Future looking bright for UVa football
By John Galinsky / Daily Progress staff writer
December 29, 2003

In some ways, Almondo Curry said, Saturday’s 23-16 victory in the Continental Tire Bowl provided a perfect ending for his Virginia football career.

The senior cornerback was part of a secondary that kept All-American receiver Larry Fitzgerald out of the end zone, something Pittsburgh’s previous 18 opponents had failed to accomplish.

He was part of a defense that limited the Panthers to a single field goal in the second half, and he was part of a team that won its final three games after a 5-5 start.

“It’s a great way to go out, for me and all the seniors,” Curry said as he packed up his uniform for the final time in the locker room at Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte, N.C.

But, the team’s defensive captain added, if he has one regret about the conclusion of his UVa career, it is that he will no longer be part of a program that he believes will ascend, inevitably and soon, into the national elite.

“I won’t be around when this team gets really, really good,” Curry said. “I wish I could be around for that, but I’ll be watching it happen as a Cavalier fan.”

Like last year, when Virginia finished strongly and spanked West Virginia in the Continental Tire, the bowl victory touched off a wave of optimism about the future of the program.

Both the departing players and those coming back said they anticipate bigger and better things in coming years for the Cavaliers.

“They’re going to be good,” said senior safety Jamaine Winborne. “There are a lot of great athletes here who are going to keep improving and you know the coaches are going to keep recruiting like they have. I see them going nothing but up from here.”

Of course, many of the same things were said last year, when outgoing linebacker Merrill Robertson predicted Al Groh’s program would turn into “a dynasty.” A consensus top 20 pick in the preseason, Virginia lost a series of close games and quickly fell out of the rankings. Even with a strong finish, its 8-5 record was one win shy of last year’s 9-5 mark.

Will 2004 be any different? There are reasons to think so.

Despite its heightened expectations, UVa still had one of the youngest teams in the country this season. Perhaps the Cavaliers weren’t quite ready to take the next step. Next year they should be much more mature and significantly more seasoned.

Eighteen starters are set to return as well as receiver Michael McGrew and fullback Jason Snelling, likely starters who redshirted this season. Injured safety Willie Davis also may be back. The members of the past two heralded recruiting classes will be more experienced and ready to take on leadership roles.

“Our team can be great,” said defensive end Chris Canty, who should be an All-America candidate along with tight end Heath Miller and kicker Connor Hughes. “I put no limitations on how good we can be as long as we work hard and keep getting better.”

Virginia’s defense made strides this season, though there remains plenty of room for improvement. One encouraging sign was the rapid development of freshmen inside linebackers Ahmad Brooks and Kai Parham, who combined for 22 tackles in the bowl game.

Brooks, who had a sack among his 12 tackles, “showed his potential for greatness,” Groh said. “He made some substantial and really significant plays for us. He’s still learning. The really exciting thing is I think there’s a lot more to come for all of us to see.”

Curry also looks forward to a dominant linebacking corps led by Brooks, Parham and sophomore Darryl Blackstock. “The type of defense that they’re building is going to be tremendous,” he said.

The secondary will be a question mark, especially if safety Jermaine Hardy isn’t healthy. Hardy played most of the season with a torn ACL in his right knee. He missed the second half of the bowl game after reinjuring the knee and is scheduled for surgery Jan. 6. He said he plans to be full speed by next fall, providing senior leadership for a unit that may otherwise consist of sophomores and freshmen.

All of the starters on both lines should be back, unless junior guard Elton Brown decides to enter the NFL draft. The team’s most productive wideout, Ryan Sawyer, is a departing senior, as is fullback Kase Luzar, but McGrew and Snelling figure to slide into those spots.

The hardest task, to be sure, will be replacing Matt Schaub, who broke most of the school’s passing records and lifted Virginia, a flawed team in many ways, to 17 victories the past two seasons.

“I think he joins an elite group of Virginia football players who through their performance made their teams significantly different over a long span of time than [they] otherwise would be,” Groh said. “I can’t imagine there are very many players in the country who have done as much to carry their teams over a long period of time as he has.”

Marques Hagans, Anthony Martinez, Kevin McCabe and Chris Olsen will battle it out for the starting job in the spring. No matter who ends up behind center, he will be surrounded by enough impressive talent to make the old quarterback jealous.

