So far, it’s not a November to remember for U.Va.
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© November 15, 2003

So much for winning November.

After dropping their second game of what they were calling a make-or-break month, the best the Virginia Cavaliers can do is break even — and even that won’t be easy. Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech remain on the docket of a month that began with bright possibilities, with a second-place ACC finish and trip to the Gator or Peach bowls within reach.

Their chances have dimmed considerably following losses to N.C. State and Maryland.

After beginning the season ranked No. 18, Virginia (5-5, 3-4 ACC) needs a win to qualify for one of the ACC’s second-tier bowls, either the Continental Tire, Tangerine or Humanitarian. At the moment, though, the Cavaliers are more concerned with correcting the mistakes that have dogged them in their four-game conference losing streak.

“It’s just another chapter in the same story,” coach Al Groh said Thursday night, following a 27-17 loss to Maryland.

Once again, the Cavaliers failed to beat a quality opponent on the road. Once again, the defense was victimized by big plays. Once again, penalties and poor punting played a part.

Lack of speed and poor tackling have plagued the defense in recent weeks. Both weaknesses came into play on a momentum-swinging 80-yard run by Maryland’s Josh Allen in the second quarter.

Allen appeared to be contained at the line of scrimmage, only to slip a tackle and outrace Virginia’s defensive backs to the end zone.

“Allen was faster than the guys chasing him, certainly,” Groh said. “That was painfully evident as I had to stand there and watch him.”

Allen’s run was the fourth touchdown play of 75 yards or more given up by Virginia this year.

“It’s a pretty obvious problem,” Groh said. “It’s one of the fundamental aspects of playing good defensive football.”

An obvious problem without an easy solution. Virginia can’t do much in the short term about its lack of speed, a deficiency that hampers the offense as well. But as defensive end Chris Canty said, the Cavaliers can do something about their positioning, concentration and tackling fundamentals.

Virginia shored up those problems in the second half Thursday, when it allowed just three points. But the damage had been done. “I guess we’ll take those little successes that we had tonight,” he said. “And try to duplicate those, multiply those and have more successes, and ultimately win the game.”

To do that, Virginia also will have to cut down on its mental errors. Two of the most glaring errors were made by linebacker Ahmad Brooks, who kept Maryland’s first scoring drive alive with roughing-the-passer and offsides penalties.

Brooks is a freshman, 1 of 4 in the starting lineup Thursday. Virginia, though not as young as a year ago, remains the fifth-youngest team in the nation, according to ESPN.

Groh said that shouldn’t be an excuse, especially considering a younger team finished 9-5 last year.

“If we start using that as a cop out for not playing well, we’re really saying that for a period of time, we’re willing to settle for less than what we are aiming for,” Groh said.

Virginia aimed high at the start of the season. Now, they’ll have to set their goals a little lower. The good news is that the Cavaliers play their final two games at home, where they’re 3-1.

“This team is full confidence,” Canty said. “We’re just a few plays away and I think we’ll get those corrected, and you’ll see a difference for us when he return home to Scott Stadium.”
 

Frustration setting in after Cavs' lastest defeat
A promising team at start of year, U.Va. could miss postseason
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Nov 15, 2003

"You are what you are," Bill Parcells likes to say, and one of the legendary coach's proteges, Al Groh, tosses out that phrase periodically, too.

Groh's football team at the University of Virginia is 5-5, which means it's mediocre. That's not what was expected of the Cavaliers, who returned 18 starters from the team that closed 2002 by crushing West Virginia in the Continental Tire Bowl.

In The Associated Press' preseason poll, the Cavaliers came in at No. 18, and they were 4-1 and ranked No. 25 when they visited Clemson on Oct. 11. Virginia lost in overtime to the Tigers, and it hasn't defeated an ACC opponent since that trip to Death Valley.

The Cavaliers' latest loss - their fourth straight in conference play - came Thursday in College Park, Md. Maryland dominated early and walked off with a 27-17 victory. Late that night, in a Byrd Stadium locker room, junior defensive end Chris Canty was told he seemed angry about the way Virginia's season was unraveling.

"I am," Canty said. "I am. I know the way these guys in this locker room work. I know the way these coaches work . . . I understand how everybody works in this organization. We demand greatness, and for us to go out and embarrass ourselves like this, it's very difficult."

Junior tailback Alvin Pearman echoed those comments.

"It's just the same old tired story," said Pearman, who rushed for 53 yards and caught a touchdown pass. "I mean, week to week, we're real frustrated now. We're frustrated with ourselves, with our performance, and we're frustrated with our effort."

Virginia's defense, a strength until this month, allowed sophomore tailback Josh Allen to rush for 257 yards and two touchdowns. Not since Maryland's LaMont Jordan gained 306 yards in 1999 had U.Va. surrendered so much rushing yardage to an opposing player.

The Terrapins (4-2, 7-3) had three plays that gained more than 40 yards, including Allen's 80-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Allen came in averaging 51.2 yards rushing.

"They're a great team, and you've got to give them all the credit," sophomore defensive end Brennan Schmidt said. "But we don't really give ourselves a chance when we give up big plays and just beat ourselves all the time."

In Virginia's past two games, N.C. State's Philip Rivers and Maryland's Scott McBrien have combined to complete 43 of 55 passes for 601 yards and five touchdowns, with no interceptions. Groh grew worried about his secondary's lack of speed after safety Willie Davis suffered a season-ending injury Sept. 6, and the third-year coach's fears have been realized.

"We didn't really bring that to light," Groh said last night. "I thought I'd give opponents time to figure it out on their own rather than make it easy for them. However, it is a concern, yeah. We lost one of our fastest players at a position where speed's a factor."

