Foes are finding points harder to come by against once-porous U.Va.
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© November 27, 2002

CHARLOTTESVILLE — They’re No. 99.
That’s not much of a rallying cry, but for the Virginia defense, it represents improvement.

One hundred seventeen teams play Division I-A football, and Virginia has been ranked in triple digits in total defense much of the season. The Cavaliers allow 427 yards per game, more than all but one team in the ACC.

But that number has been shrinking rapidly. So has another that the Cavaliers deem far more relevant: points allowed.

Virginia allows 25.4 points per game, which ranks 56th in the country. During the past two games, against the two high-scoring teams in the ACC, the Cavaliers have allowed just two touchdowns and 22 total points.

The yawning gap between yardage yielded and points allowed suggests a defense with a bend-but-don’t-break mentality. The Cavaliers, who face Virginia Tech on Saturday, are willing to accept that tag as long as they keep winning.

“We put a big emphasis on red-zone defense,” linebacker Rich Bedesem said. “When they get in there, either on a turnover or they just get in there we try to step it up a little bit.”

N.C. State came into the Virginia game averaging 36.9 points per game and scored nine. Maryland averaged 34.1, and managed 13. The Cavaliers held each team to less than 335 yards.

Is this really the same Virginia defense that was run through so regularly earlier in the year?

Yes and no.

Virginia is using the same 3-4 scheme it has all season and is using most of the same players. But coach Al Groh and his players say several factors have contributed to the defense’s rapid improvement.

For one, they’re growing up. Virginia starts three freshmen and three sophomores on defense, and nowhere was that inexperience more glaring than on the line.

Virginia began the season with two freshmen and a sophomore with no playing experience manning the front three. It showed against Colorado State and Florida State, Akron and Wake Forest.

“That was a lot of guys getting on-the-job training all at once,” Groh said. “It tried my patience a little bit, but I had patience with them.”

The line received a boost when sophomore Chris Canty returned from a leg injury in week six. Canty, a sophomore, has been the team’s best lineman, earning second-team All-ACC honors. Nose guard Andrew Hoffman and defensive end Brennan Schmidt have also made strides in recent weeks.

“Hopefully what we’re seeing is signs of a pretty good defensive line that will be intact for quite some time,” Groh said.

Groh also made key personnel changes. After Virginia gave up 35 points and 533 yards to Penn State on Nov.\u20099, Groh benched outside linebacker Raymond Mann and moved inside linebacker Merrill Robertson to the outside. Bedesem took Robertson’s inside spot.

The change has been noticeable. Robertson has been disruptive on the outside. He’s forced a fumble, deflected a pass and had a sack since moving. Bedesem had a team-high 13 tackles against N.C. State.

In the secondary, Groh replaced senior safety Shernard Newby with true freshman Willie Davis, one of the fastest players on the team. Davis has made eight tackles and deflected two passes since breaking into the lineup.

“Hard as we might try, as much effort as we might give, I didn’t know if anything was going to change unless some specifics changed,” Groh said.

A third difference in the defense is its “ball-hawking.”

Even when they were being pushed around, the Cavaliers showed a knack for coming up with turnovers. Virginia has recovered more fumbles (11) than any ACC team other than Florida State. The Cavaliers have intercepted eight passes, putting them second in the ACC in turnovers.

Robertson and All-ACC linebacker Angelo Crowell have forced nine fumbles, more than any tandem in the conference.

Virginia also has made strides covering kicks and punt returns, giving them a field-position advantage that helps a defense. Maryland started 11 of its 13 drives inside its 26 on Saturday. N.C. State started six of its 11 drives inside its 21.

“Everybody’s doing more than their job,” safety Jerton Evans said.

For Virginia’s defense, it’s been a long time coming. Groh, whose background is as a defensive coach, says he sees signs that two seasons of implementing his program have begun to pay off.

“We’ve got a system we wanted to put in and a way that we wanted to play and the players have been very responsive to it,” he said. “I think maybe our defense is starting to show some promise.”

No matter what the numbers say.
 

There’s plenty at stake for U.Va., Tech
The Virginian-Pilot
© November 27, 2002

Going strictly by the numbers, Saturday’s meeting between Virginia Tech and Virginia won’t get pulses racing outside the commonwealth.
Strip away the traditional pregame hype and what’s taking place in Blacksburg is a game between teams with a combined seven losses.

Tech is suffering a three-game skid, while U.Va. arrives on an up-tick. But even with the Cavaliers’ two-game winning streak, what we’re talking about here is a televised scrum between schools that have lost five of their last seven.

Naturally, an intra-state rivalry overrides the dry recitation of records and recent performances. Virginia Tech’s fragile self-image and Virginia’s alleged superiority complex are in play this week. Boola boola. Bragging rights are the top prize.

For Tech, there’s something else, though. Seems like only yesterday that the Hokies enjoyed title aspirations. Now they are fourth in the Big East. Now the Hokies need to beat U.Va. or face the prospect of losing their fifth in a row to top-ranked Miami on Dec. 7.

U.Va. has exceeded expectations — the media’s if not its own. So while an 8-3 record seems like a disappointment for Tech, U.Va.’s 8-4 comes as a revelation.

