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CHS' Johnson commits to Virginia
 By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress staff writer
Nov 13, 2002
 
Growing up in the shadows of the Rotunda, it was only natural that Chris Johnson would become a Cavalier. If the star Charlottesville High School defensive lineman continues to grow, then he will be the one casting a shadow on Grounds.

At 6-foot-6, 275 pounds, Johnson became the 13th member of Virginia's recruiting Class of 2003 on Tuesday evening when he called offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave and committed to the Cavaliers.

"I had wanted to wait, but my mom [Marcia] and I sat down and talked about the whole thing Monday night," said Johnson. "I couldn't find a reason to wait. If there was nothing holding me back, I figured I needed to commit. It just seemed right."

Johnson had drawn attention from numerous schools, including Maryland, Stanford, Virginia Tech, N.C. State, West Virginia, Harvard and others, but the Cavaliers, where his father, Eric, had also attended, kept beckoning.

"Virginia was the first school to talk to me," said Johnson. "They got on me early and they have been the most persistent. I love their coaches. They are down home, NFL guys who treat you like family."

Johnson said that the combination of a solid education and UVa's aim to become a championship football team seemed like the right fit in addition to the fact that his family can easily watch his career.

"The first thing that strikes you about Chris is his physical size," said CHS coach Garwin DeBerry. "He wasn't a great football player when he first started but he has worked himself into one. He brings aggression to both sides of the football and that separates him from most high school players."

Johnson plays left defensive tackle for the unbeaten Black Knights and some offensive guard, but could play either defensive tackle or end in Virginia's 3-4 scheme.

"Coach Groh told me he believes I could become a dominant player because I get a good push off the ball, pursue well down the line and because I move around pretty good for a big guy," said Johnson, who runs a 4.9 in the 40.

"Most people try to run away from him but against Brookville this year, Chris did something amazing against the best back we've seen this season," said DeBerry. "This back ran to the other side of the field from Chris but Chris chased the kid down from behind, grabbed him with one arm and dragged him to the ground in front of his benches. Their coaches said they had never seen that back caught from behind before."

Johnson, a good-natured, intelligent kid, has been double- and triple-teamed all season, but has kept a positive attitude toward the game.

"I have played against [the double- and triple-teaming] all year and it gets frustrating because if I stay at home on the left side, they run away from me," said Johnson. "I guess they feel me so much, they want to do that. But coach has been letting me go where I want so that I can chase them down."

DeBerry said that while reviewing film from CHS's last game, he noticed that even the multiple blockers coming at Johnson didn't stop him.

"He had the running back in one arm and the blocker in the other," chuckled DeBerry. "He makes all the difference in our line play. Ron Green, our defensive line coach, looked back at all our game films and counted Chris's tackles and he was amazed at how many plays Chris created for teammates by taking on two, three, even four other guys."

Johnson said that a lot of teams have resorted to using the cut block against him because they know his aggressive style of play is predictable.

"They know I'm coming, so they try to cut me," said Johnson. "They don't come up the middle any more. But I work down the line pretty good. We have a great defense. Like against Louisa, they threw a screen pass and it looked like it was set up just perfectly. But it just closed down so quick.

"I know I'm going to get doubled and tripled but even thought that happens, I can't let up. I know everybody else on the team is going hard and that doesn't give me the right to let up," said Johnson.

The Black Knights' end puts on an impressive pass rush, an intimidating sight when opposing quarterbacks see such a hulkish figure coming their way in a hurry.

"Sometimes Chris kind of looks like a penguin running, but he moves, man," said DeBerry. "He covers territory pretty fast."

A good basketball player, Johnson didn't love football as much until last season when his game made a dramatic jump with games like his four-sack performance against Fluvanna. That's about the time the recruiting letters started flowing into the family mailbox.

"That blew my mind, all those letters," said Johnson. "I asked my mom, are all those for me?"

A two-star rated player by Rivals, Johnson joins Fork Union Military Academy post-graduate players Robert Armstrong (6-3, 300) and Keenan Carter (6-3, 325) as defensive linemen committed to UVa for next year's class.

 

 

MOORE A GIANT: Two former Virginia football standouts who didn't play together in college, running back Tiki Barber and wide receiver Herman Moore, will be NFL teammates with the announcement Tuesday that the New York Giants had signed Moore.

Moore, 33, spent 11 seasons with the Detroit Lions before his release this past June. He holds the NFL record for receptions in a season, 123, and, along with Jerry Rice, is one of two players in NFL history to have 100 or more receptions in three consecutive seasons.

