Cavs need to limit Jackets' offense
Georgia Tech wide receiver Calvin Johnson poses a big threat to Virginia's defense.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
November 12, 2005

Looking back, Georgia Tech's coaches could've expected this.

They have one of the nation's best wide receivers in Calvin Johnson. But that shouldn't surprise them.

Physically, he's a prototype: 6-foot-4, 230 pounds.

Statistically, he's ranked among the nation's top 10 receivers coming out of high school.

Geographically, he grew up in Tyrone, Ga., 25 miles south of Atlanta - well within eyeshot of Tech's recruiters.

Johnson leads the Atlantic Coast Conference with 90.6 receiving yards per game and is second with five touchdowns. As a true freshman last season, he led the Yellow Jackets with 837 yards and seven touchdowns. He was ACC Rookie of the Year. In two seasons, he's averaged 17.8 yards per catch.

"I've seen him make a lot of plays over the last two years when there's not much to tell the defensive back other than to console him," Virginia coach Al Groh said.

Today, Johnson is U.Va.'s problem. He and the No. 24 Yellow Jackets play the Cavaliers at 3:30 p.m. at Scott Stadium. While Georgia Tech (6-2, 4-2) is already eligible for a bowl game, Virginia (5-3, 2-3) needs just one win to qualify.

Today's game begins a string of three consecutive ranked opponents for the Cavs. It'll be the third time in school history that U.Va. has played three straight regular-season games against ranked teams. The others were 1949, when it went 1-2, and 2002, when it played four straight and went 2-2.

Johnson, a sophomore, should concern U.Va. for two reasons.

First, the Cavs have the ACC's second-worst passing defense, allowing 225.9 yards per game. Second, Johnson's size.

"From that standpoint," Groh said, "he wins the matchup every time before the ball is snapped." U.Va.'s corners are 5-foot-11 Marcus Hamilton and 5-foot-9 true freshman Mike Brown. How will Groh avoid a Johnson-Brown matchup?

"Make sure they go to opposite sides of the field," he said.

The Cavs' secondary is altered this week. Redshirt freshman walk-on Byron Glaspy will start at safety for Tony Franklin because Franklin was one of four Cavs suspended Thursday for breaking an unspecified team rule. (The others were wide receiver Ottowa Anderson, defensive end Vince Redd and nose tackle Kwakou Robinson.)

Virginia mimicked Johnson's jumping ability in practice with two of its own 6-foot-4 wideouts: Fontel Mines and Maurice Covington. The Cavs faced a tall receiver on Oct. 15, when 6-foot-6 Greg Carr caught three passes for Florida State. But Groh said his defensive backs learn more from playing Mines and Covington in practice.

Last season against U.Va., Johnson caught five passes for 108 yards but had no touchdowns. Limiting Johnson's catches, though, might not be the best way to stop him. He had four catches for 98 yards last Saturday against Wake Forest.

Maybe the best way to slow Johnson is to bother Tech quarterback Reggie Ball, who is a pesky dual threat with eight touchdown passes and three touchdown runs.

"We have to keep him in the pocket while pressuring him," U.Va. defensive end Chris Long said. "That's tough to do because those two ideas are pretty different."

Virginia has a lot on the line today
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
November 12, 2005

How important is today’s game with Georgia Tech?

Aside from trying to become bowl eligible, Virginia’s football team will provide a number of residents from the Commonwealth, who are currently stationed in Iraq, with a 3- to 4-hour lifeline to life in Central Virginia.

UVa’s Athletics Department and the Office of Telemedicine at the UVa Health System will connect military personnel overseas with the events at Scott Stadium today at 3:30 p.m. with a live broadcast and use live cut-ins from bases at Camp Cooke, Camp Fallujah and Al-Asad prior to a Veteran’s Day tribute by the Cavalier Marching Band at halftime.

On the gridiron, Virginia (5-3, 2-3 ACC) will try to rally its troops against Georgia Tech (6-2, 4-2) just two days after suspensions were handed out to four players - starting safety Tony Franklin, starting nose tackle Kwakou Robinson and two reserves, defensive end Vince Redd and wideout Ottowa Anderson.

Will the suspensions provide the Cavaliers with an added sense of focus and urgency? Will Georgia Tech, a team that has already qualified for the postseason, take advantage of the inexperienced players filling those voids for Virginia?

