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UVa stifles All-Stars for exhibition win
 By Kris Wright / Daily Progress staff writer
Nov 17, 2002
 
Virginia used a different starting lineup and an assortment of player combinations, and two Cavalier newcomers played for the first time in the exhibition finale at University Hall for the men's basketball team.

The result of Sunday's variety show was a solid, if unspectacular, win over the One World All-Stars, 73-57. UVa held the visitors to 18.5 percent shooting in the second half and closed the game on a 24-7 run to complete the exhibition season at 2-0.

"I thought we played a talented team. Gordon Malone is a great player … and Kareem Reid is a good point guard out of Arkansas, who we played against when he was there," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "I thought our defense was the difference. … In the second half, we defended and rebounded well and we got out and got a couple of easy baskets on the break and hit a couple of threes."

While the Cavaliers pulled away late, they had plenty of moments, particularly on offense, where they were out of synch and searching for rhythm. Of course, that is something that should be expected in exhibition and early season games, especially on a team with as many new faces as the Cavaliers.

Transfers Todd Billet and Nick Vander Laan were in just their second games at Virginia, while junior college transplant Devin Smith and freshman Derrick Byars saw their first action as Cavaliers.

"It was just our second game of the season and we have a lot of different guys with different rotations," said Vander Laan, who finished with 12 points and seven rebounds. "I think the coaches were trying to figure out who had good chemistry out there."

"I was pleased with our defense. Our offense was not as good, but it is still early and there are a lot of new guys in there," Gillen said.

Smith and Byars, who both missed the first exhibition with injuries, had good debuts for Virginia. Smith has had limited practice time and has not played in four months, but he logged a surprising 20 minutes Sunday. He scored 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting, but more importantly showed a good grasp of the game at the small forward position.

"He's an inside-outside guy, a good perimeter shooter," Gillen said. "He's only about 60 or 70 percent and he's only been able to have about five practices. … I thought he played well and 20 minutes was surprising. We thought he'd play 10 or 12."

Byars took just one shot, a swished 3-pointer, in his debut, but he too displayed his basketball IQ. Byars made several good outlet passes, ran the floor well and did not force anything offensively.

While the new faces continued to acclimate themselves to Virginia basketball, one familiar player came through with another solid outing. Senior Travis Watson grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds and added 16 points, second to only Billet's 17.

Watson was markedly big during the game-ending 24-7 spree that sealed the win. In that span, Watson had six rebounds, a blocked shot and eight points.

"Todd Billet and Travis Watson, a couple of great players, didn't have their typical halfs [in the first half], but they both had good second halfs," Gillen said. "I thought we executed well in the last five or six minutes."

Gordon Malone, who played collegiately at West Virginia, led the One World All-Stars with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Notes. Gillen did not give an indication about the length of sophomore Jermaine Harper's absence in his first public comments since Harper's indefinite suspension Monday night. Harper was charged with a DUI last weekend.

"He broke a team rule and that's unfortunate," Gillen said in a quick answer to the questions. "He's a good kid and hopefully things will get straightened out." …

… Billet played 39 minutes in the win, which Gillen said was too many: "We can't play him that much. We have to get him some rest." …

… Redshirt junior Majestic Mapp dressed out for the first time since his freshman year at Virginia, but did not play. Mapp was not in attendance at the Cavaliers' first exhibition game, an 84-60 win against Big Apple Basketball on Nov. 10.

 

 

U.Va. hopes its season of surprises has lots more
The Virginian-Pilot
© November 17, 2002

CHARLOTTESVILLE
Had Virginia’s wet and shivering fans come prepared, they might have showered the field late Saturday afternoon with peaches or tangerines, representative of bowl games now available to the Cavaliers’ football team.

Postseason eligible with its 14-9 victory over North Carolina State, U.Va. could also find itself invited to the Seattle Bowl. In that case, what could spectators have thrown, coffee beans?

Perhaps, to impress Charlotte’s Continental Tire Bowl, two-ply radials might have been heaved from the stands.

Without the blazered bowl reps buzzing about the press box at Scott Stadium, you’d never guess that seven victories against four defeats would be cause for a grand celebration. Not that Al Groh was ready to bring out the champagne.

Reaching the magic seven-victory plateau is “no relief at all,” U.Va’s coach said. “We’ve got two more to play. We’ve got a chance to have some season.”

