Cavaliers may get bowl bid today
By John Galinsky / Daily Progress staff writer
November 25, 2003

Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage had heard from ACC and bowl officials that no invitations would be forthcoming before the regular season was over. Then again, he was told the same thing last year.

“Surprise, surprise,” he said Monday night, referring to the Gator Bowl’s decision to invite Maryland earlier in the afternoon.

But in this case, Littlepage wasn’t disappointed. On the contrary, he said it could be a positive development for the Cavaliers (6-5), who may know their own bowl destination as early as today.

Gator officials had indicated over the weekend that they might wait until Maryland (8-3) finished its regular season at Wake Forest (5-6) on Saturday before extending an invitation. But they decided to go with the Terrapins, win or lose, which may set the dominoes in motion for the rest of the bowls with ACC tie-ins to make their selections.

The Peach has the next choice and held a meeting of its selection committee Monday night. No announcement was made afterward, but the Peach is expected to invite either Clemson (8-4) or N.C. State (7-5). Since both of those teams have finished their regular seasons, there is little reason to wait until this weekend.

The Tangerine, Continental Tire and Humanitarian Bowls follow in the pecking order, and the Cavaliers are eyeing all three. Littlepage said they would like to have an invitation in hand before Saturday’s game against Virginia Tech

(8-3) at Scott Stadium.

“It would give us a few more days in terms of planning and selling tickets,” he said. “I think it’s always preferable to not have the questions about where you’re going to go hanging over your head. The main thing is for the players and coaches to be focused on the season-ending game.”

Monday afternoon, before the Gator’s announcement, UVa coach Al Groh said he had no bowl preference. “Doesn’t make any difference to me who or where or when.”

The Tangerine’s choice may hinge on what the Peach does. If the Peach picks Clemson, the Tangerine is expected to go with N.C. State. If the Peach invites N.C. State, the Tangerine would then likely have a difficult choice between Clemson and Virginia.

Dylan Thomas, a Tangerine Bowl representative, attended UVa’s victory over Georgia Tech last Saturday and indicated the bowl would prefer not to have Clemson in its game for a second straight year. That was before the Tigers whipped South Carolina, which may have made them a more attractive option than a Virginia team that lost to Clemson and could be 6-6 after this weekend.

The Tangerine Bowl will be played Dec. 22 in Orlando, Fla. Its selection committee meets this morning, but it can not make an announcement until the Peach first extends a bid to an ACC team.

After the Tangerine, the Continental Tire has the next choice and would almost certainly take Clemson if it is available. If not, Virginia and Georgia Tech (6-5) are the likely options. The Cavaliers played in the inaugural game last year, crushing West Virginia, and Littlepage said bowl officials have told him that would not be an obstacle to a second straight trip to Charlotte, N.C.

The Continental Tire also is looking at Virginia Tech, however, and would not want a rematch of Saturday’s game on Dec. 27.

That could leave the Cavaliers with a bid from the Humanitarian Bowl, set for Jan. 3 in Boise, Idaho. If the Humanitarian waits until this weekend, it could also invite Wake Forest as long as the Demon Deacons defeat Maryland and become bowl eligible. In that unlikely scenario, Virginia might not receive any bowl invitation.

Does Littlepage expect to get a bid from some bowl today?

“It’s hard to say,” he said. “There’s no certainty the Peach Bowl will make a decision, though I don’t know why they’d wait. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

 

An unimpressive victory in opener
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
November 25, 2003

Even before it played its first game Sunday against Mount St. Mary’s, the Virginia men’s basketball team knew its margin for error this season was going to be small.

The Cavaliers are, or will be, a perimeter-based team that is not blessed with an abundance of interior size.

Given those parameters, such things as quality shooting - both from the stripe and behind the arc - are of specific importance if the Cavaliers want to win consistently.

In that vain, Sunday’s 80-71 victory over Mount St. Mary’s in which the Cavaliers did neither well was either something of an aberration or a wake-up call.