While those questions remained unanswered, Virginia coach Al Groh has prepped his team for the challenge that the Yellow Jackets present on both sides of the ball.

“I expect they’re going to be pretty darn good,” Groh said. “They’ve got a good defense that pressures the quarterback, that’s good on third down, that doesn’t give up very many rushing yards. That usually makes for a pretty good defense.

“They’ve got a good running game, with a really good back. They’ve got a good quarterback. They’ve got a really good receiver, and they’ve got a really good punter.”

Everything starts for Georgia Tech on the defensive end. The Yellow Jackets would just assume make today’s game a field goal kicking contest.

“Well, there’s a lot of action that goes on with [Georgia Tech’s defense],” Groh said. “They are very active in some defensive schemes. They’ve got good schemes. They’ve got active players. They’ve got a really good pass rusher. They’ve got a really good linebacker. They’re pretty solid across the board. There’s no area that you pick out and say that you can go after these guys.”

If Virginia’s defense has an advantage, it could come from its practice sessions. Virginia quarterback Marques Hagans is readily compared to Georgia Tech’s signal caller Reggie Ball.

Both are mobile in the pocket. Both can burn defensive units with their arms or their legs. Both are dual threats.

Hagans has rushed for 226 yards, passed for 1,583 yards (completing 135 of 224 attempts) and has 10 touchdowns.

Ball has gained 219 yards on the ground and tossed the pigskin for 1,400 yards and eight TDs.

Hagans has thrown eight interceptions, one more than Ball.

“It kind of seems as if we’ve seen Ball eight times already this year,” Groh said, pointing out the importance of practicing against Hagans. “At least they don’t have to try to dream it up and then go into the game and realize, ‘Wow, [Ball’s] a lot faster than I thought he was going to be.’ If they can use Marques as a benchmark, they shouldn’t be surprised by the speed at which [Ball] escapes.”

History is on Virginia’s side.

Georgia Tech has not won in Charlottesville since 1990, when placekicker Scott Sisson stunned the top-ranked Cavaliers and a jammed packed crowd at Scott Stadium with a fourth quarter field goal, which delivered a heartbreaking 41-38 victory.

 

Schmidt to shatter DL start record
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
November 12, 2005

Make no mistake about it, Brennan Schmidt is a warrior. When he takes the field at Scott Stadium today for Virginia’s key conference battle against visiting Georgia Tech, the Cavaliers’ senior defensive end will quietly reach a milestone for defensive linemen.

Today should be Schmidt’s 48th consecutive start as a Wahoo, the most ever by a UVa defensive lineman, and two shy of the school’s all-time record of 50 set by Will Brice. No offense to Brice, but a punter holding the record is perhaps the greatest testament to how difficult it is to reach such a consecutive game-starting streak.

Punters don’t get beaten up like their teammates, particularly linemen like Schmidt, who has sucked it up and played with pain and injuries that would keep a lesser man on the bench.

How many times have we watched the big defensive end ramble off the field, holding his arm as if he were some sort of a Frankenstein-esque creation looking for the mad scientist to attach a new limb, only to reappear a few plays later.

Leader by example

“Brennan came with a very strong will and a very strong passion to succeed,” UVa coach Al Groh said. “Really from the outset, he had one of those ‘Can do’ attitudes. Whatever it took, and really in Brennan’s case I would say whatever it took on a day-to-day basis.”

Schmidt, who admits he’s not the prototypical defensive end for Groh’s 3-4 defense, has been a steady force for Virginia for the past four seasons, both on and off the field. He is a leader by example in practice and the weight room. When he felt the team needed to become closer in the off-season, “Schmitty,” as his teammates refer to him, organized an assortment of activities for the players.

Also an honor student with a 3.49 GPA, Schmidt is one of seven semifinalists for the Lott Trophy, an award named for Ronnie Lott that goes to the athlete judged on both on-field and off-field performance. Lott, who knows something about toughness, would like Brennan Schmidt.

More compliments

“He’s a great representative of the University of Virginia and I couldn’t be happier for a human being like him to pass me and hopefully go on and set all the starting records here,” said former Cavalier defensive end Mike Frederick, who will share the school record for defensive linemen at 47 up to kickoff. “The sheer pounding and what it takes physically to play defensive end, particularly in the 3-4, where those guys really anchor the defense and take so many hits in order to let the linebackers run sideline to sideline is impressive.”

