White: Greetings from Cancun
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 11/23/2009
By Jeff White

CANCUN, Mexico -- On the bus ride Sunday afternoon from the airport to our elegant accomodations -- the impossibly vast Moon Palace Resort -- the first commercial establishment I saw was a 7-Eleven.
Welcome to Mexico, huh?
The Wahoos are south of the border, and they're not alone. Also here for the Cancun Challenge are the men's basketball teams from Kentucky, Stanford, Cleveland State, Oral Roberts, Rider, Florida A&M and Sam Houston State.
A couple of UVa fans spotted the players -- and cheered -- as the team waited in line to register at the hotel Sunday. Without question, though, the dominant color here is not orange, but blue.
Kentucky blue.
Turn in any direction in the lobby, and you'll see UK fans. And more UK fans.
The "gym" in which the games will be played, starting Tuesday, is actually in the heart of the hotel, and when I stopped by Sunday evening there were a couple dozen UK fans waiting outside the closed doors of the converted ballroom, hoping one of their heroes would emerge for a handshake and quick photo.
The Cavaliers may see plenty of the Wildcats before this event ends. If the 'Hoos beat Stanford on Tuesday, they would face the UK-Cleveland State winner Wednesday night.
Check my blog for updates on the team's Cancun experience. As much as we might like to spend all our waking hours by the water here, it's a business trip of sorts for the traveling party.
Under NCAA rules, a team must take a day off occasionally, and Tony Bennett gave his players Sunday to acclimate themselves to their new surroundings. The Cavaliers will practice Monday afternoon. A banquet for all the teams will be Monday night.
For UVa, 10 scholarship players are on the trip, plus walk-on forward Will Sherrill, whose value to the team seems to be growing with each game.
Seniors Jamil Tucker and Solomon Tat are back home in Charlottesville. Tucker is still on a personal leave of absence, and Tat, a native of Nigeria, doesn't travel out of the United States because of his visa status.
UVa's first two games in the Cancun Challenge were held in the distinctly American setting of John Paul Jones Arena. In the first, the 'Hoos whipped Rider 79-46. In the second, Virginia beat Oral Roberts 76-55, in part because of the dominance of junior forward Mike Scott (15 points, 10 rebounds) in the post.
The win over ORU improved the Cavaliers' record to 3-1. The 'Hoos, their new coach said Thursday night, are taking baby steps, and that's fine with him.
"My big challenge to them is, just don't go back to ground zero," Bennett said. "There might be some setbacks, but let's just make sure we're inching the right way, and keep knocking, that's our big thing, and see if we can push that door open."
Bennett is more familiar with Stanford than his players are. He came to UVa last spring from Washington State, where his teams went 2-5 against the Cardinal.


 

Cavaliers Play Stanford In Cancun Challenge On Tuesday
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 11/23/2009

Senior Jerome Meyinsse has started Virginia's last two games. He is averaging 3.8 points and 3.5 rebounds a game for the season.

CANCUN, Mexico—The Virginia men’s basketball team meets Stanford on Tuesday (Nov. 24) in the Cancun Challenge at the Moon Palace Resort. The game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Eastern time.

The game will be carried on the Virginia Sports Radio Network and will be televised by CBS College Sports.

The Stanford game is the first of two in Cancun for the Cavaliers. UVa will play either Cleveland State or Kentucky on Wednesday (Nov. 25).

The Cavaliers have won their last two games, including a 76-55 victory over Oral Roberts at John Paul Jones Arena last Saturday (Nov. 21), and are now 3-1 on the season. Stanford enters Tuesday’s game with a record of 2-2.

Virginia has held its last two opponents under 34 percent shooting from the field. Rider shot 33.3 percent (17-51) from the field in a 79-46 loss to the Cavaliers on Nov. 19 and Oral Roberts shot just 32.1 percent (18-56) in its loss to UVa.

Junior forward Mike Scott had team-high totals of 15 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Cavaliers in their victory over Oral Roberts. It was Scott’s second double-double of the season and the 12th of his Virginia career.

Three other players scored in double figures for UVa against the Golden Eagles. Sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg scored 14 points, while junior guard Mustapha Farrakhan and sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski each scored 13 points.

Sophomore center Assane Sene played in his first game of the season against Oral Roberts. Sene scored a career-high eight points and had seven rebounds in 13 minutes of action before fouling out of the game. He was suspended by head coach Tony Bennett for the first three games of the season for “conduct detrimental to the team.”
Landesberg leads the Cavaliers in scoring with an average of 15.3 points a game. Scott, Farrakhan and Zeglinski are also averaging in double figures in scoring. Scott is averaging 13.3 points a game and leads the team in rebounds with an average of 9.3 per game. He is also shooting 60.5 percent (23-38) from the field. Farrakhan and Zeglinski are both averaging 10.3 points a game. Farrakhan leads the team in assists with 12 (average of 3.0 a game) and Zeglinski is shooting 56.3 percent (9-16) from three-point range.
Virginia's starting lineup the last two games has consisted of Farrakhan, Landesberg, Scott, Zeglinski and senior forward/center Jerome Meyinsse. Meyinsse is averaging 3.8 points and 3.5 rebounds a game for the season.

Stanford leads the series with Virginia 5-1 and the Cardinal have won the last four games in the series. Stanford defeated the Cavaliers 76-75 in Charlottesville during the 2006-07 season in the last game between the two teams. That loss was the first for UVa in John Paul Jones Arena.

The Cardinal opened the 2009-10 season with a 77-64 loss at San Diego before returning home for three consecutive games. Stanford defeated Cal Poly 70-53, lost to Oral Roberts 83-81 and defeated Florida A&M 99-69.

Senior guard/forward Landry Fields leads Stanford in scoring and rebounding. Fields is averaging 22.5 points and 8.3 rebounds a game for the Cardinal. He is shooting 41.7 percent from three-point range and has scored more than 20 points in three of Stanford’s four games.

Also averaging in double figures in scoring for the Cardinal are sophomore guard Jeremy Green and senior guard Drew Shiller. Green is averaging 14.8 points and Shiller 10.3 points a game. Sophomore guard Jarrett Mann is averaging 8.8 points per game and leads Stanford in assists with 25 (6.3 assists a game).

Johnny Dawkins, who played at Duke and was a long-time assistant to Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski, is in his second season as the head coach of the Cardinal. Stanford compiled a 20-14 record last season.

Cavs play final matches of Challenge this week
No. 5 Kentucky or Cleveland State will face team in Cancun following tomorrow’s game against Stanford
Jack Bird, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor
Men's Basketball / Sports
November 24, 2009 0

Virginia will travel to Cancun during Thanksgiving Break to play its final two games of the Cancun Challenge. After having defeated Rider and Oral Roberts at John Paul Jones Arena last week, the Cavaliers will face Stanford tomorrow and then either Cleveland State or Kentucky on Wednesday.

Which team Virginia will face later in the week is dependent on which of the four teams emerge with wins tomorrow. The winner of the Virginia-Stanford game will play the winner of the Kentucky-Cleveland State game, while the losers of those two games will meet in a final match Wednesday.

The Cardinal are coming off a 99-69 rout of Florida A&M and will look to improve their current .500 record with a win against Virginia (3-1, 0-0).

“We are going to watch film on them and see what they are all about,” sophomore guard Sammy Zeglinski said. “We are going to go in there and keep playing the way we’ve been playing defensively and try to compete.”

If the Cavaliers wish to continue their success at the Cancun Challenge, they must contain sophomore guard Jeremy Green, who scored a season-high 21 points while grabbing eight boards and going four-for-seven from beyond the arc in the Cardinal’s victory against Florida A&M.

Against Oral Roberts last week, the Cavaliers had trouble containing the three and allowed the Golden Eagles to shoot 7-for-11 from long distance in the first half. In the second period, though, Virginia clamped down and held its opponent to 0-for-6 on three-point attempts — a change partially effected by the addition of sophomore center Assane Sene to the lineup.

“That’s where I thought [Sene] helped us, is where we didn’t have to trap the post,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “We could play a little more one on one in the post and stay at home on shooter.”

Sene, who was suspended the first three games of the season for conduct detrimental to the team, saw limited playing time as a result of both a sprained ankle suffered in practice and foul trouble. Nevertheless, in only 13 minutes he posted seven rebounds and a career-high eight points, while bolstering the Cavaliers’ defense in the paint.

Against Stanford, Sene must try to avoid his seemingly persistent foul trouble, so that Virginia’s frontcourt can do its best to contain senior forward Landry Fields. Fields, who posted his sixth career double-double in Stanford’s game against Florida A&M, will try to capitalize on his overall athleticism and versatility off the dribble against the Cavaliers.