“I think this program has a very bright future,” Schaub said. “I’m excited to see what they’ll do the next few years.”
 

Cavaliers drop ACC opener
Virginia now 0-5 at the RBC Center
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
December 29, 2003

RALEIGH, N.C. – In the five-year history of N.C. State’s “new” basketball arena, Virginia has now played in the building under two different names and in three different months.

Despite all the changes, the song remains the same for the Cavaliers.

Virginia fell to 0-5 in the RBC Center and dropped its ninth straight ACC opener as it succumbed to a hot-shooting N.C. State squad 86-69 on Sunday night.

While the loss kept the Cavaliers winless at the facility, formerly known as the Entertainment and Sports Arena, it also continued a trend of ACC road futility. The Cavaliers have now dropped 13 of their last 14 regular-season ACC contests away from home.

“We just couldn’t match them. They hit their 3s. They were physical and aggressive and we have to respond to that. We played hard but we didn’t play smart,” Virginia coach Pete Gillen said.

Julius Hodge led N.C. State (6-2, 1-0 ACC), which made 11 of its 27 3-point attempts, with 23 points while Scooter Sherrill had 17.

Elton Brown had 18 for Virginia (8-1, 0-1 ACC) but committed seven of Virginia’s team-high 18 turnovers. Devin Smith had 14 and Gary Forbes added 11 for the Cavaliers, which outrebounded N.C. State 37-31 but were done in by a dreadful 3-for-19 performance on 3-pointers.

“We were 3 of 19 from 3s and they were 11-27. That’s a big difference,” Gillen said.

The Wolfpack, who actually entered the game struggling from behind the arc, expanded their 38-33 halftime advantage by connecting on six treys in 10 shots to open the second half to take a 60-53 lead with 12:48 left.

Six different N.C. State players hit those trifectas but perhaps more remarkable was that Virginia scored on nine of its first 10 possessions in the second half, but could only trim the halftime deficit by one.

A 3-pointer by Todd Billet had cut the N.C. State advantage to four, 57-53, with 13:43 left but only once got any closer.

“I think that was the turning point right there. They were hot from the 3-point line and we just couldn’t match them from that point on. We couldn’t keep up,” Gillen said.

That stretch seemed to be the confluence of both poor UVa defense and simply sizzling Wolfpack shooting.

“They were hitting their shots but we were also helping out a little too much on defense. It seemed like they were making every shot but we need to play better defense,” Brown said. “They penetrated and we’re supposed to help on defense and that was leaving people open.”

According to N.C. State coach Herb Sendek, the Wolfpack may have been aided by some extra practice during the post-exam/Christmas break.

“You cannot fault this group’s effort. We had two weeks of diligent effort in practice. … Tonight this team played like a group of champions,” Sendek said.

N.C. State led 38-33 at intermission after Virginia had opened the game with a 6-0 spurt, the contest remained nip-and-tuck for the next 10 minutes before Virginia opened a slight 19-16 advantage on a dunk by Forbes with 7:40 left.

The Wolfpack, however, responded with a 13-3 run and when Levi Watkins connected on a 3-pointer with 4:30 remaining, they had a 29-22 advantage. The Cavaliers would briefly cut that margin to one but the Wolfpack pushed the lead back to seven before a Smith putback before the buzzer accounted for the halftime margin.

Virginia actually outshot (48.3 percent to 45.5) and outrebounded the Wolfpack (18-15) in the first 20 minutes but the Cavaliers’ 11 turnovers were converted into 14 N.C. State points.

Virginia returns to action Wednesday when it hosts Iowa State at 6 p.m.
 

Three-point shooting keys Wolfpack
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
December 29, 2003

RALEIGH, N.C.

Pete Gillen said a couple of weeks ago that he didn’t want his Virginia basketball team to live and die with the 3-pointer this season.

In Sunday night’s ACC opener against N.C. State, the Cavaliers must have felt the RBC Center was the house of pain. The Wolfpack killed the visiting Cavs slowly as they bombed away from bonusphere in an 86-69 State win.

