Two-faced Cavs seek an identity
Ghastly or very good? Which U.Va. team will tackle ECU?
Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 - 12:07 AM

ECU AT U.VA.

Today:Noon
TV:WRLH.
Radio:WRVA (1140), 11 a.m.
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

Was it an aberration, or was Virginia's 31-0 victory over Maryland a sign of things to come for Al Groh's football team?

We'll know more this afternoon. In the Cavaliers' first game since their Oct. 4 demolition of the Terrapins, they'll step outside the ACC to meet East Carolina (3-2) at Scott Stadium.

"I think we're going to see more of the football team that played against Maryland than the one that played early in the season," ECU coach Skip Holtz said.

That, of course, is what you'd expect an opposing coach to say, especially one whose father, Lou Holtz, was famous for his ability to make every foe sound formidable.

Groh, who coaches the Cavaliers (2-3), isn't sure what to expect today.

"It'd be a little rash to say I think we'll win them all 31-0," he said, "but we certainly did see on a play-to-play basis [against Maryland] our ability to execute different schemes, whether it's on offense or defense, that if we do it the right way we can execute the scheme and get good results with it."

Virginia's stars against the Terrapins included junior wide receiver Kevin Ogletree, who caught two touchdown passes from sophomore quarterback Marc Verica.

"All the guys are excited, and we know that that game we played can happen every week if we focus and practice on it," Ogletree said. "It's not going to just happen. The guys have to bring it every week. We have to practice hard, and that was just a flashing of what we could be if we do those things and practice hard and come prepared and make plays."

Of the players who started for Virginia in its 31-21 loss at East Carolina in 2006, eight remain in the program. Ogletree is one of them. Senior linebacker Clint Sintim is another.

"They really handed it to us," Sintim said of the Pirates. "I can remember that game vividly."

Like U.Va., East Carolina has been on a roller-coaster ride this season. The Pirates opened with wins over Virginia Tech and West Virginia, after which they found themselves ranked No. 14 in The Associated Press poll.

Pundits around the country began touting ECU as a candidate for the Bowl Championship Series, but the buzz has faded. Since edging Tulane on Sept. 13, East Carolina has lost two in a row.

"We've been feast and we've been famine," Holtz told reporters in Greenville, N.C. "I don't think we're playing as well after the fifth game as we did after the first game. It's hard to put a finger on exactly why."

The loss of linebacker Quentin Cotton, who hurt his knee against Tulane, dealt a blow to the Pirates' defense. But ECU still has dual-threat quarterback Patrick Pinkney, and he leads an attack loaded with fast playmakers.

"It's a speed-style offense, spread out all across the field: wide receivers who can run, quarterback who can run, two or three running backs who have real good speed, the tight end is a very good vertical player," Groh said. "It's definitely an offense built on speed and built for speed."

Five games in, it's harder to describe the Wahoos. Are they the team that got blown out at Connecticut or the team that pounded Maryland? Or something in between?

"We'll find out what the identity of our team is once we've gone through to the end of the season," Groh said. "The results will say what our identity is."

 

Three keys for Virginia
Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 - 12:07 AM

1 Contain Patrick Pinkney. East Carolina's senior quarterback is a threat to run whenever he drops back, but he's also a terrific passer. Pinkney has completed 68.1 percent of his throws this season, with only three interceptions.

2 Establish the running game . Tailbacks Cedric Peerman and Mikell Simpson combined for 187 yards rushing last weekend in a 31-0 romp over Maryland, and that made it easier for Virginia's receivers to get open and for sophomore quarterback Marc Verica to find them.

3 Limit turnovers . The Cavaliers are coming off their best performance of the season, and it's no coincidence that they lost no fumbles and threw no interceptions against the Terrapins. U.Va. is tied for last among ACC teams in turnover margin.


