Win over U.Va. boosts their confidence
By PAUL WHITE, The Virginian-Pilot
© December 4, 2002

BLACKSBURG — It’s amazing what one victory can do for the confidence of a football team. Saturday against Virginia, Virginia Tech committed three turnovers, including one in the red zone. A defender missed an open-field tackle that led to a touchdown. The defense allowed an opposing running back to gain over 100 yards for the fourth straight week.
These are precisely the kinds of mistakes that cost Tech during its three-game losing streak. But this time, the Hokies won. And that little detail appears to have made all the difference in the world.

“We’ve got our swagger back now,” Hokies receiver Ernest Wilford said.

They’ll need it. Next up for the 18th-ranked Hokies — a 1 p.m. Saturday date at top-ranked Miami (11-0). The defending national champs have won 33 straight games. Tech coach Frank Beamer said the Hurricanes might be “the greatest team ever.”

For the first two months of the season, the Hokies (9-3) were being touted as a major threat to Miami’s dominance.

Now most view them merely as Victim No.\u200934.

“This is our chance to show people we’re one of the top teams in the country, too,” Tech quarterback Bryan Randall said. “We’re going down there and we expect to win.”

Beamer suggested that the strength of the Hurricanes should help bring out the best in his team. And center Jake Grove said all the elements are in place for an upset .

“It’s a great set-up,” he said. “National TV, No. 1 team in the nation, last game of the regular season. It’s a perfect opportunity to prove what kind of team we have.”

The Hokies probably would have talked this way no matter what happened against Virginia. But senior safety Willie Pile admitted that the words might have rung hollow even to the Hokies had they headed to Miami with a four-game losing streak.

“We needed to get that losing taste out of our mouths,” he said. “Now we’ve got our confidence.”

That still might not be enough. In addition to their 33-game winning streak, the Hurricanes have won 23 straight games against Big East opponents and 21 in a row at the Orange Bowl.

Even so, up until a few weeks ago many observers believed that Tech, with its superior running attack and stout defense, had just the kind of team capable of taking Miami down.

Of course, that was before losses to Pittsburgh, Syracuse and West Virginia.

A common refrain among Hokie backers is that the team was just one key play away from winning each of those games. But all that does is point out perhaps the biggest difference between Miami and Virginia Tech.

Miami has had as many close encounters as the Hokies. But whether it’s been fourth-quarter rallies against Florida State and Rutgers or the last-minute defensive stand against Pittsburgh, the Hurricanes have never failed to deliver in the clutch.

“It’s been shown that people can play with Miami,” Randall said. “But they always pull it out.”

The Hokies are drawing inspiration from their fourth-quarter performance against Virginia that featured a game-clinching touchdown drive and big defensive plays.

“We closed out a game,” Randall said. “That’s something we hadn’t been able to do for a while.”

Of course, closing out Virginia is one thing. Closing out a Miami team that hasn’t lost in nearly three seasons is quite another.

“Our margin for error is very little,” Beamer said. “We’ve got to play our best.”

 

A rematch of the game that never was for U.Va.
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© December 4, 2002

The game has been wiped from the Virginia record books.
Officially, it never took place.

But anyone who was at the Michigan State-Virginia men’s basketball contest at the Richmond Coliseum last Nov. 28 will never forget it. With Virginia leading 31-28 early in the second half, the game was halted because of wet, slippery conditions caused by condensation from ice beneath the basketball floor.

The game was never made up. Tonight in East Lansing, Mich., though, it will be replayed, in a sense, when No. 21 Michigan State hosts No. 22 Virginia in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

Both the Cavaliers (3-1) and Spartans (2-2) are different teams than they were a year ago. Virginia has just one starter back. Michigan State returns four, but lost point guard Maurice Taylor.

Each has played rigorous early schedules. Virginia is coming off games against Kentucky and Indiana in the Maui Invitational Tournament. Michigan State lost to Villanova and Oklahoma State in the Great Alaska Shootout.

For Virginia, at least, its early schedule is a departure from previous years. This time a year ago, the Cavaliers had yet to be tested in wins over Wagner, East Tennessee State and Howard.

“The stretch of Kentucky, Indiana and Michigan State in non-league games, I don’t know if many teams in the country have played that triumvirate,” coach Pete Gillen said. “We learned a lot about our team.”

Gillen said the quality of competition has exposed Virginia’s weaknesses, giving the Cavaliers a more realistic picture of where they stand.