Frederick, now an associate director for the Virginia Athletic Foundation, personally went over to congratulate Schmidt on the feat on Friday.

“The streak meant a lot to me and I’m sure Schmitty would say the same thing,” said the colorful Frederick, who used to show up for media interviews with Hawaiian shirts, a goatee and mullet. “There were weeks when I was on crutches on Thursday, usually just a precautionary thing, but was able to play on Saturday.”

Frederick, who went on to play in the NFL, said that he owed a lot to his coaches who have to trust a player on whether he is healthy enough to get the job done. He also praised the work of UVa’s strength coaches at the time (John Gamble and Eric Fears) and its medical team of Dr. Frank McCue, Joe Gieck and Ethan Saliba.

Schmidt is one of six players in the nation who owns the longest current starting streak of 47 games. Teammate D’Brickashaw Ferguson would have matched that number today had it not been for a knee injury suffered in the Duke game earlier this season. Ferguson stopped his streak at 42 games.

No wonder Groh must have winced a little when he saw Schmitty come off the field during last week’s Temple game after taking a helmet to his side.

“Knowing the circumstances in which Brennan stayed on the field last year, with the things that he was experiencing and had to endure, whenever he comes off the field you know that he was troubled by something,” Groh said. “So, that always really gets my attention.”

As long as Schmidt remained warmed up after that thigh bruise from the helmet, he was OK during the game. However, the lingering effect bothered the big end throughout last weekend and early into this game week.

As proud of Schmidt as Groh is, he would have enjoyed watching Ferguson share the record.

“That would have been nice,” the coach said. “D’Brickashaw has been so healthy during his seasons here that it was fairly safe to go into a season anticipating that he would break the record, too. I think he had missed one or two practice days in three years.”

As Groh pointed out, it’s not easy for an offensive lineman to work his way into the record books outside of postseason honors, so it would have been gratifying to have something tangible from a performance standpoint for the preseason All-American left tackle.

While the streaks are a source of pride for Schmitty and the Brick, for Frederick and anyone who knows what such a mark requires, all that will take a backseat to today’s challenge of beating Georgia Tech.

Virginia’s entire season could be on the line today, which has grabbed the attention of every current and former Wahoo. All that other stuff can wait.

 

Cavs trounce Concordia in exhibition match
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
November 12, 2005

Enthusiasm stemming from exhibition games should always be tempered.

Former University of Virginia coach Pete Gillen was the John Wooden of exhibitions, losing just one contest in seven years. Anyone remember that 121-29 win the Cavs squeaked out over Lehman College last season?

That being said, the Cavaliers looked pretty good against Concordia in Dave Leitao’s debut as head coach at University Hall on Friday night.

The Cavs’ backcourt of Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds was sharp. Tunji Soroye was an intimidator down low. Freshman Mamdi Diane showed poise.

However, Leitao wasn’t so sure about the team’s 98-62 victory in front of a crowd of 1,848.

“I’ve got to look at the film and see if maybe it’s fools gold,” Leitao said. “I don’t know whether I’m happy or unhappy.

“I was a little apprehensive about what we’d look like because we’re in the middle of [teaching] a lot of things. As the game played on, I saw a lot of those things play out … things we need to work on if we want to get better.”

Leitao’s starting lineup consisted of Singletary, Reynolds, Soroye, Diane and Laurynas Mikalauskas. The latter two starting was a mild surprise since they are both freshman.

Mikalauskas got himself in early foul trouble and only saw 10 minutes of playing time. The Blue Ridge product finished with just two points and three rebounds.

Diane took better advantage of the starting gig, scoring 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting (which included two 3-pointers).

He also dished out three assists.

Diane’s greatest contribution came on the defensive end. The 6-foot-5 wing player keyed a second-half spurt that put the game out of reach.

“Mo guarded the ball very aggressively twice and we got some easy baskets out of it,” Leitao said. “During that stretch he almost changed the game by himself. Defense will always dictate how well you play on the other end of the floor.”

Diane, who had two blocks and a steal, said he just listened to his coach.

