Virginia still livin' on the edge
Late TD, missed kick put UVa back on top
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
November 4, 2007

After relying on its own heroics during numerous game-winning moments, Virginia elected to defer to Wake Forest on Saturday.

Virginia’s players, most of whom were on bended knee and begging for a last-second missed field goal, had their prayers answered.

Wake Forest placekicker Sam Swank, an All-American in 2006, pushed a 47-yard field-goal attempt to the right as time expired, giving the Cavaliers an improbable 17-16 win over the 21st-ranked Demon Deacons at Scott Stadium.

The roars from Cavalier fans who had a direct angle on the kick saved many of the players from further agony.

“I was just going to listen,” said Virginia defensive end Chris Long. “I whipped my head around so fast and by the time the kick was coming down I saw it went wide right, and that was just the best feeling in the entire world. That was unbelievable.

“In basketball you want your guy to be taking that open jump shot. You want your field goal kicker that is automatic to be kicking that ball, but everybody makes mistakes.”

With the victory, Virginia (8-2, 5-1 ACC) vaults back into sole possession of first place in the league’s Coastal Division, a race that appears to be down to two teams. UVa and Virginia Tech, which are tied in the loss column, boast a two-game lead over Miami following the Hurricanes’ 19-16 overtime loss Saturday against North Carolina State.

“It’s playoff time and we won today and it’s kinda like what they do during March Madness: Win and move on,” said Virginia coach Al Groh. “We won, we’ve got an opportunity to move on now and stay in this race.”

Virginia also became the first Division I-A team to win five games in a season by two points or fewer, breaking the previous mark set by Columbia in 1971.

Yes, as usual, Virginia elected to make the contest as climactic as possible for the 60,106 in attendance.

In fact, Virginia trailed Wake Forest, 16-10, with 6:15 left in the game before mounting a magical, 10-play, game-winning drive that took a fourth-down conversion.

It also took a near-perfect performance from quarterback Jameel Sewell, who passed for 225 yards in the game and accounted for 53 of the final drive’s 56 yards.

The biggest play came on fourth-and-2 from the Wake 24. Sewell fired a strike to wideout Maurice Covington that moved the ball to the Wake 14.

After scrambling for 11 yards on the ensuing play, Mikell Simpson gained two yards on a direct snap, then followed blocks from right guard Ian-Yates Cunningham and fullback Rashawn Jackson to score a play later with 2:18 left from just a yard out.

“Ian pulled and opened it up and I just cut right off of Ian’s block,” said Simpson, who finished with 35 yards rushing on 16 carries. “When I was running toward the end zone, it was cluttered and I didn’t think I was going to be able to get out there - I was going to have to do something like Maryland.

“It just opened up when I cut back.”

While Simpson scored, Sewell’s performance on the drive drew the loudest praise.

“He and I both agree that this probably wouldn’t have happened last year,” Groh said. “Everybody has toughened up around here mentally, and I think he’s done the same. That enabled him to overcome some plays that weren’t too pretty and to be there for his team when it really mattered.”

Wake Forest, however, marched into Swank’s range on its ensuing possession as its own signal-caller, Riley Skinner, completed four passes for 47 yards and converted once on fourth down. The last of Skinner’s completions, which went to De’Angelo Bryant, was good for 12 yards and pushed the ball to the UVa 33.

Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe then elected to run the ball with tailback Josh Adams on the next two plays, which combined for just three yards. After the second carry, Wake let the clock wind down to 2 seconds before calling its final timeout.

“When we completed that pass to De’Angelo, we felt we were in Sam’s range,” Grobe said. “We would have certainly liked to get more from those two runs we had, but from our perspective that was easy length for Sam.

“The thing we didn’t want to do was take a sack or throw a pick to do anything that wouldn’t give Sam a chance to win the game.”

Swank, who also missed a 43-yard attempt in the second quarter, entered the game perfect on 11 attempts inside of 52 yards. His lone miss was a 57-yarder at Navy.

Groh defended Grobe’s decision to run the ball on the final two plays.

“That was the right call given the history this kid had,” Virginia’s coach said of Swank.

The junior, who dodged reporters afterward, had ample opportunity to prep for the game-winning kick.

Wake Forest, which went 8 for 20 on third-down conversions, settled for field-goal attempts on three of its four scoring drives - Swank connected on a 27-yarder on the game’s first possession, nailed a 25-yarder with 10:28 left in the second quarter and added a 31-yarder with 10:12 left in the game.

Virginia was held in check in similar fashion until the final seconds of the first half.

Trailing 6-3, Sewell connected with Covington for a 39-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds left in the first half.

Covington, who finished with four receptions for 76 yards, squeezed past two Wake defenders to score his first career touchdown.

“I ran my route to the right and Jameel threw a perfect ball,” Covington said. “I had great blocking from [tight end] John Phillips and I just did what I had to do to get into the end zone.”

Wake’s lone touchdown came with 2:10 left in the third quarter after Skinner rolled right and rifled a pass to wideout Kenneth Moore for a 13-yard score.

The play gave Wake a 16-10 lead, but Virginia linebacker Clint Sintim admitted the quarterback should have had less time to make the throw.

“Towards the third quarter, Coach actually told me to spy [Skinner] and I think there was a situation where I didn’t quite understand what he was saying,” Sintim explained. “Coach said, ‘Spy the quarterback. Spy the quarterback.’ And I am shaking my head like I hear it but I didn’t really hear it, and he ended up stepping outside the pocket and throwing the touchdown pass.”

Sintim, who finished with a career-best 11 tackles, nervously glanced at Groh after the play.

“Immediately I kind of look over to the sidelines,” Sintim said, “and I get this look from Coach and I am like, ‘He probably told me to spy the quarterback.’”

Luckily, the end result allowed Sintim and his teammates the ability to enjoy the blown assignment.

“Say whatever you want, but all that matters at the end of the game is a ‘W’ or a ‘L,’ and as of right now we have eight ‘W’s’ and two L’s,” Sintim said. “However we get ’em is how we get ’em. You can say whatever you want - slice it, dice it, it doesn’t matter to me.

“You play good football and you win games. That’s what we do.”

The loss ruins the chances that Wake Forest (6-3, 4-2 ACC) had of winning the Atlantic Division title and repeating as league champions. The Demon Deacons could have actually gained ground on Boston College, which suffered its first loss of the season Saturday night, falling 27-17 to Florida State.

Wake Forest travels to Clemson on Saturday.

Virginia, which rebounded from its 29-24 loss at N.C. State, controls its own destiny - and will for the remainder of the regular season. The Cavaliers play at Miami on Saturday at 7:15 p.m. followed by a showdown with Virginia Tech on Nov. 24.

 

Suspense is Cavs' lifeblood
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
November 4, 2007

OK, you can stop shaking now. It’s Sunday morning, so you’ve had all night to calm down from another of Virginia’s weekly cliffhangers.

Watching the Cavaliers would make a cup of coffee nervous, but you should be used to it by now.

Saturday’s 17-16 squeaker over No. 21-ranked Wake Forest was UVa’s fifth win by two points or less this season, setting a new NCAA record for nail-biting.

The collective blood pressure readings in sold-out Scott Stadium must have been off the charts, but Saturday was just another rerun of what seems like an endless loop of thriller-dillers. Virginia’s last five games have been decided by a combined 10 points, and they’ve won four of those by a collective five points.

The one that got away was the five-point loss at N.C. State last week. Wow, what a blowout!

These games have become so routine that Wahoos coach Al Groh doesn’t even flinch anymore. When Wake Forest’s kicker, Sam Swank, considered the closest thing to money in the bank in the ACC, lined up for a 47-yard field goal attempt with the game on the line and 2 seconds to play, Groh’s heartbeat was as calm as a day at the beach.

“It was just, let’s see what happens,” Groh said. “Frankly, I didn’t have any nerves about it at all. It was no time to get the heebie jeebies.”

Geez, what kind of freakin’ coolant does this guy have in his system? I know some pro golfers who would pay big bucks for some of that standing over a 3-footer for the big payday.

Well, he was the only one of the 60,106 bodies in the joint that wasn’t on the edge of the seat. Players are supposed to reflect their coach’s character, but not in this case.

“If I wasn’t as young as I am, I might have a heart attack,” said junior linebacker Clint Sintim. “It was nerve-wracking. I keep getting people calling me saying, ‘Don’t make it so close,’ but that’s how we like to operate.”

However, perhaps ignorance was bliss in this certain situation. Sintim did not know that Swank had missed only one field goal all season coming into the game, and that was from 57 yards (he also has seven career kicks of 50 yards or more).

“Oh, wow, I didn’t even know that,” Sintim said in amazement. “So, that would have probably put another thought in my head. When he lined up, I knew he had missed one earlier in the day (a 43-yarder that caromed off the upright).”

Nor did he know that Swank was the ACC Kicker of the Year last season and considered by many to be the best collegiate booter in the country.

“I’m glad I didn’t know that before the kick or I might have passed out,” Sintim deadpanned.

There were several close calls and bullet dodges by the Cavaliers throughout the day as Wake Forest, which had won six straight games, attempted to put away its pesky host. But as mentioned previously, Virginia has found ways to win, just as it seemed to find ways to lose as inexperienced players last season.

Along the way, sophomore quarterback Jameel Sewell, who is often erratic early in games, once again claimed ownership of crunch time. He engineered another come-from-behind scoring march that will someday add to his legend.