On the other hand, Virginia hasn’t beaten Tech at football in three years. Lose too often to your state rival and it can become habit forming. So for one game, at least, perhaps the pressure is equally divided between the teams, the stakes evened out.

Virginia comes in with momentum, and with Al Groh newly named ACC Coach of the Year. The touts are unmoved. They’ve made Tech a one-touchdown favorite. Sounds about right, except to the growing multitudes who believe that, on current form, U.Va. is better.

Perhaps. Form is an elusive quality. Ask Tech about that.

The Cavaliers, though, do not lack confidence. Emboldened by back-to-back victories over North Carolina State and Maryland, they are miffed at the coaches and media who have not seen fit to include them in the top 25 and irked by the Gator Bowl’s decision to pass over them for the Wolfpack.

Keeping U.Va. out of the lower regions of the upper echelon seems odd, seeing as how N.C. State and Maryland are still in. Are the voters paying attention? Do they realize that three Cavalier losses have come against top-25 teams Colorado State, Florida State and Penn State?

For what it’s worth, in Happy Valley, U.Va.’s defense “held” Heisman favorite Larry Johnson to 188 yards rushing in 31 attempts. That looked like a big day until Johnson followed it up with 327 yards and four touchdowns against Indiana and 279 yards and another four touchdowns, despite playing only the first half, against Michigan State.

While Johnson averaged 8 yards per carry this season, Tech’s campaign turned even more sour because its vaunted ground attack couldn’t make a single yard late in the game against West Virginia.

The Hokies had another opportunity to win or tie that game in the dying seconds, but when Bryan Randall was intercepted in the end zone, the sophomore was branded the goat of another loss. Never mind that he kept Tech in the game with his first 100-yard running game. Or that, in the loss at Syracuse, he passed for more than 500 yards before, yes, being intercepted in the end zone in overtime.

Tech’s recent struggles have a lot more to do with its inability to stop the run and kick field goals than it does with Randall’s miscues. Had the rest of the team played up to par, Randall never would have been in the position to throw those two interceptions.

Perceptions of players and teams, though, can turn on the next game. Tech understands this better than anyone.

In their last three victories over U.Va., the Hokies have won by an average of almost three touchdowns. Despite recent twists of fortune, the challenge lies with U.Va. to prove that Tech doesn’t have its number.
 

UVa's Groh voted top ACC coach

Al Groh is the runaway winner after leading UVa to a second-place ACC finish.

By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

   Virginia's second-place standing in the ACC football race did not escape the notice of the same voters who made the Cavaliers a preseason choice for eighth.

    The beneficiary was second-year coach Al Groh, a landslide choice Tuesday for ACC coach of the year. Groh was named on 49 ballots, easily outdistancing Maryland's Ralph Friedgen, second among the five coaches who received votes with 16.

    "At the first press conference I was here, somebody asked me to assess my coaching style," Groh said Monday. "I said, 'I don't assess it. I just coach. I'll just leave that to other people.'

    "On a lot of days, I don't think it's very good, so maybe that's why I don't want to publicly critique it."

    After finishing 5-7 in Groh's first season, the Cavaliers take an 8-4 record into their regular-season finale at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at 22nd-ranked Virginia Tech (8-3).

    The Hokies are 7-point favorites, marking the ninth time UVa has been an underdog this season.

    UVa has won five of those games, including back-to-back victories over Top 25 teams (North Carolina State and Maryland) that have moved the Cavaliers into sole possession of second place in the ACC at 6-2.

    Groh is the fourth UVa coach to be named ACC football coach of the year, joining immediate predecessor and four-time honoree George Welsh, named for the last time in 1995; George Blackburn (1968) and Bill Elias (1965).

    "This means a great deal to me, but somebody has got to be the representative of the team and that's simply what I am," Groh told The Associated Press.

    "They don't give 100 awards. They give just one. My satisfaction comes not in that they're saying, 'Al Groh got the award,' but that this organization and everybody in it contributed to winning."

Timely shooting tames Wildcats

Newcomers Todd Billet and Devin Smith combine for six 3-pointers and 24 points in the final 15 minutes as UVa advances.

FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

   Virginia newcomers Todd Billet and Devin Smith found their shooting range at a most opportune time Tuesday night and led the Cavaliers to a berth in the championship game of the Maui Invitational.

    Billet and Smith combined for six 3-pointers and 24 points in the final 15 minutes as unranked Virginia defeated 15th-ranked Kentucky 75-61 at the Lahaina Civic Center.

    UVa (3-0) will meet No.19 Indiana in the championship game at 9:30 tonight.

    In the first Kentucky-Virginia game since 1966, Virginia fell behind 18-9 before going on a 14-0 run sparked by sophomore guard Keith Jenifer, coming off the bench after two unimpressive starts.

    The Wildcats (1-1) rallied to take a 32-30 halftime lead and had a 42-41 edge when Billet made his first appearance of the second half with 14:55 remaining.

    Billet, a transfer from Rutgers, promptly hit a 3-pointer with 14:45 left that gave the Cavaliers a lead they would not surrender, although Kentucky sliced a 61-53 deficit to 61-59 on a basket by Gerald Fitch with 2:35 remaining.