Already U.Va. has enjoyed a season of surprises, the latest coming from Marquis Weeks. The sophomore, who hadn’t run the ball from scrimmage since Sept. 7, tore up N.C. State’s defense for 129 yards on the ground.

For the day, Weeks was a revelation. Operating on the soggy, slippery grass, he was the Marquis de Sod.

“This,” he said,” is the best feeling I’ve ever had.” Better, he added, than his 100-yard kickoff return against North Carolina.

“Today, I got hot, so they left me in there,” he said.

Breaking a two-game losing streak, U.Va. doesn’t qualify as a hot team. But should they manage to beat Maryland in their next game, the Cavaliers will have at least a share of second place in the ACC standings.

“We’ll take second place,” said senior linebacker Merrill Robertson, “when everybody else thought we’d be eighth.”

U.Va. can taunt its preseason detractors. The Cavaliers are entitled.

Not for the first time Saturday, they overcame their own mistakes to wrest victory away from a supposedly better opponent.

It was, said Groh, “a real fighting game. We’re trying to build an operation that can be in a lot of close games and come down to the end and make a play at the end.”

A defensive play saved this one. N.C. State quarterback Philip Rivers passed his team downfield in the final minutes, converting four third-down passes, but on fourth and 7 from the U.Va. 15, his final pass was broken up in the end zone.

A fighting game, indeed. A game of field position. Clearly, it wasn’t a pretty game, except for the running of Weeks.

Week after frustrating week, Weeks was used almost exclusively to return kickoffs. But with Alvin Pearman injured, Groh bumped Weeks ahead of freshman Wali Lundy, the team’s leading rusher.

“Sometimes,” Groh said, “you’ve just got to trust your instincts.”

Weeks did not make Groh regret his. Entering the game with 37 yards on only nine carries this season — and 53 career yards — he picked up his 129 on 19 attempts.

“They ran the ball on us more than we thought they would and could,” said N.C. State coach Chuck Amato.

Like Groh, Weeks trusted his instincts. The last time he ran for more than 100 yards from scrimmage was in his senior year of high school in Berwyn, Pa.

“But I never lost hope,” he said.

By hanging on for the victory, U.Va. has swept its games against North Carolina schools. (South Carolina schools, too). Reward enough, perhaps, for the season. But when bowls go begging, a team with seven victories sometimes looks better on paper than it does on the field.

Two months ago, nobody imagined that U.Va. would be contemplating a fruity postseason, or a cafe au lait in the Great Northwest.

A bowl bid for the Cavaliers? Few would have given them a fighting chance.

 

 

Terrapins not a 1-year wonder
Maryland's success was noteworthy even before adding a national title.

By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

Gary Williams took Maryland to seven straight NCAA Tournaments without making a regional final. Then he got all the validation he needed.
The Terrapins made their first Final Four appearance, then followed that last season with their first NCAA men's basketball championship.

Ask Williams about it and it sounds like he wasn't looking for any validation.

"I guess, in some people's minds, it is," Williams said at the ACC's recent Operation Basketball. "For me, no. I didn't try to do any differently last year than I did the year before or the year before that.

"You always judge yourself as a coach after the season, not by wins but how well your players did. You know your talent, you know your injuries, you know whether you got screwed in games. You know what happened in the season."

Besides, not many teams get to the region semifinals.

"We were in six Sweet 16s in nine years," said Williams, entering his 14th season at his alma mater. "Nobody did that. Nobody else did that. Like four coaches in the country did better than that.

"Yet, I kept hearing that we weren't doing very well. We've made nine straight NCAA Tournaments. Forget the national championship. Ask the [other ACC coaches] if they'd like to have that, except [Mike] Krzyzewski."

Even Krzyzewski, the Duke coach, hasn't taken his Blue Devils to the last nine NCAA Tournaments, although Duke has played in 18 of the last 19, including 11 in a row between 1984-1994.

Of the other seven ACC coaches, none has made more than one NCAA trip at his current stop.

"I'm proud of what we had done at Maryland before winning the national championship," Williams said. "Obviously, you've got to show up with a chance to play for it.

"I didn't learn anything going into [last season]. We've had great individual players. Joe Smith. Steve Francis. Nobody's better than those guys. Maybe we won because we played better together, but that's not because of anything I said but because of the people I had playing for me."