 

 Virginia vs. East Carolina
Saturday, Oct 11, 2008 - 12:07 AM
East Carolina at Virginia
Where : Scott Stadium (cap. 61,500), Charlottesville.
When : Noon
On the air: TV -- WRLH. Radio -- WRVA (1140), 11 a.m.; XM Ch. 190, noon
Tickets : $35
Records : Virginia 2-3; East Carolina 3-2
Players to watch: East Carolina -- QB Patrick Pinkney, 92-135 passing, 1,017 yards, 6 TDs, 3 INTs; TB Brandon Simmons, 67 carries, 226 yards, 2 TDs; TB Jon Williams, 41 carries, 177 yards, 3 TDs; WR Dwayne Harris, 33 catches, 348 yards, 0 TDs. Virginia -- WR Kevin Ogletree, 27 catches, 318 yards, 2 TDs; TB Cedric Peerman, 37 carries, 206 yards, 2 TDs; QB Marc Verica, 66-106 passing, 578 yards, 2 TDs, 5 INTs; LB Clint Sintim, 5 sacks.
Outlook : Third game against an ACC opponent this season for East Carolina, which beat Virginia Tech 27-22 on Aug. 30 and lost 30-24 in overtime to N.C. State on Sept. 20. . . . The Pirates are 2-0 all-time against the Cavaliers. Their most recent meeting was in 2006 at Greenville, N.C., where ECU won 31-21. . . . The Pirates have dropped two consecutive since they rallied to beat Tulane 28-24 on Sept. 13. . . . Virginia is coming off a 31-0 rout of Maryland at Scott Stadium. This is the second of three consecutive home games for the Wahoos, who host North Carolina next Saturday.

 

Holtz out to keep Pirates focused
In just five games, ECU already has experienced enough ups and downs to last an entire season.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

After East Carolina opened the season with upsets of Top 25 opponents Virginia Tech and West Virginia, the Pirates became the national media's darling, a status that disappeared almost as it quickly as it appeared.

The Pirates (3-2) come to Charlottesville on a two-game losing streak, and while they are favorites to beat the Cavaliers, coach Skip Holtz has to wonder what ECU team might show up.

The same thing could be said for a 2-3 Virginia team that was given up for dead after a 31-3 loss at Duke, then returned home to hand Maryland a 31-0 pasting.

Today's noon kickoff marks the second of three straight home games for UVa, which, unlike ECU, has never been within sniffing distance of the Top 25.

East Carolina got as high as No. 14 following a 28-24 victory at Tulane that elevated the Pirates to 3-0.

Holtz admitted it was difficult to keep his players focused.

"We addressed it and talked about how it's like poison," Holtz said. "It won't kill you unless you swallow it. When you start believing it, that's when you've got problems.

"For a group of guys that had never been ranked, it was difficult to get them to continue to play to earn something. It's almost like we were trying to protect something that we had never earned."

In particular, Holtz remembers an interview when the Pirates were 2-0.

"Somebody said, 'Now your hard games are out and it's looks like y'all will run the table," Holtz related. "I was like, 'whoa, whoa, whoa. There's 10 games left on the schedule.'

"You look around college football and it's crazy. You can't follow the system of 'they beat them and they beat them and they beat them.' You go through that and, by the end of the day, App. State is going to be the national champion.

"Obviously, we've been very humbled the past two weeks."

Actually, it's been three weeks, counting the Pirates' open date last Saturday. The Pirates lost 30-24 in overtime at North Carolina State, then suffered a 41-24 home loss to Houston in an affair that Holtz describes as "a debacle."

Houston amassed 685 yards in total offense against East Carolina, which will be without linebacker Quentin Cotton for the third game. Cotton suffered a season-ending knee injury Sept. 13 at Tulane.

Holtz, the son of legendary college coach and current ESPN analyst Lou Holtz, will be making his second trip to Charlottesville. In 2002, he was an assistant coach to his father when the Cavaliers defeated then-No. 22 South Carolina, 34-21.

Holtz was the Gamecocks' offensive coordinator for five seasons, 1999-2003, before his father demoted him to quarterbacks coach. Virginia has had a similar father-son arrangement, with Mike Groh serving as his father's offensive coordinator.

In three years with the younger Groh as coordinator, UVa's offense has not finished among the nation's top 100 Division I-A teams in total offense. Unlike Lou Holtz, who came from an offensive background, Al Groh's area of expertise is defense.

"With my father's background being all on offense and as much of an offensive coach as he was, it seems like every time we did something well it was 'Coach [Lou] Holtz and his experience,'" said Skip Holtz in a Tuesday interview with Virginia reporters.