    Smith, a transfer from Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, answered with a 3-pointer with 2:15 left and then hit another 3-pointer on Virginia's next possession.

    Smith added a pair of free throws and he and Billet did all the scoring as Virginia went on a 12-0 run. The teams traded baskets to end the game.

    UVa senior Travis Watson, averaging 21 points and 13.5 rebounds after two games, landed awkwardly after attempting to block a shot with 10:45 remaining and spent more than four minutes on the bench with what coach Pete Gillen termed a hip pointer. Watson finished with eight points and eight rebounds for UVa, which was a 7 1/2 -point underdog.

    "Hopefully, it's not too bad," Gillen said on his postgame ESPN interview. "He's our franchise. He's our everything. He's a great player, so we need him or else I've got to go get a beer."

    The Cavaliers, victimized by a porous defense last year in a late-season slide, enjoyed success Tuesday night with a zone defense that forced Kentucky to shoot 37.3 percent. The Wildcats were 0-for-12 on 3-pointers in the first half and 2-for-22 overall.

    "We had some good looks, but I think we settled for outside shots," Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. "Virginia did a good job going to the zone and then you miss a couple and get tight and the basket gets smaller."

    Marquis Estill, Jules Camara and Keith Bogans and Marquis Estill each had 12 points for Kentucky, which did not have a player with more than four rebounds and was beaten 41-30 on the boards.

    "They had been shooting the ball great in the preseason and their first regular-season game," Gillen said. "It was our night and we got a couple of bounces. Who knows? If we played tomorrow, we might lose by 15, but we're thrilled with the victory. Our kids really wanted this one."

    Billet and Smith each had 15 points to lead the Cavaliers, who got a career-high 13 from Jenifer.

    "This was his best game," Gillen said. "He didn't pout, he came off the bench and without him we don't win."

Time to just kick back
Tom Hagan has had to adjust from being an every-down player for Cave Spring last season to playing only a handful of downs on Saturdays for Virginia this year.

By DOUG DOUGHTY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

CHARLOTTESVILLE - For freshman punter Tom Hagan, a two-sport athlete who is in Virginia's engineering school, one of the biggest challenges is finding something to do with his free time.
During the games, that is.

As a senior at Cave Spring High School, Hagan played wide receiver and defensive back, punted, kicked off and also handled field goals and extra points for part of the year. For the first three games of the season, he was also the Knights' starting quarterback.

"I'd go out for a pass on third down and, if we didn't pick up a first down, then I'd drop back and punt," Hagan said. "Now I spend most of my time standing on the sideline or kicking into a net."

Sometimes, he'll grab a football, take a couple of steps with arms outstretched and drop it.

Hagan has never concentrated so much on technique, which has its advantages and disadvantages.

"Focus on it too much and it might mess you up," he said. "You try to take your mind off it until you need to have your mind on it, right before you punt."

Head coach Al Groh said before the season that Hagan would be his punter "even if his first kick goes backward, and if his second one goes sideways, he's going to kick the third one."

Although he's had an up-and-down year, Hagan hasn't seen any of his punts go backward or sideways. Of the 58 punts attempted by the Cavaliers, he's been responsible for 57, with place-kicker Connor Hughes executing a "pooch" punt from field-goal formation on the other.

"As for my production, I haven't been real happy," Hagan said. "For the circumstances, I guess I'm satisfied. We've been winning and that's what you've got to look at."

Hagan's 37.1-yard average ranks him fifth among ACC punters, but the Cavaliers have given up fewer punt return yards than any other ACC team.

In recent games, UVa's strategy has been based not so much on punting for distance as neutralizing the opponents' special teams.

Against North Carolina State, which boasts one of the nation's most feared kick blockers in Terrance Holt, Hagan's mission was to unload the ball in a hurry. Against Maryland, Hagan wanted to kick the ball away from the Terrapins' Steve Suter, named first-team All-ACC as a specialist.

Suter returned two of Hagan's three punts for a total of 8 yards. The third was downed at the Terps' 12-yard line, one of 14 Hagan punts that have been downed inside the 20, 12 in the last six games.

Hagan realizes the importance of getting rid of the ball quickly against a Virginia Tech team that has blocked four punts this season. The Cavaliers (8-4) will meet the Hokies (8-3) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday in Blacksburg.

Protection breakdowns led to blocked punts at Florida State and Duke, the second of which caused concern among Hagan's family when trainers hurriedly began taping his foot.

It turns out the soccer-style cleats that Hagan had been wearing since high school had come apart. Despite his mother's offer to locate a new pair on eBay, Hagan accepted what the UVa equipment people gave him and has been punting better ever since.

"Next year, I'm expecting a big change," he said. "By the first game, I'll know everything I have to do."

 

Improved Cavs ready for Tech test
Revamped defense has looked sharp against two ranked teams
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Nov 27, 2002

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Eleven games into the season, Virginia's defense finally stood up and stated its case. And suddenly, what had been the Cavaliers' biggest weakness - an oft-maligned unit that had allowed tailback after tailback, wideout after wideout, quarterback after quarterback to ring up huge numbers - began to look like a strength.

