Groh says Cavs still need upgrade
After viewing tape, coach notes issues with kicking units
Monday, Oct 13, 2008 - 12:06 AM

NO. 18 UNC AT U.VA.

Saturday:3:30 p.m., ABC
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

On a day when Al Groh got good news from a high school standout, the University of Virginia football coach wasn't as pleased by what he saw when reviewing videotape of his team.

U.Va.'s offense and defense distinguished themselves Saturday against East Carolina. But the special teams units struggled in Virginia's 35-20 win at Scott Stadium.

"We have to improve with our kicking of the ball in all phases," Groh said on his regular Sunday night teleconference.

Yannick Reyering missed a 38-yard field goal attempt, Jimmy Howell averaged 34.3 yards on six punts, and Chris Hinkebein's first kickoff went out of bounds, giving ECU the ball at its 40. On kickoff returns, the Pirates averaged 28.3 yards, to 23 for the Cavaliers.

"All of those units are definitely on call," Groh said.

At the regular season's midpoint, Virginia is 3-3 and has won two straight games by a combined score of 65-20. But the Wahoos will need strong play in all three phases -- offense, defense and special teams -- if their resurgence is to continue, Groh said, because tougher tests lie ahead.

The six teams left on U.Va.'s schedule, all from the ACC, have a combined record of 25-10. Three are ranked in The Associated Press' latest Top 25.

That group includes the Cavaliers' next opponent. U.Va. (1-1, 3-3) hosts No. 18 North Carolina (1-1, 5-1) in a key Coastal Division game Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Scott Stadium.

A season ago, Virginia edged UNC 22-20 at Kenan Stadium. That Carolina team was notable for its youth, but those kids have grown up quickly. Despite losing its best player to a first-quarter knee injury -- wide receiver and special teams superstar Brandon Tate -- UNC beat Notre Dame 29-24 on Saturday in Chapel Hill.

"It's the same guys, but it looks totally different," Groh said of the Tar Heels.

Spectators at the ECU game Saturday included Javanti Sparrow, a 6-0, 190-pound senior from Western Branch High in Chesapeake who was on an official visit to U.Va. Sparrow committed to the Cavaliers yesterday, becoming the 20th member of their 2009 recruiting class.

Sparrow, who plays cornerback and wide receiver for Western Branch, is known for his speed. As a sophomore, he won the 500 meters at the state Group AAA indoor championships and placed second in the 400 at the Group AAA outdoor meet.

Other schools that recruited him, Sparrow said, included Virginia Tech, North Carolina, West Virginia, Louisville and Wake Forest. He's the fourth player from the Tidewater area to commit to U.Va. for 2009. Among those who preceded Sparrow: his friend Perry Jones from Chesapeake's Oscar Smith High.

"I talked to him prior to going to Virginia," Sparrow said, "and he told me everything I was going to see, and how it was going to be, and he was right."

Sparrow is a cousin of Aaron Sparrow, a Parade All-America quarterback in 1990 for Woodrow Wilson High in Portsmouth. Aaron Sparrow signed with U.Va. in 1991 but failed to meet NCAA eligibility requirements. He ended up at Norfolk State, where he had a stellar career.

 

UVa revival continues
Virginia seizes momentum with four consecutive TDs and defeats East Carolina for its second straight win.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Cedric Peerman performed a high-wire act Saturday at Scott Stadium, and he never had to leave the ground.

"Throughout my five-year career here, I've never had to do that before," said Peerman, who had scoring runs of 79 and 60 on consecutive rushing attempts to lead Virginia past favored East Carolina, 35-20.

Peerman appeared trapped along the sideline on both plays, even surprising himself with his maneuverability.

"I can't remember one run when I've had to tightrope like that, much less two," Peerman said. "I didn't think I had stepped out of bounds, but when I looked up at the 'Hoo Vision, even I couldn't say for sure."

Peerman's first touchdown gave Virginia a 7-6 lead and his second propelled the Cavaliers to a 21-point, 213-yard second quarter that threatened to bury the Pirates.

UVa's final score of the first half followed a fourth-and-3 conversion and came in handy when East Carolina cut the deficit to 28-20 with a pair of second-half touchdowns.

Nobody in a Scott Stadium crowd of 52,398 could feel safe until a series of events that started when ECU quarterback Patrick Pinkney fumbled the football when he was sacked by UVa freshman Matt Conrath. Cavaliers senior Alex Field recovered at the Pirates' 24-yard line with 9:24 remaining.

The Cavs advanced the ball to ECU's 12-yard line, then sent out true freshman Robert Randolph for what would have been the first kick of his college career.

Holder Scott Deke took the snap from center but never placed the ball. Instead, he raised up and threw the ball to uncovered tight end John Phillips, who had been standing in the shadow of the UVa sideline.