 

 

Less points, more wins, in Virginia?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Gregg Doyel
Special to ESPN.com

Virginia has a new center this season, a 6-foot-10 transfer who started for two seasons in the Pac 10. Virginia has a new point guard, a 6-0 transfer who had been on pace to score 2,000 points at Rutgers. Virginia also has a new small forward, a 6-5 transfer who was a first-team junior college All-American.

Yet, if the Cavaliers are to do anything of note this season, if they are to be more than what they have been in four years under dynamic coach Pete Gillen, their most important offseason addition might have been a 49-year-old from Boise State with blond hair, a boyish gap in his front teeth ... and a reputation for coaching stifling defense.

Defense has been a dirty word around Charlottesville. Gillen hopes new assistant coach Rod Jensen can take some soap to it.

"I've not been happy with that part of our play," Gillen says. "He'll be the defensive coordinator of our half-court defense. If we don't do a good job defensively I'll take the blame, not Rod Jensen. But the way it is, he'll have about carte blanche helping us improve our defense."

With a decent defense, the Cavaliers probably would be taking aim at their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance this season under Gillen, who has done a remarkable job rebuilding Jeff Jones's ashes into a competitive ACC team. As it is, Virginia has reached the NCAA field just once in those three years, despite averaging 19 victories and having a 25-23 record in ACC play. Oh, and for the record, Virginia has never won a postseason game under Gillen, not even in the ACC tournament.

Gillen has recruited and coached offensive firepower, but somewhere along the line the translation was lost at the other end of the court. Just last season, Virginia was ranked No. 4 nationally in December, and was 14-2 in January, but collapsed under the weight of its shoddy defense. Down the stretch the Cavaliers lost 10 of their final 13 games to slide from a high seed in the NCAA Tournament to a first-round loss to South Carolina -- in the NIT.

In those 10 losses, Virginia averaged a respectable 75.3 points, including games in which it scored 92, 87, 81 and 80. But in those 10 losses the Cavaliers allowed a reprehensible 86.8 points per contest, including 111 to Maryland and at least 91 points in four others. The Cavaliers' last seven foes all shot at least 50 percent from the field.

Yuck.

Enter Jensen, who forged his coaching career on the ever-dependable bedrock of defense. He was 109-93 in seven seasons as head coach at Boise State, which fired him after the team went 13-17 last season, struggling in the transition from the Big West Conference to the better WAC. Whatever his shortcomings may have been at Boise State, defense was not among them. Before becoming head coach there, he was an assistant coach, officially serving as the Broncos' defensive coordinator, and overseeing a unit that finished in the top 15 nationally in scoring defense for four consecutive seasons.

"What can you say?" says senior center Travis Watson. "The man knows defense."

Essentially, Gillen is hoping Jensen can spark his program like another former mid-major head coach, Larry Hunter, did at N.C. State last season. The Wolfpack under coach Herb Sendek had been a tenacious team known for its effort and defense, but not its offensive proficiency, and it had yet to reach the NCAA Tournament in his five seasons in Raleigh. Sendek hired Hunter after he was fired by Ohio in the spring of 2001, and call it coincidence, but the results were special. The Wolfpack won 23 games and reached the 2002 NCAA Tournament.

Remember how we said earlier that Virginia averaged 75.3 points per game in its final 10 losses last season? N.C. State lost just once when it scored at least 75 points -- just once.

Sendek was intrigued by Virginia's hiring of Jensen.

"I noticed," he says. "He has a strong reputation."

Gillen noted the trend in college basketball of a veteran head coach hiring another, recently fired head coach as an assistant, including former Penn State coach Bruce Parkhill to Jim O'Brien's staff at Ohio State and former Seton Hall coach George Blaney to Jim Calhoun's staff at Connecticut. And, of course, Hunter to N.C. State.

"They all did great jobs at those schools," Gillen said. "That was in the back of our mind when we hired Rod."

Despite heavy offseason losses, Gillen certainly would appear to have enough talent on hand to make another run at an NCAA berth this season. Leading scorer Roger Mason Jr. left early for the NBA, and four-year starters Chris Williams and Adam Hall graduated while another starter, 6-9 garbage man J.C. Mathis, transferred.

Losers of 10 of their final 13 games last season, Pete Gillen and Keith Jenifer will try a new approach to winning this season.