Virginia was 29 of 45 from the line and just 3 of 15 behind the arc Sunday and those numbers had the Cavaliers opting more for the wake-up-call scenario.

“Looking at our team and the players we have, that stat shouldn’t be there. We should shoot the ball pretty well and even our big guys have good touch from the line. We need free-throw shooting to be something that actually helps us win some games this year,” said senior guard Todd Billet. “We can’t be mediocre at the foul line this year. … We want to overachieve and get the most out of this team and we have to do those little things. Look at Wake Forest last season, they led the conference in free-throw shooting. It’s those little things that help you win.”

Virginia coach Pete Gillen labeled his team’s overall performance Sunday as “erratic” and “not pretty.” His lone comment regarding his team’s shooting touch from the perimeter and the line was that it certainly needed to improve.

“Hopefully we can do better. I think we’re better than that. I think we can shoot better than that. … The free-throw shooting is very disappointing. We’re working on that. That’s pressing and it’s mental. We have a lot of work ahead of us,” Gillen said.

If the shooting was of some disdain for the Cavaliers, then the play of its freshmen, particularly Gary Forbes and Donte Minter, were among the highlights of the evening.

Forbes scored 21 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Minter had 12 points and seven rebounds. At one point during the second half, that duo along with classmate J.R. Reynolds combined to score 19 straight points as the Cavaliers extended their lead in that stretch.

“Gary had a very good game. He had nine rebounds which was excellent. Donte coming off the bench did a good job,” Gillen said. “Gary is aggressive but made a couple of bad decisions. He shot a couple of times when he shouldn’t have but he’s got a big heart. He had nine rebounds and a couple big ones.”

While Minter’s play was consistent with his play in the two exhibition games, Forbes was inconsistent in those two games and showed few of the flashes he displayed Sunday.

“Whatever Coach needs me to do, I’m willing and able to do it. I averaged 13 or 15 rebounds in high school so that’s natural for me,” said Forbes, a Brooklyn native.

Virginia returns to action Friday when it faces Virginia Tech at 8 p.m. at University Hall.

Note. Forbes was named the ACC’s rookie of the week Monday. The 6-foot-6 freshman guard/forward scored 21 points and pulled down a game-high nine rebounds while collecting three blocked shots, one assist and a steal. Forbes was 8 of 13 from the floor including 5 of 9 from the free throw line in 35 minutes of action.
 

Miller tapped first team All-ACC
By John Galinsky / Daily Progress staff writer
November 25, 2003

Sophomore tight end Heath Miller was Virginia’s only representative on the All-ACC football team announced Monday.
Last year’s ACC player of the year, senior quarterback Matt Schaub, made the second team along with four other Cavaliers: sophomore tailback Wali Lundy, junior guard Elton Brown, junior defensive end Chris Canty and sophomore kicker Connor Hughes.
Senior defensive back Jamaine Winborne and sophomore linebacker Darryl Blackstock earned honorable-mention recognition.
“It’s a good accomplishment,” Miller said, “but my goals are about the team and what comes along with that.”
Miller, who has 53 catches for 606 yards and five touchdowns, was an overwhelming selection in voting by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. With one regular-season game remaining as well as a likely bowl, he already owns the ACC record for receptions in a season by a tight end and needs 29 more yards to break that conference mark.
The 6-foot-5, 254-pound Miller had six catches for 110 yards and a touchdown in last Saturday’s 29-17 victory over Georgia Tech. In less than two full seasons, he already holds the ACC tight end record with 14 touchdown catches.
Hughes nearly joined Miller on the first team, but by the margin of two votes, he was edged out by Maryland junior Nick Novak, a former Albemarle High standout. Novak, a repeat selection on the first team, leads the conference in field goals (22), field-goal attempts (27) and points (111).
Hughes, meanwhile, has been the most accurate kicker in the nation. He has made 20 of 21 field-goal attempts, including three of 50 or more yards, and all 34 of his extra points. He tied a school record with five field goals last Saturday, though many voters may have cast their ballots before then.
“We’ve got the best kicker. We do,” said UVa coach Al Groh, who said Hughes may be overlooked for awards because he entered the season without much of a reputation. “He’s got the very best percentage in the country, which includes three kicks over 50 yards, so they’re not a bunch of chippies.”
The other members of the All-ACC first team on offense are: quarterback Philip River (N.C. State); tailbacks P.J. Daniels (Georgia Tech) and Chris Douglas (Duke); receivers Jerricho Cotchery (N.C. State) and Craphonso Thorpe (FSU); tackles Alex Barron (FSU) and Sean Locklear (N.C. State); guards C.J. Brooks (Maryland) and Tyson Clabo (Wake Forest); and center Hugh Reilly (Georgia Tech).
Defensively, the first-team picks are: linemen Darnell Dockett (FSU), Eric Henderson (Georgia Tech), Randy Starks (Maryland) and Matt Zielinski (Duke); linebackers Keyaron Fox (Georgia Tech), Michael Boulware (FSU) and Leroy Hill (Clemson); and defensive backs James Butler (Georgia Tech), Stanford Samuels (FSU), Eric King (Wake Forest) and Andre Maddox (N.C. State).
Miller received the fifth-most votes of any player in the ACC, behind only Rivers, Dockett, Cotchery and Wake Forest punter Ryan Plackemeier.