"I told you all early that we had a lot of potential, and right now we're starting to realize a little of that potential," said end Chris Canty, a 6-7, 290-pound sophomore who was named to the all-ACC second team Monday.

"We're starting to come around. If we keep moving in a positive direction, we'll finally get to where we want to be, pitching shutouts and that kind of thing. But we've still got a lot of work ahead of us."

The turning point came Nov. 9, when Penn State pounded U.Va. 35-14 at Beaver Stadium. The Cavaliers dropped to 6-4 with three games remaining, all against ranked teams. Second-year coach Al Groh, who spent 11 of his 12 years as an NFL assistant on the defensive side, tossed and turned after the PSU game until deciding at last on a course of action.

"I didn't like what I was seeing, and I didn't think it boded well for the future," Groh re- CAVScalled this week. "As hard as we might try, as much effort as we might give, I didn't know if anything was going to change unless some specifics changed."

Groh and defensive coordinator Al Golden benched junior linebacker Raymond Mann, ineffective since returning from a knee injury, and senior safety Shernard Newby, who had started 34 games for the Cavaliers. Senior Merrill Robertson moved from inside linebacker to Mann's outside slot in the Cavaliers' 3-4 defense. Willie Davis, a true freshman from Michael Jordan's high school in Wilmington, N.C., replaced Newby, Sophomore Rich Bedesem filled Robertson's spot at inside linebacker, alongside senior Angelo Crowell.

Virginia's revamped defense made its debut Nov. 16, when then-No. 22 N.C. State visited Scott Stadium. A Wolfpack offense that includes three first-team and three second-team all-ACC picks, among them record-setting quarterback Philip Rivers, managed nine points.

A week after the Wahoos beat State 14-9, then-No. 18 Maryland came to town. The Terrapins had averaged 40.3 points in their previous eight games, all victories. They mustered a single touchdown in a 48-13 loss to Virginia.

"I think maybe our defense is starting to show some promise," Groh said afterward.

The final regular-season test comes Saturday, when Virginia (8-4) meets 22nd-ranked Virginia Tech (8-3) at Lane Stadium. Asked about the Cavs' defense, Tech coach Frank Beamer said, "I know right now they're bending but not breaking, keeping things in front of them very well, doing a good job of rallying to the football."

A prerequisite for a strong defense, Groh said, is "stout line play." In Virginia's season-opening loss to Colorado State, however, "overwhelmed" might have been a better description of its line play. Canty, who with 23 career tackles was the team's top returning lineman, was out with an injury. The ends were true freshman Kwakou Robinson and redshirt freshman Brennan Schmidt. At nose tackle was redshirt sophomore Andrew Hoffman.

Colorado State's Cecil Sapp rushed for 178 yards against the Cavs. A week later, against Florida State, they allowed 397 yards rushing.

"That was a lot of guys getting on-the-job training all at once," Groh said. "It tried my patience a little bit, but I had patience, because I knew that's what it would take."

Virginia's starting defense includes only three seniors: Robertson, who has five sacks; Crowell, a first-team all-ACC pick; and safety Jerton Evans, a second-team all-conference selection. The other starters: junior cornerbacks Almondo Curry and Jamaine Winborne, sophomores Canty, Hoffman and Bedesem, redshirt freshman Schmidt and true freshmen Davis and Darryl Blackstock. An outside linebacker, Blackstock leads the nation's rookies with nine sacks.

On offense, Groh said, "if you have some flaws, you can maybe do something scheme-wise to cover them up for a while. It's not as easy to do on defense. But we've had a system that we wanted to put in, a way that we wanted to play, and the players have been very responsive to it, and they've made significant process throughout the course of the year."

Bedesem said: "It's just everyone coming together. It's not just one or two people, it's the whole defense. Everyone's flying to the ball."
 

Gator grabs Wolfpack
N.C. State's win over FSU, Maryland loss result in berth / The selection of the Pack, which is in fourth place in the ACC, surprises some and is not well-received by Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen
By CHIP ALEXANDER, Staff Writer

RALEIGH -- N.C. State's selection Tuesday by the Gator Bowl seemed to take a lot people by surprise -- and left some, including Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen, a bit miffed.
Wolfpack offensive tackle Scott Kooistra said he came to campus early Tuesday to lift weights before class and heard the scuttlebutt that the Gator would choose State. The Pack's 17-7 victory over Florida State on Saturday sealed the deal, he was told.

"I was thinking we would go to the Peach Bowl," Kooistra said. "After the Florida State game, everybody was yelling, 'A-T-L, A-T-L,' for Atlanta. We thought that's where we'd probably play."

By Tuesday afternoon, State had new travel plans: The Pack will play in the Gator Bowl on New Year's Day in Jacksonville, Fla. The opponent, bowl officials said, probably will be the winner of the Pittsburgh-West Virginia game on Saturday in Pittsburgh.

Another tantalizing possibility is Notre Dame. If the Irish lose to Southern California on Dec. 7 and aren't included in the Bowl Championship Series, they may wind up in the Gator.

"It's great to be playing on New Year's Day," said Kooistra, a senior co-captain. "I think we deserve the Gator Bowl."

Others disagreed.

