White: Off the Mark in Tampa
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 11/16/2009
By Jeff White

TAMPA, Fla. -- His team scored only 49 points Monday night -- UVa's lowest output in 3 ½ years -- but not because new coach Tony Bennett insisted his players use most of the shot clock on each possession.
The Cavaliers took plenty of shots at the Sun Dome -- seven more more than South Florida, in fact. They simply failed to hit many of them.
"It's hard to be competitive if you're not making some shots," Bennett said after his team's 66-49 loss to USF.
"Most of them were pretty good looks, so you just have to take them when they present themselves."
In the Wahoos' second game under Bennett -- the first was a win over Longwood -- they made only 17 of 52 attempts from the floor (32.7 percent). From 3-point range they were worse -- 16.7 percent.
The points were the fewest for Virginia since it scored 49 in a March 14, 2006, loss at Stanford in the NIT.
The crowd didn't rattle the 'Hoos (1-1). The official attendance in a building that seats 10,411 was 4,193, and Virginia isn't likely to play another road game in a less-hostile atmosphere this season.
"Everybody got good looks," said junior guard Jeff Jones, who was 1 for 7 from beyond the arc. "It was just one of those nights. Nothing was falling for anybody."
To make the night worse for the Cavaliers, their defense for the final 25 minutes was as suspect as their markmanship. The Bulls (2-0) shot a torrid 53.3 percent from the floor in avenging the loss they suffered at John Paul Jones Arena last year.
USF scored the final four points of the first half to take a 31-27 lead at the break. The Bulls scored the first nine points of the second half, and UVa trailed by at least 10 the rest of the way.
"Boy, when it unraveled, it unraveled quick," Bennett said.
Assane Sene might have made a difference against USF, whose starters include 6-11 Jarrid Famous and 6-10 Augustus Gilchrist, a former Virginia Tech recruit and Maryland player. But the 7-0 sophomore was back in Charlottesville serving a suspension that will keep him out of the Cavaliers' lineup for another game.
With only two scholarship post players available Monday, the 'Hoos desperately needed a big night from the more productive of those two, 6-8 junior Mike Scott.
He started auspiciously, throwing down an alley-oop pass from sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski for the game's first points, but Scott couldn't sustain it.
Foul trouble limited him to 16 minutes. He picked up his fifth personal with 8:35 to play, departing with nine points and five rebounds.
"Mike's probably our best interior scorer, and when he was out of the game, we were pretty much a perimeter-oriented team," said Bennett, who Monday night coached without a necktie, as he had at Washington State.
"And when the shots weren't falling, that makes it hard, and they obviously capitalized on that. That affected us, and I wish we could have had him for longer, because we certainly need that. We're thin on the frontline, and that didn't help us at all."
Jerome Meyinsse's effort couldn't be faulted. The 6-9 senior played a career-high 27 minutes and battled throughout, collecting four points and four rebounds. But with Scott on the bench for much of the game, the Wahoos couldn't match the Bulls' size inside. Famous and Gilchrist combined for 30 points and 16 rebounds.
"It was tough," Jones said. "They had a lot of length."
USF guard Dominique Jones scored a game-high 22 points and added seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. He's "as good as advertised, you can see that," Bennett said.
Virginia never got hot from the floor, but its defense was solid enough for much of the first half. The Bulls didn't take their first lead until the 5:24 mark, when Jones hit a 3-pointer that made it 21-20. His trey capped a 6-0 run that started when Scott went to the bench with his second foul.
"I thought early, especially most of the first half, we got real good looks and couldn't capitalize on them when we got to the lane, missed some rhythm open shots, even some stuff at the rim," Bennett said. "And I think that played heavy on our mind.
"I thought our defense held us in there. But then as the game wore on, I thought their defense toughened up, and we kind of did a role reversal. I think ours softened a little bit."
The loss was the 11th straight for UVa in this state. The only Cavalier to score in double figures was sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg, and he missed 9 of 14 field-goal attempts.
Calvin Baker, in his 2009-10 debut, provided a spark for UVa. The senior guard, who's coming off two arthroscopic knee surgeries, went 2 for 4 from the floor and scored five points in 15 minutes.
"You can see that he's a competitor," Bennett said.
For part of the game, Bennett said, the Cavaliers competed too.
"The first 15 minutes defensively, they battled, they really did," he said. "They made it hard, and it kept us in there. And so there was a step in the right direction that way. Better than that it was even against Longwood.
"But we talk a lot about trying to do the things that eliminate losing. When you're struggling, that can't affect you on the defensive end, and that's a hard sell on those guys. You can't have your identity totally [based on whether] your shot's going in."
Baker said: "Our intention was to come out after halftime and make sure we threw the first punch, but they obviously did, and that's what broke the lead open, and it was hard for us to recover from that."
The 'Hoos face a quick turnaround. They host Rider on Thursday night at JPJ in a game that's part of the Cancun Challenge.
"We know that there are going to be ups and downs, and we understand that," Baker said. "But we also know it's a long season, so we can't keep our heads down. We're going to go back to practice and go back to work and get ready for the next game."

Virginia/USF Coaches Quotes
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 11/17/2009
Virginia at USF
USF Sun Dome
Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett

“They (USF) certainly played a nice game. I thought early, that especially the first half we had real good looks and couldn’t capitalize when we got to the lane. We missed some really open shots, even some stuff at the rim, and I think that played heavy in our minds.
"I thought our defense held us in there, then as the game went on, I think their defense toughened up and we kind of did a role reverse, slightly softened up a little bit.”

“Dominique Jones is as good as advertised. You see that he can make tough shots and get himself going."

USF Head Coach Stan Heath

On the game…
“That was a good win for our program, I thought we played hard and they played hard. I thought down the stretch we were a little fresher, I thought that our defense really picked up as the game went on and I thought that we had a really good balance of inside and outside.

“Both Gus and Jarrid commanded paint both in scoring and rebounding, and Jones was huge for us in the second half especially and all the way through the game. Justin Leemow had some key baskets at critical times, shots that last year didn't seem like they were going in, but this year he is playing with a lot more confidence.

“We thought the first four minutes would be key, we wanted to get off to a good start. We wanted to continue to establish the inside first, so right away we try to attack the inside. We didn't get what we wanted at first, but we just focused on the defense and getting stops and converting. We realized that they were going to try and take away our fast breaks and eventually our defense got some fast breaks for us and really widened our lead.”

 

Postgame Notes
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 11/16/2009
VIRGINIA BASKETBALL
Postgame Notes
USF 66, Virginia 49

Team Notes
• Virginia had the same starting five (Farrakhan, Zeglinski, Landesberg, Jones, Scott) for the second consecutive game
• Virginia dropped its 11th consecutive game in the state of Florida
• The Cavaliers scored less than 50 points (49) for the first time since scoring 49 at Stanford (3/14/06)

Individual Notes
• Calvin Baker made his season debut after missing the opener due to injury
• Will Sherrill and Solomon Tat also made their season debuts
• Sylven Landesberg scored his 500th career point (30 career games) and now has 501 points

Player Career Highs
• Will Sherrill made a career-high two free throws
 

White: 'Hoos Have Few Options Down Low
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 11/16/2009
By Jeff White

TAMPA, Fla. -- At UVa's shootaround Monday afternoon, the team's greatest shortcoming was obvious.
At one end of the court in South Florida's Sun Dome were the Cavaliers' perimeter players. At the other end were Virginia's post players, two of whom -- Solomon Tat and Tristan Spurlock -- don't actually qualify as such.
Tat, a 6-5 senior, is a swingman. Spurlock is a 6-8 freshman whose natural position is small forward. The only scholarship post players available for UVa (1-0) against USF (1-0) on Monday night will be 6-8 junior Mike Scott and 6-9 senior Jerome Meyinsse.
"We're limited on the interior," Tony Bennett said in a major understatement a few hours before his first road game as Virginia's coach.
With 7-0 sophomore Assane Sene on suspension and 6-9 senior Jamil Tucker on a leave of absence, Bennett started four guards -- 6-0 Sammy Zeglinski, 6-4 Jeff Jones, 6-4 Mustapha Farrakhan and 6-6 Sylven Landesberg -- alongside Scott in the opener against Longwood.
Look for the same lineup Monday night against the Bulls, whose starters include 6-11 Jarrid Famous and 6-10 Augustus Gilchrist. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.
"You play the hand that's been dealt you," Bennett said. "At times that can be a positive. I think a key when you're playing a four-guard lineup that you always have to look at is, first, they have to guard you, so it causes some matchup issues that way. But we have to have something in place for them trying to exploit our post defense, and we've worked hard at that.
"And then we're going to have to gang-rebound, as we say. Our guards are going to have to check their guys and come back and help."
In an 85-72 win Friday night at John Paul Jones Arena, UVa outrebounded Longwood 36-21. The Bulls are a Big East team, though, and they're considerably taller than the Lancers. USF opened with a win at SMU on Friday.
That same night in Charlottesville, Spurlock played only three minutes. His role is likely to grow, however, with Tucker out.
Spurlock is not a natural power forward, but the Wahoos "don't have another option," Bennett said. "And I know he didn't play a whole lot in that first one, and this is his first year, and there'll be some adjusting. But just for some size and some depth there with the situation we're in, we have to use him."
These teams met last year in Charlottesville, where the 'Hoos prevailed 77-75 after USF missed two shots at the end. The game-winning points came from Landesberg, who took a pass from guard Calvin Baker and hit a layup with 13.9 seconds left.
Even after watching the Cavaliers' preseason scrimmages against Marquette and St. John's, Bennett wasn't sure how his team would play in the opener. Likewise, he admits he's curious about how the 'Hoos will respond to their first road test.
"Absolutely," Bennett said. "We're playing against a Big East opponent that has some size, and they've come off a nice win on the road themselves."
In the scrimmages and then the opener, Bennett said, there "have been a couple of patterns that have developed, so you certainly try to address those.
"It's those lapses that we've had in all three of those outings that have cost us. Sometimes it's been a defensive breakdown, or sometimes we've either turned it over or tried to get it back too soon. That's part of a learning process about when to be aggressive, when to be real sound and use your offense a bit to slow it down a little bit, and then defensively not have as many breakdowns.
"We're just trying to eliminate the breakdowns. That's a challenge. I want us to try to take some pride in our team defense. As I've said, it's got to hurt a little bit when teams get an easy basket on you, and I don't think we're there yet. But we'll keep pushing in that regard."
 