Note. Miller and Hughes also earned ACC player of the week honors at their respective positions for their performances against the Yellow Jackets.
 

Cavaliers play favorite role
By Doug Doughty

CHARLOTTESVILLE - In a development that reflects a dramatic change in fortunes for at least one of the participants, Virginia has been chosen as an early 1 1/2 -point favorite for its game Saturday with rival Virginia Tech.

UVa (6-5) hasn't been favored against the Hokies (8-3) since 1997 and has lost four straight games to Tech.

"I can't remember very many [games] where I have felt like the favorite - at least here," said Al Groh, wrapping up his third season as the Cavaliers' head coach.

"I said this early in the season and I certainly think it's been the case all the way through: I think we feel like our backs are against the wall every week."

Even when the Cavaliers went 9-5 last season, they were the underdog in 10 games, winning six of them.

"Unless you have a dominant team, of which there are very few," Groh said, "that's the way you ought to feel every week."

The Hokies are as unaccustomed to the underdog's role as the Cavaliers are to being favorites. Tech has been the underdog in only seven of 71 games dating back to the 1998 season.

The bowls

Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage said Sunday that he had been told by ACC officials that no decision would be made on bowls before Saturday, but the Gator Bowl had a news conference Monday at which it announced it was taking Maryland with its second choice of ACC teams.

"I remember being in Hawaii at this time a year ago and being told that the Gator and Peach 'are going to wait until the weekend's games,'" Littlepage said. "Then, three hours later, the Gator Bowl had taken N.C. State."

After the Gator Bowl took Maryland, the Peach Bowl's selection committee was scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Monday. Florida State, as champion, will get a spot in the Bowl Championship Series. The order after that is Gator, Peach, Tangerine, Continental Tire and Humanitarian.

Clemson, with its 63-17 romp over South Carolina, became considerably more attractive over the weekend.

"You don't think I'll be looking at a Virginia-Virginia Tech issue again?" asked Tire Bowl executive director Ken Haines, who wouldn't be opposed to inviting the Cavaliers for a second straight year but would not be inclined to stage a repeat of their regular-season meeting with the Hokies.

Haines is willing to wait until this weekend, when the Miami-Pittsburgh game will have a big impact on what Big East teams go where, but the Tangerine Bowl is in a hurry because of its relatively early date, Dec.22.

Worth the hype

Although Georgia Tech quarterback Reggie Ball is the likely choice for ACC rookie of the year, Virginia linebacker Ahmad Brooks would be tough to beat if the ACC recognized a freshman defensive player of the year.

Brooks, a USA Today defensive player of the year when he was in high school, leads the Cavaliers in tackles with 94, which is also the high for an ACC freshman. North Carolina's Larry Edwards is second with 83 and UVa's Kai Parham is third with 67 despite starting only six of 11 games.

