Cavs face a must-win situation against Temple
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
November 5, 2005

Few games in the 5-year-old Al Groh era have been as unappealing and yet so important, as today’s home game against Temple.

If the Cavaliers have ever been in a “must-win situation,” this is it.

Virginia (4-3, 2-3 ACC) likely needs to win today to have a shot at becoming eligible for a bowl game, a feat that requires two more wins. With the top three teams in the ACC’s Coastal Division on the horizon - Virginia Tech, Miami and Georgia Tech - the Cavaliers have no room to slip up against a winless Temple team.

While it would have been easy for Groh and his team to look past such a futile opponent, the Owls rank near the bottom in almost every statistical category known to man, Virginia’s skipper said they declined to do so.

“Our focus is really hard on Temple,” Groh said earlier this week. “We see this as a critical game for the team. The emphasis with the players is to have the type of practice week and preparation that will have us ready to play our best game of the season.

“We see it as a very critical game, and a game that it is important that we be ready to play our best from start to finish.”

Temple (0-9) will be hard-pressed to challenge the Cavaliers physically, they lost to Maryland, Miami and Clemson by 30 or more points, but they employ a 4-2-5 defense, something that Groh thinks will better his team for the November run.

“We are dealing with an alignment, defensively, that we will see in subsequent weeks, and that we have seen before, so we do have some carry over in that particular thing,” Groh said. “We’ll probably, on a play-by-play basis, play against a lot more spread offense during the course of the game, three wide receivers and four wide receivers, than has been the case in many of our games, so that presents a little bit different type of circumstance for us being all spread out like that.”

Today’s game also gives Virginia a chance to shake off a disheartening loss at North Carolina two weeks. The Cavaliers managed only a field goal on offense, losing on the road to UNC, 7-5.

In that setback, Virginia quarterback Marques Hagans played with sore hamstring. The senior claimed earlier this week to be at “110 percent,” and if he is he may be able to give way to backup signal caller Christian Olsen at some point, something Virginia fans would love to see before the start of the 2006 season.

Virginia should also get back the services this afternoon of outside linebacker Jermaine Dias (sprained foot) for the first time since they played Duke on Sept. 24. Dias, who made seven tackles in the first three games, should boost Virginia’s prospects of slowing the rushing attack of upcoming opponents.

Not everything is pretty on the injury front. Leading tailback Michael Johnson (sprained ankle) and tight end Jonathan Stupar (sprained ankle) are doubtful, but Virginia should still have more than enough weapons to start November off with a hoot.

“November is when college football seasons are made,” Groh said. “This is where seasons are made. This is where you’ve got to step up and put it out there on the field and show what you’ve got.”

 

Owls offer fresh start for UVa
Winless Temple comes to Scott Stadium as Virginia opens a homestand that may determine its bowl-eligibility.
By Doug Doughty
981-3126
The Roanoke Times

Conventional wisdom would suggest that Virginia will have an opportunity to build some momentum when it hosts winless Temple at 3:30 p.m. today at Scott Stadium.

Don't talk to Al Groh about momentum.

"We didn't get very much momentum out of Florida State, the Redskins didn't get much momentum out of their [35]-point win [over San Francisco], nor did San Francisco seem to lose much momentum from getting beat by [35]," Groh said Thursday.

"You've got to do it every week, regardless of what happened the week before. I guess we didn't lose much momentum by not winning in Boston."

After a 28-17 loss at Boston College, the Cavaliers came back two weeks later and stunned then-No. 4 Florida State 26-21. That was followed by a 7-5 UVa loss at North Carolina.

Virginia is a 3512-point favorite to get its fifth victory of the season today, but it will take six wins for the Cavaliers to be eligible for a fourth straight bowl appearance.

UVa's last three games are against Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech and Miami -- teams that enter today's action with a combined record of 19-3.

Today's game is the first of three in a row at home, which "would encourage me more if the teams weren't quite who they are," Groh said.

Virginia is 23-6 at home during Groh's five-year tenure, as opposed to 9-17 on the road (2-1 at neutral sites). Much has been made of UVa's problems on the road, but just as problematical has been the Cavaliers inability to finish a game.

In its last eight games, dating back to the MPC Computers Bowl in Boise, Idaho, the Cavaliers are 4-4. UVa had the lead after the third quarter in two of those losses, the Cavaliers had the lead during the third quarter in a third and trailed 7-2 going into the fourth quarter at North Carolina.

In all four of those losses, it could be argued, Virginia had succeeded in taking the crowd out of the game.

