Cavs regain pride in loss
Hagans says Virginia 'fought to the end,' but Miami pulls out win
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Nov 27, 2005

MIAMI -- Seven days after being embarrassed on national television in a 38-point loss to Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia football team put forth an effort of which it can be proud.

Even so, the Cavaliers didn't leave the Orange Bowl victorious. No. 10 Miami recovered an onside kick with 27 seconds left to preserve a 25-17 win before an anxious crowd of 37,629.

"I'm proud to be associated with our team today," Cavaliers coach Al Groh said. "I thought this was about as big a challenge as a team could have, coming off of last week's game, to come in here against a team that over the last 25 years has historically been in the top five or 10 and just seven days ago was the No. 3 team in the country."

U.Va. (3-5, 6-5), which finished fifth in the ACC's Coastal Division, closed the regular season with back-to-back defeats and fell to 0-4 in conference road games. Yesterday's game, however, bore no resemblance to last weekend's debacle at Scott Stadium, where the Hokies romped 52-14.

"We just felt like this week we had to come out and prove ourselves," said junior wideout Deyon Williams, who had six receptions for a career-high 152 yards and two touchdowns. "We didn't want the nation or our fans to think we were that kind of team."

Razzle-dazzle fooled the ACC's best defense and gave the Cavaliers an early lead yesterday. With Miami ahead 3-0, Virginia pulled out a trick play that worked to perfection.

On second and 14 from the Cavaliers' 10, senior quarterback Marques Hagans handed off to sophomore wideout Emmanuel Byers on an end-around. Byers, who had thrown two incompletions on option plays against Florida State last month, pulled up and tossed a 40-yard pass that Williams caught in stride near midfield. Cornerback Marcus Maxey dived for Williams' legs at the Miami 23, but to no avail. Williams easily scored to complete a 90-yard pass play, the longest ever against the'Canes, and Connor Hughes' extra point made it 7-3 with 5:19 remaining in the first quarter.

"We came down with nothing to lose," Hagans said.

The Hurricanes (6-2, 9-2) trailed 10-3 after Hughes' 24-yard field goal early in the second quarter. Behind its vaunted defense, which sacked Hagans five times, Miami rallied for 22 straight points and led 25-10 with 1:53 left. But the Cavaliers answered with a drive that included Hagans' 42-yard completion to senior wideout Ottowa Anderson and four catches for 43 yards by Williams.

Williams' final reception, on which he made an acrobatic back-of-the-end-zone grab of a 6-yard pass from Hagans, was ruled a touchdown after an instant-replay review. Hughes' PAT made it 25-17, and Virginia dared to dream. But Quadtrine Hill smothered Hughes' onside kick, and Miami survived.

"We fought to the end," said Hagans, who completed 15 of 28 passes for 206 yards and one TD. "That's the thing I'm most proud of. Nobody gave up."

Virginia now awaits a postseason invitation. The Cavaliers are almost certainly headed to one of two places: Nashville, Tenn., for the Dec. 30 Music City Bowl, or San Francisco for the Dec. 29 Emerald Bowl.

Despite two missed extra-point tries by Jon Peattie, Miami led 15-10 at intermission. Both of the 'Canes' first-half TDs followed special-teams breakdowns by U.Va. That proved costly for a team whose goals coming in, Groh said, included this: Don't let Miami "steal the game on special teams."

After Hughes' field goal put Virginia up 10-3, Kurt Smith's kickoff sailed into the end zone for a touchback. A U.Va. player was ruled offside, however, so Smith had to kick again -- this time from the 30, not the 35. Given a second chance, Darnell Jenkins returned the kickoff 32 yards to the Hurricanes' 38. From there, Miami marched to the end zone, tailback Charlie Jones' 4-yard run making it 10-9.

After the teams traded possessions that ended with punts, U.Va. took over at its 23 with 3:35 left in the half. Three running plays netted 7 yards, and Chris Gould came on to punt. His kick traveled only 30 yards, and the ACC's best return man, Devin Hester, pounced. Only an open-field tackle by true freshman Aaron Clark kept Hester from breaking the return for a TD.

With only 37 yards to cover, Miami wasted little time. The 'Canes moved to U.Va. 23 in three plays. Then, on second down, flanker Sinorice Moss turned a short pass into a 17-touchdown.

"We got 29 good minutes of the first half," Groh said, "and then for the last 58 seconds or whatever it was, instead of being up 10-9, we go down 15-10."

 

U.VA. NOTES
Richmond Times-Dispatch Nov 27, 2005

PLAY IT AGAIN? Its destination remains unclear, but Virginia expects to advance to a bowl game for the fourth straight season.

"I've kept my pulse on it pretty good," fifth-year coach Al Groh told reporters last night after the Cavaliers' 25-17 loss to 10th-ranked Miami at the Orange Bowl.

Groh had talked about a bowl with his players before yesterday, but he told them after the game that "there's a pretty good likelihood of that. We don't care who and where. . . . Our challenge now is to have the same sense of purpose and the same sense of passion going into the next game that we had this one. So we're looking forward to moving on."

U.Va. (6-5) appears headed to the Dec. 29 Emerald Bowl or the Dec. 30 Music City Bowl. Under Groh, the Cavs are 2-1 in postseason games. They won at the Continental Tire Bowl in 2002 and '03 - beating West Virginia the first year and Pittsburgh the second - and lost in overtime to Fresno State at the MPC Computers Bowl last year.

BAPTISM UNDER FIRE: When inside linebacker Ahmad Brooks re-injured his back during last week, true freshman Antonio Appleby was pressed into a starting role. He responded with an impressive effort against a formidable Miami offense.

The 6-4, 244-pound graduate of Virginia Beach's Salem High finished with six tackles, including one for loss. Only two Cavaliers - safety Byron Glaspy (eight) and inside linebacker Kai Parham (seven) - had more tackles.

"He's been coming on very nicely," Groh said of Appleby. "As we try to get over the anguish of not winning the game, I think we'll be able to see it as a positive step forward [for Appleby]. I think we found an inside linebacker."

ONE FOR THE RECORD BOOK: Virginia's first touchdown came on a 90-yard pass play. Sophomore wideout Emmanuel Byers pulled up on an end-around and threw a well-aimed pass to junior wideout Deyon Williams, who caught the ball around midfield and sprinted to the end zone.

That was the Cavaliers' longest pass play since 1991, when quarterback Matt Blundin and wideout Tyrone Davis teamed on a 91-yarder against N.C. State. Byers' completion is believed to be the longest by a non-quarterback in U.Va. history. The Hurricanes never have allowed a longer pass play.

Virginia called another option play early in the fourth quarter, but senior tailback Wali Lundy didn't see an open receiver and took a 4-yard loss instead of passing.

"There was just too much pressure in his face at that particular time," Groh said.

IRON MEN: Senior defensive end Brennan Schmidt made his 50th start for the Cavaliers yesterday. He's the only player in school history to reach the 50-start mark. Senior offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, who missed two games with a knee injury this season, made his 48th start, the most ever by a U.Va. offensive lineman.

SPECIAL PLAYER: Miami returned a punt for a touchdown in its victory over U.Va. last season at Scott Stadium. The 'Canes didn't break one yesterday, but the ACC's top punt returner, Devin Hester, hurt the Cavs nonetheless. Hester totaled 59 yards on five punt returns, including a 23-yarder that set up Miami's second TD.

Hester, a two-way player, also rushed three times for 13 yards and caught two passes for 12.

"He did more tonight than he has in the past," Miami coach Larry Coker said, "and we want to keep that going. I think he could be a Reggie Bush-type player for us."

