Faith and football drive Cavaliers RB Peerman
He has delivered sermons at church and hopes to deliver a victory as he finally gets to play against the rival Hokies.
By NORM WOOD | 247-4642
November 28, 2008

There's nothing glamorous about the path Virginia running back Cedric Peerman has taken to his final regular-season game.

From the tobacco fields of Gladys, Va., to a nationally televised regular-season finale Saturday against Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Peerman's approach has centered around the idea of hard work earning rewards. It's the way his parents, Stanley and Melissa, raised him. It's the way Cedric lives his life, bolstered by faith and athletic achievement.

Take this week, for example. Peerman, a 5-foot-10, 208-pound senior, never has had a carry against Tech (7-4 overall, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference). A foot injury kept him from playing the entire second half of last season, including the Tech game, and he was a reserve in the 2005 and '06 seasons.

So, it would stand to reason that Peerman is chomping at the bit to play Saturday, right? While that's probably true, there's no outward sign of his enthusiasm in practice this week, according to U.Va. coach Al Groh. He's the same level-headed Peerman as always, simply putting in his normal amount of hard work.

"He's one of those same-guy-everyday kind of kids," said Groh, whose team needs to win to get bowl-eligible. "He's very intense every day. If anything, for four or five years, it's always been you've got to slow 'Ced' down … Clearly, I think he's looking forward to his first opportunity (against Tech). This is a big game with a lot of energy and a lot of excitement in it. He's not had the opportunity to really be a big-time participant in it, so we're glad clearly obviously that we've got his services this week."

Peerman has managed to stay healthy for most of the season as U.Va.'s starting tailback, sitting out just the Duke game with a knee injury and missing most of the Connecticut game. He has responded by leading U.Va. (5-6, 3-4) with 141 carries for 707 yards and seven touchdowns. He has the fifth-most rushing yards in the ACC and he's averaging five yards per carry. He's also eighth in the ACC in receptions with 42 for 183 yards, and sixth in all-purposed yards with an average of 100 per game.

"Cedric's a great athlete," U.Va. tight end John Phillips said. "Cedric's got tremendous heart … He's just got a drive that a lot of people don't have … It's much easier to block for a player like that when you know he's going to give it his all."

It's a long way from where Peerman started. He's already a college graduate, earning his bachelor's degree in sociology last year. It's often shocking to him to think about how his time at U.Va. is almost over.

"I think it's gone by pretty fast," Peerman said. "When I think about it, I've been here five years, or going on five years, I'm like 'Wow, that's a long time.' At the same time, there's a feeling of how time has just flown by and how I'm 22 and I came here at age 17. It's really gone by pretty fast in my eyes."

Perhaps time flies when you don't have to run home after school on fall Friday afternoons, tend to the family tobacco farm and get back to school for a football game, like Peerman had to do many times in his days at William Campbell High in Gladys.

The work involved driving a tractor, plowing fields, planting gardens, watering rows and, maybe if there was a little extra time, Peerman would get to tend to his personal cucumber farm.

"When he was like 16 or 17, he was almost throwing those piles of tobacco up on the back of the truck by himself," said Stanley, who added piles of tobacco weighed 150 to 200 pounds each. "It's hard work, but Cedric would do anything we asked him to do."

Though the Peerman family has since given up the tobacco-farming business, the values Cedric was raised on have stuck with him. Every Sunday, he and his parents could be found sitting in a pew in Hills Creek Baptist Church in Gladys. Religion remains a big part of Cedric's life, and he has gotten involved. He delivered his first sermon at Hills Creek in July.

"He's so humble," said Stanley, who was the starting quarterback at William Campbell in 1978 and '79. "He doesn't get excited about anything. Even in his sermon, he just says he's going to do something, and that's what he does. I remember in high school he used to be that way. He touched a lot of people (through his sermon). A lot of his U.Va. football teammates were there. He's the type of person that's going to move a lot of people."

Peerman continues to work with youth groups and ministers at the Mount Zion First African Baptist Church in Charlottesville. While those pursuits are two of his biggest passions in life, his first love is football.

Most National Football League draft analysts project him to be a fifth- or sixth-round draft pick, which means he'll get a shot, but he's in no means perceived as a shoo-in to make an impact as a pro. That's not his biggest concern right now. Helping U.Va. earn bowl eligibility and finishing his career with his first win against Tech, which has won four consecutive games against the Cavaliers, ranks a little higher on his personal list.

"I'm really just trying to stay focused on the season," Peerman said. "There's really nothing I can do about it, where I play next year or anything like that. All I can do is really focus on each and every day trying to get better, try to walk a better life, lead a better life and be a better football player, too … You can't help but to think about (the NFL). It's so exciting, but at the same time, you just have to block it out and just think about what you have to do now."

Cedric Peerman quite the catcher, it turns out
Virginia's top tailback leads the nation in receptions for players who play his position.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- How he got to this point, Cedric Peerman isn't exactly sure.

Peerman enters Saturday's game with 42 receptions, the high for a running back in Division I-A, according to Virginia's research.

"I didn't know I had that many," Peerman said. "How many did you say -- 42?"

If asked, Peerman said he would have guessed 25 or 30.

"Even though it's been 40 catches, it still hasn't produced a lot of yards," said Peerman, a 5-foot-10, 208-pounder who admits he has small hands. "Even though it's been 40 catches, it really hasn't produced a lot of yards. It's not like I'm averaging 10 yards a catch."

Matter of fact, Peerman is averaging 4.4 yards per catch.

Peerman doesn't have a touchdown reception and his longest reception of the season was a 24-yarder, but his credentials as a receiver and punt returner have only added to his resume.

Mel Kiper Jr. currently rates Peerman second behind Michigan State's Javon Ringer among running-back prospects for the NFL Draft. The list was updated Wednesday.

"They know who I am?" Peerman asked, eventually admitting he has heard from prospective agents. "I've prided myself on doing whatever it takes to help my team out.