Virginia used a zone defense to hold Kentucky to 37.3 percent shooting in a 75-61 win in Maui. The next night, however, the Cavaliers allowed freshmen guards Bracey Wright and Marshall Strickland to grab control of the game in a 70-63 Indiana victory.

Virginia’s defense, its downfall a year ago, remains a work in progress. Still, the Cavaliers have shown improvement, holding teams to 40.5 percent shooting.

Gillen has rotated eight players and is still getting a feel for his four newcomers. Guard Todd Billet has been the best of the bunch, averaging 12.5 points, but center Nick Vander Laan and swing men Devin Smith and Derrick Byars have also played well.

The one player indispensable to Virginia’s success is center Travis Watson. When Watson left games in Maui with foul trouble, the Cavaliers struggled. He fouled out against Indiana. Gillen wasn’t happy with several of the calls, saying Watson should get the respect that other top players in the country receive.

“We don’t want any favors, but don’t give him ticky-tack fouls,” Gillen said.

Watson and Virginia’s other big men will have their hands full tonight. Michigan State’s frontcourt starters average 243 pounds, and the Spartans have long had a reputation for physical play.

One thing Michigan State does not have is ice underneath its basketball floor.

Too bad, Gillen joked, noting that Michigan State rarely loses at home. The Spartans were 59-2 at home in the last four seasons.

“We’ll take a draw right now,” Gillen said.

 

Bowl scenario somewhat set
By RANDY KING
THE ROANOKE TIMES

BLACKSBURG - The destinations for the four Big East football teams headed to secondary bowl games were settled Tuesday, at least in the case in which Notre Dame (10-2) receives a BCS at-large entry.
In that scenario, the format is set: Tech (9-3) will go to the Dec.28 Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte, N.C., to face an ACC team; West Virginia (9-3) will go to the Jan.1 Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla., to meet North Carolina State (10-3); and Boston College (8-4) will go to the Jan. 31 San Francisco Bowl to play Air Force (8-4).

Pittsburgh (8-4) accepted an invitation Monday afternoon to play in the Dec.26 Insight Bowl in Phoenix against either UCLA (7-4), Washington (7-5) or Oregon State (8-4).

If the Irish don't receive a BCS invitation and inherit WVU's spot in the Gator, nothing was set in stone as of late Tuesday afternoon. However, in such a scenario, all signs indicate that Tech would be sent to San Francisco; WVU would be bumped to the Continental; and BC would have to settle for an unfilled opening in the Dec.26 Motor City Bowl.

Tech, WVU and BC likely won't learn for sure where they're headed until Notre Dame's fate is determined during Sunday's BCS bowl selections. However, if UCLA (7-4) beats Washington State (9-2) on Saturday, a result that would give Southern California (10-2) the Pacific 10 title, the Irish's chances of landing one of the two BCS at-large spots will increase significantly.

Like the Big East trio, Virginia (8-5) also will play the waiting game. Depending on what happens with Notre Dame, the Cavaliers will either face WVU in the Continental or play a yet-to-announced opponent in the Dec. 30 Seattle Bowl.

The Big East participants in the four secondary bowls will be committed to guaranteeing a minimum of 10,000 or a maximum of 12,500 tickets sold, Tech athletic director Jim Weaver said Tuesday.

When asked if the Hokies could sell that many tickets if they are sent west, Weaver said: "I don't think we would sell the minimum amount that we have to contractually, but I believe that we would take 5,000 fans west ... and it wouldn't surprise me if that number would go between 7,500 and 10,000."

Under the Big East's bowl revenue sharing plan, which also pays non-bowl teams Temple, Syracuse and Rutgers, league champion Miami will receive $4 million, runner-up WVU will get $1.85 million and third-place Pittsburgh will be paid $1.6 million. Unless it pulls an upset at No.1 Miami (11-0), Tech will finish in a fourth-place tie with BC in the league at 3-4, leaving both schools with a payout of $1.225 million.

 

Spartans add to Cavs' gantlet
Rematch won't be a slide show
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Dec 04, 2002

U.VA. AT MICH. ST.
TODAY: 9 p.m. ON THE AIR: TV - ESPN; Radio - WRVA (1140), 8:30

First Kentucky, then Indiana and now Michigan State. Who drew up this schedule, anyway?

"And none of them are at home," Virginia men's basketball coach Pete Gillen said.