This one was 56 yards, short by his comeback standards, in 10 plays and a tad under 4 minutes. Twice he scrambled for first downs, once getting a hand on the ground to prevent himself from going down, as he fought his way for 11 yards to the Wake Forest 3-yard line. Tailback Mikell Simpson took it from there as Virginia went up for all eternity, 17-16, with 2:18 to play.

“When [Sewell] has a bit of a devil-may-care attitude, when he’s loose and relaxed and not concerned about errors, that’s when he plays his very best,” Groh said afterward. “Coming down the homestretch, he kicked into that mode.”

It’s something both Groh and Sewell agreed that the youngster couldn’t have pulled off last year because of his inexperience and having not yet matured into the job.

“He’s an emotional player and he’s a prideful player,” the coach said. “One of the things that was challenging for him to deal with in the past was when things didn’t go well, his emotions would get in the way. Everybody has toughened up around here mentally, and I think he’s done the same. That enables him to overcome some plays that weren’t too pretty and to be there for his team when it really mattered.”

Honestly, some of Sewell’s passes earlier in the game were way off the mark. But he finds a way to make up for it.

“We could have made today easy, but I made too many mistakes,” said Virginia’s hero-in-training. “I made bad throws, just a whole lot of bad throws.”

Chris Long, who recorded his 12th sack of the season, prolonging Wake’s last drive of desperation, said he loves having everything offensive riding on Sewell’s back.

“He’s so tough. The position that guy puts his body in for the team is unbelievable,” Long said. “He’s got guys taking full sprints to take a shot at him and he’s putting his head down, he’s not sliding. He’s not just a quarterback, he’s a football player, and you don’t just throw that term around.”

This was the third game in a row that Sewell passed for more than 200 yards (20-43, 225 yards, 1 TD, no interceptions, no sacks), and the second time this season he led the team in rushing (47 yards on nine attempts).

The defense has really redefined the old adage of bend, but don’t break.

All of it has added up to an 8-2 record with a trip to Miami coming up next weekend before a bye week, then a home finale against Virginia Tech. Should Virginia win next week, the game with the archrival Hokies would be for the Coastal Division championship and a trip to Jacksonville for the ACC Championship game on Dec. 1.

So, is this hocus pocus, heavenly intervention, sheer luck? Is God a Wahoo?

“There’s no luck in it,” Sewell said. “Teams just aren’t built like we’re built. We don’t crack.”

Long, who along with Sintim, had 10 tackles (defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald led with 11), can’t explain all this heart-stopping stuff either.

“Somebody talked about karma earlier ... it might be that,” Long said. “Somebody’s looking out for us upstairs? I mean, I don’t know.

“I think a lot of it has to do with us just making plays. I’ve said all along it’s a skill to be able to win a football game. You can’t measure it, you can’t put it on paper. You have to feel it in the locker room. I think it’s just a special bunch of guys.”

 

Sewell leads Cavaliers on another clutch drive
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
November 4, 2007

During much of Virginia’s 17-16 win over Wake Forest on Saturday, UVa’s Jameel Sewell was closer to the Wild Thing character in “Major League” than to an upper-echelon ACC quarterback.

Even Cavs coach Al Groh compared some of Sewell’s erratic passes to a baseball pitcher’s rising fastball.

But when the game was on the line, Sewell got his act together - an obvious sign of his growth as both a signal-caller and a leader.

“This was a very significant game in his development as the quarterback of our team,” Groh said.

With a little more than 6 minutes remaining, UVa was trailing 16-10 when it got the ball back on its own 44-yard line. Sewell immediately raised his game a few notches - with some help from tight end Tom Santi.

“We knew it was our time,” Sewell said. “Tom Santi jumped in the huddle and started screaming, ‘This is our time!’

“We [knew we] didn’t have another chance to get the ball [back], so we needed to make something happen then and there. [Santi] just motivated us and the whole team to make sure we went right down the field.”

Sewell scampered for 10 yards into Wake Forest territory, then hooked up with Mikell Simpson on a 14-yard completion that put Virginia on the Demon Deacons 32.

Three plays later the offense stalled, but Sewell came up huge on a fourth-and-2 play.

After what seemed to be some pre-snap confusion on both sides of the ball, he hit a wide-open Maurice Covington with a 10-yard strike.

“Guys on our right side heard a whistle and just stopped playing,” said Wake Forest safety Chip Vaughn. “It kind of sounded like it came from the refs, but regardless of that you always have to play through.”

Sewell said he heard a whistle, too. However, he doesn’t think it had an impact on the play.

“Regardless of whether they heard a whistle or not, they were moving when the ball was in the air,” he said. “When he caught the ball, he had the first down, so whatever happened, it doesn’t matter. They couldn’t have stopped it. It was a first down no matter what.”

Sewell followed with another key scramble, breaking a Vaughn tackle before getting tripped up at the 3-yard-line.

“I honestly don’t think [Vaughn] wanted to tackle me one-on-one,” Sewell said. “I don’t think he was ready to do that, and it showed. He could have tackled me, but he didn’t. I just wanted to keep fighting.”

Groh called Sewell’s scramble symbolic of his team’s gusto.

Two plays later, Simpson scored, capping another clutch drive - the kind of drive that Sewell says he never would have been able to lead the team on last season.

“It would have went the total opposite way,” said Sewell, who will lead the Cavs into Miami next week. “We just don’t want to let this get to our heads and let it set us back.

“We just want to make sure we don’t think ahead to the ACC Championship [game]. We just need to focus on everything Miami does - what time Miami goes to bed, what time they wake up, everything they do.”

 

Deacons' Swank has rare off-day
By Whitelaw Reid / wreid@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
November 4, 2007

In the aftermath of Virginia’s 17-16 win over Wake Forest on Saturday, media members waited around endlessly for Demon Deacons kicker Sam Swank to emerge from the locker room for the customary postgame interview.

Swank, who missed what would have been a game-winning 47-yard field-goal attempt on the game’s final play, never showed up.

Swank - who also missed a 43-yard try in the second quarter - had already high-tailed it back to Winston-Salem, N.C., with his parents, forgoing a ride on the team bus.

Contacted by Steve Shutt, the director of media relations, Swank said that the kick felt good coming off his foot, but faded right.

He was asked if he would have felt more comfortable on a shorter attempt.

"A little, but not much," Swank said. "I knock them in from there all the time. In hindsight, if the ball had been in the middle....

"But you take what they give you."

His teammates and coaches were there to pick up Swank.

“We have all the confidence in the world in him,” said Wake Forest quarterback Riley Skinner. “It just didn’t go [through].

“When it comes down to the last second of the game, it’s a lot of pressure, but Sam doesn’t really get rattled. I don’t think that’s what made him miss the kick. He just pushed it a little bit right. You can’t always be perfect. You can’t blame him.”

Skinner’s fourth-down pass to DeAngelo Bryant put Wake on the Virginia 33-yard line. But then the Demon Deacons seemed to get a little conservative, running the ball for just three yards on the next two plays.

“We would certainly have liked to have gotten more on the two [subsequent] runs than we got,” said Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe, “but from our perspective that was easy range for Sam.

“What we didn’t want to do was take a sack or throw a pick or do anything that wouldn’t give Sam a chance to win the game.”

Grobe’s confidence in Swank, a junior, was understandable. Coming into the game, Swank was ranked fourth in the nation in field-goal accuracy among kickers with 40 or more career field goals, hitting on 53 of 67 attempts (79.1 percent).

He had drilled 11 of 12 attempts this year - his only miss coming on a 57-yarder.

“If I had known that, I might have passed out,” said Virginia linebacker Clint Sintim, when informed of Swank’s accuracy.

Said UVa running back Mikell Simpson: “I said a little prayer before and I opened my eyes as he was kicking it … it sailed right and there was a lot of happiness.”

 

Virginia converts when it counts
By Bart Isley / risley@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
November 4, 2007

Virginia converted just one third down in six attempts in the second half of its 17-16 victory over Wake Forest. That’s it, just one.

That one came on a possession near the close of the third quarter on a drive that stalled and ended in a Ryan Weigand punt.

Wake Forest, on the other hand, converted 50 percent of its third-down attempts in the final stanza, going 5 for 10 after the half.

When it counted though, Virginia converted a critical fourth down after Wake Forest had stalled. It appears that Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell and the rest of Cavaliers don’t care much for statistical trends.

The Deacons went conservative in the fourth and in turn went three-and-out with about 7 minutes remaining. Wake Forest fullback De’Angelo Bryant rushed for a yard on first down, then Wake handed it to Josh Adams, who pushed the pile ahead for 3 yards. Pinned deep and ahead by six points, Wake seemed to concede, handing the ball to the bruising Bryant again, who came up 2 yards short.

The call was an interesting one considering how well quarterback Riley Skinner had been scrambling and passing for crucial third downs throughout the contest.

“I thought Skinner was terrific today,” said Virginia coach Al Groh.

On Wake’s final drive, Skinner converted a pair of fourth downs to put Wake in field-goal range, finding Bryant on both conversions on a flare pattern. Skinner was playing so well that Virginia’s coaches altered the game plan and had junior linebacker Clint Sintim spy Skinner late in the contest.

Virginia’s fourth-down conversion on the drive that followed Wake’s three-and-out, however, was the key conversion. Groh passed on kicking a field goal and played for the touchdown with just a few minutes left on the clock and facing fourth-and-2.

Since he had just one timeout to work with after the Cavaliers burned a pair early in the half, it was likely the correct choice.