"I feel comfortable returning kicks. I feel comfortable catching the ball out of the backfield. And, of course, I feel comfortable running the ball."

Peerman has carried 141 times for a career-high 707 yards, but yardage has come sparingly during the Cavaliers' three-game losing streak. In the last two games, he has carried 12 times for 43 yards in a 28-17 loss to Wake Forest and 19 times for 45 yards in a 13-3 loss to Clemson.

"When we were on our [four-game] winning streak, we ran the ball very well," said Peerman, who graduated from UVa in 312 years and is playing a fifth season as a graduate student. "Other teams see that and defenses get a little more amped up because they know that there's a challenge."

Virginia entered the season with a rebuilt offensive line that has done a much better job of protecting quarterback Marc Verica than it has of opening holes for Peerman and Mikell Simpson, who was lost for the season when he suffered a broken collarbone Nov. 1, against Miami.

Virginia has thrown the ball on 57.9 percent of its offensive plays this year (424 of 732) as opposed to 46.6 percent last year (428 of 918).

An alarming trend of late has been UVa's propensity for losing yardage on the ground. In his first six games this year, Peerman was tackled for loss on six of 70 carries. In his last four games, 12 of his 71 carries have resulted in losses.

And, they haven't been 1- and 2-yard losses. In the last three games, Peerman has had runs of minus-7, minus-6 and minus-5 yards, the last on a critical fourth-and-1 play against Clemson.

Don't think that Peerman doesn't know it.

"As a running back, I have a tendency sometimes to create something out of nothing," said Peerman, a graduate of William Campbell High School. "Sometimes, you've got to put your head down and, for what it's worth, live to play another play.

"A lot of times, I've tried to bounce outside, but sometimes you're better off just getting back to the line of scrimmage. That's something that I've recognized that I need to do."

Some would say Peerman hasn't been the same player since his fumble on UVa's first play in overtime in a 24-17 loss to Miami. At the time, he had gotten the ball on 443 consecutive touches -- rushing attempts, receptions and returns -- without losing a fumble.

He went on to fumble twice in a four-play span, including the first series Nov. 8, at Wake Forest.

"You've got to have a short memory," Peerman said. "There's nothing you can do. It's not like you can go back and change it. You just have to realize you can always master the present."


 

Copper quietly delivers COLLEGE FOOTBALL
November 28, 2008 12:36 am
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.
CHARLOTTESVILLE--

When Jon Copper was attending Fork Union Military Academy in 2003, college coaches weren't exactly knocking down his door.

"I had a partial [grant-in-aid] offer from Bucknell but they dropped me," Copper recalled with a laugh. "Coach [John] Shuman told me, 'Man, you know you're terrible when Bucknell drops you.'"

Copper has been far from terrible.

He became a walk-on inside linebacker at the University of Virginia and will start his 37th consecutive game tomorrow when the Cavaliers (5-6, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) visit state rival Virginia Tech (7-4, 4-3) at noon.

It could be the last game of Copper's career. Virginia needs a win to become bowl-eligible.

"You don't want to wait until your last game and be like, 'I've got to really do it now,'" Copper said. "I've tried to view my career each week [with an attitude] that tomorrow isn't guaranteed."

Nothing was a given for Copper when he arrived at Virginia. But with the help of intense film study and a commitment to detail, he has become an unlikely success story.

He's set to become the first Virginia player since Fredericksburg native Charles McDaniel (1982-84) to lead the team in tackles for three consecutive seasons.

"It's not something I think about a lot," Copper said. "For whatever reason, God has opened doors here that I don't think would have opened at other places. This has been above and beyond what I could have imagined."

That's as close as Copper, 24, would ever get to praising himself.

The married religious studies major is described by head coach Al Groh as "unassuming." Still, Groh said the fifth-year senior's play on the field has been anything but meek.

Copper has 292 career tackles. He's just two short of completing his career in the top 15 all-time in the category at Virginia.

"He just quietly goes about his business," Groh said. "He's had a remarkable, amazing, distinguished career."

Not many could've imagined that after the Roanoke native graduated from Northside High School in 2002.

Copper (6 feet, 230 pounds) isn't the most physically imposing player. He admits he's not blessed with the eye-popping physique and natural abilities of the prized recruits Groh often lands.

But it's a source of pride for Copper to know he's gotten the most out of his ability. Before the Cavaliers' Gator Bowl loss to Texas Tech last season, Copper admitted he wasn't always fond of players he thought took their natural ability for granted.

He thought outside line-backer Clint Sintim was one of those players, but Sintim since has proved otherwise.

"I think he feeds off the fact that he's not the fastest or the strongest or the tallest," Sintim said of Copper. "Every team has one guy who puts his heart and soul into the team and really isn't blessed with the same tangibles as other players."

Sintim said Copper may be the "MVP" of the Cavaliers' defense, which has overcome a horrific start to put forth a respectable season.

Copper has 92 tackles this season, 26 ahead of fellow inside linebacker Antonio Appleby, who is second on the team.

In his typical understated fashion, Copper said the position he plays is made for piling up impressive tackle numbers. But Groh and his teammates certainly appreciate what Copper has meant to the Cavaliers the past three years.

Groh said although Copper wasn't elected a co-captain, he's one of the most respected players on the team.

Sintim agrees.

"The defense wouldn't run without him," Sintim said.

 

Cavs take on rival Hokies
By Jay Jenkins
Published: November 26, 2008

Rivalry week is back. The subplots are plentiful. Careers, for players and coaches, could come to an end. Numerous postseason implications are in play.

As has been the case in the past, more than bragging rights are at stake in the latest installment of the Commonwealth Clash as Virginia heads to Virginia Tech on Saturday for the regular season finale. The contest starts at noon and will be televised on ESPN.

“It’s fun. It’s a big game atmosphere,” Virginia coach Al Groh said on Tuesday. “If you like participating in big games, they are the most fun of all.

“It’s a lot more fun than playing Alaska State.”