South Florida plays U.Va.‘s game with tough ‘D’
FRED GOODALL THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 17, 2009
Updated: November 17, 2009
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TAMPA, Fla. - Dominique Jones had 22 points, seven rebounds, four assists and four steals to lead South Florida to a 66-49 victory over cold-shooting Virginia.

The Bulls (2-0) began the second half with a 17-5 run to take a 48-32 lead with 14 minutes remaining in the game. The closest Virginia (1-1) got the rest of the way was 10 points. The Cavaliers were held to one field goal in the final seven minutes.

Augustus Gilchrist had 18 points for South Florida, and Jarrid Famous finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Sylven Landesberg had 14 points to lead Virginia, which shot just under 32.7 percent (17 of 52).

Virginia played without two key players. Center Assane Sene is serving a three-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team and forward Jamil Tucker is taking an indefinite leave of absence from the team to attend to a personal matter.

A third player, Calvin Baker, played 15 minutes and scored five points after missing the Cavaliers' season opener against Longwood while recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

South Florida led 31-27 at the half, shooting 54.7 percent from the field and getting 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting from Jones, who finished 10 for 18. Jones was held to just 13 points in USF's season-opening victory at SMU on Friday.

Virginia shot 36.7 percent (11 for 30) in the opening half and was even worse (6 for 22, 27.3 percent) after the break. Three starters - Mustapha Farrakhan, Jeff Jones and Sammy Zeglinski - missed 9 of 10 3-point attempts and went 5 for 23 overall.

Mike Scott, who had 12 points and 13 rebounds in Virginia's season opener, scored nine before fouling out with 8:35 to go.

The Cavaliers trimmed their deficit to 53-43 on a 3-pointer by Baker, but continued to sputter. Virginia was limited the rest of the way to four free throws and Jontel Evans' jumper in the final minute.

Cavaliers unable to run with the Bulls
USF sandwiches halftime with a 13-0 run to hand Tony Bennett his first loss at Virginia.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Virginia was unable to duplicate its offensive production from Tony Bennett's coaching debut and failed again Monday night to display Bennett's trademark defense.

South Florida shot 53.3 percent from the field and handed the Cavaliers their 11th straight loss in the state of Florida, 66-49.

Virginia arrived at the Sun Dome without two veteran post players who did not make the trip, Assane Sene and Jamil Tucker, and saw starting post player Mike Scott foul out with 8:35 remaining.

South Florida, coming off a 9-22 season, already had the game well in hand by that point. After scoring the last four points of the first half to take a 31-27 lead, the Bulls scored the first nine points of the second half to complete a 13-0 run.

The Bulls (2-0) led by as much as 20 points, 64-44, following a dunk by senior Dominique Jones in the final minute.

Jones finished with a game-high 22 points and the Bulls got 18 points and eight rebounds from 6-foot-10 sophomore Augustus Gilchrist, who was ineligible when South Florida lost in Charlottesville 77-75 last year.

Gilchrist, from Clinton, Md., originally signed with Virginia Tech but never played for the Hokies. A later attempt to play for Maryland was to no avail.

Virginia (1-1) twice led by six points early in the first half and had a 19-15 lead with just over 6 12 minutes remaining.

"I thought the first 15 [or] 17 minutes, I thought the effort was terrific," Bennett said on his post-game radio show. "We had a little lapse at the end of the half; then, we got down 10 so quick to start the second half.

"You could see it got quiet in the huddles. If a guy made a mistake or missed a shot, [his] head was hung. I think they lost a little bit of their fight. You can't allow that to happen."

UVa sophomore Sylven Landesberg had 12 points at the half but did not score from the field in the second half and finished with 14. Scott was next with nine points and five rebounds in 16 minutes.

"He's a bit of a presence," Bennett said. "I think, when we lost him, they knew that we didn't have any scoring punch inside and that it was all perimeter-oriented."

Five Virginia players had scored in double figures three days earlier in an 85-72 victory over Longwood.

The Cavaliers made 60 percent of their field-goal attempts in that game, but shot only 32.7 percent from the field Monday night, including 27.7 percent in the second half.

Junior Mustapha Farrakhan, who had matched a career high with 17 points in the opener, was 1-for-9 against the Bulls. As a team, the Cavaliers were 2-for-12 on 3-pointers.

Virginia returns home Thursday for a meeting with Rider, which opened its season with an 88-74 road victory over 18th-ranked Mississippi State.

It will be the third game of a three-game suspension imposed upon Sene for a violation of team rules. Tucker is taking an indefinite leave of absence to deal with personal matters.

In their absence, UVa was outrebounded 35-24.

Guard Calvin Baker, unable to practice for several weeks after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery, was one of three UVa players to make their season's debut along with Solomon Tat and walk-on Will Sherrill. Baker had five points, including a 3-pointer, in 15 minutes.

Bulls charge past Cavaliers
By Whitey Reid
Published: November 17, 2009
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TAMPA, Fla. — Tony Bennett pursed his lips, leaned back in his court-side seat and let out a big sigh.
There were still over three minutes to play in the game.
There he was, in a half-empty arena with ugly green and yellow seats. His best player had been outplayed by a guy many college fans don’t know. His second-best had fouled out way before then, with some nine minutes to play.
No, this wasn’t how the first-year coach envisioned his first road game going.
South Florida, behind 22 points and seven rebounds from junior guard Dominique Jones, and 18 points and eight rebounds from Augustus Gilchrist, avenged their loss to Virginia last season in Charlottesville with a 66-49 victory in front of a crowd of 4,193 at The Sun Dome.
“I think our defense held us in there,” Bennett said, “but then as the game wore on, I thought their defense toughened up and we kind of did a role reversal, and ours softened a little bit.”
The defeat was Virginia’s 11th consecutive in the state of Florida.
UVa (1-1) was led by Sylven Landesberg’s 14 points. But last year’s ACC rookie of the year was just 5 of 14 from the field with only two rebounds and two assists.
Jones, who was matched up with Landesberg for much of the game, had seven rebounds and four assists to go along with his game-high 22 points.
“He’s a big guard. I remember him from last year — he was just as good,” Landesberg said. “We were the aggressors on the defensive end in the first half, but in the second half they came out harder than we did, and it just carried on throughout the rest of the game.
“Gilchrist and Jones definitely got off.”
Meanwhile, Mike Scott, Virginia’s only low-post threat was in foul trouble for much of the game before eventually fouling out just past the midway mark of the second half.
“Mike’s our best interior scorer and when he’s not in the game, we’re pretty much a perimeter-oriented team,” Bennett said. “And when the shots aren’t falling, that makes it hard.
“They obviously capitalized on that. That affected us. I wish we could have had him for longer because we certainly need that. We’re thin in the front line. That didn’t help us at all.”
After the season-opening win against Longwood on Friday, Bennett said that he liked the way his team had played for the first 20 minutes or so. The goal, he said, was to increase that stretch of good play as the season progressed.
Virginia started the game well. On its very first offensive possession, Sammy Zeglinski and Scott connected on a fastbreak alley-oop.
A few minutes later, Mustapha Farrakhan executed an ankle-breaking cross-over and finished off a drive for a
3-point play.
UVa, more importantly, was bringing the effort on the defensive end. USF struggled to get inside the paint. On one sequence, Zeglinski blocked a shot, which resulted in a shot-clock violation.
“I thought they fought hard. The first 15 minutes defensively — they battled,” Bennett said. “They made it hard and it kept us in there.
UVa led by as many as six before things started to head south.
USF took a 21-19 lead on a Jones’ 3-pointer. The Bulls (2-0) then got hot from the outside en route to taking a 31-27 lead at the break.
Almost immediately after the intermission, things began to disintegrate for Virginia as USF — which shot 53 percent from the field for the game — opened the second half on a 9-0 run. UVa had as many turnovers in the first three minutes (two) as it had committed in the entire first half.
“When it unraveled, it
unraveled quick,” Bennett said. “Our defense slid a little bit, some of the decision-making went and then it was hard for us — then we were just playing catch up.”
Dunks
Senior Calvin Baker, who didn’t play in the season-opener against Longwood because he was still recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his knee, made his debut. He scored five points in 15 minutes.