Brooks is second on the team in quarterback pressures with 13 and is third in tackles for loss (eight) and pass breakups (five). Only two UVa defensive players have been on the field for more plays than Brooks, classified as a first-year freshman despite enrolling in January.

On target

Connor Hughes, who has converted 20 of 21 field-goal chances, is closing in on Rafael Garcia's school record of 21 field goals in a season. Hughes' 95.2-percentage is tops among the 100 Division I-A kickers with more than .58 made field goals per game.

Snelling active

Jason Snelling, the Cavaliers' starting fullback last year as a true freshman, is practicing regularly after physicians were able to control the migraines that caused him to seek a medical redshirt. Snelling was in uniform Saturday but will not play again until next season.
 

Tangerine likely for State
By AL FEATHERSTON : The Herald-Sun
afeatherston@heraldsun.com
Nov 24, 2003 : 11:47 pm ET

RALEIGH -- The ACC bowl dominoes started to fall Monday, but so far none has fallen for N.C. State.

The Gator Bowl picked Maryland in a morning executive session and formally invited the Terps to play in Jacksonville on New Year's Day in the afternoon. That freed up the Peach Bowl selection committee, which met Monday night and decided to invite 8-4 Clemson instead of the 7-5 Wolfpack, according to a source close to the situation.

The Peach Bowl's formal announcement is expected this morning, but N.C. State officials learned Monday night that their likely bowl destination will be Orlando, Fla., for the Dec. 22 Tangerine Bowl.

That news should be confirmed sometime today. Brett Sowell, the Tangerine Bowl's director of communications, said Monday that the Orlando bowl will meet this morning at 8 a.m. and is expected to make its choice at that time.

Virginia, which beat Georgia Tech on Saturday to become bowl eligible, hopes to get an offer from Orlando, but officials in Charlottesville were reportedly pessimistic that the Tangerine would select the Cavs -- 6-5 headed into Saturday's regular-season finale against Virginia Tech -- over the Pack.

Sowell refused to rule out either Virginia or 6-5 Georgia Tech.

The Tangerine Bowl features a unique selection process. About 240 Orlando area residents pay between $125 and $6,000 to become members of the bowl committee. Those who attend "scout school" are sent to scout prospective teams.

Those members -- between 90 and 100, according to Sowell -- will vote on the teams to be invited.

Sowell said that N.C. State's appearance two years ago, when the Pack lost to Pittsburgh in the first revived Tangerine Bowl, wouldn't stand in the way of a return visit.

"We do like diversity," he said. "But N.C. State does have a strong reputation after what they've done the last two years [in terms of selling tickets]."

Whichever team gets the ACC bid to the Tangerine will face a team from the Big 12, probably Colorado if the Buffs beat Nebraska this Saturday or Kansas if they don't.

The Gator Bowl unclogged the bowl logjam Monday when the selection committee for the Jan. 1 Jacksonville bowl voted to invite Maryland to play a team from the Big East.

The Terps are 8-3 (5-2 ACC) after edging N.C. State 26-24 last Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium and will finish the regular season this weekend at Wake Forest.

Rick Catlett, president of the Gator Bowl said his committee decided not to wait until the outcome of Maryland's finale.

"We were more than happy to [invite the Terps] today, simply because Maryland is in second place in the ACC and regardless of what happens Saturday, will still be in second place."

The Terps, making their first Gator Bowl appearance since 1975, are likely to meet West Virginia, provided the Mountaineers beat Temple Saturday to clinch a tie for the Big East title. Maryland defeated West Virginia in September, but Terp coach Ralph Friedgen said his school had no problem with a rematch.

"West Virginia is a border state and it's always been a great rivalry," he said. "I'm sure they will be looking forward to playing us again and we'll be excited to play them again."

 

Cavs expect to go bowling
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published November 25, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The first domino fell Monday, and depending on how the second goes down, Virginia could wind up in any one of three bowl destinations.