WATCH AND LEARN: In uniform on U.Va.'s sideline yesterday was defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald, a true freshman from Hermitage High. Fitzgerald is redshirting this season, but he'll be expected to contribute in 2006, and Groh wanted him to experience the atmosphere at the Orange Bowl.

Also on the trip was quarterback Jameel Sewell, a true freshman who, like Fitzgerald, starred at Hermitage and hasn't played this season. Some U.Va. insiders believe Sewell is the leading candidate to succeed Marques Hagans as starting quarterback next season. - Jeff White

 

Deep Wildcats to test Cavaliers
Leitao says U.Va. will not have 'large margin for error'
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Nov 27, 2005

Dave Leitao never has lost a game as University of Virginia men's basketball coach. If that statement still is true around 9:30 tonight, Lute Olson won't be a happy man.

Olson, who's married to a U.Va. alumna, is Arizona's Hall of Fame coach. His ninth-ranked Wildcats (1-2) play host to U.Va. (2-0) tonight in Tucson.

The Cavaliers know they're not in Virginia any more. They opened by routing Liberty at University Hall, then pulled away from Richmond at the Robins Center. Neither of those teams has the talent or depth of the Wildcats, who finished fourth in last week's Maui Invitational.

"They're very, very explosive," said Leitao, who came to U.Va. from DePaul in April. "They're deeper than they've been in a long, long time. . . . We're hoping that they have a little bit of jet lag coming back after the holiday from Maui."

On Nov. 19, 2006, Arizona will be the Cavaliers' first opponent in the new John Paul Jones Arena. U.Va. figures to have more weapons by then. With two reserves - point guard T.J. Bannister and power forward Donte Minter - still recovering from injuries, Virginia had seven healthy scholarship players against UR.

"We don't have a large margin of error," Leitao said.

U.Va.'s starters include freshmen Laurynas Mikalauskas and Mamadi "Mo" Diane. Mikalauskas, a 6-8 power forward, contributed seven points, but Diane, a 6-5 small forward, missed 6 of 7 shots from the floor.

"Today, Mo didn't play very well," Leitao said after the UR game. "I told him I don't have time for him to go through freshman learning periods. . . . We're going to need everybody."

In the 59-43 win over Richmond, guards J.R. Reynolds (23) and Sean Singletary (14) supplied almost two-thirds of Virginia's scoring. They also played good defense, as did their teammates. The Cavaliers, who held Liberty to 22.6-percent accuracy from the floor, nearly were that stingy against the Spiders. UR shot 28.8.

"We're growing, hopefully," Leitao said. "Now, we'll really be tested. I was hoping to go [to Arizona] with a longer bench. We can't, so we're going to have to be creative in our game plan to try to come away with a win."

Last season at U-Hall, U.Va. shocked 10th-ranked Arizona 78-60. The Wildcats will be tougher to beat on their court, but that "doesn't matter," Reynolds said. "We're going to put up a fight no matter who we're playing."

 

Va. coach's familiar mentor
Cats can expect to see influence of UConn's Calhoun on Cavaliers' style of play
By Brian J. Pedersen
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.27.2005
advertisementTalk to Dave Leitao long enough, and it is easy to forget he is a basketball coach and not just a great thinker.
"I've always believed that the mind controls the body," says Leitao, the former DePaul coach who is now in his first season at Virginia. "If you can get people to understand the why, you can get the most out of them."
Leitao hopes his Cavaliers (2-0) can outthink and outplay ninth-ranked Arizona (1-2) when the teams meet today at 5 p.m. at the McKale Center.
The home opener for the UA is a rematch of last year's meeting between the teams, played in Charlottesville, Va., where the Wildcats fell 78-60.
But that Virginia team, which included several of the current Cavalier players, is a vastly different club from the one now led by Leitao. The difference is due mainly to the lasting influence Leitao received while playing for and coaching under longtime Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun.
"A lot of successful coaches got part of what they consider their strengths from a lot of different people, (but) for me it came from one person," Leitao said. "It's worked for me."
Leitao played for Calhoun at Northeastern from 1978 to 1982, then joined Calhoun's staff there and later at Connecticut. He spent two seasons running the program at his alma mater, going 18-11 in 1993-94 but 4-24 in 1994-95, before returning to the Huskies' staff in Storrs, Conn., as associate head coach.
"The No. 1 thing that (Calhoun) has that separates him from the rest is his passion for the game," Leitao said. "His investment in winning, in people, overrides almost anything I've seen from anyone else."
Because of so much Connecticut-based influence, it will be no surprise to the UA coaches to see similarities between what Virginia runs and what the Wildcats just saw last week during its Maui Invitational loss to Connecticut.
"A lot of the stuff we prepared for against UConn is also what they run," UA coach Lute Olson said.
Leitao carried Calhoun's philosophy with him to DePaul, where he was hired for the 2002-03 season. Despite inheriting a team that had not even qualified for the Conference USA tournament the year before, Leitao led the Blue Demons to the postseason in each of his three seasons there, including the second round of the NIT last March, and finished with a record of 58-34.
Then came what the 44-year-old described as "a unique opportunity and a challenge, both personally and professionally," to take over the program at Virginia.
Although DePaul was set to move into the vastly upgraded Big East Conference this winter, the chance to coach in the Atlantic Coast Conference proved to be too much of a draw.
The Cavaliers went 14-15 last year, spelling the end of Pete Gillen's seven-year tenure at the school. Gillen went 118-93 during that time, but only once led his team to the NCAA tournament.
With Leitao getting hired in mid-April, he says it was too late to bring in any of his own players for this season, but that did not mean he could not be successful.
"Even if (your own players are) not here you can still do it," Leitao said. "You have to build the environment. We're trying to piece things together. It doesn't always happen overnight."
Leitao is building toward the future, and a future new building to boot. After playing for years in the historic-but-outdated University Hall, capacity 8,400, the Cavaliers move into the $130 million John Paul Jones Arena for the 2006-07 season. The 15,000-seat venue, paid for entirely with private funding, will bring the school in line with other top programs.
"You've got to keep up with the Joneses," Leitao said. University Hall "had outgrown its positive influences. This will give us probably the best on-campus arena in America."
 