The only difference in the Florida State game was that UVa was at home. The Seminoles, though, outscored the Cavaliers 11-0 in the fourth quarter and outgained them 143-0.

There is no real secret to holding onto a lead in the fourth quarter.

It's called controlling the ball and consuming the clock. UVa hasn't been able to protect leads because it hasn't been able to keep its offense on the field.

That probably won't be a problem today against Temple, although the Owls' best statistical category is rushing defense, in which they rank 89th out of 117 Division I-A teams.

In some of the other important statistical categories, Temple ranks 116th in scoring defense, 107th in passing defense and 112th in total defense.

Virginia is 67th in rushing offense, a figure that has dropped dramatically in the past two games, in which UVa has rushed for 20 and 90 yards, respectively.

Junior tailback Michael Johnson, who will miss today's game with a sprained ankle, leads the Cavaliers in rushing. However, that's a dubious distinction. Through seven games, no UVa running back has rushed for more than 267 yards.

Wali Lundy, who had rushed for more than 2,600 yards in his first three seasons, had not led the Cavaliers in rushing in a single game until the past two weeks.

"Besides what you can see physically, he's shown signs of greater confidence in himself," Groh said of Lundy's practice performance. "I think there were times when he was hunting and pecking for things to open up. When a crease would open, he didn't have the aggressiveness he had in years past."

 

Dias all smiles after return
Linebacker spent five 'miserable' weeks when injury sidelined him
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Nov 4, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE In Virginia's victory over Duke on Sept. 24, starting linebacker Jermaine Dias suffered a slight fracture in his right foot. Thus began the longest five weeks of his football career.

"The most miserable, too," Dias said Tuesday night.

A 6-1, 235-pound redshirt sophomore from Hackensack, N.J., Dias returned to practice Monday night -- five weeks and two days after the Duke game. He's expected to split time with senior Mark Miller at one outside-linebacker spot tomorrow when Virginia (4-3) meets Temple (0-9) at Scott Stadium.

"I'm happy to be back with the team," Dias said.

When he hurt his foot, Dias said, he figured he'd be out "a week, maybe two weeks, but I wasn't thinking it was going to be this long."

As the weeks dragged on, his mood darkened.

"You don't need a magnifying glass to read Jermaine," Cavaliers coach Al Groh said. "When he's down or disappointed, he certainly wears it on his sleeve, so it was pretty easy to see there at a few different times that he was very disappointed and discouraged in his circumstances. It's understandable. This was his time. He put in two years here of preparing and getting ready to go and was doing a real nice job in the early going."

In the first three games -- all U.Va. victories -- Dias totaled a modest seven tackles. But he was sorely missed after his injury. Dias is versatile enough to play outside linebacker in Virginia's base defense, the 3-4, and inside linebacker in the nickel scheme. With Dias out, U.Va.'s opponents began picking on his replacement, the 6-0, 224-pound Miller.

Dias gives the Cavaliers "a little bit more of everything," Groh said. "He's a little bit bigger and stronger, he's a little bit side-to-side quicker and he's a little bit faster."

U.Va.'s projected starters at linebacker this season were Kai Parham and Ahmad Brooks on the inside, Clint Sintim and Dias on the outside. Tomorrow's game will be the first in which Cavaliers' defensive coordinator Al Golden has all four of them available.

Dias was a four-year starter at Hackensack High, which also produced linebacker Randy Neal, a star at U.Va. in the '90s. Dias chose Virginia over North Carolina and also had scholarship offers from Maryland, Boston College, Notre Dame, Miami (Fla.) and Michigan.

At U.Va., Dias redshirted in 2003. He played in 11 games last season, mostly in the nickel and on special teams. Dias expected to assume a more prominent role this season, and that's one reason why his injury was such a blow to his spirits.

"It's kind of a weird feeling," Dias said. "You know you're hurt, but at the same time you feel like you're letting your team down when you're not out there."

A pep talk from Groh last month helped. The longtime coach reminded Dias that moping around wasn't accelerating the healing process and that no one associated with U.Va.'s program was happy about the injury.

"Since we've kind of gotten over that bridge, he's dealt with it better," Groh said. "Jermaine doesn't have a lot to say, but he's got a big, broad smile, and it was quite a bit more apparent [Monday] than it has been.

"He does have teeth after all."