“They’ve got a very fine player in Landry Fields,” Bennett said. “He’s terrific. I watched the Stanford game — they were off in the game that I watched them. They are capable. They sometimes use four guards. They’ll be solid. Hopefully, we’ll play a solid brand of basketball.”

After its game against Stanford, Virginia will play the winner of the Kentucky-Cleveland State game the very next day.

“I almost feel like an NBA team [having] as many games as we are playing with not a lot of rest,” Bennett said. “So we will hopefully be energized.”

A lack of downtime, though, might seem like only a slight obstacle in comparison should Virginia face Kentucky. The No. 5 Wildcats possess a level of all-around talent and quickness that the Cavaliers have yet to encounter this season, and are expected to easily make their way past Cleveland State.

“They’re definitely going to be the best team we’ve played so far,” sophomore guard Sylven Landesberg said. “What we’ve been doing is great, but for a team like Kentucky, we’re definitely going to have to step it up another level.”

Kentucky is not only the best team Virginia would play thus far, but also currently the highest ranked team on the squad’s entire schedule. With the Cavaliers’ ACC schedule still weeks away, a showdown with the Wildcats could be an early opportunity for the Cavaliers to gauge where they stand in relation to the nation’s most recognizable teams.

Virginia, Stanford cross paths again
By Whitey Reid
Published: November 24, 2009
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In a way, Virginia can thank Stanford for Tony Bennett’s decision to leave Washington State and come to Charlottesville.

Just after accepting the job, Bennett said that a big reason he decided to uproot was because of Virginia’s potential to be an East Coast version of Stanford. That is to say, a university with both strong academics and basketball.

“I saw what Mike Montgomery did at Stanford,” said Bennett, referring to the former Cardinal coach at his introductory press conference in April, “and I think the kind of student-athletes you can get in here are going to be the fun kind to coach. So, that was kind of the decision.”

Tonight, Virginia (3-1) takes on Stanford in the first of two games being played in Cancun, Mexico at the Cancun Challenge. Kentucky and Cleveland State meet in the other game in the bracket. The winners and losers will play each other on Wednesday.

After his team’s win over Oral Roberts on Saturday, Bennett said his squad wasn’t even thinking about the possibility of playing No. 5 Kentucky in the second game.

“All we’re worried about right now is Stanford,” Bennett said. “I’m pretty familiar with [Stanford swingman] Landry Fields. He is terrific.

“I watched the Stanford game [against Oral Roberts] and they were a bit off in that game, but they’re capable. They’ll be solid. They’re used to playing against good teams and hopefully we’ll play a solid brand of basketball.”

The Cardinal (2-2) lost to the University of San Diego and Oral Roberts before bouncing back with a win over Florida A&M on Saturday.

Since Montgomery left Stanford for the greener pastures of the NBA after the 2003-04 season, the Cardinal has made the NCAA tournament three times, qualifying for the NIT and the CBI the other two seasons.

Stanford, led by coach Trent Johnson, beat Virginia at home in Palo Alto, Calif., at the 2006 NIT, former UVa coach Dave Leitao’s first year at the helm.

The next season, the Cardinal, behind 7-foot twins Brook and Robin Lopez, went 18-13 and qualified for the NCAA tournament. One of the Cardinal’s wins came against Virginia in Charlottesville. It was UVa’s first and only loss at John Paul Jones Arena that season.

In 2007-08, Stanford made a lot of noise, going 28-8 and making the Sweet 16. After the season, Johnson left to become the coach at LSU and the Lopez brothers bolted for the NBA.

In came new coach Johnny Dawkins, who had been Mike Krzyzewski’s right-hand man at Duke for the better part of a decade. Dawkins went 20-14 in his first season last year and guided the Cardinal to the semifinals of the CBI.

Dawkins and Bennett are no strangers to each other. They split two meetings last year when Bennett was at WSU.

After a disappointing loss at South Florida eight days ago, Bennett’s new team has responded with solid home wins over Rider and Oral Roberts.

Now, it’s time to see what they can do south of the border.

“I’ve never been to a place like Cancun,” said Virginia guard Sammy Zeglinski. “The only place I’ve been to out of the country is Canada, so it’s going to be nice.

“But at the same time, we’ve got Stanford ... they’re a good team. We’re going to have to come ready to play. It’s definitely a business trip. We’ve just got to keep playing defensively the way we’ve been playing.”

Dunks

Tonight’s game is the seventh all-time meeting between Virginia and Stanford, with the Cardinal leading the series 5-1. The Cardinal have won the last four games in the series, including a 76-75 win in 2006-07, Virginia’s first defeat in John Paul Jones Arena. ... Bennett was 2-5 vs. Stanford while at Washington State.
 

Fifth-year seniors on going out with Groh, uncut
Michael Phillips
Nov 23, 2009

Here’s the extended version of the story that will run in tomorrow’s Times-Dispatch, with bonus quotes at the end:

CHARLOTTESVILLE – When Nate Collins heard some of Virginia’s players start discussing their plans for Christmas, he gathered the captains together to address the team.

“They can worry about that in a week,” the senior defensive lineman said. “We aren’t going to accept anyone just moping around and basically giving up on the team. We have more to do, and we’re still trying to win as many football games as we can.”

For Collins and the other seniors, it’s easy to find motivation this week. Not only is it their last college game, but they’re likely to go out with the only head coach they’ve known.

Al Groh is in his ninth season, and can remember meeting with the current group of seniors seven years ago when they were high school juniors. Linebacker Denzel Burrell said it’s hard to ignore the talk of an impending coaching change.

“As much as you try to avoid it as a player, I turn on the television, I read the newspapers and things like that,” he said. “For all the things he’s done here over the years helping me and the other players, it really does kind of suck to hear the things that may happen.”

Aaron Clark was another senior who spoke to reporters as part of the team’s weekly press conference yesterday. He said he’s been impressed by the team’s heart, as the Cavs continue to fight and play close games despite a five-game losing streak. He encouraged the younger players to internalize their experiences this year for the future.

Freshman running back Perry Jones said that among the group of players who just arrived, the year will serve as motivation.

“There’s been a lot of true freshmen that played this year,” he said. “So we’re going into next year saying we don’t want another season like this year.”

Aside from the obvious motivation of never having beaten the Hokies, some Cavs are also still playing to increase their standing with NFL scouts. Groh said that when he arrived in his office yesterday morning, there were bagels waiting from one scout, who had arrived to watch video of the team’s performances.

“I think a lot of guys here have a chance to go to the next level,” Collins said. “And it’s solely because of him. So we wish him the best of luck next year.”

Groh is a rarity among college coaches these days, in that he’s been able to see the players he’s recruited as high school juniors now graduate as fifth-year seniors. It’s a claim that a U.Va. coach won’t be able to make for another seven years.

In particular, Groh said he was proud of the community that’s been established, citing players like Chris Long and Jason Snelling returning to visit the team during their NFL bye weeks. Groh said that over a seven-year period, he got to know those players more deeply than those he just had for a couple years.

“I think we understand each other more deeply,” he said. “We appreciate each other in a way that it would be difficult for somebody who’s just been here six months to be at the same level.”

For those players, they can think of no more fitting way to send off that coach than with a rivalry victory on Saturday.

After the loss that knocked the Cavs out of bowl contention, Collins and his housemates, four other U.Va. defenders, said that they were going to make this weekend’s game their bowl game.

“Yeah, we might not have a bowl game,” he said. “But we feel like beating Virginia Tech would be better than winning any six-win bowl we were going to end up in anyway.”

That’s the message the captains have been communicating to their teammates ever since.

“If you want to tuck your tail and hang your head and go pout in the corner, then go do it,” Aaron Clark told the players. “But you’re not going to do it as part of this team.”

——————-

Today’s media crowd was a big one as most of the team’s seniors who play significant minutes addressed the media. Here were their thoughts on staying motivated to the end of the season, and Groh’s departure.

Vic Hall: “Theres nothing out there for us after this in college football. It’s the biggest game of our career.“

Aaron Clark on Groh: “We as players choose not to get involved in that. He’s smart, he’s schooled in this world of coaching and jobs and everything like that. So no matter what happens, he’ll be successful in whatever he does. All we can do is play our hearts out for him, and that’s what we do every week.

