A new role for Ogletree
Sidelined receiver gives Cavs a boost with vocal support
Friday, Nov 09, 2007 - 12:05 AM Updated: 01:06 AM
By JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- He hasn't played -- and won't play -- this season, but Kevin Ogletree remains an integral part of the University of Virginia football team. Just watch him during games at Scott Stadium.

Unlike some out-of-uniform players, Ogletree doesn't distance him from the rest of the team. The junior from Queens, N.Y., is in perpetual motion on the sideline amid the U.Va. players and coaches. After a Virginia touchdown, it's hard to tell who's more excited: the player who scored or Ogletree.

"I can't be playing right now, so I try to provide whatever little energy boost I can," said Ogletree, Virginia's leading receiver in 2006.

"I'm a pretty animated guy, a pretty happy guy. It's just fun. I get caught up in the moment out there."

During Virginia's game against Wake Forest last weekend, in fact, the officials told Ogletree that he needed to curb his enthusiasm. Cavaliers coach Al Groh chuckled about that yesterday. He also said Ogletree never sought permission to occupy a prominent place on the sideline.

"Kevin's a New Yorker," Groh said, "so he doesn't believe that he needs to be granted access."

Ogletree provided much-needed playmaking ability to an inexperienced offense as a sophomore in 2006. After appearing in seven games as a true freshman in 2005, he caught 52 passes for 582 yards and four touchdowns last year and was named honorable mention all-ACC.

It seemed reasonable to think that Ogletree might ascend to all-ACC status this season. But on March 23, a few day into spring practice, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

"It wasn't like I ran into a brick wall or anything," Ogletree recalled this week. "It was me just trying to make a cut."

In early April, the Cavaliers' orthopedic surgeon, David Diduch, repaired Ogletree's knee. Ogletree talked then about returning for the 2007 season, and he didn't relinquish that dream easily.

"There hasn't been a day when I've woken up and that hasn't been one of the first things I've thought about: I want to play," Ogletree said.

Ultimately, though, he realized he needed more time to rehab his knee and that it didn't make sense to spend a year's eligibility on a few late-season games.

"I'm kind of happy I never got put on the hot chair and asked, 'Do you want to go?'" said Ogletree, who'll be a redshirt junior next year. "I think this is the best long-term decision for me and for our team."

And so Aug. 30, 2008, has taken on special significance for Ogletree. That's when mighty Southern California comes to Scott Stadium, and that's when Ogletree expects to play for the first time in about 21 months.

"I don't think I've ever looked forward to a game as much," he said.

His workload in practice has steadily increased this fall, and he's now running routes and working against defensive backs every day. At 6-2, Ogletree has good size for a receiver, and he complements that with excellent speed and sure hands.

Physical cornerbacks can give him problems, though, and he's working with strength coach Matt Balis to add upper-body strength. Ogletree, who played at about 187 pounds last season, wants to be at 195 by next year's opener, and he's well on his way.

"If you look at him, you can see that there's just a lot more muscle on his frame than there was in the past, and that'll certainly help him out," Groh said.

Groh generally doesn't take injured players to road games, which means Ogletree will be home tomorrow night when No. 23 U.Va. (5-1, 8-2) plays ACC rival Miami (2-3, 5-4) at the Orange Bowl.

"The road games a little tough, watching them on TV," Ogletree said. "I'm screaming at the TV, because I know the guys, I know the plays. I feel almost like a coach."

He's not a coach, of course, or a cheerleader, though he's had to take on those roles this season. He's a player.

"Just being away from it, it hurts," Ogletree said, "and I'm just going to hold on to that till the next time I get out there."

 

U.VA. NOTES
Friday, Nov 09, 2007 - 12:06 AM
 

Sewell turning into Mr. Clutch
For the season, U.Va. quarterback Jameel Sewell has completed a modest 56.5 percent of his passes. In late-game situations, however, Sewell has been remarkably accurate the past five weeks.

On Virginia's game-winning drives in its past four victories - 23-21 over Middle Tennessee, 17-16 over Connecticut, 18-17 over Maryland and 17-16 over Wake Forest - the sophomore left-hander from Hermitage High was a combined 17 of 20 passing for 199 yards.

Swank's miss brings back memories for Groh
Super Bowl XXV matched the New York Giants and the Buffalo Bills. The Giants' assistants that season included Al Groh, now in his seventh season as head coach at Virginia.

The Giants prevailed 20-19 in Super Bowl XXV when Buffalo's Scott Norwood missed a 47-yard field-goal attempt in the final seconds.

Last weekend at Scott Stadium, U.Va. prevailed 17-16 when Wake Forest's Sam Swank, one of the nation's elite kickers, missed from 47 yards on the game's final play.