 

Headaches force Darden out
Ailment means 20-year-old nose tackle will not be unableto continue playing at Virginia
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Nov 4, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Ron Darden's football career is over. The severe headaches that prematurely ended Darden's 2004 season have returned, Virginia coach Al Groh said yesterday, and the 6-4, 328-pound redshirt junior is giving up the sport.

Darden, 20, started the Cavaliers' past three games at nose tackle.

"He and I both feel that this is it for Ron," Groh said. "He'll finish his [education at U.Va.] and go on and graduate this May and, as Chuck Noll used to say, go on with his life's work."

Darden, who's from the Baltimore area, is an economics major. In 2004, when he was a reserve offensive guard, he left the team in late October after headaches nearly incapacitated him.

"I couldn't really go to class, hardly," Darden told The Times-Dispatch in August. "I really couldn't drive. It got to the point where I couldn't do normal functions."

Darden didn't participate in the Cavaliers' winter conditioning program or in spring practice. But when his headaches eased -- prayer and relaxation exercises helped -- Darden rejoined the team. He was moved to nose tackle before training camp and got his first start at that position Oct. 8 at Boston College. He made 13 tackles this season for the Cavaliers (4-3).

"Ron gave us a real good boost," Groh said, "an unexpected boost, because at one point we didn't know if we'd ever have him back."

With Darden out, senior Kwakou Robinson and sophomore Keenan Carter will split time at nose tackle.

Darden saw numerous doctors and specialists after last season. They determined that his headaches weren't migraines, though some of the symptoms were similar. Nor were the headaches related to concussions. Darden's father, Roy, told the T-D in August that he believed stress contributed to his son's headaches.

 

Groh: Cavaliers not looking past Owls
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Nov 5, 2005
TEMPLE AT U.VA.
TODAY: 3:30 p.m. RADIO: WRVA (1140), 3 TICKETS: Sold out

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Clashes with Yellow Jackets, Hokies and Hurricanes are looming, but Owls have been his football team's only focus this week, according to University of Virginia football coach Al Groh.

"We see this as a critical game for the team," Groh said.

For a U.Va. team trying to advance to a bowl for the fourth consecutive season, a loss to Temple would be a devastating setback. Fortunately for the Cavaliers (4-3), that's not likely to happen. They're five-touchdown favorites over the Owls (0-9), whose dismal season figures to get worse today at Scott Stadium.

Temple's players know their coach, Bobby Wallace, is stepping down after the Nov. 19 season finale at Navy. They've been battered and beaten all fall, losing by fewer than 20 points only once, and the prospect of playing this month may not thrill them.

"It'll be interesting to see how our kids react to it," said Wallace, who was in his first season as the Owls' coach when they stunned Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium in 1998.

Virginia, which didn't play last weekend, has considerably more at stake this month. After facing Temple, the Wahoos will play two more home games before closing the regular season Nov. 26 against fifth-ranked Miami (3-1, 6-1) in the Orange Bowl. Georgia Tech (3-2, 5-2) visits Scott Stadium next Saturday, and third-ranked Virginia Tech (5-0, 8-0) comes to town Nov. 19.

"November is when college football seasons are made," Groh said.

Assuming the Cavs prevail today, they would need to win one of their remaining games to become bowl-eligible. Two victories in that final stretch - or three - would erase much of the disappointment caused by U.Va.'s 7-5 loss at North Carolina on Oct. 22.

"I definitely feel like we still have a chance to make this a great season," sophomore defensive end Chris Long said.

As has been the case in most games this year, the Cavaliers aren't at full strength. Junior tailback Michael Johnson, U.Va.'s leading rusher, injured an ankle against UNC and won't play today. Sophomore tight end Jonathan Stupar, the team's second-leading receiver, also has a bad ankle and likely will be held out.

The good news for Virginia is that senior quarterback Marques Hagans declared himself "110 percent" Tuesday. Hagans, the star of U.Va.'s Oct. 15 upset of Florida State, hurt a hamstring in that game, and the injury adversely affected his play against North Carolina. Moreover, outside linebacker Jermaine Dias, who began the season as a starter but hasn't played since Sept. 24, is back.

A year after leading the ACC in rushing, U.Va. has struggled to run the ball consistently. Contributing heavily to the Cavaliers' decline in that area have been injuries to senior tailback Wali Lundy, senior tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, senior center Brian Barthelmes and sophomore guard Marshal Ausberry.

Temple's defense, like its offense, ranks among the worst in Division I-A, and Virginia's running game shouldn't encounter much resistance today. But tougher challenges await the Cavaliers, who have had to rely heavily on the improvisational genius of Hagans this season. Can U.Va.'s beleaguered offensive line finally become the force that many expected it to be?