“In the huddle, [Leitao] told us we needed to step up our pressure, that we needed a spark,” Diane said. “I worked hard on pressuring the ball and we were able to create offense.”

Diane also provided one of the more exciting plays in the first half. After a steal, he raced down court and dunked.

“He’s a real good scorer,” Singletary said. “He has to pick his spots and we need to keep him aggressive because we’re going to need a lot more scoring than J.R. and I this season.”

Singletary - who finished with 22 points and six assists - led the Cavs on the offensive end in the first half. The sophomore had 12 points, including a sweet mid-range jumper with a hand in his face at the buzzer that gave the Cavs a 47-35 lead at the break.

Reynolds had a slow first half, but got hot when it mattered. He finished with 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting.

The play of Soroye had to make Cavs’ fans feel good. The sophomore only finished with eight points, but was a real presence on the defensive end, blocking six shots. On one sequence, he swatted Concordia’s Ben McCarthy on successive attempts.

With post player Donte Minter and guard T.J. Bannister still working on getting back into game shape, Leitao’s bench was pretty short. It consisted of Adrian Joseph, Jason Cain and senior walk-on Billy Campbell.

Leitao’s ninth man off the bench was walk-on freshman forward Drew Shiembob, who was only added to the team earlier in the week.

The game featured a few Leitao tirades.

Late in the first half, Concordia’s Jamal Gallier snuck inside a couple of Cavs for a rebound and scored on an easy follow. Leitao was livid. He could be heard screaming from the other side of the court.

During the timeout, he got in the face of Joseph and Soroye before shouting: “This is what we’ve been talking about!”

Just as the exchange was really getting interesting, the UVa band started playing.
 

Cunningham expected to start again on line
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
November 11, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE - As the 2003 season concluded, Ian-Yates Cunningham seemed poised to be a fixture at left guard for Virginia for years to come. In his first year, Cunningham started the final five games, including the Continental Tire Bowl, and made The Sporting News' ACC All-Freshman Team.
He's been fighting just to get another shot since.

Cunningham is expected to start at right guard Saturday against Georgia Tech, filling in for injured Marshal Ausberry (left knee and ankle) for the second straight week.

A 6-foot-3, 291-pound sophomore, Cunningham missed the 2004 season after having back surgery and has since struggled to crack the starting lineup for performance reasons. In training camp, Cunningham was expected to battle Jordy Lipsey for the starting center job. Instead, UVa shifted utility lineman Brian Barthelmes from left guard to center.

"There wasn't much coming out of that No. 77 spot," Virginia head coach Al Groh said of Cunningham, who wears uniform No. 77.

Last week against Temple was Cunningham's first start since 2003. He played nearly every snap, which in itself is an accomplishment.

"I don't look at it trying to get back to the 2003 form," said Cunningham, who said his back is fine. "Two-thousand and three is done with. ? Now I look at just trying to get better from where I am right now."

"If we could get a little bit more here Saturday," Groh said, "maybe we'll be ? starting to see a development of a pattern."

Multi-tasker

The suspensions to Kwakou Robinson and Vince Redd trim the number of available defensive linemen at UVa's disposal. That makes Allen Billyk all the more valuable.

Billyk will back up both starting defensive ends and could see time at nose tackle if needed. A 6-foot-4, 278-pound sophomore, Billyk has quietly earned more playing time this year, playing 62 snaps, assisting on two tackles and recovering a fumble. He's not flashy, but that's not his game.

"One of the most important talents that a player can have is dependability," Groh said. "You know what you're going to get from him. ? He's going to be a solid, dependable, tough, multi-role player."

Groh said Billyk is one of the few players not bothered by playing both left and right defensive end.

Gould finds a groove

Almost a year ago, Chris Gould made his Cavaliers debut as a punter, getting the start at Georgia Tech after not playing in the first nine games of the season. A kicker/punter, Gould didn't find out he would play, let alone punt, until early that week. Things are a little clearer for him now.

"It feels like a much more natural thing for him now," Groh said.

Gould has averaged 39.5 yards per punt, dropping nine kicks inside the 20-yard line, and has a 34.8 net punting average. Though Virginia ranks 71st nationally in net punting, it's a drastic improvement from last year when it ranked second to last in Division I.

It's all good news for the Gould family. Chris' older brother Robbie, a former place-kicker at Penn State, took over the starting job for the Chicago Bears. He is 6 of 9 on field goal attempts this season with a long of 44 yards.