Following is a look at the ACC men's basketball programs in the order they were picked at the ACC's Operation Basketball:

DUKE: The Blue Devils won an unprecedented fourth straight ACC championship last year, so maybe it shouldn't be a surprise that they were picked first this year, although few programs have been hit as hard by players leaving early for the NBA.

The Blue Devils (31-4) had three first-team All-ACC selections (Jason Williams, Mike Dunleavy and Carlos Boozer). All were juniors. All left for the NBA, Williams and Dunleavy as lottery selections and Boozer as a second-round choice.

Duke welcomes one of the nation's highest-ranked recruiting classes, including wingman J.J. Redick from Roanoke, and does not lack talent among its returnees. Junior guard Chris Duhon was a preseason choice for ACC player of the year.

MARYLAND: The senior leadership of Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter was a major factor in the Terrapins' NCAA title run last year. A strong senior class, headed by ACC assist champion Steve Blake, will provide the Terrapins' nucleus this season.

In addition to Dixon and Baxter, the Terps (32-4) need to replace 6-foot-10 Chris Wilcox, who blossomed as a sophomore and joined Dixon as a first-round NBA pick. Baxter, Wilcox and a third departed senior, Byron Mouton, ranked 1-2-3 on the team in rebounding.

Drew Nicholas played more than 20 minutes per game last year as the first guard off the bench and scored 32 points in an exhibition victory over the Harlem Globetrotters. Returning post players Tahj Holden and Ryan Randle need to fill the inside void.

N.C. STATE: The Wolfpack was the last team to defeat national champion Maryland in the 2001-02 season and won a first-round NCAA game against Michigan State. It was the first NCAA game played by State in coach Herb Sendek's six seasons.

The backcourt was an area of concern for State (23-11) even before 6-7 sophomore Ilian Evtimov suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament and was lost for the season. Evtimov frequently handled the ball for State last year, when the Wolfpack also had senior guards in Anthony Grundy and Archie Miller.

Julius Hodge, runner-up in ACC rookie-of-the-year balloting last year, is a preseason first-team All-ACC choice and is seen as an emerging leader after an inconsistent 2001-02 season in which he averaged 10.7 points, tops among the State returnees.

GEORGIA TECH: Few teams were as hot down the stretch as the Yellow Jackets, who had won five games in a row and eight of 10 before losing to Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC Tournament. They finished 15-16.

In 6-8, 250-pound Ed Nelson, Tech boasts the 2001-02 ACC rookie of the year. Nelson already has been overshadowed by 6-10 freshman Chris Bosh, rated one of the top prospects in the country last year and the second-leading vote-getter for preseason ACC rookie of the year.

Possibly more vital to the Yellow Jackets' success this year is the development of freshman point guard Jarrett Jack, who takes over for Tony Akins, who scored or assisted on 346 of 834 Georgia Tech field goals last year.

VIRGINIA: Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said during the summer that no ACC team had better returning talent than Virginia, although injuries or suspensions have kept much of it off the floor in the preseason.

The most impressive aspect of an 84-60 exhibition victory over Big Apple Basketball was the inside punch provided by post players Travis Watson, Elton Brown and Nick Vander Laan, who accounted for 69 points and 47 rebounds (41 by Watson and Vander Laan).

That may have given Gillen more pause to think about playing all three big men together. Either way, UVa is likely to rely heavily on transfers Vander Laan and Todd Billet, whose 16.6-point average at Rutgers in 2000-01 is the highest for any current ACC player at the Division I level.

WAKE FOREST: The Deacons (21-13) made the NCAA Tournament in their first season under coach Skip Prosser. However, they lost five of their last eight games and face a major rebuilding effort with the loss of four seniors who represent their Nos.1, 3, 4 and 5 scorers.

Senior forward Josh Howard, coming off an injury-plagued season in which he averaged 13.9 points, is a preseason choice for first-team All-ACC. Howard has had a problem with shin splints in the preseason, but that didn't stop him from accumulating 13 points and 15 rebounds in 19 minutes in Wake's preseason opener.

NORTH CAROLINA: One year after the Tar Heels joined Duke as a co-favorite for first place, the Tar Heels were a preseason choice for seventh. It's the first time since the poll started in 1970 that Carolina has been picked lower than third.