Virginia not likely to surprise Cats this year
By Bruce Pascoe
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 11.26.2005
advertisementAs Michigan State learned this season, difficult stopovers en route to a major tournament are probably not a good idea.
Hawaii wiped out the Spartans a week ago when they opted to drop by and play the Rainbow Warriors on the way to the Maui Invitational. Last season, Arizona traveled to Charlottesville, Va., to play Virginia on the way to the Preseason NIT in New York.
The Wildcats were coming off easy Preseason NIT home victories over San Diego and Wright State. Their heads were held high, they may have had the big city on their mind, then they strolled into a struggling ACC team's home court and were handed one of the worst losses in the Lute Olson era, 78-60.
"Our goal was getting to New York City,, and we had a stopover,'' Olson said Friday. "We had to schedule it because if we hadn't won those first two NIT games at home, it would have been a week and a half before we played again.
"We weren't as focused as you'd like to be for a game.''
Arizona should not have that problem with Virginia on Sunday. Not only is the game the Wildcats' home opener, and the most high-profile of all UA nonconference home games this season, but it also comes when the Wildcats do not exactly have reason for overconfidence.
They are 1-2 for the first time in 16 years.
In addition, Olson said, the Maui Invitational provided a learning tool that can now be drawn upon. The Wildcats know they have to pass the ball more and play team offense. They know they have to rebound harder. They know how both zone and man-to-man defenses can affect them.
"I've said it before, but I'd rather lose (close) games than have the kind of games like we did here in the preseason last season,'' Olson said. "The tournament really accomplished what we wanted to accomplish. We wanted good tough competition where we could come back and know a whole lot more about our team and what we wanted to work on.
"We have to fine-tune some things, but I thought our movement overall was very good.''
So, after the Wildcats enjoyed a catered Thanksgiving Day meal from Jonathan Landeen of Jonathan's Cork restaurant, they headed into Bear Down Gym on Friday morning to begin that work. Olson said Friday represented the heaviest day of preparation for Virginia, although the Wildcats will practice again today before Sunday's game.
Arizona has a scouting advantage this time, in that new Virginia coach Dave Leitao was a longtime assistant at Connecticut, which played the Wildcats on Tuesday. The Wildcats have two full days to prepare for the Cavaliers when they had less than 24 hours to get ready for UConn.
"They run a lot of stuff like UConn that we saw the other day," said UA associate head coach Jim Rosborough, who has been scouting the Cavaliers. "Some of it is different, but they play with two big posts and three perimeter guys (like UConn). It's somewhat helpful.''
Rosborough said the Cavaliers have a big, physical inside presence, and Olson marveled over their perimeter players. Last season, Virginia point guard Sean Singletary outplayed his Philadelphia rival, Mustafa Shakur, with 15 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
Shakur had six assists but five turnovers and just five points on 2-for-8 shooting.
"Singletary really hurt us a year ago, and (shooting guard J.R.) Reynolds; the two guards are really keys to their club,'' Olson said. Singletary "is very quick, a good, smart point guard and great penetrator as well.''
While he prepares for Virginia this weekend, Olson is also shaping up his rotation.
He said Friday he will start Kirk Walters at center and Ivan Radenovic at power forward, with Marcus Williams the first perimeter player off the bench and Bret Brielmaier the first inside player.
Center/forward Isaiah Fox also remains in the mix, Olson said, although he played just 10 combined minutes against Connecticut and Michigan State after starting against Kansas in the Maui opener.
"Isaiah's been doing a good job,'' Olson said. "But when he gets against really quick jumpers like he was against, it becomes a problem.
"What we have to do is get Isaiah like we did with Bret - against quick jumpers, we assigned Bret one guy to make sure he kept him off the boards and he did a great job. That's what has to happen with Isaiah.''

Finding consolation in win
Despite ending the regular season with a victory against Virginia, two earlier losses will keep Miami from playing for the ACC, national championships.
BY SUSAN MILLER DEGNAN
sdegnan@herald.com

They won't be in Pasadena for the national championship game. They were resigned to not being in Jacksonville for the Atlantic Coast Conference title game. But the 10th-ranked Miami Hurricanes still left the Orange Bowl with pride Saturday night, defeating Virginia 25-17 to finish their regular season 9-2 and await their bowl fate.

''We had a good season,'' UM coach Larry Coker said. ``We didn't have a great season. For us, a great season would be playing Southern Cal or Texas in Pasadena.''

Said senior left tackle Eric Winston: ``It was a lot about pride today, not much about the record or what could happen in the postseason. It was about the U.''

Many of the 18 UM seniors jogged to the sidelines and west end zone, shaking hands with fans and tossing wristbands into the stands. They then gathered near the end zone to take the traditional senior photos in their last moments on the OB turf.

''This is the closest team I've been on since I've been here,'' Winston said. ``Everybody was there for each other. Everybody loved each other. That's what I'll remember most.''

The Canes, who finished 6-2 in the ACC, were down 10-3 early in the second quarter, then scored four consecutive times. Exhausted, they said they were dispersing to watch the Virginia Tech-North Carolina game. The Hokies beat the Tar Heels 30-3; a UNC upset would have sent Miami into the ACC title game next Saturday.

''You never like depending on other people to bail us out,'' UM tight end Greg Olsen said. ``I'd rather be sitting back and saying we clinched it ourselves.''

Quadtrine Hill, UM's senior fullback who caught a career-high seven passes for 42 yards Saturday, called it a ''great season,'' but admitted he was ``disappointed we lost two games we had no business losing.

''I still feel we're the best team in the country,'' said Hill, who fielded an onside kick by Virginia with 27 seconds left after the Cavaliers mounted an 86-yard touchdown drive in less than a minute and a half to make it 25-17.

GOOD ENOUGH TO WIN

Saturday, Miami wasn't overly polished against the Cavaliers (6-5, 3-5) in front of a small, but grateful crowd of 37,629. But it made just enough big plays at the right time.

Quarterback Kyle Wright eased his way into an impressive night, completing 23 of 30 passes for 248 yards and a touchdown. Wright connected with eight receivers.

Tailback Charlie Jones added 88 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.

''I'm not particularly happy with the way we won,'' said cornerback Marcus Maxey, whose secondary gave up a season-high 296 yards passing and whose defense allowed a season-high 407 yards. ``But I'll take the win because it's my last game in the Orange Bowl and we're coming off a loss. The main thing was to win.''

Miami scored first on Jon Peattie's 40-yard field goal with 6:42 left in the opening quarter.

Virginia went ahead 7-3 less than a minute-and-half later on a 90-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Emmanuel Byers to Deyon Williams -- the longest pass play against Miami and the longest pass for Virginia in 14 years.

The two-play drive took 1:23 off the clock and unfolded when Hagans ran to his right and threw to Byers, who heaved the ball to Williams at the Miami 45. Maxey went stride for stride with Williams until safety Brandon Meriweather, in attempting to hit Williams as the ball arrived, brushed against Maxey. The contact allowed Williams to surge ahead of Maxey, who still nearly caught Williams.

''That never has even come close to happening in practice or a game,'' Maxey said.

The Cavaliers increased their lead to 10-3 on a 24-yard field goal by Connor Hughes with 13:26 left in the first half.

QUICK REPLY

UM responded by marching to the Cavaliers' 6-yard line. Jones rushed for 2 yards, then charged left for 4 to put the Canes 1 point behind, 10-9, with 9:10 left in the first half. For the third time in his past seven extra-point attempts, Peattie missed, hitting the right post.

The Hurricanes took the lead for good with 50 seconds left in the first half on a 17-yard screen pass to Sinorice Moss, who wiggled and waggled his way around charging defenders and into the end zone. After another Peattie miss, UM led 15-10.

Peattie redeemed himself a bit with a 30-yard field goal at the end of the third quarter to give UM an 18-10 lead.

''This feels great, man,'' Moss said in the locker room. ``My emotions are flowing. Before the game I was a little teary eyed, but it was wonderful to come out and win my last game in the Orange Bowl.''

Moss, like the other Canes, said he'd go home and cross his fingers.

''I'm hoping they lose,'' he said of the Hokies. ``But we should have handled our business so we wouldn't have to be wishing.''
 

Effective work key to win
The offensive line gave sophomore quarterback Kyle Wright enough time to find open targets, helping Wright complete 76 percent of his throws.
BY ANDRE C. FERNANDEZ
acfernandez@herald.com

Only two of his completions gained more than 20 yards.

And UM sophomore Kyle Wright still turned in one of his most effective performances of the season to help the Hurricanes beat Virginia 25-17 at the Orange Bowl.

Wright threw for only one touchdown pass, but completed 23 of 30 passes (76 percent) to eight receivers and was not intercepted. It was his second-highest completion percentage of the season (9 for 10 vs. Temple on Oct. 15).