That leaves undersized center Travis Watson as the Cavaliers' only returning starter. But he's a good one, and he's not going to have to do it alone. As a matter of fact, he might not have to play center any more. Watson, a second-team All-ACC pick the past two seasons despite playing center at 6-7, will see more time this season at power forward with the addition of Nick Vander Laan, who started 37 games in 1999-2000 and '00-01 at California, where he made the honorable mention Pac-10 All-Freshman team after averaging 8.5 points and 6.7 rebounds.

Todd Billet is the high-scoring guard from Rutgers, where he had 845 points in two seasons -- and the curve was going upward. Billet averaged 12.8 points as a freshman and 16.6 points as a sophomore, when he shot 40.6 percent on 3-pointers and handed out 4.2 assists per game. Point guard, such a problem area last season that the 6-5 Mason had to slide over from the wing to handle it much of the time, should be a strength this season.

So should the interior. Along with Watson and Vander Laan, the Cavaliers return 6-9 sophomores Elton Brown (an offensive force) and Jason Clark (a defensive stopper). The biggest personnel question is on the wing, where Mason, Williams and Hall were the mainstays last season. The answer figures to be 6-5 Devin Smith, a physical transfer from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, where he was an All-American and member of the national all-tournament team.

Smith was only in junior college because he was overlooked as a misplaced high school big man in Delaware, where he was the state's player of the year as a senior. After blossoming on the perimeter last season at Coffeyville (19.4 points per game, 45.8 percent on three-pointers), Smith transferred to Virginia, where he will have three years of eligibility left. Smith has been slowed in the preseason by knee surgery, enough so that 6-7 freshman Derrick Byars has entered the picture for playing time, but Gillen expects Smith to be ready for the opener -- and to be a major contributor.

"It's a big step from junior college to the ACC," Gillen says. "But Devin is a very good shooter, skilled with the ball, and strong. He'll help."

The time is now for the Cavaliers to make their move while the rest of the ACC retools. Maryland lost four starters from last season's national championship team, while the league's other three NCAA Tournament teams -- Duke (three All-ACC players), Wake Forest (five seniors) and N.C. State (both starting guards) -- also suffered heavy losses.

Virginia knows.

"I don't see why it can't be us," Watson says.

You want it to be you, Virginia? Get defensive.


 

Ferguson learning plenty of lessons on U.Va. line

By Dave Johnson
Daily Press

Published November 14, 2002

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Michael Haynes, Penn State's fifth-year senior defensive end, was pretty much doing whatever he wanted. Nobody could stop him, certainly not this 18-year-old kid across the line who was as lean as he was green.

"Kid," Haynes chuckled after one of his three sacks, "you should have redshirted." Or something like that.

Maybe D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Virginia's starting left tackle, should have redshirted. There's a reason why true freshmen offensive linemen almost never play, let alone start, and it's because most coaches consider it the hardest position other than quarterback to learn. Cavaliers coach Al Groh didn't have that luxury, so Ferguson had to play.

Ready or not, Ferguson became Virginia's first true freshman to start a season opener in 10 years. And, it is believed, he is the first rookie offensive lineman to start for the Cavaliers from Day One since freshman eligibility was restored in 1972.

As the Cavaliers go into their 11th game, which would be the finale of a traditional college football season, Ferguson is one of two U.Va. linemen to have started every game.

"I try not to get overwhelmed or anything," he said. "You just try to visualize what you're going to do in the game. You can't focus on, 'Wow, this is a big game,' or 'Wow, there's so many people in the stands,' or 'Wow, this guy is really big.' You have to focus on what you're doing and what you need to do to execute. You don't think about that. You just cancel all that out and play your game."

Undersized though you may be. At 265 pounds, Ferguson is lighter than every starting lineman in the ACC except 253-pound center Tommy Sharpe of Clemson.

You would never guess his position. Ferguson's 6-foot-6 frame carries almost zero fat, so you'd swear he was, say, a tight end.

But no, he's a hog in the trenches, and that's all he wants to be.

"Sometimes people say, 'Wow, you're too skinny,' " he said. "But honestly, I've gone through that my whole life, even in high school. My 10th grade year moving to varsity, I was breaking 200 pounds. This doesn't seem any different. It's relative, being a high school player undersized and being a college player undersized. But hopefully, if I study and work hard, I'll be able to overcome that."

Wondering about his first name yet? Ferguson's father, Edwin, admired Richard Chamberlain's character Ralph de Bricassart in "The Thornbirds."

To make the name unique, Edwin tinkered with the spelling and ended up with D'Brickashaw.

Born in New York City, Ferguson was a smart and active kid. When he was in the 3rd grade, doctors detected a heart murmur that could only be corrected with open-heart surgery.