Clark on the losing streak: “Pretty much everybody at some point in their life has gone through a losing streak in some sport. A lot of athletes know how to go through it, but college football is taxing. The practices, meetings, everything that goes along with it. It’s one of those things where you’ve got to keep everybody focused. You tell them keep grinding, keep pushing, good things will come out of it. If not this year, you’ll use the experiences from this year and use them to help you win games later on.“

Denzel Burrell on Groh: “It’s definitely difficult on the players and everything, since as much as you try to avoid it as a player I turn on the television, I read the newspapers and things like that. but you know at the same time we just want to keep fighting and get this win, because we know how big a win this would be, not only for us players, but for the coaches. i defintely put even more into this to try to win it for coach and everything, for all he’s done here over the years helping me and all the other players here. It really does kind of suck to hear things that may happen, and definitely on our part we’re doing everything we can to help get the win.“

Groh on the seniors (from Sunday): “It’s not just the time they’re here. That recruiting sometimes happens for a good portion of time before they get here. So a lot of times it’s a 6, 7 year relationship that you’ve had with a player, and that relationship certainly grows and changes as time goes on. I would say my relationship with the fifth-year seniors is different than the one it is with the first-year players. I think we understand each other more deeply, we appreciate each other in a way that it would be difficult that somebody who’s just been here six months to be at the same level. That’s why its been a lot of fun when during the bye weeks players like Clint and Chris and Jason Snelling have been back. And now we’ve gone through two full cycles of players we’ve been with their entire year.“

Nate Collins on Groh (from Saturday): “It’s great having coach Groh. He’s a great guy and a great coach and I think a lot of guys are tipping our hats to him, the way we’re playing and the way we’ve grown over the past couple years into the players we are now, it has a lot to do with him. I think that a lot of guys here have a chance to go to the next level, and its solely because of him. So we wish him the best of luck next year.“

Beamer wary of Cavaliers

BLACKSBURG -- The oddsmakers have established Virginia Tech as a hefty 13-point road favorite over Virginia in Saturday's regular-season finale.

That said, don't even mention the betting spread to Frank Beamer. Frankly, Tech's football coach doesn't want to hear it.

"The old saying that you can throw the record books out for a game like this, and I think you can," Beamer said Monday. "You look at last year [a 17-14 Tech victory in Blacksburg] and that was a four-quarter game, and we were lucky to win that thing. We're playing at their place and know we'd better get ready to play our very, very best."

Certainly, both teams are heading in opposite directions.

The 14th-ranked Hokies (8-3, 5-2 ACC) have won three straight games, and with a victory Saturday and a triumph in their bowl game, will finish with a sixth consecutive double-digit win season that would likely vault them into the Top 10 in the final polls. Meanwhile, Virginia (3-8, 2-5) has lost five straight and will be looking to avoid its first nine-loss season in 27 years.

Tech has thoroughly dominated the series lately, winning the past five meetings and nine of the past 10. The average score in those 10 games: Tech 28.9, UVa 14.8.

After his Tech clubs started 1-5 vs. UVa, Beamer is 12-4 since. That includes a 7-1 mark against the Cavaliers under Al Groh, who may be coaching his final game at UVa.

"Oh, we've just been on a good run," responded Beamer, when asked how he accounts for his success against Groh. "Some good players, been on a good run, and that's the way it is in sports, I think.

"Certainly, they do things right up at Virginia. I've got respect for their program, I've got a lot of respect for Al and for their coaching staff. We've just been fortunate.

"But I don't think that has anything to do with this Saturday. I think it's a different year, different teams, different personnel, and we'd better get ready to play."

Tech's three-point victory last year at Lane Stadium has been the only contest in the past 10 meetings decided by less than 12 points. The Hokies trailed 14-7 at halftime.

"I think you just put on the video from last year," Beamer said. "It's going to get down to being a battle. They've had some tough luck, but I know how they're going to play this week so we'd better get ready to play ourselves."

Defense on roll

Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster predicted at midseason that his unit would improve the rest of the way. Well, he was right.

The Hokies have held foes to 252.7 yards per game in their current three-game winning streak. The hot run has vaulted Tech to 13th in the country in total defense (300.5 ypg). The Hokies also rank 13th in scoring defense (13 ppg), 10th in passing defense (165.2) and sixth in pass defense efficiency. Tech's defensive numbers could get another strong booster shot against an UVa attack that ranks 118th in total offense.

And the offense ...

Meanwhile, the unit of oft-maligned Tech offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring has started to make an upturn in the numbers game.

The Hokies have averaged 420 yards in the three-game run and rank 60th in the nation in total offense (379.6). While it's not eye-popping by any means, it's a vast improvement from the past three seasons in which Tech's offense has ranked 99th or worse in the department. Tech ranks 18th in rushing (198.1) and 37th in scoring (30.45).

Sports columnist Aaron McFarling: Oh, to dream
By Aaron McFarling

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The dream never materialized here Monday.

The dream? Al Groh walks into his weekly press conference, sits down, clears his throat and begins:

"Thank you all for coming," he says. "Athletic director Craig Littlepage and I had a discussion this morning and have agreed that this will be my final game as coach at Virginia. Circumstances dictate that this will be last I'll say about that until after Saturday.

"Now. Questions about the Virginia Tech matchup?"

How appropriate would that have been? Granted, we're working under the assumption that this will be the last game for him.

At this point, that's sort of like working under the assumption that Jupiter is not made of Laffy Taffy. The Cavaliers, at best, will finish 4-8. More likely they'll be 3-9. Attendance has reached critical lows. The fan base is fed up.

The assumption is safe.

If only they'd just say it, put it in black and white, silence all the speculation. There's no better time to do that than right now. While program outsiders would continue to prod for answers -- Whose decision was it? Who will be the next coach? -- the benefits of such a move would be felt Saturday when the Cavaliers face the Hokies.

For one thing, Groh could get the send-off he deserves. And no matter what you think of him, an alumnus who has spent nine seasons guiding the biggest sport on campus does deserve some sort of positive goodbye.

Odds are he'd get it, win or lose, if people knew this was officially the end for him.

More importantly, perhaps the Cavs would get that extra modicum of motivation that would help them beat their in-state rivals for the first time in their last six tries.

From all indications, the majority of these UVa players like and respect Groh. They have to know that they've been playing for his job all year.

We've seen how that's gone.

Why not give them one game where they're simply playing for Groh the man and not Groh the Virginia employee?

And the fans -- oh, how they'd benefit from some sort of announcement.

If you think Scott Stadium is going to be hopping Saturday, just imagine how electric it would be without the inner struggle that has raged inside so many this season, with half of their hearts wanting victory and the other half hoping things get bad enough to force a change.

Alas, Monday's Groh press conference hardly resembled the dream. It resembled ... well, a Groh press conference. Groh wore a black mock turtleneck, a brown jacket and an intermittent smile as he joked with reporters.

He praised the playmakers on the Hokies, lauded his senior class, talked about leadership, and desire and effort.

When asked about his job status, Groh repeated a familiar mantra.

"It's really not about me," he said. "It's about the team, and it's about the players."

Right. And that new movie "Ninja Assassin" is not really about a ninja assassin; it's actually about an elderly woman's search for true love.

Of course this is about Al. This whole UVa season has been about Al. The only way to turn that negative into a positive would be for the university to remove the albatross.

But Groh can't be blamed for taking the position he has. Groh is a lot of things, but he's not a quitter.

So this really needed to come from somebody above him, somebody who could see the big picture, somebody who could identify the benefits of such an announcement for the team, the fans, and even Groh himself.

UVa apparently doesn't have that person.

Oh, well. A man can dream.

Facing Hokies is bowl for Cavs
By Norm Wood | 247-4642
November 24, 2009

CHARLOTTESVILLE - After last Saturday's unsuccessful trip to Clemson, Virginia's players started talking about how this weekend's game against No. 14 Virginia Tech would be equivalent to a bowl game, considering U.Va.'s chances for a real bowl game were shot by the middle of the month.

Though none of U.Va.'s players publicly stated it, they also could gather motivation for Saturday's rivalry matchup as a sort of farewell game for coach Al Groh.

Despite the prospects of a loss to Tech (8-3 overall, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) sending U.Va. to its worst season winning percentage since it went 2-9 in 1982, and the fact Groh and his staff appear destined to be cleaning out their Charlottesville offices in short order, Groh said he hasn't sensed any quit in his players' approach. That sentiment was repeated Monday from the mouths of several Cavaliers.

"We as players choose not to get involved in that," said linebacker Aaron Clark about Groh's future. "Coach is a grown man. He's very smart. He's schooled in this world of football and jobs and coaching and everything, so whatever may happen, he'll be successful in whatever he does. He's a great guy and all we can do is play our hearts out for him. That's what we try to do every week, so we'll try to do that again Saturday."

Groh has remained mum about his prospects of returning to U.Va. (3-8, 2-5) for a 10th season, but this season's results may speak for themselves.

"It's really not about me," Groh said regarding his job security. "It's about the team and it's about the players. That's all I'm really thinking about, so I don't really have any thoughts on it."

A loss to Tech would be U.Va.'s sixth straight to end the season, which would be the Cavaliers' second-longest losing streak under Groh, only eclipsed by the seven-game streak that started at the conclusion of last season and carried over to the first three games of this season. It would also be U.Va.'s sixth consecutive loss to Tech, which would match the Cavaliers' longest futility streak in the 88-game history of the rivalry.

