Wake game big for recruiting
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-72500
November 1, 2007

Anne Groh, essentially the First Lady of Virginia football, slaved over an oven this week to get her annual batch of Halloween cookies ready for the McCue Center.

Hopefully, those tasty treats will be consumed by Friday when a large host of prep stars arrive for a critical recruiting weekend, as the NCAA would likely find some way to make the cookies a recruiting violation.

Regardless, Saturday’s game against Wake Forest remains pivotal for the current team and Virginia’s future models.

The Cavaliers, who are 7-2 overall and 4-1 in the ACC, have received 14 verbal commitments and stand 40th in the country in the latest team rankings compiled by Rivals.com. While landing a four-star athlete, Torrey Mack, and seven three-stars looks like a great start, Virginia enters the weekend ranked 10th among ACC schools - the Cavaliers are ahead of only Wake Forest (No. 55) and Duke (No. 58).

Having played three of the last four weekends on the road and with the season winding down, Virginia’s coaching staff earmarked Saturday’s game well in advance for the final efforts for the Class of 2008 and beyond.

Four-star athlete Cameron Saddler and a pair of wide receivers from Virginia, Randall Dunn and A.J. Price, headline a lengthy list of expected visitors from the Class of 2008, a group that likely has six vacancies remaining.

“This will be one of the last two times here for a while,” said Virginia coach Al Groh. “We are pretty far down the road on future classes so it will be one of the last of two opportunities to get a lot of those players here before the winter.”

Ironically, Saturday’s game is against Wake Forest, a program that Groh coached and recently patterned part of his program’s new philosophy after.

For the past few years, the Demon Deacons have tried to redshirt their entire recruiting classes. In fact, only 10 true freshmen have seen the field at Wake Forest since 2001 and only one this season, easily the lowest figure in the ACC.

Virginia, which played only one true freshman in 2006, nose tackle Nate Collins, has used five true freshmen this season, which ranks in the middle of the league’s teams. Even using five is quite a staggering difference to the number that saw action in ’02 (14), ’04 (10) and ’05 (11).

“I can certainly relate to [the Demon Deacons’] circumstances and understand their approach and the value of it, obviously, from a first-hand basis,” Groh said. “It helps to clearly define the right players for that school or that program and the right players to pursue.

“Whether they are the same players or different players, that’s really what we have evolved with here, too. We understand who the right guys are to recruit for this football program as we philosophically want to go about business and put things together.”

Where those players hail from, obviously, has had no impact - Virginia has only one in-state commitment, defensive lineman Klinton Ruff of Norfolk. The Cavaliers have looked north and south, landing commitments from eight states and the District of Columbia.

“I won’t make the mistake of citing specific circumstances like my friend [Alabama coach] Nick Saban did to get everybody yelling at him, but we like certain players that are on other teams,” Groh said. “But either they don’t fit our model when we put our team together or we recognize from the start this is not where they are going to look.”

Groh, proving his deep knowledge in music, used Johnny Lee’s hit song from 1980 to drive his point home further.

“Part of the lyrics were, ‘Looking for love in all the wrong places.’ And that certainly applies to who you decide to pursue in recruiting,” Groh said. “You can be looking for love in all the wrong faces. If those people are returning the love then you are going down a dead end street, and while you are doing that other good players are going some place else.

“I think that’s really what [Wake Forest coach] Jim Grobe is saying. They have come to a positive realization - it is not a negative thing - of the best places to look for love in terms of recruiting.”

Ironically, the change in philosophy from the program comes just 20 months after UVa’s dean of admissions, Jack Blackburn, denied admission to eight of the players in what was expected to be a 24-player class.

“We try to look for the players who we think will be responsive to our message, to our institution, to our style of play, to the things that we think are important in players, as well as having the characteristics that we want,” Groh said. “The list may be somewhat different, but I think the approach that [Wake Forest] has is one that we fully understand.”

When Virginia gets its true boost from its recent redshirting remains unknown, but it is not always immediate, Groh said.

“The benefits for most of the redshirted players occurs some time down the road after the redshirt year has happened,” he added. “It’s not, OK, redshirt him and he comes back the next year and, ‘Wow, now he is ready to make the Kodak team.’ Sometimes they come back the next year and they are still the same guy.

“Some of them come back and ‘Boy, this guy is a different guy.’ He gets it. He is stronger, He is more mature. He is not as silly about things. He understands this is what college football is. Some guys don’t make that transformation right away. It is like they need to be redshirted a second time, it just counts against their eligibility.”

Groh has preached a prime example to his new players. Jordy Lipsey, a highly touted center coming out of high school, did not develop into a contributor, much less a valuable starter, until his fourth season with the program.

“Jordy Lipsey is doing a real good for us at center. He did a good job for us last year and he has upgraded that significantly for us this year,” Groh pointed out. “As a fourth- or fifth-year player, he is going to have two good years starting here at Virginia and has done a good job for us.

“The previous three years it would have been really difficult to put Jordy in the game for an extended period of time, even though he had been redshirted. It didn’t happen right away in that case. For it to collectively happen, it accrues down the road.”

Thanks to its patience with the redshirting plan that started when Grobe arrived before the 2001 season, Wake Forest will start 15 juniors or seniors on Saturday that took advantage of a redshirt season.

“Jim and those guys went in there and they started redshirting immediately,” Groh said. “Probably the skill of those players could have aided the performance of the team in the early years - they might have won more early - but they wouldn’t probably be the same team now that they are.”

The ACC Championship ring that Grobe will wear on Saturday is all the proof that one would need.

 

WFU, Virginia to meet at last
Rivalry was put on hold by expansion
By Dan Collins
JOURNAL REPORTER

For the first time since 2003, Jim Grobe’s job will provide him with the opportunity to return to his alma mater. Not that he expects a warm welcome.

“They won’t treat me very nice, I’m afraid,” Grobe said. “They’d like to beat me by 100 if they could.”