Virginia and Maryland both defeated the Pack this year. Virginia (8-4, 6-2 ACC), which will play at Virginia Tech this week, finished a game ahead of NCSU (10-3, 5-3) in the conference. Maryland is 9-3 overall and 5-2 in the conference with a game left against Wake Forest.

Told Tuesday about the Pack's Gator invitation, a secretary in the Virginia football office blurted out, "WHAT?"

Said Maryland's Friedgen: "If we were to tie for second with Virginia, essentially N.C. State is fourth. The fact [NCSU] jumped over both of us for the Gator Bowl ... I realize it's the bowl's privilege to do that, but I don't have to agree with that.

"I don't know why they talk about where you finish [in the league], because it doesn't work that way."

David Diehl, executive director of the "M Club," Maryland's association for former varsity athletes, said the Gator selection was "definitely a surprise. It seems they prematurely made a decision without waiting for the final [ACC] standings."

NCSU athletics director Lee Fowler said he had talked late Sunday afternoon with ACC commissioner John Swofford, who indicated that the bowls might be on hold until the last games were played. Early Tuesday, Fowler was sitting at his desk in the Case Athletics Center taking a call from Rick Catlett, president of the Gator Bowl Association, and being told the bowl bid was State's.

How did it come together so quickly? Catlett said that after a round of meetings Monday by the bowl's 11-member selection committee, NCSU was the overwhelming choice. The reasons:

* NCSU is the only ACC team that has beaten Florida State, the conference champion.

* NCSU has 10 wins, and at No. 21 is the highest-ranked ACC team in the polls.

* NCSU, which has a large alumni base in Florida, said it could bring 25,000 to 30,000 fans to the game. Under the conference's contract with the Gator Bowl, the ACC school must guarantee the sale of at least 12,500 tickets.

* NCSU coach Chuck Amato is well-known in Florida after being a Florida State assistant for 18 years.

* Finally, but important, NCSU's season is over. Bowl promotions and ticket sales could begin immediately and come on the heels of an emotional victory.

The Gator Bowl can pick the second ACC team after the conference champion but is not required to take the team that actually finishes second in the league. The contract allows the Gator to take any team within one victory of second place -- in this case, 5-3 vs. 6-2.

Catlett noted that the selection committee amounted to a "roomful of Floridians" who were well-versed about FSU football and had been impressed with State's victory over the Seminoles.

"As we talked around the table, it pretty much became a consensus after an hour or so that we wanted to move forward sooner rather than later," Catlett said.

The Gator Bowl had no representatives at the State-FSU game, but Catlett said the bowl rarely scouts teams. He said he is in constant touch with Swofford and the ACC athletics directors throughout the selection process.

Until Saturday, the Gator Bowl had Maryland high on its list, with the idea that the Terrapins might win at Virginia. Then, as Catlett put it, "everything changed."

The Pack won. Virginia walloped Maryland.

Suddenly, the choice seemed to be more between N.C. State and Virginia. Catlett said the selection committee believed both schools would sell about the same number of tickets, and Fowler said Tuesday that NCSU did not offer to buy any tickets beyond the 12,500 minimum.

Virginia topped the Pack 14-9 on Nov. 16, then followed by blasting the Terps 48-13. Win this week at Virginia Tech, and the Cavaliers would have the kind of late-season run that bowl committees say they favor.

But Jim McCollom, the selection committee chairman, said the timing favored NCSU -- even though State played its longest season, a 13-game schedule that began Aug. 24.

"They had a week extra to promote Gator Bowl activities and sell tickets," McCollom said Tuesday. "They've had an exceptional year. They're the highest-ranked team in the ACC right now. They just defeated rather soundly the conference champions, and they already have 10 wins.

"We considered Virginia very seriously. But when it came down to the wire, for the factors I've mentioned, we made the selection of N.C. State."

After the committee made its choice, Catlett talked with Swofford, who in turn called Fowler late Monday night.

"John asked where Rick could reach me [Tuesday] morning," Fowler said. "I assumed that meant we were in the Gator."

At 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, Catlett did make the call to Fowler.

"Coming out high in the polls helped us," Fowler said. "To beat Florida State was huge, especially in that area. I think a lot of things fell together for us."

Efforts to reach Swofford on Tuesday were unsuccessful.

N.C. State will get at least $1.6 million for playing in the Gator. Of that, $600,000 will go the ACC to be divvied up among conference schools. State will keep $1 million to cover expenses.

That revenue doesn't include State's share of the ACC's Bowl Championship Series pot -- about $1.28 million -- or its share of other ACC bowl money.

A year ago, Fowler and Amato went to Orlando, Fla., to personally lobby officials of the Tangerine Bowl. State beat out Clemson for the Tangerine bid, much to the chagrin of Tigers coach Tommy Bowden, and was defeated 34-19 by Pittsburgh.

This time, the long faces belong to Virginia athletics director Craig Littlepage and Debbie Yow, Maryland's AD. Both schools now hope to land the Peach Bowl bid, and Yow did some lobbying of her own Tuesday for the Peach.

"All things being equal, if we win Saturday and Virginia wins, we will likely be ranked higher nationally," she said.

