No goat here; a team effort
David Teel
10:44 PM EDT, October 27, 2007

RALEIGH, N.C.

Don't dare blame Ras-I Dowling.

Sure, he was flagged for a killer penalty. Yes, he was victimized on three long passes, including the winning touchdown.

And that was just in the fourth quarter.

But please don't single out Dowling for Virginia's 29-24 defeat at North Carolina State on Saturday.

Regret the overall defensive effort and Jameel Sewell's two first-half interceptions. Curse the cramps that sidelined Sewell and pressed backup Peter Lalich into his first extended action in more than a month.

Heck, figure that after a season's worth of good fortune, the Cavaliers were due to lose like this. And finally, concede that in breaking a nine-game ACC losing streak, the Wolfpack, especially quarterback Daniel Evans, receiver Donald Bowens and defensive end Willie Young, played a helluva game.

Just go easy on Dowling. He's a kid, a true freshman cornerback, and with all due respect to quarterbacks and offensive linemen, corner is the toughest, most thankless position on the field.

A graduate of Chesapeake's Deep Creek High, Dowling usually plays in the Cavaliers' nickel and dime packages. But after redshirt freshman Mike Parker, replacing injured starter Chris Cook (knee), yielded a 40-yard Evans-to-Bowens touchdown on State's third play, Virginia's coaches determined that Parker's injured ankle was too tender for him to continue.

Enter Dowling. Wolfpack offensive coordinator Dana Bible attacked him on the very first play, and Dowling busted up a pass intended for Bowens. It was the first of a school record-tying five pass break-ups for Dowling.

But State (3-5, 1-3) continued to target Dowling. He seemed to be involved in every critical play, and rarely did he have safety help.

"He was out there quite a bit by himself," Groh said.

Late in the first half, Bowens outjumped Dowling for a 35-yard gain that led to the Wolfpack's second touchdown. Early in the fourth quarter, after the Cavaliers (7-2, 4-1) had taken a 24-23 lead, officials ruled Dowling offside on a kickoff that Darrell Blackman fumbled and Virginia's Jamaal Jackson recovered.

"A mental thing," Dowling said of the penalty.

But he was unfazed. On State's subsequent possession, Dowling picked off a deep pass intended for Bowens, the first interception by a Virginia corner this season.

"But I made a lot of bad plays out there, too" Dowling said.

Not really. Dowling blanketed Bowens (11 receptions for 202 yards) on most every snap, only to be foiled by perfect throws and acrobatic catches.

Dowling's primary mistake came on a 30-yard pass to freshman Owen Spencer. His coverage was fine but he failed to turn and see the ball coming.

On the next play, Evans lofted a 30-yard strike to Bowens in the right corner of the end zone that Dowling was virtually helpless to stop.

"He's a good player," Dowling said of Bowens. "That's all I can say."

Bowens beat Dowling again for a 28-yarder with 2:35 remaining, but again, flawless pitch-and-catch bested excellent coverage.

"Ras-I is a player that has a lot of upside," Groh said. "He had some challenging moments … but (the loss) certainly wasn't about Ras-I."

Indeed, the end of No. 21 Virginia's remarkable seven-game winning streak was more about the two Sewell interceptions that State converted into 10 points en route to a 20-10 lead, the failure to pressure Evans during a sack-free first half, and the yielding of 112 yards rushing to Jamelle Eugene, State's third-string tailback.

Truth be told, if not for Eugene's mysterious stumble 2 yards shy of the goal line (State later settled for a field goal) and Blackman's inexplicable decision to field a punt inside his own 5, Virginia might not have had the chance to win on the final possession for the third time in four weeks.

"This game does not mean that we're not a good team," said Lalich, who entered the game midway through the fourth quarter after cramps sidelined Sewell (college-best 260 yards passing).

Still good and still atop the ACC's Coastal Division, a half-game ahead of Virginia Tech, entering next week's home game against Wake Forest. The defending conference champion Deacons (6-2, 4-1) have won six straight.

"This team has shown a good resiliency," Groh said, looking ahead to Wake.

The Cavaliers, Ras-I Dowling particularly, need to keep it that way.

 

Cavs can't rally in Raleigh
Wolfpack snap Virginia's 7-game winning streak
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
October 28, 2007

RALEIGH, N.C. - With only 7 minutes and 37 seconds and a touchdown separating Virginia from another miracle on grass, a common practice broke out among Virginia’s players.

In unison, they jumped up and down, chanting an ever-popular saying.

“Everybody on the sidelines was shouting, ‘We have been here before! They haven’t been here before!’” Virginia tailback Mikell Simpson said.

Apparently, that magical practice lost its luster.

Virginia failed to score on its final three drives, registering just one first down in the process, and watched helplessly as North Carolina State ruined a perfect season in league play with a 29-24 victory at a sold-out Carter-Finley Stadium.

The Cavaliers, who entered ranked No. 21, dropped to 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the ACC. Virginia is now just a half-game ahead of Virginia Tech (6-2, 3-1 ACC) for first place in the Coastal Division.

The win gave the Wolfpack (3-5, 1-3 ACC) and new coach Tom O’Brien, a former assistant at Virginia, their first victory in league play in over a year.

“If there is any finger pointing in [our locker room] - and there ought to be a lot - there ought to be 71 guys and it ought to be each one pointing our finger at ourselves saying, ‘If I had done better, maybe the result would have been different,’” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “That particular facet, whether we have been unified in other ways in winning, that ought to unify us because if every individual in every phase of the team had done a little bit better, maybe it would have made a difference.”

Remarkably, after turning the ball over twice, failing to tackle properly on special teams and allowing a season-high in points, Virginia did have a chance to win.

Those chances took a serious hit, however, with 7:09 left when Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell went to ground with severe cramping in his right leg.

Sewell, who had passed for 260 yards and a pair of touchdowns and had been a key component of previous come-from-behind wins, was forced to watch the remainder of the game from the sidelines.

“He cramped up seriously, not just in one spot but pretty much every place,” Groh said. “Usually when the tank runs down that low, quick-fix methods that the medical people try to take, it’s pretty hard to get him to fill back up.

“Usually [it takes] a good night’s sleep and quite a bit of liquids and then they feel better the next day. Given the extent of what the cramps were, we were pretty certain that he wouldn’t be back.”

Sewell added: “It was as frustrated as I have ever been.”

True freshman Peter Lalich, partly because of N.C. State’s pressure, struggled mightily - the rookie completed just 2 of 8 passes for 15 yards, had a fumble that he recovered and was sacked three times.

Opinions differed afterwards on what impact a healthy Sewell would have made for the final few drives.

“I guess it was definitely a difference because we are kind of used to Jameel in there,” Virginia wideout Maurice Covington said, “but I don’t know, we could have executed better, but we didn’t.”

North Carolina State did execute, especially early in the game. In fact, after Sewell threw an interception on Virginia’s third play of the game, the Wolfpack took a quick lead with what turned into a recurring pattern: Daniel Evans passing to wide receiver Donald Bowens.

Evans, who finished with 347 yards passing and three touchdowns, connected with Bowens on a 40-yard floater after the wideout had burned red shirt freshman cornerback Mike Parker.

“Right there it was as if when the contract for the game was written, it was written with them having a seven-point advantage,” Groh said. “Ultimately, those seven points were the deciding points.”

Virginia managed its first score with 6:43 left in the first quarter on a 23-yard field goal from Chris Gould, but N.C. State countered with two field goals from Steven Hauschka from 30 and 42 yards out to push its lead to 13-3.

The Cavaliers, after dominating time of possession in the first quarter, scored a pair of touchdowns in the final 3:04 of the first half.

The first touchdown - a 13-yard shovel pass from Sewell to Simpson - capped a 6-play, 61-yard drive that took only 2:18 off the clock.

“Every time I lined up behind the tackle they were yelling, ‘Swing! Swing! Swing!” Simpson recounted. “So I lined up in that same position and I took one step towards them and the defense flowed that way and I came back under. It was just open.”

Unfortunately for Virginia, N.C. State had a touchdown of its own between Virginia’s two scores, allowing the Wolfpack to lead by three at halftime, 20-17.