U.Va. is at the bottom of the ACC in scoring offense (19.9 points per game; 106th in nation), total offense (267 yards per game; 118th), sacks against (39; 116th), first downs (15.55 per game; 113th), kickoff returns (18.4 yards per return; 116th), red-zone defense (90.5 percent opponent scores; 112th) and time of possession (26 minutes, 55 seconds per game; 114th).

The Cavaliers are also 11th in the ACC in rushing offense (92 yards per game; 112th) and third-down conversions (32.3 percent; 106th), and 10th in passing offense (175 yards per game; 102nd) and penalties (54 yards penalized per game; 63rd).

"I think there's been times this year when we've put together a game on either defense and special teams, or offense or special teams, but we all want to come together as one and play for a full 60 minutes and not have any major mistakes that hinder us," linebacker Denzel Burrell said. "I think we've definitely been shooting ourselves in the foot with a lot of penalties and mistakes on our end."

When U.Va.'s players get to Scott Stadium on Saturday, there'll be no goodie bags or shopping sprees waiting as perks, like the ones bowl game representatives hand out. Instead, it'll be a bunch of players in an empty locker room preparing to try to get their first win against their biggest rival — and perhaps one final good memory for an outgoing coach.

"This is it," senior wide receiver Vic Hall said. "There's nothing out there as far as college football (after Saturday) for us, so this is a bowl game. It's a one game season right now, because this is the last game of the season for us and our careers. It's the biggest game of our career right now."

Football fever high
Dave Fairbank
November 24, 2009

Here at Gridiron Central, the air is thick with intriguing questions. How will dual-threat quarterback Aaron Evans fare against Bud Foster's swarming defense? What can Stan Sexton draw up to slow down tailback Ryan Williams?

Does Dylan Hill shadow Mikell Simpson if he lines up at quarterback in the wildcat formation? Will Paul Morant have time to throw with Adrian Tracy bearing down on him?

Final game or not, what does Al Groh have planned to neutralize Jackson Neve? Can Jameel Sewell avoid the pass rush of Daquan Romero? Does Bob Shoop blitz Phillip Sims or play coverage?

Will Mike Smith channel his inner Irish and boycott all French-made products used by Eastern Region football officials?

This weekend's embarrassment of riches in our little corner of the world is enough to overload the synapses of even the most ardent and engaged football fans.

Start with the game that annually takes up the most oxygen: Virginia-Virginia Tech, otherwise known as the annual Chicago maroon-and-orange beatdown.

The Hokies have won nine of the last 10 in the series, four of the past five in Charlottesville. However, the commonwealth's grandest rivalry carries narrower appeal than usual this year.

Tech coughed up a furball on its way to a third consecutive ACC title, so Saturday is about finishing well and appealing to second-tier bowl suitors.

Given the Cavaliers' dismal record and Groh's impending dismissal, it's unclear if Virginia types will tailgate more enthusiastically before or after Saturday's game.

Groh declined to discuss his job security at Monday's weekly campfire with reporters.

"It's really not about me," he said. "It's about the team and it's about the players. You know, that's all I'm really thinking about, so I don't really have any thoughts on it."
 

Virginia seniors hope to defeat rival Hokies
Groh seeks first victory against opponent since 2003 season; Hokies’ running game featuring Taylor, Williams could pose tough challenge
Andrew Seidman, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor
Featured / Football / Sports
November 24, 2009 0

During his nine-year tenure as Virginia’s head coach, Al Groh has defeated Virginia Tech only once. With “grohing” uncertainty surrounding his job security, Saturday’s game at Scott Stadium may be his last chance to beat the Hokies.

For Virginia fans, it has been downhill since the two teams’ 2003 meeting, when Wali Lundy, Alvin Pearman, Matt Schaub and company knocked off the Hokies 35-21. That game was Schaub’s last as a Cavalier.

In their own final collegiate game Saturday, seniors Jameel Sewell, Vic Hall, Chris Cook, Nate Collins, Rashawn Jackson, Denzel Burrell and Aaron Clark, among others, would like nothing more than to walk off the field with the same satisfaction.

“I don’t think you could give me any amount of money to trade [for] beating Tech,” fifth-year linebacker Clark said.

No one on the current Virginia squad has tasted victory against its biggest rival. Not even the heroics of Hall — who ran for two touchdowns in his first career start at quarterback against the Hokies last season — could stave off the sting of last year’s 17-14 loss in Blacksburg.

The image of former Cavalier Tom Santi’s long face after his final game against the Hokies in Virginia’s 33-21 loss two years ago is well-ingrained in Clark’s memory.

“It’s a dagger in the heart,” Clark said.

To end the team members’ collective drought against the Hokies, though, Clark and the rest of the Virginia defense will have to contain the most efficient passer in the ACC, Tyrod Taylor. The junior quarterback poses a dual threat to opposing defenses: Taylor has not only passed for 1,917 yards and 13 touchdowns this season, but has also rushed for 310 yards and four touchdowns.

“It’s like playing against 12 players,” Groh said. “The threat [Taylor] poses as a runner or just as a passer out of the pocket, sometimes it’s more challenging when he’s just out of the pocket, and it doesn’t show up in passing statistics. But that’s what distorts the structure of coverages, when the quarterback is out and moving.”

When Taylor doesn’t have the ball, redshirt freshman tailback Ryan Williams most likely will. Williams has rushed for more yards — 123.2 per game — than anyone else in the ACC, even in a conference that features dynamic upperclassmen running backs such as 2008 ACC Player of the Year Jonathan Dwyer and the all-time leader in all-purpose yards, C.J. Spiller.

Stopping Williams will be no easy task for a Virginia team that ranks 10th in the ACC in rushing defense and has allowed an average of 185.3 rushing yards per game in its last three contests.

Still, if anything can inspire a stronger defensive performance against the Hokies, it may be that very sense of urgency brought by stepping onto the field for the last time. Indeed, a win would be a fitting conclusion to the careers of two players who have battled injuries, uncertainty and numerous tough losses to stand where they are today.

It seems like academic ineligibility is the only thing that has kept quarterback Jameel Sewell off the playing field during his time at Virginia. Forced to miss the 2008-09 season, Sewell came back this year to a team full of question marks about who would start at linebacker, wide receiver and — most importantly — his position. Though set back by three demoralizing losses at the beginning of the season, Sewell led the Cavaliers to three straight victories in October while fighting a recurring ankle injury and shoulder problems.

“One of the most valuable things a player can bring to a team is to be a great teammate,” Groh said. “The more of those guys you have, the more they feed off each other.”

Another such player is Hall. This man of few words has filled in wherever and whenever Groh has asked him. From cornerback to quarterback, wide receiver to punt returner, the senior has proven to be a football player in every sense of the term.

“He’s one of those kind of players — one of those kind of associations that make this a very fortunate profession to be able to be in,” Groh said. “I just think about how many people my age get a chance to have this type of relationship with people that age.”

Hall has dealt with a lingering hip injury all season, but has continued to play despite the physical pain and the mounting losses.

“It’s a mentality,” Hall said. “How can you not play if you can walk?”

Hall, like the Cavaliers’ other senior players, will walk onto the field for one more game. He’ll play for his team, his pride and his coach.

“I wouldn’t want it to be my last game,” Hall said, “and I don’t want it to be his last game.”

The elephant in the room
By Jay Jenkins
Published: November 24, 2009
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nowBuzz up!

Al Groh had to know it was coming.

It was a question that embattled coaches throughout the country have faced annually.

Yet, the Cavaliers’ nine-year coach ran from the topic of his job security with the season’s final game on the horizon Saturday with Virginia Tech.

“It’s really not about me,” Groh said. “It’s about the team and it’s about the players. You know, that’s all I’m really thinking about, so I don’t really have any thoughts on it.”

It will be about Groh, however, Saturday evening after the Cavaliers (3-8, 2-5 ACC) host the Hokies (8-3, 5-2) at Scott Stadium.

That is when athletic director Craig Littlepage will determine if an additional year will be added to Groh’s contract, which extends through the 2012 season. It almost certainly will not be added, as was the case last year after a 5-7 campaign.

It is widely expected that Littlepage’s season-end review of the program, one that he claimed would determine Groh’s fate, will lead to walking papers and a hefty buyout for Groh, regardless of the outcome of the in-state showdown.

For now, Virginia’s players remain committed to their coach. But they know, of course, that their opinion matters very little in the end.

“We as players choose not to get involved in that,” UVa outside linebacker Aaron Clark said. “Coach is a grown man. He is very smart. He is schooled in this world of football and jobs and coaching and everything, so whatever may happen, he’ll be successful in whatever he does.

“He’s a great guy and all we can do is play our hearts out for him. That’s what we try to do every week, so we’ll try to do that again Saturday.”