For Virginia (5-6, 3-4), a victory — and some help from N.C. State — could elevate the program into a logjam for second place in the final Coastal Division standings. It would also make the Cavaliers bowl eligible, extending practice time and the careers of the team’s seniors another month pending an invitation from a postseason game.

In theory, the Hokies (7-4, 4-3 ACC) have more to play for. They are looking to punch their ticket for the ACC championship, guaranteeing the program a chance to defend their league crown and play for a berth in the Orange Bowl and the major payday associated with a BCS berth. Georgia Tech will play Florida State or Maryland in the ACC title game if Virginia Tech, an eight-point favorite, is upset.

While the idea of playing the role of spoiler against their in-state rival delighted Virginia’s players, it is not the sole motivation.

“Winning the game is the most important thing,” said linebacker Clint Sintim. “By us winning the game, obviously that would be knocking them out, but I want to win the game.

“Knocking them out, that would be cool but more importantly I want to win the game for us.”

Virginia tight end John Phillips added: “I don’t think our team is into spoiling their championship route or whatnot. It is more about what we have to do to keep playing football, which is ultimately what we want to do.”

Groh said whatever form of motivation used from his players was acceptable in a series that has seen the Hokies win six of the last seven and every meeting since 2003.

“There’s a lot of elements to the game,” the coach said. “Any time you add more elements to it in any rivalry game it brings a little bit more into it than a team you don’t play on an ongoing basis.”

Despite Tech’s dominance in the in-state clash, the Cavaliers insisted that the game has not lost its luster in their eyes.

“A rivalry will always be a rivalry,” Sintim said. “I think we’re rivals with UNC and we’ve played UNC since I’ve been here I think four times and we’ve won three out of the four. It’s still a rivalry nonetheless.

“They are going to come to play and we’re going to come to play.”

As was the case last year for every senior not named Ian-Yates Cunningham (he played in 2003 before taking a medical redshirt), a loss on Saturday would guarantee yet another crop of Cavaliers would finish without a win in football over the Hokies.

“I think there would be some sort of void there,” said Virginia running back Cedric Peerman, who did beat the Hokies at the 2007 ACC track championships. “That’s your rival, you always want to beat your rivals and we haven’t beaten them since I have been here so it is definitely something I think about, something I definitely think the team thinks about.”

Delivering a message

Minutes after leaving his weekly press conference at John Paul Jones Arena, Groh popped back into the room.

After the initial shock from members of the media, it was quickly apparent why the coach travelled back from the McCue Center to meet with media members.

Groh was carrying a shirt that was created to promote a cause that Groh has supported for years.

This week students from Virginia and Virginia Tech will run a game ball across the state in the sixth annual FIJI Run Across Virginia.

“It’s a 150-mile run done collaborately by the brothers of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity from both schools, and over the course of the last six years they have raised $180,000 for the V Foundation, which we have a particular sensitivity to, having known Jim [Valvano] before he passed away,” Groh said. “We admire their work and their dedication to it.”

When told that the shirt’s odd color resembled a penalty flag, Groh rolled his eyes.

“Please, we have seen enough of those,” Groh said. “If you had said fumble or a pass interception I would be really upset.

“Clearly, it has a much higher value than that. [The FIJIs] do a great job with it and we are appreciative of their effort.”

For information on making a donation, email fijirun@vt.edu.

Extra points …

While Virginia Tech is likely to use three players under center — Greg Boone, Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor — this weekend against Virginia, Marc Verica is expected to be the only player to take a snap for the Cavaliers. The Cavs did employ tailback Mikell Simpson earlier in the season in the “Wildcat formation,” but Groh said that package was eliminated when Simpson broke his collarbone in a loss against Miami. … UVa’s offensive line has struggled at times of late with three new starters in place. Four of the five members of the unit will return, however, and Groh has penciled in a replacement for the one vacancy. Redshirt freshman Landon Bradley is likely to get the first look in the spring at replacing left tackle Eugene Monroe. … Virginia safety Byron Glaspy said the “buzz” of late in the locker room was that former cornerback Chris Cook would be moved to safety upon his return next season to the program. Cook, who has one year of eligibility remaining, is currently serving a school-imposed, two-semester penalty for academic woes. Pending clearance, Cook could return for the spring semester. … Groh said placekicker Yannick Reyering, who handled kickoffs against Clemson, has fully recovered from the knee injury that plagued the former soccer star earlier in the season. … Speaking of kickers, rookie Robert Randolph said after the Wake Forest game that he was hopeful to earn a scholarship at season’s end. “That’s the goal,” he said. “I was told that I would have a chance at that at some point if I performed well and earned the job.” … It is unclear if reserve quarterback Riko Smalls will regain traveling status for Saturday’s game. Walk-on Warner Blunt went in Smalls’ place for the Wake Forest game. “[Smalls] didn’t earn the trip,” Groh said following the loss to the Deacons. … Peerman has never registered a carry against the Hokies. He has been in attendance for the past five meetings in the series. In 2003, the Virginia native took a recruiting trip, and the following year, he and Sintim were included in the traveling party.

 

Tech vs. U.Va. brings a family together - and splits them
Roanoke Times
© November 28, 2008
By Randy King

Hokies or Cavaliers?

Jimmy and Kathy Coale have allegiances to both.

In fact, their house in Lexington bears a split Virginia Tech-Virginia flag waving out front.

"Only flag I know of like that around here," Jimmy Coale said this week. "Somebody gave me the thing. I don't even know where they got it.... But I'm glad we've got one."

If any family ever seemed to fit the unique, decorative touch flying above the front door, it's the Coale clan. It is like few others in the commonwealth when it comes to Tech-U.Va. athletics. A split flag befits their split allegiances.

Or so it would seem.

With their oldest son, Kevin, having graduated last spring from U.Va., where he was a three-year letterman on the lacrosse team, the Coales suddenly have found themselves leaning much more toward Tech, where their middle son, Danny, 20, is a starting redshirt freshman flanker for the Hokies.

