For the Virginia football team,
what’s the biggest difference between last season and this one?
“Last year we made ourselves a team that was hard to beat,” Coach Al Groh said
Monday. “This year we’re a team that makes it hard on ourselves.”
Statistically, the current Cavaliers are similar to last year’s version. In
fact, in many areas, they are superior. Yet at 5-5 overall and 3-4 in ACC
play, they have no shot at matching last year’s record of 9-5 (6-2 ACC).
With home games remaining against Georgia Tech (6-4, 4-3 ACC) and Virginia
Tech (8-2), Virginia could fall far below last year’s standard, despite
returning 18 starters.
Why is that? Stats only tell part of the story. The Cavaliers are forcing
significantly fewer turnovers and committing more penalties than last season.
But Groh said this team also may lack some of the intangible qualities that
made last year’s group special.
“I’ve been around few teams that got it as good as that team did,” Groh said.
“They just knew exactly what they had to do going into a game and during a
game to win. They just got it.
“This team shows up - by shows up, I mean they work hard in the weight room,
they work hard in practice, they give effort in the games, they fight back.
That’s been proven. But we just make it hard on ourselves.”
Groh cited several examples of mistakes last Thursday that played a part in a
27-17 loss at Maryland, the team’s fourth straight defeat in ACC play.
Freshman linebacker Ahmad Brooks was called for roughing the passer on third
down, keeping alive Maryland’s initial touchdown drive. One defender - Groh
didn’t name him - was “egregiously out of position” on Josh Allen’s 80-yard
touchdown run in the second quarter.
Those kind of errors have been a common theme in many of UVa’s losses. Small
miscues have made a big difference. The Cavaliers are 1-3 in games decided by
10 points or fewer, compared to 5-2 last year. And that doesn’t include a
51-37 loss at N.C. State in a game that was tied with 30 seconds left.
“I just knew it would be one of those kind of seasons that every week it was
going to be basically the same,” Groh said. “There would be a lot of teams
that would fight it out. A team was going to win and the other team was going
to lose, just like what happened in so many games last year. We fought it out
[last year] with [N.C.] State, we made the play at the end of the game. We
won. We fought it out with State this year, they made the play at the end of
the game. They won.”
Injuries have played a role in the downturn. So has luck. Virginia benefited
from some fortunate bounces last season, while many breaks have gone the other
way this year. But Groh said luck is part of the game and not something to
celebrate or bemoan.
“I really don’t lament it,” Groh said. “It is what it is, and it was [what it
was] last year. That’s why I always say you are what you are. If you’re good
enough or fortunate enough or whatever to make that play, then you win the
game, and you should be judged simply on the fact that you won the game. …
“It goes both ways over a period of time. That’s why you’re seeing now both in
the NFL and in college football so many instances of so many teams that are up
there one year, and down there the next, and then they’re back again.”
Tough enough? When Virginia’s players
entered their locker room Monday, taped to each stall was a sheet of paper
with three quotes by Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis.
“I step on the field to dominate. I play a dog position and I am paid to beat
people up. That is how I approach it.”
“Pain is only temporary no matter how long it lasts. Don’t use pain as an
excuse. It’s not important.”
“Toughness is not a given. You have to want to be tough. That is how the
mentality is created.”
Many players took the paper with them into their team meetings.
“Coach always gives us inspirational quotes like that to motivate us,” said
junior linebacker Rich Bedesem. “He wants us to develop that same type of
mentality.”
Keeping confident. Senior safety
Jamaine Winborne said the Cavaliers were disappointed - but not discouraged -
by their recent spate of losses.
“That’s the way the game is - we all know that,” he said. “If a few plays went
differently, we would have won some of those games. It’s not like we’re
getting blown out. None of these teams are out of our league. We know we can
play with anyone, so we’re not down on ourselves.”
Game times. Saturday’s noon kickoff
will be the earliest one for a Virginia home game this season. Groh asked fans
to arrive early and create the same “loud and electric” atmosphere that
existed for the first four games at Scott Stadium. About 600 tickets still
remain.
Kickoff for the final regular-season game against Virginia Tech will be
decided Sunday by ABC, which will televise it at either 1 p.m. or 8 p.m. That
game is sold out.
