Seniors searching for solace
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
November 21, 2005

A 52-14 loss to rival Virginia Tech in front of 63,444 fans - and a national television audience - was not how Virginia seniors wanted their last career home game to go. However, there's still time to salvage the season.

That's the Cavaliers' mindset as they prepare for Miami on Saturday.

"Of course we wish it would have turned out differently [against the Hokies]," said senior kicker Connor Hughes, in the aftermath of the loss, "but things happen for a reason. I'm not sure what that reason is right now, but maybe this will make us tougher.

"We're still a team and still a family. We just have to get over this and get back to work like any other week. Miami is a great team, but the past is the past. We just need to move forward."

Hughes did take some time to reflect on his fondest memories that have occurred at Scott Stadium. He said the win over Wake Forest his sophomore year and the triumph over Florida State this season would rank the highest.

Hughes said he'll always remember the atmosphere at home games.

"It's just a beautiful stadium," he said, "and the fans stepped up each year that I was here. It was a fun place to win. I'm definitely going to miss it."

Not capitalizing early against the Hokies was what cost the Cavs, Hughes said.

"After we got them three and out [on the Hokies' first series], if we could have got something going there the game could have been completely different," Hughes said.

Senior Brad Butler agreed.

"In the first half we just didn't execute," Butler said.

Like Hughes, Butler was disappointed with his final game in front of the home crowd.

"It hurts," he said, "but at the same time we can't dwell on it because we have Miami. If we do, the same thing will happen."

Added senior Kwakou Robinson: "It's tough, but we have to keep our heads up. We've got to forget about this, learn from this and move on."

Senior Wali Lundy looked shell-shocked - like someone who had just been in a car accident - as he talked to a group of reporters on Saturday.

Lundy, who scored the Cavs' touchdowns, said passing the 300-point mark in career scoring didn't mean a thing to him since the Cavaliers lost the game. Lundy said he was embarrassed and upset with himself.

"We could have done a lot more out there," he said. "Things just didn't go our way. They just came out and brought it to us."

But there was a hint of hope in Lundy's voice when the subject of Miami was broached. "We have to come out and play our best game of the year - the best game we've played in our lives," he said.

Senior quarterback Marques Hagans said he was glad to have a shot at redemption.

"I'd be sick if we had to end like this - getting shellacked," Hagans said.
 

Cavs need to bounce back quickly with Miami next
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

After his experience with Virginia Tech this past weekend, Virginia coach Al Groh might have reason to be apprehensive about facing a team coming off a crushing loss.

Instead, after watching Georgia Tech's upset of then-No. 3 Miami, Groh had other thoughts.

"What occurred to me was, this is the same thing we've been talking about so much," Groh said. "You've got to be on your game every week."

In a two-week span, Miami won at Virginia Tech 27-7, Georgia Tech lost at Virginia 27-17, Virginia Tech won at Virginia 52-14 and Georgia Tech won at Miami 14-10.

Oh, yes, and earlier in the season, Virginia Tech beat Georgia Tech 51-7 in Blacksburg.

While Miami looks a little bit more vulnerable following developments Saturday night, that's not how the Virginia players were thinking Saturday afternoon.

"We've got to come out and play our best game of the year, the best game we ever played in our lives," senior running back and co-captain Wali Lundy said.

The Cavaliers (6-4, 3-4 ACC) learned Sunday that their game Saturday with 10th-ranked Miami (8-2, 5-2) will kick off at 3:30 p.m.

Miami was the last team to win in Charlottesville before Saturday, when the Cavaliers allowed more points than in any of the previous 86 games in the series.

"I never in a million years thought the game was going to turn out like this," said Virginia quarterback Marques Hagans, who completed 17 of 30 passes for 140 yards but was intercepted twice. "I don't think they're that many points better than us, but what can you say? The proof is on the scoreboard."

Tech rushed for 333 yards and had 503 yards in total offense, but UVa's offense and special teams shared the blame. For one thing, the Cavaliers' inability to pick up first downs meant that Tech had the ball for more than 38 minutes.

Some people felt the tone was set on the Cavaliers' first offensive series, when they took possession at their own 46 following a Nic Schmitt punt but lost yardage on each of their first three offensive plays.

"You get the ball on the 50-yard line, you've got to expect to get at least three points," Lundy said. "To jump out on a team like Virginia Tech, it gives your team confidence. I feel like we didn't have a lot of confidence."

Hagans agreed with Lundy's confidence theory.

"Still, there's no reason to get beat like that," Hagans said. "That's embarrassing."