As head-football coach at Wake Forest, Grobe knows to expect no less when his Deacons play Saturday at Virginia, the school from which he graduated in 1975. His former mates in Charlottesville might be a bit more congenial, if it weren’t for the stakes involved.

The Deacons, riding a six-game winning streak, are 6-2 and 4-1 in ACC play, and have cracked the Associated Press Top 25 poll at No. 21. Virginia, despite last Saturday’s loss at N.C. State, is 7-2 and leads the Coastal Division of the ACC with a 4-1 conference mark.

Grobe said that, overall, he’s happy with what expansion to 12 teams has meant for the ACC. But nothing, he said, is perfect, and one consequence is that Wake Forest ended up in one division and Virginia the other.

And that, he said, is a shame.

“I miss playing Virginia because I think we’re a natural rivalry - academic schools, very similar schools overall,” Grobe said. “I think it’s kind of natural for us to play UVa. But at the same time I do think our expansion has been good. We’ve had to make some sacrifices.

“I’m glad that our players at least have a chance to play the schools in the other division once while they’re here. It’s funny though. This is a new experience.”

Because the teams haven’t faced each other since 2003, Coach Al Groh of Virginia, another Virginia alumnus who once coached at Wake Forest (1981-86), equates Saturday’s matchup with a nonconference game. Grobe said he understands the sentiment.

Fullback De’Angelo Bryant, who broke in during 2003 as a freshman, is the only Wake Forest player to have made the trip to Charlottesville. And Bryant, who redshirted the next season to regain his season of eligibility, didn’t play against the Cavaliers.

“It’s somebody that you haven’t seen in a long while,” Grobe said. “Now, of course, we see crossover games. We see Virginia on film playing other teams when we’re breaking down other teams. So we’ve had a chance to look at them.

“But as far as having any sense of tendencies or any of those type of things, it’s not like you normally get with the guys who are in your division.”

What Grobe sees in Virginia is a team that shares Wake Forest’s penchant for winning close games. The Deacons have won three games by a touchdown or less, while the Cavaliers have won five.

But whereas the Cavaliers stumbled in their most recent game, losing to the Wolfpack 29-24 in Raleigh, the Deacons are coming off what Grobe described as their best game of the season. Scoring early and often, Wake Forest drilled rival North Carolina 37-10 on Saturday at BB&T Field.

Grobe said that the winning streak isn’t something he and his assistant coaches tend to dwell on. But he did make mention of the ranking in Monday’s practice.

“I congratulated our kids on being ranked,” Grobe said. “I think that’s something you need to enjoy. You feel good about yourself. That’s good.

“But where we are today doesn’t really matter much. It’s where we end up. Our players know that. We’ve played really, really hard these last six games to win. To see that we’ve been rewarded for that is a good feeling. But it’s a scary feeling at the same time because you know there’s a lot of responsibility now.

“We know that some good things are out there for us if we can continue to win. Looking back at what we’ve done doesn’t do you a whole lot of good.”

Jeremy Thompson, a senior defensive end, missed yesterday’s practice to have an MRI performed on his surgically repaired left knee. Trainer Don Steelman declined to speculate on the nature of Thompson’s latest problems, which bothered Thompson during Saturday’s game against North Carolina, but said he won’t worry unless the MRI reveals any damage.

“He finished the game, so he should be all right,” Steelman said. “But we’ll have to wait and see.”

 

Cavs have 2 more games before bye
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
October 31, 2007

Only one ACC football team has not enjoyed the luxury of a bye week, a time to scout internally and externally, rest weary bodies and prosper in the world of recruiting.

That program, in fact, will be forced to wait until the 12th week of the season.

Yes, Virginia (7-2, 4-1 ACC) is the odd team out in the league this season. The Cavaliers have company to this point on the national stage - 44 of the other 117 Division I-A teams have played nine games thus far, a contingent that includes all the members of the Big Ten Conference, which eliminated the bye week when the NCAA adopted a plan to play a 12-game regular season.

Virginia coach Al Groh, while pointing out that the matter is not a “big deal,” said he might voice some displeasure “in passing” after the season with league officials.

“There probably should be a cut-off point by which all the teams in the conference have a bye,” Groh pointed out. “None should occur before a certain date ... like you play one game and you get it. We have had that. And probably none should occur after a certain date.”

Last year, Virginia had its bye week after its 10th game, a 33-point loss at Florida State, and responded with a win over Miami.

In 2005, which was before the 12-game season was put into place, the Cavaliers had two open weeks. The first came after the season opener and the second followed Week 8 action.

Groh pointed out that television contracts might make the ACC resistant to impose universal policy changes.

“But TV obligations and such should not sway the competitive balance,” Groh said.

Playing straight through the season has not impacted Virginia in a major way, Groh said, although he keeps a close pulse on the conditions of his players - individually and collectively.

“We’ve been pretty ready to go here every Saturday,” he said.

“Either with certain individuals during the course of each particular week or particular day, [we] have tried to pay attention to guys that we think might need it, in terms of a little bit more rest.

“Input comes in watching and they tell us a lot by how they look, and input also comes just by asking ‘How do you feel? Do you need a little rest?’ We have tried to take that as a principle thing here the last three or four weeks.”

How to win the Coastal

The standings are different yet Miami, Virginia and Virginia Tech remain in a similar position as the final month of the season arrives.

For now, all three programs live by a we-control-our-own-destiny motto.

Virginia and Virginia Tech, in fact, will be able to determine their fate in the Coastal Division title race regardless of the respective outcomes of this week’s games.

Setbacks would merely leave both programs with two losses and the head-to-head portions of the trifecta are set to take place.

The Hokies (6-1, 3-1 ACC) play at Georgia Tech on Thursday before closing out with home games with Florida State and Miami and their road finale at Virginia on Nov. 24.

The Hurricanes (5-3, 2-2) may face the toughest finishing stretch. After hosting N.C. State on Saturday and Virginia on Nov. 10, Miami closes out with road games at Virginia Tech and Atlantic Division-leading Boston College.