It wasn't surprising, given Carolina's 8-21 record and ninth-place finish last year. Moreover, four of the top five scorers have departed, Jason Capel and Kris Lang after completing their college eligibility and Adam Boone and Brian Morrison after transferring.

There is help on the way in the form of point guard Raymond Felton, a landslide choice for ACC rookie of the year, and fellow freshman Sean May, the 6-9, 250-pound son of former University of Indiana star Scott May.

CLEMSON: In what some view as a make-or-break season for fourth-year coach Larry Shyatt, the Tigers (13-17) will play their November and December home games in The Civic Center of Anderson, S.C., a 5,000-seat building, while 11,200-seat Littlejohn Coliseum is being refurbished.

Littlejohn is scheduled to reopen Jan.5, but the best news for Shyatt is a veteran nucleus headed by point guard Edward Scott, who scored or assisted on 372 of 823 Clemson field goals, and fellow senior Ray Henderson, the ACC's second-leading rebounder.

FLORIDA STATE: Leonard Hamilton, who built Miami into a three-time NCAA participant in his last three seasons, moves from one tip of the state to the other with plans of rebuilding a Florida State team that has had seven losing seasons since 1994, including the last four.

Hamilton hopes to get the Seminoles out of the ACC cellar, but that might be difficult with the return of one player, Michael Joiner, who started more than five games last season. The No.2 scorer among the returnees, 6-7 Anthony Richardson is a 2001 McDonald's All-American who could not find his shooting touch as an FSU freshman.

 

 

Cavaliers can start talking about bowl mix


FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

It would not be Al Groh's nature to let somebody else worry about Virginia's bowl prospects.
Saturday's 14-9 victory over then-No.22 North Carolina State was the Cavaliers' seventh of the year, making them bowl eligible.

Not long after Virginia (7-4, 5-2 ACC) became the ACC's fourth bowl-eligible team, Georgia Tech (7-4, 4-4) became the fifth with a 17-2 win over Duke. Already meeting the criteria were Florida State, Maryland and N.C. State.

Clemson can enter that group next week with a win over South Carolina, and that's where things could get tricky. In the past, Virginia has not fared well in negotiations involving its ACC rivals.

"Hey, it's a matter of competing," Groh said Sunday. "One, our team's competed hard all year long. They've done what the coach has asked them to do. If the coach needs to get out and compete for what the team deserves, that should be expected of the coach.

"At the same time, since I think we're going to have a pretty good team here in the years to come, those who do the snookering might get snookered in the future."

-DOUG DOUGHTY


 

 

Air Show in Charlottesville
Passin' by U.Va.'s greats QB Schaub takes aim at yet another record

BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Nov 18, 2002
CHARLOTTESVILLE One by one, the passing records keep falling at the University of Virginia.

In 11 games, Matt Schaub has set U.Va. single-season marks for completions (237), attempts (346) and touchdown passes (23). The 6-5 junior is likely to ascend to the top spot in another category Saturday.

At 5:30 p.m., Virginia (5-2, 7-5) will take on 18th-ranked Maryland (5-1, 9-2) at Scott Stadium. If the Cavaliers can end the Terrapins' eight-game winning streak, the teams will finish tied for second in the ACC.

Schaub will enter the showdown with 2,502 yards passing. In 1995, Mike Groh passed for 2,510 yards, a Virginia record, in 12 games.

"I think that trophy's been taken out of the trophy case early this morning," Groh's father said last night.

Al Groh is in his second season as the Cavaliers' head coach. His receivers coach is his son Mike, who came into the season holding or sharing the school's single-season records for completions (223), attempts (330), yards, completion percentage (63.9) and 300-yard games.

The younger Groh had three 300-yard passing games in'95, and Aaron Brooks had three in'97 and again in'98.

Schaub, who's topped the 300-yard mark thrice this season, threw for 149 two days ago in U.Va.'s 14-9 win over then-No. 22 N.C. State at soggy Scott Stadium. His 14 completions included two TD passes, which broke the three-way tie for first in the U.Va. record book with Shawn Moore (21 in'90) and Bobby Goodman (21 in'92). He wasn't intercepted.

"I think maybe the two best [records] a guy can have," Al Groh said, "are touchdown passes on a high level and interception percentage on a low level."