Jones' 22 leads USF past Virginia
By SCOTT CARTER | The Tampa Tribune
Published: November 16, 2009

TAMPA - There haven't been many games recently for South Florida like Monday's 66-49 victory against Virginia in the home opener.

Afterward, the smiles were wide and the laughs loud as several players stopped by a photographer's computer in the media workroom to check out photos from USF's win over the Cavaliers in front of an announced crowd of 4,193 at the Sun Dome.

The Bulls (2-0) had plenty to be upbeat about after using a 13-0 run over a 4-minute, 42-second span at the end of the first half and the start of the second to take control.

USF limited the Cavaliers (1-1) to 32.7 percent shooting, including 6-for-22 in the second half.

Bulls coach Stan Heath was pleased with the way the Bulls executed their defense-first mentality in knocking off the Cavs for the first time in school history. Virginia won last year's meeting, 77-75, in the first meeting between the schools.

"I certainly didn't expect maybe that margin, but that's what I felt we need to do," Heath said. "We need to be a really good defensive team."

The Bulls trailed by as many as six in the first half before taking their first lead of the game - 21-19 with 5:22 left in the first half - on junior guard Dominique Jones' 3-pointer. With the game tied at 27, Gus Gilchrist hit two free throws to put USF up 29-27. That started the 13-0 run that didn't end until Virginia's Jeff Jones hit a 3-pointer to trim USF's lead to 40-30.

The Bulls never trailed again, leading by as many as 21 late in the game. Jones led USF with a game-high 22 points, adding seven rebounds and four assists.

"Jones is as good as advertised," first-year Virginia coach Tony Bennett said.

Gilchrist, after scoring a career-high 23 points in Friday's season-opening win at SMU, scored 18 and added eight rebounds Monday. Junior-college transfer Jarrid Famous, playing his first home game, added 12 points and eight rebounds for the Bulls, who shot 53.3 percent with Virginia's 7-foot center Assane Sene absent because of a suspension.

"We played together," Gilchrist said. "We knew the double-team was going to come. We made good decisions out of it, and exploited their weakness."

The Bulls next face Davidson on Thursday at the Charleston (S.C.) Classic.

"We don't have cupcakes, that's for sure," Heath said. "It's certainly going to get us ready. We didn't play great, but it was a good win for us. I like where we are right now."
 

Fast start is a plus for Bulls' basketball
By MARTIN FENNELLY | The Tampa Tribune
Published: November 17, 2009

TAMPA - With each basket, each dunk, the South Florida men roared into their home basketball season Monday night at the Sun Dome.

"We just wanted to show them what it's like in the Big East every night," South Florida guard Dominique Jones said after his 22 points helped the Bulls more than handle Virginia, 66-49.

Funny, but USF qualifies as a resident expert on what it's like in the Big East every night, since in 57 out of their 68 Big East nights in school history, they've lost.

And word on the street is that the Big East is waiting in the alley again for Coach Stan Heath and his Bulls. What will USF have this time around?

They're 2-0 to start this season, and they displayed balance and power Monday, but who knows if that will matter in the end? The end is always the same.

The Bulls went 9-22 last season, though they set a school record with four Big East wins - count 'em, four. Today 14th place, tomorrow the ... well, 13th place.

Not so fast, said Jones, who scored 22 against Virginia.

"We're looking for 10-plus Big East wins," he said.

They can look all they want.

"This was a good win for our program," Heath said. "It's an ACC school, it's a school with credibility. ... They have a pretty good name in college basketball."

Last season, the Bulls made history by beating a Top 10 team in Marquette. Monday wasn't really like that. Virginia is coming off its worst record in 42 years, enough to get the coach fired. We could go into how Virginia also missing two of its top players Monday, but since neither of them was Ralph Sampson, the Bulls deserved to enjoy this one.

"We're much better," Heath said. "We have more talent. Do we have enough? I don't know. It's tough to judge in the Big East. ... But I like this team."

Adding to the sweetness was that close loss at Virginia last season. And don't forget the schools' shared history. You might not know this, but Thomas Jefferson also designed the USF campus, including the parking lots. Jefferson - he was something.

Clearly USF has a few players. Two of them are juniors, Jones and forward Augustus Gilchrist (18 points, 8 rebounds).

There are always deep, dark turns in USF basketball seasons. It's a fact of life. But the fact Monday was South Florida used a 13-0 run across the end of the first half and the start of the second to win this game going away. They did it with tough defense, with Jones, with Gilchrist, with junior college transfer Jarrid Famous, who finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Heath wants his program to be a main attraction. That said, he needs to get things going - fast.

You'd hate to think winning was why he let senior point guard Mike Mercer rejoin the Bulls. Mercer was kicked off the team last January after being arrested twice in four months. But he stayed in school, earned his degree, and Heath brought him back.

"He stayed with his academics when he could have just disappeared ..." Heath said. "It's a tough call. I wrestled with it. I struggled with it. I just thought he's 21 and he stayed in school and if this turns it around, well, good for him."

Maybe people can change.

Can a basketball program?

 

Al Groh Weekly Football Press Conference Transcript
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 11/16/2009

QUESTION: How have you seen Clemson's offense evolve this year?

COACH GROH: A lot of it has to do with the development of Kyle Parker as the quarterback. For those of you who are not familiar with his background, this is a superior athlete. And I would use his resume, not my opinion to back that up. That is during the spring of what should have been his senior year in high school he made all ACC in baseball. I think he might have led the conference in home runs while participating in spring practice and acclimating himself to being a college student instead of going to his senior prom.

He's got the type of eye to hand coordination that would be associated with somebody who could hit a speeding fastball or moving curveball as well as he does; okay. That's a critical factor. I think you find that most quarterbacks were really, really good and have a high accuracy number.
It's not just about mechanics that you find that somewhere along the line they're either a real good scorer in basketball, high school basketball, or a good hitter or a good pitcher. It's something that's high to hand coordination as much as physical athletic skills is a factor in performance.

So his resume clearly says that. And he was tremendously regarded quarterback coming out of high school. And there was -- we were certainly well aware of his circumstances. And there wa
s always some conjecture as to whether or not he would play college football or go directly into professional baseball. So he's that type of athlete.
And early in the season, the skills were apparent, but clearly he was a player who hadn't had to make those decisions under the speed of ACC competition, and now that he's 10 games into the season, so, really doing a terrific job with it. They have some remarkable playmakers, and he's very tuned into getting the ball to those playmakers. So those things work very well in consort.

QUESTION: Speaking of playmakers, is C.J. Spiller one?

COACH GROH: Very much so. Unique in his overall skill set. He's clearly a dynamic, hard to get on the ground runner -- his kick return record speaks for itself. He's got two touchdown passes in his resume. One of which we witnessed.
He's got touchdowns catches. He is the true all-purpose threat. Maybe as great as we've seen in this conference for a long time.

QUESTION: It would probably be ambitious to limit him to yards and he played pretty well last year. What worked against Spiller last year?
COACH GROH: Yeah, as I've watched this year's games and seen the fire power that their team has generated, I mean, they've been what is it, somewhere over 40 points average in the last five games. When I see the firepower they've generated, and I think of last year we had the game at 13- 3. And it was one of those multiple interception games, and that's really what took us out of the game. Otherwise we really had a chance and a shot in that one.

I wanted to make sure specifically that I looked at this year first and then looked backwards rather than looking from the back forward. So I haven't I've got about two more of this year's games that I want to watch before I go back to last year.

QUESTION: Steve Greer continues to be a consistent player. Could you evaluate his performance to date?

COACH GROH: Yeah, he I won't rehash the things I talked about with him earlier. You probably have a good record of that. But the week before there were a few things that one of the key principles of how we teach the linebackers is don't play plays.

There are too many plays. You can lift them all out there and try to figure out what to do on each particular play. But the inside linebackers had very specific keys. Read your key and react to your key. Okay. Don't go until you know. But when you know, go.

It's not a stand and play, shuffle on. It's supposed to be a fast moving, get there. When you get it in terms of keys, it reduces it down to a few things that the player that he's keying can do. The same consistent set of reactions: The week before he was sorting plays out. Not as active. So really pointed that out to him in the video last night that against a team that's a dedicated running team. Just watch yourself here and watch how much movements involved. Watch your feet, watch your legs.

There's a lot of activity in there, and he got on the move again. And his production went up with it. So, you know, we had the same situation, mark, with sometimes with Jon Copper in a similar fashion that both players really applied themselves in their preparation. And they know quite a bit about who they're playing; okay sometimes Jon tries to get there and sort it out and go. Huh uh, that's not the system. Just read the keys and go. Don't outsmart yourself by trying to figure out too much.