Not quite all the way back

In three games at inside linebacker since returning from offseason knee surgery and a sprained ankle, Ahmad Brooks has 11 tackles and one sack. Those are decent numbers, but not All-American caliber. Anything more might be too much to ask for right now.

"I don't think he's at quite the same level that he was last year at this stage," Groh said. "Basically his season's been about 14 days of practice and three games. I think it's pretty difficult for any linebacker to suddenly jump in and perform at a previous level, much less a developing linebacker."

Extra points

Groh said tailback Michael Johnson and tight end Jonathan Stupar were "significantly upgraded" on Wednesday and that there's a greater chance they'll get a normal amount of playing time Saturday. Both missed last week's game with ankle sprains? Covering Georgia Tech's 6-foot-4 star wideout Calvin Johnson is hard enough without giving up seven inches in height, like 5-foot-9 UVa cornerback Mike Brown does. How will the Cavaliers counter that size differential? "It's easy enough to make sure they go to opposite sides of the field," Groh joked. "I don't know what kind of success that will ensure, but at least it will get us off with a little less anxiety from the start."

- Andy Bitter
 

Cavs try to keep focus
Will recent suspensions have adverse effect when U.Va. takes field?
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Nov 12, 2005
GA. TECH AT U.VA.
TODAY: 3:30 p.m., Scott Stadium ON THE AIR: TV -- WRIC-8; radio -- WRVA (1140), 3 p.m. TICKETS: Sold out

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- University of Virginia football players aren't available for interviews after Tuesday on the week of a game. It's difficult, then, to gauge the team's reaction to Thursday's announcement that four players, including two starters, have been suspended for U.Va.'s crucial ACC game with Georgia Tech today.

Will the other Cavaliers rally together in the face of adversity and pull out a memorable victory? Or will the suspensions hurt team morale and contribute to a devastating loss?

We won't know until the game begins at Scott Stadium, but U.Va. coach Al Groh emphatically stated Thursday that he doesn't expect the suspensions to distract his players. They'll have their "full focus on the game," Groh said.

Even at full strength, Virginia (2-3, 5-3) had reason to worry about 24th-ranked Georgia Tech (4-2, 6-2). The Cavaliers' challenge looks significantly greater now. They'll take on the Yellow Jackets without starting safety Tony Franklin, starting nose tackle Kwakou Robinson, second-team defensive end Vince Redd and special-teams standout Ottowa Anderson, a backup at wide receiver.

Expected to make their first starts for U.Va. today are sophomore nose tackle Keenan Carter and redshirt freshman safety Byron Glaspy, a walk-on who joined the team after the 2004 season.

Groh spent part of the week investigating the unspecified violations of team rules by Franklin, Robinson, Redd and Anderson. Yet Groh, whose team needs another victory to become bowl-eligible, didn't sound agitated or upset on his Thursday teleconference with reporters.

"It's been like a very normal week for me," Groh said. "Every week, there's usually something, be it an academic issue or a weight-room issue or something. There's an administrative or executive level to this job, besides just X's and O's. I'm just dealing with it as it goes on. It's not distracting my focus or the focus of the team on this game."

The Jackets haven't won at Scott Stadium since 1990, when they upset top-ranked Virginia 41-38.

"That's a motivation factor for us, that we can go up there and make history," Georgia Tech safety Chris Reis said.

After a humiliating 51-7 loss at Virginia Tech, the Yellow Jackets fell 17-14 against N.C. State in Atlanta. Since then, however, Georgia Tech has won three in a row. The Jackets became bowl-eligible last weekend with a 30-17 victory over Wake Forest.

"They're good," Groh said. "They got a good defense that pressures the quarterback, that's good on third down, that doesn't give up very many rushing yards. That usually makes for a pretty good defense.

"They got a good running game with a real good back. They got a good quarterback. They got a real good receiver, and they got a real good punter. So, I think if you passed around a blank piece of paper to most coaches on Aug. 1 and asked them to create a little bit of a shopping list of things they'd like to be good at, that would pretty much check all the boxes off."

Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey said, "That's a nice compliment. Our list might be different, but we've got some good facets to our football team."