When the state's rivals meet for the 90th time Saturday in Lane Stadium, the Coales will have nothing but burning love for the Hokies. Even Kevin, a midfield on Virginia's 2006 national champion lacrosse team.

"A lot of people say, 'How do you root for your brother... he's sort of opposite, being at the rival school?' " said Kevin, in his first year coaching high school lacrosse and middle-school football in Atlanta.

"Danny was offered to come to Virginia on a lacrosse scholarship. But his passion was to play football. So I'm a Virginia lacrosse fan and a Virginia Tech football fan now. I hope that Virginia wins every game in football except for the game against Tech. So I'm going Hokies Saturday. Hey, my family is the most important thing in my life."

Danny Coale easily could have been persuaded to trail his brother to U.Va. However, when the Cavaliers were slow to offer a football scholarship, he was quick to head to Tech when the Hokies made an offer during a one-day camp in the summer of 2007.

"All my friends were Virginia fans, but once I came down to Tech and visited for the first time, I really saw what I was missing, and I'm definitely glad to be a Hokie now," said Danny, whose 27 receptions lead Tech. " It couldn't have worked any better for me."

Kevin is now second-fiddle to Danny.

"I teach sixth-graders and some of them will come in after a Thursday night game in which Tech has played and they say, 'Mr. Coale, I saw your brother on TV,' " Kevin said. "It's pretty cool to see, really, because I couldn't be any more prouder of him.

"If he walked in my classroom, all the kids would want his autograph. So I'm Danny Coale's brother, I can truthfully say."

Next for the Coales is Ryan, at 13 the youngest son in the household. Unlike his two older brothers, the eighth-grader has long been a Hokie fan. He loves baseball, and from his brothers' accounts will one day complete the family's three-sport college scholarship trifecta.

Though he was sick last week, Ryan wouldn't stay away from Tech's game against Duke.

"He wasn't going to miss Danny's game," said Jimmy Coale. "Everyone in this family is the others' biggest fans."

Kathy Coale said the symbol of the flag that flies in front the house doesn't remotely resemble the family's allegiance.

"It's funny, but people automatically think, 'Uh-oh, house divided' when they see the flag, and we say, 'not really,' " she said. "It would have been different if both Kevin and Danny had played football. We all pull for each other here. And all of us will be pulling for Tech on Saturday."

Jimmy, the strength and conditioning coach at VMI since 1979, said being in Lexington - located almost exactly halfway between Blacksburg and Charlottesville - has been more than geographically perfect for a family with kids at both schools.

But what about the split Tech-U.Va. flag, What do the VMI folks think about that?

"That's a good question," said Jimmy Coale, laughing. "I hope they don't ask me that one."

 

U.Va. staged a huge rally at Tech in ‘98 but is 0-4 there since
By Jeff White
Published: November 28, 2008

In the visitors’ locker room at Lane Stadium, Anthony Poindexter threw his crutches down and stood before his teammates, his emotion palpable.

This is not Virginia football, he told them. This is not acceptable.

“I remember him pouring out his heart to us,“ Ahmad Hawkins, then a sophomore wide receiver, said this week, “telling us he wished he could take one of our knees for just one half and show us what it meant to play Virginia football.“

Ten years ago today—Nov. 28, 1998—the University of Virginia football team did something it has not done since: beat the Virginia Tech Hokies on their home field. In one of the most memorable games in a series that dates to 1895, U.Va. staged the greatest comeback in school history and stunned Tech 36-32.

“It seemed hopeless, but it never is,“ George Welsh, then the Wahoos’ coach, said afterward.

At halftime that day, few, if any, in the crowd of 53,207 thought a U.Va. victory possible. Al Groh, then the New York Jets’ linebackers coach, was watching the game on TV with his wife, Anne, and they had little reason for optimism, either.

No. 20 Tech led 29-7 after a half in which the 16th-ranked Cavaliers had looked helpless and hapless.

“We played so poorly in the first half, it was ridiculous,“ recalled Byron Thweatt, then a starting linebacker for Virginia. “Those guys did pretty much what they wanted to against us.“

At halftime, the Cavaliers’ locker room was unusually quiet until their All-America safety spoke up. Poindexter, who now coaches Vir´ ginia’s running backs, had torn up his left knee a month earlier, but he remained the team’s inspirational leader.

“To see him get up and get emotional like that, it fired us up,“ recalled Thweatt, now a University of Richmond assistant coach.

The comeback began when U.Va. quarterback Aaron Brooks, on fourth down, threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to wideout Kevin Coffey about five minutes into the third quarter.

The game turned, though, when Thweatt stepped in front of an Al Clark pass intended for Bob Slowikowski late in the third quarter. The former Matoaca High star returned the interception 53 yards for a touchdown, and Todd Braverman’s extra point pulled Virginia to 29-21.

As he ran along the Cavaliers’ sideline, Thweatt heard teammates and coaches yelling, “Go, go, go!“ He heard the cheers from the U.Va. fans in the far corner to his left. Everywhere else, though, was silence.

“It was like somebody had took their lunch,“ Thweatt said. “It was amazing.“

A field goal by Shayne Graham—his fourth of the game—momentarily slowed U.Va.‘s assault, pushing the Hokies’ lead to 32-21 with 12:12 left. But the Cavaliers’ offense could not be stopped. Brooks, who would finish the game with 345 yards passing, teamed with tailback Thomas Jones for an 18-yard touchdown at the 7:02 mark, then ran for the two-point conversion.

That made it 32-29, and, after forcing a Tech punt, U.Va. got the ball back at its 7-yard line with 3:21 remaining. The Cavaliers needed only 80 seconds to cover those 93 yards, the coup de gr»ce coming on a 47-yard pass from Brooks to Hawkins.

As Hawkins broke on an out pattern near the Tech sideline, reserve cornerback Anthony Midget went for the interception. Midget, who had entered the game when starter Loren Johnson hurt his knee early in the second half, missed. Hawkins gathered in the ball—his only catch of the game—and ran untouched to the end zone.