Virginia swoon is surprise
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published November 18, 2003
CHARLOTTESVILLE -- A year ago, Virginia was the surprise team of the ACC and one
of the more interesting stories in the nation. Projected eighth in the
conference, the Cavaliers tied for second and blew out a pretty good West
Virginia team in the Continental Tire Bowl.
Though the cast of characters is virtually unchanged, this season has seen a
significant dropoff. Picked by one national publication to win the league,
Virginia (5-5, 3-4) goes into Saturday's noon game against Georgia Tech (6-4,
4-3) needing one more win to qualify for the postseason. And even if the Cavs do
go to a bowl, Boise, Idaho, would appear to be their likely destination.
What's been missing? In a word, playmaking. Virginia isn't making the plays in
'03 that it made in '02.
Case in point: Josh Allen's 80-yard touchdown run Thursday night to erase the
Cavs' momentum and put Maryland ahead 21-7. Allen was boxed in at the line of
scrimmage but escaped outside and went untouched down the sideline.
"There was one player who was unfortunately grievously out of position," said
Cavs coach Al Groh, who didn't identify the offender. "Had the player been in
position when the ball bounced out there, the play probably would have been one
of the better-played plays of the game. Last year, we made ourselves a team that
was hard to beat. This year, we're a team that makes it hard on ourselves. ...
"You have to be a team that's hard to beat rather than be hard on yourselves.
Last year, I've been around few teams that got it as good as that team did. They
just knew exactly what to do going into a game and during the course of a game
to win. This team shows up - and by 'shows up,' I mean they work hard in the
weight room, they work hard in practice, they give effort in the games (and)
they fight back. But we just make it hard on ourselves."
FOR OPENERS. Virginia is averaging 375 yards and 28 points per game, both
respectable figures. But here's a stat that isn't so appealing: In the
Cavaliers' 10 game-opening drives this season, they have scored only three
points.
Four of the 10 possessions have been three-and-outs; three more have ended in a
turnover, including a fumble at the goal line. The only points came in the
season's first game, a Connor Hughes field goal against Duke.
"It's a concern," quarterback Matt Schaub said. "It's been plays here and there
that have been keeping us from finishing drives off. But definitely we'd like to
start the game off with some points to get our confidence and the momentum
going."
SHORTS. ABC has taken the six-day option on next week's Virginia Tech-Virginia
game, which will start either at 1 or 8 p.m. in Charlottesville. The time will
be determined after Saturday's results. ...
If Saturday's game against the Yellow Jackets is anything like the last meeting
in Scott Stadium, it'll be worth your buck. After seven lead changes in the
fourth quarter alone in 2001, Virginia won 39-38 on a hook-and-ladder play with
22 seconds left.
"That game was so wild, it brings a kaleidoscope of memories," Groh said. ...
Nowhere to be seen among the ACC's rushing leaders last week, the Terrapins'
Josh Allen is now fifth in the ACC at 71.8 yards a game. Nothing like a 257-yard
night to boost your stats. Makes you wonder what Georgia Tech's P.J. Daniels,
the ACC's rushing leader at 103.4 per game, might do. ...
Virginia ranks sixth in the conference in turnover margin at plus-1. Last year,
the Cavaliers were plus-15.
Cavs Get Kick Out of Hughes
By Jim Reedy and Kathy Orton
Special to The Washington Post
Tuesday, November 18, 2003; Page D02
This time last year, Virginia sophomore place kicker Connor Hughes had never
attempted a field goal in college. He had been the starter for only two weeks,
rushed into action after two other players could not hold the job.
Since then Hughes has been one of the country's most reliable kickers. After
making 5 of 6 field goal attempts in the final five games last season, he is 15
for 16 this season, a percentage that ties him for third nationally.
"I don't think he's on a hot streak," Coach Al Groh said. "I just think he's a
very consistent kicker."
Hughes has good leg strength -- hence his game-tying 53-yarder against Wake
Forest and his 43-yarder into a stiff wind last week at Maryland -- but his
chief virtue is the consistency of his mechanics.