''[Wright] had a nice game,'' coach Larry Coker said. ``I thought he was a little erratic at first but as the game proceeded he did a good job of getting to his receivers. His protection was much, much, much better than it was last week.''

Wright, who was sacked seven times last week in a loss to Georgia Tech, was sacked only twice by the Cavaliers. On several occasions, Wright had several seconds to look for receivers downfield -- a rarity last week when he faced a blitz from the Yellow Jackets defense on nearly every play.

''I felt like it was two different worlds,'' Wright said. ``Coming in I wanted to work on going through my progressions and, if I didn't have it, getting it down to the flat or to swing and that worked several times.''

Wright consistently connected on short routes and screen passes to move UM down the field. Senior Sinorice Moss turned a screen pass from Wright with 50 seconds left in the first half into the Canes' lone passing touchdown. Moss juked an oncoming defender then found an opening and surged 17 yards to the end zone.

''[Virginia] is a big, physical team and we had seen all week that they were going to give us the short passes,'' Wright said. ``We did a good job of game planning and guys came out and executed. I think we shot ourselves in the foot on a couple of drives with penalties but overall I thought we played pretty well.''

After picking the Cavaliers apart underneath, Wright went deep twice to set up Miami scores.

He found Ryan Moore for a 27-yard completion early in the second quarter to move UM into Virginia territory. Three plays after a 19-yard strike to Moss, Charlie Jones scored from 4 yards out to cut Virginia's lead to 10-9.

On Miami's final drive of the third quarter, Wright completed his longest pass -- a 30-yarder over the middle to Greg Olsen that eventually set up a 30-yard field goal by Jon Peattie, giving UM an 18-10 lead.

Wright's final play was his most memorable -- and he made it with his feet rather than his arm.

With 1:58 remaining in the fourth quarter, Wright ran a bootleg to the right side of the field and maneuvered his way around the Cavaliers' secondary to the 1-yard line. The play set up Charlie Jones' touchdown on the next play.

Through his first 11 games as the Hurricanes' starter, Wright has completed 170 of 286 passes for 2,303 yards, 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

''Our goal as an offense and me personally is to go and get better each week,'' Wright said. ``Last week was probably the only week where we didn't get better as an offense. I think progressively we've gotten better, and I've just become more comfortable game in and game out.''
 

Hurricanes keep UVa at arm's length
The Cavs stay in the game, but remain winless all-time in games played in Florida.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

MIAMI -- At some point in the future, Virginia's loss to Miami on Saturday may be used as evidence that the Cavaliers can't win in Florida or that UVa never plays well on the road.

This one deserves an asterisk.

One week after being hammered by Virginia Tech, UVa played the 10th-ranked Hurricanes to the wire before falling 25-17 at the Orange Bowl.

The last time somebody mentioned the term "moral victory" around Virginia head coach Al Groh, those were fighting words, but it was clear the Cavs had regained some of the self-respect lost in a 52-14 loss to Tech.

"That's not the kind of team we want around here," said junior wide receiver Deyon Williams. "We knew we had to come back this week and prove ourselves.

"We got embarrassed last week at home and we didn't want our fans or people around the country to think we were that kind of team."

Williams, who had two receptions for 13 yards against the Hokies, caught six passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns Saturday -- the second with 27 seconds remaining.

The Hurricanes (9-2, 6-2 ACC) had gone ahead 25-10 with 1:53 remaining on a 1-yard touchdown run by Charlie Jones, but that was the only time all afternoon they led by more than one score.

Before that, Virginia trailed 18-10 and had driven from its 17-yard line to the Miami 24 before the Cavaliers were stopped on fourth-and-6 with 3:59 left.

Groh strongly considered kicking a field goal at that point "and came that close to doing it," he said. "I felt we would need two scores, whether it was a touchdown and a field goal or a touchdown and a two-point play.

"But I told the players coming in that we were coming in wide open. I told them, 'If you want to play that way, I'm going to play that way.'"

That was evident on the Cavaliers' second series of downs. After a holding penalty had pushed UVa inside its 10-yard line, quarterback Marques Hagans handed the ball to wide receiver Emmanuel Byers on a reverse.

Byers probably could have run for a first down but pulled up and took aim at Williams, who had gotten a step on two entangled Miami defensive backs. Williams caught the ball in stride and the result was a 90-yard TD -- the longest Miami has ever surrendered.

That made it 7-3 and the Cavaliers (6-5, 3-5) followed with a defensive stop and a second scoring drive, this one resulting in a 24-yard Connor Hughes field goal with Virginia facing a fourth-and-2 from the Hurricanes' 7-yard line.

Virginia might have surmised that it wouldn't shut down the Hurricanes forever and that turned out be the case, but the Cavs had unexpected breakdowns.

On the following kickoff, Kurt Smith sent the ball 8 yards deep in the end zone -- against the wind -- but the Cavaliers were found to be offsides. Smith's second kickoff got up in the air and Darnell Jenkins returned it 18 yards to the Miami 38.

"That was no little thing," said Groh, conceding that offsides frequently goes uncalled on kickoffs. "That was a big play. It was the first time we had been called for that all season."

Miami took no time in scoring the TD that would have tied the score, if not for a Jon Peattie extra-point attempt that clanged off the upright, and the Hurricanes finally went up 15-10 on a touchdown with 50 seconds left in the half.

Unable to pick up the one first down that would have enabled them to run out the half, the Cavaliers were forced to punt from their 30 with 2:05 left.

Sophomore Chris Gould kicked a low liner into the wind that Devin Hester caught on the run at his 40 and returned 23 yards before a saving tackle by UVa freshman Aaron Clark.

The Hurricanes might have settled for a field goal but Sinorice Moss took a screen pass from Kyle Wright, avoided Ryan Best at the line of scrimmage and raced 17 yards for the score.

"Last year, two punt returns that accounted for 10 points really swung the balance of the game," said Groh, recalling a 31-21 home loss to the Hurricanes.

Groh didn't necessarily feel that UVa needed to win the game on special teams, but his message to the players was, "Don't let them steal the game on special teams. We'd had 29 good minutes of the first half, then, instead of being up 10-9, we go down 15-10."

Virginia, an 18-point underdog, had a 407-399 total offense edge on the Hurricanes, who had not given up 400 yards in a game all season. The Cavaliers' passed for 296 yards against Miami also was 163 more than the 'Canes had given up in any of its first 10 games.

In the end, it was another loss -- the 14th without a victory for UVa in games played in Florida. The Cavaliers are 9-18 in road games in Groh's five seasons.

"A lot of teams play better at home than on the road," UVa cornerback Marcus Hamilton said. "That's just the way it is. I think a lot of teams would have come in here and known that it was Miami and that it was the Orange Bowl and been nervous or intimidated.

"Maybe in a small way we turned a corner today."

 

Freshman fills in nicely
By Doug Doughty
doug.doughty@roanoke.co 981-3129
The Roanoke Times

MIAMI -- On top of all the other challenges it faced Saturday against No. 10 Miami in the Orange Bowl, Virginia was without its preseason All-America linebacker, Ahmad Brooks.

That was a fitting end to a season that began with Brooks missing the first three games after knee surgery, making his debut in Week 4, and then spraining an ankle and missing another game.

The story for UVa's defense Saturday in a 25-17 loss to the Hurricanes was the performance of Antonio Appleby, a true freshman from Virginia Beach who made his first collegiate start in place of Brooks.

"Those are some mighty big shoes to fill," said Appleby, who had six solo tackles, including one for a loss.

Appleby had played in Virginia's 10 previous games, for a total of 132 plays, many on the special teams with which he continued to contribute Saturday.