There, Hawkins fell to his knees and spread his arms in triumph, the ball in his right hand: an iconic pose captured in newspapers around the state the next day.

“I didn’t achieve the goals I wanted in college, but to be enshrined in history for one play is just a blessing,“ said Hawkins, who has had a successful career as an Arena Football League defensive back.

Down 36-32, the Hokies had one last chance. But Clark had left the game with a rib injury, giving way to backup Nick Sorensen. And with 81 seconds left, middle linebacker Wali Rainer intercepted a Sorensen pass to seal Virginia’s miraculous victory.

Had you told Thweatt, as he left Blacksburg that November day, that 10 years later U.Va. would still be seeking its next win at Lane Stadium, he would have found that hard to believe.

“But it’s a tough place to win,“ Thweatt said. “Great environment. Great fans.“

The Cavaliers have lost four straight in Blacksburg since their comeback for the ages. Tomorrow they’ll try again to end that streak.

 

Virginia hopes to end Tech's winning streak
The Cavaliers hope to win their second contest with Virginia Tech in the past 10 years, become bowl-eligible
Aaron Perryman, Cavalier Daily Sports Editor
Published: Friday, November 28 2008

33-21. 17-0. 52-14. These are the double-digit losses the seniors of the Virginia football team have endured during their careers as Cavaliers.

Going back one more year, for the team’s fifth-year seniors, Virginia was defeated 24-10 by the Hokies back in 2004 as well. It has not been since a 35-21 Virginia win in Charlottesville in 2003 that this rivalry has seen a Cavalier victory.

Only about 10 years ago, the two teams were neck-and-neck in the number of wins in the series, but the Hokies have won eight of the last nine games between the rivals, stretching their series lead to 47-37-5. If Virginia loses Saturday, the Cavalier seniors of the Class of 2009 would be the second consecutive senior class to not win one game against Virginia Tech.

This is something that does not go unnoticed by seniors on this year’s team.

“I think there would be some sort of void [if we never beat them],” senior running back Cedric Peerman said. “That’s your rival. You always want to beat your rivals, and I haven’t beaten them since I’ve been here. It’s something I definitely think about, something I think the team definitely thinks about.”

Though this year’s game does not have as much riding on it as last year’s, when the winner went to the ACC Championship, the Cavaliers still have an extra incentive to beat the Hokies. In addition to Virginia becoming bowl-eligible, defeating Virginia Tech would ruin the Hokies’ chances for a second straight conference title.

“I know they’re looking forward to trying to get to the ACC Championship, so being able to spoil that for them, that’d just be an added bonus [to winning the game as a senior],” senior safety Byron Glaspy said.

Players say it doesn’t matter how much is riding on the game or how well the two teams are playing — it can all be thrown out the window when these two rivals clash.

"When these teams play, it usually doesn't matter what the record is,” senior linebacker Clint Sintim said. “Each team [comes] out and plays hard, and it's always a big game. It's going to be exciting."

The rivalry is especially significant for native Virginians. Several players from both teams knew each other even before they played against each other in college.

“The coaches recruit the same players, so you know a lot of players from recruiting,” Sintim said. “It's an in-state rivalry, and most of the kids in the state either go to Virginia or Virginia Tech for the majority.”

Virginia-Virginia Tech is a rivalry that seems to get lots of attention in the commonwealth but gets lost among rivalries such as Florida-Florida State, Alabama-Auburn and Ohio State-Michigan in terms of national attention. However, the experiences of Glaspy, who was born in Virginia but moved away when he was 4, speak to the intensity of the rivalry once involved in it.

“When you come here, you fall into the same tradition,” Glaspy said. “You hear so many stories about Virginia-Virginia Tech games, just the history of the rivalry, and you just become a part of that, you get sucked up into that culture, and you just identify with that.”

While Virginia Tech has aspirations of heading to Tampa Bay, Virginia still has aspirations to play one more game after Saturday. Some of the seniors just aren’t ready to move on.

"I just hope it's not our last game,” Sintim said. “I'm not ready to leave college football and join the real world, whatever that may be. We have an opportunity to play two more games – that’s the way I'm taking it, that's the way I'm trying to approach it ... I'm trying to do everything in my power to execute and to get the guys to feel the same way I feel so we can go down to Blacksburg and get a big win.”

The team is feeling a sense of urgency as continuing its season boils down to winning just one more game this year against Virginia Tech.

“To go down there and just get bowl-eligible in the last game, it's kind of a win or go home feeling for our team right now,” senior tight end John Phillips said. “We understand the importance of the game and the rivalry circling around it, so it's going to be an interesting contest.”

Last year’s Cavaliers were playing for a chance to advance to the ACC title game and possibly the Orange Bowl. This year’s team is just scratching and clawing for any bowl. Ending a run of Hokie wins in the rivalry is motivating the seniors as well. And what about spoiling a nemesis’ chances to win the Coastal Division?

Most of the seniors didn’t bite at this question, but Glaspy made an offering.

“That’d be a nice thing to do – send them home unhappy,” Glaspy said.
 

Taylor, Glennon pose threat for Cavaliers
One-two punch from Virginia Tech's quarterbacks requires Cavaliers to be on their game
Paul Montana, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor
Published: Friday, November 28 2008

Many Virginia Tech fans are not too fond of Sean Glennon.

Virginia coach Al Groh, on the other hand, has nothing but good things to say about the senior quarterback. As the Cavaliers prepare to take on the Hokies Saturday at Lane Stadium, they will also prepare for two quarterbacks: the dual-threat junior Tyrod Taylor – who will start, Frank Beamer announced on his radio show Monday – and the pocket-passing Glennon.