Asked yesterday if he flashed back to Norwood's kick during the final seconds of the Wake game, Groh said, "I did. I actually also got an e-mail from a Virginia fan who lives in the state who was also a Giant fan and was in attendance at [the Super Bowl]. He was wondering if I made the same connection."

Dowling impressing his teammates
Only recently has true freshman Ras-I Dowling begun to get extensive work at cornerback, but he leads the Cavaliers in pass break-ups with eight. He's been a standout on special teams all season, showing an uncanny ability to find and then tackle the ballcarrier.

"I played special teams for a whole year and thought I had a pretty good year," inside linebacker Jon Copper recalled this week. "I think I might have had six tackles. He did that, I think, in the first game he was in on special teams.

"Every role he's been given this year, he's stepped up and really made a lot of plays that a lot of other guys in the past haven't made. He's an excellent athlete, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him develop over the next two or three years and become one of the dominant players on this team."

With two interceptions, Dowling has the most of any U.Va. defensive back.

"My old coach and my father said, 'When the ball's in the air, it's yours,'" Dowling said. "So I try to go after it like it's mine, like it's for me."

Dowling, a former standout at Deep Creek High in Chesapeake, spent the 2006-07 academic year at Hargrave Military Academy before enrolling at U.Va.

U.Va. looking to snap streak
Virginia's utter lack of success in football in the Sunshine State is astounding. The Cavaliers have played 15 games in Florida, losing every time. And that 0-15 mark doesn't begin to tell the story.

In 14 of their losses, the Cavaliers have surrendered at least 31 points. The exception was Virginia's 2005 game against Miami at the Orange Bowl. The Hurricanes held off a late U.Va. rally and won 25-17.

Virginia never has scored more than 24 points in a game played in Florida.

The Cavaliers' next chance to end its losing streak comes tomorrow night at the Orange Bowl. No.23 Virginia (5-1, 8-2) meets Miami (2-3, 5-4) at 7:15. This will mark only the third time that U.Va. has met an unranked opponent in Florida. - Jeff White
 

Ex-UVa coach raises eyebrows with WFU cap
Relationship with Grobe goes back 30 years
By Doug Doughty

How many former Virginia football coaches and distinguished football alumni could have walked into Scott Stadium wearing a Wake Forest cap this past Saturday?

Not George Welsh, not Dick Bestwick, not Don Lawrence. Those are the three living former Virginia coaches, although none of them played at Virginia.

Only Sonny Randle would have dared to walk the Wake sideline in WFU attire.

“There ain’t too many people like Sonny Randle, I believe,” said Randle, who played at Virginia from 1956-58 and coached at UVa from 1974-75. “I don’t know whether that’s good or bad.”

It was during Randle’s term as Virginia head coach that he began a long association and friendship with Jim Grobe, an ex-Cavaliers’ linebacker who has served as Deacons’ coach since 2001.

Grobe, who also coached under Randle at Virginia and Marshall, didn’t give Randle the Wake Forest cap that he wore on the Deacons’ sideline Saturday. Randle brought the hat from his Shenandoah Valley home.

“It would frighten you if you saw all the Wake Forest stuff that I’ve got,” Randle said. “I’ve had that hat. That’s my favorite hat. Coach Grobe had the exact same [WFU] hat on.”

Randle, who does radio commentary for the ACC game of the week, asked for an off day Saturday so that he could go to the Virginia-Wake game.

“I saw [UVa athletic director] Craig Littlepage before the game,” Randle, 70, said. “He said, ‘Sonny, I’m telling you one thing: If we take a picture of that, you could be in big trouble around here.

“Then, he laughed. I think anybody who knows my relationship with coach Grobe, they understand what my deal was last week. I got some abuse but that’s all right. It was all in fun, so I don’t mind.

“If they gave me a Virginia hat, I’d wear it for any game other than Wake game. No question about that, but you know how close I am to Jim Grobe.”

On the ACC coaches’ teleconference Wednesday, Grobe chuckled at the nerve of Randle to go into Scott Stadium and stand on the opponents’ sideline with a Wake Forest cap.

“I think he stayed safe,” Grobe said. “He stayed on our side, where he was out of the line of fire. He was probably pretty smart along those lines.

“He loves the University of Virginia but he also supports me. I think he had mixed feelings at the game. It makes me feel good that he cares so much about me. I know he jokes all the time that I’ve gotten him fired a few times as a player and a coach.”

Randle was captured in his WFU hat by television cameras Saturday.

“As soon as I saw it, I thought, ‘Here we go,’" said John Shuman, the head coach at Fork Union Military Academy, another of Randle’s alma maters. “Sonny’s that way. Turmoil surrounded him wherever he went.”