A similar path was followed by Virginia in the third quarter: it failed to score. But N.C. State struggled as well, scoring its lone points in the quarter on a 23-yard field goal from Hauschka with 11:08 left in the quarter.

Virginia finally took its first - and only - lead of the game with 13:12 left in the contest as Simpson found the end zone for the second time a play after Sewell converted a 4th-and-1 with a designed keeper to his left.

Simpson, who earned his first start, took a handoff from Sewell and scooted five yards to the end zone as he spun past a defender. The play was reviewed, but the call stood.

“I wasn’t worried,” Simpson said. “When I spun out of it, the way that I fell, I saw the end zone and I was like two or three yards into the end zone so it really wasn’t a question mark for me.”

Perhaps the biggest blow for UVa’s newfound momentum occurred seconds later - after Gould’s short kickoff was fumbled.

The Cavaliers enjoyed their lead for less than 6 minutes - N.C. State regained the lead for good as Evans found Bowens for a 30-yard touchdown. Bowens finished with 202 yards on 11 catches against Virginia’s secondary.

“[Bowens] had a couple of those plays last week,” Groh said. “We were well aware of the fact and rehearsed as best we could without having him on our team. We were well aware of the fact that the vertical routes were pretty much throw it up there and let-him-jump-for-the-ball plays.

“It’s like an alley-oop in basketball.”

In the end, Bowens and Evans proved to be too much for Virginia on a night when pefect execution was rare.

“It was all of us,” Groh said. “We could have coached better. We could have played special teams better. We could have played offense better. We could have played defense better. But we didn’t and N.C. State did well enough and we give them credit for doing that.”

Despite the loss, Virginia’s players know they need only to win their final three games to clinch a spot in the ACC championship game.

“Right now we are just thinking about what happened, but it is time to move on,” Virginia center Jordy Lipsey said. “By Monday it will be time to stop thinking about N.C. State and time to start thinking about Wake Forest. It will be time to go out and get a win.

“I don’t think anybody said it yet, but if we win out we go to the ACC Championship game. Our goals are still right in front of us.”

 

No happy ending this time
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
October 28, 2007

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The stage was set for another miraculous, come-from-behind Cheat the Reaper performance by Virginia late Saturday night at North Carolina State.

After three consecutive weeks of dramatic, length-of-the-field winning marches and heroics from a long cast of characters, the Cavaliers’ ran out of magic. This time, living on the edge finally caught up with coach Al Groh’s football team.

It’s not like Virginia didn’t have its chances.

The Cavaliers (7-2, 4-1 ACC) weren’t as opportunistic or benefactors of opposing misfortune as other times in their seven-game winning streak. After taking their only lead of the game at 24-23 on a Mikell Simpson 5-yard run with 13:12 to play, the Cavs squandered an opportunity to put the game on ice.

N.C. State kickoff specialist Darrell Blackman fumbled a pooch kickoff and Virginia recovered in Wolfpack territory.

But, several players on the far left side of UVa’s kickoff unit had been offside, forcing a re-kick.

Seven plays later, true freshman cornerback Ras-I Dowling intercepted State quarterback Daniel Evans at the UVa 15, but the Cavaliers had to punt. On the Wolfpack’s next drive, Evans connected twice to wide receiver Donald Bowens on a pair of back-to-back 30-yard pass plays to score the winning touchdown, 29-24.

Both plays were well defended by Dowling, who became the first Cavalier cornerback to record an interception this season, but to no avail.

“It was just a great pass and a great catch,” Dowling said of the TD pass. “I got a hand on it, but [Bowens] just made a great catch.”

It was that kind of night for the No. 21-ranked Cavaliers (15th in the BCS). They have thrived in a close-game environment for the past month, but this time the script had a different ending.

This time, a key ingredient from Virginia’s thriller-diller comebacks was missing at the end. Quarterback Jameel Sewell, who had been virtually unstoppable in the Cavaliers’ three rallies over Middle Tennessee, Connecticut and Maryland, left the game with his body so cramped that he couldn’t perform.

The final seven minutes and change belonged to hotshot rookie Peter Lalich, who was thrust into the suspense with no warning and no time to warm up on the sidelines. Facing a Wolfpack defense that had its ears pinned back on a fierce pass rush, Lalich couldn’t salvage another miracle.

For a change, the bounces, the clutch plays, mostly went the other way. Maybe State was due, or even overdue as the Wolfpack snapped a nine-game ACC losing streak and recorded only its second win over a Division I-A opponent this season.

The Cavalier players knew that walking the tightrope was a treacherous proposition, but couldn’t escape the pressure-packed world they created for themselves. Groh has stated several times that this particular team was fashioned to play close games because it had a bend-don’t-break defense and a less-than-sexy offense that could put up big numbers.

“We were right there at the end again, but we’ve got to stop putting ourselves in those situations,” said senior defensive end Chris Long. “We may feel comfortable in those situations, but we can’t keep doing this.”

N.C. State coach Tom O’Brien threw caution and the football to the wind in coming up with a solid game plan that eventually abandoned the running game and placed his bet on the arm of Evans, who threw for a career-high 347 yards.

There was a strong suspicion from many observers that the most vulnerable part of Virginia’s team was its secondary and that proved to be the case.

“Obviously playing against [Virginia], we knew we weren’t going to have a whole lot of success running the ball,” Evans said. “So, we had to throw it. That’s what we did this week.”

Bowens, whose 202 receiving yards was the third-most ever against a Virginia defense, said he knew he could beat the Cavaliers’ defenders.

“Virginia is a great team, but I knew I could run by [the Cavs’ defensive backs] because they just sat there and I knew they wouldn’t be able to turn around in time,” said Bowens, who was also recruited by UVa.

Still, most of the 55,000 fans in Carter-Finley Stadium held their collective breath, knowing UVa’s history of close finishes.

Sewell threw for a career-high 260 passing yards. Trouble was, only 43 of those came in the second half when Virginia needed more.

The fact that Virginia attempted 51 passes speaks volumes about the setback. Passing numbers are most often losing numbers, a desperate attempt when the running game isn’t clicking.

State did a good job of forcing the Cavs to throw the ball and also planned well to prevent Virginia from wrecking the Wolfpack passing game by focusing on All-America candidate Long, who has been a human highlight reel in recent outings.

“We paid special attention to him,” said O’Brien, who is now 2-0 against a Virginia program where he served as assistant for 15 years (one win came two years ago when he was head coach at Boston College). “He’s a great player and we knew he would be key defensively for them. We did a good job of staying in front of him and also of doubling up on him.”

Now that Virginia’s magical bubble has been burst, it’s back to the drawing board. With defending ACC champion Wake Forest (6-2, 4-1 ACC) coming to town on Saturday, the Cavaliers are going to have to exhibit the resiliency that Groh has boasted about all season long.

But first, the Wahoos have to absorb this loss and learn from the defeat, one that Groh called everyone’s fault.

“We turned the ball over, we didn’t take it away as much, we got some disadvantageous penalties,” Groh said. “If there’s any finger-pointing in there, there ought to be a lot, and it ought to be 71 guys, and it ought to be each one of us pointing the fingers at ourselves.”

Seventy-one, by the way counted everyone, including coaches: 62 players and nine coaches.

Virginia became only the third team in ACC history (tying the 1976 UNC team, for which Groh was a linebackers coach, and the 2006 Maryland squad) for most games in a season (six) decided by six points or fewer.

It’s a dubious mark that the Cavaliers probably don’t desire to surpass in the coming weeks, but one that perhaps they can’t avoid.

It’s a world of nail-biting close calls that they live in and seem to be unable to escape from.

 

Dowling, Koch up and down for Cavs
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
October 28, 2007

RALEIGH, N.C. - In recent weeks, Virginia coach Al Groh has talked about the need for his players to step up and make plays - especially those players who haven’t contributed much this season.

On Saturday night at Carter-Finley Stadium, wide receiver Cary Koch and cornerback Ras-I Dowling found themselves in position to do so.

The results were mixed.

Dowling had an interception, but also gave up several long completions, including what proved to be the game-winning touchdown.