As for BC, it has a stranglehold on its division. Wake Forest, Virginia’s opponent Saturday at Scott Stadium, needs help to return to the ACC Championship game. The Demon Deacons (6-2, 4-1) need Boston College to lose at least two of its final four league games - the Eagles own the head-to-head tiebreaker with Wake.

Injury report

A flurry of players practiced for Virginia on Monday, which was not the case the week before.

Cornerback Chris Cook, fullback Rashawn Jackson, cornerback Mike Parker and tight end Tom Santi were active in the session, Groh said. Only Parker played against North Carolina State last weekend, but his playing time was limited to the opening quarter due to an ankle injury.

“Whether those players will be available on Saturday … we will still have to see,” Groh said, “but as opposed to standing on the sidelines, they worked.”

Santi suffered a high ankle sprain on the first play from scrimmage at Maryland, but Groh praised the senior captain for his work in the rehab process.

“The general rule of thumb on those is three weeks at a minimum,” Groh said. “He is doing more eight, nine or 10 days afterwards than most players who have gotten them are able to do.

“We are hoping to have him available, we are trying to work him into the mix, but as we did last week, we are making plans to progress without him as well.”

The news is not nearly as positive for injured tailback Cedric Peerman. The junior, who has missed the past three games with a foot injury, could miss the remainder of the season.

“I’d say that there is a chance of that, yes,” Groh said.

Peerman leads Virginia with 585 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the ground. Surgery to repair an injury that impedes Peerman’s ability to put weight comfortably on his leg remains a possibility.

“As I am told - all I think is what I am told - [surgery] remains an option in the future,” Groh said.

Scouting things out

Given the complexity of Wake Forest’s offense, being on Virginia’s scout team offense will be a tricky job this week.

So much so, in fact, that Virginia’s coaching staff started the process in a unique fashion on Monday.

“We set all those players aside for a 30-minute rehearsal against the air,” Groh said. “[We wanted] to just give them a little bit more familiarity with some of the unusual things that they are going to do.”

Virginia cornerback Vic Hall said the starters on defense had yet to face the scout team, but he expected it to be a learning experience for both units.

“We haven’t really got into it,” Hall said with a smile, “but I am pretty sure we are going to have some crazy looks.”

The scout team will be guided in practice, as they have all season, by redshirt freshman Marc Verica, who is fourth on the depth chart and did not travel to Maryland or N.C. State.

“He’s done a real nice job with that all fall,” Groh said. “His development has been apparent in what he is doing. It has been good for him.”

Extra points …

Despite some improvement against N.C. State, Virginia ranks ninth in the ACC in kickoff returns, averaging 19.6 yards per return. Mikell Simpson, who has one return for 16 yards this season, may have earned himself another shot with his improved play the past two weeks. “We have him taking turns on those units again,” Groh said. … Could Gretna have another flashy play-making quarterback in the same mold of Hall? Nick Miller, Gretna’s signal-caller, accounted for 398 yards of total offense (292 passing, 106 rushing) in a win two weeks ago against William Campbell, which boasted Peerman during Hall’s glory days. “[Miller] is good,” Hall said. The best part? “He is just a freshman,“ Hall said.

 

Deacs see big returns from Marion
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
November 1, 2007

Scattershooting around the ACC, while keeping an eye on Wake Forest kick returner Kevin Marion ...

We advise that Virginia do the same when the two teams meet at high noon Saturday in Scott Stadium in a game that neither team can afford to lose.

Marion enters the game as the nation’s leading kick returner after scooting 98 yards for a touchdown early in the win over North Carolina last weekend, then bringing one back 83 to set up another score.

“Nobody touched me,” Marion said of the 98-yarder. “The rest of the kickoff team blocked so well. They told me before we went out on the field, ‘We’re going to block for you. All you have to do is run.’ I said, ‘I’m going to do it.’”

Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe, who is feeling some of the same magic that led the Deacons to last year’s ACC championship, believes kick returns can quickly change a game.

“Big kick returns are probably the biggest momentum swings in football,” Grobe said. “Right after you score a touchdown you feel pretty good about yourself, but a big kick return takes away from that a little bit. It’s not only something that your team gets pumped up about, it also takes the wind out of the sails of the other team.”

Early checkout

Appendectomy, schlapentectomy, must have been the thoughts of Boston College assistant Ryan Day last week when he was taken to a Boston area hospital for an emergency appendectomy.

Only problem was, the Eagles played the biggest game of their season the next night in Blacksburg against Virginia Tech.

Day was ordered by the BC coaching staff and his doctor to stay in Boston. However, he got up Thursday morning and jumped on a flight to Roanoke, where he met the BC team.

So, there Day was on the sidelines of Lane Stadium for the game, wearing a heart monitor. For his effort, he was given the game ball after BC won in a dramatic comeback.

“He said that he was watching all the promos for the game on ESPN [Wednesday] night and he just couldn’t miss it,” said BC director of football operations Barry Gallup.

Hoos lose recruit

Virginia finished second for the services of Cincinnati high school star tailback Darius Ashley, who chose Louisville this week.

The 5-foot-9, 195 pound Ashley was ranked the No. 14 all-purpose back in the country by Rivals.

He was also offered by Boston College, West Virginia, Tennessee, Illinois and Wisconsin.

No more predictions

Clemson tailback James Davis said he’s done with guaranteeing wins after he did so prior to last weekend’s victory over Maryland.

“There was a lot of pressure going into this game,” Davis said. “I was sweating on the bus just thinking about it.”

He had talked to family members in Georgia close to game time and they all told him he needed to back up his words, which left him a little uneasy.

“I was really thinking worst-case scenario,” Davis said. “What if?”

He settled the issue with 129 rushing yards on 29 carries and a TD.

“I’m not guaranteeing any more wins,” Davis said.

Quote of the Week

“I’m not allowed to talk about calls ... head coaches are not allowed to express their opinion. It’s an ACC rule. It’s a Communist league.”

- Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen after Terps’ safety Christian Varner was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct for flexing his right arm toward the Maryland bench after sacking Clemson QB Cullen Harper last Saturday.

Stat of the Week I

313-269 - North Carolina’s total yardage was superior to Wake Forest’s last week, but the Deacs won primarily because they converted three Tar Heel turnovers into 13 points and because of kick returner Kevin Marion’s big day.

Stat of the Week II

13 - The number of consecutive games that Virginia has gone without scoring a touchdown in the third quarter. The Cavaliers scored only two TDs in the third quarter all of last season, currently amounting to only two, third-quarter TDs in their last 25 games.

36 & 36

How is Virginia doing on its defensive goal of getting 36 sacks and 36 turnovers this season?

After nine games, UVa has 27 sacks, but a mere 13 turnovers. Why is that important?

Because when the Cavs force at least three turnovers, they are 19-5 under coach Al Groh. When they get at least three sacks in a game, they are 25-7.

Tiki time

When former UVa and New York Giants great, Tiki Barber, returned to Charlottesville for a book signing last Friday night, his session went into overtime.

His signing was scheduled from 5 to 7 p.m. at the University Bookstore, where he signed his new book or the children’s books that he and twin brother Ronde composed.

However, so many fans showed up that Tiki stayed until 10:30, making sure that everyone in line got an autographed copy. If that wasn’t enough, he stayed 15 minutes later to sign books for the store’s staff and for fans that had e-mailed the bookstore and purchased a copy online.

How many superstars do you think would have put forth that kind of effort?

That’s the Tiki we’ve all known since he first stepped foot in Charlottesville.

Patrick’s Day

We officially declare this day as “Patrick Day’s Day” on our Scattershooting page.

Patrick Day is currently at the Kluge Center here in Charlottesville and we encourage all our readers to show him some love.

The Blacksburg High School junior football player collapsed one day in August training camp this year, leaving doctors to say that the youngster suffered a stroke in his back (only the third recorded case of this particular instance in the world). Patrick became paralyzed from the chest down.

Patrick is a huge football fan, particularly when it comes to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Please take some time from your day to drop Patrick a note of encouragement, because I know from personal knowledge that it takes more courage than I could ever summon up to deal with paralysis.

Patrick’s address at the Kluge Center is: 2270 Ivy Road, Charlottesville, 22903. He’s in room 1010.

Short yardage ...

If you’ll notice the “Non-Offensive” graphic located on this page, you’ll see how ACC teams have capitalized on scoring non-offensive touchdowns (defense or special teams) since 1992. What the graphic doesn’t show is that Wake Forest leads the league this season with nine (the only other ACC team with more than three is Virginia Tech’s six). UVa has only one. The most the Wahoos have had during any of those seasons was eight in 1996. ... It should be noted that SI.com has listed UVa’s Chris Long No. 2 on its list of the top 10 defensive draft picks, behind only LSU defensive tackle Glenn Dorsey.

... Carolina has to win all of its last four games to record a 6-6 season. ... Duke has now lost 22 straight ACC games, but it’s is still far from its own record of 30 set from 1999 to 2003. ... A total of 14 Maryland players that started training camp on the two-deep have missed at least one game, leaving the Fridge to say, “I’ve never been associated with anything like this in my life.” ... Speaking of injuries, it was sad to see former Fork Union standout Ryan Shuman suffer a severe high-ankle sprain against BC last week. The 6-3, 314-pound Shuman is the son of FUMA postgrad coach John Shuman. ... Meanwhile, Clemson has lost another former FUMA star for the season. Jacoby Ford, one of the fastest players in the ACC, suffered a broken ankle. He was averaging 18.2 yards per catch and was a threat as a kick return specialist.

The Picks

Last week: 4-1. To date: 50-20. Tonight: Virginia Tech 27, Georgia Tech 19. Saturday: Boston College 33, Florida State 23; Clemson 30, Duke 20; North Carolina 24, Maryland 21; Miami 28, N.C. State 23; Wake Forest 24, Virginia 20.

 

Tulane transfer making waves
Junior wide receiver Cary Koch caught his first touchdown pass for Virginia last Saturday.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Cary Koch's first Virginia touchdown had a decidedly different feel than his first collegiate touchdown.

"It was Tiger Stadium at LSU," said Koch, who is from Baton Rouge, La. "The stadium holds 90,000 and there weren't more than 5,000 people in the stands."

Koch (pronounced Coke) was a freshman for Tulane at the time. The first of his two touchdown reception in 2005 came in a 28-21 victory over Division I-AA Southeastern Louisiana.

By that time, just over a month had passed since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast.

"It was actually on my birthday," Koch said. "We were evacuated the 28th [of August] and it actually hit the morning of the 29th. We were right there, in the thick of everything.

"We moved to three different schools, trying to find a home, trying to find a school, trying to find a practice facility. Finally, we ended up settling at Louisiana Tech, where we took classes. We had our whole football operations through their school."

Of course, Louisiana Tech also had a football program.

"We never played a game at home," Koch said. "We had 11 different games at 11 different stadiums. Maybe half the players' parents would come to games and, obviously, the Tulane students didn't travel. We'd be playing at places that were isolated from the other teams' stadiums and you might not have 2,000 people in the crowd."

Koch eventually transferred to Virginia when Tulane eliminated his major, computer science, but Koch's former coach at The Dunham School can't rule out the effects of Katrina.

"In talking to him, I know that his experience was just horrible as far as the conditions they had to play under, living in abandoned and condemned dormitories," coach Joey Thibodeaux said. "He's at [Louisiana] Tech, he's at SMU, he's all over."

Tulane was the only Division I-A program to make a scholarship offer to Koch for the 2005 season, which is a story in itself.

"He was very much under-recruited," said Thibodeaux, noting that Koch was injured in the seventh game of his junior year. "He just kind of exploded on the scene as a senior but not many people knew of him.