Randle was fired at Virginia following a 1-10 season in 1975 and vowed never to return, although there has been an effort to welcome him back to the family in recent years. He said he was pulling for Wake Forest’s Sam Swank to convert a 47-yard field goal that went wide in a 17-16 Cavaliers’ victory “but it was a win-win situation for me,” he said.

The commentator in Randle has been surprised by the Cavaliers’ ability to put together an 8-2 season after going 5-7 in 2006.

“The key for them is [defensive end] Chris Long,” Randle said. “I think he’s kind of kept the troops together and kind of rallied them. He’s a helluva player, but he’s a hell of an everything.

“They could have lost a couple [or] three of them if it wasn’t for him. He does it all. He’s a great, great player and a super young man. It just seems like he’s the lightning rod.”

Randle was always a lightning rod, too.

“Yeah, well, I don’t think I was the right kind of lightning rod,” Randle said.

 

Orange and blue
Miami faithful prepares for Orange Bowl's sad farewell
By Jerry Ratcliffe / jratcliffe@dailyprogress.com | 978-7251
November 9, 2007

Saturday night this columnist will be walking on hallowed ground at the ancient American football cathedral called the Orange Bowl.

Yeah, I know the joint is on the verge of collapse, but it has always been a special place to me. I’m a football junkie, especially college football.

When Virginia has a bye weekend, my idea of a perfect Saturday is to plant myself on a couch in front of a big screen and watch football from the pre-game shows to the first noon kickoff to the Hawaii home game that doesn’t start until midnight.

When I learned that Virginia’s game at Miami would be the Hurricanes’ last game ever after 71 seasons in the Orange Bowl, I can’t tell you how excited I was to know that I would be there, sitting in those old, swivel press box chairs that have probably been there since Grantland Rice.

My first memory of ever watching a college football game as a kid was Texas beating Joe Namath and Alabama, 21-17, in what was described as the “game of the year” on New Year’s night, 1965, in the Orange Bowl. Yeah, I’m that old.

Namath was allegedly stopped on a quarterback sneak at the goal line by Texas linebacker Tommy Nobis in the loss, leaving Joe Willie to later say: “I’ll go to my grave knowing I scored a touchdown on that play.”

It was a big deal because NBC risked putting it on in primetime and had such a response (40 million viewers), that it changed the course of TV sports history.

Haven’t missed many Orange Bowls since then, so when I grew up (some would question that statement) and became a sportswriter and had a chance to go to my first game at the Orange Bowl, I can’t tell you how “juiced” I was. I will explain that adjective later.

It was the 1993 national championship game at the Orange Bowl when Charlie Ward led Florida State to an 18-16 win over Nebraska.

Like many who walked into the Orange Bowl for the first time, expecting football’s Taj Mahal, but instead got Fred Sanford’s backyard, it was an eye-opening experience.

The history of the place engulfs you.

You gaze toward the open end of the stadium, facing the downtown Miami skyline, and remember back to 1969 when the Namath backed up his guaranteed win, leading the Jets to the most famous upset in Super Bowl history over the highly favored Baltimore Colts.

Yeah, I thought, standing in that end zone hours before the game. This is where Namath trotted off the field, giving the No. 1 sign with his index finger, palm trees in the background.

This is where Doug Flutie’s miracle Hail Mary beat Miami in one of the most memorable endings to a college game ever. This is where the Dolphins went undefeated in 1972. It’s where Cowboys’ tight end Jackie Smith dropped a sure TD pass from Roger Staubach in Super Bowl XIII, giving the Steelers a third straight championship.

It’s where Lombardi walked away and ended his illustrious coaching career.

The Who’s Who of college and pro football have walked on this Bermuda grass, right there with Lombardi, Shula, Noll, the “Bear,” Devaney, Osborne, Bowden, Paterno, on and on and on.

While I have covered a handful of Orange Bowls and a regular-season game there, my personal greatest memory there was my first, the Florida State win over the Cornhuskers.

That’s when Nebraska led, 16-15 with 1:16 to play before Ward, the Heisman Trophy winner, and Warrick Dunn brought the Seminoles back, taking the lead on a field goal with 21 seconds to go.

With Nebraska desperately trying to salvage the win, advancing the ball to the FSU 28-yard line as time expired ... or, so everyone thought.

Fans rushed the field, players doused Bobby with victory ice water. But wait.

The officials declared there was 1 second remaining, which gave Nebraska’s kicker a 45-yard field-goal attempt, at the same set of goalposts where Bowden had suffered his most memorable “wide right” defeat.

This time, Nebraska’s kick was wide left and the Seminoles celebrated.

Well, I told you earlier I would explain the “juiced” reference.

What a memorable experience, the first time stepping foot into the historic Orange Bowl, covering a national championship that went to the wire.

Well, I was working, so like most writers, I went down to the sideline for the final minutes of the game.