"I'm proud of how he played," UVa cornerback Marcus Hamilton said. "He knows the defense, he's confident and he demonstrates that in practice every day. It was no big surprise to us the way he played today."

When Brooks was out of action earlier in the year, smallish Mark Miller took his place. At 6-foot-4 and 244 pounds, Appleby is more of the prototypical linebacker for UVa's 3-4 scheme.

Brooks injured his back in practice Monday, just as he had prior to UVa's game with Georgia Tech, although he played in that game. Groh said he knew Wednesday Appleby probably would have to start.

"He's been coming on very nicely," Groh said. "Once we get over the anguish of not winning the game, I think we'll be able to see some of the positive stuff. I think we found an inside linebacker here."

Appleby was joined on the first-team defense by a pair of redshirt freshmen, outside linebacker Clint Sintim and safety Byron Glaspy, a walk-on who had seven unassisted tackles.

"To play a team like Miami, in my first start, in the Orange Bowl, it's insane when you think about it," Appleby said.

Bowl talk

Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage said speculation he's hearing indicates the Music City Bowl in Nashville, Tenn., might be more inclined to take a 6-5 North Carolina State team that has four wins in its last five games over a 6-5 Virginia team that's on a two-game losing streak.

Virginia might be pushed to the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco, but the ACC has said that there should be a spot for the Cavaliers in the postseason picture.

"From what I understand, there's a pretty good likelihood," Groh said. "We don't care who and where. If we can put together the same mentality we had today, we're looking forward to playing again.

"It's not something we've addressed with the team. We just wanted to have a real good month of November. If 4 was a perfect month, then we were like a 2.75.

"It's not what we were aiming for. I said, 'Look, fellas. After tonight, who's out there that you wouldn't mind playing?' "

By the numbers

Senior tailback Wali Lundy carried 16 times for 61 yards -- the fifth time in the last six games that he has led the Cavaliers in rushing -- and moved into 24th place on the ACC's all-time rushing list with 3,135 yards. ... Connor Hughes moved into a tie with ex-Georgia Tech kicker Luke Manget for fifth place on the ACC's all-time scoring list with 322 points. ... Quarterback Marques Hagans went over the 2,000-yard passing mark for the second straight season.

Milestones

Fifth-year defensive end Brennan Schmidt made his school-record 50th start of his career. Tyrone Lewis, a safety from 1989-91, had held the record for a position player with 48. Will Brice was the UVa punter for 49 consecutive games between 1993-97.

 

Cavs to play talented Arizona
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
November 27, 2005

University of Virginia men's basketball coach Dave Leitao couldn't help but chuckle while watching video from one of Arizona's games in the Maui Invitational, which concluded Wednesday.

"The announcer was talking about them not having a go-to guy," Leitao said. "I don't know if that's the issue for them because on the flip side they are so balanced and experienced.

"This is as balanced a team as I've seen Arizona have in a long time, which I think creates a lot of problems for us."

Virginia (2-0) has looked solid - if not spectacular - in wins over Liberty and Richmond. Tonight, the Cavaliers face a far stiffer test in the 1-2 Wildcats, who are ranked No. 9 in the country and were predicted to finish first in the Pac-10 this season.

The Cavs trounced the Cats, 78-60, in Charlottesville last season, but a lot of things have changed since - as evidenced by the Cavs being picked to finish last in the ACC.

Plus, this time the Cavs will be playing in Tucson at the McKale Center - a place where Arizona has won 250 of its last 267 games.

"We're hoping they have a bit of jet lag coming back from Maui," Leitao joked. "Hopefully they'll have a couple of leis around their necks from all the luaus."

In Maui, Arizona defeated Kansas before losing close games to Connecticut and Michigan State.

A matchup worth watching will be in the backcourt, where the Cavs' Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds will battle the Cats' Hassan Adams.

Against Michigan State, Adams had 21 points, nine rebounds and six steals. The explosive guard, who has a game similar to former Wildcats guard Gilbert Arenas, will have to be held in check.

"We'll put up a fight," said Reynolds, who scored a game-high 23 points against Richmond. "We'll do that no matter who we play."

In the post, the Cats have a slew of players to throw at the Cavs' anemic frontline. That depth is what concerns Leitao the most.

"Our margin of error is so slim," Leitao said. "We may not have enough bodies if we get in foul trouble or if someone's not in the right rhythm. You can't dig into your bench."

To that end, controlling the game's tempo will be paramount. Leitao will most likely employ a 3/4-court trap and play zone at times in an attempt to slow down the Cats, who like to get up and down the court.

"We have to continue to be creative on both ends and maybe do some things offensively that disrupts [their] rhythm," Leitao said.

Leitao said the Cavs won't be afraid to run when the opportunity presents itself, but aren't about to get into a track meet.

"I don't know that with a short bench you can run with [a team] that is good in their building for 40 minutes," Leitao said. "We have to be selective. I don't think we'll slow the ball down to a crawl each and every possession and change what we try and do, but at the same time you have to be cognizant [of tempo]."

The Cavs held Liberty and Richmond to less than 30 percent shooting. Keeping the Wildcats under 40 percent would be a huge achievement, although the Cats shot just 28 percent against Kansas and still pulled out a win.

After a closer review of his team's performance against Richmond, Leitao said the Cavs' help defense was much better than he originally believed, but the team still made too many unforced errors.

The Cavs have committed 37 turnovers in their first two games.

"We've turned the ball over more than we need to," Leitao said. "We need to clean that up."

And, most likely, hope for a Hawaiian hangover.

DUNKS. It's beginning to sound like a broken record, but Cavs junior forward Donte Minter (knee injury) will once again be a game-time decision.

Leitao said Minter will see how he feels before tip-off. Leitao said he's unsure of whether Minter could be lost for more time than originally thought.

"I can't speculate," he said. "The doctors have more control over it than I do. His knee was in tough shape last year. They're trying to clean it up and hope [the pain] subsides. It's worked to some degree, but it hasn't really solved all the issues." ...

Cavs guard T.J. Bannister (sports hernia) is still a week to two weeks from returning, though that's been his prognosis for the last month. ...

The Cavs are 1-1 all-time versus Arizona. The loss came in the second round of the 1994 NCAA Tournament. ? Wildcats coach Lute Olson is one of only four coaches in NCAA history to record 27 or more 20-win seasons. His current streak of 18 is the longest in the nation. ... Cats freshman Marcus Williams is 0 for 7 from the foul line this season, including two crucial misses in the final seconds of the team's overtime loss to Michigan State.

 

Miami slips by Virginia
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
November 27, 2005

For the second straight year, Virginia's football team battled Miami to the bitter end. And for the second straight year, it was not good enough.
Miami, the 10th-ranked team in the country, rallied from a 10-3 second-quarter deficit with 22 unanswered points to take a 25-17 victory at the Orange Bowl in the regular-season finale for both teams.

After falling behind 25-10, UVa added a late score - a 6-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Marques Hagans to Deyon Williams - but the Cavaliers could not recover the ensuing onside kick, leaving the Cavaliers winless on the road in the ACC for the first time under Al Groh.

Even still, Virginia's coach said he was proud of his team for the way it responded just seven days after losing 52-14 to Virginia Tech.

"I am proud to be associated with our team today," Groh said. "I thought this was about as big a challenge as a team could have - come off last week's game [a 52-14 loss to Virginia Tech], come in here against a team that over the last 25 years has historically been in the top five and just seven days ago was the No. 3 team in the country.

"We played well. We didn't play well enough to win, but we certainly played well. Had we not made a few errors along the way, it would have been good enough."