So with those players of that disposition, we've found out over the years that's just one of the reminders that we've got -- I guess you could call for those players fundamentals. It's a fundamental for them as much as a physical block protection skill. Just stay focused in on the key. Whatever the key tells you. Okay. React to that and go. Let's get moving. So he did. He got his production back up to previous levels on Saturday.

QUESTION:I can't imagine Marc Verica knew what his symptoms were. What went on there and did he know what symptoms of a concussion are?

COACH GROH:He brought some symptoms to the medical people on Wednesday after practice, which in their diligence caused them to conduct more tests and more evaluations. From that it was determined that he had some leftover effect. I say that without being knowledgeable about talking about the specifics. Some leftover effects from the contact that he took at Miami that it wasn't visible for him to play in the game.

QUESTION:Did you notice anything different from him in practice?

COACH GROH: I have not. In fact, his practices have been pretty sharp.

QUESTION: Concussions have been focused on more lately. Is it something that you are paying any closer attention to than in the past?

COACH GROH: For this reason, when I was with the Jets, Dr. Elliot Pelman who was our lead physician was the head of the NFL whatever it was, commission, counsel, whatever on concussions. So he had our whole organization very well informed about all of those issues. Plus we had in 2000 one of our better players, Wayne Chrebett who had suffered a concussion and had some lingering effects with it that affected his participation for a while. I think ultimately after I had left that was part of the time frame in which he retired. So my experience with that had us well tuned into it when we came here.

QUESTION: Coach, what is the atmosphere like at Clemson, would you say it's one of the toughest places to play in the conference?

COACH GROH: When you go down there awe know a couple of things. It's going to be loud. It's going to be challenging, and it's going to be fun. It's a great atmosphere in which to play in. In their energy it's right up there at the very top of the ACC sites that we go to. There's a real football fever. It's not just a Saturday afternoon activity. There is a real passion and a real fever for Clemson football. So I've always enjoyed going in there. It's very challenging to go in, like I said. It's challenging. They always have a very talented team. I mean, I can't remember when Clemson wasn't talented.
They've always had a very talented team. Football is really important not only to the players, but to the fans. And there is a very lively electric atmosphere. We haven't been down there since they expanded the stadium or the renovations that went into it. But it was pretty imposing before it was renovated. So kind of looking forward to seeing it.

QUESTION: After the game the other night several of the players talked about they really only have to play for pride now. As a coach, is that the greatest challenge?

COACH GROH: You know, I've never said that I think perhaps I'm just guessing, I think perhaps players say that because they've heard it or it's the answer to a question. Now that you guys aren't playing for the championship, are you playing for pride? And the reason I preface my answer with that is I thought that's what we were doing every week. You know, I thought we were trying to prove something every week. I thought we were playing for pride every week. So I think you hear it at the end of the season because players have heard other players say it, or as I said, the question gets posed that way, so they answer it in the affirmative.
QUESTION: At this time of year, I assume some players are being contacted by agents. Do you play any role in facilitating this?

COACH GROH: We do. Zach actually for any coach who is just starting now - that coaches about two years too late. I can remember, for example, I guess it was in '02, shortly after we got back from the Continental Tire Bowl, one of our players who had played very well in that game, who was a true freshman, came into a little just puzzled. How do I deal with this? While he was home between the bowl game and coming back to school, he had been contacted by a number of agents. So it's a very prevalent thing. So we try to talk with the players who might be in that circumstances long beforehand. In a lot of ways, very early at the start of their career. It's just one of the facts of the landscape that you have to deal with to try to make sure that the players and their families are able to on sort it out and get with the really reputable professional people. And so we have all those people. And we do have all the players who look like they're going to have some chance to be in that circumstance after the season, we started with all of that specific discussion way back in the spring.

QUESTION: I remember having a discussion a couple years ago at a time when you were having a tremendous home record. Your home record isn't nearly what it used to be. Is that just all coincidence or is there any explanation for it?

COACH GROH: Talent. The most talented teams win most of the time.

QUESTION: Beyond wins and losses is that kind of greasing the way or helping guys as they get ready to leave and go to the NFL? Is that kind of one of the joys of your job to kind of help facilitate that in some way?

COACH GROH: To use a term from the banking business, I can remember banks had a little more positive image than they had portrayed lately. They were using the saying that they were a full service bank. So we do think in that term we like to think that we're a full service program. That everything that the player needs while he's here, that we're here to provide. Whether it's academic support, academic stimulation, strength training, football coaching, personal counseling, and then certainly if the player is fortunate enough to go into the National Football League, to make sure that he's well informed of how to handle the business aspects of it as well as the difference of the game they're playing.

So we're pleased when players come back and say that they were well prepared for everything that they encountered during the early part of their professional career. Because we don't really care so much who the players pick as their representation as sometimes we are concerned about who they don't pick that people that haven't had an established reputation as being very professional at what they do, very honest what they do, committed to their clients. So that the player can create a partnership with that person that will last during the course of his career.

QUESTION: Do you have a list of people for them to stay away from?

COACH GROH: Well, I'm aware of the circumstances of a number of the people in that profession. Usually what we say is look, I'm not here to get in your business, but if you'd like to use us as a resource, we'd be happy to do that. And any questions or any information that you have. So sometimes the players will come in and say, here are some of the people I'm talking about, and do you know about any of these people? So we don't really so much say this is who you should pick or who you shouldn't pick. We just say if you want to ask our opinion on any of these people, go ahead and do so. And frequently they have felt confident to do that.

QUESTION: Do you bring up the chance to play spoiler role for the Clemson game?

COACH GROH: All we tried last week to do was to beat Boston College. We didn't have anything bigger in mind than that. All we had in mind the week before that was to beat Miami. And all we had in mind when we played North Carolina was to beat North Carolina. It wasn't like; okay, we're going to start a five game winning streak or whatever. We were just trying to one of the things that we emphasize, and this is not original.

I'm sure all of you are familiar with or many of you are familiar with Harvey Penick, the great golf teacher. He's got a famous book out "The Little Red Book", and he's got a really good I haven't used it to do anything to improve my golf game, and I'm happy to say for Harvey's sake, that I haven't read the whole book, so my lack of progress can't be attributed to the fact that his book failed me.

But, I was put on to it by another football coach. There is a small little chapter in there, as most of the chapters are very small, about how to approach every shot. And the phrase is pick out your target, block out all distractions, and take dead aim.

That's how you compete. That's how you compete from play-to-play. That's how you compete from week-to-week. Pick out your target. Block out all distractions, and take dead aim. That's what coaches do and that's what players do. Or they should. The idea of looking at five or six games in a row. And you win this, and they lose, and then this happens. Or we can play this role. Okay, it takes every single team and the player has got to get ready to compete successfully, much less think about all those extraneous things.

QUESTION: Back to the NFL, how much because of your background do parents get involved in that? Or do you keep it between you and the players because they're essentially

COACH GROH: Every case is individual. I've had players individually sitting in the office talking about it. I've had players, parenting, siblings, and girlfriends joining the player. So just whatever group the player wants to assemble for his council, I've been to their homes. They've been to my office to talk about this circumstance.

QUESTION: There was a period earlier this year where Clemson was struggling to score. Some of the players were saying they were too predictable. What's changed with that?

COACH GROH: That's a big part of it. As I went through all the printed material last night to just try to understand who this team is, I answered questions of just the statements I heard. Their offensive players that they've been talking about particularly since their bye week where they really were able to -- I don't know if the exact word was use, but get reorganized and get very specific on how they wanted to play and get in a rhythm and get better timing down and all those things.

So I would guess that all that, through the whole circumstances of most of their offensive coaches are new to this year's team. They have a new quarterback. So it probably took a lot of things just to get everything in sync. Obviously, when you do have players like Ford and Spiller, they should be featured. You know, they can't maybe just overwhelm everything else, but by the same token, if you weren't featuring them the question would be why aren't those two guys getting the ball as much as they should?

So unfortunately they get their fair share of shots in the game. But that probably has a lot to do with it. Then with that goes certainly a level of confidence that it looks like on the video that every play that is called, they are saying this is going to work, because most of them have here now for the last five weeks.

QUESTION: You said after the game the other day it was the performance you'd been waiting 10 months for. Obviously, the statistics wouldn't bear that out. What are some of the things that you were referring to?

COACH GROH: Not so much numbers, but just really coming together and playing as one coordinated team. Playing a complementary game in all phases and in preparation, emotionally, in putting the game together.

Now we had a stage of that in the middle of the season where that was occurring. You know, it started to. Kind of started to happen in the third game. It really was working two games four, five, and six. As we said to the players, it isn't as if we just completely lost track of it. But sometimes if you lose a few degrees out of there, then that's just the little bit that you need.

If you go from the top of the bottle here down to here, then you certainly didn't throw it all out. It's those three, four, five, six, whatever number you can put on it that pulls all of that together. So I thought from all those phases, how the preparation went during the course of the week, the intensity of the players involvement, their understanding of how everything had to fit together. That's the point that I was referencing.