Sewell took a quick three-step drop and immediately found Maurice Covington, who was open in a soft spot in Wake’s coverage. The pass went for 10 yards and a first down at the Wake 14. Three plays later, Mikell Simpson scored what turned out to be his second game-winning touchdown of the season.

“He’s a football player-he doesn’t just play football, he’s a football player,” Virginia defensive end Chris Long said of Sewell.

Sewell had a hand in all three of the Cavaliers’ third-down conversions in the first half, passing for two and running for the other.

Sewell wasn’t perfect by any means, completing less than 50 percent of his passes while going 20 for 43 for 225 yards.

But he didn’t make any critical mistakes, with no interceptions and just one fumble on a backfield exchange that Mikell Simpson said was a high snap.

As has been the case all season, Sewell was at his best in the closing minutes, marching the Cavaliers 56 yards in 10 plays that ate up 3 minutes and 57 seconds. The fourth-down conversion was a defining moment for the sophomore and the wide receiver on the other end of the pass.

“I definitely knew it was coming to me,” Covington said. “The play was designed to come to me so I just got to my area, secured the ball, made sure I had it and went down.”

 

Time to exhale
Errant field goal try lets Cavaliers win another thriller
Sunday, Nov 04, 2007 - 12:07 AM Updated: 12:31 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE-- Clint Sintim can be oblivious at times, his teammate Chris Long noted with a smile yesterday after the University of Virginia's latest heart-stopping victory.

Case in point: Sintim, an outside linebacker for U.Va., didn't realize that Wake Forest's Sam Swank ranks among the nation's premier kickers.

Long, however, had done his homework. And so the senior defensive end was appropriately nervous when Swank lined up to attempt a 47-yard field goal on the game's final play at Scott Stadium.

"I knew he was regarded as one of the best in the country, if not the best," Long said. "But it's a funny game."

And it's been a wild season for the Cavaliers. Swank pushed his kick wide to the right, the near-sellout crowd of 60,106 exhaled, and U.Va. had earned a place in the NCAA record book.

By beating 21st-ranked Wake 17-16, the Wahoos set an NCAA record for most wins in a season by two points or fewer -- they're at five and counting -- and, more important, moved closer to a berth in next month's ACC title game at Jacksonville, Fla. Defending ACC champion Wake (4-2, 6-3) saw its six-game winning streak snapped.

Virginia now finds itself in an enviable position. Even if the Cavaliers (5-1, 8-2) lose to Miami (2-3, 5-4) in the Orange Bowl next weekend, they can clinch the Coastal Division's spot in the ACC title game by beating Virginia Tech (4-1, 7-2) on Nov. 24 at Scott Stadium.

Tech hosts Florida State on Saturday and Miami on Nov. 17. In the unlikely event that the Hokies lose both those games, U.Va. could clinch the Coastal outright by beating the Hurricanes next weekend.

The Cavaliers could have won more comfortably yesterday, said sophomore quarterback Jameel Sewell, "but I made too many mistakes. Just bad throws. A whole lot of bad throws."

Yet Virginia overcame those mistakes, as it's done so often this year. Sewell, a left-hander from Hermitage High, completed only 20 of 43 passes, but as usual he delivered with the game on the line.

After a three-and-out by Wake, Virginia, trailing 16-10, took over on its 44 with 6:15 remaining. And suddenly, with no warning, Sewell was back on his game. His 10-yard scramble on second down moved U.Va. into Wake territory, and then he passed to Simpson for a 14-yard gain.

On third and 10 from the Wake 32, Sewell threw to senior tight end Jonathan Stupar for an 8-yard completion. On fourth down, Sewell rifled a fast-rising pass to Covington, who made a difficult grab at the 14. Sewell showed his exceptional balance on the next play, shedding a would-be tackler and running to the 3 for another first down.

Two Simpson runs later, Virginia was in the end zone, capping a TD drive reminiscent of the one that did in Maryland on Oct. 20 at Byrd Stadium.

"If I knew the secret to it, I'd tell everybody so we could do it on every drive," said senior tight Tom Santi.

After Virginia kicker Chris Gould's PAT made it 17-16, Wake started its final possession on its 27-yard line with 2:12 remaining. The Deacons twice converted on fourth down -- quarterback Riley Skinner passed to fullback De'Angelo Bryant for a 12-yard gain each time -- and once they reached U.Va.'s 33, they were to content to call two running plays to set up Swank's attempt.

Already that afternoon, the junior from Jacksonville Beach, Fla., had connected from 27, 25 and 31 yards. He'd also missed from 43 when the ball bounced off the left upright. Swank came into the game 11 for 12 for the season, with his miss from 57 yards.

"We had all the confidence in the world in Sam," Skinner said. "We didn't think twice about the range or anything. It just didn't go our way."

Wake played "like a champion today," U.Va. coach Al Groh said, "and hopefully we showed a few traits of a similar nature."

Nobody does close wins like Groh's guys. Before yesterday, Virginia had prevailed 22-20 over North Carolina, 23-21 over Middle Tennessee, 17-16 over Connecticut and 18-17 over Maryland. The Cavaliers also have a five-point win over Georgia Tech -- a virtual rout! -- on their résumé.

"This kind of defines our team," said junior wide receiver Maurice Covington, whose first career touchdown catch sent Virginia into halftime with a 10-6 lead yesterday. "We find a way to win."

 

U.VA. NOTES
Sunday, Nov 04, 2007 - 12:07 AM

Cavs getting healthy for the stretch run
Yesterday's game marked the return of several U.Va. starters who'd been out with injuries: junior cornerback Chris Cook, senior tight end Tom Santi, sophomore fullback Rashawn Jackson and junior offensive tackle Eugene Monroe.

"To see some of those players come back and have the opportunity to be part of this is great," Virginia coach Al Groh said after his team's 17-16 win over Wake Forest. "And obviously to know that their availability for next week is increasing is very positive."

Monroe, who sat out the fourth quarter of Virginia's loss at N.C. State last weekend with a knee injury, started yesterday and played the whole game. Cook (knee) didn't start but contributed four tackles, including one for loss. Jackson (hamstring) had a key block on tailback Mikell Simpson's 1-yard touchdown run with 2:18 left, and Santi caught two passes for 20 yards.

Santi, a team captain, had suffered a high ankle sprain Oct. 20 on the first play from scrimmage against Maryland.

"He really gutted it out today," Groh said. "The hours he put in rehabbing this thing is unbelievable: more hours than a player would prepare normally to play a game. He was just determined this wasn't going to run the same time course that it usually does [with high ankle sprains]."

Not all the injury news was good for U.Va. On the sideline in sweats was redshirt freshman John Bivens, a reserve inside linebacker who plays on special teams. The Prince George High graduate has been bothered all season by a knee problem, and Bivens is not likely to play again this year, Groh said.

Tailback Simpson finishes what he starts
Neither Keith Payne nor Andrew Pearman played a snap at tailback for U.Va. yesterday. Simpson, who until the Maryland game was a backup wide receiver this season, pulled ironman duty at tailback versus Wake.

Simpson, a sophomore, scored the game-tying TD with 2:18 to play, but he finished with only 35 yards on 16 carries. He was more productive in the passing game, catching eight passes for 77 yards -- both game highs.

Groh has second thoughts about fourth-down decision
About 5 minutes into the third quarter, a 17-yard interception return by cornerback Ras-I Dowling gave U.Va. the ball at the Wake 27. The next three plays netted only 8 yards, but instead of sending Chris Gould out to attempt a 36-yard field goal, Groh opted to go for a first down.

"We were having a hard time getting down there during the course of the game, and now we were there, and maybe we might not get back again for a while," Groh said. "So I tried to take advantage of it."

His gamble didn't pay off, as sophomore quarterback Jameel Sewell, under pressure, overthrew senior tight end Jonathan Stupar.

"Maybe I got a little carried away," Groh said, "but the players bailed me out over the course of the day."

The Cavaliers' win over No. 21 Wake was their first over a ranked opponent since 2005, when they beat No. 24 Georgia Tech at Scott Stadium. Virginia is 34-9 at home under Groh.

Sewell comes through in clutch for Cavs
Groh praised the resiliency shown by Sewell, who struggled with his passing for most of the game but led the Cavaliers to their fifth comeback victory of the season.

"This was another very significant accomplishment for Jameel as the quarterback of our team," Groh said. "He and I both agree that this probably wouldn't have happened last year. He's an emotional player, and he's a prideful player, and one of the things that was challenging for him to deal with in the past was [when] things didn't go well and hurt his pride and his emotions would get in the way.

"Just like I think everybody around here has toughed up mentally, he's done the same thing."

Sewell finished with 225 yards passing, his third straight game with more than 200. He's the first U.Va. quarterback to throw for at least 200 in three consecutive games since Marques Hagans (Syracuse, Clemson and Florida) in 2004.

-- Jeff White

 

UVa makes point, again
Another ACC nail-biter down the stretch goes in Virginia's favor.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The postgame musical selection Saturday featured Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer," followed by the Virginia school song.

Maybe "Living on a Prayer" should be the school song.

Or, at least the football team's song.

After winning two earlier games with scores in the final seconds, the Cavaliers held off 21st-ranked Wake Forest 17-16 in a game that was not decided until the Deacons' Sam Swank was wide right on a 47-yard field-goal attempt as time expired.

It represented Virginia's third one-point victory in four weeks and was the Cavaliers' fifth win by one or two points, a Division I-A record that it had shared before Saturday.