"Every time we did something poor, it was 'that stupid son of his' calling the plays."

Today's game will be the second game of a two-year series that began in 2006, when the Pirates defeated the Cavaliers 31-21 in Greenville, N.C.

The only other meeting was in 1975, when visiting East Carolina romped to a 61-10 victory against a UVa team led by one-time ECU head coach Sonny Randle.

East Carolina athletic director Terry Holland, who was the Virginia AD when Al Groh was hired, has been successful in using his contacts to persuade multiple ACC teams to play the Pirates, whose Conference USA travel schedule is tough on the bottom line.

Just since 2006, ECU victims have included UVa, Virginia Tech, N.C. State, North Carolina, West Virginia and Boise State.

"Clearly, East Carolina is ACC-comparable," Groh said. "We're going to have to play the same kind of game [as UVa had against Maryland] to have a chance."
 

Patience pays off for Cavs' Peerman
Running back Cedric Peerman is healthy again, and leads U.Va. today against ECU.
By NORM WOOD | 247-4642
October 11, 2008

If Virginia's Cedric Peerman had it his way, he would've had his first breakout game of the season two weekends ago against Duke instead of last weekend against Maryland.

Instead, Peerman had to learn a lesson in patience — a lesson that might pay big dividends for his health as the season progresses. When he approached coach Al Groh early in U.Va.'s 31-3 loss to Duke on Sept. 27 and asked Groh to put him in the game, Groh wouldn't even consider it. Peerman still was hurting from a badly bruised knee he sustained against Richmond, and Groh knew it.

" 'No, this isn't the time' " Groh said he told Peerman on the sideline at the Duke game.

" 'It's not worth it for you to go out there and not be able to do what you can do. This is what nature is and sometimes we've just got to let it run its course.' "

Groh said he learned a thing or two about trying to push players through injuries in 2005 when Wali Lundy tried to play through a foot injury. Lundy finished his '05 senior season with 144 carries for 574 yards, the lowest yardage total of his college career.

Groh's message to Peerman was clear. When Cedric was ready to be Cedric again, he'd get in the game. After having just two carries for 4 yards and a touchdown in U.Va.'s 45-10 loss at Connecticut, Peerman didn't have a single carry against Duke. He had no choice but to sit and wait.

"I felt like I did enough to convey to him I was ready to go and everything, but I've known coach Groh long enough," said Peerman, a senior from Gladys, Va. who will lead U.Va. today against East Carolina (3-2).

"I've been in a situation like this before and I know when he's right. I just had to take his advice. He's been in this game for much longer than I have, so he knows a little bit more than I do."

Peerman discovered just how much the extra time off helped him last Saturday in U.Va.'s surprising 31-0 win against Maryland, when he ran 17 times for 110 yards and a touchdown. It was his first 100-plus rushing yardage game since Sept. 22, 2007, when he ran 28 times for 138 yards and a touchdown in a win against Georgia Tech.

"His performance the other night just shows how important to this team he is," U.Va. quarterback Marc Verica said. "He's the leader of our team and he carries the flag, as Coach Groh likes to say."

Peerman's huge night came at a perfect time for U.Va. (2-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which had eclipsed 100 rushing yards as a team just once all season before the Maryland game (110 against Duke). U.Va. is still just 111th in the nation in rushing offense (average of 93 yards per game).

In truth, Peerman probably is better equipped to exercise patience while rehabilitating an injury than most player. Peerman's effort against Georgia Tech last season was also the last of three consecutive games in which he had 137 or more rushing yards. It also was his last great statistical game of the season because he only played in six games because of a Lisfranc foot fracture.

Of course, that past experience obviously didn't keep Peerman from doing his best to coax Groh into putting him in against Duke and giving him more carries against UConn. Peerman thought he was good to go, but it was classic mind-over-matter thinking. Given the time to recover, Peerman probably will be better off as the season progresses, but that's a hard sell.

"I think I would've been fine either way if I had that many carries in either of those games," Peerman said.

"I don't think any injury or anything would've held me back. Just being a running back, there's always opportunity to get hurt. (On) any play, you can go out. It's just a matter of just being smart about things and not trying to push yourself.

"It's a long season, so you just have to be careful about those things."
 