"I pretty much try not to think about certain little aspects each time," he
said, "because it's kind of like a golf swing: You start messing with one thing,
something else goes wrong. I just try to keep everything going straight
through." . . .
After allowing Maryland's Josh Allen to run for 257 yards last week, the
Cavaliers this week face Georgia Tech's P.J. Daniels, who boosted his rushing
average to a conference-best 103.4 yards per game with a 240-yard performance in
a 41-24 win over North Carolina.
Saturday's game will start at noon and will be televised by Jefferson Pilot
Sports. Virginia's regular season finale, Nov. 29 against Virginia Tech, will be
shown on ABC, but the network will decide Sunday whether kickoff will be at 1
p.m. or 8 p.m.
Cavaliers seek winning blend
Gillen hopes better chemistry brings more victories, brighter times
By LORENZO PEREZ, Staff Writer
Quick with a quip, Virginia coach Pete Gillen always prefers to leave fans and
reporters chuckling.
But after rejuvenating a program that slumped to 11-19 in the season before his
arrival five years ago, Gillen knows they don't laugh half as hard at his jokes
after back-to-back disappointing seasons.
The Cavaliers haven't played in the NCAA Tournament since the 2000-01 campaign,
and they didn't win their first postseason game -- of any kind -- in Gillen's
tenure until this year's NIT Tournament. Now he's trying to blend in five
freshmen to a team henpecked all last season by a myriad of off-the-court
distractions, but Gillen said this year's squad has better chemistry, better
leadership and a better shot at winning.
Tonight, Virginia faces the Coaches vs. Cancer All-Stars in its second and final
exhibition game.
"I feel good about our team. I might be the only guy," Gillen said. "Everybody
has some weaknesses, so I think we can beat anybody in the league on a given
day."
Virginia will have to do it with a smaller, quicker lineup than it had last
year. Four-year standout Travis Watson, a second-team All-ACC performer and the
league's leading rebounder the past two seasons, is playing professionally
overseas, and 6-foot-10 senior center Nick Vander Laan transferred to an NAIA
school in the summer.
Virginia also had two backcourt players depart prematurely. Sophomore point
guard Keith Jenifer was suspended and then released from his scholarship in
March after being charged with misdemeanor assault and battery against another
UVa student. (The charge later was dismissed.)
Sophomore guard Jermaine Harper, who was suspended after being charged with
driving under the influence, also elected to transfer during the offseason.
Jenifer and Harper weren't the only two players creating distractions for
Gillen, however. Gillen kept Watson out of the starting lineup three times for
missing team functions and one mandatory early-morning run that Gillen had
ordered as punishment.
And Virginia starts this season without 6-8 junior forward Jason Clark, who
remains out for an undetermined time for reasons that Gillen has declined to
disclose. Gillen has said that the sidelining of Clark is not disciplinary.
But new leaders, including senior guard Todd Billet, junior forward Devin Smith
and junior forward/center Elton Brown, have helped improve the chemistry on this
year's team, Gillen said.
"Leadership was a problem last year, without mentioning names of people," Gillen
said. "I like the character of our players now, so I feel good about our team."
Smith said the team has noticed Gillen keeping tighter reins on it this year.
"He's being tougher with us, but he still has his personality where he has his
tough side and his jokes," Smith said. "Before, sometimes, he might let people
get away with something, but everything is just flat out, 'Do it, because if you
don't, you've got to face the consequences.' "
The 6-9 Brown, who dropped 30 pounds in summer workouts, said this year's team
will have more discipline individually and as a team.
"This year, we're trying to do things that people don't think we can do. We're
going to need leadership, we need chemistry we need character. I think this team
has all the pieces you need to win," he said. "We just had a lot of distractions
our first few years -- big-time distractions, problems off the court, people
having personal goals -- and this year everyone is focused on the same page."
Much of this year's offense should flow through Brown, who averaged 9.6 points
and 4.3 rebounds last season. But Virginia also will be much more of a perimeter
team. In Smith, sophomore Derrick Byars and freshman Gary Forbes, Virginia has
three talented wing players who should provide the Cavaliers more scoring punch
from the outside, Gillen said.