Koch, a junior, scored his first career touchdown, but also couldn’t corral a catchable ball late in the game as Virginia tried to forge a comeback.

Following the game, Groh didn’t seem discouraged by either player’s performance, particularly Dowling’s.

“Ras-I is a player who has a lot of upside,” Groh said. “He played well. Certainly there were some plays he would have like back, but for a true freshman in there, he did a real nice job for us. He made quite a few plays.

“An awful lot was directed at him. There weren’t a lot of balls going to the other side.”

Dowling, who wasn’t even listed on Virginia’s depth chart, received his most extensive playing time of the year because of injuries to Chris Cook and Mike Parker. Cook didn’t dress for the game. Parker hurt his ankle during practice this week. He attempted to play, but was burned on several plays early and subsequently removed from the contest.

Dowling, who was definitely wearing a bull’s-eye all game, broke up five passes, tying a school record. His interception early in the fourth quarter that thwarted a Wolfpack drive was the first by a Virginia cornerback this season - and UVa’s first pick since the Pittsburgh game.

“It was a good play,” Dowling said. “It helped the team out, but I made a lot of bad plays, too.”

One of the most glaring was an offsides penalty on a kickoff in the fourth quarter that negated a Virginia fumble recovery.

“That was [a] mental [mistake],” Dowling said.

On the game-winning score, the 6-foot-2 Dowling seemed to be in perfect position. However, 6-3 Donald Bowens went over him to make the play.

“I think it was good coverage, but he made a good play,” Dowling said. “He’s a good player.”

Groh believes Dowling will only improve from here.

“He’s got a toughness about him,” Groh said. “I’m sure he’ll be resilient and bounce back.”

Koch, meanwhile, should also be able to build on his performance. His 7-yard TD reception in the third quarter pulled Virginia to within a field goal. He did a nice job of adjusting on a fade route.

Koch said quarterback Jameel Sewell threw a great ball.

“It couldn’t have been placed more perfectly,” he said. “We had been working on that play all week and executed it perfectly.”

Unfortunately, Koch couldn’t snag a pass on third-and-10 from freshman Peter Lalich - who had come on for the injured Sewell - that would have set Virginia up inside the Wolfpack 40-yard line with just over four minutes to play.

“I think Peter threw me a good ball,” Koch said. “I can’t go back in time. Obviously I wish I would have had it.

“It would have been a game-changer. Peter threw a great ball. I went up to him after and told him I was sorry for missing it, but that’s just the way it is.”
 

Rookie Lalich sees serious action in loss
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
October 28, 2007

Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell went to the ground in obvious pain with 7:09 left in the fourth quarter.

With Sewell struggling from cramps and unable to play, Virginia coach Al Groh was forced to send true freshman Peter Lalich onto the field in the final quarter for the second straight week.

This time, Lalich was forced to stay - against Maryland, the rookie was in for just two plays before Sewell returned.

Lalich, who has played in five games, struggled to get on track, completing only two of his eight attempts. The signal-caller was also sacked three times.

“That is probably a pretty tough spot, but you have to do what you have to do to win the game,” Lalich said. “I was just trying to throw it up and let the receivers make some plays. I came up high on a few passes.”

Lalich entered the game having completed 63.6 percent of his 44 attempts.

Simpson sizzles again

Virginia tailback Mikell Simpson helped prove he was not a one-week wonder.

The sophomore, who earned his first career start, finished with 81 yards rushing and 35 yards receiving. More importantly, Simpson scored a pair of touchdowns. One, in fact, went as the first receiving score of his career.

“I didn’t care whether Keith [Payne] started or Andrew [Pearman] started, I just wanted to try to contribute to a win, which we didn’t accomplish tonight,” said Simpson, who was notified on Monday that he would start.

Due to the frequency in which Simpson was used, redshirt freshman running back Keith Payne was given only three first-half carries that translated into 17 yards rushing.

Burned by former recruit

Virginia coach Al Groh wanted Donald Bowens out of high school.

The wideout from St. Petersburg, Fla., was recruited by Virginia before picking to play for the Wolfpack.

Why Groh recruited the sophomore is now obvious - Bowens finished with 202 receiving yards on 11 catches.

The yardage total was the third-highest ever against Virginia and the most since Georgia Tech’s Dez White burned the Cavaliers’ secondary for 243 in 1998 on just six receptions.

“We were well aware of [Bowens’ talents] and rehearsed as best we could without having him on our team,” Groh said. “We were well aware of the fact that the vertical routes were pretty much throw-it-up-there-and-let-him-jump-for-the-ball plays. It’s like an alley-oop in basketball.

“The quarterback put it where he could get it and he did a real good job of getting up for it and out-jumped our guy for it.”

Injury report

Virginia left tackle Eugene Monroe injured his knee in the fourth quarter and did not return. Groh said it was the same knee that sidelined the junior for two games earlier this season. Gordie Sammis, who played in both games in Monroe’s absence, was inserted into the game.

Sewell was unable to speak with reporters after the game - and for good reason. The signal-caller was getting treatment for severe cramps.

Cornerback Mike Parker, who was beat for N.C. State’s first touchdown, had an ankle injury that plagued him during practice leading up to the game, Groh said. Cornerback Chris Cook dressed but could not to play, so Ras-I Dowling was inserted. “Cook was unavailable and Parker actually got hurt during the week,” the coach said. “All indications were that [Parker] was fine and ready to go, but it certainly didn’t seem that way.”

Virginia tight end Tom Santi also dressed for the game, but he did not see any action.

Lalich was sporting a big bag of ice on his left hand, his non-throwing hand.

Extra points ...

The Wolfpack became the third straight opponent to score against Virginia on its opening drive. … Josh Zidenberg, a senior, registered the second catch of his career. The reception, which went for 17 yards, was his longest. … Sewell finished with a career-best 260 yards passing, giving the southpaw back-to-back 200-yard games for the first time in his career. … The contest marked Virginia’s sixth game this year decided by six points or fewer. The Cavaliers join the 1976 North Carolina squad and Maryland last year for the most games decided by six points or fewer in ACC history. ... Linebacker Jon Copper led Virginia with 10 tackles. Safety DaJuan Morgan paced N.C. State with 12 tackles, including 11 solo stops.

 

Late luck runs out
This time, close encounter doesn't go U.Va.'s way as Evans, Bowens spark Pack
Sunday, Oct 28, 2007 - 12:07 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

RALEIGH, N.C. - The tension-filled fourth quarter was nothing new for the University of Virginia football team. The ending, however, was different, and so was the postgame frustration that showed on the Cavaliers' faces.

After weeks of finding ways to win close games, U.Va. finally stumbled yesterday, losing 29-24 to ACC rival N.C. State before a raucous crowd of 55,342 at Carter-Finley Stadium.

It was the sixth Virginia game decided by five or fewer points this season. The No. 21 Cavaliers (4-1, 7-2) had won the previous five.

Three times in the final 7:28 yesterday, U.Va. got the ball back with the score 29-24. On none of those possessions did the Cavs move past their 35-yard line.

That its starting quarterback, sophomore Jameel Sewell, sat out the final 7:09 with severe cramps didn't help Virginia. Sewell, who threw two interceptions in the game's first 20 minutes, bounced back to finish with a career-high 260 yards and two touchdowns passing.

His replacement, true freshman Peter Lalich, completed only 2 of 8 passes for 15 yards against a ferocious Wolfpack pass rush.

"It was as frustrated as I've ever been," Sewell said of his role as a late-game spectator.

This loss figures to haunt the Wahoos. With a victory over the Atlantic Division's last-place team, they would have increased their lead on Virginia Tech in the Coastal and moved closer to a berth in the ACC championship game. They would have won eight straight games in a season - and been 5-0 in ACC play - for the first time.

That's all gone now. U.Va. gave up 431 yards, surrendering big play after big play, many of them long passes from quarterback Daniel Evans to wideout Donald Bowens.

"We're not going to point fingers, but certainly I'll take responsibility for that, and we'll take responsibility for that on our side of the ball," said U.Va. defensive end Chris Long. "There's no excuse for us giving up 29 points. It's just inexcusable."

