’s career, he didn’t want his coaches calling recruits during the week, for fear that it would disrupt their game preparation. Meanwhile, Wilmer was chomping at the bit.. Groh likes to recruit, which is a big difference.

Groh’s a good recruiter and he’s had some good recruiters on his staffs, most notably Al Golden and Mike London, although there have been others. I’m not saying that a Mike London couldn’t have recruited a Shawn Moore; I just believe that Virginia has lost the contacts and the continuity it had in southwest Virginia when Wilmer was mining this area.

I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Virginia struggled at roughly the same point in the Groh and Welsh eras. In deference to the self-described “old redhead,” Dick Bestwick, it should be noted that he, too, was a willing recruiter who left Welsh with All-ACC players like Jim Dombrowswki, Lester Lyles, Ron Mattes and Bob Olderman.

It was the Welsh staff that recruited the two quarterbacks (Matt Schaub and Marques Hagans) who led Virginia to four straight winning seasons under Groh, but Groh’s first staff recruited well, as did Welsh’s first staff.

Where I see a similarity is in the commitment that both Welsh and Groh made toward winning right away. Neither coach used widespread redshirting to build for the future and it showed in downturns in 1986 and 2006.

It is interesting that, through six games, 15 of Virginia’s 2006 signees have not played and remain eligible to take a redshirt. At no point in the Groh era have the Cavaliers played as few freshman.

IT WAS INTERESTING TO see former Virginia athletic director Terry Holland taking part in hall-of-fame ceremonies last week at East Carolina because UVa never had a hall of fame while he was athletic director (and still doesn’t).

Last week’s column made reference to that oversight and talked about the multitude of 1950’s-era UVa football players who are in the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and some of the ones who aren’t, like Johnny Papit and Jim Bakhtiar.

“Jim Bakhtiar was the best linebacker I have seen play at UVa,” reader Bob Husted wrote.

If he was watching in 1958, he’s seen a few.

 

Olsen ponders what's next
Virginia quarterback Christian Olsen lost the starting job after just two games but hopes to stay in football as a coach.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
October 11, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- He waited four years for something that lasted seven quarters. It unraveled that quickly for Christian Olsen in his run at Virginia's starting quarterback.

"It was difficult, but it's something that you really can't dwell on," he said. "I really didn't give much thought to it."

Instead of dwelling on what didn't happen, Olsen focused on what he didn't want to happen: his demotion tearing apart the Cavaliers. He watched as junior Kevin McCabe replaced him and redshirt freshman Jameel Sewell replaced McCabe. Knowing he wants to be a coach one day, Olsen helped tutor Sewell in his continuing, and sometimes rocky, development.

"I could go out and really have a bad attitude and not do the things that are asked of me," said Olsen, a fifth-year senior. "But that's something that never once crossed my mind.

"It's not like I had to sit there and really try to convince myself to be the guy that I should be. It was a no-brainer. There was never ever a thought of trying to bring this team down at all.

"You definitely gotta handle it the right way. Because if you go out and you handle it the wrong way, it becomes a real distraction for a team, and it really could sink this team pretty fast."

In two games as the starter, Pittsburgh and Wyoming, Olsen completed 29 of
55 passes for 222 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions - one of which was returned for a touchdown. McCabe replaced him after the third quarter against Wyoming.

Olsen struggled to move the offense, as the Cavaliers went three plays and out on 11 of his 20 drives. Virginia got one touchdown and four field goals on those drives and averaged 12.5 yards. The week after the Wyoming game, Olsen played briefly against Western Michigan. He saw garbage-time duty at Duke, leading Virginia to a touchdown on its final drive. But Olsen was just
8-of-12 passing for 48 yards in those two games. He is listed second on the depth chart, but unless Sewell gets injured, Olsen's career seems to be over.