I had a tight deadline and wanted to get a couple of quick quotes. In my haste to run to the middle of the field for a quote from Bowden, someone to my immediate right had stepped on my foot, causing me to tumble into him.

By actually colliding with that person, it braced me enough to prevent me from falling. However, my weight nearly knocked that person to the ground. He quickly planted his right arm to avoid the fall.

It was “The Juice,” O.J. Simpson, who was a sideline reporter for the national broadcast.

Lucky he wasn’t carrying any knives.

So, for me, Saturday night will be a sad one, although realistically, there’s nothing else that could be done.

Miami coach Randy Shannon, who played for the Hurricanes during their 58-game home winning streak here, alluded to the fact that it would cost $300 million to make the stadium new again, and the city of Miami had done nothing more than slap a coat of paint on the place in recent memory. Even that was expensive.

When former Canes coach Larry Coker was in Charlottesville earlier this season for Virginia’s win over Georgia Tech, we reminisced about the Orange Bowl. He coached there for 12 years as an assistant and head coach.

“There was nothing done to improve [the stadium] during my time there,” Coker said. “From a football-playing standpoint, it’s a great place to play a game. But I think the overall perspective - parking, fans, the skyboxes, concessions, all those things - it was time for a move.

“It was the only move they could make. It’s about to crumble, it’s about to fall down, and they need to move on.”

Shannon said he believes moving Miami’s home games to Dolphins Stadium, away from downtown Miami might help the program attract better recruits and restore the Hurricanes to national prominence.

His mission come Saturday night when Virginia comes to town won’t have anything to do with nostalgia. His goal is to get Miami bowl eligible, and the Wahoos stand squarely in the way.

Some of Shannon’s players, though, have taken another approach.

They have vowed to uphold Miami’s tradition in the Orange Bowl, to not end the Hurricanes’ history in the stadium on a sour note, especially in front of all the legendary Miami players who will return for the finale.

It’s senior night for the current Canes, almost an overload of emotion, which could either inspire or backfire.

Virginia coach Al Groh is trying to take it all in stride.

“We’re not really part of that history, we’re just part of this game,” Groh said. “There will be a lot of other people there who made history and they’ll be celebrating their history, but we’re just one of the acts that’s being trotted out.”

Groh respects that history but has greater concerns. He knows an unfocused Virginia team could lose not only the game but have its future negatively impacted.

That’s the only history he’s worried about.

 

Simpson, Sewell hit the ground running
By Jay Jenkins / jjenkins@dailyprogress.com | 978-7250
November 9, 2007

In a matter of 24 hours, Virginia tailback Mikell Simpson and one of his closest friends obtained the impossible: rushing for more than 100 yards.

Simpson’s breakout experience - 119 yards on 16 carries - came against Maryland on Oct. 20 and lifted the Cavaliers to a 17-16 victory.

The following day, Cincinnati Bengals running back Kenny Watson had the best performance of his NFL career, churning out 130 yards on the ground and scoring three touchdowns.

Simpson and Watson, who both attended Harrisburg High in Pennsylvania, turned heads, respectively, in the absence of the expected starting tailbacks.

Watson’s days as a starter may be numbered - Rudi Johnson is no longer on the Bengals’ injury report - and Cincinnati appear to be positioning for a better draft pick.

As for Simpson, Virginia is flying high, ranked 23rd in the country at 8-2 overall and 5-1 in the ACC. And Cedric Peerman, Virginia’s starter the first six games, is not expected to return this season from ligament damage in his right foot.

That scenario - and coaching decisions in regard to true freshman Keith Payne - has left Simpson as the Cavaliers’ featured back. Against Wake Forest, Simpson and quarterback Jameel Sewell were the only players with a carry offensively.

“Going into the game I kind of thought that could happen,” Simpson said. “I didn’t expect it though.

“I thought [Payne and I] would rotate out like we had been doing in previous games and it just didn’t work out that way.”

Simpson, who is expected to start Saturday night at Miami (5-4, 2-3 ACC), struggled on the ground against Wake, rushing 16 times for 35 yards. Virginia coach Al Groh was quick not to place the blame solely on the sophomore’s shoulders.

“There weren’t too many runs there where we had too many issues with Mikell,” Groh said. “They were run the ways the plays were programmed, and sometimes there wasn’t as much there as we would have liked to have been able to give him.

“Obviously, we’d like to clear some of those running lanes a little bit better. We certainly would like more production in those areas.”

Credit the previous opponent, too, Groh said, pointing out that the Demon Deacons had “better players at certain positions than we had seen this year.”

“We thought going in that [Wake] was a very good defense and very well put together and fundamentally very sound with some real good quick guys. We anticipated that it would be kinda sticky in there.”

