Groh says Lyles likely to stay sidelined
Coach indicates status of four punished players for Tech game is unclear
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Nov 14, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Sophomore safety Nate Lyles remains hospitalized and isn't likely to play again this season. That much University of Virginia coach Al Groh disclosed last night on his teleconference with reporters.

When or if Lyles will play football again remains unclear, as does the status of four players for this weekend's showdown with seventh-ranked Virginia Tech at sold-out Scott Stadium.

The Cavaliers (3-3, 6-3) play the Hokies (5-1, 8-1), who are tied for the lead in the ACC's Coastal Division, at noon Saturday. ESPN will televise the battle for the Commonwealth Cup.

U.Va. announced Thursday that junior safety Tony Franklin, senior nose tackle Kwakou Robinson, senior wideout Ottowa Anderson and sophomore defensive end Vince Redd had violated an unspecified team policy and would not play two days later against Georgia Tech. Franklin and Robinson are starters, and Anderson and Redd are key reserves, but their absence didn't keep Virginia from beating the then-No. 24 Yellow Jackets 27-17.

To rejoin the team, Groh said last night, the four players will "have to satisfy me and satisfy some protocol in some areas." Asked if any or all of them would play against Virginia Tech, Groh said, "I think it's too early for me to say."

Groh said he didn't know where they were during the Georgia Tech game.

"I really didn't give them much thought," he said. "I was thinking about the guys who helping us win."

Lyles was injured late in the first quarter Saturday while trying to tackle Jackets tailback P.J. Daniels. Lyles temporarily lost feeling in his extremities and, after about 10 minutes, was placed on a spine board and carted off the field.

He spent Saturday night at the University of Virginia Medical Center, and everything "is going positively," Groh, who'd visited Lyles in the hospital, said last night. "They're still doing some testing and some determination for the long-term prognosis."

After overcoming so much adversity and beating Georgia Tech, the U.Va. players have reason to "feel good about themselves," Groh said Saturday night.

"I think they're certainly going to need that, because I think we probably have one of the best teams that's ever played in Scott Stadium coming in here next week."

In its most recent game, Virginia Tech lost 27-7 to the Miami Hurricanes at Lane Stadium on Nov. 5. But the Hokies remain formidable, and they've dominated the series with U.Va. in recent years.

"It'll be all we can do to get ready for them," Groh said Saturday night. "They've had a week off to self-scout, to scout Virginia, to rest up, to watch us play. That's a big advantage. I know it's a big advantage when we have a week off."

Last night, Groh expanded on those comments. He said it "can be a significant advantage when one team has a bye and the other team doesn't. Frankly, I think the conference ought to have no byes in the month of November, when there's so much on the line. Everybody ought to go into the game with the same amount of preparation time."

 

Lyles' season likely over
Safety Nate Lyles suffered an apparent head or neck injury in Saturday's victory over Georgia Tech.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
November 14, 2005

Virginia safety Nate Lyles' season is probably over, U.Va. coach Al Groh said Sunday.

Lyles, a sophomore, appeared to hurt his head or neck Saturday in the first quarter of U.Va.'s 27-17 win over Georgia Tech. He was taken off the field on a spine board and driven to the University of Virginia hospital. He spent Saturday night there and was scheduled to stay Sunday night for more observation and testing, Groh said. The coach expected to have more information today.

Groh said he visited Lyles but wouldn't detail his condition or the nature of his injury. After the game, Groh said U.Va.'s medical staff told him all tests were positive and that Lyles could move his arms and legs. "Our team doctors are still kind of waiting to get some more information directly from the specialist in this area," Groh said Sunday.

Lyles was injured with 4:07 left in the first quarter while trying to tackle Tech running back P.J. Daniels.

As Daniels jumped to avoid a defender, his knee hit Lyles under the chin. Lyles lay motionless near midfield for about 10 minutes. He moved only his right hand as trainers put him on a cart.

His parents, Rashida Foluke and Ernest Lyles, attended Saturday's game and could not be reached for comment Sunday.

Lyles' injury further complicates Virginia's safety position. "It's obviously an issue with us," Groh said.