"For us to be able to play the kind of ball that has to be played in the month of November, that's got to become the case," Groh said.

 

UVa hopes to avoid Temple of doom
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
November 5, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Al Groh lives for this time of the season.
It's November, the stretch run, a chance for a team to make or break its season. That's certainly the case for Virginia (4-3), which sits two wins shy of becoming bowl eligible for the fourth straight season.

"What happens in November is going to determine how it all writes out," Groh said. "We've told (our players), 'This is the way it's going to be every November. This is fun. This isn't something to get uptight about. ? This is exciting. This is where seasons are made. This is where you've got to step up and put it out there on the field and show what you've got.'"

Three of UVa's next four games, including today's 3:30 p.m. game against Temple, will be at Scott Stadium, where Virginia has been tough to beat. The Cavaliers are perfect at home this season (as opposed to 1-3 on the road) and are 19-3 in Charlottesville since 2002, including a 5-1 mark in November.

"Certainly I see (playing at home) as a positive," Groh said. "It would encourage me more if the teams weren't quite who they are."

UVa's home slate includes Georgia Tech on Nov. 12 and No. 3 Virginia Tech on Nov. 19. Virginia closes its regular season at No. 5 Miami, which means getting the requisite two wins to become bowl eligible could be an uphill climb.

"We've got some great teams coming up and I see those as great opportunities," UVa defensive end Chris Long said.

Well, not this week.

Temple (0-9) is as bad as it gets. The Owls, booted from the Big East conference after last year for their non-competitiveness and sub-par facilities, have lost 16 of their last 17 games. Only one of their games this year has been closer than 20 points.

ACC teams have taken particular delight in beating up on Temple this season. In consecutive weeks, the Owls lost to Maryland 38-7, Miami 34-3 and Clemson 37-7.

Temple's Bobby Wallace is a lame-duck coach, choosing not to return for a ninth season after posting 19-69 record in his eight years with the school. Despite recording two perfect seasons at Division II North Alabama before joining the Owls, he has never won more than four games in a season since joining Temple.

As a program, Temple has had one winning season since 1985.

So today's game might be more about Virginia working out the kinks, and there's plenty to work out.

The Cavaliers are coming off a five-point effort in a letdown loss to North Carolina two weeks ago. Virginia gained less than 200 yards of offense and failed to capitalize on good field position several times when a field goal is all that was needed to pull out an ugly win.

"(The Tar Heels) had a good game plan and everything, but we couldn't get anything going," said UVa quarterback Marques Hagans, who threw for 109 yards in the loss. "We never really got in rhythm. ? We couldn't block anybody. We couldn't complete any passes. I didn't make a lot of the right reads. It was just a bad day all around for the offense."

Of course, a bye and two weeks of rest could help the Cavaliers. Hagans was playing at less than 100 percent against UNC, feeling the aftereffects from his outstanding but exhausting showing against Florida State. The extra week also gave left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, linebacker Ahmad Brooks and tailback Wali Lundy a chance to heal from nagging injuries.

UVa even expects outside linebacker Jermaine Dias, who missed four games and five weeks after slightly fracturing his right foot against Duke, to be back in a limited role.

The return of those players will help the Cavaliers in their effort to erase the memory of last year's fade down the stretch. After finishing 2001 by going 3-1 and 2002 by going 3-0, Virginia lost three of its last four games last season, including an MPC Computers Bowl meltdown loss to Fresno State.

Though an ACC Championship is well out of reach, the Cavaliers still feel like they are playing for something.

"I definitely feel like we have a strong chance to make this a great season," Long said. "If you don't think that and you're on this team, then you don't have a place really."

 

ACC Bowl Picture Is Difficult to Predict
By Dan Steinberg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 1, 2005; E01

At the ACC's football kickoff event last summer, Commissioner John Swofford announced two new postseason bowl affiliations that would begin with the 2006 season. For the 2005 season, though, the expanded 12-team league would have to make do with just six automatic tie-ins.

"We're probably a little short on bowls for one year," Swofford said. "We'll want to do everything we can possibly do to have a home for all of our bowl-eligible teams if at all possible. But that will be a challenge this particular year."

Entering the final month of the ACC's regular season, though, the challenge is slightly different than expected. There could be far more than six bowl-eligible teams: up to nine, 10 or even 11 ACC teams could theoretically finish with the requisite six wins. Or, for the first time in its history, the ACC could fail to fill its bowl slots; at least one realistic scenario would leave just five teams with a winning record.