Simpson, who appears generously listed at 6-foot-1 and 197 pounds, has the perfect makeup to become a quality third-down back. But he said he can handle the full workload and Groh came to his defense.

“He fits very well into that role, but that pigeon holes him too much as a one-down player,” the coach said. “He’s certainly shown over the last three weeks that his versatility in different-style plays, as well as his versatility in different situations, is one of the strong suits of his game.

“There is nothing that we hold back from doing with Mikell in there in any circumstance. The playbook is wide open for him.”

Which plays will work against Miami, however, may be the key this Saturday for Simpson.

Miami has held three opponents under 100 yards this season. Duke (1-8), Marshall (1-8) and Texas A&M (6-4), the guilty parties, coincidentally, have combined for just eight wins.

League opponents (not named Duke) have enjoyed success against Miami on the ground, gaining an average of 155.2 yards per game, which ranks 10th-worst in the ACC.

Miami, as usual, has an inordinate amount of team speed to help combat Sewell and Simpson in the Cavaliers’ running game.

“I could probably write this one down and save it for the next year, come in here and say, ‘Every year when we play Miami we are going to be talking about one of the fastest teams, if not the fastest team, that we are going to play that year,’” Groh said. “That’s been a tradition of their teams down there.

“It’s very apparent watching them play … it’s not just running backs or wide receivers; they have got three fast linebackers, they’ve got two fast safeties, they’ve got tight ends who can get up the field. They’ve had the opportunity to build the tradition of attracting fast players there.”

With Virginia entering its final two games of the regular season and major postseason implications on the line, Groh said production must come from the running game.

“It will be a necessity,” Groh said, “as we go into this month to do that.”

 

UM fans ready for fond farewell
Devoted fans in the Orange Bowl's west end zone will be among the loudest during the Hurricanes' home finale Saturday.
Posted on Fri, Nov. 09, 2007Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email
By MANNY NAVARRO
mnavarro@MiamiHerald.com

For nearly 20 years, Louetta Wilson, better known as Miss Fort Myers to her West End Zone Crew pals, has driven home from downtown Miami on fall Saturdays in pain. But it has been a good pain.

''Every time I leave the Orange Bowl, my face and throat hurt because I laugh so much,'' said Wilson, a 48-year-old business teacher who has sat in the west end zone of the Orange Bowl for Hurricanes games since she followed former Cane and Fort Myers High graduate Jammi German to UM games in 1993.

``But I'm bringing some tissue with me this weekend. I know I'm going to cry so much. I've been dreading this Saturday for so long. I feel like somebody is leaving and I'm never going to see them again.''

Usually, tears aren't accepted in the west end zone of the Orange Bowl, where some of the rowdiest Hurricanes fans have owned general admission tickets for years. ''Anybody crying -- like anyone crazy enough to wear a Florida or Florida State shirt to a game -- would probably get booed and cussed out of their seats,'' said Chris Johnson, 26, whose family has owned tickets in the west end zone since he was 6. ``You can't sit in the west end zone if you're soft. They'll eat you alive.''

But Saturday night, when the Hurricanes (5-4, 2-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) play No. 21 Virginia (8-2, 5-1) in the team's final game at the Orange Bowl, all kinds of emotion will be welcome. And a lot will come pouring out of the west end zone. Most of it, though, could be venom.

NO RESPECT

When athletic director Paul Dee and UM officials on Monday released the seating plan for Dolphins Stadium for next season, the general admission section was moved to the 400 level -- far away from the field.

Wilson and Johnson are two of the many west end zone members unhappy with the decision. Because both aren't sure if they will be sitting next to Mama Cane or any of the other Hurricanes die-hards, who have made it to games early just to sit closest to the tunnel, where UM players have run out onto the field through the smoke of fire extinguishers.

Some west end zone fans, including Johnson, have started a petition they hope will provide those die-hards with seats close to the field. But even if that materializes, the West End Zone Crew believes Saturday will be the last time to enjoy Canes football the way the always have.

''We're all really [angry],'' said Johnson, who paid $181 on eBay recently to buy the game-worn glove of former Hurricane tight end Kellen Winslow so he could add it to his collection of Hurricanes memorabilia.

``The West End Zone Crew has been such a big part of Hurricanes football. We've harassed so many opponents. Games are not going to be the same without us at Dolphin Stadium.''

MEMORIES

Many say they plan to hold onto the memories as long as they can. And not just the big victory against UCLA, the come-from-behind victory against Florida or the missed field-goal attempts by Florida State.

They will remember their friends, such as Rob Rankin, who once came dressed as Osama Bin Laden on Halloween, and had his ashes poured near the goal post in the west end zone by his mother after he died from diabetes in October.

Wilson said she always will remember the thrill of getting picked to hold the fire extinguisher before a game, and the creative ways those around her made fun of opposing players.