Ferguson was too young to understand that he should have been frightened. "At that time," he said, "I thought it would be fun because I'd get a scar on my chest."

Life returned to normal, and Ferguson became a black belt in karate and an accomplished saxophone player. At Freeport High on Long Island, he developed into such a powerful lineman that a rival coach once marveled, "This kid is an NFL player."

He was in the National Honor Society and graduated with a 3.8 grade-point average.

The normal path of a college offensive lineman goes as follows: (1) Enroll at school, (2) spend your redshirt year learning the ropes and getting physically ready, (3) spend another year as a back-up and, (4) if you're really lucky, start as a third-year sophomore. D'Brickashaw Ferguson was put on the fast track, which sent him against the Michael Haynes of the world.

"I haven't noticed him with the deer in the headlights look yet," quarterback Matt Schaub said.

Chances are, you won't. With each week, Ferguson gets more comfortable at the position. Gaining weight will be his primary objective during the offseason. And if he's this good as a true freshman.

"Well, let's put it this way," Groh said. "When he's 295 instead of 265, he'll have that much going for him."
 

 

 

A Full Stable
Coach Pete Gillen, armed with plenty of weapons, has Virginia ready to roll

By Jerry Ratcliffe
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
 

Armed with the biggest and strongest front line in Coach Pete Gillen's five seasons and bolstered by new perimeter power, Virginia could be the surprise of the ACC this season if it can find the right chemistry.

Last year's collapse from a No. 4 national ranking to a first-round loss in the NIT was caused by poor chemistry, the lack of a true point guard, poor defense and the lack of outside shooters. Gillen appears to have all the pieces assembled to make this team more potent.

The team is built around Travis Watson, a 6-8 senior center and a battler in the lane. Watson led the ACC in rebounding last season and was No. 2 the year before. His goal this season is to become more of a scoring threat in the post.

Unlike the past few seasons, Watson isn't alone underneath. He will be joined by a slimmer Elton Brown, a sophomore who showed flashes of brilliance last season even though he carried too much weight. Gillen says he thinks that Brown, a 6-9 power forward, could become "a special player."

Also featured on the front line is 6-10 Nick Vander Laan, a California transfer. Vander Laan started 37 games and averaged 7.5 points and 6.1 rebounds in two seasons at Cal. Add Jason Clark, 6-8 sophomore forward, to the mix, and the Cavaliers could dominate in the lane.

"We can stand toe-to-toe with any frontline in the conference," Gillen said.

The lack of an experienced point guard is another problem area that has been addressed. With Majestic Mapp sidelined for a second straight season because of knee problems, Virginia was forced to move shooting guard Roger Mason Jr., to the point, where he shared duties with freshman Keith Jenifer, who wasn't quite ready for prime time.

Jenifer returns with a year of experience, but the starter will be Todd Billet, a transfer who started 58 games his first two seasons at Rutgers. During the 2000-01 season, Billet set Rutgers' single-season record for 3-point field goals with 82.

"Billet's just a smart player," Gillen said. "He makes great decisions, has great court sense, keeps his poise, passes well and is a great shooter. Todd shoots daggers. If they play him super tight, he can drive by them, and if they play off the ball, he's a great catch-and-shoot guy who can also play the off guard."

Yet another transfer, junior college All-America Devin Smith, should make an immediate impact because of his shooting ability.

Gillen has made a conscious effort to get more shooters into the lineup, which should give the Cavaliers their best inside-outside game in the last several seasons.

Smith made 45.8 percent of his 3-point attempts in leading Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College to a junior-college national championship game last season.

"He is the real deal," Gillen said of Smith, who shocked Kansas by choosing Virginia in a hard-fought recruiting battle.

Sophomore Jermaine Harper and Derrick Byars - Virginia's only freshman recruit and the best prospect out of Memphis, Tenn. - should add depth and versatility.

"I think we have a chance to be better," said Gillen, who is determined to emphasize better defense this season. "Losing Mason (a year early to the NBA) was a jolt, but with the new players, we could be pretty good."

 

 

Virginia TB Pearman sidelined for rest of season

Published November 14, 2002

Virginia coach Al Groh wouldn't get into specifics regarding tailback Alvin Pearman's knee injury - not, you sense, without a court order. But here's the bottom line: He's done for the year.

Pearman underwent an MRI on Monday, and apparently the results weren't favorable. Groh said only that the test "disclosed what was pretty apparent on the field, that he's got a significant knee injury."

Groh later said Pearman "more than likely" would require surgery, strongly indicating he has ligament damage.

