No air in UVa passing attack
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
November 15, 2004

"It's real disappointing."

The words of Virginia wide receiver Michael McGrew summed it up best.

After playing toe-to-toe with Miami for 53 minutes, the Cavaliers gave up a pair of touchdowns to Miami's Roscoe Parrish in the final seven minutes and lost to the Hurricanes, 31-21.

The loss delivered a drastic blow to Virginia's hopes for an ACC title and a Bowl Championship Series bid.

The hardest thing for McGrew and company to deal with was just how close they were.

"A lot of guys expected to win and we didn't want to settle for anything else," McGrew said. "Especially guys who didn't play as well as they wanted to play, it's disappointing."

McGrew was not alone in his feelings.

"It's tough. You're right there, and you miss it," UVa linebacker Kai Parham said. "You miss the opportunity."

Virginia had a chance to win thanks to its running game.

For the eighth time in their last nine games, the Cavaliers topped the 200-yard mark. Thanks to 97 rushing yards from quarterback Marques Hagans, Virginia actually finished with 221 yards, 18 more than Miami.

Virginia lost that chance to win thanks to the disappearance of the passing game.

After completing just two passes in the first half for no yards, Hagans completed 8 of 18 second-half attempts for 94 yards. The junior also tossed a pair of interceptions, giving him five for the season.

There were dropped passes. There were poor reads. Quite simply, as Miami came north to play in Scott Stadium, Virginia's passing game went south.

"When you play a historically good team, you've got to be on point on both sides of your offense. We weren't tonight," McGrew said.

Virginia tailback Alvin Pearman caught five passes for 48 yards and tight end Heath Miller added three receptions for 45 yards. They got little help.

UVa's receiving corps combined to make one catch for four yards, a reception by Deyon Williams on the first drive of the second half. It continues a growing trend. In the last four games, the wideouts have combined for just 100 yards receiving.

"Obviously our passing game didn't produce to the degree that we would have liked it to tonight," Virginia coach Al Groh said.

Groh also failed to get the production he wanted out of his punt coverage team.

Despite placing a great deal of emphasis on that aspect of special teams during the week leading up to the game, Miami returned four punts for 134 yards.

Virginia punter Sean Johnson punted seven times for an average of 36 yards per kick. He finished the game with a net average was just 16.9.

The net punting problem is nothing new.

For the season, Virginia ranks dead last - 117th of 117 teams -with a net average of just 26.53 yards per punt. The 116th-ranked team -SMU -has a net average of 29.3 yards per punt.

"We did everything we could all week long to prevent this from happening today. Unfortunately, we weren't able to carry it out according to plan," Groh said. "Our punt team is the one team that gets the most work every week, and it got extra work this week. Just like other facets of the game, some of those plays we'd like to have back and do them a little bit differently."

While Virginia will not get a do-over against Miami, they will get two more chances to win regular season games. After playing at Georgia Tech on Saturday at 1 p.m., UVa will play in-state rival Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on Nov. 27.

If Virginia wins both games, it will finish in a tie for the ACC title with Florida State (6-2 ACC) and possibly the winner of the Miami-Virginia Tech game on Dec. 4.

"I think the next two games, relative to what this team wants to achieve, I think these will be two of the hardest games that this team has ever played," Groh said. "I think it would have come close to it if [the Miami] result went the other way. This probably just adds a couple more bricks on that load."

If history plays a factor, Virginia should be fine. Since Groh arrived in Charlottesville four years ago the Cavaliers are 7-3 in November and December.

"I think the character of this team is a never-say-die attitude," defensive end Brennan Schmidt said. "No matter what's happened, I think we'll use this to motivate us and we'll come back even stronger."

Quick kicks. Virginia fell to 18th in both national polls. Florida State is now the highest ranked ACC team at No. 10 in the AP poll. Miami and Virginia Tech are ranked No. 12 and No. 15, respectively. Georgia Tech received 21 votes in the AP poll, which would theoritically rank them 27th. ? With an average of 251 rushing yards per game, UVa is ranked eighth in the country. The Cavaliers are also ranked in the Top 10 in kickoff return average. The Cavs are fourth in the nation with an average of 26.63 per return.

Cavaliers repeat as ACC champs
By Jim Furlong / Special to the Daily Progress
November 15, 2004

CARY, N.C. - Virginia repeated as the ACC men’s soccer champion on Sunday afternoon, and reinforced one of the premier winning traditions for all the conference’s men’s sports.