QUESTION: It seemed the most effective the offense has been in the last few weeks was in the last drive. What made it so effective?
COACH GROH: They're really the same. One of the things that you say in that particular case is that all the way down the field we saw exactly the same defense, so that could be the case on however many plays that were in there. Eight, nine, ten plays in a row, we wish that could be the case on ten consecutive plays any time during the course of the game. That allows the quarterback to get real good looks, to get into rhythm. We were able to kind of repeat a lot of the same plays against the same looks. So that probably all factored into it.

But a lot of it just gets down to a lot of those plays have been called early in the game. They didn't just come out on for that situation. Some had worked and some hadn't worked as well as they did until that time. In fact, the last play of the game, which didn't work as well as we would have liked, we had already completed that two or three times within the drive.

QUESTION: Couple years ago you had I think five games and you guys won by a point or two? You guys have had three games this year and you've talked about two or three plays different could have gone the other way. If you get one of those, how much does that maybe build off itself? And not getting them, I'm sure that becomes kind of how much could one of those going the other way?

COACH GROH: Sure, it's all helpful. Obviously, positives are always better than negatives.
The most important thing in those factors is how the team is playing. You know, if you play and if you win and play poorly, you feel good about winning. You feel better than you do when you lose. But you don't necessarily have a great confidence that it's going to happen again. It's when you play well and win that the team really has or do good things in a game. Obviously, when the team gets down the field and wins the game and everything happens with the climactic positive, then there's a lot of that that carries over.

As you say, sometimes it's just those two or three plays. We said that last evening. We had probably I thought the really significant play in the last four play sequence was the first down play. Which we have a receiver open. And the safety behind the receiver has fallen down, so the ball is completed, probably a good chance the receiver's going to go in for the winning touchdown. That was going to be somewhere around the 30 second range. We would have been in fairly good control at that particular point. It wouldn't have affected the assessment of how the team played in the game. We would have played the same game, but for one play. But it would have affected everybody's perception of how the team played. The team played the same game but with heartache. If we had completed that pass, we would have played the same game with joy. So it's just a few of those plays that determine the outcome. Therefore the feelings about it, but that doesn't necessarily change the accurate assessment of the team's performance.
We've had certainly two of the last three games that have fallen into that category.

QUESTION: What brought about the decision to have Vic Hall return punts and did it impact his ability to play an other positions?

COACH GROH: It did not impact him in any other way --- and its just part of the thing that we said about Vic some weeks ago. When the game is over, we want them to be dirty and be tired. But he's a player that has great energy, great passion, great competitiveness. One of the best players on our team. So we're trying to ask him to do everything he can. And he wants to do everything he can.

QUESTION: What was it like to see Mark Herzlich before the game and to be part of that pregame ceremony?

COACH GROH: It was nice. I had a chance to have some words with Mark well before that. Talked about his situation. He's turned out to be the kind of player we always thought he was going to be and just very pleased for him. The circumstances seem to be working out, and best wishes to him. He expressed his GRATITUDE for our efforts towards his fundraising. So it was nice.

QUESTION: Any words of encouragement for Jameel after coming up short on that final offensive play and his response after the ball was spotted?
COACH GROH: No, it's just you don't leave him alone. At least I don't. You know, he's important to us as a person as well as a player. To see one of your players in a distressed state and whatever that might be about, whether it's something of a personal nature that occurs during the week or after a game like that, it's something we want to do. But I think it's also part of the responsibility of being the coach. We have some of the same feelings as he does but those moments when players are hurt by what happened, it's when you're in that position of being in charge, it's incumbent upon you putting your feelings aside and offering the type of counsel that they need just as you would do within a family situation. But not be overbearing about it. Just let them know that you're there and that you care. Just let them handle sometimes just do -- that, and let them handle it in their own way.

QUESTION: When scouts come through, what position is Vic evaluated at?

COACH GROH: Well, probably I would say that they don't know. Each one's got a little different idea. Because you're going to get 32 different, maybe not 32, but a wide spread different set of ideas on a play like Vic has done. But the range of things that he's done has certainly helped his circumstances, because it's provided more options of which he can be evaluated. And just, you know, that's those teams business. We don't try to evaluate the players for them. We just answer the questions for them.

One of the reasons that we are so open about letting the NFL personnel people come in, one of the most open teams in the country is for players like that. You know, when Chris Long's here, and Eugene Monroe is here, and those kind of guys, they're going to make sure they do their due diligence on those players. But those players a little further down the line that the scouts only have a limited opportunity to be around, they don't have time to do their work on them. But know that they can be here as much as they need to be, that's when they find out about and can do a more complete report on those players.

We feel when those players give us everything they have and they still have dreams to go on, the least we can do is open the door and provide them as much opportunity to be evaluated. But we'll answer their questions and he they know that we're accessible to that. So Vic is one of those players that we've said the same thing about some other players.

One of them had 18 carries yesterday in Jason Snelling. I clearly remember just being able to say about Jason that, look, he may not be the most spectacular in any way. He's not the fastest or the tallest or the heaviest running back. He's just a really good player. What team wouldn't want a really good player?

Well, he's thought of very positively in Atlanta. The special teams captain, I guess Turner got hurt yesterday. Jason had 18 carries, 61 yards, nice day. So we say the same thing about Vic. He's just a good player. He blocks, he tackles, he catches, he runs, he covers kicks, he catches kicks. He does what football players do. He's not a specialist, he's a good football player.

QUESTION: When Mikell was injured, he had 149 all-purpose yards midway through the third quarter. What has happened to him since then? How much of an impact has that had on him?

COACH GROH: Yeah, it's hard to assess what impact it's had. What it did in so many circumstances, it just provided an opportunity for another player who has taken real good advantage of that opportunity. We see that Rashawn has taken advantage of that opportunity. He's run the ball well for the team. He's got a good feel for these runs. So it's provided the opportunity for him.

QUESTION: Do you sense that there's been a change in the way Mikell runs the ball since then?

COACH GROH: That would be a natural thing for anybody. I don't say it wouldn't be an unexpected thing for somebody who had been taken off the field on a board.

We thought in one of the first games that he was back that he didn't have quite the same abandon that he had before. You'd have to ask him that.

QUESTION: With all the injuries and close games, how tough has it been to coach this team?

COACH GROH: About the same as all the preceding ones. And I say this in a positive way. When you win, it's a grind. Okay, when you lose, it's a grind. You know, but it's positive. It's good. It's what we choose for it to be. You know. But to do 100 hours a week and go through the whole process again every week, there is no carry over.

You know, Boston College is over. You grade the film, you put it in the file, and you start the whole process over again. That's what we like to do. Okay. That's what we like to do. We enjoy getting ready for games. We enjoy teaching players. We enjoy the competition.

We do it all really the process is fun. The result is paramount. But the process is fun. So when I say it's a grind win or lose, it's the same deal. Every season is challenging in that respect. Every season has things to deal with. You know, every season you get guys hurt, that's why we don't make a big deal out of it. Sometimes it hurts your circumstances more than others.

But you can't choose what year you're going to make a big issue out of it. When you start making a big issue out of it, you create built in excuses for the players. Of you create built in excuses for yourself. You create -- I think you minimize your opportunity for players to think of themselves as the next man up because you're always talking about how hurt the team is because that guy's predecessor was gone. But what would you think, you know?

QUESTION: A lot of the coaches with pretty high career histories, you know, Bobby Bowden, and Pete Carroll got his butt handed to him twice in the last couple of weeks. But a lot of coaches that are really, really respected and having tough years, what does that maybe tell or should that tell you about college football in general and parity, maybe?

COACH GROH: I don't know if it's parity. But the wave like nature of the game. You know in so many circumstances the stream of talent doesn't flat line. Okay. It goes up, and then it goes down. And it goes up, and it goes down, you know. I don't know anything about what's going on with Stanford.

The only thing -- I don't know anything that's going on with them. Except I know they have a terrific quarterback, and they've got from what I've told, and I saw a little bit of them on TV in the hotel one Saturday when we played in the afternoon and Wake Forest was on; okay. I've seen -- I had no idea who this running back was; okay. I saw 7 or 8 carries that he had. And I'm not surprised the numbers that he's putting up because I saw him and I said, whoa, who is this guy? This guy is really good.

Anybody who has got that back is going to have a heck of a running game. Anybody that has that quarterback is going to have a real good passing game.

And so the way of probably doing really good efforts on their part. It wasn't just because of Santa Claus. But the wave of talent went up. So their talent level went up. It's up there right now, higher than it's been. Perhaps as good as USC is. Of perhaps it's not at the same level as it was in whatever, '07 or '08 when they sent something like 21 players to the NFL off those two teams.

That was an incredible accumulation of talent, no matter if it's USC, Texas or Ohio State. That was an incredible collection of talent in one place. There are not a lot of places in college football where it comes in at the same level. In fact, most places there is a bit of that. That's why it's important to put the players in position to make plays. But it just has all to do with those circumstances.

What's involved in the accumulation or acquisition of talent, there are a lot of different factors that are involved in that. So I think that certainly is a major factor in what you see in the unpredictability. It's the same thing you see in the NFL now. One of the intriguing things of the NFL is how teams rise and fall so fast.