With the home victory, Miami (10-2, 6-2 ACC) kept its slim chances alive of reaching the inaugural conference title game in Jacksonville against Atlantic Division champ Florida State. Those dreams, however, ended hours later when Virginia Tech knocked off North Carolina in Blacksburg.

Virginia (6-5, 3-5) finishes the season in fifth place in the six-team Coastal Division and remains eligible to play in a bowl game for the fourth straight year. The Cavaliers will likely have to wait until after the ACC Championship game on Saturday to find out when, where and if they will be awarded a bowl.

"Our challenge now is to have the same sense of purpose and the same sense of passion going into the next game as we had in this one," Groh said. "We are looking forward to moving on."

After Miami took a 3-0 lead in the first quarter on a 40-yard field goal by junior Jon Peattie, Virginia opened up its playbook in historic fashion.

Facing a 2nd-and-14 at the UVa 10, wide receiver Emmanuel Byers took a handoff on a reverse from Hagans, raced to his right and unleashed a strike to Deyon Williams at the Miami 45 with 5:19 left in the opening quarter. After eluding a defender, Williams raced into the end zone for a 90-yard touchdown, the longest pass allowed in Miami history.

"We have been practicing that play for a while," Byers said. "I just took advantage of the play and saw the DBs run into each other; they fell down and I saw Deyon wide open."

After forcing Miami to punt on its next possession, Virginia moved the ball 55 yards on a 14-play drive, but after a dump pass from Hagans to Jason Snelling on third down came up two yards shy of a first down, the Cavaliers settled for a 24-yard field from Connor Hughes.

Miami answered on its next drive, a possession that started in better field position thanks to an offsides penalty on Virginia's kickoff. Instead of getting a touchback, UVa kicked again and Darnell Jenkins rumbled to the Miami 38, setting up a 62-yard, 8-play scoring drive that was capped by a 4-yard TD run by Charlie Jones.

Groh said he had warned his players on Friday night about avoiding an offsides penalty on special teams, but senior Ottowa Anderson was flagged for crossing the line before Kurt Smith kicked the ball.

"We made a few errors ? and that was one of them," Groh said.

Peattie made sure Virginia kept the lead, at least temporarily, when he missed the ensuing point-after attempt, hitting the right upright with the kick.

Miami took the lead back for good in the final minute of the first half, however, scoring just four plays after Devin Hester returned a punt 23 yards to the Virginia 37.

With 50 seconds left, Miami quarterback Kyle Wright hit Sinorice Moss in the left flat on 2nd-and-4 and the speedster eluded a tackle from Ryan Best and bolted into the end zone for 17-yard score.

Thanks to the second missed PAT of the game and fifth of the season for Peattie, Miami took a 15-10 lead into the half.

"We had 29 good minutes of the first half and then for the last 58 seconds or whatever it was, instead of being up 10-9 we go down 15-10," Groh said.

Both teams struggled early in the second half. Virginia punted on its first two possessions and Miami lost the ball on its opening drive when Quadtrine Hill fumbled at the UVa 40.

"We did a good job of protecting the football except when Hill fumbled the football," Coker said. "It was a key drive. I thought we were going to put the game away at that time - it just didn't happen."

It did happen for Miami on two of its next three possessions. The Hurricanes got a 30-yard field goal from Peattie as the third quarter expired and pushed the lead to 25-10 on a 1-yard TD run by James with 2:06 left in the game.

Virginia answered with a touchdown of its own, a 6-yard TD pass from Hagans to Williams on fourth down, but the score came with only 27 seconds left.

Hughes tried an onside kick for the Cavaliers, but the attempt was corralled by Hill at the Virginia 43. Miami took a knee. Virginia took a loss.

"Obviously, we played them close, but I didn't want to come in here and play close," said Virginia defensive end Chris Long. "I wanted to win. We are disappointed, but it feels better than getting embarrassed like last week [against Virginia Tech]."

For the game, Miami finished with 399 yards of total offense, including 248 through the air as Wright completed 23 of 30 passes. The freshman signal-caller also rushed for a key first down during Miami's final scoring drive.

"[Virginia is] a big physical team and we had seen all week that they were going to give us the short passes," Wright said. "Coming in I wanted to work on going through my progressions and, if I didn't have it, getting it down to the flat or to swing and that worked several times.

"I think we shot ourselves in the foot on a couple of drives with penalties and stuff like that, but overall I thought we played pretty well."

Virginia rushed for 111 yards, averaging just 2.7 per attempt, but the Cavaliers made the most of 16 completions, gaining 296 yards through the air.

The passing stats are bit misleading since Byers passed for 90 on the trick-play in the opening quarter and Hagans added 170 yards in the fourth quarter as Miami's defense dropped into coverage.

 

Cavs regain their self-respect
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
November 27, 2005

MIAMI - A week ago, Virginia's football team didn't feel very good about its collective self and for good reason. Fifty-two reasons as a matter of fact.
Seemingly pounded into oblivion by crusty old rival Virginia Tech, it would have been tempting to stay in that funk.

Rolling into the historic Orange Bowl and taking on one of college football's most successful football programs isn't the prescribed method for getting back on track. Miami is the winningest team in the nation (by percentage) since 2000, and the Orange Bowl can be an intimidating place to play ... not because of the 37,000 fans who turn out, but because of the talent on the sun-drenched field.

While the Cavaliers closed the door on a disappointing 6-5 regular season with a 25-17 loss to the 10th-ranked Hurricanes, they may found a crack for the future. At the very least, the left the southern tip of the Atlantic Coast Conference having regained their self-respect.

"This was about as big a challenge as a team could have," UVa coach Al Groh said about bouncing back from last week's pummeling. "Just seven days ago, [Miami] was the No. 3 team in the country. We played well. We didn't play well enough to win. Had we not made a few errors along the way, it would have been good enough."

Groh promised the players it would be a wide-open game plan and dared them to be bold. Being vanilla against the nation's No. 1 defense just wasn't going to do the job.

A 90-yard option pass from wide receiver Emmanuel Byers, who circled back as if it were an end-around play, to wide receiver Deyon Williams stunned Miami early. Virginia's running attack had early success as well as the Cavs led 10-9 until late in the first half.

And this time, the two touchdown-plus underdog Wahoos, not exactly known for their proficiency on the road, didn't fade at the end. Rather, they fought to the finish, scoring a threatening last minute touchdown by the swipe of Williams' sizeable hand in the Orange Bowl end zone.

In between there were some mistakes made and true to their nature, the Hurricanes stiffened, en route to their ninth win of the season.

It wasn't like Miami was simply going through the motions. This was Senior Day for a proud bunch of 'Canes, and there was still something to play for even though Georgia Tech came into this very field and sucked the air out of Miami's championship hopes with last week's upset.

"This game had a ton on the line, too," said Hurricanes tight end Greg Olsen, whose brother, Christian, is UVa's backup quarterback. "We had to win this game to give ourselves a chance at the ACC Championship, although we needed some other things to work out [like North Carolina upsetting Virginia Tech in Blacksburg]. It also gives a shot to play in a better bowl. A two-loss team versus a three-loss team, there is a major difference."

Miami is still Miami. Speed, power, athletes, all playing in a setting where they have mostly experienced a lot of celebrations.

"We weren't intimidated," said UVa cornerback Marques Hamilton. "We knew how tough a place this was to play, but we were determined to come in here and give it our best shot."

Virginia's defense made Miami work for most of what it got and did a decent job of containing the Hurricanes' speed.

The Cavaliers' offense put up the most total yardage (407) of any opponent this season on the nation's No. 1 defense, and also passed for more yardage (296) than any team against Miami.