Under a sunny sky, the fourth-seeded Cavaliers celebrated after beating second-seeded Maryland, 2-1, in the ACC Tournament final. Coach George Gelnovatch’s team (17-4) claimed the ACC’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Jeremy Barlow, who was voted the tournament MVP, showcased his speed to kick in the game-winning goal at 57:00 and the Cavalier defenders held off Maryland’s aggressive comeback efforts.

“We set the tone from the start ... It is a team and we got contributions from everybody,” Gelnovatch said. “A freshman scored the winning goal in the ACC Tournament.”

Virginia earned its ninth title in the tournament’s 18-year history, after competing in the final for the 15th time, including each of the last six seasons.

“I am very thankful for what God has blessed me with,” said senior defender John Hartman, one of five Cavaliers to start three consecutive ACC finals.

“As a sophomore, we got beat pretty bad [in the final], but the last two years, we have been more of a team and been able to pull it out, play well and battle together.

“It is satisfying to work hard and it finally pays off with championships.”

Mike Littlefield is another Virginia senior who will have fond memories of back-to-back ACC crowns.

“It has a lot to do with pride, representing your school,” Littlefield said. “[For the seniors] this is our last year to come to Cary and play in the ACC Tournament.

“We all wanted [to repeat]. We all got together before the game, talking - ‘This is our last go around, boys. Let’s do it!’”

Maryland has played UVa in three straight ACC finals.

The Terrapins won 3-0 in 2003, but the Cavaliers gained the 2004 league title thanks to a 7-6 advantage in a penalty-kick shootout.

On Sunday, the two rivals were tied 0-0 at halftime before an announced crowd of 3,841 at the SAS Soccer Complex.

Soon after the second half began, the Cavaliers produced the go-ahead goal.

Freshman midfielder Nico Colaluca launched a corner kick from the right side and the ball dropped in the box as both sides bumped in a cluster. The ball deflected off a defender and came straight out to sophomore forward Adam Cristman, who was unmarked and quickly blasted a drive inside the left post for his team-high ninth goal.

About 10 minutes later, sophomore midfielder Will Hall - who made the game-winning assist Friday night when the Cavaliers eliminated top-seeded Wake Forest 2-1 in the semifinals - alertly lofted a long pass into the middle where Barlow, on the run, broke loose and attacked Noah Palmer, the Maryland goalkeeper.

Palmer charged forward to try to smother the ball, but he was a split second late at the edge of the box, and Barlow kicked an accurate grounder into the net.

With UVa ahead 2-0, Maryland (15-5-1) increased its offensive thrusts.

Chris Lancos, with a long serve from the right wing, watched his ball pass by a UVa defender and bounce toward the far post. Jason Garey converted a lunging header for his team-high 20th goal at 63:39.

The Terrapins worked for repeated chances in close to get the equalizer, but kept misfiring. Maryland outshot the Cavaliers 8-3 in the second half (11-7 for the game) and led 6-2 for corner kicks.

“We match up really well against [the Cavaliers],”Garey said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for them. It is always a battle, but we came up short today.”

The setback stopped Maryland’s eight-game winning streak, which included a 1-0 victory at Virginia on Nov. 5.

“We are very disappointed not to get the result in this game,” Terrapins’ coach Sasho Cirovski. “It was a very even first half, but at the end of the day, Virginia made one more play than we did.

“We competed hard and fought to the last second. Unfortunately, we didn’t capitalize on some high-quality chances [late in the second half].”

Cirovski looked displeased during his post-game press conference. He and Garey were sitting in the media room and could easily hear the happy Cavaliers, through the walls, hollering in a nearby locker room.

“There is not a lot that separates these two teams,” Cirovski said. “Hopefully, we will get to play them again this year.”

Barlow has highlighted his rookie college year with two game-winning goals in a five-day span. The 5-foot-6,

150-pounder also notched the decisive goal last Wednesday when the Cavalier knocked off fifth-seeded Duke 3-1 in the ACC quarterfinals.

Barlow, with six goals this season, owns a team-high four game-winning goals.

“I am very happy to get it,” Barlow said when asked his reaction to being named the tournament MVP. “It was an exciting day. I am just happy to be on this team. [The MVP award] is a tribute to the entire team.”