The Pack entered the game as the ACC’s worst 3-point shooting team with a .311 percentage from beyond the arch. State’s shooters must have taken some target practice since their last outing as they blistered Virginia’s defense for 33 points with the trey, hitting 40.7 percent from long range and 46.7 percent in the second half.

“They hit the three against our zone and our man-to-man,” said Gillen as the Cavaliers lost for the seventh straight time in Raleigh and six of the last seven overall meetings against the Wolfpack. “We made the mistake of when they penetrated, we played help defense and didn’t cover the shooters.”

State broke open a close game midway through the second half after six different Wolfpackers had nailed threes. Virginia had hung within 64-61 with 8:57 to play on a fastbreak layup by Devin Smith.

The Cavaliers would score only three more field goals the rest of the game. Meanwhile, yet a seventh State player, Ilian Evtimov, hit a trey as the Pack pulled away and built a 12-point lead at 75-63 by the 4:33 mark.

“They got hot with the threes and we couldn’t match it,” Gillen said. “We helped out too much. We got sucked in. We have to do a better job of defending the three.”

It wasn’t the first time this season that Virginia’s defense against the bomb had been exploited. James Madison connected on 13 of 28 from long range.

But N.C. State coach Herb Sendek said he didn’t tell his team at halftime to shoot more 3’s.

“It just came from reading the defense and taking what was available,” Sendek said. “We knew we were a good shooting team and that we hadn’t been that far off. It was just a case of paying more attention to detail.”

The Wolfies wisely used the old tactic of drive and draw the defenders into the middle, then kicked the ball back outside to open sharpshooters. For State, it must have been easy as the Cavaliers failed to adjust to the strategy.

Meanwhile, Virginia’s shooters couldn’t throw a beach ball into the ocean.

The Cavs were 3 of 19 from downtown, a measley 15.8 percent. When the Wolfpack got hot, Virginia had no answer as it hit only 2 of 12 attempts from beyond the arch in the second half.

Guard Todd Billet, UVa’s best deadeye, was 2 of 9. He rarely got open and had to hurry some shots just to become a threat. Devin Smith and Derrick Byars, who had their moments from outside last season, were a combined 0 for 7.

“That can make a world of difference in this game,” Sendek said in contrasting the two teams’ 3-point shooting performance.

“Todd just didn’t shoot it,” said Gillen. “Devin doesn’t practice all the time because of his back injury and he doesn’t have his legs. We need those two, Elton Brown and Derrick to be solid shooting. They have to carry us early and get what we can from the freshmen.”

Gillen may not want to live by the three, but he may not have any choice. Until the Cavs can tinker with their defensive adjustments to prevent future ACC opponents from bombing away, Virginia could die a thousand deaths.
 

Welcome to U.Va.’s nightmare: Wolfpack has another howlin’ good time
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© December 29, 2003

RALEIGH — The game had a familiar look. The splashing 3-pointers. The knifing drives to the basket.

And ultimately, the final score.

Another trip to Raleigh, another loss for the Virginia Cavaliers. Make that seven straight, with N.C. State’s 86-69 win Sunday night in front of 16,227 at the RBC Center.

Something about the Cavaliers brings out the best in Herb Sendek’s Wolfpack teams. N.C. State entered the game ranked last in the ACC in 3-point shooting percentage.

Yet there the Wolfpack was, canning six of its first eight 3-point attempts in the second half. Seven different N.C. State players scored from outside the arc.

N.C. State entered the game ranked last in the conference in scoring. Yet there it was, pushing the 90-point barrier.

N.C. State came in ranked last in the ACC in shooting percentage. Yet there it was, hitting 58 percent in the second half.

There was the Wolfpack (6-2, 1-0 in the ACC), celebrating another win over Virginia. The Cavaliers (8-1, 0-1) dropped their ACC opener for the ninth straight season.

“We didn’t play smart,” coach Pete Gillen said. “We didn’t cover the 3s when they got going.”

That was early in the second half. Marcus Melvin got things started by hitting a 3-pointer with 18:21 left. Then Julius Hodge canned one. Then Scooter Sherrill. Then Mike O’Donnell. And Levi Watkins.

Finally, a couple of international players — Engin Atsur, a freshman from Istanbul, Turkey; and Ilian Evtimov, a sophomore from Sofia, Bulgaria — got in on the act.