Jay Cohen will remember the night everyone in the west end zone ''dressed up like hillbillies'' for the West Virginia game, the time he and his friends lifted Jeff Popovich on their shoulders after the UCLA game and the time fans in the west end zone got arrested for throwing oranges onto the field.

''The best thing about the West End Zone has been the friendships,'' Cohen said. ``It's the only place in South Florida where you can stand up for the whole game, drink beer and be an [expletive]. Dolphin Stadium, like [Jim] Mandich says, that's for the people who sip Chardonnay.''

 

Virginia hopes to avoid Miami's Orange crush
November 9, 2007 12:36 am
By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTESVILLE--The last thing Virginia needs in its home-stretch push for an unexpected berth in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game will be awaiting the Cavaliers at Miami's historic Orange Bowl tomorrow night.

It's a farewell party for one of the most storied stadiums in football history, the place where Joe Namath delivered on his promise of a championship for the New York Jets in 1969, Doug Flutie and Gerard Phelan teamed up on perhaps the most famous Hail Mary pass in history in 1984 and where Miami can make up for an off year with a winning sendoff.

Virginia (8-2, 5-1) can earn a spot in the Dec. 1 league championship game by beating the Hurricanes and then beating Virginia Tech, but the first part will surely be complicated by the emotional festivities inside Miami's home field for 71 seasons.

"We're really not part of history. We're just part of the game. There will be a lot of other people there who made history, and they'll be celebrating history. We're just one of the acts that's being trotted out," Virginia coach Al Groh said this week.

His players run the gamut from defensive end Chris Long, whose Hall of Fame father Howie played several times in the Orange Bowl against the Miami Dolphins, to linebacker Jon Copper, who was oblivious to the stadium's place in history on his last visit.

"The first time I went down there I didn't really make the connection. I guess I haven't been a huge college football fan up until recently," Copper said, laughing.

But Long said the legacy of the building deserves recognition.

"I know there's a great amount of history, but I probably couldn't tell you much about it," he said. "I know the obvious stuff. Everybody knows about the University of Miami and their tradition, and certainly a lot of the guys that any football player who has a liking for the game grew up watching played at the University of Miami.

"It's pretty surreal that we're going to be in the last game there."

Words like surreal tend to get Groh's attention quickly, and did this week.

"What he told us yesterday is this is a team that is very talented, probably the most talented team that we have played to date and that they're the type of team that, when you have things going on outside of the football field, will respond to that," Copper said, speaking of the ceremonies that will be hard for Virginia to miss.

 

IN MY OPINION
Time to celebrate OB and Canes' greats
Posted on Fri, Nov. 09, 2007Digg del.icio.us AIM reprint print email
By GREG COTE
gcote@MiamiHerald.com

COLLAGE OF HECTOR GABINO/EL NUEVO HERALD STAFF AND AP FILE
Time to say farewell now, free of rancor or regret. Time to pay respects. To see the grand old dame in repose and not notice the lines or cracks, but invite only the sweetest memories.

The funeral over time has tended to evolve from an occasion of sadness and mourning to a more reflective, uplifting ''celebration of life.'' We could do worse than to apply that thinking to the Orange Bowl Stadium as the University of Miami football team and generations of UM fans prepare to say goodbye after 71 years.

We have vented, said our piece. We have decried what led to this. Bemoaned the university ultimately turning its back on history. Blasted the city of Miami for years of neglect that all but pushed UM out the iron gates.

Others of us have spat our good-riddance. Seen the stadium not for its better days, but for the sagging, leaking, rusting relic it had become.

Time to say farewell now, free of rancor or regret. Time to pay respects. To see the grand old dame in repose and not notice the lines or cracks, but invite only the sweetest memories.

Michael Irvin, of the great Hurricanes from the 1980s, wishes to remember the stadium that was his home the way it used to be. That's why he canceled plans to be a part of the home-finale ceremonies Saturday night vs. Virginia.

''It's too sad for me,'' Irvin said by phone Thursday from his home outside Dallas.

Irvin, without fanfare, attended last week's second-to-last OB game, the loss to North Carolina State, and was struck by what had become of the team and the atmosphere he remembered.

''That was depressing to see we've fallen that far. And in attendance, too,'' he said. 'I was, like, `Wow.' Let's celebrate the life we've had, but now look for the life we have ahead. Give it the great sendoff it deserves. But I'm not going to be there. I can't take seeing that again. It pierced my heart.''

Irvin recalls scanning the Hurricanes sideline as UM was losing -- losing at home! -- to a team it was favored to beat. He saw none of the fire that breathed in those 1980s teams, the ones who began what would become an NCAA-record 58-game home winning streak.