"My efforts [to publicize Koch] were in vain, so we get to the state championship and he has a phenomenal game and all of a sudden people are asking, 'Where has this guy been?'"

Schools such as Mississippi and Mississippi State were willing to take Koch as a grayshirt, meaning he could have gotten a scholarship in January 2006, but Koch thought Tulane was a better fit academically.

Academics were also an issue when Koch decided to leave Tulane. An older brother had played football at Washington and Lee, so Koch had some awareness of the Mid-Atlantic.

LSU and Colorado also had expressed interest in him as a walkon, but Virginia was the choice after then-Tulane coach Chris Scelfo put in a call to Virginia coach Al Groh.

While teammates worked out in the summer of 2006, Koch had to wait and see if he would be eligible. It was halfway through preseason camp before he received NCAA clearance, and then he pulled a hamstring.

Maybe Koch would have been better served to sit out the 2006 season as a redshirt. He didn't play in enough games (two) to receive a letter and caught only one pass.

Even worse, he suffered a sprained knee during preseason workouts this year.

"This team had seen enough ACLs," said Koch, referring to the knee injuries that sidelined Kevin Ogletree and Mike Brown for the season. "Initially, it didn't look very good. I was just hoping not for the worst."

A MRI showed only that Koch had a "pretty severe" sprain. That delayed his 2007 debut until UVa's fourth game of the season.

Koch, 6 feet, 195 pounds, had one reception each against Pittsburgh, Middle Tennessee State and Connecticut, but his breakout game came against Maryland, when he caught two passes for 23 yards and had a third nullified by penalty.

In preparation for the Maryland game, Virginia had put in a new package that involved shifting tight end Tom Santi to the slot. Koch, who had received most of his playing time in the slot, was moved to the outside.

"That's a more natural spot for me," Koch said, "but then Santi went down on the first play. Immediately, I was in the game. If we were going to use those plays designed for Tom, they'd have to go to me."

Santi, who has a high-ankle sprain, also missed the Cavaliers' game this past Saturday at North Carolina State. Koch had three receptions for 28 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown grab.

"He looks a lot faster," said Groh, when asked about the difference in Koch from 2006. "He's much clearer in his role and how to execute the patterns, so he's playing at a much higher tempo.

"We thought he had the skill level to be a contributing factor, [but] even though he had played at Tulane, he was just like any other rookie learning the system. He probably had less orientation than the recruited players."

Koch did have one slight connection to UVa. At W&L, Koch's older brother had played with the older brothers of Cavaliers' center Jordy Lipsey, and the siblings hang out together when they're in Charlottesville.

It hasn't been a difficult transition for Koch, although he did not come to Virginia on a scholarship and still has not received one, a situation that could be rectified as soon as extra grants become available.

"I don't know what the plans are," said Koch, whose father is a lawyer. "I think I've definitely raised some eyebrows with the coaching staff and that they have some confidence in me. If I get a scholarship, that would be great, but I'm just here to play football."
 

Marion taking changes in stride
Deacons speedster contributing in big way as kick returner
By Dan Collins
JOURNAL REPORTER

To blow through the ranks of college kickoff returners the way he blew through North Carolina’s coverage team Saturday, Kevin Marion, the fastest Wake Forest player, had to slow down.

As paradoxical as it sounds, Marion said he learned the trick from another senior receiver on the team known for his speed and big-play capability.

“Kenny Moore, he sat me down because he has great vision,” Marion explained. “He was telling me, ‘Slow the game down a little bit. You’re fast enough you can do that. You don’t have to always run so fast all the time.’

“He was telling me most of it is vision. He said, Try it out sometime.’ It started at Navy. I started not running so fast, but being so smooth. And it’s helping out.”

Marion, a 5-10, 160-pound wide receiver who has been clocked at 10.21 in the 100 meters, was still too fast and elusive to take a clean shot from the Tar Heels. Their only tackle of him - after he had returned their first kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown - was a shoestring save by Matt Merletti that tripped Marion up at the 14 after an 83-yard return.

But a few days later, Marion couldn’t resist leveling a shot of his own.

“It was almost like Carolina was running around in slow motion,” he said. “And I just saw the seam and took it.”

Marion burst through the seam all the way to the No. 1 ranking in college football’s bowl division with an average of 33.89 yards per return. He leads A.J. Jefferson of Fresno State (32.94) and A.J. Wallace of Penn State (32.46) after averaging 76.8 yards a return over his past two games, against Navy and North Carolina.

“It’s a wonderful feeling,” Marion said. “Individually it feels great. But when you’re doing it for the team, and also trying to compete for another title, it feels amazing.”

Coach Jim Grobe sees Marion as an example of what can happen for those who refuse to succumb to frustration and adversity. Marion, never considered the most sure-handed of Wake Forest’s receivers, disappointed his teammates, fans, and most of all himself, by dropping two long passes early in the season against Nebraska and Maryland.

In both instances, Marion had beaten the coverage and the pass was on the money. Neither time could he haul it in.

He didn’t exactly redeem himself against Nebraska when he lost control of the ball trying to extend it past the goal line after a 61-yard reception from Brett Hodges. Wake Forest retained possession when the ball was ruled out of bounds, and Hodges scored on a sneak three plays later.

But neither play against Nebraska bothered him as much as the drop against the Terps.

“That kind of affected me, especially in the Maryland game when I dropped another ball,” Marion said. “I was kind of like, ‘Oh man.’ I was kind of beating up on myself and I think that played a big, big factor.

“But sometimes you’ve just got to let things go and do something else to make up for it. Once you beat down on yourself you’ve got to build your confidence back up, and that may take awhile.”

Marion said he appreciated the straightforward manner in which Grobe responded.

Marion, after catching 12 passes in the first four games, has caught just two since for a total of three yards as his plays from scrimmage have become fewer and fewer. But Grobe emphasized another way that Marion could still help the team.

“Coach sat me down and he talked to me and told me what he was going to do,” Marion said. “And I respect that.