A laughing matter
ECU place-kicker stays loose before big boots
A.J. Carr, Staff Writer
Comment on this story

In the pressure-packed moments - just before attempting a field goal -- Ben Hartman huddles with East Carolina football coach Skip Holtz.
They don't talk technique. They crack jokes.

"That's how we keep him loose," Holtz said of his junior place-kicker.

The joking started last season against North Carolina. After three straight misses, Hartman had a chance to try a game-winning goal and was nervous as a deer facing headlights.

"Tell me a joke," Holtz said, trying to settle him down. Hartman, explaining it was a big kick, said he couldn't think of anything funny in such a tense moment.

So Holtz asked: "Why did the coach go to the bank?"

Hartman drew a blank and Holtz answered: "To get his quarter back."

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Hartman booted a 39-yarder as time expired, lifting ECU to a 34-31 victory.

On Dec. 23 in the Hawaii Bowl, with ECU and Boise State tied 38-38, he faced another big kick. That time Hartman told Holtz he had the joke.

"Why is a stadium hot after the game is over?'' he asked his coach.

"Because all the fans are gone," Hartman quipped.

Ha! Ha! Ha!

Then the wise-cracking Pirate nailed a 34-yarder as the clock ran out, giving the Pirates a 41-38 win.

Hartman, an honor roll student, insists he thrives on pressure and feeds off the crowds, be it cheers at home or jeers on the road.

This year Hartman, described in the ECU media guide as "free-spirited," has converted both field-goal chances inside the 30-yard line and is 6-for-6 on extra points. His career PAT stat is 65-for-65, a school record for consecutive makes.

At one time, it appeared the Pirate might not kick at all. Hampered by a hip flexor, he didn't play in the first three games.

Last season he also had a faulty foot on mid-range field goals, converting just 6 of 12 between the 30- and 39-yard lines. Hartman corrected that flaw by keeping his head down and his "eye on the ball."

While the joking with Holtz will continue, ECU has a place-kicker it can count on -- and that's no joke.

 

Pirates seek to right the ship
October 11, 2008 12:15 am
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.
CHARLOTTESVILLE--

Every year, a team or two outside the six major college football conferences are considered candidates to play in one of the Bowl Championship Series games.

Just last month, East Carolina was one of those teams. But after back-to-back losses to North Carolina State and Houston, the Pirates (3-2) are no longer involved in that conversation.

They'll try to regain the form that allowed them to upset Virginia Tech and West Virginia today at noon when they visit Virginia (2-3) in a nonconference contest at Scott Stadium.

The Pirates were ranked as high as No. 14 in the nation before their struggles began.

"I don't think we're playing as well in the fifth game as we did in the first two," Pirates head coach Skip Holtz said. "I don't think we're playing at that same level. It's very hard to put a finger on exactly why. I don't think we're as together as a football team as we need to be right now."

Cavaliers head coach Al Groh can relate.

His team was written off after it lost three of its first four games, all in embarrassing fashion. But last Saturday, Virginia rebounded by routing Maryland 31-0.

Groh said it's too early to say if the Pirates' upset victories were just a mirage.

"In many cases, people are too quick to load up the bandwagon and too quick to jump off the bandwagon," Groh said. "We ought to leave the doors of the bandwagons closed for six or seven weeks. Nobody can get on, nobody can get off. And then we'll find the guys who are having a truly outstanding season."

Groh said it isn't too late for his Cavaliers to have a solid year. He compared this group to the one in 2002 that bounced back from two straight losses to open the season to finish 9-5 and win the Continental Tire Bowl.

One reason Groh is optimistic is the play of his new quarterback, Marc Verica. Verica has started just three games for the Cavaliers, but he made significant strides against Maryland.

He finished the game 25-of-34 for 226 yards and two touchdowns. It was a definite contrast from the player who threw four interceptions in a 31-3 loss to Duke a week earlier.

Verica said the offense, which is still ranked 111th out of 119 Division I-A teams in the nation in total yards (286.4 yards per game) and 117th in scoring (13.4 points per game), was in a "drought" before it broke out in the Maryland game.

"I guess you could call it a monsoon," Verica said of that performance.

East Carolina is led by senior quarterback Patrick Pinkney, who has completed 68 percent of his passes. Pinkney has thrown for 1,017 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions, while also rushing for 85 yards and a score.