There has been much controversy surrounding the quarterback situation in Blacksburg all season. The stickiness began in training camp when Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer announced his intention to redshirt Taylor, thereby giving Glennon the opportunity to take all the snaps in his final season, to the objection of many Hokie fans. When Glennon threw for just 139 yards with two interceptions in the team’s first game as it was upset 27-22 by East Carolina, however, Beamer had second thoughts. Against Furman, he went back to using Glennon in tandem with Taylor. Taylor completed just four passes but rushed for a team-leading 132 yards, while Glennon was 3-8 passing for 42 yards.

Though Glennon – the MVP of last season’s ACC Championship game, a 30-16 win against Boston College – threw just four passes over the next five games, he worked his way back into the lineup after Taylor was injured on the first play against Florida State Oct. 25. Glennon himself suffered an ankle injury in the same contest – freshman Cory Holt finished the game at quarterback – but he returned to start the next game against Maryland with Taylor still ailing. He completed 14 of 20 passes for 127 yards in a 23-13 win.

Glennon again took the first snap against Miami, though Taylor returned to the lineup and took the majority of the snaps in that game and the following Saturday against Duke. Glennon, however, has clearly earned back Beamer’s trust after the rough start to the season.

Whether he has earned the respect of the fans, however, is another issue, which had Groh scratching his head.

“I would certainly say that he was the MVP of the [Virginia-Virginia Tech] game last year,” Groh said of Glennon, who completed 13 of 19 passes for 260 yards with 1 touchdown and no interceptions against Virginia at Scott Stadium last year. “I’m sure [that game and the ACC Championship game] are two games that are very important to fans that he was the MVP of, so from our perspective it’s pretty easy to give him his props.”

Though Beamer has made every attempt to keep his quarterbacks as distant from the media as possible, there have been snippets of discontent from Glennon, particularly of late.

“When they told me before the game they were going with Tyrod, it was definitely a blow,” Glennon told reporters following Saturday’s game against Duke. “Shoot, I’m only here for a couple more games. I got my opportunity tonight and all I can do is hope I will be out there again next week.”

Groh marveled at Glennon’s ability to take quality snaps in the unusual position for a quarterback of coming off the bench.

“I guess it’s kind of like, not every pitcher works well out of the bullpen – some of them have gotta know when they arrive at the stadium that they’re gonna be on the mound that day,” Groh said. “Some quarterbacks are that way, but he’s handled his circumstances extremely well, and come in and really done a good job on quick notice in a number of games.”

The one-two punch that the Hokies bring with Taylor and Glennon is obviously nothing new to Virginia. The pair worked in tandem last year, though it was Taylor who appeared off the bench with Glennon in the starter’s role.

Like Virginia, however, the offense has struggled of late, putting up just 14 points in each of its last two games, including last Saturday against Duke.

“We respect their offense even though people might say that they've been struggling over the past few weeks,” Virginia senior defensive end Alex Field said. “They're still a very good team, and we're going to have to be on our game to compete with them.

Though Groh does not hesitate to laud Glennon, there will be plenty of preparation for the scrambling Taylor. Groh noted that his team will spend as much time preparing for the dual-threat Taylor “as if he was going to be the only quarterback.”

Virginia senior safety Byron Glaspy also indicated that from his perspective, he would rather see Glennon under center.

“I would always say that I like playing against quarterbacks who have to stay in the pocket more,” he said. “When a quarterback stays in the pocket, you pretty much know he has a certain amount of seconds to throw it, and that’s how long you have to throw your coverage.”
On the other hand, Glaspy noted that Glennon certainly posed problems to Virginia in last year’s game.

“Once the ball was snapped, he was able to get a good read on what defense we were in, and knowing the weak spots of that defense, whether it was a one-safety high coverage or a two-safety high coverage,” Glaspy said. “Just all those things that come with experience, he was able to use that to his advantage last year.”

So, while both Virginia Tech fans and Virginia players may both breathe a bit easier when Glennon is in the game, the Cavaliers have no intention of relaxing when it is Glennon taking the snaps.

“He’s pretty responsible for the fact that there’s an ACC Championship trophy down there in one of those trophy cases,” Groh said.
 

Cavs’ Hall to see offensive role?
By Jay Jenkins
Published: November 27, 2008

When Virginia took only two quarterbacks to Connecticut in the season’s third game, a certain buzz followed in regards to which Cavalier would serve as the emergency quarterback.
Playing Riko Smalls, a true freshman, in garbage time would essentially waste a year of eligibility. So Virginia coach Al Groh did not even take the rookie on the trip.
Instead, Groh worked out a
defensive player at quarterback in some basic offensive sets.
Vic Hall, a highly-rated and highly-successful quarterback in high school at Gretna, was called upon by Groh.
Remarkably, Hall’s work with offense remained a secret until message board chatter sparked conversations about the prospect of the junior being placed in the “Wildcat formation.”
“We first began to acquaint Vic with just some rudimentary phases of the offense back before the UConn game when we were only going to have two active quarterbacks for the game,” Groh said. “If there was ever a circumstance in the previous games where we have been down to the third quarterback, he probably could have gone in and run two or three plays.”
Groh did not tip his hand if he planned to use Hall on offense against Virginia Tech on Saturday in the Cavaliers’ regular season finale, but said the “Wildcat formation” was removed from the team’s offensive plans when tailback Mikell Simpson was lost for the season against Miami.
“Mikell was very well suited for it,” Groh said. “So we always kind of went with him and he was kind of the guy who was in our thoughts for it. It didn’t go beyond that one once he got hurt.”
Virginia Tech has added a wrinkle in their offense after Tyrod Taylor and Sean Glennon were hurt in the same contest. Tight end Greg Boone, a converted quarterback, was placed in shotgun formation behind center Ryan Shuman in what the Hokies coined the “Wild Turkey” formation.
Boone, Glennon and Taylor, the anointed starter this week, are all expected to see snaps against Virginia.
“We’ve got to prepare for three pretty diverse-type players,” Groh said. “Clearly, there is nobody to compare to Greg Boone. He was a terrific quarterback in high school, an excellent safety and, I thought, probably the best player in the state in his senior year.
“Then there’s Tyrod, who is kind of a Pat White-type of player, and Sean … who can come in the middle of the game. That’s a real good stable of guys to rely upon. They can go in a lot of different directions.”
A household name — and a headache for Groh — Glennon received high praise from Virginia’s coach.
“[Glennon is] pretty responsible for the fact that there’s an ACC championship trophy down there in one of those trophy cases,” Groh said. “Not too many championships go to teams without a quarterback.”
Taylor also had an impact on the Virginia-Virginia Tech game last year. As a rookie, Taylor scored a pair of rushing touchdowns, including one on a play that developed out of thin air and resulted in an eye-catching sprint to the pylon.
“The more I look at it, I would like to say we could have done something different on it, but [former linebacker] Jermaine Dias was the guy on the side there and he was really in pretty good position,” Groh recounted. “Tyrod just outran him to the corner.
“If they had that same race today, obviously, Tyrod would win the race today too. That’s how fast he is.”