Wide receiver Deyon Williams, coming off a 10-catch, 107-yard day against Georgia Tech, was held to two catches for 10 yards.

"We couldn't get him free very much," Groh said. "Certainly in the early going, we had difficulty getting our receivers into the game. That's a good way to take Marques out of the game, when there's nobody to throw the ball to."

For many years, Tech and Virginia played in the final regular-season game, but the Cavaliers could have two more games, although Fresno State's inspired showing in a 50-42 loss to No. 1 Southern Cal could knock UVa out of the Liberty Bowl and into the Independence Bowl.

"I'd be sick if we had to end it like this," Hagans said, "especially after the shellacking we got."

1. Avoid fourth-quarter collapse | Incomplete

Since the Cavaliers already had collapsed during a 28-point Tech third quarter, the fourth quarter wasn't an issue. UVa actually outscored Tech 7-0 in the final period.

2. Protect Marques Hagans | C+

Hagans actually had a reasonable amount of time but his receivers were blanketed. Three Tech sacks made it 28 against the Cavaliers this season, compared to 15 in 2004.

3. Rush for 150 yards | C-

The Cavs had 114 rushing yards, 58 coming in the fourth quarter, long after the game had been decided and Tech was content to focus on not to giving up the big play.

 

Liberty is looking away from U.Va.
Bowl officials are eyeing Fresno State, but Cavs are pressing their case
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Nov 21, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Maybe Memphis, maybe not. The University of Virginia would love to send its football team to the Dec. 31 Liberty Bowl, but officials in Memphis, Tenn., may have another target for the game's at-large spot.

The Liberty's associate executive director, Harold Graeter, made a spur-of-the-moment trip to Charlottesville on Saturday to meet with U.Va. officials and watch the Cavaliers play Virginia Tech, which romped 52-14.

"These guys are high on our list," Graeter said afterward.

That night in Los Angeles, the Liberty's executive director, Steve Ehrhart, scouted Fresno State against top-ranked Southern Cal. The Fresno Bee reported yesterday that if the Bulldogs beat Nevada and then Louisiana Tech, they're likely get an invitation to the Liberty.

"Yes, we're going to invite them," Ehrhart said, the newspaper reported. "That's why I'm here. They're our team."

Fresno State, coincidentally, edged U.Va. in last year's MPC Computers Bowl.

The Times-Dispatch's attempts to reach Ehrhart yesterday were unsuccessful. In e-mails to the T-D, however, Graeter said Liberty officials planned to speak last night to ACC Commissioner John Swofford, who's lobbying for U.Va, and then will "talk about it as a committee [today]."

Graeter said he spoke with U.Va. Athletic Director Craig Littlepage yesterday afternoon. "He again expressed U.Va.'s interest in coming to Memphis," Graeter said. "The enthusiasm is certainly there."

Coach Al Groh said last night that he has an off-the-field role as Virginia tries to advance to a bowl for the fourth straight season.

"Every school is selling their wares, and that's part of the process," Groh said. "As we've certainly learned on other occasions, it's not just about merit. . . . I want to make sure I'm doing whatever I can do to advocate for our team."

Of more immediate concern to Groh is his team's final regular-season game. The Cavaliers (3-4, 6-4) play ACC rival Miami (5-2, 8-2) at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at the Orange Bowl. The 10th-ranked Hurricanes suffered a shocking loss there Saturday night, falling 14-10 to Georgia Tech.

That game, Groh said, provided more evidence that virtually anything can happen in the ACC.

"You've got the Georgia Tech team that Virginia beat the week before beating the Miami team that soundly beat the Virginia Tech team that beat the Georgia Tech team 51-7 [and later] beat the Virginia team," Groh said.

"Once again, it just pointed out to me, you better be on your game every week, whether it's tactically, execution-wise or emotionally, and you better . . . not have any of those game-changing plays."

U.Va. had three of those plays Saturday, and the Hokies turned them into 21 points.

"From our perspective, there was nothing about the game that was acceptable," Groh said, "but those turnovers just turned it into a mess."

Senior quarterback Marques Hagans is just glad the game wasn't Virginia's regular-season finale. "Absolutely," Hagans said Saturday, "because I'd be sick if we had to end like this, especially with the shellacking that we lost."

Sophomore Vince Redd, a reserve defensive end, wasn't allowed to play in the past two games after violating an unspecified team policy. Redd is likely to play against the Hurricanes. Sophomore nose tackle Keenan Carter's status is uncertain. Carter, who started Nov. 12 against Georgia Tech, missed the Virginia Tech game with a sprained ankle.