"We get nervous," said defensive end Chris Long, the Cavaliers' co-captain, "but, at the same time, you realize you've been there before.

"Do we want to win by 20? Sure. But we'll take this win over a great team."

The Deacons (6-3, 4-2 ACC) are the defending conference champs and were riding a six-game winning streak.

The Cavaliers (8-1, 5-1) took the lead with 2:18 remaining on a 1-yard run by sophomore Mikell Simpson and then had to sweat out a 10-play drive that included two fourth-down conversions and took the Deacons to the UVa 31-yard line.

Swank had made 11 of 12 field-goal attempts before Saturday, with the lone miss from 57 yards.

"I'm glad I didn't know that," said UVa outside linebacker Clint Sintim, who tried in vain to block the kick and then turned into a spectator.

The first indication that Swank's attempt had gone right of the uprights was when the fans on Scott Stadium's hillside rose in celebration.

Swank, who earlier had banged a 43-yard attempt off the left upright, dropped to his knees in dejection.

Swank was not made available for reporters after the game and was not on the team bus when it left Scott Stadium.

"He's obviously a great kicker and, when he went out there, I thought, 'He's got a great shot to make this,'" said UVa place-kicker Chris Gould, who rushed to console Swank after the kick.

"Also, he had missed from the right hash earlier that he had pulled left and, as a kicker, you try to fix things out there. You try to adjust.

Maybe, there was a little something that was going through his mind like, 'Don't pull this one left.'"

Swank already had made three field goals, the last giving the Deacons a 16-10 lead with 10:12 left.

The Deacons had gone ahead 13-10 on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Riley Skinner to Kenneth Moore with 2:10 left in the third quarter.

For the 14th consecutive game, Virginia did not score a touchdown in the third quarter, but, if the Cavaliers were more productive in the third quarter, it might take away from their fourth-quarter theatrics.

UVa has rallied from fourth-quarter deficits in five of its victories.

"We could have made it easier on ourselves," said UVa quarterback Jameel Sewell, who completed 20 of 43 passes for 225 yards, "but I made too many mistakes."

Sewell's was referring to his ongoing bouts with inaccuracy, but he was not intercepted and tossed a 39-yard TD pass to Maurice Covington with 10 seconds left in the first half.

The play came on a second-and-20, when the Cavaliers were "just hoping to get in easy field-goal range," Sewell conceded.

Covington caught the ball at the Wake 15-yard line and appeared to be hemmed in by three defenders, none of whom touched him on the way to end zone.

"I anticipated getting hit and I didn't," said Covington, playing with a plate and seven screws in his right hand following September surgery.

Covington also had a reception on fourth-and-2 on the Cavaliers' game-winning drive.

"Anything less from Maurice, and we probably would have come up a little less as a team," UVa coach Al Groh said.

The teams, meeting for the first time since 2003, could not have been more evenly matched.

Wake Forest had a 315-307 edge in total offense and both teams had one turnover.

Wake Forest capitalized on a Simpson fumble for a field goal, but the Cavaliers were unable to take advantage of a Ras-I Dowling interception and return to the Deacons' 27-yard line.

The Cavaliers, who were leading 10-6 at the time, got as far as the Wake 19 before Groh passed up a field goal on fourth-and-2, only to see the Deacons sniff out a Sewell bootleg that resulted in a hurried incompletion.

"Maybe I got a little carried away," Groh said, "but we could have gotten a field goal there and still get beaten [or end up tied]."

No matter what decisions Groh makes, everything seems to work out in the end. Maybe it's just the Cavaliers' year.

"Maybe it is," Long said. "It's funny. "One thing changes in a lot of these games and it's a totally different story. We've had some games in the past where we've felt things didn't go our way, but, in the end, the bottom line is whether you've got a 'W' in your column.'"
 

Final minute becoming Sewell's time
By Doug Doughty

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- In judging Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell, it is important to wait until the final minute.

That goes for Sewell as well as his critics.

Sewell completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes Saturday, but his contributions on UVa's final drive were vital in a 17-16 victory over Wake Forest.

Sewell had runs of 10 and 11 yards and completed 3 of 5passes, none bigger than a 10-yard completion to Maurice Covington on fourth-and-2.

"The pass was off, but he just reached his long arms out there and grabbed the ball out of the sky," Sewell said. "As soon as I released it, I thought, 'Man, this might be happening again. Make a play.' "

Sewell, who completed 1 of 8 passes during a stretch in the third quarter, feared another of the overthrows that have plagued him this season.

"Made some bad throws," he said, shaking his head in disgust. "Just a whole lot of bad throws."

On the other hand, Sewell finished the day as Virginia's leading rusher with 47 yards on nine carries.

After the pass to Covington, Sewell slipped out of an attempted tackle at the 8-yard line and ran 11 yards to the Wake Forest 3.

Mikell Simpson scored two plays later on a 1-yard run that provided the difference when Chris Gould converted the extra point with 2:18 left.

"I just take off and run because sometimes I don't see things clear or sometimes things break down," Sewell said. "I'm never accounted for by the defense. I don't have a spy. I'm just running in green grass, with a whole lot of space.

"I didn't do that enough last year, when the situation got bad. I just learned from last year."

Sewell, a redshirt sophomore, has passed for 200 yards or more in three straight games. He had not posted consecutive 200-yard passing days until his current streak.

"This was a very significant game in his development as the quarterback of our team," UVa coach Al Groh said. "He and I both agree that this probably wouldn't have happened last year.

"He's an emotional player and a prideful player. When he has a devil-may-care attitude and he's loose and relaxed and not concerned about errors, that's really when he plays his best."

Swank's take

Wake Forest kicker Sam Swank had been given permission before the game to ride home with his parents but, from the road, provided some insight on his last-second miss from the right hash mark.

"In hindsight, if the ball had been in the middle ...," said Swank, who didn't complete the thought, "but you take what they give you.

"I was confident when I kicked it. It felt fine. I looked up and it was fading right. It didn't go in, but when I hit it, it felt good. I knock them in from there all the time."

Wake coach Jim Grobe didn't second-guess himself for two running plays that gained a total of 3 yards before Swank's kick, which came from 47 yards.

"We certainly would have liked to get more from those two runs we had, but, from our perspective, that was easy length for Sam," Grobe said. "The thing we didn't want to do was take a sack or throw a pick to do anything that wouldn't give Sam a chance to win the game."

Odds 'n' ends

Scouts from the Chick-fil-A Bowl (Atlanta) and the Champs Sports Bowl (Orlando, Fla.) were in attendance Saturday. Virginia has made three trips to Atlanta, which has the second choice of ACC teams, but has not gone to Orlando since 1989 ... Virginia has won 20 of the past 21 games in its series with the Deacons. ... The Cavaliers had not played a ranked team before beating No. 21 Wake Forest, although earlier Cavaliers' victim Connecticut has risen to 19th in The Associated Press poll. ... Covington's touchdown was the first of his three-year career. ... UVa's Chris Long got his 12th sack of the season, along with his 17th and 18th tackles for loss.

Virginia next week

The Cavaliers (8-2, 5-1 ACC) will visit Miami (5-4, 2-3) at 7:15 p.m. in the final game at the Orange Bowl, which will be torn down after this season. The Hurricanes were 19-16 losers to North Carolina State in an overtime game Saturday at Miami.
 

Cardiac Cavaliers continue to enjoy season's good karma
Aaron McFarling

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The clock was frozen at :02.

The ACC's best kicker took his paces behind the spot on the 37-yard line. That would make this a 47-yard field-goal attempt, well within Sam Swank's range.

Chris Long dropped into his stance along Virginia's defensive line. He and teammate Allen Billyk had thought about trying to get cute, maybe crossing up the blockers with some crazy stunting, but then they decided against it. Let's just go right through them, they figured. Let's will our way to the ball.

Tight end Tom Santi had no such control. So he squatted on the Virginia sidelines, closed his eyes, bowed his head and prayed.

That's when the unexpected happened.

"AGAIN, TOM?!!" boomed the response from the heavens, shaking Scott Stadium with its force. "SERIOUSLY! HAVE I NOT DONE ENOUGH FOR YOU GUYS?!!"

OK, I made that last part up, but the rest of it is true. Santi couldn't even watch. He was in the middle of a prayer when the ball left Swank's foot and sailed high in the air. He didn't open his eyes until the fans told him to. They delivered the wide-right message with a collective roar, sending Santi leaping into the arms of teammates, completely forgetting that he'd just returned from a high ankle sprain.

"Probably re-injured myself," he said.

He laughed.

"Nah, nah," he said. "I'm fine."

Of course he's fine. You don't honestly think something bad would happen to Virginia in the final seconds of a game, do you?

Not this season.

This season, the Cavaliers are living right.

With Swank's miss, they defeated Wake Forest 17-16. They regained sole possession of first place in the Coastal Division. They notched their fifth win of the season by two points or fewer -- a Division I-A record.

"Really? An NCAA record?" Long said. "We made history! Woo-hoo!"

Yes. Woo-hoo.

Pass the Maalox.

"I'm a healthy 22-year-old guy," Long said, "and I might go down with a heart attack."

Surely there are some UVa fans who feel the same way. How long can this team keep winning like this? There was the two-point survival at North Carolina, the last-minute field goal against Middle Tennessee, the fourth-quarter rally against Connecticut, the 90-yard drive against Maryland.