Evans passed for 347 yards and three TDs, two of them to Bowens, who started only because of an injury to John Dunlap. Bowens, a former U.Va. recruiting target, caught 11 passes for 202 yards - both career highs.

Bowens scored the winning touchdown on a 30-yard pass from Evans with 7:37 left. Cornerback Ras-I Dowling, a true freshman who received a battlefield promotion when starter Mike Parker left early with an ankle injury, had Bowens blanketed. But the 6-3, 206-pound sophomore leaped and came down with the ball in the end zone.

"It was just a great pass. It was a great catch by him, too," said Dowling, who tied a school record with five pass-breakups and also had an interception, the first by a U.Va. cornerback this season.

The Wolfpack, which snapped a nine-game losing streak in ACC play, improved to 1-3, 3-5.

"Whether or not we think thought we were on top of our game or not, we certainly thought they were," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "And to say that it was all about us not playing well would certainly be taking away from the credit that they deserve for the performance that they had tonight."

The Cavaliers grabbed their first - and only - lead at the 13:12 mark of the fourth quarter, when sophomore tailback Mikell Simpson scored on a 5-yard run, and Chris Gould's PAT made it 24-23. Moments later, State's Darrell Blackman fumbled on the kickoff, and U.Va.'s Jamaal Jackson recovered. But the turnover was negated by an offside call against Dowling on the kickoff.

A turnover by State - its first of the game - followed, but U.Va. could not capitalize. Virginia punted away the ball, and this time the Wolfpack went back to what had worked so well in the first half: long passes by Evans.

"Obviously, playing against [U.Va.]," he said, "we knew weren't going to have a whole lot of success running the ball, so we had to throw it."

Simpson, one of the heroes of U.Va.'s 18-17 win at Maryland last weekend, started yesterday, and he played well. Simpson rushed for 81 yards and scored two touchdowns, the first on a shovel pass from Sewell late in the second quarter.

Several other Cavaliers shined yesterday, but overall it was a performance the team will rue.

On the game's first play from scrimmage, Sewell couldn't handle senior center Jordy Lipsey's shotgun snap and had to fall on the ball for a 15-yard loss. On third down, Sewell threw into double coverage, and the Wolfpack intercepted. Moments later, Bowens raced past Parker along the right sideline and hauled in a pass from Evans that went for a 40-yard touchdown.

"In every area, we needed to do better," Groh said.

 

Streak halts at State
UVa's bid for its eighth straight win fails as the Wolfpack rallies.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

RALEIGH, N.C. -- When Virginia took a one-point lead early in the fourth quarter Saturday, it seemed that the Cavaliers were on the verge of history.

Somewhere, some team might have won three straight games by one point, but that piece of trivia no longer is relevant for UVa.

North Carolina State quarterback Daniel Evans threw a 30-yard touchdown pass to Donald Bowens with 7:37 remaining and the Wolfpack held on for a 29-24 victory at Carter-Finley Stadium.

Virginia (7-2, 4-1 ACC) was bidding for a school-record eighth consecutive victory, but the Cavaliers were unable to contain Bowens, a 6-foot-3, 206-pound sophomore who finished with 11 receptions for 202 yards and two touchdowns.

Bowens, whose choice of colleges came down to State and Virginia, scored the game's first touchdown on a 40-yard pass from Evans and had five receptions of 20 yards or more.

None was bigger than a 28-yard reception with State (3-5, 1-3) facing a third-and-6 with 2:35 remaining.

An incompletion there and 21st-ranked Virginia would have been in position for one of its patented comebacks. The Cavaliers have come from behind four times to win games in the fourth quarter and had won their last two games by scores of 17-16 and 18-17, but the scenario was a little different Saturday.

This time, Virginia was without quarterback Jameel Sewell, who was helped off the field with 7:09 remaining and did not return.

The good news for the Cavaliers is that Sewell was experiencing cramps and should be available for UVa's home game Saturday against Wake Forest, but that didn't help matters on this day.

"Jameel was cramping up seriously and not just in once place," UVa coach Al Groh. "The doctors said there wasn't a quick fix."

Into the breach stepped true freshman Peter Lalich, who had been on the field for two plays in UVa's most recent game but had attempted only one pass since Sept. 22.

Lalich was on the field for three series Saturday but completed only 2 of 8 passes. Lalich also was sacked three times and fumbled the ball twice.

Lalich did not have any opportunity to warm up, "but, until you're the man, that's how you come in the game," Groh said.

After beginning the season as State's starting quarterback, Evans lost his job to Harrison Beck, only to regain it after Beck was injured.

However, Evans had passed for a career-high 335 yards when State won at East Carolina 34-20, the Wolfpack's first victory over a Division I-A opponent in more than a year.

That career high lasted only one week before Evans passed for 347 yards Saturday. The Wolfpack had 431 yards in total offense against a Virginia team that had held three of its previous four opponents under 300.

Moreover, the Wolfpack only had one turnover. At game time, State had ranked 119th out of 119 Division I-A teams in turnover margin.

State's turnover was the result of an interception by UVa true freshman Ras-I Dowling, who also tied a school record with five pass breakups and had seven solo tackles.

Dowling entered the game after redshirt freshman cornerback Mike Parker was burned by Bowens for State's first touchdown, but Dowling had problems of his own.

He was the defender on both the go-ahead touchdown pass to Bowens and the late first-down connection.

"I knew I could run by [UVa defensive backs] because they just sat there and I knew they wouldn't be able to turn around in time," Bowens said.

In their previous game, the Cavaliers had fallen behind 14-3 at Maryland and they were down 13-3 in the second quarter Saturday.

Sewell was intercepted when he threw into triple coverage on Virginia's third offensive play. That led to N.C. State's first touchdown.

Sewell's second interception came after the Cavaliers, down 10-3, had picked up a first down at the State 18-yard line. Jeremy Gray's pickoff eventually led to the field goal that put the Wolfpack ahead 13-3.

Sewell was masterful in the second quarter, when he completed 13 of 21 passes for 162 yards and one touchdown. He finished 24-of-43 for a career-high 260 yards and two TDs.

He got ample assistance from tailback Mikell Simpson, a first-time starter who had 116 yards (81 rushing, 35 passing) and scored two touchdowns. Simpson's 5-yard run with 13:13 left gave Virginia its only lead at 24-23.

It was the sixth UVa game decided by five points or fewer, with the Cavaliers winning their first five. They had tied an NCAA record by winning four games by one or two points in the same season, but they had to know they were playing with fire.

"We've got to put ourselves in better situations," said defensive end Chris Long, who had his 11th sack of the season but was unable to take over the game as he had one week earlier. "We can't keep putting ourselves in a position where we're the only people in the stadium who think we can win."
 

Cavs' top option is Sewell
Aaron McFarling

RALEIGH, N.C. -- His hair was tussled, his right shoulder and left hand wrapped in ice.

Virginia backup quarterback Peter Lalich looked like he'd just spent 60 minutes in a blender, but the fact is he'd only taken 11 snaps.

Eleven painful, ultimately fruitless snaps.

"It's a tough spot, but that's where you want to be," said Lalich, who relieved starter Jameel Sewell with 7:09 remaining Saturday. "Hopefully one day I can be making the plays to help us win in that situation."

One day, yes.

But not yet.

The Cavaliers suffered a 29-24 loss at N.C. State on Saturday, but in doing so they gained some clarity. Sewell is their best option at quarterback, for now and the foreseeable future. The clamoring for Lalich can cease.

All afternoon long, UVa fell behind, came back and fell behind again. But never did the situation seem out of hand until Sewell's legs began cramping badly midway through the fourth quarter and put him on the ground. If the Cavaliers didn't fully appreciate their sophomore quarterback before that moment, they soon would.

Gone was a playmaker -- a mistake-prone playmaker, sure, but a playmaker who loves the pressure.

Sewell had proven it against Connecticut two weeks ago, when he completed 3-of-4 passes for 52 yards on UVa's winning touchdown drive. He'd proven it against Maryland last week, when he threw for 243 yards and consistently found a way to get the ball to Mikell Simpson when it mattered most.

And he'd proven it again Saturday, throwing for 165 yards in the second quarter alone to keep the Cavs in it. He later showed his versatility, running for 11 yards on a fourth-and-1 to set up UVa's final touchdown, one that gave the visitors a 24-23 lead.