Besides Barlow, four other Cavaliers were voted to the

13-player All-Tournament team: Cristman, Colaluca, Littlefield and goalkeeper Ryan Burke.

Notes. Burke was credited with one save Sunday, while Palmer did not have a save. ... The Cavaliers’ three-game sweep gives UVa a 29-9-5 record in the ACC Tournament. ... Fifth-ranked Maryland had less rest than Gelnovatch’s team, but Cirovski refused to use that as an excuse. The Terrapins were forced to play their semifinal duel, a 4-2 victory over third-seeded North Carolina, early on Saturday after heavy rain turned the field into a swamp Friday night. ... The Cavaliers, who were ranked No. 11 nationally last week, are sure to climb in the new polls as they prepare to host their first NCAA game.
 

Missed opportunity keeps Groh awake
Virginia's head coach was especially haunted by the defense's failure to stop a late drive.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE - If Virginia had been able to sustain a late comeback and beat Miami early Saturday evening, the celebration might have lasted until 3:45 a.m.

As it was, UVa head coach Al Groh virtually had the streets to himself when he drove to work at that time. As predicted, Groh was unable to sleep following a 31-21 loss to the Hurricanes, one third-down conversion in particular - which Miami picked up with UVa trailing 24-21 - was the most daunting.

That play alone was likely to cost him three hours' sleep, Groh estimated, "which, on a normal Saturday night, would take it down to about nothing," he said.

"Whether we would have won the game or not, I sure would have liked to take a shot at it."

The Cavaliers expected Miami to throw with 2 minutes, 24 seconds remaining and had called a combination coverage "and one half of the combination never arrived on the scene," Groh said.

While safety Jermaine Hardy and linebacker Ahmad Brooks were unable to bring down Miami fullback Talib Humphrey at the first-down marker, the other safety, Marquis Weeks, said he was out of position on the play.

Groh confirmed Weeks' assessment and said a review of the film had not improved his outlook.

"I had a family in here today and they were asking me what my schedule was," Groh said. "There were 176 plays in the game, on which I watched all 11 [UVa players], so I watched 1,936 plays. When, I look at the tape on Sundays, I learn a lot of things that I didn't see during the course of the game."

Groh didn't reveal if he had used a calculator or not, but "if I can do my math correctly, if we win our remaining games and Miami wins [its] remaining games, we've got three teams with two conference losses," he said. "That means all three teams are on the same rung."

After its second home loss in 18 games, 18th-ranked Virginia (7-2, 4-2 ACC) ends the regular season with games at Georgia Tech at 1 p.m. Saturday and at Virginia Tech. The Hokies are the only ACC team with one loss, but have games remaining with Maryland and Virginia at home, followed by a trip to Miami.

Many major contributors were among a group of 26 fourth- and fifth-year UVa players who were introduced prior to the game Saturday, "but now is not the time to be overly nostalgic," Groh said. "Our thoughts are on winning the next two games."

The home team has won the last nine games in the Georgia Tech-Virginia series.

"I wanted to go out on a good note," said an emotional Dennis Haley, a fifth-year outside linebacker from Salem. "It hurts when you lose your last home game, but we can't dwell on this. I've got to be a leader on this team. We've got a lot of football left to play."

Haley prevented several long gains with his open-field tackling, but he was on the punt coverage team that yielded returns of 45 and 62 yards by Miami's Roscoe Parrish, the second for a touchdown that put the Hurricanes ahead 24-14 with 7:03 remaining.

"We've kind of been dancing around those problems for two years," said Groh, who admitted that wholesale personnel changes would be difficult in Week 10.

Groh is mostly concerned with a passing game that produced a season-low 94 yards on 10-of-25 passing by junior quarterback Marques Hagans. The press box play-by-play showed the Cavaliers with one dropped pass "but it certainly was more than one," Groh said.

"Sometimes, it depends on who's making that evaluation. Receiving coaches, as they well should, live by the mantra of 'if you get your hands on it, you should catch it,'" he said.

Miami quarterback Brock Berlin, emerging as a leading contender for ACC player of the year, was victimized by six dropped passes - according to the play-by-play - but finished 18-of-33 for 177 yards and two touchdowns.