Groh's biggest concern coming into the weekend was special teams. Last year, playing with a weak punter, a couple of breakdowns in that phase caused a 10-point swing in Miami's favor when the Hurricanes won in Charlottesville. Groh was determined not to let Miami steal a win through special teams play and for the most part was successful.

While Virginia came to South Florida with the intention of pulling off another upset, the Cavs at least felt they could look themselves in the mirror once again.

"We played what was the No. 3 team in the nation last week and left everything on the field," said Williams, who scored both of UVa's touchdowns. "We played hard.

"We knew after Virginia Tech that was not the kind of team we wanted to be," Williams said. "We didn't want our fans or the country to think we're that kind of football team."

The Cavaliers did play bold and daring football. They knew they had to attack from the outset and never let their guard down because Miami is explosive enough to take a game and run away with it in a hurry.

Virginia never flinched, which Groh hopes gave his younger players a glimpse of things to come.

The Cavs feel pretty confident a bowl game will be forthcoming, most likely in Nashville or San Francisco.

"We don't care who we play, where we play, what color of jersey they're wearing," Groh said. "If we can put together the same mentality as today, we're looking forward to playing again."

UVa seems bowl worthy, at least judging by its schedule. After all, the Cavs beat

then-No. 4 Florida State, beat No. 24 Georgia Tech (which beat Miami), then closed the season with a winnable fight at Miami. Virginia also played then

No. 7 Virginia Tech and

No. 18 Boston College.

"We were trying to have a real good month," Groh said. "Four [wins] would have been a perfect month. We probably had about a 2.75. It wasn't what we were aiming for, but I told the team after the game, 'Look fellas, after tonight who else is out there? USC, Texas? I don't think we're going to be playing them.' But who's out there you shouldn't look forward to playing?"

 

Notes: Miami tops Virginia
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
November 27, 2005

ALL THE WRIGHT MOVES. A week after being sacked seven times in a loss to Georgia Tech, Miami quarterback Kyle Wright bounced back.
He completed 23 of 30 passes for 248 yards and one touchdown and provided one of the biggest plays of the game when he ran for a 31-yard gain on 3rd-and-2 with 1:58 left in the game. That run set up Miami's final and deciding touchdown.

"I kind of felt like I was back in high school, running around and trying to run people over," Wright said of the bootleg run. "I haven't done that in a couple years."

Wright completed passes to eight different receivers.

OUT OF ACTION. Virginia played against Miami without the services of linebacker Ahmad Brooks. Groh said following the game that Brooks was sidelined by back spasms and was not sure of his status for a potential bowl.

Brooks has played in just six games this season for myriad reasons. He missed the first three games (Western Michigan, Syracuse and Duke) as he recovered from knee surgery, missed the Boston College game with a sprained ankle and now the back troubles.

Virginia freshman Antonio Appleby was thrust into the starting lineup and made the most of it, recording six tackles, one of which went for a loss of six yards.

"Those are real bug shoes to fill, but I just tried by best," Appleby said of playing for Brooks, a Butkus Award finalist last year.

GOING LONG. Virginia's 90-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter (Emmanuel Byers to Deyon Williams) was the longest pass play for the program since former quarterback Matt Blundin connected with Tyrone Davis for a 91-yard TD strike in a 42-10 win at N.C. State in 1991.

Byers had attempted two other passes this season, both against Florida State, but neither was completed.

The completion was also the longest pass play ever recorded against Miami. The best was an 81-yard pass by Colorado's Jeff Austin to Emory Moorhead on Sept. 25, 1976. Miami has now given up two touchdown passes thrown by wideouts in the last three games.

REACHING THE BIG FIVE-O. Brennan Schmidt, a senior defensive end and nose tackle, started on Saturday, marking the 50th straight time he has done so.

Schmidt set the school record last weekend against Virginia Tech when he started his 49th consecutive game, passing former safety Tyrone Lewis, who started 48 games from 1988 to 1991.

HAGANS MOVES ON UP. With 206 yards through the air, UVa quarterback Marques Hagans passed his coach, Mike Groh for fifth place on the school's all-time passing list.

Hagans entered the game with 4,313 passing yards. Groh, who played from 1992 to 1995, finished his career with 4,366 yards through the air.

JUST FOR KICKS. Connor Hughes added to his season-long scoring spree with two PATs and a 24-yard field goal.

Hughes, a senior, entered the contest with 63 career field goals and 317 points.

With five points against the Hurricanes, Hughes moved into a tie with former Georgia Tech kicker Luke Manget (1999-2002), who scored 322 points, for fifth-place in scoring in the ACC history.

ATTENDANCE DROPS. The announced crowd at the Orange Bowl was 37,629, which gave the Hurricanes a season total of 271,862 and an average attendance of 45,310.

That is the lowest season average for the Hurricanes since 1999 when 39,263 fans were averaged per game.

Miami, who averaged 59,134 per game last season, entered the weekend ranked 46th in the country in attendance.

GETTING IN THE END ZONE. Miami scored its first touchdown of the game with 9:10 left in the second quarter. It marked the first time that the Hurricanes had reached the end zone in almost 52 minutes of game action. Miami's previous touchdown came in the second quarter of last weekend's loss to Georgia Tech game on a 19-yard pass from Kyle Wright to Sinorice Moss.

EXTRA POINTS. Virginia is now 0-14 in games played in the state of Florida. ? The Cavaliers and Hurricanes had played twice before Saturday. Miami won last season in Charlottesville, 31-21, the same score by which Miami beat the Cavs in the 1996 Carquest Bowl. ? Virginia had only two captains at midfield prior to the start of the game - seniors Wali Lundy and Brennan Schmidt. Tony Franklin has not joined the other captains since he was held out of the Georgia Tech game for violating team policy. ?

The Goodyear blimp flew over the Orange Bowl throughout the game. ? Chris Gould dropped a second-quarter punt out of bounds at the Miami 7. That was Gould's 10th punt this season that was placed inside the opponent's 20. ? Miami's fumble in the third quarter was its 10th of the season. ? Virginia's long snapper, Tyrus Gardner, made back-to-back tackles on two punts in the third quarter. ?

UVa is 44-68-4 in regular-season finales. ? Miami was picked to finish second in the Coastal Division in the ACC Preseason Poll. With Virginia Tech's win on Saturday night, that is exactly where the Hurricanes finished. UVa was picked to finish third in the Coastal, but with a 3-5 record in league play, the Cavs finished fifth, ahead on only one team (Duke). ? Virginia safety Byron Glaspy led the team in tackles, recording seven solos and one assisted. Clint Sintim had UVa's lone sack, Kai Parham forced a fumble and Chris Gorham recovered it. ?

Miami's leading tackler, Rocky McIntosh, was one of 18 seniors playing in their final home game at Miami. McIntosh made 10 stops, including two tackles for a loss, one of which was a sack. For the season, McIntosh has five sacks. ? Miami split end Lance Leggett (toe) dressed for the game but did not play. ? Virginia defensive end Keenan Carter (ankle) dressed but did not play. Sophomore Vince Redd (suspension) did play and he made one tackle. Redd was one of four players who were suspended for the Georgia Tech game two weeks ago. The other three - Tony Franklin, Kwakou Robinson, Ottowa Anderson - all played last week against Virginia Tech. ?