Was Sewell perfect? No, not even close. He never is. Against State, he threw two interceptions and misfired 19 times. But the way he regularly seems to find a way has exemplified this UVa team, which was coming off back-to-back one-point victories and appeared poised to do it again.

"Obviously Jameel had some plays in there that really carried us," UVa coach Al Groh said. "Certainly he did everything that we could have asked him to do."

Except finish the game.

That responsibility went to Lalich, the freshman who hadn't played a major role since Virginia's fourth game against Georgia Tech. Lalich threw one pass last week against Maryland when Sewell was briefly knocked out of the game, but nothing recent could have prepared him for this duty.

"I didn't shy away from it at all," Lalich said, "but it's definitely one of the tougher situations I've been in playing football."

Lalich was smacked hard on his first play from scrimmage -- an incompletion -- and things didn't improve much from there. Later, with UVa trailing by five and taking over possession on their own 35 with 4:30 remaining, he threw three straight incompletions, including one pass that was batted down and another that was just out of the reach of receiver Cary Koch.

The Cavs forced another punt and got the ball back deep in their own territory with 1:24 remaining, but the Wolfpack sacked Lalich twice on UVa's final possession.

"They weren't worried about any run threat, so I think they just pinned their ears back and came," Lalich said. "But after I took that first shot, I think I was looking at the rush for too long instead of making my reads. I've got to learn from that."

He has some time. Sewell should be fine for next week's game against Wake Forest, and that will give Lalich an opportunity to keep growing in practice.

You can't judge a freshman quarterback's long-term potential by 11 snaps in emergency duty, but it is fair to say this: Sewell gives UVa a better chance to win.

If we weren't sure about that before, we should be now.
 

Offside on kickoff hurts Cavs
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

RALEIGH, N.C. -- One of the biggest plays Saturday was a play that, statistically, did not occur.

After Mikell Simpson had scored the touchdown that gave Virginia a 24-23 lead, Chris Gould angled a short kickoff that was fumbled by State return specialist Darrell Blackman.

Even before Jamaal Jackson recovered for Virginia close to the State 35-yard line, a yellow flag was visible behind the play in an area that suggested the Cavaliers were offside.

The officials first announced that Gould was the guilty party, then corrected that and indicated that true freshman Ras-I Dowling had been the offender.

Replays indicated that several UVa players to Gould's left were offside, including freshman Jared Detrick.

"We were intending to kick the ball to the right," Groh said. "The players on the left side should have had enough discipline to stay onside when they knew they didn't need to cover as much ground as usual.

"That one play right there probably tells the story of a lot of different events during the course of the evening. That would have been pretty significant. One first down from that point would have at least been a three-point try."

Blackman returned Gould's second kick 37 yards to the State 40.

No one-game wonder

Simpson, coming off a 271-yard night in Virginia's 18-17 victory at Maryland, got the first start of his college career and answered some of the questions about his staying power.

Simpson, the fourth different tailback to start for the Cavaliers in the last four games, carried 21 times for a team-high 81 yards and also had four receptions for 35 yards.

Simpson scored on a 13-yard shovel pass from Jameel Sewell and also had a 5-yard touchdown run, his second two-touchdown game in as many weeks.

"He gave more evidence today that he's a player and that he'll be there every week for us," Groh said.

Simpson was not on the field for UVa's final drive, starting at the Cavaliers' 17-yard line with 1:24 remaining. Virginia picked up a first down at its 32-yard line with 40 seconds left but got no farther.

Walk-on fullback Josh Zidenberg was the lone back in UVa's one-back set, just as he had been during an eight-play, 64-yard drive that culminated in a 7-yard touchdown pass from Sewell to Cary Koch with 1:04 remaining before halftime.

Injuries

Three previously injured Virginia players made the trip, but none of them played.

Those three were tight end Tom Santi, cornerback Chris Cook and fullback Rashawn Jackson -- all starters. Team rushing leader Cedric Peerman did not make the trip and now has missed three games since injuring his right foot Oct. 6 at Middle Tennessee.

In addition to Sewell, who had cramps that caused him to limp off the field with 7:09 remaining, the Cavaliers played most of the fourth quarter without left offensive tackle Eugene Monroe, who appeared to injure a knee.

Sewell said of his inability to return Saturday: "It's as frustrated as I've ever been."

Odds 'n' ends

First-year Wolfpack head coach Tom O'Brien, a UVa assistant under George Welsh from 1981-95, is 2-0 against the Cavaliers as a head coach. His 2005 Boston College team beat the Cavaliers 28-17 in Chestnut Hill, Mass. ... A UVa cornerback had not intercepted a pass all season until Ras-I Dowling's fourth-quarter interception. ... UVa still has not scored a touchdown in the third quarter this season. The Cavaliers have one field goal and a safety in that period.

Virginia next week

The Cavaliers (7-2, 4-1 ACC) will play host to Wake Forest (6-2, 4-1) at noon Saturday in a game that will be televised along the ACC network. Wake, a 37-10 winner Saturday over visiting North Carolina, has won six games in a row.

This will be the first meeting between Virginia and Wake Forest since 2003, one year before ACC expansion. Jim Grobe, the Deacons' head coach, is a former UVa player and one-time graduate assistant coach.
 

Cavs run out of late-game magic in defeat to N.C. State
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© October 28, 2007
RALEIGH, N.C.

On the Virginia sideline, players were in their usual fourth-quarter state of mind – brimming with confidence, expecting to win.

“Everybody was shouting, 'We’ve been here before, they haven’t been here before,’” tailback Mikell Simpson said.

Virginia had indeed been there before, trailing late, in need of a minor football miracle to eke out another close win. The Cavaliers had won their last three games by two points or less, all in the last minutes. They seemed to live for these moments.

But they hadn’t been exactly in this spot before, with true freshman Peter Lalich under center instead of starting quarterback Jameel Sewell, who was out with cramps. And with 84 yards between them and the end zone and just 86 seconds and one timeout to get there.

So for the first time all season, Virginia’s late-game magic was nowhere to be found. Instead of another close win, the Cavaliers (7-2, 4-1 ACC) had their first loss since before Labor Day, falling 29-24 Saturday evening at N.C. State to snap a seven-game winning streak .

“I had complete confidence in our team. It was just time for us to go down there and make something happen,” center Jordy Lipsey said. “And it just didn’t work out for us this week like it has in the past.”

In the end, leading another chest-clutching drive was probably too much to ask of a true freshman who had not seen significant action in more than a month.

It fell to Lalich to try to make up for the many mistakes that put Virginia in yet-another desperate late-game situation: a leaky pass defense, a pair of Sewell interceptions, a fumble recovery that was negated by an offside call on a fourth-quarter kickoff.

As they had in the previous three games, Virginia shoveled out of each hole it dug for itself. Playing from behind all game, the Cavaliers took their first lead on a 5 -yard run by Simpson with 13:12 left.

But Virginia had the ball four times after that and could do nothing with it. The Wolfpack, meanwhile, had one more drive in it . On consecutive plays, Daniel Evans threw 30-yard strikes to receiver Daniel Bowens. The second put N.C. State ahead to stay with 7:37 left.

Bowens beat true freshman Ras-I Dowling, from Deep Creek High, on both plays. Dowling’s coverage was good; Evans’ throws and Bowens’ catches were a little better.

They were the types of plays Virginia had been making late in games. On Saturday, N.C. State (3-5, 1-3 ACC) made a few more of them.

And Virginia made a few more mistakes. Sewell’s two interceptions led to 10 points. He threw his first on the game’s first possession, and Virginia trailed 7-0 just 2½ minutes in.

Sewell recovered nicely. By halftime, he’d thrown for 217 yards, just 26 short of his career-high.

Evans more than matched him, and outpaced Sewell in the second half. He threw for 347 yards altogether, with 202 going to Bowens.

Still, by its past fourth-quarter standards, Virginia had plenty of time when Sewell and the offense jogged on the field with 7:28 left, trailing by five.