"Until somebody mentioned it, I didn't know that there hadn't been a [Miami] completion for more than six yards until the last two minutes," Groh said. "I thought he was efficient, but we could have lived with that efficiency. I thought he did nicely, but he was erratic, as was our guy."

Fate may deal UM a setback
Even if UM wins out, it might not claim the ACC title under tiebreaker rules. Not that coach Larry Coker is worried: `We're still in the driver's seat.'
BY GEORGE RICHARDS
grichards@herald.com

University of Miami coach Larry Coker hasn't been in much of a joking mood the past two weeks, but the day after the Hurricanes snapped a two-game losing streak, Coker even made light of his team possibly getting snubbed out of a major bowl berth if it ties for the ACC title.

``There's no doubt we need to win out. That's all we can worry about and all we can control. We put ourselves in this situation, but we're still in the driver's seat. We're not driving a Bentley, but we are driving a Mercedes. Or at least a Chevy Impala. The only thing we can control is what we do, and we've got to win out. And that's not going to be easy.''

Many believed Miami, which moved up six spots to No. 12 in Sunday's Associated Press poll and four spots to No. 13 in the coaches' poll, would automatically win the ACC by finishing the season with victories against Virginia, Wake Forest (Saturday at home) and Virginia Tech (Dec. 4 at home). But that's not necessarily the case.

ALL TIED UP

The ACC tiebreaker is pretty convoluted, and UM could see itself lose a probable Sugar or Fiesta Bowl bid to rival Florida State -- a team Miami beat 16-10 in the first game of the season.

Here's why: Usually in a three-way tiebreaker, the ACC would compare how each team did against the others, with the team that beat the other two -- such as Miami in the case of a UM-Virginia-FSU tie -- getting the BCS berth as long as it was ranked not more than five spots below the best finisher among the three in the final BCS standings.

But if UM ends up tied at 6-2 in the ACC with Virginia Tech and FSU, that tiebreaker doesn't apply, because this season Virginia Tech and FSU did not play each other.

On page 222 of the 2004 ACC media guide, it states, ``If two or all of the tied teams have not played each other, then the BCS bid goes to the highest-ranked team in the final BCS standings.''

BCS FACTOR

Thus, if UM, Tech and FSU tied and FSU stays, as it is now, ranked ahead of UM in the BCS standings, the Seminoles would go to the BCS game -- despite the Hurricanes having beaten them and Tech.

The Hurricanes now find themselves rooting for Virginia in its Nov. 27 game against Virginia Tech, and -- gasp! -- Florida against FSU on Saturday night. ''That,'' Coker said smiling, ``will be hard for Canes fans to do.''

SATURDAY'S WIN

Coker said Miami ''salvaged'' its season with the 31-21 win against then-No. 10 Virginia, and again praised running back Frank Gore and receiver/punt returner Roscoe Parrish for their part in the victory.

Coker said Miami cannot afford to look past Wake Forest this week despite the Demon Deacons' record (4-5, 1-5). The game is at noon and will be televised by ESPN.

''We know we've got a lot to play for,'' Coker said. ``It's not to say we overlooked North Carolina or Clemson, but we have to understand that all these teams are pretty good. Hopefully we're growing and we learned from it.''

Coker was upset about his receivers dropping, by Coker's count, seven passes Saturday. Four came in the first quarter, including one in the end zone by freshman Lance Leggett.

''That's somewhat uncharacteristic of us,'' Coker said.

Canes hurtin' when it comes to BCS rankings
GREG COTE
gcote@herald.com

Only in the ABCs of college football's gibberish alphabet might ACC and BCS together somehow end up spelling SCREW UM.

It isn't fair, or right. It certainly isn't logical. But it could happen:

A final three-way Atlantic Coast Conference tie among UM, Florida State and Virginia Tech -- with the Hurricanes the odd men out despite having beaten each of the others head-to-head.

It could come to that if Miami continues the salvation of its disappointing season by beating Wake Forest and Virginia Tech (both at the Orange Bowl) to end 9-2, and 6-2 in the conference.

In that case, UM clearly would be deserving of the ACC title and the resulting New Year's game in the Bowl Championship Series mix. Head-to-head is the first tiebreaker wherever sanity applies, after all; it is what the NFL uses for its playoffs.

The trouble is, the ACC will not apply a head-to-head tiebreaker in this case because FSU and V-Tech did not play this year.