Groh said the Pirates are built on speed.

"They have wide receivers who can run, a quarterback who can run, two or three running backs who have real good speed, and the tight end is a very good vertical player," Groh said.

One of those weapons won't be on hand today. Pirates wide receiver Jamar Bryant has been suspended indefinitely for an unspecified violation of team rules. Bryant was second on the team with 19 receptions for 216 yards and has a team-leading three touchdown catches.

Notes

Virginia kicker Yannick Reyering is questionable with a leg injury. Chris Hinkebein and Robert Randolph are the only other kickers on the Cavaliers' roster.

Sophomore fullback Keith Payne (hand) and sophomore tight end Joe Torchia (shoulder) will miss the game with injuries.

 

UVa aims to start streak
By Jay Jenkins
Published: October 10, 2008

In remarkable fashion, Virginia silenced a handful of its critics in a matter of 60 minutes.

The Cavaliers (2-3, 1-1 ACC) avoided a turnover, blanked an FBS opponent and showcased an unpredictable offense.

What will Virginia do for an encore?

That will be discovered today at noon inside Scott Stadium against East Carolina (3-2, 1-1 Conference USA), a program attempting to find its own identity.

East Carolina, as was the case prior to last week’s thumping of Maryland, is riding a two-game losing streak. Yet wins that opened the season over Virginia Tech and West Virginia provided substantial fear in Virginia’s pregame preparations.

“Those are the teams that they beat and played their very best against,” said Virginia coach Al Groh. “We take our reading off of their performance against those two teams as to what East Carolina is capable of, so we can see what the benchmark is for their performance.”

Once deemed as a potential BCS sleeper, ECU lost back-to-back games against North Carolina State and Houston as it struggled to sustain offensive possessions with success on third down.

As Virginia did following back-to-back road losses to Connecticut and Duke, East Carolina must regroup. That comes easier following a week of rest and self-scouting measures.

“This is a new season — a two-week season,” said ECU coach Skip Holtz, noting that a contest next week with Marshall precedes another bye week. “We’ve looked at this as a five-week season, a two-week season and another five-week season. You sit down and you look at where we are right now and we are 3-2; we cannot change that.

“We are where we are. But I think we can certainly grow and learn from it. We are not having as much consistency as we need to have in some key areas and positions.”

Virginia, which lost to ECU in 2006 on the road, would love to bottle up what was showcased against Maryland, a program boasting two wins over opponents that were ranked prior to kickoff.

For now, signs of life have salvaged the season, but few knew the Cavaliers would embark on a remarkable turnaround so soon after a discouraging loss under a quarterback, sophomore Marc Verica, who was making just his third career start.

“We had seen progress in a number of different areas,” Groh said. “We’ve said repeatedly that we thought this would be a team of progress, that it certainly wasn’t going to be a team that was ready to burst on the scene the first week of the season and clearly we had little struggles doing that.

“Hopefully, we are progressing in the way that we anticipated might be the case.”

 

Cavs’ Verica comes into his own
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: October 10, 2008

Last week was one of the bittersweet experiences of Marc Verica’s young life.

The Virginia quarterback had played in the second game of his college career (both on the road) and really hadn’t distinguished himself — at least not in a positive manner — in the second half at Duke, where he threw four interceptions. Game week in preparation for Maryland would be a long one, but had its rewards as Verica delivered an eye-popping performance that left the vanquished Terrapins stunned in a 31-0 Virginia win.

All the sophomore quarterback did was throw for 226 yards and two touchdowns in addition to rushing for another score. He became the first UVa quarterback to complete 25 passes in a game (it took him 34 attempts) since Marques Hagans tore up Minnesota in the 2005 Music City Bowl.

The will to excel

As we come to know Verica, we understand that this gritty Pennsylvanian will not accept mediocrity. His performance at Duke ate him up inside.

“Any time you play that poorly, a tough week is going to follow,” Verica said. “You can say you’ve got to put it behind you or not to worry about it, but I think until you get out there the next Saturday, it’s hard to put that behind you. I was looking to the [Maryland] game all week to redeem myself.”

Did he ever.