"They were running guys in, running guys out and it was real rush, rush," East Carolina coach Skip Holtz said. "I should've smelled a rat and called a timeout. I should have called a timeout. That's not on the players."

Both teams went home with 3-3 records, East Carolina after its third straight loss and UVa after its second straight victory. The Cavaliers had been ranked 119th out of 119 Division I-A teams in scoring offense before beating Maryland 31-0.

That was the first game of a three-game UVa homestand that continues next Saturday with a visit from No. 22 North Carolina.

"Hopefully, we can make believers out of people," UVa linebacker Clint Sintim said.

Head coach Al Groh and his players were pleased with the turnout for a noon kickoff on a Saturday when many students had gone home for fall break.

Quarterback Marc Verica was intercepted on two of Virginia's first three series, the first when a ball slipped through the hands of fullback Rashawn Jackson, and the Cavaliers were fortunate to only be down 6-0 after ECU's Ben Hartman converted two of three first-quarter field-goal attempts.

The Cavaliers had 36 yards in total offense to show for three-plus series when Peerman went off tackle, cut to the sideline and streaked 79 yards on the final play of the quarter.

It was the longest run of Peerman's career and his 60-yarder, with 10:04 remaining in the second quarter, was the second-longest. He became the first UVa player since Johnny Papit in 1948 to have two runs of 60 yards or more in the same game.

"It helps to have playmakers," said Groh, noting that Peerman is still wearing a bulky brace on his right knee.

East Carolina held Peerman to 7 yards on eight second-half carries, but the damage was done. He finished with 16 carries for 173 yards and added a career-high eight receptions.

When it left the field at halftime, Virginia's defense had gone 10 quarters without allowing a touchdown at home, but ECU had the Cavaliers on the ropes in the third quarter. It didn't help Virginia that ECU's Dwayne Harris returned the second-half kickoff 59 yards to the Virginia 41.

Harris finished the game with 261 all-purpose yards, including six receptions for 128 yards.

Pinkney bothered Virginia with his scrambling, particularly on a 10-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Simmons that made it 28-20 with 10:35 remaining in the game, but it was not one of Pinkney's best days.

A 68.1-percent passer in East Carolina first five games, Pinkney was 3-of-15 in the first half. He finished 12-of-28 for 196 yards but was sacked six times.

For the second game in a row, Virginia had more than 200 yards passing and 200 yards rushing. Verica was 25-of-32 for 216 yards and is 50-of-66 (75.7 percent) in the last two games.

"Clearly, our offensive coaches, despite some opinions, can put together a fairly good game plan and call a fairly good game," Groh said.

"Everybody's sticking together and seeing there's some light at the end. It's a long way till we get out of the tunnel, but we're making good progress. The message is being picked up."
 

UNC Clipboard: Heels await word on Tate
Robbi Pickeral, Staff Writer
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After beating Notre Dame in a gutty 29-24 performance Saturday and moving up to No. 18 in the Associated Press poll, North Carolina will travel to Virginia next weekend just one win short of bowl eligibility.
And the question now is whether the team will have to accomplish it without senior playmaker Brandon Tate.

Tate's mom, Lesley, said he was "doing good in spirit" as he prepared to have an MRI exam on his sprained right knee Sunday. Coach Butch Davis said he would update Tate's status today.

Asked if he would contemplate moving tailback Greg Little back to wide receiver if Tate is sidelined, Davis said: "The potential for Brandon's absence -- there's a lot of things besides him being a wide receiver. We've got to talk about punt return, kick return, so we're going to have a pretty extensive personnel meeting tonight, and contemplate what moves, if any, we need to make."

Tate, who began the weekend ranked third in the nation in all-purpose yardage, was helped to the locker room with 5:40 left in the first quarter after returning a punt 9 yards. He did not return to the sideline.

UNC CLIPBOARD

GAME BALLS

HAKEEM NICKS: With Tate sidelined, the junior wide receiver took charge, matching his career high with nine receptions. Davis said he racked up 76 total yards after opponents made first contact on the catches.

LACOUNT FANTROY, ALERIC MULLINS, TRIMANE GODDARD, QUAN STURDIVANT, DEUNTA WILLIAMS: The first three recovered fumbles; the second two picked off passes. As a result, UNC leads the nation with a plus-1.83 turnover margin.

CASEY BARTH: The freshman kicker made three of his four field-goal attempts in the first half -- including a career-long 34-yarder.

NEXT UP

UNC (5-1) travels Saturday to Virginia (3-3), where the Tar Heels haven't won since 1981. The Cavaliers have been rejuvenated of late, beating Maryland and then East Carolina.

Davis said past losses in Charlottesville don't matter. "I don't think history has anything to do with the season you're currently playing in,'' he said Sunday. "If that was the case, Notre Dame would have had a decided advantage over Carolina."

UNC was 1-16 against the Irish before Saturday.
 