Less than 24 hours after Cavaliers athletic director Craig Littlepage said he was told by the ACC office that nothing would happen until the weekend, Maryland accepted an invitation to the Gator Bowl. A spokesman for the Peach Bowl, which has the next pick among ACC teams not in the Bowl Championship Series, said it won't have an announcement until today at the earliest.

Entering Saturday's 1 p.m. game against Virginia Tech, Virginia knows it will be going somewhere. But will it be the Tangerine, the Continental Tire or the Humanitarian? The Cavaliers are not in play for the Peach, though how that bowl decides will shape their postseason destination.

The Peach went into a Monday night selection committee meeting down to two possibilities: Clemson and N.C. State. If the Atlanta-based game selects the Tigers, the Tangerine would choose between Virginia and N.C. State. The Wolfpack would have two advantages: A head-to-head win against the Cavaliers on Nov. 1 and quarterback Philip Rivers playing his last collegiate game. But if the Peach takes the Wolfpack, the Tangerine's choice would be U.Va. or Clemson. The Cavaliers would appear to have an advantage there because the Tigers played in the Tangerine last year and lost 55-15 to Texas Tech. The Tangerine's 150-member selection committee is scheduled to meet this morning. Tom Mickle, the game's executive director, said the Cavaliers "have a fighting chance against N.C. State and/or Clemson."

As for Cavaliers coach Al Groh, call him when it's over.

"Doesn't make a difference to me who or when or where," he said.

SNUBBED? Timing is everything, and Connor Hughes was a weekend late in making a school record-tying five field goals against Georgia Tech.

Though he was one of the 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Award, he was not among the three finalists who were announced last week. Either Trey DiCarlo of Oklahoma, Nate Kaeding of Iowa or Jonathan Nichols of Mississippi will be honored in Palm Beach, Calif., next month as the winner. Each has solid credentials: DiCarlo is 19-of-20, Kaeding 17-of-18 and Nichols 23-of-26. But Hughes is 20-of-21 for a nation-leading 95.2 percent.

"It doesn't matter," Hughes said. "But it did bother me a little bit the way things have been going. When you think about it, if I had this week last week, I'd still be in it. That's just how it works."

True enough. On the same day Hughes went 5-for-5, Nichols was 0-for-2 in a loss to LSU.

Another snub happened Monday when Maryland's Nick Novak edged Hughes for first-team All-ACC honors.

When a reporter referred to Hughes as "one of the nation's best kickers" Monday, Groh was quick to correct him.

"We've got the best kicker," he said. "We do. He has the best percentage in the country, the very best in the country. And that includes three kicks over 50 yards. Those aren't chippies."

ALL-ACC. Philip Rivers has finally been named first-team All-ACC.

The North Carolina State quarterback, who has thrown for more than 13,000 yards in his career, was beaten out by Matt Schaub, Woody Dantzler and Heisman Trophy winner Chris Weinke the past three seasons. But there was no denying Rivers in 2003. He was the only unanimous selection to The Associated Press team as voted on by 63 members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. The 6-foot-5 senior quarterback has completed 311 of 438 passes for an ACC-record 4,016 yards and 29 touchdowns. His 71 percent completion rate is also a conference single-season record heading into the Wolfpack's bowl game. "I think he's the best football player in the country," Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said. "I don't know of a guy who means more to his football team than he does. He just does it week after week after week after week."

SHORTS. Groh was very complimentary of Hokies wideout Ernest Wilford, who has 41 catches for 680 yards. But asked if he would compare Wilford to former Cavaliers great Billy McMullen, with whom he has similar size and skills, Groh paused. "I think he's a very good player. But I'm too big of a Billy McMullen fan to objectively answer that question." ...

Groh called Tech tailback Kevin Jones "head and shoulders the most elusive back we've faced." More elusive, apparently, than Maryland's Josh Allen, who torched the Cavs' defense for 257 yards.