But Sewell fell to the turf a couple of plays later, and didn’t return. With N.C. State bringing pressure on nearly every down, Lalich, who is not as mobile as Sewell, was never able to get anything going. His two completions went for just 15 yards, and he was sacked three times on the final possession.

After the final one, the N.C. State sideline erupted in celebration. Across the field, Virginia’s players experienced a feeling they hadn’t had in a while – and one they’d made a specialty of inflicting on other teams.

“Nobody wants to lose close games,” Simpson said. “The closer they are, the harder you take ’em.”
 

Long blames his defense for a long day
The Virginian-Pilot
© October 28, 2007
Last updated: 11:46 PM
Raleigh, N.C.

“We let the offense down,” Chris Long said Saturday evening.

Looking out at a small group of media clustered in front of him, Virginia’s square-jawed defensive end squarely assessed the Cavaliers’ 29-24 loss to North Carolina State, which came into the game with only two victories.

“The defense never should have put the offense in that position,” he said. “I’ll take the responsibility for that. There’s no excuse for us to give up 29 points.”

It was a long day and night for Long and his teammates, primarily because Virginia didn’t get a big game from its defense. The team’s strong suit was its weakest link as U.Va.’s seven-game winning streak was snapped.

U.Va. came into the game with back-to-back one-point victories, so when the Cavaliers went ahead 24-23 early in the fourth quarter, it appeared a familiar scenario was taking shape. It wasn’t to be. With 13 minutes still on the clock, the U.Va. defense had to deal with too much time – and too much Wolfpack offense.

“You’ve got to think at that point that it’s our ball game to win,” said Long.

Twenty-four points is the most U.Va. has scored in one game in a month. Twenty-four points is a full night’s work for the Cavaliers’ sometimes suspect offense. After scoring 24 points, the offense should be able to turn the game over to the defense, which hadn’t surrendered more than 23 points in any game.

But unlike the Saturday before at Maryland, Long and the defense didn’t dominate. U.Va’s defense didn’t make enough big plays and gave up too many to the Wolfpack, which amassed 431 total yards – 347 through the air.

N.C. State quarterback Daniel Evans “did a nice job of getting rid of it and feeling the rush,” said Long, who finished with one sack but spent most of the game trying to fight through the Wolfpack’s double-teaming blocking schemes.

As Evans filled the air with passes, completing 11 to receiver Donald Bowens, two for touchdowns, the Wolfpack looked a lot better than a team that came into the game 10th in the ACC in total offense, last in scoring, and without a conference victory.

“Playing against those guys,” Evans said, “we knew we weren’t going to have a whole lot of success running the ball, so we had to throw it.”

They threw often in the direction of defensive back Ras-I Dowling, the freshman from Deep Creek High School in Chesapeake. Previously used mostly as a nickel back, Dowling was pressed into fulltime service because of injuries to Chris Cook and Mike Parker, who played one series before retiring for the evening with a gimpy ankle.

After Parker was burned for a 40-yard touchdown pass to Bowens early in the opening quarter, Dowling was thrust into the breech. He had his moments, breaking up five passes and thwarting a fourth-quarter N.C. State drive with an interception at the U.Va. 15, the Cavaliers’ only take-away.

There was no stopping the Evans-to-Bowens connection, though. They burned Dowling on the game-winning pass, even though the young defender appeared to have good coverage.

“They knew I was new,” Dowling said. “So I guess they went at me.”

As usual, U.Va.’s offense set up a few challenges for its defense. Jameel Sewell threw two first-half interceptions that led to 10 Wolfpack points. But Sewell also passed for a career-high 260 yards and two touchdowns before leaving late in the game with leg cramps.

Because of Sewell’s mistakes, U.Va. found itself in a familiar position: trailing early. But while Sewell grew stronger as time went along, the Cavaliers’ defense was mostly ordinary. Long and Co. was unable to impose its will on a very beatable opponent.

Afterward, Al Groh said, “In every area we needed to do better.”

But Long, his jaw set firmly, quietly disagreed with his coach.

“Giving up 29 points,” he said, “that’s inexcusable.”

Bob Molinaro, (757) 446-2373
 

U.Va. out of magic
The Cavaliers get a chance for another last-minute win, but fall short at N.C. State.
BY MELINDA WALDROP | 247-4634
10:34 PM EDT, October 27, 2007
 

RALEIGH, N.C. - This time, there would be no last-minute magic.

Trailing by five points at N.C. State, Virginia got the ball back with 1:24 left. But with their starting quarterback sidelined with cramps, the Cavaliers couldn't pull off their fourth straight fourth-quarter comeback and fell 29-24 to the Wolfpack.

The loss snapped the Cavaliers' seven-game winning streak, denied them their first-ever 5-0 start in the ACC and ended a remarkable string of dramatic victories. Virginia came into the game having won four games by two points or fewer and had won its last three games by a total of four points.

"Guys are heartbroken," senior defensive end Chris Long said. "We put everything into this, and when you lose a football game, it means a lot. ... It can tear your heart out."

Virginia (7-2, 4-1 ACC) trailed for the entire game until Mikell Simpson's 5-yard run put it up 24-23 with 13:12 left. On the next play, the Cavs had a chance to keep the momentum firmly on their side when Jamaal Jackson recovered Darrell Blackman's fumbled kickoff return near the N.C. State 40-yard line, but Virginia was offside on the play.

"That one play right there probably tells the story of a lot of different events during the course of the evening," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "That would have been pretty significant."

Ras-I Dowling, a true freshman who, because of injuries in the Cavs' cornerback corps, often found himself matched up one-on-one on Wolfpack playmaker Donald Bowens, came up with an interception on the ensuing N.C. State drive, but when Virginia failed to move the ball, the Pack made it pay.

NCSU quarterback Daniel Evans completed back-to-back 30-yard passes, the second a touchdown strike on a perfectly thrown ball over Bowens' right shoulder that Dowling could do little to stop, as the Wolfpack re-took the lead at 29-24 with 7:37 left. Evans threw for 347 yards and three TDs 202 and two to Bowens but his two-point pass was incomplete, leaving the Cavs with plenty of time to pull off another nailbiter.

But the luck that rode shotgun with the Cavs in one-point wins over Maryland and Connecticut and a two-point victory at East Tennessee deserted them when they needed it most.

After the Pack's scoring drive, U.Va. quarterback Jameel Sewell, who completed 22 of his 39 passes for a career-high 260 yards (and two costly interceptions), was sacked on second-and-10. He remained down, then left the game with severe cramps.

That brought in true freshman Peter Lalich, who'd also done emergency duty against Maryland on Virginia's game-winning drive after Sewell was briefly knocked unconscious, on third-and-11. He was hit as he threw a wobbly incompletion, and the Cavs had to punt.

Lalich got another chance after a Wolfpack three-and-out, but on third-and-10 from the U.Va. 35, his deep ball glanced off Cary Koch's fingertips. "It would have been a game-changer," Koch said. "I went up to him after and told him I was sorry for missing it, but that's just the way it is."

U.Va. got one last chance with 1:24 to play from its own 16 and moved the ball to the 32, but Lalich fumbled a snap for a 9-yard loss, threw two incompletions and finally was sacked on fourth-and-19 from the 23.

"It's probably a pretty tough spot, but you've gotta do what you have to do to win the game," Lalich said.

The Cavs, who came into the game ranked No. 21 by the Associated Press, No. 18 in the USA Today coaches' poll and No. 15 in the BCS standings, dug themselves an early hole. The game's first snap sailed over Sewell's head for a 15-yard loss, and two plays later, Sewell threw an interception that led to N.C. State's first touchdown.

Twice, Virginia fell behind by 10, and twice pulled within three. But the Wolfpack (3-5, 1-3) answered every U.Va. score, including the Cavs' final TD, to snap a nine-game ACC losing streak.

"It was as if when the contract for the game was written, it was written with them having a seven-point advantage, and ultimately those seven points were the deciding points," Groh said.

 

Cavs struggle with Pack's Bowens
BY MELINDA WALDROP | 247-4634
10:52 PM EDT, October 27, 2007
 

RALEIGH, N.C. - Al Groh's team knew what it was in for.