Pearman, the Cavaliers' most-experienced back and second-leading rusher with 343 yards, injured his right knee on a first-quarter carry last week against Penn State. After receiving treatment, Pearman came out for the first offensive series of the second half. But on a sweep, Pearman's knee buckled and he fumbled. He didn't return.

"I was mad at myself over the thing," Groh said. "The medical people told me he was fine, he was cleared to go. I talked to Alvin. 'Coach, I'm fine.' But in my heart, I kind of knew that when a guy has that type of thing that they're not fine."

Asked if Pearman, a sophomore, could be back for a bowl game, Groh answered, "I think he's probably finished." ...

Right guard Elton Brown is expected to miss Saturday's home game against N.C. State with a stress fracture in his right ankle. Brown had started every game this season before missing last week's game at Penn State.

Though he was on crutches Monday as reporters visited the locker room, Brown said he was hopeful of playing Saturday.

N.C. STATE. Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato wasn't much more forthcoming than Groh regarding the status of two of his main offensive weapons: tailback T.A. McLendon and wideout Jerricho Cotchery.

McLendon, the ACC's second-leading rusher at 89 yards per game, sustained a separated shoulder late in the first half of last week's loss at Maryland. Amato said the ACC's all-but-certain rookie of the year likely would be a game-day decision.

Cotchery, second among conference receivers with 939 yards, has a high ankle sprain. Like McLendon, Amato classifies him as "doubtful."

UNC. Shortly before 2 p.m. Oct. 19, North Carolina led Virginia 21-0. In the 14 quarters since, the Tar Heels have been outscored 169-25.

UNC has lost five consecutive games and unless it upsets Florida State Saturday is guaranteed to finish with its worst conference record since going 0-7 in 1989.

What went wrong? Lots of things, really, but you can trace the beginning of the end to quarterback Darian Durant's season-ending broken finger sustained in the second half against the Cavaliers. UNC's offense has scored three touchdowns without him, one against Virginia's prevent defense in the closing minutes of a 37-27 loss.

You think there's a pity party at Florida State? In case anybody forgot - and folks in Tallahassee haven't - Carolina embarrassed FSU 41-9 last year in Chapel Hill. Florida State coach Bobby Bowden says he isn't preaching the revenge angle. But then again ...

"Losing that game like they did, you sure hope so," he said.
 

 

Golden's trip minor violation
Penn State visit made Sept. 14

BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Nov 14, 2002

CHARLOTTESVILLE - University of Virginia defensive coordinator Al Golden, who played football at Penn State and later coached there, returned to his alma mater Sept. 14. Golden and his girlfriend watched PSU pummel Nebraska at Beaver Stadium that night.

By doing so, the NCAA has ruled, Golden committed a "secondary violation," U.Va. Athletic Director Craig Littlepage said. Penn State notified the NCAA about Golden's presence at Beaver Stadium.

The NCAA's bylaw 11.6.1 states that "in basketball, football and women's volleyball, off-campus, in-person scouting of opponents" is prohibited.

Coach Al Groh's assistants aren't available for interviews, so Golden couldn't be reached for comment. But Littlepage stressed that Golden was not in State College, Pa., to scout the Nittany Lions, who beat the Cavaliers 35-14 last weekend.

Golden's family has Penn State season tickets, and his girlfriend's family lives near State College, Littlepage said, and they invited him to attend the Nebraska game. U.Va. was idle that weekend.

"Being an alumnus, and with a family that is a [PSU] supporter buying season's tickets," Littlepage said, "he never considered himself to be scouting by his attendance at the game. In fact, Coach Golden called several friends on the PSU football coaching staff to let them know he was in town to see the game, and he tried to get together with them on game day.

"If he intended to scout the game, he wouldn't have contacted the staff to announce his attendance. If he intended to scout, he would have been wearing Groucho Marx glasses and would have been sneaking in. He would have picked up stats. He would have filed a scouting report with our coaching staff."

Golden, 33, did none of those things, Littlepage said.

A 1991 graduate of Penn State, Golden coached its linebackers in 2000. He left State College in January 2001 for U.Va., where he'd been a graduate assistant from 1994 to'96.

Had Golden wanted to scout Penn State, Littlepage said, why would he have gone "to see Nebraska on Sept. 14, two months before our game, when he could have gone to the Nov. 2 game against Illinois the week before we played them?"

Virginia was off Nov. 2.

The NCAA will not punish U.Va., Littlepage said, because "it is a secondary violation, and we have handled the matter." He said he's discussed the matter with Golden but no plans no further action.