Littlepage, who is with the Virginia men's basketball team at the Maui Classic in Hawaii, could not be contacted. In a statement, Virginia football coach Al Groh said: "N.C. State's had a fine season. I have the highest personal and professional regard for Chuck Amato, and I wish them well."

State's last appearance in the Gator Bowl was in 1992, when Florida defeated the Pack 27-10 in a night game in which heavy fog obscured the field.

This game will begin at 12:30 p.m.

Amato was asked Tuesday what his reaction would be should Friedgen or Groh be upset by the Gator's selection.

"I could care less," he said, smiling. "I didn't make the decision. Life will go on for all of us, and we'll all go to bowls, and I just hope we all win our bowl games."

 

Cavaliers in the zone vs. Cats
By JIM O'CONNELL, The Associated Press

LAHAINA, Hawaii -- Most college basketball coaches will admit they don't like to play a lot of zone defense. Virginia's Pete Gillen isn't in that group right now.

Devin Smith hit three 3-pointers in the final six minutes -- one more than Kentucky managed in the game against the Cavaliers' matchup zone -- and Virginia beat the 15th-ranked Wildcats 75-61 Tuesday in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.

"We played it once last year against Georgetown for 38, 39 minutes," Gillen said of the zone defense. "I'm not a zone coach, but sometimes you have to put your ego in your pocket. We kept it basic, changed a couple of things."

Smith, a 6-foot-5 junior college transfer, was 2-for-7 from 3-point range in the Cavaliers' first two games of the season, but he made three of four from beyond the arc in the last six minutes of the game.

"Luckily, every time I was open I hit the shot," he said.

Virginia (3-0) will play in tonight's championship game against No. 19 Indiana, a 76-75 winner over No. 20 Gonzaga.

The Cavaliers' matchup zone caused all kinds of problems for Kentucky (1-1), which went 2-for-22 from 3-point range, missing its first 17 attempts from there.

"We had some good looks, but I think we settled for outside shots," Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. "Virginia did a good job going to the zone, and then you miss a couple and get tight and the basket gets smaller."

Keith Bogans hit Kentucky's first 3 with 8:18 left to bring the Wildcats within 51-48, but Todd Billet answered with a 3 for Virginia, 8-for-25 on 3s.

Brandon Stockton hit Kentucky's other 3 with 7:05 left to make it 56-53, but after Elton Brown scored down low for Virginia, Smith scored the Cavaliers' next nine points on long-range shots. His last one made it 67-59 with 1:24 to play, and Virginia closed it out from the free-throw line.

Smith's last 3 came on an inbounds play with four seconds left on the shot clock, and the ball bounced on the rim before falling through.

"Sometimes you need that luck of the Irish," Gillen said.

Smith and Billet led Virginia with 15 points each, and Keith Jenifer had 13 points and six assists.

"Devin had the courage to take those shots," Gillen said. "It wasn't designed by the coach."

Marquis Estill, Jules Camara and Bogans had 12 points apiece for Kentucky, which shot 37 percent overall. Estill had his points in a foul-plagued 13 minutes. He picked up his third and fourth fouls in the opening two minutes of the second half.

"Marquis was giving us some excellent play, but he had to be smarter about how he played," Smith said. "He has to learn to play with three fouls because he will be in that situation again."

Kentucky went up 18-9 with Estill scoring 10 points, but the 6-foot-9 senior picked up his second foul with 13:37 to play in the first half and the Wildcats' offense was dramatically affected, going scoreless for 8:40.

Virginia went on a 14-0 run in that span to take a 23-18 lead. Kentucky missed 15 shots and committed four turnovers during the scoring drought that finally ended when Bogans dunked on the break with 6:19 left.

Camara, who replaced Estill, asserted himself inside, scoring eight of the Wildcats' last 10 points of the half on three offensive rebounds and a hook shot. Antwain Barbour's drive with less than a second left gave the Wildcats a 32-30 halftime lead.

"We got good looks at the basket, we just didn't knock the shots down," Bogans said.

Billet, 3-for-9 on 3s, and Smith, 3-for-5, led Virginia in the second half from the outside. Smith, Travis Watson and Nick Vander Laan had eight rebounds apiece for Virginia, which had a 41-32 advantage on the boards.

Watson, Virginia's leading scorer and rebounder, crashed hard to the floor in the second half but returned to the game.

"It was his hip and he'll be sore, but we'll see how he is tomorrow," Gillen said.

Kentucky leads the series 6-3 with the last game a 104-84 victory for the Wildcats on Dec. 3, 1966.
 

U-Va.'s Groh, Schaub Honored
Maryland's Henderson Is ACC Defensive Player of Year
By Josh Barr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 27, 2002; Page D03

One of the biggest surprises in the nation this season, Virginia began to reap its rewards yesterday. Al Groh was named the ACC coach of the year and sources familiar with the situation confirmed that Cavaliers junior quarterback Matt Schaub has been selected the ACC player of the year and offensive player of the year in voting by the Atlantic Coast Sportswriters Association.

Maryland linebacker E.J. Henderson, for the second consecutive season, has been selected the defensive player of the year, Terrapins Coach Ralph Friedgen said yesterday at his weekly news conference.