That means the BCS will anoint whichever of those three ACC teams ranks highest in its ratings -- and that might well be the Seminoles, presuming they win at home this coming Saturday against Florida.

I know what anyone but a green-and-orange-sweating Cane must be thinking. UM has itself to blame, losing to unranked North Carolina and Clemson in the first place. Undeniable. Shame on them.

But the Canes already have paid dearly for that, blowing a shot at a sixth national championship. UM should be right up there in the grand prize mix with USC, Oklahoma and Auburn, but instead the Canes jockey for a conference consolation prize.

HIGH STANDARDS

(That's how mighty Hurricane football continues to be. A 9-2 record and a major bowl is UM having a bad season, cause for angst among a disheartened legion of fans. Why can't the Dolphins be having a bad season like that?)

Next year, the ACC will split into divisions and have a conference title game, so this situation can't happen again. Unfortunately, Miami is poised to be the ACC victim this time, and the ever-fallible BCS offers no safety net, no means of righting the conference wrong.

And, bear in mind, I'm a BCS supporter, relatively speaking.

Many of you are aware that I am president of the BCS Fan Club, and that recruiting new members isn't easy. We hold monthly meetings at a local restaurant. Corner booth.

I always figured the BCS as a perfect -- well, OK, an imperfect -- compromise that maintained the poll debate that is a part of what makes college football unique, yet also tipped a helmet to the pro-playoff crowd by arriving at what amounts to a national championship game.

One negative of the BCS was that the formula was too complicated. It was harder to compute than an NFL passer rating, more dumbfounding than the continuing popularity of Carrot Top.

Another drawback? As we saw last season with Southern Cal and Louisiana State, a split national title might still rarely happen, since the two major polls are not beholden to the BCS pecking order in producing their final, post-bowls ranking.

SPLIT TITLES OK

The occasional split title doesn't bother me. All it does is spread the wealth. UM claims five national titles, not 4 ˝, even though its 1991 title was split with Washington. Polls and split titles and the BCS -- it agitates debate and interest, all good for the sport.

The BCS further tinkered and streamlined its system this year, inching slowly toward something better. It has become nearly simple. Three elements weigh equally now: the two major human polls, and a consensus of the computer rankings.

It still isn't perfect, though. Still needs work, and the presumptive shortchanging of UM underlines that.

The criticism of the human polls always has been that voters put too much weight on late-season losses and not enough on early defeats. It's an illogical element that the dispassionate (more objective) computer ranking should correct.

UM is about to pay for the fact it beat FSU in the season opener, and not last week, even though the calendar should not weigh an ounce in the figuring.

The calendar, the old thinking, is why the BCS -- like the ACC -- probably will end up calling FSU a better team than Miami, even though chances are both will end 9-2, with the Canes having won head-to-head.

It's a sad situation for Hurricane fans already humbled by the ignominy of two losses in one season and the looming indignity of a bowl game played in December.

Then again, it beats talking about the Dolphins.

Singing the Sunshine State blues becomes a habit for Cavs
By BOB MOLINARO, The Virginian-Pilot
© November 14, 2004
CHARLOTTESVILLE

Complete the following sentence: Florida’s marquee college football programs are no longer what they used to be … … Unless they’re playing Virginia.

Click here Needing to save its season after back-to-back losses to inferior opponents, Miami issued its stamp of approval Saturday on a newly minted adage that the Florida Department of Tourism may wish to print on bumper stickers.

A day without the Cavaliers is like a day without sunshine.

For Miami, as it was for struggling Florida State in mid-October, playing U.Va. was the elixir for low confidence and iron-poor momentum.

“I said this week,” recalled Hurricanes coach Larry Coker, “that we needed to feel good about ourselves.”

They came to the right place. U.Va. has now lost 11 in a row to teams from Florida.

Miami’s 31-21 victory was not as convincing as Florida State’s 36-3 rout of the Cavaliers. But in some ways, this loss to the ’Canes reflected even more poorly on U.Va.

After all, Miami didn’t play lights out, as the Seminoles did on Oct. 16 in Tallahassee. Miami messed up more than a few times, committing the kind of mistakes that can get a team in trouble on the road.

Miami was flagged for 10 penalties. Its receivers dropped at least five easy passes. With all that, if Brock Berlin were not the worst ’Canes quarterback in memory, a scatter arm capable of missing wide-open receivers, U.Va. might have been out of this game by halftime.