Virginia coach Al Groh said that he hasn't considered changing quarterbacks since inserting Sewell for the second half against Western Michigan. Groh has said he had an inkling that Sewell might eventually win the job. In the first half of Sewell's three starts, he has passed for 22, 75 and 39 yards.
"We have a very positive-feeling picture for where it's going," Groh said.
"We know it's the best path to take, and we're committed to it." That leaves Olsen to ponder his future. Last week, he crafted a resume and started sending e-mails to college coaches with the hope of landing a graduate-assistant position.

He has connections because his dad, Chris, has been a high school coach for 30 years and currently coaches at Wayne Hills High in Wayne, N.J.

Chris said Olsen has wanted to coach since he was little and hopes to bypass high school and go straight to the college ranks. Chris said he's not disappointed that Olsen transferred from Notre Dame to Virginia before the
2003 season. He's just disappointed specifically in how Olsen's football career turned out and thinks Virginia's coaches pulled the plug too soon on his son.

"Without a doubt," he said. "I think they're looking down the road and not putting a lot of time into this year.

"I just don't really think he was given a real good opportunity, either. I think this was something they were gonna do, regardless of what happened.
And as a high school coach, you notice those kind of things."

"You always are interested in how kids are treated. I'm not sure they handled it the right way. I'm not sure they handled it the wrong way, either. ... It's not like they made a change and a magic switch went on, either. Hey, they know their team better than we do. I'm sure they do what they think is best for the team."

Groh said coaches always must consider a player's emotions when demoting him.

"The human element is a lot more important than the X's and the O's," he said. "But it can't keep you from doing what needs to be done."

Terps bring opportunity to Cavs
A victory against Maryland could be just what Virginia needs for season turn-around
Paul Montana, Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Virginia (2-4, 1-1 ACC) returns home Saturday to take on ACC rival Maryland (3-2, 0-1 ACC), in the first game of a three-game homestand.

The Cavaliers hope the game will be a turning point in their season. They have not started a season 2-4 since 1988.

"Of course, we use our record as motivation," senior wide receiver Fontel Mines said. "Nobody wants to be 2-4."

After their three-game road trip, the Cavaliers welcome the opportunity to play in front of their home crowd, particularly against Maryland. The Cavaliers have not fallen to the Terrapins at Scott Stadium since 1990. In addition, both of Maryland's losses this year have come on the road.

"Being at home is a lift," senior tailback Jason Snelling said. "It's good for team morale."

Another motivation for the Cavaliers is the rivalry they have with Maryland. Overall, the Cavaliers have had the upper hand recently, winning six out of the last eight meetings. However, in their last match-up, the Terrapins exploded for 250 yards rushing in a 45-33 win in College Park.

"We really pride ourselves on stopping the run, so we use that memory as fuel," sophomore safety Byron Glaspy said.

If the Cavaliers want redemption, the offense must be more efficient Saturday, particularly in their passing game. The team is averaging only 232 total yards per game -- 155 of those yards coming in the air.

"When I look at the offensive sheet, the lack of numbers in almost every category -- whether it's completed passes, touchdown passes, yards per catch or points scored -- are all pretty much the issue," Virginia coach Al Groh said.

Once again, the focus for the Cavalier offense will be on their inexperienced quarterback, redshirt freshman Jameel Sewell. Since becoming the starter, Sewell has done little to show that he is improving. However, the coaching staff continues to stand by their decision to start him.

"We have a very positive picture of where this is going to go," Groh said. "Whatever the growing pains might be, we know it's the best path to take and we are committed to it."

Maryland is coming off a 27-23 defeat against a very strong Georgia Tech team that walloped the Cavaliers 24-7 on national television. Maryland was able to create points from their defense and special teams, with a kick return for a touchdown and a fumble recovery on Georgia Tech's eight-yard line that they converted for a touchdown.

"The key thing that we have noticed about Maryland is that really pretty much from the second half of the West Virginia game on is the improvement in their execution," Groh said. "From the start of the second half through the following game and certainly through the Georgia Tech game the execution in all three phases has really spiked up."

A Virginia victory on Saturday would be a step in the right direction as the Cavaliers try to put together a respectable season. However, the team knows they will have to put forth their best game so far this season to achieve that feat.