Henderson, a senior, is the first player to win player of the year awards in multiple years since the ACC created separate awards for offense and defense in 1993. He is fourth in the conference with 143 tackles, leads Maryland with 51/2 sacks and 131/2 tackles for loss and is a finalist for several national awards.

While Maryland's remarkable turnaround was the biggest story in the ACC last season, it is the rise of Virginia that has captured attention this season. Picked in the preseason by the media to finish eighth in the nine-team conference after going 5-7 last season, the Cavaliers (8-4, 6-2) have clinched at least a tie for second place.

Groh received 49 of 74 votes for coach of the year. Maryland's Ralph Friedgen was second with 16 votes.

"That's an indication not only of the quality job Coach and his staff did this year, but it also speaks for the future of Virginia football," Athletic Director Craig Littlepage said.

One of the catalysts for Virginia has been Schaub, who set or tied eight school single-season records. Despite a slow start that saw him temporarily benched early in the season, he has completed 260 of 373 passes for 2,751 yards and 26 touchdowns with only six interceptions.

Schaub will be the seventh Cavalier and the first since running back Tiki Barber in 1996 to be named the conference player of the year.

North Carolina State running back T.A. McLendon has been selected the conference rookie of the year, sources confirmed. He will be the fourth Wolfpack player to win that award in five seasons.
 

Teams will figure out who has better year
Published November 27 2002
David Teel

Virginia Tech is ranked 22nd. Virginia hasn't cracked the top 25 in more than three years.

Virginia Tech last month rose to No. 3 in the polls. Virginia hasn't seen the top five since 1990.

Virginia Tech won its first eight games. Virginia lost its first two.

Now let's go to the flip side.

Virginia will finish second in the ACC. Virginia Tech will finish fourth in the Big East.

Virginia is 2-1 this month. Virginia Tech is 0-3.

Virginia is fresh off victories against North Carolina State and Maryland. Virginia Tech last defeated a quality opponent in early October.

So which of the Commonwealth's Division I-A football teams is having the better season?

The answer will be settled on the field. Virginia vs. Virginia Tech, with feeling, for the 84th time.

For much of the season, Saturday's game at Lane Stadium appeared a foregone conclusion. The Hokies, for the fourth consecutive season, were going to wax the Cavaliers by at least two touchdowns.

Still might happen. Virginia still has issues defending the run, and Lee Suggs and Kevin Jones could post big numbers. Besides, the Hokies have scored at least 20 points in their last 10 games against the Cavaliers.

But Tech is no lock. In fact, if you find a bookie/sucker willing to give Virginia and 14, take the points and run.

We media Einsteins picked the Cavaliers to finish eighth in the ACC, ahead of only perennial bottom feeder Duke.

Instead, they won six of eight conference games and are 8-4 overall.

Al Groh? The only candidate for ACC Coach of the Year.

Matt Schaub? The obvious choice for All-ACC quarterback and a leading contender for conference Player of the Year.

Since opening the season with losses to Mountain West champion Colorado State and Florida State, Virginia is 8-2, the only hiccups occurring at Georgia Tech and Penn State.

In their last two starts, the Cavaliers smothered the touted offenses of N.C. State and Maryland, the program's first back-to-back victories against ranked opponents.

Hokie zealots say Virginia defeated no one of merit outside the ACC. They claim that a champion as flawed as Florida State (8-4) indicts the entire conference.

The Cavaliers faithful counter with the ACC's record this season against the Big East.

Florida State came within a final-play field goal of defeating top-ranked Miami; lowly North Carolina won at Syracuse by eight; Maryland mauled West Virginia by 31 on the road.

While Virginia prospered within its conference, Virginia Tech did its damage outside.

The Hokies, in succession, defeated Louisiana State, Marshall and Texas A&M. LSU (8-3) is a victory against Arkansas away from qualifying for its second consecutive Southeastern Conference title game, and A&M (6-5) is the only team to defeat Oklahoma.

Running that gauntlet propelled Tech to an 8-0 start and fueled anticipation of a Dec. 7 showdown at Miami for the Big East championship and a Fiesta Bowl bid. But Tech-Miami quickly replaced Tech-Virginia as the foregone conclusion.

The conversion follows the Hokies' successive defeats to Pittsburgh, Syracuse and West Virginia, the program's longest losing streak since 1997. Absent an epic upset of Miami, Tech will finish below .500 in the Big East for the first time since the conference began round-robin competition in 1993.

The Hokies' downfall mirrors Virginia's rise. It's all about turnovers and defense.

Against LSU, Marshall and A&M, Tech committed two turnovers and yielded 152 yards rushing. In its three defeats, Tech committed 10 turnovers and yielded 739 yards rushing.

Reasons abound: poor play, injuries at key positions, talented opponents, untimely penalties, fatigue. Still, Tech is 8-3 in a retooling season, and with a 10th consecutive postseason appearance secured, remains the state's best program.

Best season? We'll talk Sunday.
 

A big week for recruits
Published November 27, 2002

Though national signing day for football recruits is more than two months away, the final weeks of the season could go a long way toward determining whether Virginia or Virginia Tech gets the upper hand in recruiting.