 

 

ACC NOTES

Nov 14, 2002

HARD-LUCK KID: As expected, the MRI on Virginia tailback Alvin Pearman's right knee revealed a "significant" injury, second-year coach Al Groh said yesterday.

Groh didn't disclose any details, but said Pearman "more than likely" would have surgery and probably would miss the rest of the season.

Pearman, a sophomore from Charlotte, N.C., broke his right hand Sept. 26. He'd been playing with that hand in a cast. The Cavaliers' second-leading rusher, Pearman injured his right knee last weekend against Penn State, a game in which he started.

In Pearman's absence, freshman Wali Lundy is expected to start at tailback for Virginia. Lundy has started seven games.

STILL UPBEAT: N.C. State, which once hoped to earn a spot in the Bowl Championship Series, has dropped two consecutive after winning its first nine games.

"If we'd have gotten our butts beat those last two games, I'd be down," Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato said. "That's not the case. Those kids gave it everything they could. Positive? We're 9-2, not 2-9! You ask those teams that are 2-9. Ask them what's positive. I'm not going to be a pessimist."

State (4-2, 9-2) visits U.Va. (4-2, 6-4) on Saturday afternoon. The Wolfpack may be without its star tailback, freshman T. A. McLendon, who injured his shoulder last weekend at Maryland.

"He won't be touched all week, and it'll be a doubtful thing," Amato said. "And we probably won't know until he goes out [for pregame warmups]."

NO RELIEF IN SIGHT: North Carolina (0-6, 2-8), which has lost five consecutive, has been outscored 169-25 in its past 14 quarters. Next up for UNC is a date with ACC leader Florida State (6-0, 7-3) in Tallahassee on Saturday.

"Paybacks, sometimes, can be really tough on you," Carolina coach John Bunting said, "but I love the challenge of that."

Bunting's Tar Heels embarrassed the Seminoles 41-9 in Chapel Hill last year.

JUST WIN, BABY: Florida State dropped out of national-title contention weeks ago and struggled to win at Georgia Tech last weekend. Victories don't seem to come as easily or as emphatically for FSU as they once did, but coach Bobby Bowden isn't worried about scoring style points.

"The wins are so good that it doesn't bother me any more," Bowden said. "I think when you get to winning all the time, you start fretting over ugly wins. When you're looking for wins, and you need wins, I think getting them any way, you take them."

FRIDGE UPDATE: Maryland's Ralph Friedgen, who has an 18-4 record as coach at his alma mater, has three regular-season games left, plus a probable bowl appearance.

Only one coach, Clemson's Ken Hatfield, has won more games in his first two seasons at an ACC school. Hatfield's record after the 1991 season was 19-4-1.

Friedgen guided the Terrapins to the ACC title in 2001. Maryland (4-1, 8-2) lost two of its first three games this season but since has won seven consecutive.

When the Terps were 1-2, Friedgen said he told his players "the exhibition season is over, and now the real season starts. I didn't really see a team on our schedule we couldn't beat. It was just a matter of us working hard."

AUTOMATIC: Georgia Tech senior Luke Manget never has missed an extra point in his college career. His run of 154 is an ACC record. The NCAA record belongs to former Tennessee kicker John Becksvoort, who made 161 consecutive PATs.

EARNING 10s: Duke linebacker Ryan Fowler has recorded at least 10 tackles in each of his past four games.

"Some guys have a knack for getting there" and making plays, Blue Devils coach Carl Franks said.

Fowler, a junior, excels "because he loves to play the game," Franks said. "He plays at 100 miles an hour, and he wants to make every play." - Jeff White

 

 

UVa's Schaub close to breaking several school records
 By John Galinsky / Media General News Service
Nov 13, 2002
 
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Who would have thought that the ACC's top two quarterbacks would be squaring off in Scott Stadium this Saturday?

The identity of one of those QBs is no surprise. N.C. State's Philip Rivers entered the season touted as one of the nation's best passers, and he hasn't disappointed. Less expected was the emergence of Virginia's Matt Schaub, who is on the verge of breaking virtually every school passing record for a single season.

They have a lot in common: Both are juniors, measure 6-foot-5 and about 235 pounds, and have similar statistics. Rivers ranks first in the ACC in total offense, passing yards and passing efficiency. Schaub is a close second in each category and could make his own case for all-conference honors by outplaying Rivers in their head-to-head matchup.

"I don't look at it that way," Schaub said. "I look at it in a team concept, not me vs. him. Our teams have allowed us to do the things we've accomplished this season. Their receivers have made plays for him, same as me. We've had running backs and tight ends make plays for us. The defense has gotten the ball for us. It's not a one-on-one battle."