Tennessee is on a three game winning streak, that makes them 3-16. Last year they were 13-3. With the most veteran coach in the NFL. Who is well accepted as being really good at his game, and they were 3-13 a few years ago they were 3-13. Last year they were 13-3. Then they went 0-3, 0-6, now they're 3-0. So Jeff Fisher is well respected as being on top of his game, and yet there is that kind of bounce.

So much of it has to do with those in their circumstance when it was some free agent acquisitions that spike the team a. I know they lost a terrific defensive player last year to free agency. Maybe that affected his team. I don't know. Some draft choices don't pan out; okay. Even though they might be a one or two selection just like some seven, eight, nine, and ten star players don't pan out like they were supposed to and a lesser guy does. You're dealing with people, and we know how unpredictable all of us are.

QUESTION: There were so many penalties in that game Saturday. With BC scoring both its touchdowns after interference penalties, with you having a touchdown called back by penalties, how do you address penalties with your players?

COACH GROH: Every week we talk about winning. We talk about things that make you win and cause you to lose. And we work off the same listing every week to see which was most significant in the game. But obviously certain things each week become more significant, following the Maryland game, what made us win? Took the ball away a substantial amount of times. That as much as anything else. William & Mary game, what caused us to lose? Was it bad tackling? No. Was it bad defense? No. Was it too many turnovers? Yes. So every week we've got something different that hopefully the team continues to learn from. And this particular week it was penalties. Okay. Penalties. There were an awful lot of things on this side of the scale that uplifted our team.

If there were just more things on this side that caused the scale to go that way. Okay on. We gave up points or we affected the scoreboard by some of those calls. In terms of the 180 or so plays that there were in the game, 150 or so plays, there weren't many of those. But it doesn't take many. At the wrong time it only takes one or two.

QUESTION: Is that a lot of bad decision-making or close calls?

COACH GROH: However closes the call is, players on the team have to understand every player is responsible for his own penalties. We coach them all the time. The players know what causes penalties. Whether we like it or not, we have officials in practice every day in training camp we have officials at practice every Wednesday. The penalties are called and pointed out to the players, so maybe the player doesn't think that's the way the play should be called, but it happens often enough they learn that's what they do call.

Okay, that's what they do call. So that's part of being a good player, understanding what causes penalties and how to avoid them. Because penalties greatly impact winning and losing. It's one of the things where we've gotten an edge in many tight games, and just some of the things were cited before.

Somebody said we won a lot of these kind of games two years ago. Minus a couple of those penalties, we would have won another close game --this game.

QUESTION: You've talked about the quarterback, kicker and defense, if you boil it down is quarterback the most important thing?

COACH GROH: Actually, if you'll check your notes I say every team needs a good quarterback, a good kicker and good defense. So it starts up on the top there. Sure, on every level. You just look and see.

QUESTION: One more. On that interception, Chris Cook seemed to have unbelievable determination. Like he wasn't going down. It was almost like the offense can't score, I'm going to score. Did you kind of sense that in watching the tape?

COACH GROH: I didn't interpret it the same way that you did. But we run that drill every day. Actually throw the ball out into that area of the field every day, so it lined up nicely. It doesn't often do that.

We got a couple of real good blocks on the play. But, yeah, and the drill is called "score drill." So it's when you catch the ball for the whole team to quickly transition into trying to be a scoring unit. So immediately when it was over I did think to myself the training kicked in. You know, it wasn't just Chris. Darren Childs had a great block, lot of guys were really running. The whole unit kicked into "let's try to turn this into a score."
 

Spiller a big play back
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: November 17, 2009
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Virginia will face one of the nation’s most underrated players this weekend when the Cavaliers venture to Death Valley.
C.J. Spiller just might be the most exciting football player in the ACC and it’s obvious why. He can kill you in so many ways.
He can run the ball. He can catch it. He can throw it. Oh, and he’s pretty darned good at returning kicks, too.
In fact, the Clemson back needs 140 all-purpose running yards to become only the fifth player in major college football history to reach 7,000 all-purpose yards. Just in case you’re wondering if he’ll make it, Spiller averages nearly 200 yards per game.
A unique player
In the Tigers’ lopsided win over N.C. State last Saturday, Spiller accounted for touchdowns three different ways. He threw a 17-yard scoring pass. He scored on a
17-yard run. He also caught a 34-yard scoring pass from quarterback Kyle Parker, becoming the first player in Clemson history to throw, catch and rush for a TD in the same game.
The Wolfpack was lucky that Spiller didn’t take back a kick on them while he was at it. He’s brought back three for scores this season and six for his career, which ties an NCAA record.
“He’s unique in his overall skill set,” Virginia coach Al Groh said at his weekly press conference Monday when Spiller’s skills came up. “He’s clearly a dynamic, hard-to-get-on-the- ground runner. His kick return record speaks for itself. He’s got two touchdown passes in his resume, one of which we witnessed.
“He’s got touchdown catches. He is the true all-purpose threat,” Groh continued. “...Maybe as great as we’ve seen in this conference for a long time.”
Heisman candidate?
Spiller truly is a big-play back. While the Tigers’ offense started slow this season, it has picked up dramatically in recent weeks during Clemson’s five-game winning streak.
During that short span, Spiller has emerged not only as a strong candidate for ACC offensive player of the year, but has recently become a blip on the Heisman Trophy watch. While it may be too much, too late for that award, it would be difficult to find a more dangerous or more exciting player in the country.
Consider that the Clemson senior has 20 career touchdowns of 50 yards or more, eight this season alone. He has made a play of at least 58 yards in eight of 10 games this season.
Spiller already owns 26 Tiger records.
The Clemson star was this writer’s preseason pick last season to take home the ACC’s player of the year award. When the Tigers’ offensive line struggled all of last season, it hurt Spiller’s and Clemson’s chances to make much noise.
However, nothing but a few nagging injuries have managed to slow him down so far this season.
Earlier this year, Clemson struggled to score offensive TDs and even some of the Tiger players were complaining that the offense had become too predictable, based solely on Spiller and former Fork Union Military Academy player Jacoby Ford getting all the touches.
Groh said he can’t blame Clemson for continuing to spoonfeed those two players.
The Virginia coach said that in his film study of Clemson that he noticed a change after the Tigers’ bye week, that things began to sync. After all, Clemson had new offensive coaches and a new quarterback trying to fit in.
“It probably took a lot of things just to get everything on the same page,” Groh said. “Obviously, when you do have players like Ford and Spiller, they should be featured. You know, they can’t maybe just overwhelm everything else, but by the same token, if you weren’t featuring them, then the question would be, ‘Why aren’t those two guys getting the ball as much as they should?’”
Spiller and Ford just became the NCAA’s greatest all-purpose yardage duo in history. They have combined for more than 10,000 yards for their careers, breaking the national all-purpose record previously held by Marshall Faulk and Darnay Scott of San Diego State in 1993.
In fact, Spiller automatically gives Clemson a big advantage with his kickoff returns, even when he doesn’t score.
The Tigers have an average starting field position after kickoffs on their own 39-yard line, a 15-yard difference between their starting field position and their opponents.
If Virginia can’t find a way to defend Mr. Everything, then it could be a very long day and a very slow demise in Death Valley come Saturday.
 

Life complicated for UVa’s Groh
By Jay Jenkins
Published: November 17, 2009
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His best defensive tackle now plays at Kansas State.
The expected quarterback of future takes classes at Oregon State.
His most talented wide receiver logs a handful of snaps with the Dallas Cowboys.
Other would-be impact players merely vanished in the night.
That revolving-door policy, among myriad other contributing factors, has made life complicated for Virginia coach Al Groh during the program’s worst slide in two decades.
Yet the current crop of Cavaliers, potentially headed for a three-win season, has not been tougher to coach than the previous eight models, the coach said.
“About the same as all the preceding ones, and I say this in a positive way,” he told reporters on Monday at John Paul Jones Arena. “When you win, it’s a grind. When you lose, it’s a grind. You know, but it’s positive. It’s good. It’s what we choose for it to be.
“But to do 100 hours a week and go through the whole process again every week, there is no
carry-over.”
That’s the only way for Groh to approach what appear to be the final two games at his alma mater on the heels of yet another home loss.
“Boston College is over. You grade the film, you put it in the file, and you start the whole process over again,” he said. “That’s what we like to do. We enjoy getting ready for games. We enjoy teaching players. We enjoy the competition.”
While a buyout may soon steal the headlines, the “process” of preparing for contests and
opponents — including Saturday’s foe, Clemson — is rewarding for the Groh and his assistants.
“The result is paramount, but the process is fun,” he said. “So when I say it’s a grind, win or lose, it’s the same deal. Every season is challenging in that respect.
“Every season has things to deal with. Every season you get guys hurt — that’s why we don’t make a big deal out of it. Sometimes it hurts your circumstances more than others, but you can’t choose what year you’re going to make a big issue out of it.”
Hall’s future a mystery
NFL scouts have long raved about the open-door policy to watch video of games and
practices at the University of Virginia.
It is not uncommon for scouts to camp out in Charlottesville for weeks.
Those scouts have certainly paid close attention to senior Vic Hall.
But where will the quarterback-turned-cornerback-turned-offensive playmaker be slotted by a professional team?
Based on the feedback that Groh has received, it likely depends on the source.
“Probably I would say that they don’t know,” the coach said. “Each one’s got a little different idea, because you’re going to get 32 different — maybe not 32, but a widespread different set of ideas — on a play like Vic has done, but the range of things that he’s done has certainly helped his circumstances because it’s provided more options of which he can be evaluated.”
Groh has been reluctant, of course, to offer his own opinion for where to place the Virginia native in training camp.
“We don’t try to evaluate the players for them,” he added. “We just answer the questions for them.”
As far as making his program accessible to the pro scouts, something other programs shy away from, Groh said it was only appropriate to help benefit the student-athletes individually for the future.
“We feel when those players give us everything they have and they still have dreams to go on, the least we can do is open the door and provide them as much opportunity to be evaluated,” he said. “But we’ll answer their questions and they know that we’re accessible to that.”
Dreadful at Scott Stadium
From the “Adventures of Cavman” to the raising of the orange “Power Flag,” nothing has seemed to help put Virginia over the top when playing at Scott Stadium this season.
The Cavaliers are, in fact, just 1-5 at home. It ranks among the worst figures in college football.
Why the drop-off?
“Talent,” Groh answered. “The most talented teams win most of the time.”
Sizing up Simpson
Virginia running back Mikell Simpson went from being a starter against Miami to an innocent bystander against Boston College.
The tailspin in a seven-day period likely stems from the neck injury that Simpson had against Indiana when he logged second-half carries in a lopsided game.
In noticeable fashion, Simpson has not run in his old manner.
“That would be a natural thing for anybody,” Groh said. “I don’t say it wouldn’t be an unexpected thing for somebody who had been taken off the field on a board.
“We thought in one of the first games that he was back that he didn’t have quite the same abandon that he had before. You’d have to ask him that.”
That will not be an option, however, per UVa policy, unless Simpson sees action in one of the final two games.
 