 

Verica goes through ups and downs
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: November 26, 2008

Marc Verica has thrown more passes than any other ACC quarterback this season. He’s also thrown more interceptions.

That’s to be expected from a guy who came into this season ranked as a backup not expected to play all that much behind “Pistol Pete” Lalich.

While the redshirt sophomore has thrown 15 picks in 10 games, it’s the most recent ones that have drawn the most attention. While it would be easy to place the blame on Verica for the Cavaliers’ three-game losing streak, don’t forget that Virginia may have not won four straight upsets without his play, either.

Either way, he’s a stand-up kid who never ducks a question, always shows up to talk to media whether he played well or not so well. There’s a lot to be said for that quality in a player.

Going cold at a bad time

Seven of his interceptions have come during the recent Wahoo slump — losses to Miami, Wake Forest and Clemson. If Virginia is to have any chance of beating eight-point favorite Virginia Tech in Blacksburg — something UVa hasn’t done since 1998 — then Verica is going to have to find a way to play near-flawless football.

With any quarterback in his first season as starter, it’s difficult to avoid the rollercoaster effect. One game, he’s hot. The next, he’s not. It’s part of the process. If anyone believed that his impressive numbers during the four-game winning streak would last the rest of the season, then they’re not paying attention.

Reduced speed ahead

You often hear players, quarterbacks in particular, talking about how the game has slowed down for them. They can see things — coverages, the passing tree, little things that make a difference — when the game slows down.

Verica isn’t there yet. Jameel Sewell struggled with it. Lalich did, too. So did Matt Schaub and every other quarterback who has come down the pike.

“Matt Schaub had a little interception problem during his first 13 or 14 games and then probably didn’t throw 10 more the next two years,” UVa coach Al Groh said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “He worked himself out of it through experience.”

Groh pointed out that Verica has been on his own, carrying a great burden since being unexpectedly thrust into the starting role once Lalich was booted out of the program a couple of weeks into the season.

“We can’t help [Verica] out the way we helped out Marques Hagans [in 2004],” Groh said. “The year Marques was a first-year starter we had the No. 1 rushing offense in the conference and steamrolled some teams with it. So, we could let Marques go 8 for 14 and still score plenty of points.”

Verica doesn’t have that luxury. The offensive line, with three young starters, has been somewhat unstable toward the running game all season (although its pass protection has been impressive). Without a dominant running game, Verica feels pressure to make something happen.

“We haven’t been able to do that so it has forced some circumstances so that Marc, under his situation, has had to kind of be THE MAN, make the plays to win the game,” Groh said. “That’s a lot to put a player in that circumstance under and I’m sure that has had something to do with his feeling that, ‘Hey, I’ve got to make a play here,’ as opposed to punt the ball.”

The common denominator in most of Verica’s interceptions has been that he’s forced the ball into heavy traffic. Quarterbacks call it the Brett Favre syndrome — having the ultimate confidence that they can squeeze a pass into a very small window, only to have it picked off.

Lalich confessed that he suffered from that, and Verica is the same way.

“If there’s too many [defensive] guys around the [receiver] then the read wasn’t as precise as we’d like it,” Groh explained. “Most of them have been into traffic rather than erratic throws.”

Asked if such confidence, sort of a gunslinger’s mentality that nothing can stop him, might not be a good thing, Groh chuckled, and his response drew a good laugh from the media assembled.

“You mean like Peyton Manning can’t make this throw, but I can?” Groh said. “I know a lot of those Westerns we watch are fictional, but usually, eventually the gunslinger gets his because there’s a faster gunslinger. It’s usually the guy who waits for his shot that survives for a long time.”

The one time Verica did wait last week against Clemson, he waited too long and the ball was underthrown. That’s when a long pass to Jared Green was picked off. It was a play that Verica throws well in practice, the same one that he connected with Ogletree for a touchdown in an earlier game, the same one Verica blistered Georgia Tech with on a throw to Maurice Covington for a score.

“Last week, Marc took a little bit longer to throw the ball than he would be programmed for and that’s what caused Jared [the fastest receiver on the team] to get out of range,” Groh said.

It’s all part of a quarterback growing up, and sometimes it’s extremely painful.

Groh hasn’t given up on believing Verica will turn it around, perhaps against the Hokies.

“The story is still left to be written,” Groh said of the process.

Meanwhile, former two-year starter, Sewell, is planning a comeback in January, which could make spring practice very interesting with two quarterbacks who have a multitude of starts under their belts.

That means the story should get better.