If anything, Schaub has had to carry his team more than Rivers has needed to put the Wolfpack on his shoulders. The Cavaliers (6-4, 4-2) rank eighth in the ACC in total defense and rushing offense, so they have relied on their passing game to forge a winning record.

So far, Schaub has been up to the task. He has completed 223 of 320 passes for 2,353 yards, with 21 touchdowns and six interceptions. He already holds the Virginia single-season record for completions and is tied for first in TD passes. With three games remaining, he needs just 11 more attempts and 164 yards to break the marks set by Mike Groh, now the team's receivers coach, in 1995. His completion percentage of 69.7 is well ahead of Groh's record 63.9 rate in 1994.

Rivers also is having a superb season, having completed 193 of 307 passes for 2,718 yards, 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions. But he hasn't had to do it all. The 22nd-ranked Wolfpack (9-2, 4-2 ACC) have rushed for a league-high 29 touchdowns and lead the ACC in total defense.

"With the emergence of the running game, not everything has had to fall on his shoulders and it's made him more relaxed," said N.C. State coach Chuck Amato.

Of course, Rivers has shown remarkable poise and maturity ever since he became the team's starter as a true freshman in 2000. He won't turn 21 until next month, but he already has started 35 games, winning 24 of them, and is on track to shatter every school passing record as well as a few ACC marks.

"Very impressive kid overall," said UVa coach Al Groh, who met him at the annual ACC Football Kickoff last year and later watched Rivers direct the Wolfpack to a 24-0 victory over the Cavaliers. "We just want to prevent him from having one of those gee-whiz days."

For a college student, Rivers has a gee-whiz life. He has a wife, Tiffany, and a daughter, Halle, who was born on July 6. Balancing family with football and academics can't be easy, but Rivers says his responsibilities as a husband and father may make him a better quarterback.

"If it's done anything, it's helped," he said. "It hasn't added any pressure or stress. I wouldn't want it any other way."

Rivers may feel a little more stress without his top running back, T.A. McLendon, and top receiver, Jerricho Cotchery. Both are listed as doubtful for Saturday's game with injuries. The Wolfpack also have lost two straight after a 9-0 start, taking them out of ACC title contention and all but killing Rivers' Heisman hopes.

"That's the way it goes," said Rivers, who was first in the nation in passing efficiency much of the season and is now sixth. "That's what I've said all along: It's a matter of your team winning games. … Overall I think [I've had] a pretty consistent year and I hope to end it with a bang."

Schaub is looking to do the same. Before the season, most talk about quarterbacks in the ACC revolved around Rivers, Florida State's Chris Rix, North Carolina's Darian Durant, Clemson's Willie Simmons and Georgia Tech's A.J. Suggs.

Rix has been benched, Durant has been injured, and Simmons and Suggs are the ACC's two lowest-rated passers. Schaub overcame a bad start and now ranks ninth nationally in passing efficiency.

"He's really playing well," Rivers said of Schaub. "He's had a good year. He really seems to fit what they're doing."

Note: Virginia sophomore tailback Alvin Pearman, the team's second-leading rusher, has "a significant knee injury" and is "probably finished" for the season, Groh said. Pearman has run for 343 yards and a team-high four touchdowns. He injured his right knee last Saturday at Penn State.

 

 

Groh knows, Cavs are building for future

BY AL FEATHERSTON : The Herald-Sun
afeatherston@heraldsun.com; 419-6606
Nov 13, 2002 : 11:58 pm ET

RALEIGH -- For ACC football, the future is not now.

The league, lacking a national championship contender or even a top-10 team, is enduring a disappointing 2002 season. But the immediate outlook for the league’s football fortunes is surprisingly bright, especially at N.C. State and Virginia — two budding programs that will clash Saturday in Charlottesville.

Just check the rosters of the two teams. Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato has flirted with greatness in his third season with a team built around players he has recruited to Raleigh. As long as junior quarterback Philip Rivers returns next season as expected, the Pack should be better in 2003. And Cavaliers coach Al Groh, in just his second season at Virginia, has found surprising success with the youngest team in the league.

"I thought we’d have a pretty good team — I really did have a sense, even back in the spring," Groh said. "I knew we had some talent coming in here. I knew that we had a small group, but a very determined group, of older players that would be playing a significant role."

Virginia currently starts eight freshmen. Eight more first-year players are second-teamers. There are also 12 sophomores on the Cavaliers two-deep — compared to a total of just six seniors, 10 total on the roster. And young stars such as linebacker Darryl Blackstock, tight end Heath Miller and running back Wali Lundy are just the tip of the Cavaliers’ talent iceberg.