U.Va. has two regular-season games left. A victory in one of them would make the Cavs bowl-eligible, but they may need to win both to assure themselves a postseason bid.

Both games are at Scott Stadium, where the Wahoos are 3-1. Virginia entertains ACC rival Georgia Tech (3-3, 5-4) next Saturday - kickoff probably will be at noon - and 12th-ranked Virginia Tech on Nov. 29.

"We have to bounce back," Pearman said. "I mean, we don't have a choice. We have two home games to set a scene for a happy ending."
 

Headed in the right direction
UVa's Brown has transformed
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
November 16, 2003

Last season there was no mistaking Elton Brown on the basketball court.

The sophomore was easy to spot at 6-foot-9, 280 pounds, a semi-Afro hairdo, long sideburns. NBA scouts quickly could see he had remarkable low post offensive moves. They also had no trouble scribbling on their notepads that he was grossly out of shape, couldn’t jump over the Sunday paper and had maybe a little attitude problem.

Often when he was pulled out of Virginia’s games, he would sulk on the bench and was often seen complaining about not being on the floor.

Things have changed. The metamorphosis of Elton E. Brown Jr., has begun.

The Cavalier junior big man rededicated his basketball life over the summer as he chose to remain in Charlottesville, away from the temptations back home. Here, he spent most every day changing everything about him.

When he did return to Newport News for a visit just before school began and when he returned to UVa for classes, Brown got a big kick out of the reactions to his change.

“Now everybody is like, ‘Yo, what’s up ... Elton? ... I know that ain’t you,’” Brown said of the typical reaction from lifelong friends. “A lot of people don’t recognize me, just walk right past, then say, ‘Man, I didn’t know that was you ... Where’s the other half of you at?’”

Brown’s usual answer is that he left the other half at Burger King and McDonald’s.

The change has truly been remarkable.

Brown lost 30 pounds and is now a muscular 250 pounds. He has a 34-inch vertical leap and can run all day. Now he’s a clean-cut, All-American looking kid. Cropped hair, no sideburns.

But E’s transformation didn’t stop there.

He has gone from part of the problem to part of the solution.

“I was more surprised with his attitude change,” said senior teammate Majestic Mapp. “Elton’s work ethic is 10 times better. He knew what he had to do from Day One. He changed his eating habits, he’s running faster, jumping higher, he’s very strong. He wants to become the best big man he can be.”

Brown knows that if Virginia is to enjoy a better season than the eighth-place predicted finish in the ACC, then he must step up and become a leader.

“I cut my hair, cut my sideburns off,” Brown said. “Coach told me after last season that we’ve got a new image and it was going to start with me, that if I cut my sideburns off, the rest of the guys would cut theirs off. I’m glad Coach is doing this. There’s a lot more discipline than before.”

Brown realizes that he can’t change UVa’s basketball fortunes by himself but that he can make a large contribution.

That means he will have to do better than last season when he scored 9.6 points and averaged 4.3 rebounds a game, while averaging 18.7 minutes per game.

“Rebounding starts with me and if we get outrebounded I want everybody in the crowd to say it’s Elton’s fault,” Brown said. “I should be able to double what I got last year and more.

“If we lose, blame it on me,” the big man said. “If we win, then credit the team. I tend to play better when I realize the coach is really relying on me.”

Yo, Elton, is that really you?

Coach Pete Gillen said there’s a world of difference in the young junior, who just turned 20 in September. Gillen credited assistant coach Walt Fuller, who recruited Brown out of Ben Moore’s Warwick High School program, and strength coach Lorenzo Rivers for helping Brown make the change.

“A lot of people helped but a lot of it came from me,” Brown said. “I didn’t like the way I felt at the end of last season. How we went down, 16-16, with the talent we had ... it shouldn’t have been like that.”

All summer long, Brown hit the weight room. He ran the stairs, ran the treadmills, ran the streets of Charlottesville. He worked on his abs. He spent Saturday nights at University Hall, shooting.

He wanted to make sure that when he has a wide-open lane to the basket this season that it isn’t slapped back in his face.

“Layups are not part of my game anymore,” Brown said. “If I’m around the rim, I just dunk it. In the ACC you can’t lay up too much. You’ve got to go up hard or it’s going the other way.”

Brown now looks and acts the way he did when Fuller first ran across him, back when Brown was all-that at Warwick and on Boo Williams’ renowned AAU teams. In case you forgot, Brown led that team to the national AAU championship and he was named MVP of the national tournament.

“That all happened my junior year and I feel the same way now,” Brown said. “Coach put a lot of pressure on me and I tried my best to come through and did what I had to do. Now it seems like history is repeating itself. I hope so.”

Moore, Williams and Fuller have all had strong influences on Brown’s life. Fuller had several heart-to-hearts with his prize recruit, never losing faith in the big guy’s ability.

“We had a lot of talks but I give the credit to him,” Fuller said. “He looked within himself. I think he wants to be good. He’s a good person and always has been. He was immature and now I think he’s maturing. He still has some work to do but had made tremendous strides.”

Gillen and Fuller both agree that Brown faced reality when he saw former UVa star Travis Watson fail to reach the NBA last spring.

“I think Elton saw that the clock is ticking on his career here and it really opened his eyes up,” Fuller said.

Brown is now getting in teammates’ faces in practice, demanding more from them. Off the court, he’s trying to show the same leadership, warning them not to miss a class, to stay away from the parties and the nightlife.

Other than that, the biggest problem Big E has is making the transformation from his old wardrobe to a new one.

“I still wear some of my old clothes but I’ve got this belt on the last loop,” he said.

If that’s the biggest complaint from Elton Brown this season, everyone will consider it a major accomplishment.