"That's just the kind of season it is in this conference right now," Virginia Coach Al Groh said during a conference call with reporters Sunday. "There seem to be so many teams that are in a position or in a necessity to fight their brains out to try to win six."

The explanation for such a glut of possibilities lies in the league's top-heavy nature this season. Four schools -- Virginia Tech, Miami, Florida State and Boston College -- are already bowl eligible and nationally ranked, giving the ACC more top 20 teams than any conference other than the Southeastern Conference. Those four schools are a combined 13-1 against the rest of the league. And the excellence at the top yields to parity in the middle, with half of the league's teams having either three or four wins and straddling the postseason fence.

"I think we're a better team than 4-4 but we've got to go out and prove it," said Maryland Coach Ralph Friedgen, whose team needs to win two of its final three games to qualify for the postseason. "When you look at it, we're all about .500 other than the top four. Whoever's going to finish the strongest is going to get a chance to go to the bowl games."

If there are too many bowl-eligible teams, the possible surplus destinations include the two bowls with guaranteed at-large berths: the Liberty Bowl in Memphis and the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego. Swofford said yesterday the conference has already been in touch with several other bowls that might have openings if their conference affiliations fall through.

And if there are too few eligible teams?

"I'll be surprised if we don't have six, but that could happen," Swofford said. "To be going into November with 11 teams having a shot at bowl eligibility is I think a real positive thing. . . . It keeps fans interested deeper into the season and it keeps a carrot out there in front of the players and coaches in terms of postseason possibilities. The longer that goes, I think the better it is for the league."

Adding to the confusion is the possibility that the ACC could send two teams to the Bowl Championship Series for the first time. Virginia Tech, ranked third in this week's BCS standings, likely would receive one of two at-large berths to one of the four BCS games if, for example, its first loss came in the ACC championship. That would then scramble the resulting bowl pecking order; the Gator Bowl would be choosing the third ACC team instead of the second, and the Meineke Car Care Bowl and MPC Computers Bowl could both be left without an ACC team if only five qualify.

"We need another week or two before I start getting heartache over that," said Will Webb, the executive director of the Meineke Car Care Bowl. "It's a crazy season; there's so much parity in the middle. I don't think this season's unfolded at all the way anybody expected."

In any case, Virginia, by virtue of its meeting this Saturday with lowly Temple and its three remaining home games, is among the best-situated of the ACC's three- and four-win teams. While the Cavaliers are the ACC's only middle-of-the-pack team with a win against one of the Big Four (Florida State), they still must face Virginia Tech at home and play at Miami. So their postseason fate could hinge on their Nov. 12 game against Georgia Tech; that game will begin at 3:30 and be televised regionally on ABC, the league announced yesterday.

All things being equal, the ACC prefers for its schools not to attend the same bowl twice in a row; the Cavaliers went to Charlotte in both 2002 and 2003, and to Boise last year.

Maryland, which has a bye this week and also has four wins, plays two of its final three games on the road. The Terps travel to North Carolina and N.C. State; in between is a home game against Boston College. The North Carolina game will be played at either noon or 7:15 p.m.; the decision will be made by ESPN no later than Sunday.

Six wins could send Maryland to Boise, which has the fifth pick of non-BCS teams and has never hosted the Terps.

"Obviously, it'd be a big draw for us because they've never been here, and we'd love to have an opportunity to invite them," said Gary Beck, executive director of the MPC Computers Bowl.

The payoff for a postseason appearance varies in proportion to the prestige of the bowl, ranging from the mid-six figures to about $14 million for a BCS game -- the Fiesta Bowl, Sugar Bowl, Orange Bowl or Rose Bowl.

Elsewhere, Navy also needs two wins in its final four games to become bowl eligible, and its four remaining opponents -- Tulane, Notre Dame, Temple and Army -- have a combined record of 8-22. Without a conference affiliation, the Midshipmen have no bowl tie-ins. But they have sold a combined 43,000 tickets for their previous two bowl games and would be an attractive choice for the Poinsettia, Liberty or Houston bowls, although several other bowls have also made contact with Navy officials. The Poinsettia Bowl is expected to have representatives in Annapolis this weekend, when Navy hosts Tulane.

"I would feel very confident that if we hit the number and get the six wins that we need, we'll be somewhere in the postseason," Navy Athletic Director Chet Gladchuk said. "The bowl execs know that Navy delivers."