Versatility May Be Hall's Ticket to NFL
Nov. 16, 2009
4:42 p.m.

TAMPA, Fla. -- The men's basketball team's first road game of the season is about three hours away, at the nearby Sun Dome, and I've been in this city since last night.

That meant I had to miss Al Groh's weekly press conference in Charlottesville -- a first for me -- but I listened in by phone as the Cavaliers' ninth-year football coach touched on various topics over the course of about 50 minutes Monday.

One question concerned Vic Hall's NFL stock. At 5-9, 185 pounds, Hall is among the smallest players on the field at any time, but he's distinguished himself at cornerback, safety, quarterback and wide receiver during his college career.

Hall, who's competing as a graduate student, also has returned punts and been the holder on extra points and field goals.

Asked at which position NFL scouts are evaluating Hall, Groh said, "Well, probably I would say that they don't know. Each one's got a little different idea. Because you're going to get 32 different, maybe not 32, but a wide-spread different set of ideas on a player like Vic.

"But the range of things that he's done has certainly helped his circumstances, because it's provided more options of which he can be evaluated. And that's those teams' business. We don't try to evaluate the players for them. We just answer the questions for them."

Groh, who spent more than a decade on NFL coaching staffs, added: "One of the reasons that we are so open about letting the NFL personnel people come in -- one of the most open teams in the country -- is for players like that. You know, when Chris Long's here, and Eugene Monroe is here, and those kind of guys, [NFL teams are] going to make sure they do their due diligence on those players. But those players a little further down the line that the scouts only have a limited opportunity to be around, they don't have time to do their work on them. But they know that they can be here as much as they need to be, and that's when they find out about and can do a more complete report on those players.

"We feel when those players give us everything they have and they still have dreams to go on, the least we can do is open the door and provide them as much opportunity to be evaluated."

Groh compared Hall to a former UVa standout, Jason Snelling, who now plays running back for the Atlanta Falcons.

"I clearly remember just being able to say [to NFL scouts] about Jason, "Look, he may not be the most spectacular in any way. He's not the fastest or the tallest or the heaviest running back. He's just a really good player.' What team wouldn't want a really good player?" Groh said.

"So we say the same thing about Vic. He's just a good player. He blocks, he tackles, he catches, he runs, he covers kicks, he catches kicks. He does what football players do. He's not a specialist, he's a good football player."

-- Jeff White

 

Number of snaps wane for Simpson
Roanoke Times | Doug Doughty

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- After entering the season as Virginia's No. 1 running back and its top receiving threat out of the backfield, fifth-year senior Mikell Simpson didn't play a snap Saturday in a 14-10 loss to Boston College.

When the Cavaliers gave starter Rashawn Jackson rest, true freshman Perry Jones got the call.

Jones, who did not have a rushing attempt in UVa's first nine games, carried the ball four times for 2 yards Saturday.

Coach Al Groh said Simpson was available Saturday, but Jones' play in practice was responsible for a move up the depth chart.

Jones, from Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake, had played primarily on special teams.

Simpson hasn't been the same since an Oct. 10 game with Indiana, when he had 149 all-purpose yards before sustaining a neck injury in the third quarter.

He didn't play one week later at Maryland. In three subsequent games, he's had 18 carries for 39 yards and caught eight passes for 36 yards.

How much Simpson has been affected by the injury is hard to say.

"That would be a natural thing for anybody," Groh said. "Or should I say, it wouldn't be an unexpected thing for somebody who had been taken off the field on a board.

"We thought, in one of the first games that he was back, that he didn't have quite the same abandon that he had before."

The Cavaliers' leading ball-carrier for the season -- by a wide margin -- is quarterback Jameel Sewell. Sewell has 109 rushing attempts (that figure includes sacks), Jackson has 79 and Simpson has 66.

Simpson's injury "provided an opportunity for another player [Jackson] who has taken real good advantage of that opportunity," Groh said.

Jackson has rushed for 60 yards or more in five of the last six games. The exception came in UVa's 34-9 loss to Georgia Tech, when Jackson got one carry after 19 carries for 90 yards one week earlier at Maryland.

n Simpson has rushed for 1,074 yards in his career, more than half of it coming in a six-game span during the 2007 season. ... Virginia has had one 1,000-yard rusher in Groh's nine seasons, Alvin Pearman, who rushed for 1,037 yards in 2004. Predecessor George Welsh had nine 1,000-yard rushers, including eight between 1989-2000.

n Virginia is on a pace, with 266.7 yards per game in total offense, to have its worst showing since the Cavaliers' 1970 team amassed 266.5 yards per game. UVa has failed to average 300 yards per game in only three of 38 succeeding seasons. ... Only New Mexico State, among 120 Division I-A teams, is averaging fewer yards (232.5) than Virginia.

Post mortems

Groh said that Virginia's best chance to win Saturday might have come on a first-and-10 from the Boston College 21, when an Eagles' defensive back fell down and left UVa's Dontrelle Inman alone at the BC 4-yard line with less than a minute remaining. Sewell spotted Inman but whizzed a throw over his head.

n Both of Boston College's touchdowns Saturday followed pass-interference penalties on Virginia defensive backs and a would-be Virginia touchdown by punt-returner Vic Hall was nullified by a block in the back. UVa also was called for a roughing-the-kicker penalty that perpetuated a BC drive.

"Every player is responsible for his own penalties," Groh tells his teams.

"That's part of being a good player, understanding what causes penalties and how to avoid them. Somebody said we won a lot of these kinds of games two years ago.

"Minus a couple of those penalties, we would have won another close game this time."

Strange twist

UVa was on its second set of chains and first-down markers by the time officials called for a measurement following the Cavaliers' final offensive play Saturday.

The first set of chains was broken on a sideline play that also resulted in an injury to one of the chain-gang members. A replacement set was retrieved from Bryant Hall, the field house in the south end zone, but repairs were needed to those chains and a third set was on order by the time the game was continued.

Odds 'n' ends

Kickoff for the Cavaliers' season finale Nov. 28 against visiting Virginia Tech will be 3:30 p.m. ... UVa will end up with seven 3:30 p.m. games this year, including this Saturday's contest at Death Valley, where the Cavaliers (3-7, 2-4 ACC) will visit Atlantic Division-leading Clemson (7-3, 5-2).

Belichick and Groh share a mindset
Michael Phillips
Nov 16, 2009

Here’s the story that will appear in tomorrow’s T-D:

CHARLOTTESVILLE — At least one member of the Bill Parcells coaching tree wasn’t surprised when the New England Patriots went for it on fourth down Sunday night — after all, Al Groh has done the exact same thing.

Groh’s weekly press conference Monday was mostly uneventful, with no breaking news emerging and no players made available to reporters after a 14-10 loss that knocked the team out of contention for a bowl berth. But the coach was passionate as he discussed Bill Belichick’s big gamble.

As a coach, Groh can empathize with Belichick that if the fourth-and-two play was successful, the call would have been seen as genius, but since it failed, it was regarded as a foolish act of ego.

The U.Va. coach didn’t catch the finish live — he turned off the TV with the Patriots up two touchdowns in the final minutes. But he was filled in on the details Monday morning as he reported for work at 4:30 a.m. to prepare for this Saturday’s game against Clemson.