And now there was this: A 56-yard touchdown drive in the final 6 minutes against the defending ACC champions, another improbable comeback that held up only when one of the nation's best kickers misfired as time expired.

"Somebody's looking out for us upstairs, I don't know," Long said. "But I think a lot of it has to do with us just making plays, too. I've said all along: It's a skill to be able to win a football game. You can't measure it. You can't put it on paper. You've just got to feel it in the locker room. I think this is a special group of guys."

Clearly it is, and it's a group that took another huge step toward making that season finale against Virginia Tech a winner-take-all affair for the Coastal Division crown. With Miami's loss against N.C. State on Saturday, the Hurricanes would have to win out against UVa, Tech and Boston College to have a chance in the division. Under any other scenario, this is a two-team race between the Commonwealth rivals.

If it does come down to that Nov. 24 game in Charlottesville, the Hokies had better come prepared to blow UVa out. Otherwise, advantage Cavaliers -- at least this year.

"I think we've got guys that help old ladies across the street," Long said, smiling. "Karma adds up and we get some good bounces."

There's plenty more to it than that, of course. Their defense tackles well, turning touchdown drives into field goals. Their quarterback plays his best when the pressure is at its peak, no matter how spotty he's looked earlier in the game.

And Jameel Sewell did look spotty for much of this one, often throwing the ball high and not getting much help from the running game.

Yet when the Cavaliers took over possession with 6:15 remaining trailing 16-10, they were confident they'd find a way.

"Nobody's going to panic in that situation, because we've all been in it before numerous times," Santi said. "If I knew the secret to it, I'd tell everybody so we could do it on every drive. I don't know. This team's just got a feel for playing for 60 minutes."

Or at least for 59 minutes and 58 seconds.

The rest is up to the heavens.
 

U. Va. continues acting out its movie-scripted, magical season
The Virginian-Pilot
© November 4, 2007
Last updated: 10:01 PM

CHARLOTTESVILLE

As a writers strike looms in Hollywood, Virginia's football team is following a script that looks like it was put together on the back lot of a movie studio.

Disney, most likely.

The Cavaliers' unlikely success has incorporated so many elements of near fantasy that it's starting to look like Al Groh has turned over the team to Steven Spielberg.

On second thought, any producer who tried to make a movie of U.Va.'s remarkable season would be laughed out of Tinseltown. It's just too unbelievable, too cornball. It resembles old silent films where the damsel is tied to the railroad tracks before being rescued by the hero as the locomotive comes thundering around the bend.

Once again Saturday, Virginia could have lost - maybe should have lost - but didn't. Sam Swank, who came into the game with one missed field goal all season for Wake Forest, who is the ACC's best kicker, pushed his potential 47-yard game-winner wide right as time expired. Earlier, Swank's 43-yard attempt was no good when the ball hit the left upright.

How do you figure that Swank would choose this game to miss twice as many field goals as he had all season, helping U.Va. walk away with its 17-16 victory? It's the Cavaliers' third one-point victory, their fifth by two or fewer points.

That's an NCAA record.

U.Va. could just as easily be 3-7 as 8-2. But the Cavaliers have dug deep, overcoming their anemic offense with timely plays and cashing in on the lapses of generous opponents. They've survived - thrived, too - in ways that would leave even Lou Holtz at a loss for words.

Compared to U.Va.'s unique story line, "Rudy" is a depressing movie tale of disappointment and deception.

Groh attributed his team's 5-1 ACC record - good enough for first place in the Coastal Division - to "resiliency," but does anyone doubt that the Cavaliers are sprinkled with fairy dust?

Against Wake Forest, U.Va.'s offense struggled all day - a familiar theme - before redeeming itself with a 10-play, 56-yard touchdown drive led by Jameel Sewell. Until then, U.Va.'s quarterback was scatter-armed. "A whole lot of bad throws," he said.

But that was before he and his teammates rewrote the final scenes of the script. Sewell assumed the role of leading man. His arm and legs worked the ball downfield, setting up a U.Va. touchdown that came with

3:57 to play.

"We took some punches," Groh said. "It's the ability to take a punch and shake it off that has as much to do with winning as any play you call."

But sometimes, just when a team is about to go down for the count, something else takes over. Swank hadn't missed from inside 50 yards all season until Saturday. As good as U.Va.'s defense is - it's the backbone of the team - the Cavaliers couldn't stop Wake Forest from moving into Swank's range.

Then fate or luck, whatever you want to call it, intervened for U.Va. Feel sorry for Sam Swank. With two seconds on the clock, he was powerless against the Cavaliers' magic.

"It's been crazy all season," linebacker Clint Sintim said. "If I wasn't as young as I am, I might have a heart attack by now."

Asked about his team's latest cliffhanger, Groh mused, "It's kind of like teams do during March Madness. Win and move on. We're moving on with a chance to win the division."

That would have sounded preposterous a couple months ago, with U.Va. coming off a dreadful loss at Wyoming and looking ordinary against Duke before winning by a couple points at North Carolina.

Back then, nobody had enough imagination to envision this U.Va. team winning so often - and in ways that would make a Hollywood writer blush.

"Slice and dice it however you want," Sintim said. "You win games. You win games."

They just don't write lines like that anymore.

Bob Molinaro, (757) 446-2373

Another close win for Cavs
Maurice Covington lifts Virginia to its fifth win by two points or fewer, an NCAA record.
BY MELINDA WALDROP | 247-4634
8:48 PM EDT, November 3, 2007
 

CHARLOTTESVILLE - A plate and seven screws lurk underneath the long, puckered scar that splits Maurice Covington's left hand down the middle.

But that unsightly hand helped Virginia pull off yet another unbelievable victory as the Cavaliers held off Wake Forest 17-16 on Saturday at Scott Stadium.

Wake (6-3, 4-2 ACC), ranked No. 24 in the BCS standings and No. 21 by the Associated Press, saw its six-game winning streak snapped, while the Cavs (8-2, 5-1) guaranteed themselves a trip to the ACC championship game if they beat Virginia Tech on Nov. 24. Virginia, No. 23 in the BCS, also made history, winning its NCAA single-season record fifth game by two points or fewer.

Covington was a big reason why. First, he hauled in the first touchdown pass of his three-year U.Va. career, a 39-yarder that put Virginia up 10-6 in the second quarter. But that was just a prelude to his 10-yard grab on fourth-and-2 from the Demon Deacons' 24-yard line with four minutes left to keep the Cavs' winning drive going.

Three plays after that clutch catch, Mikell Simpson's 1-yard TD gave Virginia a one-point advantage. That slim margin held up after Wake junior kicker Sam Swank -- fourth in the nation in career field-goal accuracy -- missed his second field goal of the day, a 47-yarder, as time expired.

"I've been anticipating a game like this all year," said Covington, who finished with four catches for a career-high 76 yards. "Hopefully I'll have some more." Covington, who had six catches for 45 yards last year, began the season as Virginia's leading returning wide receiver after a knee injury ended Kevin Ogletree's year. But Covington struggled in his new go-to role even before snapping his third metacarpal bone against North Carolina on Sept. 15 and missing four games.

"It's definitely been frustrating, but I've managed to keep my head and just encourage the guys that have been out there," Covington said. On Saturday, his first game back without a cast, Covington did his inspiring with his play.

After Swank's 31-yard field goal put Wake (6-3, 4-2) up 16-10 with 10:12 to play in the game, the Cavs had to punt on their next drive. But Chris Gould pinned the Deacons at their own 6, Wake went three-and-out, and U.Va. got the ball back with 6:15 to play at its own 44.

Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell, who threw for 225 yards and ran for 47, scrambled for 10 yards and hit Simpson on a 14-yard pass before confronting fourth-and-2. Covington ran a hitch route, settled into a seam over the middle and waited for Sewell's rocketed pass.

After another Sewell scramble, this one for 11 yards, and a 2-yard gain off a direct snap, Simpson followed right guard Ian-Yates Cunningham's block into the end zone.

"Everybody turned it up that last possession," Simpson said. "Everybody said, 'Now or never.' It was basically our final chance."

But the Deacons converted a pair of fourth-and-2s after getting the ball back with 2:12 to play. The second put Wake on the U.Va. 33 -- well within the range of Swank, whose 53-of-67 career record before Saturday included an 8-of-11 mark from 50 yards or more.

But on third-and-6 from the 30, with two seconds left, Swank -- whose 43-yard attempt in the second quarter bounced off the left upright -- pushed his 47-yard chance wide right.

"You can't think. You've just gotta hope," Virginia defensive end Chris Long said. "We all have a lot of faith that if we work hard, you're gonna come out on top, and there you go. It just didn't go through the uprights."

Up four points at halftime, the Cavs, who haven't scored a touchdown in the third quarter in 14 straight games, suffered their usual third-period stupor, though this one had an added element of drama. After Ras-I Dowling returned an interception to the Wake 27, U.Va. faced fourth-and-2 from the 19. Sewell's play-action fake didn't have time to develop and ended in a hurried incompletion.

"Maybe I got a little carried away, but the players bailed me out," U.Va. coach Al Groh said.

A quarter later, after falling behind 16-10, the Cavs converted their second fourth-down chance on their way to their third one-point victory of the season.

"It's no luck in it," Sewell said. "Teams just aren't built like we're built. We won't crack. (Other) teams give in and they fold and their backs break, and that's not what we do."