A loss would drop Groh’s record to 36-36 in league games in his UVa tenure. His overall record at Virginia is currently 59-52. He is 1-7 against Virginia Tech.

A passing grade

It was not a number that Jameel Sewell placed a great importance in surpassing.

Yet lost in the shuffle in a 13-point loss at Clemson, Virginia’s starting quarterback climbed the program’s passing charts.

Sewell, heading into his final game Saturday, now stands third all-time in passing yardage with 5,246 yards, having surpassed Scott Gardner and Aaron Brooks with a 160-yard passing performance against the Tigers.

“It only matters if we win or lose,” Sewell said after the Cavaliers dropped to 3-8. “I’m sure that will be nice to look back on down the road, but I am only focused about what helps this team most.”

Groh was also in the dark on Sewell’s latest accomplishment, a feat he was informed of on Monday during his final pre-game press conference of the season.

“Well, it says how important his production has been to our team over the years that he’s been our quarterback,” the coach said.

Sewell’s yardage total came in odd fashion — he was suspended from school during the 2008 season, losing a year of eligibility in the process. With another full season, he would have had the potential to leave school in better standing in passing yardage than the category’s leader, current Houston Texans starter Matt Schaub (7,502 yards).

“I hadn’t thought about it before, but yeah, clearly, those not only would have been yards that would have went on Jameel’s records,” Groh said, “but those would have been yards that would have moved the ball up and down the field for our team.”

Sewell also stands fourth in program history in total offense and would pass Gardner with 272 yards on Saturday.

Extra points

Virginia Tech is a 14-point favorite for Saturday’s game. … Virginia right tackle Will Barker will make his 49th career start against the Hokies, which ties the Pennsylvania native for second-most starts in program history with Clint Sintim, D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Will Brice. … The Cavaliers have lost the time of possession battle in the each of their past five games. … Vic Hall has recorded a touchdown in four different ways in his career — by returning an interception, catching a pass, throwing a pass and on the ground. He would have a score via punt return, but penalties called back would-be touchdowns at Middle Tennessee State in 2007 and earlier this season against Boston College.
 

If Groh is gone, who’s next in line?
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Published: November 24, 2009
Updated: November 24, 2009
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nowBuzz up!

If this is Al Groh’s final week as Virginia’s head football coach, don’t expect him to talk about it.

If this is the end, he’s going to battle to the final moment.

Asked during his weekly press conference on Monday to talk about his job status, Groh did exactly what those who have covered him for his nine years at UVa expected.

“No,” Groh said politely. “It’s really not about me. It’s about the team and it’s about the players. You know, that’s all I’m really thinking about, so I don’t really have any thoughts on it.”

So, if UVa athletic director Craig Littlepage pulls the plug on Groh after this weekend’s finale against Virginia Tech, just who might be among the candidates to become the Cavaliers’ next head coach?

Here’s a list of potential head coaches, some of whom we’re certain on UVa’s mind and some others that should be:

- Mike London, age 49, head coach, University of Richmond. A native of Hampton, London certainly knows the UVa culture having coached here for two stints during the Groh regime. He has NFL experience and played at UR from 1979-82. He led the Spiders to the FCS national title last year and has them back in the playoffs this season. He won numerous national coach of the year awards last season and has a reputation for being a solid recruiter. London’s salary has not been disclosed, even though his contract runs through 2014 at UR.

- Charlie Strong, age 49, defensive coordinator, University of Florida. Like London, Strong has been around the block, but mostly at the FBS level (Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Florida). He’s been with the Gators since 2002. He became the first African-American coordinator in SEC history. Is known as one of the nation’s top defensive coaches. Salary: $290,000 per year.

- Gus Malzahn, 43, offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach, Auburn. In his first year at Auburn after an eye-popping stint at Tulsa, where his 2007 offense led the nation in total offense, and finished second in 2008. In ’08, the Golden Hurricane averaged 565 yards and 47 points per game. He is credited with introducing the “wildcat” offense to major college football, having done so at Arkansas as offensive coordinator in 2006. Salary unknown.

- Troy Calhoun, 44, head coach, Air Force. Played for Fisher DeBerry and replaced the legendary coach in 2006. Has done a solid job. Served as Jim Grobe’s offensive coordinator at Ohio U. from 1995-2001 and followed Grobe to Wake Forest, where he was coordinator and quarterbacks coach from 2001-03. Calhoun moved on to coach with the Denver Broncos for two years, then the Houston Texans before taking over at Air Force. Current salary is $860,000 per year, contract runs through 2013.

- Chris Petersen, 45, head coach, Boise State. Has been the Broncos’ head coach since 2006 and directs one of college football’s most exciting offenses. His record coming into this season was 46-4 and he was national coach of the year in 2006. Some say that Petersen isn’t “gettable” because of his love of the Boise area and family considerations. Current salary is $850,000.

- Al Golden, 40, head coach, Temple. Was a grad assistant under George Welsh at Virginia and left as an assistant at Penn State to become Al Groh’s defensive coordinator at Virginia in 2001. Golden, considered an up-and-comer in the coaching world, has been head coach at Temple since 2006 and led the Owls’ transition from the Big East to the Mid-America Conference. His team is 9-2 and he’s a shoo-in for MAC coach of the year honors. Golden interviewed for the UCLA head coaching job in December 2007 but withdrew his name. Salary unknown.

- Derek Dooley, 40, head coach, Louisiana Tech. Is the only head football coach and athletic director at a major college football program in the nation. Great bloodlines — son of Georgia legend Vince Dooley and nephew of former North Carolina coach Bill Dooley. Derek Dooley was a wide receiver for Virginia on some of the Cavaliers’ greatest teams. He graduating in 1990, having played with Shawn Moore and Herman Moore. Was an All-ACC academic selection. Earned a law degree from Georgia. Coached under Nick Saban at LSU and the Miami Dolphins. Salary unknown.

- Tim Murphy, 53, head coach, Harvard. If its football knowledge and academics that Virginia wants, Murphy has to be considered. Has a 97-52 record with the Ivy League school, making him the second-winningest coach in Crimson history. His ’04 squad went unbeaten. Coached at Maine, where he won, and at Cincinnati, where he did not. Known as one of the top teachers and motivators in the game. Salary unknown.

- Tommy Tuberville, 55, not coaching. Served as head coach at Auburn from 1999-2008 and was head coach at Ole Miss prior to moving to Auburn. Was the 2004 national coach of the year. The only football coach in Auburn history to beat Alabama six times in a row. Considered a top-notch coach and gentleman. Big in the community. Said recently that he wanted to return to a BCS school. Last salary: $2.8 million per year.
 

Al Groh Weekly Football Press Conference Transcript
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 11/23/2009

QUESTION: Are you always curious of what you hear?
COACH GROH: Both, but more than that, more than curious or surprised, mostly gratified that they express their experience the way that they do.

QUESTION: Given the amount of respect that you have for Vic Hall and all of these seniors, I guess what would it mean for the team and what would it mean for you personally to see them be successful on Saturday?
COACH GROH: Those are some they're not the only ones, but those players that you cited are some of the players that have certainly put everything they've got into this for four or five years. So we always want that's one of the really nice things when you're successful in a game, that you see the pleasure on the part of the players and reinforcement that they get from everything they put into it. That would be a great thing to be able to experience together.

QUESTION: You have only one win against Virginia Tech as the head coach, what is that makes it so tough to beat them?
COACH GROH: Good team, close games.

QUESTION: I know you prepare for every game the same way and coach the same way, but this particular game, does the coaching staff get a little extra blood flowing when you get ready for it?
COACH GROH: You know, without any doubt. Just like a number of our coaches said before last Saturday's game, just in speaking with them at the pregame meal or on the bus to the stadium, they were like - "I love games like this. I love going against the best players and going against the best teams in games that really count for something in this type of environment." - I think we certainly feel that. The better the opponent, the bigger the game, the more juice. And then when you add a natural rivalry to that, that certainly makes it one of the most exciting games of the year.

QUESTION: How do you defend a mobile quarterback like Taylor?
COACH GROH: It's like playing against 12 players. Tyrod, at least in conference games, is first in the conference in passing efficiency, so he's obviously doing the principal thing that quarterbacks have to do is to pass the ball very well. And their yards-per-catch is extraordinary this year as a result of his passing.

But the threat that he poses as a runner or just as a passer out of the pocket, sometimes it's more challenging when he's just out of the pocket, and it doesn't show up in passing statistics. But that's what distorts the structure of coverages, when the quarterback is out and moving. They clearly had anticipated using his skills showing up that way, so you can see where the receivers are well schooled in terms of how to adjust their routes. It's pretty evident that there's been a good deal of attention spent on doing the scramble drill with the receivers to adjust to the quarterback, and tricky on their part because sometimes they've got to adjust two or three times because it's not just in one direction that he leaves the pocket. He ends up going in the other direction pretty quickly sometimes.
So it's very challenging for your rush guys, yes.