Sparrow commits after win
By Jay Jenkins
Published: October 12, 2008

In the midst of an official visit this weekend, wide receiver Javanti Sparrow noticed the patches of empty seats in the student section.
That was explainable as East Carolina’s trip to Charlottesville landed perfectly on Virginia’s fall break.
It was the product on the field and the close-knit unit that produced a 35-20 victory, however, that ultimately led Sparrow to join Virginia recruiting class for 2009. The star from Chesapeake’s Western Branch High, who is 6-foot-1, 185 pounds and won the 500-meter run in the state indoor track in the winter of 2007 as a sophomore, became the 20th commitment for the class.
“It was real exciting. I didn’t think I was going to do it at first, but I was thinking about it hard when we got in the car on the way home,” Sparrow said Sunday. “We probably made it about 10 minutes down the road and just had to pull over and I called Coach [Al] Groh to tell him.”
It served as an exclamation point for a weekend that included Virginia’s current reclamation project.
After losing back-to-back road games by a combined margin of 76-13, the resurgent Cavaliers (3-3, 1-1 ACC) have exploded for 65 points on offense while limiting a pair of programs with winning records to just two touchdowns.
The fight exposed from Virginia’s players, before and after halftime, helped Sparrow solidify his decision just weeks after taking visits to North Carolina, Penn State and Virginia Tech.
“The [East Carolina] game just showed that the team has some fight in them,” said Sparrow, who is rated as a two-star prospect. “Overall, they are a good team. They just made some mental mistakes earlier that caused them to lose. They are a good team all around.”
Virginia, after its 1-3 start, received heavy criticism as a postseason berth appeared impossible for the second time in three years.
According to the team’s veterans, the players elected to merely stay the course and did not need a chair-throwing tirade as motivation.
“What we have done just shows what this team is capable of when we execute and avoid penalties,” said Virginia quarterback Marc Verica. “We have resolve.”
Against East Carolina on Saturday, Virginia jumped out to a commanding lead thanks to a pair of touchdown runs from tailback Cedric Peerman. The senior finished with 173 yards rushing on just 16 carries.
“I said this before but sometimes I don’t carry out my fakes because I want to see what Cedric does with the ball,” Verica said. “Whether it is a 4-yard run or a 79-yard touchdown run, he’s just exciting to watch.
“On those 3-yard, 4-yard runs, he is usually running someone over and laying his pads down. We really feed off his energy and his fire for the game. I couldn’t be happier to play with a guy like that.”
Peerman’s energy has been matched on defense.
With the exception of a regretful third quarter against the Pirates’ offense, Virginia continued to show defensive promise.
The Cavaliers climbed 12 spots nationally in total defense to No. 56, allowing just over 350 yards per game.
“We just keep getting better each week,” said Virginia linebacker Jon Copper. “It’s been a good ride the last couple of weeks.”
Cavalier linebacker Clint Sintim added: “Finally the things that we are doing on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are showing up out here on Saturday.”
Virginia will welcome North Carolina on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The 18th-ranked Tar Heels, who lead the ACC in turnover margin and are off to their best start in 11 years, upended Notre Dame this weekend, 29-24, at home.
 

Sintim keeps Cavs sack-happy
October 13, 2008 12:18 am
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.
CHARLOTTESVILLE--

University of Virginia outside linebacker Clint Sintim received a text message from best friend and former Cavalier teammate Chris Long last week.

The gist of Long's message was that Sintim couldn't top the 14 sacks the current St. Louis Rams rookie defensive end registered for Virginia last season.

Long may have to think again.

Sintim collected his seventh sack of the season in the Cavaliers' 35-20 victory over East Carolina on Saturday at Scott Stadium.

The senior's second quarterback takedown gave him 23 on his career, moving him past Long and into a tie for fifth place on the Cavaliers' all-time list.

"He's going to hear it," Sintim said of his newfound place above Long on the career sack list. "I didn't really know [about passing him], so he's going to hear it."

If Sintim does pass Long's 14 sacks, he'll also move into second place on the school's all-time list.

He needs just five more to eclipse former outside linebacker Darryl Blackstock's 27 sacks, which is good for second all-time. That would leave Sintim trailing just Chris Slade's career record of 40.

"Clint's doing great," Cavaliers' senior inside linebacker Jon Copper said. "Coach [Al Groh] puts in great schemes every week to allow guys like Clint to really make plays. We've had good coverage and that's allowed him to get free, too."

Sintim has been one of the main reasons the Cavaliers (3-3, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) have revitalized their season.

His seven sacks leads the ACC and is first in the nation among linebackers. His performance against East Carolina also included a forced fumble. It was his second multi-sack game of the season. He collected three against Duke, and should've been credited with a fourth, but officials ruled Blue Devils' quarterback Thad Lewis got off a pass before his knee hit the ground.