"We've had success against Maryland at home in the past but that doesn't mean anything for this weekend," Snelling said.

 

Rivalry runs deeper than ACC for Cavaliers' Williams
Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 13, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE - After Maryland's 45-33 win over Virginia last season, Deyon Williams couldn't escape the trash talk no matter where he went.
The Upper Marlboro, Md., native heard it on the street. He heard it from family members. And he certainly heard it from his best friend, Josh Wilson, which makes sense since Wilson happens to be a star cornerback for the Terrapins.

Needless to say, Williams has some extra motivation when Virginia hosts Maryland on Saturday.

"I just see it as, if I lose, it'll be hard for me to go home," said Williams, who returned from a stress fracture in his right foot two weeks ago. "I know I'll hear about it for the rest of the year. If I go home, everybody will be talking about, 'Maryland, they beat y'all.' That's not something you want to hear."

Williams and Wilson grew up together in Upper Marlboro but attended different high schools (Williams went to Suitland, Wilson to DeMatha). They nearly went to the University of Maryland together, but the promise of playing time wasn't there for Williams, who opted for Virginia and played in 10 games as a true freshman.

They've been matched up against each other the last few seasons. Williams caught five passes for 62 yards last season, but, as he's been reminded countless times over the last year, the Terrapins got the win. Williams had a response to that.

"I always brought up the issue, yeah, well at least we went to a bowl game," he said with a laugh.

Locked lineup

A slow start usually means a coach will shake up the lineup to try to spark the team. Other than the quarterback, Groh has not done so.

The only changes have been Zak Stair taking over at left tackle for Eugene Monroe (though Monroe still plays plenty of snaps) and Chris Cook passing Chris Gorham at one of the cornerback spots.

"We think we have the guys who are the most gifted, talent-wise, or the furthest along in the lineup," Groh said. "We feel that the better course is rather than just changing things around, to keep those players in the lineup and continue to develop them."

The Terrapin two-step

Virginia has blocked three punts this season, the first time it has done so since 1996. It will be hard to add to that total this week.

In addition to being one of the best punters in the ACC, Maryland's Adam Podlesh is a two-step kicker, which Groh described as a rarity these days in football, where three-step punters are the norm.

Podlesh hasn't had a punt blocked in his three-plus years with the Terps. In fact, Maryland hasn't had a punt blocked in six years, a streak of 78 games, the longest in the nation.

"(The two-step approach) cuts down obviously on the time a defense has to get there, but it also cuts down on the space," Groh said. "(Rushers) have less time to go further."

Virginia has had its own problems punting the ball, though the stats suggest the Cavaliers are not terrible in that department. Junior Chris Gould is seventh in the ACC with a 37-yard net punting average.

But he's been the benefactor of some favorable bounces and has rarely gotten off any high, booming punts.

"It's because the balls happen to roll the right way," Groh said. "Sometimes these 29-yard punts are turning into 42-yarders. If the ball rolled the same distance the other way, they'd be 16-yard punts. Not a pleasant thought."


 

Unhappy Va. fans say Groh must go
Coach says 2-4 start painful for him, too
By Heather A. Dinich
Sun reporter
Originally published October 13, 2006

College Park // The slogan on the Web site www.GrohsGottaGo.net reads: "Doing nothing for Virginia football since 2001."
On another site, www.GrohMustGo.com, a bake sale was advertised to "raise money to buy out Al Groh." It reads: "Brownies are $425,000 each, and cupcakes are $1.2 million."

What bothers the embattled Virginia coach, though, is not the grassroots campaign for his replacement. Groh said the most challenging part of his job this season has been dealing with the results - a 2-4 overall record for the first time since 1988. It's an unfamiliar position for the Cavaliers (1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) to be in tomorrow when Maryland (3-2, 0-1) visits Charlottesville, Va., for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff.

Virginia hasn't had a losing record coming into the Maryland game since it was 0-1 in 1987.

"I'm no different than any other head coach, assistant coach or whatever. This is my life," Groh said. "This is what I do. That affects my feelings about the results on a play-to-play basis, on a day-to-day basis, a game-to-game basis."

Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen understands those struggles.

"Everything is in cycles," said Friedgen, who has seen his program go from three seasons of at least 10 wins to back-to-back 5-6 finishes. "I think they have a young team. They've got a change at quarterback. I've been there. I know what they're doing. College football right now, the parity is so close. ... It doesn't really matter what league you're in. And if you have a few injuries, a few mistakes in recruiting, it gets even closer."

In five-plus years coaching at his alma mater, Groh has amassed a 39-30 record and is 22-20 in the league. So far his only losing season at Virginia was his first, in 2001, when he finished 5-7.

The Cavaliers - winners over Minnesota at the Music City Bowl last year - have gone to bowl games each of the past four seasons, which is why defensive end Chris Long said he is having a hard time dealing with this year's start.

"It's strange for me to start off 2-4, because when you're accustomed to winning, it's a tough feeling. But I still feel like our team is comprised of a lot of winners," said Long, a team captain whose father, Howie, was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2000. " ... I'm not discouraged; I'm motivated to continue to go out there and play hard," said Chris Long. "It's going to come together for us. I'm confident of that."

Part of Virginia's struggles this year can be attributed to inexperience at quarterback, as the Cavaliers had to replace Marques Hagans coming into this season. Groh used a trial-and-error process with three different players, and has since committed to redshirt freshman Jameel Sewell.

The initial starter, Notre Dame transfer Christian Olsen, was replaced by junior Kevin McCabe during the fourth quarter against Wyoming on Sept. 9. The following week, all three played against Western Michigan, but Sewell has had the job to himself the past three games.

"I have to take on a different role with this team and try to be somewhat of a leader and instill confidence in the rest of the team," said Sewell, who now leads an offense that ranks 115th out of 119 Division I-A teams.

Things have also intensified for Groh, who made it clear at his news conference this week that Virginia fans aren't the only ones suffering through the losses.

"Nobody on this Earth," he said, "is having less fun than I am."

Disgruntled fans, however, continue to voice their displeasure.

The Web site www.firealgroh.com? It's currently under construction.

 

Virginia Tech is failing every test it faces
Published October 13 2006, 12:47 AM EDT
CHESTNUT HILL, MASS. -- BY DAVID TEEL

They aren't very good. Or disciplined. Or smart. Such is the state of Virginia Tech's Hokies midway through this football season.

It was going to be different, you know. Coach Frank Beamer vowed it. His players echoed it.

The crippling penalties, embarrassing behavior and subsequent defeats that marred the latter stages of 2005? Not this year.

Today it all sounds so hollow.

Virginia Tech lost its second consecutive game Thursday, 22-3 at Boston College. And all the demons the Hokies promised to exorcise returned to haunt again.

"We need to determine what kind of football team we are," Beamer said in hushed tones before boarding what figured to be a silent charter flight home.

Reserve receiver Josh Hyman didn't make the trip, suspended for the game due to a DUI bust last week. That's three arrests and four suspensions this season for those scoring at home.

First reserve defensive lineman William Wall missed the North Carolina game for getting mouthy with his coaches; defensive end Chris Ellis and receiver Josh Morgan, both starters, watched the Georgia Tech loss from afar after getting arrested for unruly conduct outside a Blacksburg night spot.

All of which prompts an obvious question: When will the knuckleheads learn?

After last season's histrionics, the Hokies know they're on a short leash (as well they should be). Yet they continue to act like fools.

Perhaps one game isn't enough. Perhaps the next offender needs to go. For good.

"I expect us to act right off the field, and I expect us to play right on the field," Beamer said.

The Hokies are 0-for-2.

They committed nine penalties for 88 yards. Xavier Adibi and Chris Ellis committed personal-foul facemask penalties in the first half, and most damaging was a holding call against guard Ryan Shuman that nullified Sean Glennon's 19-yard, second-quarter touchdown pass to David Clowney.

"I panicked and pulled (the defender) down," Shuman said. "It was a good call."