QUESTION: What is the in-state recruiting battle like between Tech and UVa.?
COACH GROH: I think that's probably pretty accurate. I wouldn't say I don't know if most would be a good word, but certainly a large percentage of players have their favorite team growing up along the way, and particularly we run into a lot of circumstances where players got either a parent or a close relative that was a graduate of one school or the other.

QUESTION: One of the ESPN shows Saturday morning said the surprise of the year was Virginia Tech's running back coming out of nowhere and doing what he did. How impressive is he?
COACH GROH: No surprise at all. Only to anybody who never saw him play before. He was one of the most sought after running backs in the country as a high school senior. I think he's probably playing pretty much the way that everybody who was involved in his recruiting thought he was going to.

QUESTION: What about Jared Boykin? He's become kind of a shortstop hasn't he?
COACH GROH: Well, if he's a shortstop, then he must be Derek Jeter, because he hits a lot of home runs. He's got size, he's got speed, he's obviously got a real good sense of timing for the ball, makes a lot of plays, whether he has to adjust to the ball or jump on the run. He's got a tremendous yards-per-catch number, one of the tops in the country.

QUESTION: After your fairly lengthy tenure here, do you see the results of this game either on a yearly basis or over time have an impact on recruiting?
COACH GROH: I think to say it doesn't have impact would be - being oblivious to just all events that are going on. How much, you know, we ask players sometimes that, and I think first and foremost in the recruitment of players is the relationship that's developed with a player over time. I think that's what most players are principally interested in, but then there are certainly other factors. Sometimes there are factors that have impact on what the result is that gets the player's attention as much as the result itself, if that makes sense.
For example, I read a statement on the airplane. I was trying to while away some time on Saturday coming back. I read a statement by one of the true freshmen players on the Clemson team about what the impact of the overall setup there had to do with his recruitment. That circumstance brought those type of players there that creates that type of team that brings about that type of result. Did you see that? I think he was probably right on.

QUESTION: (Question regarding injured players.) In basketball they try to start all the senior players. Do you kind of go into Saturday's game hoping and looking for an opportunity to I'm sure those guys that have practiced their butts off but just have never been quite good enough to get on the field? Do you look for opportunities to get some of those guys in the game?
COACH GROH: That would be a really nice thing if it could happen, but all the decisions that we make going into the game and all the decisions that we make at the game, every week, so this game is just like all that preceded, all those decisions are based on what gives our team the best chance to win.

QUESTION: With a guy like Nate over time, how do you see his intensity or focus increase?
COACH GROH: Significantly, here particularly during the course of this season, which is, we think, staff wise, everybody feels that that is certainly a factor in the qualitative jump in his performance. He's made himself now one of the more difficult players to block in the league, and I think probably there are a lot more people throughout the conference, whether it's people such as yourselves who watch the game from the press box and see who makes the tackles or coaches and players who have to deal with him, either strategizing or blocking him, I think he's probably a lot more known now than he was during the previous three seasons.
A lot of it has to do with just, as you say, his focus, not just focus on his technique, on his preparation in the big picture.

QUESTION: How did not playing last season affect Jameel's outlook coming into the season?
COACH GROH: Well, he was very excited to be back and be a part of it. If a football player is removed from it for a significant period of time, you see the same thing with players who get hurt early in the season and miss the entire season, but I think there's a certain feeling that goes with a certain reality, certain brotherhood, that goes with being part of a football team. What we've observed over the years is as much as the games themselves, that's what's really important to players. And when removed from that circumstance, you know, it's not that many years, and obviously most kids who are playing college football, they've been on a team a good part of their life.

But in terms of their overall longevity, there's not that many years that they get to spend on a team. There are very few people who really get to experience what it's like to be part of a football team. And to be a part of it is a pretty special thing. So for somebody who was in Jameel's circumstances when he was without that for a while, almost invariably either through sir or that type of circumstance, that's what players really relate, that they're just really glad to be back in the locker room and back with their teammates.

And then the second thing is all the things that go with it, the preparation, the competition. It's not just a game thing, it's an everyday thing really during the course of the year.

QUESTION: How much does emotion play for you and your staff during such a game as this rivalry matchup with Virginia Tech?
COACH GROH: You know, I really kind of keep saying the same thing, but at least for me it's just the way that it is. For one to be that much greater than any of the others would say that we hadn't paid proper respect to all those that preceded it. Every game, what it takes to win a game, deserves and requires the same level of respect for your opponent, the same level of preparation, the same level of emotional involvement, the same level of focus at the game. They all require the same thing.

So when you say one becomes that much bigger than the other, then you're saying really there was more to give to the ones that preceded it, and I think that wouldn't be a very positive thing to have to say or to admit to.

QUESTION: You probably saw Jameel was in third place on UVa's all time pass list. What does that say to you?
COACH GROH: I did not see that, so I just learned something through you. They say you can always learn something new. Well, it says how important his production has been to our team over the years that he's been our quarterback.

QUESTION: If Jameel played a full four years, do you say wow?
COACH GROH: Well, I'm stopping and thinking about it now since you raised the point. I hadn't thought about it before. But yeah, clearly. Clearly those not only would have been yards that would have went on Jameel's records, but those would have been yards that would have moved the ball up and down the field for our team.

QUESTION: Can you talk a little bit your team's leadership and how you view it this year?
COACH GROH: You know, it's been a different group in that respect than some of their predecessors in that almost in previous years, almost when we closed the locker room door on that season, when it concluded, it was evident to everybody what the leadership structure on the returning team would be, whether it was guys whether it was going to be Matt Schaub or Alvin Pearman or John Phillips or Tom Santi or Chris Long, just all those guys who are really in those circumstances. Even beyond the ones that were designated by their teammates as out front leaders by vote, by captain.
But this year's team was not that way. And as we've discussed on other occasions, in the past we've voted for captains on the day preceding the spring game, and it was hardly ever any surprise the way that turned out. It was just kind of the official stamp of approval on what everybody could see was actually the case.

This particular year we didn't do it until the start of training camp because it wasn't clear cut other than Vic Hall who was a returning captain. It wasn't clear cut who those fellows would be. It took throughout the course of winter program, spring practice, summer program, not only for those players to emerge, but they emerged because certain guys really decided, hey, I want to be one of those guys, and maybe certain guys decided that's not my deal. And it took a while for the players to see who that was going to be, too. So we did a number of things to try to create some circumstances where guys could really do that.

In the off season program, the competitive teams that we had, we had, for example, different we invited everybody in every class to write a letter of application to be the leader of one of those off season competitive teams, just to find out who, in fact, was interested. It might be somebody rather than we're saying, okay, you're going to be in charge of that team or we're going to be in charge of that team, maybe we'll designate since this was kind of a tryout, maybe we'll be designating somebody who really didn't want to rise to that level or maybe we'll be overlooking somebody who really had it in them, maybe a player who was just waiting for kind of the deck to be cleared of some of the more elder leaders so he would have the opportunity.

That started the process. You could see some guys really grabbed onto that opportunity to do that.
For example, since we've been talking about Nate, Nate certainly is one who had become that when he was a sophomore, Chris Long at his position was one of the team captains and very much a standard setter. So really nobody at that position was going to assert himself too much. Then last year right alongside of him was Clint Sintim. Clint was much the same way. It was clear that he was the voice of certainly the front seven and principally of the defense. So nobody else, even if they had that feeling about being a leader, was really going to be assertive in those circumstances.

Certain guys when they saw that, one, saw the opportunity because they wanted to do that, and then certain guys also saw the void and were willing to jump in and doing that. We've seen that develop throughout the course of the year, so it was a very different circumstance from what we had had in all the preceding seasons. You've spoken with some of them, or are going to today, and I think you can see how some of them very definitely took the reins. But it took a little while for it to develop, even into the season, for them to really see where their presence could make a difference in what they could do.

QUESTION: Being the last game of the season, can you talk about your job security?
COACH GROH: No, it's really not about me. It's about the team and it's about the players. You know, that's all I'm really thinking about, so I don't really have any thoughts on it.

QUESTION: Is it as simple as execution that determines a winning and losing season?
COACH GROH: Well, it certainly can be the case. If he scores it all 38 to 7, if you're going to have one of those type for some of the teams that we see in that top three or four that their scores are that way every week, it's probably not that case. But there's so many components that go into winning, but certainly the key one that you start with is talent, and the more top end talent is that is play making talent, guys who can just make the play, that makes the difference. Maybe a guy has got one more step and he can go get the ball that otherwise would be over thrown. So now that ball is completed and that team wins.