In practice this week, Groh said the Cavaliers tried to simulate facing 6-foot-3, 206-pound N.C. State sophomore wide receiver Donald Bowens.

"We had rehearsed as best we could without having him on our team," Groh said.

It wasn't enough.

Bowens had 11 catches for 202 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning 30-yard TD with 7:37 to play.

"Virginia's a great team, but their (defensive backs) just sort of sat there, and I knew running by them, they wouldn't be able to turn around in time," Bowen said. "I just went out there and did what I had to do."

With cornerback Chris Cook out with a knee injury and Mike Parker hurting his ankle in the game, true freshman Ras-I Dowling often was given the daunting task of stopping Bowens, with little or no safety help. Dowling, 6-2 and 180 pounds, had an interception and a school-record five pass breakups, but couldn't keep Bowens from outjumping him for balls delivered on target by N.C. State quarterback Daniel Evans.

"We were well aware that those vertical routes were pretty much throw-it-up-there-and-let-him-jump for the ball plays," Groh said. "The advantage that the receiver has when it's done that way is the receiver sees the ball coming down. It's like an alley-oop in basketball. ... The quarterback put it where he could get it, and he did a real good job of getting up for it."

A HELPLESS FEELING

U.Va. sophomore quarterback Jameel Sewell threw for a career-high 260 yards and two touchdowns, but with the game on the line, he was on the sidelines. After being sacked with around seven minutes to play, Sewell left the game with cramps and didn't return.

"It was as frustrated as I've ever been," Sewell said.

"He cramped up seriously, not just in one spot but pretty much every place," Groh said. "Usually when the tank runs down that low, the quick-fix methods that the medical people try to take, it's pretty hard to get him filled back up. Given the extent of what the cramps were, once it happened, we were pretty sure that he wouldn't be back."

That left the game in the hands of true freshman Peter Lalich, who was sacked three times on eight pass attempts and couldn't move the Cavs on their final two drives. After the game, he had an ice bag taped to his left hand and more ice on his right shoulder.

"I just wanted to throw it up and let the receivers make some plays, but I came up high on a few passes," Lalich said.

THE Z FACTOR

Mikell Simpson followed up his 271-yard effort against Maryland with a team-high 81 rushing yards and 35 yards and a touchdown on four catches. But in the final minutes, he wasn't in the game.

Senior fullback Josh Zidenberg, a product of Poquoson High, runs the Cavs' two-minute offense in practice, and had an 8-yard catch on Virginia's final drive. He also had a 17-yard catch on a crossing pattern late in the second quarter that helped set up a U.Va. touchdown.

But neither player's efforts were enough.

"It's very tough," Simpson said. "Nobody really wants to lose close games, and the closer they are, the harder you take them."

 

N.C. State surprises Virginia
By JACK DALY : The Herald-Sun
jdaly@heraldsun.com
Oct 28, 2007 : 12:00 am ET

RALEIGH -- When N.C. State released its updated injury report Friday, it seemed to dent the Wolfpack's chances against Virginia.

Offensive guard Curtis Crouch wouldn't play with an ankle sprain. Offensive tackle Julian Williams still was out with a knee sprain.

Wide receiver John Dunlap would miss the game with an ankle sprain, a week after he helped the Wolfpack offense finally find its rhythm in a win over East Carolina. Donald Bowens would start in his place.

Donald Bowens? Who's that?

Donald Bowens, as it turns out, is the wide receiver who helped the Wolfpack surprise the No. 21 Cavaliers 29-24 at Carter-Finley Stadium on Saturday and snap its nine-game ACC losing streak. The sophomore made 11 catches against a depleted Virginia secondary for 202 yards and two touchdowns.

Both the receptions and receiving yards were among the five-best in Wolfpack history for single-game performances.

"He had a phenomenal game," N.C. State coach Tom O'Brien said. "One man's misfortune is another man's opportunity. He took advantage of his opportunity."

And it's not a stretch to say he hand-delivered the win.

After the Cavaliers (7-2, 4-1) took their first lead of the game -- 24-23 with 13:12 remaining courtesy of a Mikell Simpson 5-yard run -- N.C. State (3-5, 1-3) faced a fight-or-fold moment, especially after Daniel Evans was picked off on the ensuing drive.

But when the Wolfpack got the ball back with 8:37 remaining, Evans knew what to do.

The junior was in the midst of a career game himself, breaking his personal best with 347 yards passing. His previous high came last week against ECU, when Evans threw for 335 yards. So in the last two weeks, Evans has thrown for 682 yards and six touchdowns.

"Two wins -- that's the biggest part of it," Evans said. "If I had 300 yards in two consecutive games and lost both of the games, I'd be feeling the same way I was on the first six games of the season."

But back to Bowens.

After Evans connected with freshman Owen Spencer for a 30-yard reception, he zeroed in on his favorite target. With the Wolfpack still down by one, Evans floated the ball to the back corner of the end zone to Bowens on first-and-10 from the UVa 30. Bowens had a step on his defender, and the ensuing touchdown gave the Wolfpack the lead for good.

"I just tried to make big plays," Bowens said. "Virginia is a great team, but I knew I could run by [the defensive backs] because they just sat there, and I knew they wouldn't be able to turn around in time."

After that, the Wolfpack still had to clamp down on defense. N.C. State got a big break when Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell left the game with severe cramps with a little more than seven minutes left after being sacked by Alan-Michael Cash.

Sewell gave N.C. State fits all day -- he threw for 260 yards, a career high -- but in the final minutes, Peter Lalich was the quarterback trying to win the game for the Cavaliers.

"The advantage should go to us in that situation," O'Brien said.

It did.

N.C. State harassed Lalich for his entire relief appearance, coming up with two sacks and six incompletions. Couple that with the two turnovers forced earlier in the game, and it was the second straight strong performance from the defense.

So Bowens wasn't the only reason for the Wolfpack's victory. There was Evans. There was the defense and the fact the N.C. State actually won the turnover battle. Injuries and all, N.C. State's offensive line also had a respectable showing against Virginia defensive stalwart Chris Long, only yielding one sack.

But Bowens was the most noticeable.

As it turned out, the 6-3, 206-pound native of St. Petersburg, Fla., was the beneficiary of the injury report in more ways than one.

Virginia cornerback Chris Cook missed the game with an ankle injury, meaning redshirt freshman Mike Parker had to try and contain Bowens. That meant Evans' default setting was to look for Bowens.

"We knew where the soft coverage was going to be," Evans said. "It just so happened he was the receiver on that side."

And it didn't hurt that Evans already had confidence in Bowens. The two combined for 93 yards against the Pirates last week. And Evans remembered the first game of the season when Bowens bowled over a Central Florida defender en route to the end zone.

"He's really strong," Evans said. "He plays on a couple special teams, so he's durable. He's got hands, and he plays the ball well in the air. He's fast enough. I don't know if he's a track guy or anything, but to me he's just really strong."

Added quarterback turned tight end Marcus Stone: "He's every quarterback's dream to be at wide receiver."

NOTES -- The last time an N.C. State quarterback threw for more than 300 yards in two straight games was in 2003 when Philip Rivers did the trick. n Jamelle Eugene ran for a career high 113 yards. n The Wolfpack is 3-3 in its last three games against ranked opponents.

 

Pack gets it together
By Chip Alexander, Staff Writer

RALEIGH - Virginia had won all the close ones, and N.C. State had lost a lot of tough ones.
But it all turned around Saturday night, for the Wolfpack and the Cavaliers.

With Daniel Evans passing for a career-high 347 yards and three touchdowns, the Pack fought past No. 21 Virginia 29-24 at Carter-Finley Stadium, giving coach Tom O'Brien his first ACC victory at NCSU and ending the Cavaliers' seven-game winning streak.

Evans found an inviting target in Donald Bowens and never stopped throwing to the wide receiver. Bowens, a 6-foot-3, 206-pound sophomore, responded with 11 catches for 202 yards, both career highs.

"Donald got the opportunity, and he seized it," O'Brien said. "He made great grabs and gave a lot of effort."