Safety Tony Franklin was one of four players suspended Saturday for breaking an unspecified team rule. He and Lyles started every game this season before Saturday.

Groh said Sunday it's too early to tell if the suspended players will play this Saturday against Virginia Tech. (Wide receiver Ottowa Anderson, defensive end Vince Redd and nose tackle Kwakou Robinson also were suspended.) The four have not practiced.

In order to play, Groh said, "They'll have to satisfy me and satisfy some protocol in some areas." Groh refused to say when he'd decide the players' status. Redshirt freshman walk-on Byron Glaspy and sophomore Jamaal Jackson took over for Lyles and Franklin against Georgia Tech. Glaspy assumed Lyles' role of calling out defensive coverages.

Quite the responsibility for a kid who originally planned to play at Division I-AA Georgetown. Harvard and Lehigh also recruited Glaspy, who attended Ridge High in Basking Ridge, N.J. But when Virginia accepted Glaspy - based, of course, on his academics - he decided to attend U.Va. and walk on.

Glaspy, an engineering major, showed up last fall, and coaches told him the roster was full. Come back in the spring, they said. When he did, he made the team. Though this is his first year playing football, he's a redshirt freshman because the NCAA's eligibility clock - which gives athletes five academic years to play four seasons - starts when a student enrolls.

Before Saturday, Glaspy played only against Temple. His first stage-fright moment came midway through the second quarter Saturday, when Tech receiver Calvin Johnson zipped behind Glaspy and Jackson. But quarterback Reggie Ball threw an incomplete pass. "It was definitely a sigh of relief when that ball hit the ground and not his hands," Glaspy said.

NOTES

Now that U.Va. is eligible for a bowl game, Groh will examine the possibility of true freshman cornerback Chris Cook returning for that game. Cook broke his right leg Oct. 8 at Boston College. ... Tight end Tom Santi dressed but didn't play Saturday because of a hip injury. Groh decided before Saturday that Santi wouldn't play. Staff writer David Teel contributed to this story.

Lyles likely out for rest of season
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
November 14, 2005

When Al Groh walked into Virginia’s Scott Stadium locker room on Saturday night, he had two important items on his “to-do list.”

Of course he wanted to congratulate the Cavaliers on knocking off Georgia Tech, 27-17, a win that gave the team six wins, the necessary total for playing in a bowl game.

More importantly, Virginia’s fifth-year football coach told his players that one of their teammates - safety Nate Lyles - was steadily improving physically and had movement back in all his extremities.

The sophomore from Chicago was knocked out briefly after Georgia Tech tailback P.J. Daniels’ knee landed a blow on the defenders’ chin just 11 minutes into the game.

Lyles was held overnight on Saturday at the University of Virginia Medical Center and will remain there until today as additional tests are performed, Groh said.

During a weekly teleconference with reporters on Sunday, Groh said that despite the positive signs of improvement, Lyles would not play on Saturday against Virginia Tech, the No. 7 team in the country. Lyles’ return this season is doubtful, Groh added.

The loss of Lyles was compounded by the suspensions that had been delivered on four Virginia players, something that Groh handed out just two days before the Cavaliers faced the 24th-ranked Yellow Jackets.

Tony Franklin, a team captain and the other starting safety in Virginia’s first eight games, was among the group of players held out of the game, which left Virginia thin in its already maligned secondary.

When asked on Sunday if the suspended players, who have not practiced since, would return for Saturday’s in-state showdown, Groh declined to answer.

When will Groh know if Franklin, nose tackle Kwakou Robinson, defensive end Vince Redd and wide receiver Ottowa Anderson return to the practice, team activities or the gridiron?

“I have no timetable,” Groh said.

Despite using a patchwork unit in the secondary, which included safety Byron Glasby (a walk-on turned starter) and former soccer goalie Ryan Best, Virginia held Georgia Tech to 207 passing yards. Georgia Tech wideout Calvin Johnson, the 2004 ACC Rookie of the Year, was held out of the end zone and limited to just 44 receiving yards, thanks in part to the efforts of UVa cornerback Marcus Hamilton.