Gillen's 22nd-ranked Cavaliers (3-1) are a week removed from a second-place finish at the Maui Invitational, where they beat the Wildcats in the semifinals and fell to the Hoosiers, last season's NCAA runners-up, in the championship game. Now comes a visit to Michigan State tonight for an ACC/Big Ten Challenge matchup.

MSU advanced to the Final Four in three of the past four seasons.

The 21st-ranked Spartans (2-2) are coming off a shaky performance in the Great Alaska Shootout, where they went 1-2. Still, they've won 59 of their past 61 games at the Breslin Center, which Gillen compared to Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"They're almost invincible up there," he said.

These teams, you may recall, got together in Richmond last November for what was supposed to be one of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge's marquee matchups. Instead of a classic, however, a debacle en- sued. With U.Va. leading 31-28, officials halted the game, with the blessing of both coaches, because of condensation on the court.

"It was a very slippery situation, to say the least," Spartans coach Tom Izzo said. "We laughed about it a little bit, but I think everybody was embarrassed."

Gillen agreed.

"It was devastating for everybody," he said. "It was devastating for both teams, it was devastating for the Challenge, it was devastating for the fans who made the trip. It shouldn't have happened."

In Hawaii, U.Va. was essentially the visiting team in each of its games. Its first-round opponent was Division II Chaminade from Honolulu, and many in the gym would have been delighted to see history repeat itself 20 years later. Fans from UK and IU outnumbered Virginia supporters in those games, too.

Playing -and winning - away from the cozy confines of University Hall "certainly helped us," Gillen said. "But it was nothing compared to what we're going to see" at MSU.

With guards Jermaine Harper and Majestic Mapp not available, Virginia stuck with an eight-man rotation in Maui: post players Travis Watson, Elton Brown, Nick Vander Laan and Jason Clark; wings Derrick Byars and Devin Smith; and guards Todd Billet and Keith Jenifer.

Vander Laan and Billet sat out last season after transferring to U.Va. from California and Rutgers, respectively. Byars is a 6-7 freshman, and Smith is a 6-5 sophomore who played at a junior college last season.

"We got some answers, but we've still got a lot of different questions about our players," Gillen said. "We're still learning about our team. With four new guys, we're still certainly a work in progress.

"We're nowhere near where we have to be to play in a great league like the ACC, or where we want to be, but I think we have the potential to be very good."

The Spartans' leading scorer is sophomore guard Chris Hill (17.5 ppg). Also averaging in double figures is 6-9, 250-pound senior Adam Ballinger (10.8 ppg).

Watson leads the Cavaliers in scoring (16 ppg) and rebounding (11.5 rpg) and is shooting 58.3 percent from the floor. From the line, however, the 6-8, 255-pound senior has made only 46.7 percent of his attempts. Watson was a 69.5-percent free-throw shooter last season.

 

Bowl prospects still on hold for U.Va., Tech
By Dave Johnson and Norm Wood
Daily Press

Published December 4, 2002

Virginia Tech's informal deal with the Insight Bowl disintegrated Tuesday, and a possible postseason destination for Virginia finally proved its solvency.

Virginia Tech appears set in either the Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte on Dec. 28 or the San Francisco Bowl on New Year's Eve. Virginia still appears headed to either the Continental Tire or Seattle Bowl on Dec. 30.

Seattle was nearly removed as a possibility after it delayed sending the NCAA a $1.5 million letter of credit to ensure its $750,000 payouts to each participant. But the bowl anted up Tuesday, almost five weeks after the original deadline.

Tech and U.Va. will remain on hold until this weekend's games, and perhaps until the BCS pairings are announced Sunday at 3:30 p.m. The most important game is in Pasadena, where Washington State plays for the Pacific 10 championship against UCLA. If the Cougars win, it seems likely that the BCS at-large teams will be Iowa and Southern California. That would send Notre Dame to the Gator Bowl, Virginia Tech to the San Francisco Bowl against Air Force and pit Virginia against West Virginia in the Continental Tire.

But a UCLA victory would give Southern Cal, its cross-town rival, the conference title. The at-large teams probably would be Iowa and Notre Dame, keeping West Virginia in the Gator. Virginia Tech would face Georgia Tech in the Continental Tire, and Virginia would play Oregon in Seattle.