Bowens, starting with senior John Dunlap out with an ankle sprain, pulled in a 40-yard scoring pass from Evans for the Pack's first touchdown. Then, with 7:37 remaining in the game, he latched on to a 30-yarder for the winning score, slipping behind Virginia cornerback Ras-I Dowling down the right sideline.

"He didn't surprise anyone," Evans said of Bowens, who had caught 15 passes for 252 yards this season before Saturday. "We see him do that all the time in practice. He's surprisingly strong and durable. He plays the ball well in the air. He did an awesome job, but we had a lot of guys step up."

Koyal George, a redshirt sophomore and former walk-on, made his first career catch a big one. George caught a 25-yard pass from Evans late in the second quarter as the Pack (3-5, 1-3) took a 20-17 halftime lead in its homecoming game.

The Cavaliers (7-2, 4-1) had won five games this season by six or fewer points -- the last two by a point. Virginia trailed 20-10 late in the first half and 23-17 in the second half, but again rallied behind quarterback Jameel Sewell.

The sophomore, ever elusive, passed for a career-high 260 yards and two scores. And when tailback Mikell Simpson smashed in on a 5-yard run with 13:12 to play, the Cavs had a 24-23 lead.

For Virginia, which has been living on the edge, a one-point lead seemed comfortable enough.

But Sewell had to leave the game because of cramps with 7:09 left. He did not return, and UVa freshman quarterback Peter Lalich appeared jumpy.

Making Lalich uneasy was the hard-charging Pack, which had six sacks in the game. Lalich was wild on some throws, and the Cavs had just 37 yards in total offense in the fourth quarter.

"Jameel cramped up seriously everywhere, not just in one place," Cavs coach Al Groh said. "Their pressure made it difficult for our quarterbacks all night."

Safety DaJuan Morgan, who had one of the Pack's two interceptions off Sewell, said it was a "big relief" when he went out.

"We knew with the new guy coming in, late in the game, with the hostile crowd, it could be an advantage for us," Morgan said. "We knew he'd throw a couple of passes off-rhythm, and he did. Our defensive line got after him."

A stumble by State tailback Jamelle Eugene, who rushed for a career-high 112 yards, early in the third quarter nearly was costly for the Pack. On third down from the UVa 39, Eugene shook loose and was headed to end zone, only to trip and fall at the 2.

After a false-start penalty on first down, State had to settle for a 24-yarder by Steven Hauschka, who had three field goals.

The Pack dodged disaster a few times on kicking mistakes. Darrell Blackman lost a fumble on the kickoff after Virginia went ahead 24-23, but the Cavs were offsides and had to kick again. Blackman also muffed a punt inside the NCSU 10, pushing the Pack back to its 1.

State was 119th nationally in turnover margin and had intercepted just three passes this season -- two by defensive linemen. But State converted pickoffs by Morgan and cornerback Jeremy Gray into 10 first-half points and won the turnover battle.

The Pack was coming off a 34-20 victory over East Carolina. But this was an ACC victory, ending a nine-game losing streak in the league. It came before a crowd of 55,342 at Carter-Finley, on homecoming.

"That was a good football team we played -- seven wins in a row, nationally ranked," O'Brien said. "In order to beat a team like this, you have to make plays and we made plays down the end to win. I'm happy for these kids."

Senior tight end Marcus Stone, who had five catches, may have had the biggest smile.

"It feels good to finally have a big ACC win in your home stadium," he said. "It's an awesome feeling."

 

Cavs' late-game wizardryfinally loses its magic
October 28, 2007 12:36 am
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.

RALEIGH, N.C.--Life on the edge finally caught up to the University of Virginia football team.

The No. 21 Cavaliers suffered a 29-24 Atlantic Coast Conference upset loss to North Carolina State yesterday in front of a 55,342 fans in Carter-Finley Stadium.

The setback ended a seven-game winning streak for the Cavaliers (7-2, 4-1 ACC), who were also dealt their first ACC loss.

Virginia remains in first place in the ACC's Coastal Division, but a loss to the Wolfpack (3-5, 1-3), who were last in the Atlantic, still stings.

"If there is any finger-pointing, and there ought to be a lot, it ought to be 71 guys," Cavaliers head coach Al Groh said. "And it ought to be each one of us pointing the finger at ourselves and saying, 'If I had done better maybe the result would've been different.'"

Five of the Cavaliers' seven wins were by five points or less, including back-to-back one-point victories over Connecticut and Maryland.

That's why Virginia players were shouting, 'We've been here before,' on the sidelines when they were beginning a potential a game-winning drive with 1:24 remaining, but it wasn't to be.

Backup true freshman quarterback Peter Lalich was sacked on a fourth-down play deep in his own territory with 17 seconds remaining to end any hopes of another dramatic victory.

"We had done it so many times that I definitely had the confidence we were going to pull it out again," Cavaliers' junior wide receiver Maurice Covington said.

Sophomore quarterback Jameel Sewell had been the director of each of the Cavaliers' nail-biting victories.

But yesterday, Lalich was in the lineup because Sewell had to exit with 7:09 remaining in the game with severe cramps.

Before he was injured, Sewell reached career-highs in completions (24), attempts (43) and passing yards (260).

But after he was sacked on a second-and-10 play, Sewell didn't go back in.

"It was as frustrated as I've ever been," he said.

The same could be said for the Cavaliers' defense. The unit allowed Wolfpack quarterback Daniel Evans to complete 26-of-46 passes for a career-high 347 yards and three touchdowns.

Eleven of Evans' passes went to 6-foot-3, 206-pound sophomore wide receiver Donald Bowens for 202 yards and two touchdowns.

Those numbers were career-highs for Bowens, who spent much of the game matched up with Cavaliers' true freshman cornerback Ras-I Dowling.

Bowens consistently made difficult catches, including the 30-yard go-ahead touchdown reception over Dowling with 7:37 left in the game.

"I knew I could run by [Virginia's defensive backs] because they just sat there," Bowens said. "I knew they wouldn't be able to turn around in time."

The Cavaliers got off to the worst start possible yesterday. The first snap of the game was mishandled by Sewell for a 15-yard loss.

Two plays later, he was intercepted by Wolfpack junior strong safety DaJuan Morgan at the Cavaliers' 37-yard line.

The Cavaliers' defense appeared it was going to be able to force a punt, but on third-and-13 from the 40, Bowens badly beat Virginia redshirt freshman cornerback Mike Parker for a touchdown with 12:30 left in the first quarter.

Groh and senior defensive end Chris Long agreed that the Cavaliers can't keep falling behind early if they want to be successful.

"It was as if when the contract for the game was written, it was written with them having a seven-point advantage," Groh said. "Ultimately those seven points were the deciding points."

But the Wolfpack weren't done. After Virginia kicker Chris Gould made a 23-yard field goal, they responded with two Steven Hauschka field goals for a 13-3 lead with 5:22 left in the second quarter.

The teams then combined for three quick touchdown drives, with the longest being 2:18. Cavaliers' sophomore running back Mikell Simpson scored on a 13-yard pass from Sewell to pull the Cavaliers within 13-10. The Wolfpack then scored in 1:33 on a 25-yard pass from Evans to sophomore wide receiver Koyal George.

The Cavaliers came back with an 8-play, 64-yard drive that took just 1:04. Junior wide receiver Cary Koch ended the drive with his first touchdown at Virginia, a 7-yard strike from Sewell that pulled the Cavaliers within 20-17 with 27 seconds to go before halftime.

The Wolfpack went ahead 23-17 on a 23-yard field goal from Hauschka early in the third quarter, but the Cavaliers took their first and only lead of the game on a 5-yard touchdown run from Simpson with 13:12 left in the fourth quarter.

Virginia appeared it would be able to hold on for its third straight one-point victory, but Bowens ended those thoughts with his 30-yard score over Dowling.

Long said Virginia games shouldn't have to always come down to the wire.

"That's our fault for putting ourselves in those positions," he said. "That's where we need to improve most--not putting ourselves in these tough situations."

Notes

Virginia left tackle Eugene Monroe left the game with a knee injury. Cornerback Chris Cook, fullback Rashawn Jackson and tight end Tom Santi made the trip to Raleigh, but didn't play.

Parker suffered an ankle injury in practice last week. He left the game in the first quarter and didn't return.