Georgia Tech did have success on offense - they gained 343 yards of total offense and moved the chains 21 times - but they struggled with penalties (10 for 89 yards) and failed to make necessary adjustments to Virginia’s unique defensive scheme.

“[Virginia has] an unusual defense with the 3-4 and different people dropping and things like that,” Georgia Tech coach Chan Gailey said. “When they throw that at you once a year, it takes some work to get that done. We weren’t exactly the way we wanted to be during the course of the night, but we kept finding ways to move the football and get the ball down the field, but a holding call here and something there – but that’s the difference between winning and losing.”

With his team eligible for the postseason for the fourth straight year, it would be easy for Groh to start doing the math on bowl possibilities.

Those mind games will have to wait for now.

“I haven’t been thinking in those terms,” Groh said. “What we do know is that we are playing this Saturday [against Virginia Tech] and we’re playing at noon and that is really about as far as we have gone.”

 

UVa safety Lyles likely out for season
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
November 14, 2005

From the sounds of it, Virginia’s pieced-together defense might be more than a one-week deal.

Sophomore safety Nate Lyles, who was immobilized and taken off the field on a cart after suffering a neck injury in Virginia’s 27-17 win over Georgia Tech on Saturday, is probably out for the season and the status of the four players suspended last week for an undisclosed team policy remains up in the air.

Lyles stayed overnight at the Virginia Medical Center on Saturday night while the hospital ran tests and planned to do the same Sunday night.

Though Virginia head coach Al Groh said Lyles’ recovery is “going positively,” he ruled him out for this Saturday’s game against archrival Virginia Tech. When asked Sunday if Lyles’ injury would end his season, Groh said, “It would appear to be the case, yes.”

The status of the four suspended players - safety Tony Franklin, nose tackle Kwakou Robinson, defensive end Vince Redd and wide receiver Ottowa Anderson - was less clear. They have not practiced with the team since receiving their suspensions last week and Groh said it was too early to say yes or no as to whether they would be on the field against Virginia Tech.

“They’ll have to satisfy me and satisfy some protocol in some areas,” Groh said.

Groh sounded perturbed at the mention of the suspended players during his Sunday teleconference. When asked where they were during Saturday’s game, Groh said, “I don’t know. I really didn’t give them much thought. I was thinking about the guys who were helping us win.”

It might be that Virginia (6-3, 3-3 ACC) will have to rely on those players for the rest of the season. UVa was short-handed on both the defensive line and in the secondary against Georgia Tech, but the subs played admirably, holding the Yellow Jackets to 343 yards of offense and 17 points, both below their season averages.

If Lyles can’t return and Franklin remains suspended, that would mean UVa would start redshirt freshman walk-on Byron Glaspy and sophomore Jamaal Jackson at the safety positions.

Glaspy, an engineering student who joined the team last spring and didn’t make his college debut until Temple last week, made two tackles and had a quarterback hurry on Saturday.

Jackson, who failed to grab the starting safety job coming out of training camp (UVa instead shifted Franklin over from cornerback), made four tackles and forced a fumble. Had Lyles not been hurt, Jackson probably wouldn’t have seen much playing time.

“We realized that (Lyles) was a big loss,” Glaspy said, “but we knew we just had to move on and all of us needed to step up and fill the void.”

That could be the case the rest of the season and it won’t be a small challenge. The Cavaliers close with two difficult games, first at home this Saturday against No. 7 Virginia Tech, who Groh said will be “one of the best teams to ever play in Scott Stadium,” and at No. 3 Miami on Nov. 26.

Said Groh: “This is quite a briar patch that we’re going into.”
 

Bowl eligibility costs Cavs a nickel
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
November 13, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Patchwork hardly defines the motley crew Virginia had in its nickel package late in the game against Georgia Tech on Saturday.

Besides veteran cornerback Marcus Hamilton, there was true freshman corner Mike Brown, much-maligned sophomore corner Chris Gorham, redshirt freshman and former walk-on safety Byron Glaspy, who made his collegiate debut last week, and sophomore safety Jamaal Jackson, whose play was so underwhelming during training camp that the Cavaliers shifted Tony Franklin, a two-year starter at corner, to safety.