With a 68.5-percent completion rate, Schaub is by far the ACC's most accurate passer, and he's thrown only six interceptions. Eight Cavaliers have caught at least one TD pass from Schaub, including wideouts Billy McMullen, Michael McGrew, Ottowa Anderson and Ryan Sawyer.

Al Groh joked that his son is "claiming part ownership" of Schaub's latest record, "since players he coaches have caught a lot of those passes."

By beating the Wolfpack, which hasn't won at Scott Stadium since 1994, the Cavaliers became eligible for a bowl. In the postgame celebration, game balls were presented to Marquis Weeks and Stan Norfleet.

Weeks was an obvious choice. In his first start at tailback since Aug. 22 - he hadn't carried the ball from scrimmage since Sept. 7 - the redshirt sophomore gained a career-best 129 yards on 19 carries.

Norfleet, a reserve linebacker who plays only on special teams, wasn't credited with any tackles against State. Virginia's coaches singled out the redshirt junior from Charlotte, N.C., for his exemplary attitude and spirit.

 

 

Picked eighth, surprising Cavs say they're not done

Published November 18, 2002

As media members gathered to play golf, eat free food and do a little work at the ACC Football Kickoff in July, they also picked the order of finish. Florida State was the overwhelming favorite for No. 1, Duke the clear choice for No. 9. And there in eighth place was Virginia.

Fast-forwarding four months, FSU has clinched a tie for the league title and Duke's conference losing streak has reached 24. But the Cavaliers (7-4, 5-2) not only are bowl-eligible, they can claim a share of second place with a victory Saturday against Maryland.

At worst, they'll tie for third.

All that in mind, you might already consider Virginia's season a success. But the Cavaliers insist they aren't finished.

"There's no relief at all," coach Al Groh said after Saturday's 14-9 win over N.C. State. "There's a sense on this team of a feeling of accomplishment, but in our first meeting with the players before spring practice, we told them this season would test our resolve. The team has to learn to win when it's not easy, and it certainly wasn't easy (Saturday).

"We felt we could have a good team this year, and we have a good team. And we have a chance to do some more. We haven't gotten to any finish point yet, and we certainly haven't reached any objective. We've got a chance, if we can win the next two games, to have some season. That's what we're really aiming for."

Maryland (9-2, 5-1) is the league's hottest team, having won eight straight games.

"They're playing with a high confidence level," Groh said. "That goes with winning eight in a row."
 

 

 

N.C. State Monday Morning QB
By AL FEATHERSTON : The Herald-Sun
afeatherston@heraldsun.com
Nov 17, 2002 : 11:34 pm ET

REWIND

For the third straight week, N.C. State came heartbreakingly close to victory ... and for the third straight week, the Pack lost. The 14-9 defeat in the cold and rain at Virginia wasn’t decided until Philip Rivers’ fourth-down pass to Bryan Peterson was knocked away in the end zone in the final 10 seconds.

COMMENTARY

Perspective is everything.

N.C. State’s 9-3 record is among the best in the country. And even a 9-4 regular-season finish would be N.C. State’s best year in almost a decade.

So why is there so much doom and gloom among the Wolfpack faithful?

The answer is obvious ... a 9-0 start followed by three straight losses do not make for a very attractive situation. And with Florida State — unbeaten in the ACC and bent on revenge after last year’s loss to N.C. State — coming to Carter-Finley this Saturday for the regular-season finale, it’s very possible that the Pack could finish 2002 with a four-game losing streak.

Not even the Wolfpack players can pretend that’s a very attractive scenario.

"That would be a very disappointing season, if we finish with four straight losses," junior wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery said. "Somewhere we have to pull out a win."

A second straight win over Florida State would put a different spin on the Pack’s situation. Not only would it guarantee the first 10-win season in Wolfpack history, but it would almost certainly clinch a bid to the Peach Bowl and probably leave the Pack in a third-place tie in the final ACC standings.

"The object is to win and it doesn’t matter how ugly, sloppy or whatever," Coach Chuck Amato said. "We’ve got to find a way to do it."

Last year, N.C. State went to Tallahassee, Fla., and handed the Seminoles their first home ACC loss. The memory of that game will inspire FSU, but it also ought to give the Wolfpack a bit of confidence. Amato’s players know that Bobby Bowden’s once invincible warriors are beatable.