Players or coaches, really nobody did any different job if the ball had been over thrown, it's just one guy can go get the ball, and that changes everything. So when that happens on a composite with many different circumstances, that continues to add up to the little edge that you're looking for.

QUESTION:To take you back to your recruiting days when you first met these guys, do you think back to what they were like?
COACH GROH: These guys is a general question, but I think if I were to sit here and look at the list for each of the players for whom this will be their last game, I could probably pretty accurately I'd get agreement from them, that my recollection of our first encounter would be pretty accurate as to when and what it all entailed.

QUESTION: You fooled Tech last year by playing Vic Hall at QB, you trying any type of trickery? Talk about Vic a bit.
COACH GROH: Well, we don't mind relating actually a little bit before the game that we've made a trade with the Minnesota Vikings (laughter), and Brett Favre will be here, and Vic has agreed to give up his No. 4 for Brett Favre. (Laughter.)

We can't pull Vic out of our hat this year, so we had to go a little bit higher level for that.

Really special person, really special player. I always feel very inadequate in trying to properly profile Vic for people who don't know him. You just have to be around him on a daily basis to know his goodness and his values and everything that he's about. That's why I would extend it beyond saying he's a special player. He's a very special person. He's one of those kind of players that one of those kind of associations that make this a very fortunate profession to be able to be in. I just think about how many people my age get a chance to have this type of relationship with people of that age, whether it's Vic Hall or Chris Long or Tom Santi or Branden Albert or Matt Schaub or any of those people. I'm always reluctant to cite names because that leaves out a lot of guys who say, that I say "hey, I thought I was in that group." But they are. That's a special part of it, and I'm sure that most coaches would speak of it that way.

QUESTION: Outside the Alabama game, how did Tech lose? It's pretty rare for you to play them with three losses.
COACH GROH: Well, in very much the same circumstances that we just talked about, a play here and a play there, and sometimes two of those, three of those plays can add up to 10, 12 points or three points, and that's the difference.

QUESTION: How good are they?
COACH GROH: They're a real good team, real good team. As we spoke last night, those who were listening, I thought it was very eye catching that there's 14 or 15 categories of ACC statistics that Virginia Tech and Clemson are virtually piggy backed. Sometimes it's up on top. Sometimes one is one and the other one is two. Sometimes it's lower down, one is seven and one is eight in a particular category. But there's 14 or 15 categories where they're on exactly the same level.

So we see them as being a very, very comparable team to the team we just played, and of course that team is the division champion. It's actually another one of our I guess it would be another one of our stops on our trip to the top 25. I think this will make something like six or seven teams that we've played in the top 25.

QUESTION: Obviously Vic is not a novelty act, but for a fleeting moment, is that kind of neat that he was able to throw a touchdown pass to add to his collection of touchdowns?
COACH GROH: Yeah, it was. I thought about that after the game. He's got them just about every way now.

QUESTION: Yeah, that punt return, that would have been another one.
COACH GROH: Yeah, that's a shame. But he ran one, intercepted one, threw one, would have returned one, and not very many other ways that you can do that. (Laughter.)

QUESTION: Was that one a little wobbly?
COACH GROH: This one? That's a pretty good looking ball.

QUESTION: He also run a punt that got called back at Middle Tennessee.
COACH GROH: I don't remember. But as I said after the game, so typical of Vic. He really didn't take any snaps during the course of the week. His participation was doubtful right up until warm up. Probably anybody who observed him, but not in Vic's mind, that he was going to go whatever the circumstances, and it's very likely there was some degree of discomfort in there. But for him to be as prepared to do his job as he was without having taken any snaps, just he knows how to prepare for the games, and even if he can't he prepares like a real professional. Even if he can't be in there for the snaps in person, he's got it. He knew what he was supposed to do, and not just on those plays. Blocking assignments and routes that he ran and conversions that he had to make based on the coverages that frankly he did a lot better than some people who took a lot of reps.

QUESTION: How have you seen this class maybe be different than some of the other classes and what's going to be your lasting impression of them?
COACH GROH: Well, I think they're all a little bit different. So much of it has to do with the personalities that each class takes on, which obviously is a composite of all the different personalities within that group. Some are louder, some are quieter, some are more determined, some are tougher. But this group has had a lot of players that really stick to it-ive-ness has had to be a part of. There's a lot of players here who had to be very resilient and continue to work and grind to get their chance. I think there were some of those other classes that some of those players personally experienced some more me success.

QUESTION: With Vic and Jameel, it seems like they're both very tough guys. Where does that come from?
COACH GROH: I don't know. That's a pretty some people just have it and some don't. You know, you try to create it what you try to do is find people who have demonstrated that along the way, highly competitive nature and a mentality of never giving in, never giving up, try to find instances in the evaluation of players, try to quiz people as to that, most particularly you'd like to see some things with your own eyes. That's why it's so valuable sometimes to - if there is a player who is a recruit who's playing basketball, I want to see him play. It's right there, it's not from the top deck of the stands. It's 30 feet away, and you can see it there, or watch him practice. Even you don't have to see a game. Talk to people, and then you just try - if that's a valuable characteristic of your culture, then you have to recruit to what you want to be.

We learned a long time ago that if you want to be tall, recruit tall guys. If you want to be fast, recruit fast guys. If you want to be tough, recruit guys who have demonstrated that they're tough. If you want to be highly competitive, recruit guys who show that they have a highly competitive spirit. You're only going to inculcate those things in people to a certain degree and then create an environment where those characteristics that you deem to be important are celebrated and developed even further.

QUESTION: Is there a domino effect from seeing seniors when they were rookies, what will this group see from the seniors?
COACH GROH: Well, that's part of the development of your culture. Once you develop a line, if you can get the same type of people, then it becomes an ongoing thing, and everybody grows into it, and your older people teach the younger people, this is the way we do things. This is who we are and this is the way we do things. It's one thing to get it from the coach standing up in the front and it's another thing to get it as an example from peers.
When I spoke earlier about being on a team, those are all the things part of being on a team, part of being on a football team that is such a unique experience for people that they remember those things.

QUESTION: Denzel talked about putting together a complete game on Saturday, can you assess your complete team?
COACH GROH: Well, throughout, we've been very pleased and very proud of the effort that the players have put in. They've had a lot of unity amongst themselves. That's apparent in being involved with them throughout the course of the week. It's not just a Saturday thing. They've had a lot of unity, they have a high want to, they've responded to everything that's been asked of them, that they've been challenged with. They've fought throughout.

That our results are less than what we would have desired is a result of other things besides that. And they continue to try to respond and fight. I think even to the last game, the last two or three possessions that Clemson had, even at that point, I think those two or three possessions were all three and outs or quickly out that the defense created. So they continue to fight and play and hopefully continue to develop.

QUESTION: Could you tell Vic and Jameel were tough and competitive guys when you were recruiting them?
COACH GROH: No, Jameel was in our camp twice, and in that camp they do more than just do drills. They play touch football games and do one on one and whatnot, and you could see that he had a pretty hot fire when it came to competition. So as we go to know Vic throughout the recruiting process and saw how he always elevated his team, and his team won all those games in the state championships while he was playing.

There were some games in there, they were pretty significantly behind at one point, and he just took over and not only willed his team to win but performed his team to win. That was pretty well established on their part. You've got to have guys like that on your team, whoever it might be.
We said that about I won't mention the player's name, but I've said to a number of guys here over the last couple years in talking with NFL personnel, look, to have a good team, you've got to have guys like this kid. You may not necessarily need him. If you've got somebody else who's like him, that's fine. But you'd better have guys like this particular individual on your team if you want to be a tough minded competitive team and a guy who's a great teammate. That's a significant factor on a team. One of the most valuable things that a player can bring to the team is to be a great teammate the more of those guys you have, the more they feed off of each other.

QUESTION: I was just about to ask you what your thoughts are, a lot of guys going to the league from this program in the last nine years. I guess specifically Jameel, Vic, Nick and Chris, I'm sure some of the guys pop up when you think about the next level. As an evaluator, what do you think about those guys and their potential?
COACH GROH: Well, each one of them is a little bit clearly a much different circumstance. I've gotten a lot of inquires. We've got two or three fellows sitting over there in the office today. In fact, there's one fellow that this is I think the third or fourth year in a row he's done it. He literally camps out for the three days before Thanksgiving because he knows he's welcome here. So he comes and he sets up shop on Monday and brings a load of bagels, and there will be more bagels tomorrow. He's got his room back there until we need it for meetings, and he goes through our whole season, looks at all our games, look at anybody else he might want to look at. When you take all of our games and all of our opponents and everybody that they played, he literally has access to hundreds of teams. Actually we've got two of them camping out here for a couple of days doing that.
So we get a lot of inquires from those guys. But I think it would probably be unfair for them for me to assess that here publicly. The League will do that here soon enough.