Things looked set for the Hokies after Saturday's 21-9 victory over the Cavaliers. Tech athletic director Jim Weaver and Insight representative Evan Paoletti walked off the field together, looking very much like a partnership had been formed for the Dec. 26 game. But the Insight, contractually obligated to select a Big East team, took Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

"People at times change their minds," Weaver said. "And I don't mean the Insight people."

You mean Pittsburgh? he was asked.

"You said that," Weaver answered, "I didn't."

Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage thought Virginia had a bid to the Continental Tire Bowl sealed Sunday night. But now, the Cavaliers have to root for Washington State.

"My goal has been to get the University of Virginia locked in and not subjected to whatever takes place nationally," Littlepage said.

"It's not the best feeling to (rely) on circumstances beyond our control. I think it should go back to team performance, and we've done just about everything to position ourselves for a bowl. But unfortunately, the outcome of one or two other games has a bearing on where we go."

Littlepage said Virginia would not decline a bid from Seattle.

"In general, the coaching staff and team are extremely enthusiastic about playing a game," he said.

"We're proceding with the understanding that we have a game left."
 

New coach energizes Cavs' defense
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press

Published December 4, 2002

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- As the new guy on Virginia's coaching staff, Rod Jensen has a clear-cut job description: Take a group of kids who never cared about the other end of the floor before and turn them into defenders. Oh, and the sooner the better.

Since Pete Gillen's arrival in 1998, Virginia has become known for an exciting, up-tempo brand of basketball that puts people in the seats.

But eventually, those people notice all the points their guys are allowing.

After three seasons of progress, the Cavaliers slipped a notch last season. Defense, or a lack of it, was a prime culprit.

"I'm new to the program, but we've been kind of bombarded since last year about not being as good on defense as we should be," Jensen said. "We all know we have to improve. Sometimes, a lot of it's just believing. We have to get our guys believing that by playing hard, we can be a good defensive team."

Quit simply, Virginia has been a lousy defensive team lately. In the past four seasons, the Cavaliers have given up 79 points a game and 48.5 percent shooting from the field in ACC play. Each of the Cavaliers' final seven opponents last year shot at least 51 percent. Not surprisingly, the Cavaliers lost six of those games to fall out of contention for an NCAA Tournament bid.

"I want to see more of a commitment to defense," Gillen said. "I want to see more pride in defense."

So far, he has. Going into tonight's game at Michigan State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, Virginia's four opponents have shot 40.5 percent. The Cavaliers (3-1) played one of their best defensive games under Gillen last week in a 75-61 victory against 15th-ranked Kentucky. The Wildcats shot 37 percent and went 2-of-22 from the 3-point arc.

Say this about Jensen: He knows defense. One of his mentors was former Penn State coach Dick Harter, who Gillen calls "probably the best defensive coach alive, dead or yet to be born."

Jensen's teams at Boise State, where he was head coach from 1996-2002, used an occasional man-to-man, occasional match-up zone that resulted in a lot of 62-58 games.

"Half-court street wars," was Jensen's description.

When Gillen lost assistant Tommy Herrion last spring, his first inclination was to move somebody up and/or call a former player. Or "stay within the family," as they say in the coaching circle. Gene Corrigan, the former ACC commissioner who lives in Charlottesville, advised him to go a different route. Get an older guy, Corrigan urged, a respected figure. Jensen isn't quite ready for Social Security - he turned 49 last month - but he's been coaching for more than two decades.

"I put my ego in my pocket," Gillen said. "I hired someone who knows more about defense than I do."

Though he wasn't "family," Jensen had two Cavalier connections. His daughter, Kate, graduated from Virginia last spring. And Jon Oliver, an associate athletic director at U.Va., played for Boise when Jensen was an assistant.

Jensen, who was fired at Boise last March, was preparing for a year as an observer. But in town for Kate's graduation, he met with Gillen in May.

"You obviously want to be at the highest level possible, and that's what the ACC is," he said. "And it's darn important that the guy you're working for does it the right way. My entire wish list was met, and that doesn't happen very often."

Gillen says the Cavaliers won't press as much as in years past, though they still plan to juice the tempo. Jensen knows only one way to coach - "He thinks 'press' is something you do with pants," Gillen joked - and that's the style he's bringing.

"The first time we got together he said, 'OK, how about full-court?' " Jensen said. "And it was like ... wow. I just never ... You know, I think a lot of it has to do with who your mentors are. That's what I was basically brought up on, and we had success at every one of those places. That's why I've always had a strong belief in it."