Memory of brother inspires U.Va. senior
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published November 25, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- It's two hours before kickoff, and only those without tailgate plans are paying attention to Virginia's pre-game walk-through. Mostly, players mill around. Some test the field. Some stretch their legs. Others think.

Almondo "Muffin" Curry, a senior cornerback, has plenty on his mind: his assignment, which usually involves giving up four or five inches in height; the stakes, which change on a week-to-week basis; and life itself - how nothing is guaranteed.

By all accounts, Kenny Curry was a fantastic kid. Bright, energetic, a smile as wide as the James River. Nine years separated him from Muffin, his older brother, but they were close. But just like that, on a November day two years ago, Kenny was gone.

That leads us back to the pre-game walk-through. Though most players come out wearing a T-shirt, Muffin always wears a blue jersey with "Cavaliers" over a large number 4. It isn't his game jersey - he wears No. 22. No, that was Kenny's jersey when he played for the Hampton Cavaliers youth team. Muffin also wears it under his own jersey during the game.

"It's like an inspiration for me," Muffin said. "I keep him in my thoughts and I know he's watching over me. That sort of gives me strength to do better. And it lets me know there's no guarantee the next day.

"He wanted to be everything that I am right now, and that's what inspires me the most. He's never going to have the chance to do the type of things I've done in my life. He passed away at such a young age."

Muffin has lived his dream. Always considered too small to make an impact, he earned a scholarship to a Division I-A football program. He became a starter as a sophomore, a team captain as a senior. He has a daughter who means the world to him, and in another few months he expects to hang his college diploma on the wall.

"He's doing just fine," said Tracey Curry, his mother. "He's turned out just fine."

And he'll always keep his little brother with him.

'LOVING AND SPECIAL SON'

The obituary called Kenneth Maurice "Junior" Curry "a loving and very special son, brother and friend to everyone." He was also one of millions afflicted with asthma, the No. 1 chronic illness among children. While many of his friends could run for hours without getting winded, Kenny couldn't. His life was different.

Muffin was his idol. From the day Muffin learned to walk, it seemed, he was a football player. His grandfather used to take him into the backyard and throw the ball to him. He played youth league and eventually reached the goal of every kid who grows up in the Hampton High zone - Muffin became a Crabber.

Hampton went 53-2 during his four seasons, and Muffin did a little bit of everything. He played tailback as a senior, rushing for 1,175 yards and 16 touchdowns in 1998. He played wide receiver as a junior, catching passes from his cousin, Ronald Curry. He stood only 5-feet-8, the size of your average place-kicker, but he made up for it with uncanny instincts. He was an ideal cover corner - well, minus the height.

After graduating in '99, he enrolled at Fork Union. A year later, he went to Virginia. He played mostly special teams as a true freshman before getting more time under first-year coach Al Groh in '01.

His first start came in Week Six against North Carolina. On Nov. 3 he got his first interception in a loss at home to Wake Forest. Three days later, that pick meant nothing. Kenny, only 12, had died.

Kenny was a football player, too, a running back/receiver/safety for the Hampton Cavaliers youth league team. He was determined to never let asthma slow him down.

"He was a great athlete," said Darrin Donahoo, his coach. "And he had a heart just like Muffin, too."

Kenny's team had advanced to the championship of its division, and the weekend before the big game the players had a sleepover at a parent's house. Donahoo remembers leaving around 9 o'clock. About two hours later, his phone rang. Kenny had been rushed to the hospital. It was a severe asthma attack, so severe his lungs had collapsed.

"When I came in, he wasn't breathing," Tracey said. "I asked the (doctors), 'Is my son breathing?' They said, 'No, we're trying to get him to breathe again.' I knew in my heart right then that he was dead."

Then she had to break the news to Muffin.

"When he died, I was like, 'Oh, my God, how am I going to tell Muffin?' " she said. "They were real close. But he came home and stuck by me."

Two years have passed. Though you never completely get over the grief, you do move on. Muffin did, and look where he is today.

ORIGIN OF 'MUFFIN'

So why "Muffin?" Why would a college football player known for his aggressiveness and competitive fire prefer to be called "Muffin?"