 

Cavs' success seems beyond improbable
Dave Fairbank
9:08 PM EDT, November 3, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE

We're way beyond explanations at this point. Dissecting Virginia's football season thus far would be like breaking down rainbows or laughter or Robert DeNiro's approach to acting.

Better to simply appreciate the results and leave the schematics to the engineers and accountants and drones in the darkened video rooms.

Honest, you cannot make up this stuff. Five wins by two points or less. Three consecutive wins by one point.

Connecticut butchers a snap while driving for what might have been the game-winning points. A kid who isn't even on the depth chart turns into Reggie Bush against Maryland.

And then comes Saturday, when the ACC's best kicker, a kid who had missed one field goal all season and who collects 50-yarders the way teenage girls collect ringtones, misses two kicks, including what would have been the game winner at the gun.

Virginia 17, Wake Forest 16.

"I believe in karma, so I think we have good karma," Cavs All-America defensive end Chris Long said. "I think we've got guys that let people cross the street and help old ladies across the street. A lot of guys, their karma adds up, so you get some good bounces."

One of the good bounces was from the aforementioned Wake Forest kicker, Sam Swank, who doinked a 43-yard attempt high off of the left upright in the second quarter.

That miss led to the drama that accompanied his final attempt.

The Demon Deacons, defending ACC champs, trailed by a point with two minutes remaining.

Wake converted two fourth-down plays and eventually found itself at the Virginia 30, with Swank lining up the game-winner on the final play.

Earlier in the drive, Long's bookend, defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald, had batted a Riley Skinner pass attempt high into the air, the ball begging to be intercepted.

When it fell harmlessly to the ground and Wake converted those fourth downs and Swank was lining up the kick that would have given the Deacons their seventh consecutive victory, it appeared that Virginia's knack for late-game heroics would come to an end.

"As soon as he kicked it," Virginia linebacker and special teams hound Clint Sintim described, "I leaped for the block. No good. Laid around, turned around, saw it stayed right. Game over. I'm just out of control." Sintim had no idea that Swank had missed just one field goal prior to Saturday. Nor was he aware that Swank was the all-conference kicker. Something to be said for selective ignorance.

"I'm glad I didn't know that before the game," Sintim said. "I might have passed out."

Swank makes that kick nine times out of 10. But that's the thing about Virginia's season: The expected, the routine isn't good enough.

It took an extraordinary effort from N.C. State quarterback Daniel Evans and an all-world day from receiver Donald Bowens to end the Cavaliers' six-game winning streak a week earlier.

Conversely, the Cavaliers don't seem to need sustained excellence. Witness quarterback Jameel Sewell, who again wound up on the long end of the scoreboard, almost in spite of himself.

Ninth in passing in the conference and 10th in passing efficiency, Sewell completed fewer than 50 percent of his throws. He had four balls dropped in the first half. In one span of the second half, he missed on 8 of 10 passes -- many badly.

But when the Cavaliers got the ball back with 6:15 remaining and down six, Sewell was nearly golden. He accounted for 53 of Virginia's 56 yards on the game-winning touchdown drive.

Included in there was an 11-yard run where Sewell appeared to be lunchmeat in the backfield, and a 10-yard catch-and-run on fourth down by wide receiver Maurice Covington after corralling one of Sewell's rising fastballs.

"I feel it's a big-time experience thing," said Sewell, a redshirt sophomore. "It's confidence and my team feels confidence in me. Last year, like I've been saying, there would be no chance for me to be able to do what I'm doing now in these close games."

Now the Cavaliers have eight wins for the first time since 2004. If they beat Virginia Tech on Thanksgiving weekend, they play for the ACC title and a spot in the Orange Bowl.

For real. You can look it up.

"You don't have to explain it," Long said. "We'll take them."

 

Swank's misses answer Cavs' prayers
BY MELINDA WALDROP | 247-4634
 

CHARLOTTESVILLE - There's a section in the Wake Forest game notes headlined "Accurate Swank." It informs readers that junior kicker Sam Swank's career field goal accuracy of 79.1 percent -- 53-of-67 -- coming into Saturday's game at Virginia is fourth in the nation among active kickers.

Swank, Wake's all-time scoring leader with 251 career points (53 field goals, 92 extra points), is almost automatic from long distance. He'd made 8 of his 11 attempts from 50 yards or more, missing just two 51-yarders in 2006 and a 57-yarder this year.

So with Wake at the Virginia 30 in the game's final seconds, it's no wonder the Cavaliers' sideline suddenly began channeling Kerri Strug. "I said a little prayer, hoping he would miss it," defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald said.

"I was just praying and hoping he'd miss it," echoed receiver Maurice Covington.

Those prayers were answered as Swank lined up the kick, swung his leg ... and missed. Wide right.

It was the second miss of the day for Swank, whose 43-yarder in the second quarter hit the left upright.

"It happens. I'm not shocked," Virginia defensive end Chris Long said. "I know he's one of the best. But good shooters in basketball miss shots. It doesn't take anything away from his career. I think he's a great player."

STEADY SOPHOMORE

Jameel Sewell directed a game-winning drive for the fourth time this season, shaking off his 20-of-43 completion numbers to deliver when it counted. "I definitely don't feel like I would have been able to do it last year," said Sewell, a sophomore in his second year as Virginia's starting quarterback. "I would have let too many things get to me, like all those incomplete passes or errors that I was committing."

Sewell did avoid the interceptions that have plagued him this season -- but that wasn't all his doing. As he tried to force a completion on third-and-11 from the U.Va. 33 in the second quarter, Wake Forest cornerback Brandon Ghee stepped in front of the ball with nothing between him and the end zone -- but dropped it.

"Sometimes their corners would sit on a couple of my routes and then jump them," Sewell said. "Just thank God that they can't catch good enough to get the interception."

I SPY

Virginia linebacker Clint Sintim may want to be sure he's clear on his instructions in the future.

The Cavaliers were wary of the playmaking ability of Wake quarterback Riley Skinner, who came into the game completing 72 percent of his passes. So U.Va. coach Al Groh instructed Sintim from the sidelines to shadow Skinner during the Deacons' 16-play, 81-yard drive that ended when Skinner, rolling out, threaded a pass touchdown pass to Kenny Moore with 2:10 to play in the third quarter.

"It was a situation where I didn't quite understand what he was saying -- 'Clint, spy the quarterback, spy the quarterback' -- and I'm shaking my head like I hear him, but I didn't really hear him," Sintim said. "(Skinner) ended up stepping outside the pocket and throwing the touchdown pass, and immediately I kinda look over to the sideline, and I get this look from Coach, and I'm like, 'He probably told me to spy the quarterback.' "

ODDS AND ENDS

Mikell Simpson got all the work at tailback, finishing with 35 yards on 16 carries and the game-winning touchdown. He also had 77 yards on eight catches. ... Tom Santi, in his return from the high ankle sprain he suffered against Maryland, had two catches for 20 yards. ...

Wake kick returner Kevin Marion, leading the nation with a 33.9-yard return average, got just one chance on Saturday as Virginia repeatedly kicked short and away from him. His one return went for 26 yards.

 

U.Va. four downs
BY MELINDA WALDROP | Daily Press
10:20 PM EDT, November 3, 2007
 

PLAY OF THE GAME

Sam Swank is Wake Forest's all-time scoring leader and the fourth-most accurate field-goal kicker in the country. So the Demon Deacons were poised to win their seventh straight game as Swank stood over a 47-yarder with 2 seconds left. After his 43-yard attempt in the second quarter hit the left upright, Swank's 47-yarder was wide right, giving Virginia the win and ensuring the Cavs of an ACC championship game appearance if they beat Virginia Tech on Nov. 24.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

Six games after breaking his left hand, Virginia receiver Maurice Covington had 76 yards on eight catches, including a 39-yard touchdown, the first of his three-year career. He also made a 10-yard catch on fourth-and-2 with four minutes to play at the Wake 24-yard line that kept alive the Cavs' game-winning TD drive. Covington returned to the field against Maryland but didn't have a catch, and had 45 yards on three catches last week in Virginia's loss at N.C. State.

WHAT WE LEARNED

That the Cavaliers' luck is back, and it may take them all the way to Jacksonville. After dodging Swank's right foot, the Cavs rebounded from the loss to the Wolfpack, which snapped their seven-game winning streak and dropped them from the Associated Press and the USA Today coaches' polls. Virginia also booked itself a trip to the ACC championship game, provided it can beat rival Virginia Tech in the regular-season finale on Nov. 24 in Charlottesville.

WHAT THE CAVS NEED TO WORK ON

The Cavs' defense held when it needed to all day -- except for the Demon Deacons' final drive, which saw them convert two fourth downs and nearly win the game. Quarterback Jameel Sewell didn't throw an interception and again directed the game-winning drive in the fourth quarter, but didn't look sharp on many of his throws. Tight end Tom Santi caught two passes, but also dropped one that would have kept a drive going.
 

Cavs escape with 17-16 win over WFU
Swank off target on last-play kick, ending WFU's chance to extend winning streak
By Dan Collins
JOURNAL REPORTER

CHARLOTTESVILLE

Wake Forest’s money in the bank couldn’t foot the bill yesterday when Sam Swank missed two field-goal attempts - including one on the last play of the game - in a gripping 17-16 loss to Virginia in front of 60,106 at Scott Stadium.

Swank, perfect this season from inside the 57-yard line, reminded everyone of his human imperfections by missing a 43-yard attempt in the second quarter. But it was his miss from 47 yards as time expired that ended the Deacons’ winning streak at six games and ignited a wild celebration by the Virginia coaches, players and fans.