Another freshman, 6-3 guard J.R. Reynolds, also is expected to have a scoring
impact.
Senior point guard Majestic Mapp, who missed two seasons with a knee injury
before returning last season, and freshman point guard T.J. Bannister will be
counted on to steady a Virginia offense that turned the ball over a league-worst
16.5 times a game last year.
"We have to take care of the ball better," Gillen said. "We were hitting the
maintenance man in the back of the head, we were hitting grandmothers on the way
to get an ice cream, we were hitting people all over the place."
Down low, 6-9 freshman forward Jason Cain and 6-8 freshman forward-center Donte
Minter will have to bolster what looks like an undersized group of rebounders,
Gillen admitted.
The goal for Billet, Brown and the other players remains an elusive NCAA
Tournament bid. Preseason prognosticators who picked the Cavaliers to finish
eighth in the ACC haven't discouraged them.
"We want to try to learn from our mistakes the last year or two and try not to
let them happen again," Billet said. "We're really focusing on influencing the
younger players and pointing them in the right direction."
U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Nov 18, 2003
SOPHOMORE STRUGGLES: He capped his true-freshman season with a remarkable
performance in the Continental Tire Bowl. Virginia routed West Virginia 48-22,
and tailback Wali Lundy totaled 239 all-purpose yards, scored four touchdowns
and was named the bowl's MVP.
Lundy spent the offseason working on his speed and strength, but he's faced one
obstacle after another as a sophomore. The 6-0 212-pounder hurt a hamstring in
August, sprained his right foot Oct. 11 and later re-injured his hamstring.
Lundy has missed only one complete game, and he still leads U.Va. in rushing,
but nothing has come easily for him.
"I think for injuries, it's been the worst season for me, just because it's gone
on through the whole season," Lundy said yesterday. "It doesn't seem like it's
going away."
His hamstring injury clearly limited his effectiveness Thursday night in
Virginia's 27-17 loss at Maryland. In the second quarter, Lundy caught a screen
pass from Matt Schaub in the second quarter and broke loose along the left
sideline. He gained 62 yards on the play, but Lundy was caught from behind and
tackled at the Terrapins' 3.
"I can't really open up," he said. "My speed is not where it was last year,
definitely not where it was during the summer, because I feel like I got faster.
I'm just not where I should be right now."
In August, when he hurt his hamstring, Lundy never dreamed the injury would
still be an issue late in the regular season. Virginia (3-4, 5-5) meets ACC
rival Georgia Tech (4-3, 6-4) on Saturday and then closes the regular season
Nov. 29 against Virginia Tech. Both games are at Scott Stadium.
"I thought I'd give it a couple of weeks and I'd be better by the middle of the
season," Lundy said, "especially by November, when it's crunch time. But you've
got to deal with stuff as it comes, and this is just what's happening to me this
year, so I've got to deal with it."
In nine games, Lundy has carried 153 times for 654 yards and six touchdowns. He
has 20 catches for 220 yards and three TDs.
AT U.VA.'S EXPENSE: Maryland tailback Josh Allen yesterday was named co-ACC
offensive back of the week, along with N.C. State quarterback Philip Rivers, for
his performance against Virginia. Allen, a 5-11, 206-pound sophomore, rushed for
257 yards - the 11th-highest total in ACC history - and two touchdowns on 38
carries at Byrd Stadium.
The ACC defensive lineman of the week is Maryland junior Randy Starks. The 6-4,
312-pound tackle made eight stops. Three of his tackles were for losses,
including an 8-yard sack.
"He's the best [defensive lineman] we've faced," Cavaliers coach Al Groh said.
RISE AND SHINE: Virginia has averaged 60,769 fans at 61,500-seat Scott Stadium
this season. None of the Cavaliers' first four games, however, started before 3
p.m. The Georgia Tech game will begin at noon, a starting time that
traditionally has kept many late-rising students away.
"We've had a tremendous environment here for the previous four games, and one of
the things that has been notable was how much earlier the crowd has arrived for
the games than ever before in our short tenure here," said Groh, who's in his
third year at U.Va. "For old and young alike, that's going to be a little more
challenging for this particular game with the early start."