He admitted that the Duke loss wore on him all week leading up to Maryland. He wanted to prove to Virginia’s coaches and his Cavalier teammates that he could perform at a high level and that he could win, the latter being the true measure of a quarterback.

Lessons from a loss

As torturous as the 31-3 loss at Duke was for UVa’s replacement quarterback, Verica did take some lessons from the licking. He learned from the turnovers, forcing passes instead of taking what the defense gave him. He was successful in more downfield plays against Duke than during his first start at Connecticut. He ran the ball more and recognized opportunities for even more runs. There were other things, too, such as carrying out ball fakes, ball-handling and other technicalities that escape the eye of the common fan.

Once he got things going against Maryland, there was no stopping him.

An early 51-yard strike to wide receiver Kevin Ogletree served notice to the Terps that this wasn’t the same guy who played against Duke the week before.

The shell-shocked — pun intended — Terrapins became more vulnerable in every aspect of defensive play from that point onward. Verica saw things open up underneath with the short passing game and more running lanes. Just to keep Maryland’s defense honest, and maybe just for fun as well, he kept taking shots deep until the Terps were beaten into submission.

Everyone noticed the difference, especially Skip Holtz, whose East Carolina team will face the Cavaliers at high noon today in Scott Stadium.

“The difference between Duke and Maryland is that I see a quarterback that is kind of evolving on film,” an impressed Holtz said. “The quarterback played the first two games on the road and was thrown into an unfortunate situation in the Connecticut game as late as all that happened. But he’s developed and gotten better and better.”

Verica, who was named UVa’s starter after regular starter Pete Lalich was booted from the program by athletic director Craig Littlepage during the week of the UConn game, would agree that he’s moving forward, week-by-week.

“It was extremely uplifting for my confidence,” Verica said. “There was a sigh of relief to get the first win, but I’m not content, I’m not satisfied. There’s a lot of improvement to be made on my part.”

Actually it seems as if Verica and Virginia’s offensive line are growing up before our very eyes, and it showed last week in the most explosive offensive performance by the Cavs since last year’s 48-0 rout of Miami in the old Orange Bowl.

“I think Marc’s best days are ahead of him,” said Ogletree, who has given the Cavaliers a legitimate deep threat for the first time since 2006. “As the season progresses, I think he’ll do a lot of thngs better than he did the week before.”

Ogletree said that Verica’s arm is strong and accurate and that his deep ball isn’t short of anything that he’s seen. As was pointed out last week, Ogletree has caught passes from no less than six UVa starting quarterbacks — and he’s only a junior.

Still, Verica likes to keep a low profile.

He said he hasn’t experienced the fame on campus that some of Virginia’s brightest stars have enjoyed, or maybe not enjoyed, the past few years such as Chris Long, Sean Singletary and Somdev Devvarman. Verica prefers it that way.

“I’m a low-key guy and I don’t like a lot of attention,” the quarterback said. “I like to lay low and do my job and that’s the way I want to keep it.”

Should he continue to put together performances like the one against Maryland, Verica will likely become the big man on campus whether he likes it or not.

 

ACC offenses dreadful
WVU gets Halifax kicker
By Doug Doughty

Among the hundreds of interviews that are carried on sports-talk radio in a day’s time, one that caught my ear Friday was with an ESPN reporter who had been assigned to the Kansas-Colorado game.

The topic was Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing, a player with whom Virginia Tech fans are all too familiar dating back to last year’s Orange Bowl. Talk then turned to other Big 12 Conference quarterbacks, including Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford and Texas’ Colt McCoy, who will be opposing each other this weekend.

It was reported that McCoy had 20 touchdown passes, compared to only three interceptions, and that he also leads the Longhorns in rushing. It turns out that McCoy’s touchdown pass-interception is only 16-3, but research indicates he does lead Texas in rushing and it’s not close.

McCoy has rushed for 317 yards and an average of 7.0 yards per carry, with four touchdowns. But, he might be a longshot for the All-Big 12 quarterback in a field that includes Bradford, Reesing, Missouri’s Chase Daniel and Texas Tech’s Graham Harrell.