Wake Forest fell to 6-3 and 4-2 in conference play, and was all but eliminated from a second straight trip to the ACC championship game. Virginia, 8-2 overall, remained the master of its own destiny in the Coastal Division by improving to 5-1 inside the league.

“I think our kids fully expected to win that game and I know Sam fully expected to make that field goal,” Coach Jim Grobe of Wake Forest said. “Sometimes, when you wait that late, it just doesn’t happen.

“You’ve got to make things happen earlier.”

Virginia, held to 251 yards and 10 points over the first three and a half quarters, drove 56 yards for a touchdown and a 17-16 lead with 2:18 remaining. Quarterback Jameel Sewell completed 3 of 5 passes for 32 yards on the drive, including a 10-yard completion to Maurice Covington on a fourth-and-2 at the Wake Forest 24.

Sewell then ran 11 yards to the 3, and Mikell Simpson carried over from the 1. Chris Gould kicked the extra point for the lead.

Wake Forest, still with three timeouts, answered with a drive back to the Cavaliers’ 30 for Swank’s attempt. Riley Skinner completed 4 of 6 passes on the drive for 48 yards, including two completions on fourth down to fullback De’Angelo Bryant

Bryant’s second fourth-down reception advanced the ball to the Virginia 33, and Grobe, confident in Swank’s range and accuracy, decided to play for the winning field goal.

Josh Adams carried twice, for gains of 2 yards and 1 yard. Wake Forest ran the clock down to two seconds, Swank ran onto the field, sized up the attempt from the right hash mark, and missed the kick to the right of uprights as time expired.

Grobe declined to second-guess his decision.

“The minute (Bryant) went out of bounds, we knew we were in Sam’s range,” Grobe said. “The distance was not going to be the issue. It was just a matter if we could make it or not. We had one timeout left.

“We were perfectly comfortable with him kicking a 47-yard field goal. For most guys, getting a little bit closer would have made it easier, but the downside was you could throw an interception or you could take a sack that would take you out of field-goal range.”

Swank, coming into the game, had drilled 11 of 12 attempts, with his only miss coming on a 57-yard try. Last week at North Carolina he kicked three on three tries to set Wake Forest’s career record for most points scored, with at least 16 games remaining in his career.

After yesterday’s game, Swank declined to speak with the media, and he didn’t return to Winston-Salem on the team buses. Contacted by Steve Shutt, the director of media relations, Swank said that the kick felt good coming off his foot, but faded right.

He was asked if he would have felt more comfortable on a shorter attempt.

“A little, but not much,” Swank said. “I knock them in from there all the time. In hindsight, if the ball had been in the middle....

“But you take what they give you.”

Grobe said he did regret the Deacons’ conservative first-half attack. One week after N.C. State pierced the Virginia defense for 347 passing yards, the Deacons completed just six of nine first-half passes for 30 yards.

After throwing only two passes on first down in the first half, the Deacons were far more aggressive in the second. Skinner responded by completing 14 of 17 second-half passes for 145 yards, including one to Kenneth Moore for a 13-yard touchdown and a 13-10 lead with two minutes left in the third quarter.

Swank kicked his second field goal of the game from 31 yards out to extend the lead to 16-10 early in the fourth quarter.

“We should have thrown more in the first half,” Grobe said. “We kept hunting and pecking and hoping to find a run that would be good to us. We just didn’t have much success doing it.

“If we had to do it over, we’d probably come out and throw a lot more on first down. We did a lot more of that in the second half.”

Though he ranks last in the ACC in pass efficiency, Sewell has been at his best in the closing minutes of close games. Yesterday he saved the game, paving the way for the Cavaliers’ third one-point victory of the season, by finding Covington on fourth-and-2.

Coach Al Groh of the Cavaliers gambled with four minutes remaining, eschewing the field goal that would have cut the lead to 16-13.

Covington, who scored Virginia’s other touchdown on a 39-yard reception from Sewell with 10 seconds left in the first half, found a hole in the Deacons’ defense between cornerback Brandon Ghee and safety Chip Vaughn.

Vaughn said afterward that he thought he heard a whistle blow just before the snap. He said teammates told him they heard it too.

“The guys on the right side that I was on, some of them said they heard a whistle and guys just stopped playing,” Vaughn said. “The side judge was over there talking to Ghee and I looked at Ghee and he was standing straight up. He said he heard a whistle.

“It kind of sounded like it came from the refs, but regardless of that, our coaches say you’ve got to play through it anyway. It was kind of a gift on our part, because I think if we’d gone ahead and played our coverage call it would have been stopped.”

 

Deacs' hopes sail wide right
Swank just misses 47-yard field goal try as time expires
David Scott, The Charlotte Observer
 

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. - Wake Forest trailed Virginia by one point with two seconds remaining Saturday, the ball on the Cavaliers' 30, with a howling crowd of more than 60,000 in Scott Stadium as a backdrop.
There was no place Wake Forest football coach Jim Grobe would have rather been.

After all, Grobe had at his disposal Sam Swank -- one of college football's most reliable kickers.

So, as Swank lined up a 47-yard field-goal attempt that would potentially win the ACC game, Grobe felt at ease.

"From our perspective," he said, "it was easy range for Sam."

But Swank, a senior who had made 11 of 16 field goals in his career from 47 yards and shorter, appeared to not quite get all of his kick. It sailed to the right of the uprights, and the Cavaliers were 17-16 winners. That snapped the 21st-ranked Deacons' six-game winning streak.

"When you get down to last plays that win or lose a games, you want to get your share," said Grobe. "But they don't always go your way."

Said Virginia coach Al Groh: "The ball looked like it was fairly tight to the post. All we could do is wait for the good eyesight of the officials."

Wake Forest (6-3, 4-2 ACC) had taken a 16-10 lead early in the fourth quarter on a 31-yard field goal by Swank. Virginia (8-2, 5-1) rallied, scoring a winning touchdown on a 1-yard run by Mikell Simpson with 2:18 left.

The key play of the winning drive was a fourth-and-2 at the Deacons' 24.

Immediately before the play, Wake Forest players looked confused and appeared to hesitate. Later, strong safety Chip Vaughn said he and cornerback Brandon Ghee thought they heard a whistle stopping the play.

Instead, Cavaliers quarterback Jameel Sewell completed a 10-yard pass to Maurice Covington. Three plays later, Simpson scored.

The Deacons got the ball back, picking up a key first down on a 12-yard pass from Riley Skinner to DeAngelo Bryant on fourth down to reach the Virginia 33 with 37 seconds left. Two runs by Josh Adams advanced it to the 30.

Swank had already made three field goals and missed a 43-yarder in the second quarter that hit the left upright.

"We knew after [Bryant] made that catch that we were in Sam's range," said Skinner.

But this one missed.

Swank said the kick's distance was a slight factor.

"A little, but not much," he said. "I knock them in from there all the time. When I hit it, it felt fine, but then it looked like it was fading to the right."

Virginia has set an NCAA record five victories by two points or less. The Cavs lead the ACC's Coastal Division. The Cavaliers would play in the league championship game with victories against Miami and Virginia Tech in their final two ACC games.
 

UVa survives
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
November 3, 2007

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Wake Forest place-kicker Sam Swank's r?sum? was a mystery to Clint Sintim.
The Virginia linebacker had no clue that Swank was a first-team all-ACC kicker. Or that he had made eight field goals of 50 yards or longer in his career. Or that prior to Saturday, he had missed one field goal all season ? from 57 yards.

In this case, ignorance was bliss.

"I'm glad I didn't know that before the game," Sintim said. "I might have passed out."

He almost did anyway when Swank's 48-yard field goal attempt drifted wide right as the clock expired, giving Virginia a 17-16 win over No. 21 Wake Forest at Scott Stadium on Saturday, the latest in a season full of thrillers.

The Cavaliers (8-2, 5-1 ACC) have won five games by two points or less, breaking the record set by Columbia in 1971.

"During (that kind of game), you're going to have a heart attack," UVa defensive end Chris Long said. "I'm a healthy 22-year-old guy, but you get nervous. ?

"Do we want to win by 20? Sure. But we'll take a win over a great team."

If Virginia beats Virginia Tech in its season finale three weeks from now, it will qualify for its first ACC championship game.

Like they have done four times this year, the Cavaliers rallied from a fourth quarter deficit, this time trailing 16-10 with 6:15 left.

Quarterback Jameel Sewell, who was 20-for-43 for 225 yards, shook off an erratic outing dotted with dropped passes and errant throws to lead UVa 56 yards in 3:57 for the go-ahead touchdown.

"He's an emotional player and a prideful player," Groh said. "One of the things that was challenging for him to deal with in the past was when things didn't go well, his emotions would get in the way. Everybody has toughened up around here mentally, and I think he's done the same."

Sewell came through in the clutch, zipping a 10-yard pass to wideout Maurice Covington when the Cavaliers faced a fourth-and-two from Wake's 24. Two plays after Sewell almost scored on an option play that gained 11 yards, tailback Mikell Simpson ran up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown run. Chris Gould's extra point gave UVa a one-point lead with 2:18 left.

Gould had booted the ball short on his first two kickoffs, away from Wake Forest burner Kenny Marion, the national leader in kick returns. This time, he kicked it deep, a line drive that Marion corralled near the goal line but could only return to the 27.