Forced to settle for Brandon Pace's 36-yard field goal, Tech trailed 7-3 at intermission.

The second half was worse. By far.

Boston College owned the ball for more than 21 of 30 minutes and outgained the Hokies 140 yards to 21. Tech twice turned the ball over and yielded a safety on a bad punt snap.

Remember when Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster called blitzes like a mad scientist? Not Thursday. The 22nd-ranked Hokies rushed four and never sacked Ryan.

The offensive line was no better than the defensive front. After false-starting on a fourth-and-1 in the loss to Georgia Tech, the line allowed BC linebacker Brian Toal to stuff Branden Ore on a fourth-and-1 at the Eagles' 18 early in the second quarter.

Why did Beamer disdain a field goal when his line is clearly inferior? When it had no chance against the likes of 340-pound defensive tackle B.J. Raji? Don't know. Not that it mattered.

Virginia Tech's offense committed four turnovers, rushed for 33 yards and failed to score a touchdown for the first time since a 42-3 loss to North Carolina in the Gator Bowl following the 1997 season.

The Hokies are 4-2 overall, 2-2 in the ACC. But the truth is, they haven't accomplished a thing. Season-opening victories over Northeastern, North Carolina, Duke and Cincinnati? Paint-by-numbers stuff for a program of Tech's caliber.

No, the Hokies have faced two tests, Georgia Tech and Boston College, and flubbed both. Their streak of nine consecutive ACC road victories is over; their streak of 32 consecutive weeks in the national top 25 is about to end.

"I don't think we know who the best football team is in the ACC right now," Beamer said during the week.

Perhaps it's Clemson, which bullied poor Temple on Thursday. Maybe it's Georgia Tech. Or it could be Boston College, 5-2 in its last seven games against ranked opponents. But for Ryan's mishandled snap from a backup center at North Carolina State, the Eagles (5-1, 2-1) would be undefeated.

One thing's for sure: The ACC's best team is not Virginia Tech.
 

Uninspiring, undisciplined Hokies implode
BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Oct 13, 2006

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.

They're just another team. Ordinary. So-so. Beatable. Most seasons begin with giddy promise for Virginia Tech's Hokies. Seldom are they short-circuited as quickly as this one. The Hokies crumbled 22-3 against Boston College last night. They're now 4-0 against patsies and 0-2 against real competition.

They are not, in other words, going places.

This was very messy stuff. The Hokies burped up four turnovers three by quarterback Sean Glennon, the lone bright spot in the rout against Georgia Tech two Saturdays ago and gave up two points on a punt snap that flew through the end zone. They had four personal fouls among their nine penalties. Their pass-blocking was shoddy, their pass coverage shaky, their play-calling top-heavy with flanker screens that didn't begin to stretch BC's defense.

Other than that, Mr. Beamer, how did you like the play?

Tech's moment of truth -- it actually amounted to 11 minutes of truth -- came during the third period and segued into the fourth. Behind 10-3 at the beginning of that stretch, the Hokies launched their next three possessions from their 43, their 41 and BC's 47.

And got nothing from these invitations to a comeback. Nada. Zip.

The Hokies, in fact, managed only two first downs in those three series en route to the stunning total of 21 yards of offense over the closing 30 minutes. They'd owned the road since joining the ACC 2 1/2 seasons ago, zipping through nine away games without a loss. Last night, they were evicted. And didn't put up much of a fight.

One can only take a stab at the essence of Frank Beamer's halftime oratory, but a safe guess is that it went something along the lines of, "What the #&X@% are you guys doing out there?"

The answer: Nothing the man would wish to share at a coaches clinic.

Tech trailed 7-3 at the break. It could've been worse. It might've been better. It was mostly untidy. The Hokies lucked out when BC's Brandon Robinson dropped a pass in the end zone to end a threat created by David Clowney's fumble at his 24. They gave BC a touchdown on a possession earned via a Glennon interception and propelled by the first of defensive end Chris Ellis' two face-mask penalties. They forfeited a TD pass on Ryan Shuman's holding penalty and had to settle for a field goal.