“Anything to help out the team is good. I understand being a senior. If it’s going to be kickoff returns, it’s going to be kickoff returns.”

When Grobe pulled freshman Jordan Williams off the scout team to join the receiver rotation against Navy, a more selfish senior might have pouted. Instead, Marion’s next two games were two of the best of his career.

Grobe suggested that Marion, his confidence restored, might work his way back into a more prominent role as a receiver.

“He’s responded exactly the way you would expect good kids to respond - guys who care, guys who want to win,” Grobe said. “His attitude has been, ‘I’m just going to keep working hard every day, trying to do my best to be a positive guy for our football team,’ and the consequence has been he’s improved returning kickoffs immeasurably because he’s still in it.

“He’s still in it mentally. He’s not pouting with his head down. And I really expect that will carry over on the field on offense as well.”

Jeremy Thompson, a senior defensive end, returned to practice yesterday after an MRI performed Tuesday revealed no structural damage to his surgically repaired left knee. Thompson said that the pain he felt during Saturday’s game against North Carolina and Monday’s practice was diagnosed as tendonitis.

 

UVa, Wake Forest reach sameresults with different redshirt philosophies
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 31, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Jim Grobe didn't think he was necessarily on to something revolutionary.
He didn't have many options while trying to revive a dormant football program at Ohio in the mid-'90s, so he leaned on true freshmen. By the end of their careers, they were some of the best players in Bobcats history.

Fullback Steveland Hoofkin ran for 3,972 yards, a school record. Kareem Wilson, the 1996 MAC offensive player of the year, ran for another 3,597, fifth most by an NCAA quarterback.

"We thought, 'Man, if we could have redshirted those guys and gotten one more year out of them, think how special they would have been as fifth-year guys,'" Grobe said.

"That was the motivating factor in trying to be patient with our guys. If we could put them on the shelf as freshmen, we could have probably had a better football player by the time he was 22 or 23 years old."

It's a classic dilemma for football coaches trying to turn a program in the right direction. Do you redshirt entire classes to reap the benefits later down the line or play superior talent early in hopes getting things moving quicker?

Al Groh, who arrived at Virginia at the same time Grobe took the Wake job, took the divergent path, playing true freshmen right away in an effort to, as he said, "get things jumpstarted."

Nearly seven years later, both are where they want to be. Grobe's Wake Forest team won the ACC last year and is only a game back in the loss column in the Atlantic Division this season. Groh's Virginia squad sits atop the Coastal Division with three games left.

Grobe is 43-37 in his seven years at Wake. Groh is 49-35 at UVa.

Grobe admits his way wasn't easy. By taking a long-term approach, he probably left wins on the table early in his tenure. Wake Forest didn't have a winning conference record in his first five years but gained the experience necessary for last year's title run.

The difficulty is in depth. Grobe often had to use gassed defensive starters on special teams when more than 20 fresh players were available on the sideline, unable to enter the game or they would burn their redshirt.

"You really don't want to waste a kid's eligibility just being on a couple special teams snaps," Grobe said. "It was hard. It was really hard."

It's paying off now, though. Wake Forest is one of the most veteran teams in the ACC, with 15 senior starters, all of whom redshirted early in their careers. Of the Deacons' 24 starters (including kicker and punter), only one did not redshirt. Not a single true freshman played last season.

Virginia took an opposite approach and got a quick payoff. In 2002, Groh's second season, 14 true freshmen played. That team went 9-5 and won the Continental Tire Bowl.

Groh stuck with that approach the next few years, playing 10 true freshmen in 2004 and 12 in 2005, some in extremely minor roles. The tradeoff came in 2005 and '06, when the Cavaliers lacked the depth and experience to overcome roster attrition and injuries. Virginia went 12-12 in that time.

Groh has somewhat changed his course since then. Of the 16 true freshmen on the roster last year, only nose tackle Nate Collins played.

Of this year's 24-member class, five have gotten in a game - quarterback Peter Lalich, wide receiver Dontrelle Inman, cornerback Ras-I Dowling, linebacker Jared Detrick and long snapper Danny Aiken. Barring unusual circumstances, the rest of the class will redshirt.

Of Virginia's 24 starters, 14 redshirted at some point in their careers. That doesn't always guarantee a quantum leap in development, however.

"Some of them come back right away and it's, 'Boy, this guy is a different guy,'" Groh said. "He gets it. He's stronger. He's more mature. He's not as silly about things. He understands this is what college is. He understands this is what college football is.

"Some guys don't make that transformation right away. It's like they need to get redshirted a second year. It just counts against their eligibility, but they're not more ready their second year than their first year."

Groh cited the case of center Jordy Lipsey, who redshirted in 2003 but was nowhere near ready to play until last year, when he seized the starting job. This fall, Groh singled him out as one of the team's most-improved players.

Lipsey's case isn't unusual, which is why patience is a virtue when it comes to redshirting.

"For (success) to collectively happen, it occurs down the road," Groh said. "After two or three classes are two or three years removed from that redshirt circumstance, that's when the real maturity of a team occurs."


 

Redshirt blues
Kevin Zdancewicz

In light of Virginia football's loss at N.C. State Saturday, let's look back to Sept. 1, aka. GMG (Groh Must Go) Day. Leading up to the Wyoming game that afternoon, sophomore Jameel Sewell was the quarterback of the Virginia football team. With little controversy apparent at the time, it was a nice contrast from last year's quarterback shuffle in the first three games.

It's curious to note that Groh put freshman quarterback Peter Lalich, a prized recruit, in the game with 2:24 remaining. My dad, a U.Va. alum and football fan, has said ever since that it was a mistake to put Lalich in the game. I agreed with him then, and as time has passed, it has become more and more apparent that Groh dropped the ball on this one. Our dissent came from the fact that Lalich apparently would not be redshirted this season.