"At that point in time, with a kicker who has (eight) kicks of 50 yards or longer on his r?sum?, we had to take a chance on field position and create as long a field as we could, knowing basically the 35-yard line was what we had to defend," Groh said.

The Deacons (6-3, 4-2 ACC) moved the ball quickly. Quarterback Riley Skinner, who was 20 of 26 for 175 yards and a touchdown, shook off a sack by Long and a near interception on a batted ball to complete a 12-yard pass on fourth down to fullback De'Angelo Bryant for a first down.

Skinner completed back-to-back 12-yard passes to Kenny Moore and Bryant to move the ball to the UVa 33 with less than a minute left.

Instead of trying to pass to make it a shorter kick for Swank, Wake Forest was content running it into the middle of the line. In two plays, the Deacons moved it to the 30 before calling a timeout with two seconds remaining.

"From our perspective, that was (an) easy length for Sam," Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe said. "The thing we didn't want to do was to take a sack or throw a pick to do anything that wouldn't give Sam a chance to win the game."

Swank had already missed a field goal. He uncharacteristically hit the left upright on a 43-yard attempt in the second quarter.

"As a kicker, you try to fix things out there on your own," Gould said. "You try to adjust. I'm sure maybe a little bit was going through his mind, 'Don't miss this one left.'"

He didn't miss left. This kick started right and stayed right, a fact made evident when the student section on the hill at the north end of the stadium erupted, moments before Virginia's players poured on to the field in celebration.

"After you hear the ball kicked, you're kind of at the ball's mercy," Long said. "I'm on the ground just kind of listening for the crowd to go nuts. ? It's just such a great feeling."
 

Fifth narrow win keeps Cavs in first
November 4, 2007 12:36 am
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.

CHARLOTTESVILLE--It was a helpless feeling for the University of Virginia football team.

The most successful kicker in the Atlantic Coast Conference over the past two seasons was stepping up for a potentially game-winning kick that would send the Cavaliers to their second straight loss after a seven-game winning streak.

Sophomore defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald said a prayer. So did junior wide receiver Maurice Covington.

The Cavaliers' wishes were granted when Wake Forest junior Sam Swank missed a 47-yard field goal as time expired, lifting Virginia to a thrilling 17-16 victory over the No. 21 Demon Deacons in front of a crowd of 60,106 in Scott Stadium.

Swank, an all-ACC kicker, has made eight of 11 kicks from beyond 50 yards in his career, and he was 11-of-12 from any distance this season before missing two attempts yesterday.

"Not much I could do about it, just watch and see," Virginia head coach Al Groh said of the missed game-winner. "That ball looked like it was fairly tight to the [goalpost]. All we could do is wait for the good eyesight of the officials."

When those officials signaled the kick was wide right, it meant the Cavaliers set a Division I-A record with their fifth win by two points or fewer this season.

It was also their third one-point victory.

"It just shows the type of guys we have on this team--the type of guys that dig and don't quit," Cavaliers junior linebacker Clint Sintim said. "We win most of our games in the fourth quarter. If we can consistently do that and I don't have a heart attack and die, I'm happy."

The victory gave Virginia (8-2, 5-1 ACC) a half-game lead over Virginia Tech for sole possession of first place in the ACC's Coastal Division. Wake Forest (6-3, 4-2) had its six-game winning streak snapped.

The Cavaliers visit Miami next week and host Virginia Tech in the season finale Nov. 24.

A victory over Virginia Tech will put them in the ACC championship game Dec. 1 in Jacksonville, Fla, but players aren't yet thinking that far ahead.

"We just want to make sure we don't let a whole lot get to our heads," Cavaliers sophomore quarterback Jameel Sewell said. "We just need to focus on Miami--what time they go to bed, what time they wake up and everything they do."

The Cavaliers did a good job of focusing in the pivotal moments yesterday.

They went ahead 17-16 on a 1-yard touchdown run from sophomore running back Mikell Simpson with 2:18 left in the game.

The score capped a 10-play, 56-yard drive that featured a key 10-yard pass from Sewell to Covington on fourth-and-2 from the Wake Forest 24-yard line.

Sewell added a nifty 11-yard run to get down to the Wake Forest 3-yard line, and two plays later Simpson scored.

It was the fourth game-winning drive Sewell has led this season.

"Last year, it would be no chance for me to do what I'm doing now in these close games," Sewell said. "It just would've went the total opposite way, and we'd probably have a lot of [losses] on our schedule."

That's not the case thanks in large part to Sewell and a stingy defense.

The Cavaliers' defense didn't allow Wake Forest to get into position for a chip-shot field goal on the final drive. Senior defensive end Chris Long registered his 12th sack of the season on the drive, and Fitzgerald batted down a pass.

But Wake Forest was able to stay alive by converting two fourth-and-2 plays on passes from quarterback Riley Skinner to fullback De'Angelo Bryant.

Swank was well within his range, but the kick looked off from the start.

"Missing the last field goal was a very small part of the game," Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe said. "We had opportunities in the first half and the second half that we didn't take advantage of both offensively and defensively. It's really a team loss."

For the Cavaliers, it was a team victory.

Sewell was 20-of-43 passing for 225 yards and a touchdown. He didn't throw an interception.

Simpson, who was the only Virginia running back to carry the ball, picked up 115 total yards (38 rushing, 77 receiving). Covington had a career-high 76 yards receiving and a 39-yard touchdown catch (the first of his career) with 10 seconds left in the second quarter to give the Cavaliers a 10-6 halftime lead.

Wake Forest went ahead 13-10 on Skinner's 13-yard touchdown pass to Riley Skinner, and increased its advantage to 16-10 on Swank's 31-yard field goal with 10:12 left in the game.

But as it often seems to do with the Cavaliers, the game came down to the final play.

"We've been through it a couple of times now," Fitzgerald said. "So I guess you can say we're veterans of the one-point games."

 

Deacs squander opportunities By Rob Daniels
Staff Writer
Sunday, Nov. 4, 2007 3:00 am
 

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Wake Forest lost at Virginia 17-16 on Saturday because Sam Swank missed a 48-yard field-goal attempt as time expired. And if you believe that, you should really see this piece of property near Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. You'd have a beautiful view of the Blue Ridge Mountains and history for neighbors. And it's all yours for $10 and a Robert Goulet record.

"We missed so many opportunities to do what we had to do," Wake offensive tackle Louis Frazier said. "And that definitely hurt."

One statistically solid coaching gamble that failed and one conversion that succeeded will dominate the chat rooms today and for a while longer. Less recognized will be four first-half Deacons possessions that were set up by special-teams excellence and produced six points.

But first, the end. After De'Angelo Bryant caught Riley Skinner's fourth-down pass in the right flat and went for 12 yards to the Cavaliers' 33, assistant head coach Billy Mitchell, whose track record on all things kick-related is almost perfect, told coach Jim Grobe the Deacs were in Swank's range and didn't need to do anything remotely risky to advance the ball farther. They could run the clock down and let the school's all-time leading scorer take over from there.

Why not? Swank was 11-of-16 in his career from 47 yards and longer -- including 8-of-11 accuracy at 50-plus -- as his time drew near. The Deacs called for two runs, which, Grobe admitted, could have been more productive than getting to the 30. Otherwise? No regrets as the clock ticked to two seconds before the Deacs used their final timeout.

"We wouldn't change it if we had to do it 10 times. Or 100 times," Grobe said. "We've got that much confidence in Sam."

In the end, the attempt was long enough but wide to the right. Asked if he would have been more comfortable with a shorter attempt, Swank said, "A little. Not much. I knock them in all the time from that distance. You take what they give you."

The last-second stuff was necessitated by a bold move from Virginia coach Al Groh, whose team has set an implausible NCAA record with its fifth victory of the year by one or two points.

Down 16-10 with a little more than four minutes left, Groh shunned a field-goal attempt from the Deacons' 24 and threw for the first down. When Maurice Covington broke free and made a 10-yard grab, Wake's coaches wondered why two defensive backs looked so passive on the play. One of them, Chip Vaughn, had an explanation.

"Some guys heard whistles," he said. "Maybe from (the area of) the side judge. But coaches said you always have to play through it.

"That was just a gift on our part. If we had played our standard coverage call, it would have been a stop."

Any whistles would have almost certainly come from the stands and not an on-field official because no Wake coaches reported hearing anything. Regardless, the play ultimately set up Mikell Simpson's 1-yard run with 2:18 left.

The end was tense and the first half was frustrating for the Deacs, who had almost unbeatable field position. Two intentionally short kickoffs, undertaken in fear of NCAA kickoff return leader Kevin Marion, gave Wake starting spots of its own 40 and 47. A blocked punt put the ball on the Cavaliers' 28.

Kenny Moore's long punt return did the same thing later in the second quarter. Collectively, the opportunities amounted to three field-goal attempts, two of which Swank made.

Not exactly the sort of efficiency the Deacs were seeking.

"You have to produce more than that," center Steve Justice said. "We didn't make holes for the running backs. We didn't protect Riley long enough. As an offensive line, we didn't produce well enough."

Grobe conceded that his team wasn't aggressive enough in the first half against a Cavaliers defense that allowed 347 passing yards at N.C. State last week. The Deacons threw nine first-half passes, none of which gained more than 12 yards.

"We should have thrown more in the first half," Grobe said. "We kept hunting and pecking, hoping to find a run that would be good to us. We just didn't have much success doing it."

The Deacs, now virtually eliminated from ACC title contention after the end of a six-game winning streak, must regroup with a game at Clemson looming.