Later, U.Va. talked about a play or two here, a missed opportunity there. The game may have appeared to be close. Still, you never got the sense that the Cavaliers would find a way to win.

“Our expectations,” coach Al Groh said, “are that we would have played better.”

Not his and his team’s expectations alone. If you get the chance to play at home, in front of 63,701 fans, against a traditional power struggling to find form, you better seize the opportunity. U.Va., with a lot to play for, couldn’t have asked for a better way to redeem itself following the Florida State debacle.

Instead, U.Va. fell prey to Miami’s speed on too many big plays. But mostly the Cavaliers struggled because of their own limitations on offense. Quarterback Marques Hagans completed only 10 passes for 94 yards, and just one of Hagans’ completions went to a wide receiver, and then only for a 4-yard gain.

Was this the doing of a Miami team that surrendered 31 points to North Carolina? Well, against Maryland last week, Cavaliers wideouts caught only three balls.

Virginia’s penchant for relentless running between the tackles continued. Alvin Pearman’s 34-yard touchdown play in the third quarter came on a burst up the middle. Thanks to Hagans’ scrambling — his 47-yard sprint down the right sideline late in the fourth quarter set up a touchdown — U.Va. outgained the ’Canes on the ground despite Frank Gore’s 195 yards for Miami.

Here’s the problem, though: Hagans was running for his life, not by design. Except for exceptional tight end Heath Miller, he couldn’t find anyone open down field.

“Obviously our passing game didn’t produce,” said Groh, who cited a couple of key catches by Miller as the only positive signs. “Outside of that, nobody really stepped up and made those sort of plays.”

Without the speed on the edges that Miami boasts — what Groh wouldn’t give for a receiver like Roscoe Parrish — it’s becoming more obvious that U.Va.’s one-dimensional, run-it-up-the-gut offense is a liability against quality opponents, even struggling ones.

The Seminoles proved that. Now, so has Miami.

The ’Canes are another Florida team that has sapped the sunshine from U.Va.’s season.

'No margin for error'
Can Cavs bounce back quickly to keep major-bowl hopes alive?
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Nov 15, 2004

CHARLOTTESVILLE Forget about Georgia Tech. Its season is shot.

So said many observers after Chan Gailey's football team suffered an epic collapse Oct.28 against Virginia Tech in Atlanta. The Hokies outscored the Yellow Jackets 25-3 in the fourth quarter and won 34-20. The stunning turn of events dropped Georgia Tech to 3-3 in the ACC and 4-3 overall with a visit to N.C. State looming.

Lo and behold, less than three weeks later the Jackets are bowl-eligible and on the verge of cracking the Top 25. Georgia Tech knocked off N.C. State 24-14 in Raleigh on Nov. 6 then crushed Connecticut 30-10 in Atlanta over the weekend.

"That's what teams are supposed to do, and they've done a very good job of it," Virginia coach Al Groh said last night. "That's one of the essences of this game: You don't give up, you keep fighting, you go on, you handle adversity."

Now it's U.Va.'s turn to face adversity. Two days ago, before the largest crowd in Scott Stadium history, the then-No.10 Cavaliers experienced breakdowns in virtually every phase of the game, and Miami made them pay for those errors. The Hurricanes never trailed in a 31-21 victory that knocked Virginia (4-2, 7-2) out of first place in the ACC.

"We kind of beat ourselves today, and with a team like Miami, you can't really do that," redshirt freshman Chris Johnson said after making seven tackles in his first start at defensive end. "Just giving your best effort isn't going to be enough."

Next up for the Wahoos, who plummeted to No. 18 in the latest Associated Press poll, is a 1 p.m. game Saturday at Georgia Tech (4-3, 6-3), where they haven't won since 1994. Whether Virginia ends up in a third- or fourth-tier bowl or, perhaps, back in Atlanta for the Peach Bowl will hinge in large part on how it fares this weekend.

"We all get knocked down," Groh said, "and that's the key to it: Are you going to stay on the canvas, or are you going to get up?"

A 62-yard punt return for a touchdown by Miami's Roscoe Parrish floored the Cavs midway through the fourth quarter. But U.Va. rallied for a touchdown to pull to 24-21 then had an opportunity to get the ball back with about 2:15 left.