Then they hit the dressing room for Beamer's, umm, counsel.

They maybe heard.

They didn't listen.

Two Glennon giveaways and another Ellis face-mask whistle later, BC had a 13-3 lead on a couple of field goals from Steve Aponavicius. He's the left-footed walk-on who was appearing in his first-ever football game -- he played soccer in high school -- in place of Ryan Ohliger, booted from the squad for his involvement in a bar brawl.

Ohliger wasn't the only player non grata at Alumni Stadium. For the second straight game, McGruff took a bite out of Tech's depth chart. Against Georgia Tech, Beamer banished receiver Josh Morgan and Ellis for their alleged roles in an off-campus fracas. Last night, Josh Hyman paid for his DUI arrest of last week by being left home in Blacksburg.

Over the summer, Beamer read the riot act to his players and trumpeted his get-tough policies publicly. There would be no repeat of the disheveled product the Hokies flashed last season -- the acting out, the barrage of flags, the general lack of discipline.

Maybe the Hokies weren't paying attention then, either. There was a spate of personal fouls early on, then the embarrassment of players showing up on Montgomery County police blotters -- and now this sloppy, downbeat performance. Not good. Not good at all.

 

Tech's once blue-collar attitude gone
Aaron McFarling

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. -- ESPN cameras caught it all, every fumble, every interception, every personal foul, every embarrassing bit.

There were Virginia Tech's defensive players, including leaders Aaron Rouse and Vince Hall, pointing at each other and bickering after giving up the final touchdown. Later, inexplicably, there was linebacker Brenden Hill swaying as the band played "Sweet Caroline."

Umm ... Brenden? You're down 20-3 in the fourth quarter. If you're going to do that, you might want to move somewhere where Kirk and the gang can't circle you with a Telestrator.

But that's the thing about Thursday night games: Everything's right there, for everyone to see. For 11 straight Thursday night outings prior to this one, that's meant great things for Tech -- great exposure, no doubt a boost to recruiting.

The Hokies had better hope every recruit in the country had a hot date on this night and a broken TiVo back at home.

The final score -- Boston College 22, Tech 3 -- was not as important as the stage. The Hokies had an opportunity here, a chance to show everyone that things have changed, that they may have holes on their roster but would still fight and claw and win or lose with poise.

Instead, they took turns looking inept and out of control. They grabbed face masks, blew coverages, fumbled, flailed and flopped.

Game time approached with news of another arrest and suspension, Tech's third this season. And before it had ended, one of those who had been previously arrested and suspended had been flagged for a late hit.

All of the trouble prompted ESPN color analyst Kirk Herbstreit to rip into the Hokies, saying they've replaced their coveted lunch-pail attitude with a me-first bravado. This is something others have said before, but it matters more when it comes from Herbstreit. For the younger generation, he is one of the preeminent voices of college football, not some shock jock spewing hate for ratings.

But one man's opinion -- influential as it is -- isn't the only problem. The game's result, coupled with the loss to Georgia Tech on Sept. 30, confirmed what many had feared early on -- that Tech is in serious trouble.

The offense, centered around short passes, could not produce any big plays. The defense, while stingier than it was against Georgia Tech, lost receivers in the secondary too often and was lucky to keep the Hokies in the game early. Quarterback Sean Glennon was fortunate he wasn't seriously injured with all the booming hits he took.

In all, Tech could do nothing to take the crowd out of the game -- and we're not talking about the most hostile of environments here.

There's a reason Tech had won five straight games at Alumni Stadium. They post hockey scores on the big screen during commercial breaks. The big story on the local sports talk shows a couple hours before the game was that the Patriots signed a lineman.

The centerpiece in the Boston Globe was about the baseball playoffs.

And oh, by the way, Boston College was set to play a ranked team on national television.

This is nothing against BC, a fine program that Tom O'Brien has turned into a consistent winner, but the fact remains that this is a place you can steal one. Even better, you can steal one under the lights, put on a show for the skeptical college football world.

The skeptics have the floor now. Kirk led the way. You can bet many will follow.