''I never saw one player with that same attitude,'' Irvin said. 'Somebody to say, `What the -- this team should not be playing with us. Not in OUR house!' I kept waiting. This game needs emotions. I don't want dead bodies playing an emotional game. As UM players, your job is to maintain the mystique and the honor it carries until the next group comes through and you pass on what it means.''

Time to remember the better days, then. Time to remember the best players, the ones who grew and maintained the mystique, and passed it on.

Time to celebrate what a monumental edifice this was, how it breathed on Saturdays, how it roared and preened with pageantry. Time to marvel how indelible the Orange Bowl will remain, forever, as a portrait of sports in South Florida, even as the last brushstrokes are applied Saturday night.

Seventy-one football seasons, spanning 1937 through 2007 -- the centerpiece of that timeline the unfathomable, record-setting home winning streak from 1985 into 1994. And the five national championships, of course.

Imagine all of the lives that have passed through those turnstiles across eight decades. All of the lives that have careened across that field.

Dozens of the old ghosts will reappear there one last time Saturday night, forming the tunnel through which the current Hurricanes run and then being introduced in a halftime ceremony -- one last group hug for the old OB before the program shifts north for the brighter lights of newer Dolphin Stadium beginning next year.

Cull through 71 years -- from a time when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president, Amelia Earhart vanished in thin air and ''Gone With the Wind'' was brand new fiction -- and attempt the nearly impossible today:

Identify the 10 greatest Hurricane players ever to grace that field.

Not necessarily the ones who went on to become the best pros in the NFL, but rather the 10 who had the best college careers and stood biggest for this university on this one rectangle of sod, within this one stadium, within this one evolving neighborhood.

Make the list chronological, with the foreknowledge that hardly anyone reading it will agree completely:

• JIM DOOLEY (1949-51) -- A halfback and defensive back, Dooley was a double-duty, 60-minute player who in many ways qualified as UM's first national star, topping 1,000 yards rushing here and also setting season and career interception marks. He had four interceptions in the 1952 Gator Bowl vs. Clemson.

Dooley was the first Hurricane to have his jersey number retired (42), was an inaugural Ring of Honor inductee, and became UM's first first-round NFL draft pick.

• GEORGE MIRA (1961-63) -- ''The Matador.'' Mira was UM's first great quarterback (with apologies to Fran Curci) and the school's first two-time All-American. He tied the NCAA record for career completions and inspired the headline, ``Age of MIRAcles.''

Mira is one of only four Hurricanes to have his jersey (10) retired, was an inaugural Ring of Honor inductee, led the nation in total offense as a senior, and was the school's first top-five finisher in Heisman Trophy voting.

As much as any of that, Mira was the ''face of the franchise'' who helped end an 11-year bowl drought and lead UM football to a national stature it hadn't had. Some of what became Hurricane traditions -- such as the costumed Ibis mascot and players running onto the field through plumes of smoke -- were recent then, the modern era beginning to unfold as Mira led the way.

• TED HENDRICKS (1966-68) -- ''The Mad Stork.'' UM's only three-time All-American was the feared pass rusher and lanky defensive end who entered the Ring of Honor's inaugural class and had his jersey (89) retired.

George Gallet, UM's sports publicist for more than four decades, was not alone in calling Hendricks the greatest Hurricane ever. Hendricks was the first former Miami player inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

''I knew every blade of grass out there,'' the Miami-raised Hendricks said Thursday, from his Chicago home, of the Orange Bowl. He won't attend Saturday because he says the university organized the farewell and sent invites too late. ''I know there'd be a lot of emotion,'' he said. ``A little tear would come out of my eye probably.''

• VINNY TESTAVERDE (1982, 1984-86) -- Another of only four 'Canes to have his number (14) retired, Testaverde also was the school's first Heisman Trophy winner, in 1986. And set an NCAA record for passer-efficiency rating.

• JEROME BROWN (1983-86) -- The greatest defensive tackle in school history to that point, Brown was a run-stopping, quarterback-harassing force who led Miami to four consecutive New Year's Day bowls.

• BENNIE BLADES (1985-87) -- A menacing safety, Blades was a two-time All-American who as a senior won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's best defensive back. Left UM with the school record for career interceptions.

Last year Blades became only the third former Hurricane player inducted into the College Football hall of Fame.

• MICHAEL IRVIN (1985-87) -- Irvin left UM with school career records for receptions and receiving yards, and still owns the record for touchdown catches with 26. More than statistics, though, Irvin was the showy star who came to embody the flamboyant, cocky confidence that personified the '80s 'Canes.

That attitude, in brief, as recalled by Irvin: 'We were gonna tell you we'd beat you. Then tell you how. And then beat you. And then ask, `Did you like how we beat you!?' And there was nothing you could do about it!' ''

The Orange Bowl turf was the palette.