"I've had the name since I was a baby," said Muffin, who went 6 pounds and 13 ounces on his first weigh-in. "My grandmother gave me the name. I never understood why. My grandmother on the other side, she calls me by my middle name - Alfonzo. Other than that, nobody calls me Almondo.

"But it ain't tough being a Muffin. You just have to be a tough Muffin."

That he is. He has seven sacks in his career. He has recovered six fumbles and caused five. He has eight interceptions, including an ACC-leading five this season.

"He's got moxie," Groh said. "That's what he's all about. He's a very resilient, savvy, cagey player."

And, yes, a little one. At 5-8, Muffin is shorter than any of the six kickers and punters on Virginia's roster. On any given Saturday, he gives up as many as nine inches to the receivers he defends.

"I don't think my height is a factor," he said. "What I try to do is stay in front of the receiver, because when you're in front of the receiver, it doesn't matter how tall he is because he can't get into his pattern and it throws the quarterback off. I don't think height has a lot to do with what I do on the field. I think it has more to do with my competitiveness."

Muffin makes plays, few bigger than last year's gem against North Carolina. Leading 21-7 in the third quarter, Tar Heels receiver Sam Aiken made a catch at the Cavaliers' 2-yard line. But Muffin stripped the ball loose and pounced on it before it rolled out of bounds.

Virginia answered with a 98-yard drive for a 14-point swing and ended up winning 37-27.

Muffin, 23, scored his first touchdown this season on a 23-yard interception return at Western Michigan. His pick last week against Georgia Tech late in the fourth quarter helped preserve a 29-17 victory that made the Cavaliers bowl eligible. He was voted defensive team captain by his teammates, which he accepted as an honor and challenge. Never one to hide what he was thinking, he's now expected to speak up. That's been no problem.

"Even when we're doing well he gets on us," linebacker Darryl Blackstock said. "He's a little bully. That's what he is."

IT'S STILL HARD

Not a day goes by that Muffin doesn't think about Kenny. Two years later, it still seems just as unfair as it did then. He hates that such a great kid is gone. He hates that his daughter, Dayz'ja, lost an uncle.

"It was hard for us," Tracey said. "You know what? It still is, because sometimes I can feel him right here with me. I still have my days, and I know (Muffin) does, too. But he keeps him with him. He says he's playing for him."

Muffin wants to honor Kenny's memory, and that's where the jersey comes in. When he's not wearing it, it hangs in his locker as inspiration. After games, he almost always wears a memorial T-shirt with a picture of Kenny in his football uniform. His little brother is always on his mind.

"I think about it every day," he said. "You're not guaranteed the next day. So you might as well give it up today because there might not be a tomorrow."

Hokies' Randall Won't Yield to Vick at U-Va.
By Ken Denlinger
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 25, 2003; Page D03

The split shifts at quarterback for Virginia Tech have ended, Coach Frank Beamer said yesterday, with starter Bryan Randall no longer giving way to Marcus Vick in the second quarter for Saturday's game against Virginia in Charlottesville.

"Bryan Randall will be our quarterback for Virginia [and] we'll let the game dictate when Marcus plays," Beamer said during a conference call among Big East Conference coaches.

Beamer had been alternating quarterbacks in the first half of games since Randall had four turnovers in the Hokies' first defeat of the season, a 28-7 upset loss to West Virginia on Oct. 22 in Morgantown. Vick stayed in for most of the rest of the games after replacing Randall in the Hokies' 31-7 home victory over Miami and 31-28 road loss to Pittsburgh.

Randall played the entire second half of Virginia Tech's overtime victory over Temple in Philadelphia two weeks ago, and in Saturday's seven-point upset loss to two-touchdown underdog Boston College in Blacksburg. Randall had helped generate 17 points during his initial run against the Eagles. Vick completed 1 of 4 passes and was called for releasing the ball beyond the line of scrimmage on one series and for intentional grounding on the next.