College athletes have a five-year period to participate in four years of NCAA competition. Though playing in that game did not necessarily prevent Lalich from being redshirted (if he was injured at some point having only played in that game, he could have applied for a medical redshirt), Groh was essentially saying Lalich was going to be a piece to the puzzle this year. Playing Lalich in that meaningless situation seemed harmless and innocent on the surface; however, its repercussions for Lalich's career were anything but.

If he had a redshirt year to develop physically, learn the playbook and get acquainted with the offense, Lalich would have had a better chance to challenge Sewell for the job next year. At that point, one of three things would happen: Lalich wins the job; both quarterbacks play (though perhaps not as consistently); or Sewell wins the job. Even in the third scenario, Lalich is still ready to go and would still have four full years of eligibility -- including two in which the starting quarterback job was his to lose.

After the Wyoming game, Groh decided to use both Sewell and Lalich. Though a two-quarterback system works in theory (sort of like communism), its actual successes are few and far between. The fact that one of those success stories came last year with the Florida Gators (using Chris Leak and Tim Tebow) only fueled the enthusiasm for the move. The only problem was that Leak was an established quarterback and Tebow was an absolute stud in the perfect offensive system. Just because Sewell is better at running and Lalich is better at throwing didn't mean that using both would prove efficient.

Furthermore, using both quarterbacks seemed like a panic move to justify playing Lalich in the Wyoming game. Immediately, it appeared to spark the team in the Duke game. Sewell started, but Lalich came in at the end of the second quarter and then played the entire fourth. In his best performance of the year, Lalich finished 13 of 18 with 131 yards and a TD. Some argue it's a good thing Lalich didn't redshirt; otherwise we would have lost this game. That seems a bit exaggerated given that Virginia never trailed Duke, and if anyone carried the team it was probably Cedric Peerman, who broke out for 137 yards on 19 carries and a TD.

The Duke game stands as the only time Lalich really outshined Sewell. And even then, Jameel finished with 93 all-purpose yards and passing TD in the game. Sewell went on to outplay the freshman in the next two contests and won outright the job he should have held all along. He has since led the team to four straight victories before Saturday at N.C. State. Lalich, on the other hand, is wasting a precious year of eligibility on the bench.

College football is all about managing resources. Coaches recruit players by selling them on the academics, facilities and other assets their schools have to offer. Once they bring those players into a program, they must decide when certain players are used. Determining if and when a player should be redshirted is vital to maintaining the best program a coach can.

Redshirting a player isn't an insult, but a smart tool that coaches use. Some of the best players on both sides of the ball for U.Va. have redshirted, including sophomore Jeffrey Fitzgerald, junior Clint Sintim, junior Cedric Peerman, sophomore Mikell Simpson and freshman Keith Payne. The best example is probably Sewell, who sat out a year as Marques Hagans ran the offense.

Since the dual quarterback system was abandoned, Lalich has been used sparsely. He didn't play against Pitt, Middle Tennessee or Connecticut, and came into the last two games only because Sewell was injured near the end of each contest. Against Maryland and N.C. State, Lalich went 3 for 9 for 20 yards in three series and was sacked 3 times. At this point in time Lalich appears out of sync with the offense, which you can afford to be while redshirting, but not when you're suiting up every Saturday.

I know, I know: Hindsight is 20/20. I also know a lot people are high on Lalich. Obviously Groh is, since he decided to play him as a true freshman. But sometimes, people's perceptions get the best of them and they fail to realize what they are pushing for is not proven, not a sure thing. I don't want to take anything away from Lalich; I'm glad he's here and I think he could be great down the road. I just think a redshirt year would have been a better stepping stone to that end than throwing him into the fire this year.

As Manny Ramirez told media with the Red Sox on the brink of elimination, "it's not like it's the end of the world." But in college sports you have to think long-term about every decision. Let's just hope that in the end I'm proven wrong and that this particular one helps Virginia football in the future.

 

Wake kick returner ... can ... go ... all ... the ... way By Rob Daniels
Staff Writer
Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2007 3:00 am
 

WINSTON-SALEM -- So what makes Kevin Marion run? Sitting, oddly enough.

After losing his starting job as a wide receiver, the Wake Forest football team's fastest man concentrated on returning kickoffs and has turned the skill into a game-changing weapon. Statistical supremacy in such things is fleeting, so Marion, the second-lightest scholarship recipient in the ACC at 168 pounds, won't give it too much weight yet.

"It's a good story," coach Jim Grobe said. "You see a guy who has lost his confidence a bit, and all of a sudden he's leading the country in kickoff return because he keeps working at it."

The past four times he has taken the ball back, Marion has gone for 80, 46, 98 and 83 yards -- scoring once himself and setting up touchdowns with the other three returns. If his average of 33.9 yards per runback stands, it will rank fourth in ACC history. With two more long ones, he'll have a good shot to break a record set in 1954, the league's second season.

And that's after he failed to catch almost certain touchdown passes against Nebraska (a 20-17 loss) and Maryland (a 31-24 overtime victory.) Dropping the ball -- either on a fumble or incomplete pass -- is one sure way to take up residence in Grobe's detention hall, which is why the fifth-year senior from St. Petersburg, Fla., sort of expected a demotion.

"Coach sat me down and told me," Marion said. "It wasn't a secret or anything. He said, 'I still want big plays on kickoff returns.' And I said, 'I'll still give you big plays wherever I'm going to play.' "

Coaches always say the ability to handle disappointment can define a career. The definition looks pretty good in this case.

"Personally, that was the key thing to it," Marion said. "I wasn't upset. I'm not a jealous type. I just took it in stride."

Quite literally, in fact. And knowing how, where and when to stride was Marion's chief practical consideration. It surely wasn't a matter of speed for the 5-foot-10 track star, who always knew he was the fastest kid on the block and didn't feel compelled to prove it.

"Growing up, I never really liked racing," he said. "I didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings. Competing in college, I understand. But in the neighborhood, people get mad."

Marion didn't get mad when he learned his plays from scrimmage would be drastically diminished. But he did understand that he had to refine his new specialty.