Add in Ryan Best, a soccer goalie turned walk-on nickel linebacker, and logic would suggest the Cavaliers would be exposed whenever Georgia Tech’s formidable passing game went to work.

They weren’t. Instead, that group won the game.

The Cavaliers held No. 24 Georgia Tech to 207 passing yards and no points over the last 20-plus minutes of a 27-17 win at Scott Stadium on Saturday. The victory makes UVa (6-3, 3-3 ACC) bowl eligible for the fourth straight season.

“I’m really very admiring of the guts and the effort and the determination that these kids showed here tonight,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “Our numbers were down a little bit. Then they went down a little further in a hurry. And they didn’t blink, they didn’t flinch, and as a result they have some

thing that they can be very proud of.”

Virginia was already without Franklin and staring nose tackle Kwakou Robinson, who were two of four players who received suspensions Thursday for violating an undisclosed team policy.

The defense was further depleted when starting safety Nate Lyles went down after colliding with Georgia Tech tailback P.J. Daniels late in the first quarter. Lyles’ head snapped back after he took a knee to the chin from Daniels, who jumped to avoid the tackle. Lyles lay motionless on the ground for 10 minutes after the play and was eventually strapped to a spineboard and carted off the field as teammates kneeled in a circle in prayer.

Groh said Lyles would stay overnight at the University of Virginia Medical Center but that his initial signs are positive. Lyles, who suffered a stinger against North Carolina three weeks ago, had movement in his extremities and felt the numbness in his body decrease while on the field.

“We were able to tell the team after the game that he was OK,” Groh said.

Lyles’ injury only galvanized the Virginia defense. On the next play, Hamilton intercepted a pass intended for Georgia Tech wideout Calvin Johnson. Hamilton held the ACC’s leading receiver to 41 yards on four catches.

“(People) have a short memory,” said Hamilton, who last year intercepted two passes against Georgia Tech but had heard rumblings that Johnson would have a big day on Saturday. “That’s fine. Maybe they’ll have a short memory this year, too.”

Virginia, which got touchdown runs of 15 and 18 yards from Wali Lundy on its first two drives, moved the ball well again, getting a 48-yard field goal by Connor Hughes to take a 17-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Georgia Tech (6-3, 4-3) rallied, getting a 1-yard touchdown plunge from Tashard Choice and capitalizing on an interception on a poorly thrown Marques Hagans pass just before the half. Yellow Jackets quarterback Reggie Ball, who was 20-for-38 passing, completed a 28-yard pass to Damarius Bilbo that set up a 48-yard Travis Bell field goal with three seconds left in the half to make to trim the lead to 17-10.

Ball found Bilbo again early with 5:23 left in the third quarter on a 24-yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 17.

After Hughes booted his second field goal, a 47-yarder to put UVa ahead 20-17 with 1:56 left in the third, Georgia Tech went on the move again. The Yellow Jackets reached the UVa 22 before the Cavaliers’ defense stiffened. Choice ran for a loss of five yards before Ball threw two straight incompletions.

“We said sooner or later we’re going to have to win the game on the nickel,” Groh said. “We made some plays. We denied some patterns.

“We didn’t come up with any interceptions or any sacks where you could say, ‘Well, what were the plays?’ But we started to deny some routes and make it more difficult for them to get the ball to the receivers.”

“I think it goes to show that we … are a close-knit group of guys,” Glaspy said. “We were ready to go and nobody was looking at each other like, ‘Oh, he’s going to be the weak link.’ We were all just ready to go and support each other.”

Bell came in for a 44-yard field goal but pushed it wide right. Virginia put the game away on the ensuing drive that ended with a 21-yard touchdown strike from Hagans to Deyon Williams.

Williams had career highs with 10 catches and 107 yards, but it was the hodgepodge secondary that came up huge.

“It’s not like those guys are new to playing football,” Hamilton said. “They make plays in practice every week and it’s not surprising they came in and made plays. It’s the UVa defense.”