UVa junior Michael Johnson (ankle) was seen limping off the field after his first kick return. Johnson returned and finished the game with three returns for 45 yards. ? Virginia sophomore Josh Zidenburg was carried off the field in the second quarter with an apparent ankle injury. Zidenburg did not return. Zidenburg would have never gotten hurt had the Cavaliers not been called for offsides on a kickoff, forcing a second kickoff, the play that left Zidenburg on the ground near Miami's bench. ? Executives from three bowl games - Orange, Champs Sports and Peach - watched the contest.
 

Cavs perform better, but not good enough
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
November 27, 2005

MIAMI - Just how do you judge Virginia after its 25-17 loss to Miami on Saturday?

Do you look at the positives, that the Cavaliers, playing without star linebacker Ahmad Brooks and coming off one of the most embarrassing losses in school history played the No. 10 team in the country on the road all the way to the end?

Or do you look at the negatives, that lapses on special teams proved crucial, that they couldn’t pressure Miami quarterback Kyle Wright, that for all the back-patting of keeping the game close, the offense scored its two touchdowns on a trick play early on and a desperation drive in the final minute.

Even the Cavaliers themselves didn’t seem to know. Virginia (6-5, 3-5 ACC) didn’t seem like a downtrodden group despite suffering its second straight loss and with its postseason destination likely to be on the lower end of bowl spectrum. Yet the Cavaliers didn’t seem totally satisfied.

“You feel better for the effort, but I don’t know how good you feel because it’s still a loss,” tailback Wali Lundy said.

The Cavaliers did a lot of things right on Saturday, but they were mostly offset by things they didn’t do well enough.

They gained 407 yards of offense against the nation’s top-ranked defense but defensively couldn’t rattle Wright, who completed 23 of 30 passes for 248 yards and a touchdown.

They put themselves in a position where one defensive stop would give them a chance to tie the game but let Wright get loose for a 32-yard bootleg run on third-and-2 with less than two minutes left that all but ended things.

They were determined not to let special teams kill them yet couldn’t contain return man extraordinaire Devin Hester, whose 30-yard return on a punt just before the half set up Miami for a touchdown that shifted the game’s momentum.

“We played well. We didn’t play well enough to win,” Virginia head coach Al Groh said. “But we certainly played well and if we had not made a few errors along the way, it would have been good enough.”

Virginia looked good early, hitting it big in the first quarter on a 90-yard touchdown pass from wide receiver Emmanuel Byers to Deyon Williams to go ahead 7-3. Byers took the handoff on an end around, pulled up and threw a strike to Williams, who was wide open after two Miami defensive backs ran into each other.

“He threw it up there and it was just hanging in the air, hanging in the air and I just knew that I had to go get it and … make a big play for my team,” said Williams, who finished with a career-high 152 receiving yards.

Williams slowed up slightly to catch the ball but out-ran Miami cornerback Marcus Maxey to the end zone once he had it.

“We were just determined to use all the ammo that we had,” Groh said.

Virginia took a 10-3 lead on a 24-yard field goal by Connor Hughes in the second quarter but Miami (9-2, 6-2) answered with a 4-yard touchdown run by Charlie Jones to make it 10-9 (kicker Jon Peattie missed the extra point).

That’s when Hester chimed in. After Virginia went three-and-out with under two minutes left in the half, Chris Gould got off a low, line drive punt that Hester field at his own 40. He bolted through the initial wave of tacklers before being slowed enough by Gould to be tackled by Aaron Clark after a 30-yard gain.

“One of the things (we said) was don’t let them steal the game on special teams,” said Groh, who watched the Hurricanes return a punt for a touchdown in a loss last year in Charlottesville. “And to a degree, (Hester’s return) did that.”

The Hurricanes scored four plays later on a wide receiver screen pass to Sinorice Moss, who left UVa safety Ryan Best in the dust after a juke move and ran 17 yards for a touchdown to put Miami up 15-10 before Peattie missed his second extra point.

Miami stretched its lead to 18-10 in the third quarter when it held Virginia to 27 yards of offense. And though the Cavaliers had their chances in the fourth quarter, the ‘Canes always seemed to have an answer.

Still trailing by eight, the Cavaliers moved the ball to the Miami 26 before facing fourth down. Faced with a pressure off the corner, Marques Hagans was forced to throw early and overthrew Williams.

Miami answered with a four-minute drive that ended in another Jones touchdown run with 1:53 left after Wright’s 32-yard gallop put the ball at the UVa 1.

The Cavaliers scored to make it 25-17 on the ensuing possession after a replay showed that Williams got an elbow down in the back of the end zone on a fourth-down pass for the touchdown. But Miami’s Quadtrine Hill recovered Virginia’s last-ditch onside kick attempt to secure the game.

“I guess you could say we played them close,” sophomore defensive end Chris Long said. “But I didn’t want to come here to play them close. I wanted to win.”

 

Appleby fills in for Brooks
Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
November 27, 2005

MIAMI - Linebacker Ahmad Brooks re-injured his back during practice on Monday and did not travel with the team. In his absence, Antonio Appleby turned in a strong performance.

Appleby, a true freshman from Virginia Beach, made his first career start and made six solo tackles, one of which was for a loss. He backed up Mark Miller earlier in the season when Brooks was recovering from offseason knee surgery but progressed enough that by Saturday the coaches felt comfortable starting him alongside Kai Parham.

“There was a little bit of nerves involved,” Appleby said, “but I’ve been playing a little bit all season.”

Appleby had been in for just 132 plays prior to Saturday, making 12 tackles. Saturday was his most extensive action to date. Virginia head coach Al Groh, for one, was impressed.

“I think we found an inside linebacker here today,” Groh said.

Brooks’ status in unclear. He injured his back in a similar fashion prior to the Georgia Tech game two weeks ago but recovered in time for the game.

“We thought it would come around because it came around quickly last time,” Groh said, “but it just never did.”

Bombs away

When two of his passes fell incomplete against Florida State, wide receiver Emmanuel Byers thought he might not get another shot at quarterback glory. He got his opportunity in the first quarter Saturday and hit the jackpot.

Byers connected with Deyon Williams for a 90-yard touchdown pass on an end around, Virginia’s longest pass since 1991 and the longest ever against a Miami defense.

Byers was the UVa’s leading passer until the fourth quarter.

“He might need to give me some advice,” said quarterback Marques Hagans, who was 15-for-28 for 206 yards. “He threw a hell of a ball.”

Big mistake

Kickoff specialist Kurt Smith did a good job of leaving Miami with poor starting field position (he booted a touchback even after UVa was assessed a 15-yard celebration penalty after its first touchdown), but one time his teammates didn’t help him.

After Connor Hughes kicked a 24-yard field goal to put Virginia ahead 10-3, the Cavaliers were penalized for being offsides on Smith’s kickoff, which had resulted in a touchback. After the five-yard penalty, Smith got the ball to the 2-yard line, where Miami’s Darnell Jenkins fielded it and returned it 32 yards to the Miami 38.

“That was a big play, not a little thing,” Groh said. “That’s one of those errors. It was an 18-yard penalty.”

Miami used its good field position to move down the field and score a touchdown to cut Virginia’s lead to 10-9.

Extra points

Sophomore Josh Zidenburg injured his left leg on kickoff coverage in the second quarter and had to be helped off the field straight to the locker room. He returned to the field later on crutches with what Groh said was a high-ankle sprain. Ben Parziale (Jefferson Forest) played in Zidenburg’s place on the kickoff return unit for the rest of the game. … Fullback Kevin Bradley did not travel with the team. … Nose tackle Keenan Carter was in uniform but did not play (ankle). … Defensive end Brennan Schmidt set the school record by starting his 50th game. … Virginia dropped to 0-14 all-time in the state of Florida.