"I honestly feel like I've gotten into a little bit of a groove now," Sintim said. "Whenever I have the opportunity to get to the QB on third down, I feel like I've got to win."

Sintim wasn't the only Cavalier defender to step up against the Pirates. The team sacked East Carolina quarterback Patrick Pinkney six times.

Two redshirt freshmen--defensive end Matt Conrath and linebacker John-Kevin Dolce--had one each.

"It was just a matter of guys stepping up and beating blocks and trying to make plays," Sintim said. "After the initial two series, we were able to come out here and beat some blocks. So hats off to all the guys who were able to come out here and make plays."

The Cavaliers will now turn their attention to No. 18 North Carolina (5-1, 1-1) for a home contest on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.

Virginia has beaten the Tar Heels in five of the past six meetings.

Note

Virginia senior running back Cedric Peerman's 79-yard touchdown run against the Pirates is tied for the fifth-longest scoring run in school history.

Peerman scored on a 60-yard run, too. He became just the second Virginia player and the first since John Papit in 1948 to record two runs of 60 yards or more in the same game.

Groh said it was more than just Peerman responsible for the big plays.

"When a guy gets to run that far, there are a lot of awards to pass out," Groh said. "We had an awful lot of good blocks and he had a pretty clear path once he got around the edge on all of those."

 

Letter to the Boss
I need a plane Saturday. A private plane. Or as Rusty Wallace would say, "a fast hotrod."

I know it sounds extravagant, especially the flight attendant, massage therapist and chilled microbrews. But trust me, it's worth it.

You see, Boss, our four Division I college football teams play compelling games Saturday, and glutton that I am, I need to sample them all.

So midmorning the jet departs Patrick Henry for Wilmington, Del. That gets us, thanks to an awaiting limo, to the University of Delaware in plenty of time for the noon kick between the Blue Hens and William and Mary.

The Tribe posted its most significant victory in three years yesterday, 38-34 at previously undefeated, fourth-ranked New Hampshire. Vegas doesn't set lines on I-AA football, but if it did, W&M would have been a double-digit 'dog.

Authored by quarterback Jake Phillips, tailback Jonathan Grimes and defensive end Adrian Tracy, the upset gives the Tribe (3-2, 1-1 CAA) realistic hopes of its first winning season since 2004. Delaware has won five consecutive regular-season meetings with W&M, but the Blue Hens (2-4, 0-2) lost their second straight yesterday, 27-10 to Maine.

If, and this is a large if, the Tribe wins Saturday, things could snowball, what with subsequent games against Rhode Island, Towson and Northeastern (combined CAA record 2-6).

Alas, we won't see the conclusion of W&M-Delaware because we'll be winging back to the Peninsula for the second half of the 1 p.m. Battle of the Bay between Hampton and Norfolk State at HU's Armstrong Stadium. The Pirates (4-1, 3-0 MEAC) have won three straight and boast arguably the nation's best kick returning tandem in Jeremy Gilchrist and Kevin Teel. The Spartans (2-4, 1-2) are 0-4 on the road but scared MEAC co-leader South Carolina State yesterday before falling 24-23.

Postgame traffic will be a bear, so we'll helicopter -- surely Bill Harvey has one stashed in the garage -- back to Patrick Henry for the quick flight to Charlottesville, where Virginia and 18th-ranked North Carolina should be starting the second half of their suddenly intriguing 3:30 contest.

Cam Sexton is the Tar Heels' third starting quarterback this season, Marc Verica the Cavaliers' second. But both have been efficient and poised, Sexton helping Carolina defeat Miami, previously unbeaten Connecticut and Notre Dame, Verica aiding Virginia's surprising conquests of Maryland and East Carolina.

I've seen both these teams in person, and while the Tar Heels (5-1, 1-1) may be more athletic, the Cavaliers (3-3, 1-1) have won 20 of their last 25 ACC home games. Moreover, North Carolina has not won in Charlottesville since 1981 -- that's 13 consecutive losses.

The Heels and Cavs should end around 7 -- we'll skip the postgame jousting with Al Groh -- leaving plenty of time for us to make intermission of 17th-ranked Virginia Tech's 8 p.m. game at Boston College. The Hokies (5-1, 2-0) and Eagles (4-1, 1-1) were idle yesterday and met in last season's ACC title contest, which Tech won.

BC has feasted on weak opposition -- Kent State, Central Florida, Rhode Island and North Carolina State -- while Tech has survived harrowing finishes against Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Nebraska. But the Eagles are the only ACC team to beat the Hokies twice since Tech joined the conference in 2004, and the only blemish on the Hokies' 16-1 ACC road record came at Chestnut Hill in 2006.

Understand now, Boss? Four darn good games. And really, the jet, helicopter and limos won't cost that much. After all, oil's less than $78 a barrel, a 13-year low.

Posted by David Teel