The Jackets' best player is sophomore wide receiver Calvin Johnson, who has 40 catches for 725 yards and five touchdowns. At 6-4, he's significantly taller than either of U.Va.'s starting cornerbacks: 5-11 Marcus Hamilton and 5-9 Mike Brown.

Georgia Tech's quarterback, Reggie Ball, doesn't measure up to Johnson, either. But the 5-11, 195-pound Ball can punish defenses with his feet as well as his arm. U.Va. defenders, of course, see a quarterback like Ball every day in practice: 5-10, 209-pound Marques Hagans.

"At least they don't have to try to dream it up and then go into the game and realize, 'Wow, he's a lot faster than I thought he was going to be,'" Groh said. "If they can use Marques as a benchmark, they shouldn't be surprised by the speed at which [Ball] escapes."

 

Absentees give Jackets a leg up
By MIKE KNOBLER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/12/05
If a team is only as good as its players, then No. 24 Georgia Tech might have gotten a little better this week, and Virginia surely got a bit worse.

Defensive tackle Joe Anoai's recovery from an ankle injury has gone well enough that Tech coach Chan Gailey calls him probable for today's game. If Anoai plays, that gives Tech's already strong defense its best interior lineman, a guy capable of penetrating and disrupting and wreaking havoc. It also gives the Yellow Jackets a full complement of regular starters on both sides of the ball, a strong place to be for a team playing its ninth game of the season.

Virginia, meanwhile, lost four players this week, suspended for violations of team policy. Two of the four were starters, and the others were key backups.

It can't help the Cavaliers defense to be without captain Tony Franklin, a starting safety, senior Kwakou Robinson, a starting nose tackle, and Vince Redd, the top backup at defensive end.

It can't help Virginia's offense or special teams to be without backup receiver Ottowa Anderson, who played in kickoff coverage and on kickoff and punt returns.

Both coaches downplayed the effect of the suspensions. Coaches always do. There's something in the coaching code about focusing on the players who are there rather than the ones who aren't.

"It's not going to be a distraction, to myself or to the team," Virginia's Al Groh said, as if declaring it could make it so.

Virginia announced the suspensions on Thursday. Tech's Chan Gailey said it wouldn't affect his game plan.

"We wouldn't change anything at this point," Gailey said, but he will be on the lookout for how the personnel changes affect the Cavaliers. "You see if they're changing anything because of the new people, and if they're not changing anything, you continue on with your plan."

Today's game was expected to be a close one, with Virginia less than a touchdown favorite. So even small changes in personnel could make a huge difference.

But Gailey said there's no guarantee the suspensions will hurt the Cavaliers. They could become a rallying point.

"First of all, they're going to have good players [filling in]," he said. "Most of the time, guys realize they have to rally in this situation. They'll band together and fight. That's exactly how I expect them to handle it."


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Virginia good in air, middling on ground

Georgia Tech fans frustrated with their team's offense ought to have a talk with their friends from Virginia.

Virginia upset previously unbeaten Florida State 26-21 one week before scoring only a field goal and a safety in a 7-5 loss at North Carolina the next week.

The Tar Heels' secret?

"They kept [quarterback Marques] Hagans under control for the most part," Tech coach Chan Gailey said. "They didn't allow the big play. They made them go all the way down the field."

Virginia threw for only 109 yards against a North Carolina defense Tech's Reggie Ball torched for 320.

"When you see them pass they've been outstanding," Tech strong safety Chris Reis said. "That's how they beat Florida State."

Virginia threw for 306 yards in that game and threw for 270 yards while scoring 33 points in a loss at Maryland.

But after having an overpowering running game that led the league last season, the Cavaliers have become average on the ground. That's true despite the presence of 6-foot-5, 289-pound left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, a first-team All-ACC selection.

The problem: running back Wali Lundy's sprained foot, suffered in the season opener. Lundy's 113 yards last week against Temple might show he's finally 100 percent.

"If he's not, I can't tell," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "You can almost tell by the bounce in his step and the smile on his face. That provides a clearer answer than any other thing that he really feels good about his soundness and what he's able to do."


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Hagans poses double threat

If you like to watch quarterbacks run, then this is the game for you. Virginia's Marques Hagans and Georgia Tech's Reggie Ball rank behind only Virginia Tech's Marcus Vick in yards rushing by an ACC quarterback this season.