With both programs bowl eligible, and with neither competing for a Bowl Championship Series bid, recruiting may be the most important motivation for each team in this Saturday's 3:30 p.m. game at Lane Stadium. But Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer hopes it's not all about recruiting, and he really hopes it's not a "winner-takes-all" situation.

"I think it's a huge game any way you go about it," Beamer said.

"Whatever has happened in the past has happened. It's over. I think it's big for both sides. I wouldn't think that any (recruit) is going to make their decision based who's going to win one ballgame. I think both programs are very young, and I think both programs are getting better."

As expected, this weekend's game will be a big draw for some of both program's top recruits. Joel Holler, the nation's sixth-best offensive tackle according to the Rivals100.com recruiting Web site, is making an official visit from Lancaster, Pa. Linebacker Vince Redd, the 12th-best defensive end in the country, is visiting from Elizabethton, Tenn.

Also, Vince Hall, the nation's 12th-best linebacker, is using his official visit to Virginia Tech this weekend. Bethel defensive end Chris Ellis, rated No. 7 at the position by Rivals100.com, is making an unofficial visit to Virginia Tech for the game.

Virginia is ranked No. 8 in the country for its early recruiting efforts, ande Virginia Tech is 15th, according to Rivals100.com.
 

Terps, Cavs Tangle Again
This Time It's Over Peach Bowl Berth
By Josh Barr
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 27, 2002; Page D01

Passed over by the Gator Bowl, officials from Maryland and Virginia yesterday began lobbying for the ACC's slot in the Peach Bowl.

No. 21 North Carolina State (10-3, 5-3), which has completed its regular season and can finish no better than a tie for third in the conference, yesterday was invited to the Gator Bowl, which has the first pick of ACC teams not invited to the Bowl Championship Series.

That leaves Maryland (9-3, 5-2) and Virginia (8-4, 6-2), who complete their regular seasons on Saturday, politicking for a spot in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, which has the next pick of ACC teams, over the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, which has the following pick of ACC teams. Officials from both schools were upset that the Gator Bowl exercised its option to pick any team that finishes within at least one game of the second-place team in the conference standings.

Virginia Tech, meantime, seems likely to play in the inaugural Continental Tire Bowl on Dec. 28 in Charlotte against Clemson or Georgia Tech. By beating top-ranked Miami on Dec. 7, though, the Hokies might move up to the Insight Bowl or Gator Bowl.

As for the Peach Bowl, Maryland officials believe the only way the Terrapins do not play in the Dec. 31 game is if they lose to Wake Forest and Virginia beats Virginia Tech. Peach Bowl President Gary Stokan is scheduled to attend Saturday's game at Byrd Stadium. A Terps loss could also send them to the Continental Tire Bowl, although that scenario would be a long shot.

Virginia Athletic Director Craig Littlepage, already disappointed that the Cavaliers were not selected by the Gator Bowl, disagreed, pointing to his team's 48-13 victory over Maryland this past weekend and its tough nonconference schedule as reasons Virginia should be selected by the Peach.

"It's not that we snuck out a win in the final seconds on a field goal," Littlepage said. "We had an absolutely convincing victory over the University of Maryland in the next-to-last game of the season."

The Tangerine Bowl, which matches an ACC team against the fifth pick from the Southeastern Conference, will be played on Dec. 23, a date that is closer to semester exams and not within the height of the bowl season.

"It's unfortunate that our team's performance on the field was not enough to solidify our selection for the Gator Bowl," Littlepage said. "We're 2-0 against [Maryland and North Carolina State] and I think we played a higher quality nonconference schedule.

"There is no question in my mind we should be the choice. I think there is more than enough to justify it. . . . To me, [if Virginia beats Virginia Tech and is not invited to the Peach Bowl] that would say the whole bowl selection process is way out of whack, that the performance on the field and quality nonconference schedule are not important. . . . We've done what was asked of us by the ACC [in terms on nonconference scheduling]. If the Peach Bowl doesn't come to us . . . that would send a message."

Four of Virginia's five nonconference opponents were ranked at one time this season, compared with two for Maryland and one for North Carolina State, which played two Division I-AA opponents and Navy, which has one victory.

Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen also was against the idea that a potential fourth-place team could take the conference's second bowl placement.

"I realize it is the bowl's privilege to do that," Friedgen said. "But I don't have to agree with that."

Asked if he informed Gator Bowl President Rick Catlett of his displeasure, Friedgen responded: "Yeah. You know me."

Catlett said that his bowl's selection committee was swayed mostly by North Carolina State's 17-7 victory over Florida State last Saturday. Although the Wolfpack (10-3) had lost its previous three games and had played one of the nation's weakest nonconference schedules, the committee felt that North Carolina State was its choice.

"When you get down to the end," Catlett said, "you're looking for that spark."

ACC Commissioner John Swofford had asked the bowls affiliated with the conference to hold off making selections until after this weekend. Catlett said that once it became clear that his selection committee wanted to invite North Carolina State regardless of this weekend's outcomes, there was no need to wait. The Wolfpack likely will play the winner of Saturday's game between West Virginia and Pittsburgh. If West Virginia wins and plays North Carolina State, the game will match two teams that lost to Maryland this season.

"So maybe we're too good to go to the Gator Bowl," Friedgen said.