Still, a fourth straight loss is possible, maybe even likely. What would that do to what was once such a promising season?

N.C. State still could play in the Peach Bowl (provided Maryland beats Virginia this week) with another loss and the nine wins would match the most in school history. But it would be the most unsatisfying 9-4 season imaginable.

NOTES

Chuck Amato won’t know until at least Tuesday the status of cornerback Marcus Hudson, who suffered a sprained ankle against Virginia. Offensive guard Shane Riggs, who missed the Virginia game with a knee injury, also is a question mark. Running back Josh Brown, who suffered a concussion against the Cavs, should be ready to go in practice this week. And Amato said that receiver Jerricho Cotchery and running back T.A. McLendon, who played with severe injuries, both came out of the Virginia game in good shape. ... McLendon needs 31 yards rushing against Florida State to reach 1,000 for the season. He’d be the fifth freshman in ACC history to reach that milestone. His 969 rushing yards ranks sixth among freshman rushers. His total of 1,278 yards rushing and receiving tops all ACC running backs.



 

Virginia not satisfied simply with any old bowl bid
 By John Galinsky / Media General News Service
Nov 18, 2002
 
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Virginia coach Al Groh says his players have every right to feel pleased about winning seven games and qualifying for a bowl. He just doesn't want them to feel satisfied.

Asked several times after Saturday's 14-9 victory over N.C. State about becoming bowl-eligible, Groh acknowledged the achievement. "That's good," he said, but he stressed that there are two games remaining in the regular season, and those are far from meaningless.

"We haven't gotten to any finish point yet," Groh said, "and we certainly haven't reached any objective. … We've got a chance if we can win the next two games to have some season, and that's what we're really aiming for."

Groh told his players the same thing in the locker room, even as they were celebrating one of their most impressive triumphs in this improbably successful season.

The Cavaliers (7-4, 5-2 ACC) seemed to take that message to heart.

"It feels real good to know we're bowl-eligible now," said tailback Marquis Weeks. "But now we're going to put it out of our minds and get ready for Maryland."

Virginia enters its final two games against the No. 18 Terrapins and No. 13 Virginia Tech with the comfort of knowing it has secured an almost-certain bowl bid. If Wake Forest beats Navy next week, seven ACC teams will be eligible for the conference's six bowl slots. But the Cavaliers are unlikely to be the ones left out, considering their strength of schedule and the fact they can finish no worse than tied for third in the league standings.

They earned win No. 7 with their best defensive effort of the season. They held the Wolfpack, the ACC's highest-scoring team, to their lowest point total in Chuck Amato's three years as N.C. State's coach.

The Wolfpack rushed for just 96 yards, the fewest by a UVa opponent this season. Philip Rivers, the ACC's highest-rated passer, threw 47 times but did not complete a touchdown pass.

Groh praised starting cornerbacks Almondo Curry and Jamaine Winborne, who each turned in several big plays. On the first play of the game, Curry sacked receiver Bryan Peterson, who lined up at quarterback and was rolling out to throw a deep pass. Curry later recorded the first interception of his career in the fourth quarter.

Winborne saved his heroics for the end. On N.C. State's final drive, he broke up a pass intended for receiver Jerricho Cotchery, who caught eight passes for 108 yards. Several plays later, he swatted away Rivers' fourth-down throw into the end zone, where Peterson and Cotchery waited, to clinch the victory.

"It was all Winborne," Groh said. "He goes up and knocks the ball away … but the ball is still kind of hanging there. So almost like a boxer hitting a speed bag with the back of his hand, he knocked it out of the end zone."

Weeks was the surprise star on offense. Entering the game with 53 career rushing yards, the sophomore ran for 129 yards on 19 carries. He showed breakaway speed missing from the team's running game, going on jaunts of 21, 17, 10 and 32 yards.

The offensive line, playing at times with three freshmen, created running room against the ACC's stingiest defense. Matt Schaub, meanwhile, continued his superb season with two touchdown passes and no interceptions.

So there were plenty of reasons to feel good about the game and a season that has far surpassed expectations. The Cavaliers were picked eighth in the ACC in a preseason media poll, so bowl-eligibility is tangible evidence of overachievement.

"It really means a lot," said senior safety Jerton Evans, formerly of Jefferson Forest. "Whoever says it doesn't mean a lot would be lying to you."