"It’s pretty apparent that the talent level is honest; it wasn’t just hype," Groh said of his celebrated recruiting class. "There are five or six of the most talented players in the class that aren’t contributing. I just think to myself about when all of the players who are in this class are ready, … it’s going to be that much better."

Groh cited Parade All-American running back Michael Johnson (hurt all season but expected to play against N.C. State), Parade All-American linebacker Kai Parham (redshirting after straining his back in preseason) and injured cornerbacks Willie Davis and Marcus Hamilton as big-time prospects still waiting for their chances.

There are three players he can’t talk about who also are part of this class. Robert Armstrong and Keenan Carter, a pair of 300-pound defensive tackles, are prepping at Fork Union after failing to qualify for admission to Virginia. And the prize of Groh’s top 10 recruiting class — linebacker Ahmad Brooks, the USA Today prep defensive player of the year — is at Hargrave, trying to get his academics in order.

Virginia has won six games so far without Brooks, Johnson, Parham and the rest. How good will they be next year — or the year after? Groh already has 13 commitments in this recruiting class, including his quarterback of the future, Pennsylvania prep star Kevin McCabe, and the top-rated offensive lineman in Florida, center Jordy Lipsey.

"The program needs more talent to go with the last class to keep the program growing," Groh said. "I know the guys we either have here now or have coming … and what’s coming in is bigger."

But Groh also knows that he’s not operating in a vacuum. He is trying to build his program in a league that is loaded with energetic recruiters — none more energetic than N.C. State coach Chuck Amato.

When Groh checks the talent level in Raleigh, he sees a massive sophomore class — the results of Amato’s first full recruiting class. That class is loaded with gifted skill players, such as cornerbacks Greg Golden, Marcus Hudson and Lamont Reid, safety Andre Maddox, linebackers Pat Thomas and Freddie Aughtry-Lindsay, and wide receivers Sterling Hicks and Dovonte Edwards. Amato’s latest class has produced running back T.A. McLendon, the odds-on favorite to be the ACC rookie of the year, plus promising players such as linebacker Oliver Hoyte, tight end T.J. Williams and linebacker Manny Lawson.

Those young players have played key roles for a Wolfpack team that already has won nine games.

"We’re going to go to another bowl," Amato said. "You have to look at the recruiting part of it. You’ve got to go get players. Heck, I’ve probably got three players who aren’t playing this year that, without signing another football player, maybe all three of them will be starters next year. All three are impact players. Those three were the reason why our recruiting class was [rated so highly]. I mean all three … impact! Can you imagine if we had those three out there? Maybe that one play we couldn’t make we would have made."

Amato is referring to running back/receiver Tramain Hall, wide receiver Richard Washington (both academically ineligible to play this year) and injured cornerback A.J. Davis. He already has eight prep prospects and one junior college commitment for next season, including his quarterback of the future, Pennsylvania prep star Marcus Stone, and one of the top defensive end prospects in the nation, Mario Williams.

Groh can see what Amato is building in Raleigh.

"Yeah, they’re in year three; … we’re in year two," Groh said.

Maryland’s Ralph Friedgen also is in his second year, but as much success as he’s had on the field — and he may end up with more wins in his first two years than any coach in ACC history — he mostly has done it with his predecessor’s players. He’s yet to integrate many of his recruits into the Maryland program.

UNC’s John Bunting, also in his second year, is struggling this year as he tries to force-feed his first real crop of recruits. Wake Forest’s Jim Grobe, the league’s fourth second-year coach, has been able to successfully blend the first fruits of his recruiting efforts with his veteran core.

It’s too early to judge first-year coach Chan Gailey at Georgia Tech, except to point out that if he can replace a strong crop of senior receivers, the Jackets have a strong core returning next season, too. Clemson has won two straight with a freshman quarterback, and Florida State remains loaded with talent.

"I think there’s no question the league is getting better and closer," Amato said. "Florida State still has the most talent one to 85 in my opinion, [but] if the other teams can stay healthy, it gives us all a chance. Our league is building a program in football."

So who has the brightest future?

"All of us," Amato said. "We all have a bright future. I really think there are going to be a lot of [good teams] in this league, with the coaches that are in this league and the people they are recruiting. The league is very young. We’ve got four coaches that just getting into the meat and potatoes of recruiting and going out and just getting a chance to get it all in the ground.

"Great things are in store for this league in football."