Early in the season, Marion said, he occasionally missed opportunities for breakout runs because he failed to wait out developing blocking patterns.

Throughout the season's early going, Grobe and Tim Billings, the assistant who handles wide receivers and the kickoff return unit, kept insisting that Marion or somebody was going to take one back. They were rewarded when Marion went 80 yards with the opening boot of the game at Navy. Kenny Moore caught a TD pass three plays later.

On his next return, Marion was taken down at the Navy 47. Seven plays thereafter, the Deacs scored again, and the Midshipmen were tired of it all. They changed kickers and ordered the new guy to hit pop-ups -- no matter how short. That resulted in one fair catch at the Wake 30 and another at the 40. Those aren't bad starting spots, either.

Last week, North Carolina thought it had a bit of momentum after it kicked a field goal off a long drive. The Tar Heels kicked deep to Marion, who promptly returned it 98 yards, and the Deacons went up 17-3.

"I saw a couple of key blocks in front of me," Marion said. "It was almost like Carolina was running in slow motion. I saw a seam, and I took it."

After the Heels closed to 23-10, they tempted fate again. Eighty-three yards later, the Wake offense was in business, and a Josh Adams run on the first scrimmage play put the game out of reach.

Almost as quickly, Marion had three of the nine longest kickoff returns in Wake history, a fact that makes you wonder when opponents will consistently avoid him altogether.

"Hopefully, never," he said. "I feel like I'm just getting started. Sometimes, it takes awhile."

 

Decision looming for Memphis star
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
November 1, 2007

Where is Elliot Williams going to play college basketball? That’s the $8 trillion question for Virginia basketball fans right now.

On Friday, Williams, a five-star guard who is considered one of the best high school players in the country, will announce his choice. The finalists: Duke, Memphis, Tennessee and Virginia.

On Wednesday, Jeff Ruffin, Williams’ coach at St. George’s High School in Memphis, said he had no clue as to what his star senior would do.

“From what Elliot told me [on Tuesday], [the family] is going to sit down in the next couple of nights and make a final decision,” Ruffin said.

“I think when he set the date of Nov. 2, everybody figured he had made a choice. But I think it was more a case of just giving himself a timeline because he wants to get it done and move on with basketball practice.”

Williams is the kind of player who could turn a great recruiting class into an elite one. The 6-foot-4 combo guard can do it all. Many people expect the Memphis native, who has been compared to former Tigers standout Penny Hardaway, to eventually leave college early for the NBA.

Virginia coach Dave Leitao has already reeled in two four-star recruits in John Brandeburg and Sylven Landesberg, plus three-star prospect Assane Sene. The addition of Williams would surely vault the 2008 class into the nation’s upper echelon.

Leitao visited Williams at school on Wednesday. That came on the heels of a visit by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

“When Mike Krzyzewski walked in, it was crazy around school,” Ruffin said. “Then Dave Leitao came in [on Wednesday]. Tennessee is calling. I think Memphis is coming [today].

“It’s been a revolving door. We’ve had a lot of phone calls, a lot of coaches here. I’m kind of ready for [Friday] to hit. It’s been wild, but it does kind of take its toll after a while, so I think we’re all ready - Elliot included - for this to happen so that we can move on with our season.”

Ruffin said there has been some debate as to what time of day Williams will announce his decision. The coach said there was a strong likelihood that the press conference would be switched from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Virginia would seem to have several things in its favor. UVa was the first of the four suitors to offer Williams a scholarship, and, in previous interviews, Williams has often referred to Leitao as a “father figure.”

Ruffin also believes academics will be a big factor for Williams, who has a 3.8 GPA. If that is really true, the University of Tennessee, which has never been confused with Harvard, would seem to be on the outside looking in.

“But there are so many factors,” Ruffin quickly added. “I wouldn’t say one weighs more than another. He wants to play quickly, have a comfort level with the coaches. There’s the distance from home, the academics.

“There’s so many different things and how the family is prioritizing them I have no idea. I think from what the college coaches have told me is that they’ve done as good a job as you can do of stonewalling and sort of keeping it within the family. I really don’t think he’s made a final decision. I think he’s probably got it down to two [schools], but he just hasn’t said which ones they are.”

 

St. George's star picks Duke
Academics figure in guard's choice
By Dan Wolken (Contact)
Thursday, November 1, 2007

St. George's guard Elliot Williams, a top recruiting target for both the University of Memphis and University of Tennessee, has apparently chosen to play college basketball at Duke.

Multiple sources told The Commercial Appeal late Wednesday night that Williams gave a verbal commitment to Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, ending an emotional, back-and-forth recruiting battle that also included Virginia among the finalists.

"I think it's a great honor. I felt it was a great honor when he first started getting interest from Duke and I think it's a great honor to play for Coach (Mike) Krzyzewski," said St. George's coach Jeff Ruffin. "Academically it's a great fit because Elliot's a great student. The fact that Coach Krzyzewski is one of the best coaches in basketball, period, had a lot to do with his decision.

"All four schools offered so many things and some offered better than others, whether in terms of academics or location or the ability to play right away. There were several different factors. When it was all said and done, it was Duke that offered the most things they were looking for."

Williams, a 6-4 combo guard, was among the top uncommitted high school seniors in the country, ranked No. 16 overall in the class of 2008 by Rivals.com.

"From what I understand, he's sort of been leaning a little more, a little more and a little more toward Duke in recent days. Tonight he decided to make that decision for sure," Ruffin said. "He's a great kid and he's worked real hard to get in this position. I'm just happy for him. I'm happy he's sort of at peace now. ... A lot of this is exciting, but it's taken its toll."

Williams' father, Max, had not returned a phone message seeking comment at press time.

Verbal commitments are non-binding.

Memphis will now turn its attention to Tyreke Evans, a 6-5 guard from Philadelphia ranked No. 6 overall, who is looking seriously at the Tigers, along with Villanova, Louisville and Texas.