That means neither team can afford to let the opposing quarterback break containment.

"It's kind of like playing Reggie," Georgia Tech linebacker Gerris Wilkinson said. "He's a very good athlete. Whenever the first and second read isn't open, he's going to pull it down and run. He hurt us a lot with that last year. He's the key to their offense.

"We need to make sure we're where we need to be in pass coverage and contain him in the pocket."

Tech defensive end Eric Henderson is very aware of what Hagans can do.

"He's a mobile quarterback, a little more mobile than [Wake Forest's Cory] Randolph and [Clemson's Charlie] Whitehurst," Henderson said. "It's going to be a challenge."

That doesn't mean the Yellow Jackets can't have an effective pass rush today. Unlike Ball, who has been sacked just four times all season, Hagans frequently holds onto the ball long enough for the defense to get to him. Hagans has been sacked 22 times. Watch for Henderson, who stripped the ball from the quarterback on three sacks in the last two games.

In fact, all four of Henderson's sacks this season have resulted in fumbles. Tech coach Chan Gailey said that's no accident.

"You have to understand where you're coming from and where the ball is," Gailey said. "Does [the quarterback] hold the ball high? Does he hold the ball low? Is he starting to run?"

While Henderson leads the league in fumbles forced, Virginia's Kai Parham leads the league with 8 1/2 sacks. He'll have a challenge sacking Ball, who has been highly successful at throwing the ball away rather than getting hit behind the line.


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Revived offense faces 3-4 defense

Georgia Tech's offense is coming off arguably its best game of the season, a 30-point effort against Wake Forest in which the run and the pass both worked and the Jackets played turnover-free.

The next challenge: take on a 3-4 defense for the first time, meaning new assignments for the young offensive line.

The Cavaliers have given up their share of yards; they're 10th in the ACC in total defense. But they've been better since Ahmad Brooks got healthy. Brooks, a preseason All-America linebacker, missed the first three games because of knee surgery, then missed another with an ankle injury. In the three games he has started at inside linebacker, Virginia has beaten Florida State, held North Carolina to seven points and held Temple to three. The other inside linebacker, Kai Parham, leads the ACC in sacks.

"They're probably the two most physical guys we've faced at that position this year," Tech coach Chan Gailey said. "There is a physical matchup that we have to be able to go out and compete against."

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Road gets steep if Cavaliers lose

Remember where Georgia Tech was last week, needing to beat Wake Forest to become bowl eligible before an imposing stretch of games to close out the season?

Well, that's where Virginia stands today.

If the Cavaliers don't win today as four-point favorites over the No. 24 Yellow Jackets, they need to upset No. 8 Virginia Tech or No. 3 Miami to qualify for a bowl.

A losing season and a second-division finish in the ACC Coastal Division would be a huge step back for the Cavaliers, who have won at least eight games each of the last three years while finishing in ties for second, fourth and third in the ACC after going 5-7 overall, 3-5 in league play in Al Groh's first season.

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If Georgia Tech wins Saturday, it . . .

• pulls within a half-game of first place in the Coastal Division.

• clinches its best ACC record since 2000.

• gets victory No. 7 on the earliest date since Nov. 9, 2000.

• gets its first victory in Charlottesville since 1990.

• extends its winning streak to four, matching its longest streak under Chan Gailey.

If Virginia wins today it ...

• qualifies for a bowl for the fourth consecutive season.

• extends its home winning streak to five games.

• extends its winning streak vs. Georgia Tech to three.

• extends its home winning streak vs. Georgia Tech to seven.

• knocks off a ranked team for the second time this season, after upsetting No. 4 Florida State on Oct. 15.

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FLASHBACK

• Last time: Virginia 30, Georgia Tech 10 (2004)

• Star of the game: Marcus Hamilton intercepted two passes in the end zone, and the Virginia defense held Georgia Tech to three points through three quarters.

• It's history: Virginia ran for 207 yards; no team has gained that many on the ground against Tech in the 10 games since.

• Coachspeak: "It is probably the best offensive line that we have played all year." — Tech coach Chan Gailey

• Stat that matters: Tech had four turnovers, Virginia none.

• They said it: "This one hurts. It's Senior Day, our last home game. . . . This one will probably be with me for awhile." — Tech center Andy Tidwell-Neal