QUESTION: Even when you do good things on special teams, there still seems to be some lapses, how difficult to play perfect special teams?
COACH GROH: Well, it's been frustrating for everybody on the team. We certainly expected more. There's been an awful lot of energy and effort put into it, more than ever, and on the part of people. And when you say not everything is going to go perfect, you're exactly right, but we expect better than say what we had the other day. We had two mishandled kickoffs. That part of it is not that difficult. Tracking your guy down and blocking him and whatnot on the run, sometimes that's a little bit more difficult.

There have been issues like that that fall on the category we spoke of before, execution issues. It looks like a small thing that kind of gets lost, but if you mishandle the ball, you can only get it out to the 6 yard line, you can't get the ball out of there, you kick it out to the 42 yard line and the other team has got the ball in a good position. That one muff that doesn't look like a big deal is really something that had an impact on the whole course of the game. It hasn't changed the lights on the scoreboard the way we had hoped or the way really that this particular team needed some push from that area.


 

HooYa! Blog
by Trent Thurston, November 23rd 09:17pm

It’s finally here: the most important game of the football season in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia versus the dreaded Hokies of Virginia Tech. Many UVA folks, myself included, get more fired up for UVA-Carolina than the UVA-VT game, but I don’t know a single Hokie that does not view the game Saturday as the most important on the VT schedule every single season.
Today, I went to the John Paul Jones Arena for Coach Al Groh’s very last Monday press conference as the coach of the Wahoos. Coach Groh seemed to be in excellent spirits, despite obviously understanding that short of a miracle, this is his last week wearing the gray Nike UVA sweatshirt while guiding these players as their coach and mentor. This will be the last time Groh ever faces his bitter rival, one he is a miserable 1-7 against in his first eight attempts here at Virginia.
Coach Groh was asked about Vic Hall, Jameel Sewell, and the many other seniors that will play in their very last contest in orange and blue on Saturday, and he beamed a smile from ear-to-ear that was like a proud papa talking about his own son. Groh’s exact quote was, “You guys can’t understand what a special young man we have here in this locker room. You can’t see the way he really is such a leader in the locker room, on the practice field and we are going to very much miss Vic. His values, his goodness, it’s hard to actually describe how good he is as a person, as well as a football player.”
Groh went on to say, “You remember how we used Vic last year, right? Well we actually made a trade with the Minnesota Vikings and Brett Favre will be the new Vic Hall in the Virginia Tech game.” That drew the biggest laugh of the press conference.
One of the reporters asked coach Groh if he would like to talk about his job security, and after a quick pause and a look to the ground, he said, “Nope.” He knows he’s not coming back.
One of the other things that Coach Groh said that was interesting to me was, “There is just no way that [the media] could understand how special it is to be on a college football team. And that the bond, and the love that they all have for each other is very much like a family.”
Asked about Virginia Tech, Groh said they are really good, very well coached and excellent in all facets of the game.
Coach Groh also mentioned that there are two NFL scouts from two different organizations that are here all week and watching every UVA game, as well as video of every single practice of the entire season. Groh said that one of the guys had done this for a couple of years, and that he brings bagels to everyone, everyday at the McCue Center. Groh said that he has an open door policy to NFL front-office folks, so that they can learn all they need about guys in the program, in order for UVA to get more players in the NFL.
Please check back early and often to www.c-ville.com all week for Hokie-UVA news and notes, as well as my prediction on Friday. Hoos fans, what do you think? Can UVA pull off the HUGE upset to send coach Groh out on a high note? Will the Hokies keep up the domination of this one-sided rivalry? Am I wrong in saying the Tar Heels are a bigger rival than the dreaded Hokies? What the hell is a Hokie anyway!? Predictions? GO HOOS!

 

White Earns All-America Honors, Finishes Fourth at NCAAs
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 11/23/2009

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Virginia men's and women's cross country teams concluded their respective seasons with matching 15th-place finishes at the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championships at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course on Monday.
The women were led by junior Catherine White who earned All-America honors with a fourth-place overall finish, completing the course in 19:59.5 to become the highest finisher for the Cavaliers since Lesley Welch's victory in 1982. Junior Stephanie Garcia finished 44th for Virginia with a time of 20:47.6, while senior Lauretta Dezubay was 92nd in 21:15.5. Sophomore Morgane Gay finished with a time of 21:24.8 to finish 116th and sophomore Laurel MacMillan finished 220th in 22:25.1.
Sophmore Ryan Collins led Virginia's men with a 41st-place finish and a time of 30:22.0, narrowly missing All-America honors. Junior Emil Heineking was second for Virginia finishing 68th in 30:36.7, while freshman Sintayehu Taye, competing in his first-ever NCAA Championship, took 122nd, crossing the line in 31:08.8. Junior Graham Tribble, with a time of 31:13.9 finished 133rd and junior Trey Miller rounded out the scoring Cavaliers in 141st place with a time of 31:18.1.
Angela Bizzari from Illinois won the women's title in 19:46.8, while Liberty's Samuel Chelanga shattered the course record in 28:41.3 for top honors.
Villanova claimed the women's team title with 86 points, while Florida State finished runner up with 133 points. Washington rounded out the top-three with 188 points.
On the men's side Oklahoma State won with 127 points. Oregon took second with 143 points while Alabama was third with 173.
Virginia's men were the top ACC team to finish with 408 points, while the Cavalier women checked in with 391 points.

 

Frankly promising
Dan Stalcup, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor
Sports
November 24, 2009 0

This year, it seems like every football loss is a slap in the face to Virginia’s school pride. That’s one reason Sunday’s game between the Virginia and Tennessee women’s basketball teams was refreshing; it reminded me what it’s like to lose with dignity.

Certainly there’s some disappointment in the loss. It was hard not to get your hopes up at least a little bit: Virginia had edged the Lady Volunteers last year, and the big crowd this year promised an electric, upset-hungry atmosphere.

Yet even with a 77-63 final score in favor of Tennessee, the dominant emotion was celebratory for all who were present. Fans seemed more eager to celebrate having All-American guard senior Monica Wright, 700-win coach Debbie Ryan and a top-15 program than they were to lament the loss.

“By the end of the season, we will be winning championships,” Ryan announced to the record-breaking crowd of 11,895.

That might be a little bit optimistic, but after Virginia played as well as it did against Tennessee, high hopes are pretty reasonable right now.

Wright went 8-for-21, which seems far from a great shooting percentage until you consider that almost the entirety of the Vols’ defensive plan was to key on the All-American, who torched Tennessee for 35 last year.

It’s a testament to Wright’s dominance that Tennessee coach Pat Summitt and multiple Tennessee players expressed satisfaction at how they held Wright to “only” 21 points.

But the true revelation of Sunday’s bout was just how well the non-stars can play. For example, freshman center Simone Egwu’s 10 points and six rebounds were crucial in keeping the team alive.

Egwu’s impressive play thus far this year is no fluke. She has a slight case of gameday nerves, but plays with toughness after she settles in.

Her attitude is even better than her game. After taking on the monstrous, six-block Kelley Cain for a pretty impressive 34 minutes, she deflected comments that her performance was a big deal. She does whatever the team needs, and it was just another day at the office.

I expect Egwu to be one of the best players on the team for the next four years and an All-ACC stud her junior and senior year. She might even be the early favorite for ACC Rookie of the Year after a few weeks of play.

Another player who really impressed on Sunday was junior guard Paulisha Kellum. She played only 21 minutes but scored courtesy of some mind-boggling moves. I expect some “Air Kellum” signs to appear in JPJ before season’s end.

Ryan, however, said Kellum is only 75 percent recovered from the season-ending injury she suffered last year. If what we saw Sunday was only three-quarters of Kellum, I can’t wait until we get the whole thing. With a 1-2 punch of Wright and a fully recovered Kellum, Virginia might have the two best guards in the conference.

Speaking of incredible guards, sophomore Ariana Moorer made another leap forward Sunday. She overcame a few costly decisions — such as three turnovers and jump shots she took too early — to make some incredible, flashy steals along with And1-worthy moves to the basket.

So, don’t feel too bad about that last loss on Hot Dog Day. A win would have been nice, but the affirmation Virginia received about the quality of its team and program means even more than a tally in the win column ever could.

My favorite parts of the afternoon came after the game. I loved seeing every Cavalier and Volunteer circle up and say a quick communal prayer. I loved hearing Pat Summitt’s kind words about Debbie Ryan — “she does it the right way” — and Ryan’s kind words for Summitt — “I’m a better person for knowing her.”

But most of all, I loved seeing almost every one of the 11,895 stay until the final buzzer to give the losing Cavaliers a standing ovation for continued excellence and tremendous character. That, and the free hot dog was nice, too.