"Whether we would have won the game or not, I sure would have liked to have had a shot at it," Groh said.

It didn't happen. A blown coverage - safety Marquis Weeks, always a standup guy, shouldered the blame afterward - allowed Miami to convert a critical third-and-5 play from its 35, and Virginia ultimately surrendered a 25-yard touchdown pass with 51 seconds remaining.

Groh told reporters after the game that he didn't expect to get much sleep that night, which proved to be the case. He arrived at his office at 3:45 a.m. yesterday to start breaking down videotape of the game's 176 plays. Did he feel any better about his team's performance after watching the video?

"Nope," Groh said.

It's still possible for the Cavs to advance to the Bowl Championship Series, but such a scenario isn't likely. Even so, U.Va. shouldn't lack motivation in its final two regular-season games. If the Cavs can win at Georgia Tech then at Virginia Tech on Nov.27, they'll be assured a share of the ACC title.

"I think that our position right now is just going to motivate us, to know that there's no margin for error," said junior defensive end Brennan Schmidt, a team captain.

 

For Virginia, big plays still lacking
Jeremy Root, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

Virginia had a chance to establish itself as a top 10 program Saturday and prove it is on the same level as the Florida powerhouse football schools. While the Cavaliers drastically improved from their effort at Florida State a month ago, they ultimately proved that they're not there yet. And what the team sorely lacks is the big play.

The first downs were virtually even. The third-down conversion percentage was 41 percent for both squads. The Cavaliers even outrushed Miami by 18 yards. Where they fell behind was in the big plays in the passing game and on special teams.

The Virginia receivers caught only one pass all game -- a four-yard reception by Deyon Williams. Junior tight end Heath Miller had a solid game -- catching three balls for 45 yards and a touchdown, including a 30-yard catch in the third quarter that led to Virginia's second touchdown. But if your receivers pose no threat, especially to stretch the field vertically, defenses can put eight in the box to stop the run and focus exclusively on stopping Miller.

Virginia only attempted one deep ball to a wide receiver all afternoon -- a Hagans toss to Michael McGrew near the right sideline in the first quarter. McGrew dove to try to make the difficult catch, but couldn't come up with it.

Miami receivers, meanwhile, caught seven passes for 79 yards, including a 25-yard strike on fourth down from Brock Berlin to Roscoe Parrish with 51 seconds left to ice the game for the Hurricanes.

But the biggest play of them all for Miami came a few plays earlier on third and five with under three minutes to go. The Hurricanes had the ball on their own 35-yard line and were up just 24-21. Berlin completed a flat pass to a wide open Talib Humphrey for about four and half yards, which Humphrey took 34 yards down the Virginia 31.

"It was a mental error; it was on my part," senior safety Marquis Weeks said. "I thought that I had one guy and I had the guy that caught the ball. ... That makes it even more disappointing for me -- to lose the game on a mental error."

On the special teams front, Virginia had been getting by with a shaky punt unit all year and it finally came back to bite them. Parrish returned a low, line drive 37-yard punt off the foot of Sean Johnson 62 yards to the house to give Miami a 24-14 lead with seven minutes left in the game.

"Our defense, we didn't get any turnovers," Weeks said. "You need big plays to win games like this. You need your defense to maybe score points and get some takeaways and we didn't do those things. You need your offense to make big plays on offense and we had some explosive plays, but against a team like Miami, you just need more."

The big play is a great thing. In a second it turns momentum completely in your favor and leads to points on the scoreboard. While Virginia had been able to make those plays early in the year against inferior opponents, it has not been able to make them against top 25 teams. Amazingly, Virginia still has yet to beat a team with a winning record. Whether it's making big plays or not giving them up, the Cavaliers need to find ways to obtain and limit large chunks of yardage. You can't and don't deserve to win games if you only have one completion to a wide receiver for four yards.

But there is room for hope. Virginia's ACC title chances are not dead. It is encouraging that the Cavaliers were one play away from taking over the ball, with two timeouts and over two minutes left, against a Hurricanes team which had lost two games in a row and desperately needed to win. A turnover or crucial stop on defense, a long return on special teams or even a deep ball down the field could have tipped the game in Virginia's favor. But until those game-changing plays happen, Virginia will continue to look up in the standings to schools like Miami and Florida State.