“They hit shots against man to man. They hit shots against zone. They were on fire,” Gillen said.

Meanwhile, Virginia couldn’t buy a 3-pointer. Devin Smith and Todd Billet, the team’s top outside threats, shot a combined 2 of 13 from behind the arc. The Cavaliers shot 3 of 19 as a team.

Virginia was at its best in transition, particularly in the first half. But as Billet noted: “It’s hard to run when they’re hitting long 3s.”

It’s also hard to run when turning the ball over. Elton Brown led the Cavaliers with 18 points, but also committed seven turnovers, as the Wolfpack collapsed its defense around the 6-foot-9 junior.

“It’s something I’ve got to work on,” Brown said. “Because all year I’m going to get doubled.”

Brown certainly will continue to get double-teamed if Virginia can’t make outside shots. Smith, a 6-6 junior with the prettiest stroke on the team, has made just 3 of 27 3-pointers on the season, after shooting almost 39 percent last season.

Most of Smith’s shooting woes can be traced to a lower back strain that has slowed him all season. “Sometimes, my legs just aren’t there,” he said.

Smith finished with 14 points, one of five Virginia players in double figures. Hodge led N.C. State with 23, while Sherrill added 17.

Hodge added six assists, five steals and his usual freewheeling energy.

“When Julius defines himself as a scorer alone, he takes away from his ability,” Sendek said. “Tonight we saw him get his teammates involved and that shows what a complete player he is and how truly better he makes the rest of the team.”

N.C. State had not played in eight days, since a disappointing, lackluster loss to South Carolina. Sendek praised his team for bouncing back, “like a group of champions.”

For Gillen, the loss only confirmed what he’d been saying all season, even with Virginia’s 8-0 start. The young Cavaliers, who played four freshmen and a sophomore during one stretch Sunday, have much work to do.

Particularly on the defensive end, Gillen said.

“We just need to do a better job defending the 3,” Gillen said. “We work on it, believe it or not.”
 

Schaub leaves legacy
Matt Schaub goes out on top, becoming the second UVa QB with two straight bowl wins.
By Doug Doughty
 

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - In the one-month period that followed the regular season, Matt Schaub didn't allow himself to think about the impending end to his college football career.

"I was in a state of denial," Schaub said Saturday after Virginia's 23-16 victory over Pittsburgh in the Continental Tire Bowl. "Now, it's hit me that's it's over and done with."

After taking a knee that allowed the final 18 seconds to run off the clock, Schaub turned and gave a hug to fellow fifth-year senior and longtime roommate Ryan Sawyer, who was acting as a safety in case the ball somehow came dislodged.

Schaub then headed for the Pittsburgh bench, where he extended a hand to and had a brief conversation with Panthers head coach Walt Harris, a passing-game guru who had once tried to recruit Schaub out of West Chester, Pa., in the eastern part of the state.

"He really came over to me because he won the game," Harris said. "If I'd won the game, I'd gone over to him. I liked him when we were recruiting him and we were recruiting the right guy. He's a tremendous football player.

"He's obviously got great size [6-foot-5, 240 pounds]. I always knew he could throw. He was one of the most impressive guys I've seen on tape out of school, but what impressed me today was, for a big man he can move. I think he'll be a guy who will be reckoned with on the next level."

Two of Schaub's best throws of the day came when he was on the run. The first was dropped by Sawyer in the end zone. The second, a 19-yard completion to Ottowa Anderson on third-and-seven, put UVa in position for the last of Connor Hughes' three field goals.

Schaub, winner of the Jerry Richardson Award as the game's MVP, did not have his greatest day statistically. When you've completed 70 percent of your passes for the season, a 20-for-31 day is somewhat pedestrian. A 244-yard afternoon represented the 20th game in which he has thrown for 200 yards or more.

Till the end, Schaub displayed a mastery of the game's subtleties. When the Cavaliers took possession with 7:51 left, he took them on a drive that took more than five minutes, never hurrying out of the huddle and rarely calling for the ball with more than 2-3 seconds remaining on the 25-second clock.

If Schaub was in a state of denial over the end of his career, there was no denying what he has accomplished for a program that went 17-10 over the past two seasons.