''There never will be anything like it,'' said Irvin. ``If you were an opposing team coming in there you had a better chance anywhere else in the world. You had NO chance of beating us in the Orange Bowl. Wasn't going to happen.''

• WARREN SAPP (1992-94) -- A consensus All-American defensive tackle who was the first 'Cane to win the Lombardi Award (nation's top lineman) and Bronko Nagurski Trophy (nation's best defensive player).

• ED REED (1998-2001) -- The state-of-the-art strong safety was a two-time All-American who set career records for interceptions, return yards and returns for touchdowns (with five).

• KEN DORSEY (1999-2002) -- Perhaps more than anyone else in our ''Greatest 10,'' Dorsey qualifies not at least in part for what he went on to do in the pros (that was negligible), but purely for his work as a collegian.

Dorsey was twice a top-five Heisman finisher, and his school passing records -- including 9,565 yards and 86 touchdowns -- are so far ahead of the runner-up totals as to be fairly considered unbeatable.

Did we leave anybody out?

Well, we had 71 years of opportunity!

Regrets may especially be due 1950s star Don Bosseler, '70s running back Ottis Anderson and '90s defensive stalwart Ray Lewis for not finding a top-10 spot. Acknowledgements also are due Eddie Brown, Nick Chickillo, Eddie Dunn, Chuck Foreman, Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar, Russell Maryland, Willis McGahee, Bill Miller, Dan Morgan, Santana Moss, Jim Otto (a much better pro than collegian), Burgess Owens, Gino Torretta, Steve Walsh and Reggie Wayne -- among many others, for sure.

Funneling 71 seasons of Orange Bowl history into 10 greatest players was difficult. But then probably not as hard as saying goodbye might be on Saturday night.

 

Another NCAA bid seems likely for U. Va.
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© November 8, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE

Sean Singletary remembers the days, not long ago, when Virginia basketball practices were lonely affairs.

“My sophomore year, we had seven guys suited up to play,” the senior guard said.

Senior Adrian Joseph remembers, too. Two years ago, he and Mamadi Diane, then a freshman, became a little more acquainted than Joseph would have liked.

“Me and Mamadi used to go against each other the whole practice, no substitutes,” Joseph said.

Watching a Virginia practice last week, it’s obvious that those days are long gone. Even with a handful of nicked-up players riding stationary bikes on the sidelines, there was no shortage of fresh legs ready to jump in and keep things moving at a brisk pace.

“There’s a lot of competition out there,” Singletary said. “We’ve got 15 guys and a couple of walk-ons, and we’re just going at it every day.”

For the mathematically challenged, that’s 17 players – about twice as many as coach Dave Leitao had available during his first year on the job two years ago. Four are walk-ons, but two of them – center Ryan Pettinella and guard Calvin Baker – could easily be scholarship players. Pettinella started seven games for the Cavs last year; Baker, a transfer, led William and Mary in scoring in 2005-06.

Virginia lost starters J.R. Reynolds and Jason Cain from last year’s 21-11 NCAA tournament team, but the Cavaliers return 10 players who averaged at least 6.7 minutes a game. They’ve added four highly regarded freshmen, as well as Baker, a member of the Colonial Athletic Association’s all-rookie team two years ago.

How will Leitao find enough minutes for everyone? The coach admits that 17 is a potentially unwieldy number. B ut as problems go, it’s not a bad one to have.

“It gives you the kind of numbers that will allow us to try to maintain some fresh bodies,” Leitao said. “It gives us, hopefully, greater depth.”

It also gives Leitao plenty of options, all over the court: big lineups, small lineups, three-guard lineups. Virginia has seven players who have started games, eight players 6-foot-8 or taller.

The one constant is Singletary, a two-time All-ACC pick who is considered one of the top guards in the nation. His decision to pass on the NBA draft last year and return to school was met with sighs of relief by Cavalier fans. It’s the main reason many expect Virginia to return to the NCAA tournament.

“We don’t lose all our leadership,” forward Will Harris said. “So the younger guys don’t really have to step as much as we will next year when he’s gone.”

Nonetheless, someone’s going to have to emerge to replace the scoring of Reynolds, who averaged 18.4 points. Joseph and Diane are the leading candidates, though Leitao expects it’ll be a group effort.

Leitao’s bigger concern is on defense. Reynolds was the team’s best perimeter defender; Cain the best inside defender.

With so many players available, playing aggressive defense shouldn’t be a problem. Neither should playing with the type of all-out effort Leitao demands and the hard-charging Singletary is famous for giving. He played nearly 35 minutes per game in ACC play last year, and could go even harder with a little more rest this season.

“I’m not worried about everything being on my shoulders,” he said. “I’ve got 100 percent confidence in my team.”