Tailgaters shouldn't lose heart, though, Groh added with a smile. "It's a little
earlier start, but then there's that much longer time to do all those fun things
afterward."
Under Groh, Virginia is 13-4 at home and hasn't lost a November game at Scott
Stadium.
SORELY MISSED: Virginia's starters on defense last season included linebackers
Angelo Crowell and Merrill Robertson, both seniors. Crowell, the team's leading
tackler, made the all-ACC first team and was selected in the NFL draft by the
Buffalo Bills. Robertson wasn't as decorated as Crowell but contributed
mightily, too.
An L.C. Bird High graduate, Robertson made 122 tackles last season, second to
Crowell's 155. Robertson, who played inside and outside linebacker, recorded
five sacks, forced five fumbles, recovered two fumbles and broke up a pass. He
had nine tackles for losses.
When he's preparing for an opponent, Groh said, he always reviews videotape of
Virginia's previous game with that team. So he's seen a lot of Robertson and
Crowell this season.
"Everybody knows about Angelo, he's on an NFL team," Groh said, "but one of the
thoughts that struck me is what a good player Merrill Robertson was. Maybe not
an all-star player, but what a really good player he was." - Jeff White
Reeling Cavs regroup after loss
Virginia stands at 5-5, sixth place in ACC; may end year without bowl bid
Shrayes Ramesh
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer
With two games left in the regular season, the Virginia Cavaliers can still
salvage a season that began with such high expectations.
Virginia still needs one more win in order to become bowl-eligible. The
Cavaliers finish out their last two games at Scott Stadium, where they will face
off against the surging Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets before their regular season
finale against arch-rival Virginia Tech.
After a strong finish to the 2002-2003 season and an influx of young talent,
preseason ACC polls predicted the Cavaliers to finish fourth in the ACC this
season, while some magazines and experts had predicted the Cavaliers to place
higher -- perhaps with a possible BCS berth.
At 5-5 and with four losses in the ACC, however, the Cavaliers are standing tied
for sixth in the ACC, with a win over Georgia Tech Saturday placing them only
fifth.
Coach Al Groh commented on the hype of the success of last season and their bowl
victory against West Virginia.
The bowl win "was about as good as we can play and do things," Groh said in his
weekly press conference yesterday. "I knew [this year] was going to be that type
of season where every week was the same. I knew a lot of teams were going to
fight it out, and a team was going to win and a team was going to lose."
This year, the Cavaliers have had some bad luck. Quarterback Matt Schaub went
down early in the season and missed most of three games, and the Cavaliers have
not been able to win the close games that went their way last year.
But this year, Virginia has shot themselves in the foot.
"You're not lucky when you get them," Groh said on making the big play or
getting the favorable bounce. "You're not unlucky when you don't."
In Thursday's loss to Maryland, the Cavaliers allowed tailback Josh Allen to
break away for an 80-yard score after the defense had him stuffed for a minimal
gain. Also, a roughing the passer penalty in the first quarter and a holding
call late in the fourth took away 11 points.
"Last year we made ourselves a team that was hard to beat." Groh said. "This
year, we make it hard on ourselves."
The defense has been criticized for its sub-par play in the last month, where
the team has lost four of its last five. Some have even criticized Groh's 3-4
defensive scheme as the source of the problem. Groh defended his game plan and
pointed to the secondary as the team's weakness right now.
"It's the same thing every defense has to have, and it starts in the back end,"
Groh said. "In this day and age, most teams play during the course of each game
some form of each configuration [3-4 and 4-3]. It's not up front where you lose
games. It's always in the back."
When it comes down to the end of the season, these final two home games may
likely determine the success of the team's season. The ACC can send six teams to
bowl games. Groh and his Cavaliers know they have to be one of those six teams.
"I'm sure they're aware of it, too," Groh said. "They don't need much prodding
from me."
Sophomore linebacker Darryl Blackstock just knows his team needs to get back to
winning.
"We don't really think about it," he said. "We just want to win. A bowl is just
something that happens. It's like a reward for winning."
Virginia will get its next chance against Georgia Tech at noon on Saturday.