While he and Belichick only worked together for a few years, in Cleveland, the two are both associated with Parcells and share a lot of the same philosophies — something that has been evident when Groh was in similar situations.

Coaching the then-No. 25 Cavaliers in 2005, his team was tied 24-24 at Syracuse in the fourth quarter, as the Orangemen had scored 10 fourth-quarter points.

Virginia had the ball fourth-and-1 on the Syracuse 10-yard line and slightly over one minute remaining on the clock. Instead of attempting the field goal to take the lead, Groh opted for a handoff to Chesterfield’s Jason Snelling, who picked up five yards.

The clock ran down, the Cavs hit the winning field goal as time expired, and Groh quoted a Tom Cruise classic in the postgame, according to the Times-Dispatch’s account.

“You guys ever see the movie Risky Business?” he asked reporters. “Sometimes you just gotta say .¤.¤. what the heck.”

It wasn’t the first time he had found success with the move. Groh reminisced yesterday about a 1986 Wake Forest home game against Georgia Tech, which turned out to be his final one as coach.

This time it was fourth-and-1 from the team’s own 20-yard line, and the Demon Deacons were trying to run out the clock — virtually identical to the situation Belichick was in Sunday night.

The offense came to the line, barked to try to draw an offsides penalty, then converted the first down.

“We never wanted to take a delay penalty and then punt,” Wake Forest quarterback Jamie Harris told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We wanted to go for the first down.”

Those close calls can define seasons, but they also work the other way, as the Cavs learned Saturday when they came a couple chain links short of converting a crucial late-game first down.

Groh brought that up to his team Sunday, saying, as he did after the game, that regardless of the outcome of that one key play, he still thought his team played a strong game overall against the Eagles — the same thing he would have felt if the play had worked.

“It would have affected everybody’s perception of how the team played,” he said. “The team played the same game, but with heartache. If we had completed that pass, we would have played the same game with joy.”

That’s something that Groh and Belichick can both agree on, after a weekend where the spot didn’t go their way.

The perfect storm
Dan Stalcup, Cavalier Daily Columnist
Sports
November 17, 2009 0

Unless you have some combination of the powers of teleportation and time travel, chances are you missed at least some parts of the monumental games and competitions this past weekend.
And that’s a shame — Friday, Saturday and Sunday were one of the most remarkable weekends in recent Virginia sports history.

Here’s an hour-by-crazy-hour account of those incredible three days for those of us who don’t drive DeLoreans.

Friday, 5 p.m.: At University Park, Pa., the unranked women’s soccer team takes on St. John’s in the first round of nationals. In 110 minutes, through two overtimes, the teams remain scoreless as the Virginia defense shuts down St. John’s so that goalie Chantel Jones needs only two saves to shut out the Red Storm.

Keep in mind that the Cavaliers faced a similar situation in the opening round of the ACC Tournament against Boston College. But while Virginia lost in penalty kicks against the Eagles, it tops St. Johns 3-1 to survive and advance to the second round.

Friday, 5:30 p.m.: The No. 6 men’s soccer team kicks off against No. 3 Wake Forest in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. Not unlike the women’s game which started a half hour before, the men’s struggle goes through two halves and two overtimes without a score.

In penalty kicks, both the Cavaliers and the Deacons net four of their first five goals, but Neil Barlow scores and Diego Restrepo makes a game-winning save to move Virginia into the ACC Championship.

Friday, 7 p.m.: Virginia coach Debbie Ryan and the women’s basketball team overcome an error-riddled performance and win in Baltimore against UMBC 68-57.

The game itself is pretty unremarkable, but the win gives Ryan 700 career wins, a historic mark that puts the Hall of Famer in a class of only 12 total coaches.

Friday, 7 p.m.: Meanwhile, the men’s basketball team kicks off a new era with Tony Bennett’s first home game. The game is an unexciting win against Longwood but is certainly a landmark moment for the team, and one that will become particularly meaningful if Bennett becomes the long-term solution here.

Saturday, 11:30 a.m.: Ranked No. 2 in the nation, the field hockey team opens the NCAA Tournament at Turf Field against Richmond. The Spiders put the Cavaliers on upset alert by not allowing a goal in the first half, but Tara Puffenberger’s goal at 38:09 puts Virginia up for good and the Cavaliers advance to the quarterfinals, winning 3-0.

Saturday, 11:15 p.m.: Virginia’s hilltoppers head to Louisville for the Southeast Regional — the women, as reigning champs. Though neither team wins its race, junior Catherine White takes the individual gold, the first time a Cavalier has won a regional title. Both No. 19 teams ultimately secure a bid at nationals — the women with an automatic berth after finishing regional runner-up and the men through an at-large bid.

Saturday, 3:30 p.m.: The football team suffers a loss by literally inches as Boston College stops the Cavaliers from gaining a first down on fourth and one with Virginia 12 yards shy of a game-winning touchdown. The Eagles win 14-10. On the bright side, warm weather helps spike the attendance to 44,324, stopping the streak of decreasing attendance at home games this season.

Saturday, 7 p.m.: Seniors Brittani Rendina, Lauren Dickson, and Tara Hester bid adieu to the volleyball team with a dramatic and heartbreaking 3-1 loss to Duke.

The Cavaliers won the first set 26-24 against the Blue Devils, who are second in the ACC while Virginia sits tied for eighth. Duke reclaims control of the game with a 25-27 second set win, then takes the third. Although Virginia comes storming back in the fourth set, Duke manages to clinch a narrow victory.

Sunday, 9 a.m.: The Rivanna Romp in Charlottesville hosts a trifecta of Cavalier women’s rowing victories as the Virginia varsity eight, novice eight and double each top various opponents from up and down the East Coast.

Sunday, noon: The No. 17 wrestling team competes in a triple-header at the ACC Challenge in Chapel Hill, N.C. and wins all three bouts — two of them in historic fashion. A 20-19 win against No. 16 American marks the first program’s first-ever victory against a ranked team, while a 50-0 victory against Gardner-Webb goes in the books as the fifth largest margin of victory in program history.

Sunday, 1 p.m.: This is when things really started getting good. The women’s soccer team falls behind Penn State 0-2 before going on a jaw-dropping six-goal run in 20 minutes during the second half. The 6-2 victory by unranked Virginia against the No. 9 Nittany Lions advances the Cavaliers to the Sweet Sixteen for the fifth time in as many years.

Sunday, 1 p.m.: Not to be outdone by the women, the men’s soccer team holds on to a 1-0 lead from the 16th minute onward against No. 20 N.C. State to win the conference title for the first time in a half-decade. Restrepo is named the tournament MVP as he shuts out the Cavaliers’ opponent for the eighth straight game. Of all the big moments this weekend, the men’s soccer team’s ACC Championship might be the biggest.

Sunday, 2 p.m.: In only its second game of the season, the Virginia women’s basketball team gets a snapshot of just how dominant Monica Wright could be this year. Wright shuts down the upset-hungry Lady Jaspers of Manhattan by going 10-for-10 in the second half for a cool 25 points in the closing period.

Sunday, 2:00 p.m.: Eyeing a potential third battle with No. 1 Maryland in the NCAA Championship game, the field hockey team tops No. 6 Michigan State 3-2 in overtime and advances to the national semifinals for the first time in more than a decade. The team’s 20th victory marks the most wins in a single season in program history. Virginia will next take on North Carolina yet again in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Phew. Hope you soaked all of that in. No matter how you spin it, this past weekend was one to remember. Just don’t blink; with every fall team — other than football — still alive for a national title and most of them playing next weekend — not to mention the looming women’s basketball team’s bout with Tennessee at JPJ Sunday at 2 p.m. — there’s a chance next week could be even better.

Virginia Earns No. 2 Seed at 2009 NCAA Tournament
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 11/16/2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The Virginia men's soccer team earned the No. 2 overall seed at the 2009 NCAA Tournament and will face either Princeton or Bucknell in the second round on Sunday, Nov. 22, at 1 p.m. at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers are one of 16 top seeds to receive a first-round bye.

Ticket prices are $9 for reserved tickets, $7 for adult general admission tickets and $5 for youth and students of participating schools. Parking is $5 at the University Hall lot. The Virginia Athletics Ticket Office will take phone orders beginning on Tuesday, Nov. 17. Please call (800) 542-UVA1 for tickets.

Virginia (14-3-3) is making its 29th-straight NCAA appearance since 1981, which is the longest active streak in the nation. The Cavaliers won the ACC Championship on Sunday afternoon (Nov. 15), defeating NC State 1-0 for the conference crown.

It was the first ACC title for the Cavs since 2004, the fourth under head coach George Gelnovatch and 10th overall for UVa.

"One of our goals for this season was to win the ACC Championship and by doing so we were rewarded with a top four seed," Gelnovatch said. "We love playing at home, and we have a lot of things heading in the right direction with this team. We are playing well and we are relatively healthy, we just need to stay focused."

Virginia will play the winner of the first-round match-up between Princeton (9-5-3) and Bucknell (16-5-0), being played Thursday, Nov. 19 at 7 p.m.

Virginia has won five NCAA Championships (1989, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1994). The Cavaliers hold an overall 47-25-4 record in NCAA Tournament play.