Heck, Oklahoma State junior Zac Robinson is third in Division I-A in passing efficiency and there are eight Big 12 quarterbacks in the top 20, including Robinson, Bradford (No. 2), McCoy (No. 4), Daniel (No. 5), Kansas State’s Josh Freeman (No. 10), Harrell (No. 12), Reesing (No. 14) and Nebraska’s Joe Ganz (No. 18).

That just served to remind me, on a way to an SEC Roundtable gathering that included Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring, how awful the offenses in the ACC have been this year.

At No. 50, Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner is the ACC quarterback who rates highest in passing efficiency. Next is Clemson’s Cullen Harper, who checks in at No. 53. Skinner and Harper were the opposing quarterbacks Thursday night in a 12-7 thriller that was televised by ESPN.

The rankings for Skinner and Harper were calculated before the game, when Skinner was 22-of-34 for 186 yards and one touchdown for the victorious Deacs. Harper was 15-of-35 for 177 yards and one touchdown, and he also was intercepted once.

Neither player is likely to make a drop in the passing-efficiency ratings. The Deacons have won a lot of games with Skinner at quarterback over the past three seasons and you have to give him credit for that, but the Tigers, rated No. 9 nationally in the preseason, are 3-3.

Watching Thursday night’s game, it crossed my mind that Virginia might actually have a chance against Clemson, which invades Scott Stadium on Nov. 22. That all could depend on who’s playing quarterback for Clemson at the time.

Word out of Clemson on Friday was that Harper no longer had the job.

Harper was the preseason ACC player of the year. I even think I voted for him, reasoning that Clemson would have the best team and that the two best offensive players – running backs James Davis and C.J. Spiller – would split the carries.

Davis had 12 carries for 25 yards, and Spiller had two carries for 10 yards before an injury sent him to the sideline Thursday night. Offensive line or offensive line, the Tigers were pathetic.

KNOW WHO THE ACC’s leading rusher is? I’ll help you out. It was Maryland’s Da’Rel Scott before his 11-carry, 36-yard night at Virginia. Now, it’s Georgia Tech sophomore Jonathan Dwyer, averaging 109.6 rushing yards per game and 7.7 yards per carry.

No quarterbacks higher than 50th in the country and one rusher averaging 100 yards per game. How bad is that?

The ACC does not have a team ranked higher than No. 37 (Georgia Tech) in total offense. Four teams are ranked between 106th and 116th (out of 119 Division I-A teams). They are No. 106 Miami, No. 108 Virginia Tech, No. 111 Virginia and No. 116 North Carolina State.

Wake Forest, North Carolina and Duke are all between 85 and 91.

And it’s not just a one-year deal. In 2007, eight ACC teams were beaten 92nd and 117th in total offense (Maryland, Wake, N.C. State, Virginia Tech, Virginia, North Carolina, Miami and Duke). In 2006, there were eight ACC teams between 87th and 113th.

So, if you’re a Tech or Virginia fan and you’re unhappy with Stinespring or Mike Groh, don’t think for a moment that you’re alone.

ONE OF VIRGINIA’S top uncommitted players, linebacker Jerod Askew from Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake, made an oral commitment to Tennessee this week.

Askew, rated the No. 8 prospect in Virginia on the roanoke.com preseason list, picked the Vols from a list of finalists that included Alabama, Maryland, West Virginia and South Carolina, according to Jami Frankenberry’s story in the Virginian-Pilot.

Askew, credited with 24 tackles for loss and 14 sacks in 2007, is one of at least three Division I-A prospects in Oscar Smith’s senior class. Linebacker Perry Jones committed to Virginia and the Cavaliers were paid an official visit last week by Oscar Smith wide receiver Tim Smith.

Oscar Smith also has one of the state’s top juniors, quarterback Philip Sims.

ESTIMABLE SOUTH BOSTON News & Record sports editor Tucker McLaughlin reports that West Virginia has taken a commitment from Halifax County place-kicker Cameron Starke.

McLaughlin writes that Starke will begin his WVU career as a “preferred” walk-on and plans to graduate from Halifax County after the first semester and begin classes in Morgantown, W.Va., in January.

Halifax County coach Stan Hodgin was quoted to that effect, which surprised me, given that very few school systems in Virginia are set up for December graduation. I’m not sure I can remember another situation where a student graduated from a Virginia high school in December and enrolled in time to take part in I-A spring practice.