 

Zeglenski Cavs’ silver lining
By Whitey Reid
Published: November 27, 2008

“Sam-my Z! Sam-my Z!”
So went the chant from the John Paul Jones Arena crowd for Virginia guard Sammy Zeglinski during the second half of UVa’s 86-82 loss to Liberty on Tuesday night.
Like many coaches, Dave Leitao despises silver linings — but it was hard to ignore the great play of Zeglinski, who poured in all of his team- and career-high 24 points in the game’s final 20 minutes.
Leitao did his best, though.
“I don’t know,” said Leitao, when asked to assess Zeglinski’s performance, “because I’m looking at it from a totality standpoint.”
Losing to a team that had been predicted to finish fourth in the Big South Conference this season certainly wasn’t sublime, especially with a road game at Syracuse looming on Friday. But if you didn’t know better, you would have thought it was Sean Singletary — another former William Penn Charter School (Pa.) standout — who was matching Liberty basket for basket in the second half.
If Zeglinski, a teammate of Singletary’s in both high school and college, hadn’t caught fire, Virginia (3-1) may have been blown out of its own gym (senior Mamadi Diane and junior Jamil Tucker went scoreless in a combined 35 minutes.)
Zeglinski was hitting from all angles — and from deep. Many of his six 3-pointers were from several feet behind the new arc.
Zeglinski scored the first three Virginia baskets to start the second half. First he drilled a 3, then he connected on a driving layup with his off-hand — a skill some other UVa guards would be wise to acquire — and then he swished another 3 to tie the game at 40.
Zeglinski — who also had four assists, two rebounds and two steals in his first college start — wasn’t patting himself on the back, though.
“As aggressive as I played in the second half, I played just as bad in the first half,” said the redshirt freshman, “and I knew that I had to pick the team up because it started with me coming out flat and then everyone else [coming] out flat, so I knew I had to do something about it.”
While he was busy scorching the JPJ nets, Zeglinski never got the feeling that Virginia was about to go on a big run and put away what should have been, at least on paper, an inferior opponent.
“We still weren’t making stops on defense,” Zeglinski said. “We weren’t talking enough and they kept answering every bucket that we made.”
Freshman Sylven Landesberg said the Cavaliers’ problems weren’t limited to their defense.
“We made it harder on ourselves,” said Landesberg, who had 17 points and nine rebounds, but was beat on defense by freshman Seth Curry on a couple of occasions. “We should have been able to penetrate much easier than we were doing.
“We were taking a lot of jumpshots instead of just attacking.”

 

UVa heads north to face Orange
By Whitey Reid
Published: November 27, 2008

On Tuesday night at John Paul Jones Arena, Virginia suffered one of the most embarrassing losses of the Dave Leitao era when it was upset by Liberty, a school that was predicted to finish fourth in the Big South during the preseason.
Tonight, if UVa doesn’t snap out of its funk, things could get uglier.
Ready or not, Virginia (3-1) heads to the Carrier Dome for its first road game of the season. UVa will take on a Syracuse squad that will easily be the most talented opponent it has played to date.
Syracuse (5-0) is arguably the hottest team in the country right now. The Orange is coming off back-to-back wins over Florida and Kansas, programs that have won the last three NCAA championships.
While Virginia was being schooled by Liberty on Tuesday, Syracuse was overcoming a 13-point second-half deficit to beat Kansas on what was basically the Jayhawks’ home court — the game was played in nearby Kansas City.
Yeah, you could say the Wahoos have a bit of a challenge in front of them.
“They just came off a big win,” said Virginia guard Sylven Landesberg, referring to Syracuse’s victory over Florida (the ‘Cuse had yet to defeat Kansas), “so they’re going to be fired up. We need to pick it up and match their intensity.
“We came out real flat [against Liberty]. I think that’s what cost us the game.”
Virginia guard Sammy Zeglinski, one of the few bright spots versus Liberty — he scored a career-high 24 points — agreed.
“We definitely need to play with more passion,” Zeglinski said. “We need to have a short memory, look at the film and fix our problems because we need to do something.”
Zeglinski said Virginia’s woes trace back to its close win over South Florida, Syracuse’s Big East brethren, who was predicted to finish last in the conference.
“We knew that we had things to fix after the South Florida game, but we still weren’t able to,” Zeglinski said. “We have to keep going at it and keep trying.”
Of course, most of Virginia’s problems — as they have for the last year — start on the defensive end. UVa allowed Liberty to shoot nearly 70 percent from the field in the second half. It’s hard to beat anybody doing that.
But it’s also quite the undertaking when Mamadi Diane, the player Leitao was counting on to pick up the slack this season for Sean Singletary, does next to nothing. Diane, a team co-captain, is 1 of 15 for just three points in his last two games.
After the loss to Liberty, Leitao agreed that it was time to get his enigmatic senior back on track.
“Obviously with this group, every man becomes important, so his struggles are our struggles,” Leitao said, “and we’ve got to get him to a place where he can figure it out and we can figure it out.”
Diane will have more than just his offense to worry about. One of his biggest tasks could be in defending athletic Syracuse forward Paul Harris, who poses a number of challenges inside and outside.
But Virginia’s point guards will probably have the most vital job — trying to contain lightning-quick Orange floor general Jonny Flynn, who leads the team in scoring and was named the CBE Classic MVP on Tuesday. It was Flynn who drained a clutch 3-pointer in the waning seconds against Kansas that forced overtime.
If Flynn wasn’t enough of a concern, the Orange also have one of the best big men in the nation in Arinze Onuaku, who can swat shots with anybody, plus quality role players in Eric Devendorf and Andy Rautins who can light it up from the perimeter.
“They’re a tough team. They beat us last year,” said Virginia sophomore Mike Scott, alluding to Syracuse’s 70-68 win in John Paul Jones Arena. “It got away from us, but we’ll be prepared for them this year.”
They better be.
Dunks
Mike Scott, who had 17 rebounds in the loss to Liberty, leads the ACC in rebounding (11.5 per game). … Virginia’s last appearance in the Carrier Dome came when it beat Manhattan in the first round of the 1993 NCAA Tournament. … Syracuse leads the series with Virginia, 2-1, including last season’s 70-68 win at John Paul Jones Arena. … Freshman Sylven Landesberg is the first player to win ACC Rookie of the Week in each of his first two weeks since former Georgia Tech star Chris Bosh did so in 2002.