Overall, Randall completed 12 of 23 passes for 176 yards against Boston College. His 52-yard pass to split end Ernest Wilford set up the touchdown that lifted the Hokies to a 27-24 lead with about six minutes left, but the defense could not hold.

On the defense, free safety Jimmy Williams was replaced by Mike Daniels in the second half, Beamer said, after "he missed a couple of assignments." Beamer said defensive linemen Nathaniel Adibi (thumb) and Kevin Lewis (knee), who missed the BC game, were doubtful for Virginia.
 

Groh prefers U.Va.'s wins come without ties
JOHN MARKON
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Nov 25, 2003

CHARLOTTESVILLE As usual, the coaching burdens seem unequal for this weekend's annual meeting between Virginia and Virginia Tech.

At Tech, coach Frank Beamer is figuring out how to win a ballgame. At U.Va., coach Al Groh is still working on how to change the world.

When he returned to his old school three years ago, Groh made it known he'd be satisfied with nothing less than an overhaul of what he seems to feel is an overly genteel and preppi fied game-day atmosphere at Scott Stadium.

The crusade is very much in progress. Groh sometimes sounds as if he won't rest until anyone apprehended attempting to smuggle a necktie into the stands or serving chardonnay and camembert at a pregame tailgate is stripped of both his season tickets and parking permit.

Groh wants less U.Va. tradition and a more traditional "big time" atmosphere. His remarks praising body paint and condemning rep ties and button-down oxford shirts fill a large page of the public record. If there's any clinking of wine goblets to be heard in the stands, Groh wants it drowned out by a wall of noise.

"Everyone has a role in a successful program," Groh said yesterday. "That includes the fans. They have a role we need them to play."

Nothing, of course, challenges Groh's vision of the future more than a home game against Virginia Tech, where the atmosphere he wants to build is already in place. Loose tickets to Tech-U.Va. games at Virginia tend to wind up in the hands of Hokies, who may have has as many as 15,000 to 20,000 fans in the stands when the game was last played at Scott in 2001.

"Lets just say," Groh said, "that Virginia had less than its allotment of fans at that game. Changing things like that is part of what we need to do."

Another change Groh wanted to see made is the tendency of allegedly partied-out U.Va. students and young alums to show up late or not at all for noon and 1 p.m. kickoffs. He appeared to gain a victory of sorts last week, when 58,000 were in the stands for a noon game vs. Georgia Tech.

The students were vocal enough that Groh honored them by doing a Lambeau Leap into the stands after a 29-17 win.

"I admit I didn't try to follow him," said 330-pound lineman Elton Brown. "I'm not a leaper. I heard coach Groh might have even needed a little boost up there."

Even those who view Groh's atmospheric orchestrations as an unhealthy manifestation of a need for control will have to admit he's making progress. One decidedly unsubtle change will occur next season when U.Va.'s Ivy League-style pep band, eighty-sixed in 2002, will be replaced by an honest-to-goodness, just like Alabama, Auburn and Ohio State marching band.

"I think he's done a lot," said senior defensive lineman Chris Canty. "Our home games are so much more intense than they were when I was a freshman. Even in classes, I meet so many more 'superfan' type students who are really into the team. We appreciate the crowd noise, particularly when it's third down and their quarterback's trying to call plays."

As for body paint and going shirtless on cold days, Brown's verdict was "I like seeing it. It's a statement. As a player, I have to respect that."

You also have to respect Groh's willingness to take on an environment that many people assured him could never be changed. Rather than delegate his cultural revolution to players, assistants or hired marketers, Groh's been out front every step of the way.

Not what you might have expected from a U.Va. grad of the 1960s, when all the students were male and white shirts and ties were the uniform of the day every day. It's also not what you'd expect from a coach who's spent half his career in professional football, where coaches don't spend a lot of time telling fans what to wear, say or do.

This is Al Groh's issue and he's sticking to it. If you don't believe it, listen carefully. Off in the distance, a big brass band is striking up a tune . . .

And it's not the Hokie Pokey.