Before Saturday, current UVa quarterbacks coach Mike Groh was the only quarterback to lead the Cavaliers to bowl victories in consecutive seasons (1994-95).

Groh's record for passing yardage in a season was one of the first Schaub took, and now he holds almost every one of them. Despite missing two full games and part of a third this year, Schaub passed for almost as many yards (2,952) as he did in 14 games as a junior, when he set the school record (2,976).

Calm and poised in almost all circumstances, Schaub swallowed hard as he heard coach Al Groh talk about him at a table they shared for a postgame interview.

"I think he has joined an elite group of Virginia football players," Groh said. "As I've said before, not many players have done as much as he has. Wherever this team went was going to be where Matt took it.

"You hear players referred to as a coaches' guy or a players' guy. He isn't a coaches' guy or a players' guy. Matt was a guy who everybody trusted."

 

ACC opener sets back UVa 'D'
The Cavaliers fail to stop the Wolfpack from making 3-pointers.
By Doug Doughty

RALEIGH, N.C. - Never known for its defense during the Pete Gillen era, Virginia has started to break down where it hurts the most.

UVa's inability to defend the 3-pointer didn't prevent the Cavaliers from winning their first eight games, but it was the difference Sunday in the start of ACC play.

North Carolina State got 3-point field goals from seven players in the second half and handed Virginia its 13th loss in its past 14 ACC road games, 86-69.

The Cavaliers (8-1) have lost their past nine ACC openers.

"We've worked on it, believe it or not, but we've got to do a better job of defending the 3," said Gillen, whose team had allowed 13 3-point field goals against James Madison and 10 against Coastal Carolina. "When they penetrated, we helped out too much and didn't get back to the shooter."

State (6-2) was ranked last in the ACC in scoring, field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage before Sunday, but shot 57.7 percent from the field in the second half and 50.8 percent for the game. The Wolfpack was 11-of-27 on 3-pointers, including 7-of-15 in the second half.

No team had shot 50 percent from the field against Virginia before Sunday. Only JMU had shot better than 40 percent.

"It didn't matter if we were in zone or man-to-man," Gillen said. "They were on fire. A lot of teams would have had trouble here tonight."

The Cavaliers had plenty of opportunities to take command in the first half, when they committed 11 turnovers, four of them on offensive fouls. They had averaged barely more than 10 turnovers in their previous five games.

Junior center Elton Brown led five UVa scorers in double figures, with 18 points, but had four turnovers in the first half and a career-high seven for the game.

"A lot of them came from getting used to their double-teams," Brown said. "Most teams will send a guy from the guard, but they were coming from the weak side and I couldn't see the extra guy. I blame myself. Mostly, I wasn't taking my time and trying to force things too much."

Virginia came into the season with two players, Todd Billet and Devin Smith, who made more 3-point field goals (158) than any other ACC tandem. They were a combined 2-for-13 on 3-pointers. The Cavaliers were 3-for-19 as a team.

Smith is 3-for-27 on 3-pointers this season.

"Some of our veterans didn't have their best games," Gillen said. "We need them to carry us early, with the freshmen giving us what they can."

Gillen became so disgusted with Brown in the first half that he benched him for six minutes during one stretch and at one point had four freshmen and a sophomore on the floor.

J.R. Reynolds returned to action after being sidelined with the chicken pox. Reynolds played eight minutes and did not attempt a shot. Another freshman guard, T.J. Bannister, had five assists and one turnover.

State had four double-figure scorers, headed by 2003 All-ACC choice Julius Hodge, who had 23 points, six assists and five steals.

"When they took away our back-door cuts, we stepped out and made the 3-pointers," Hodge said. "That's what this offense allows you."

 

Road woes resurface as Wolfpack gives Cavaliers first loss
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press
Published December 29, 2003

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Two streaks Virginia would just as soon see crawl into a spider hole lived on Sunday night. First, the Cavaliers lost their seventh straight game in this town. Second, they dropped their ninth ACC opener in a row.

Hoping to prove a new level of maturity in its toughest test to date, Virginia had no answer for N.C. State's long-range shooting and fell 86-69 in the RBC Center.

It was a three-point game at the 9-minute mark, but the Cavaliers crashed down the stretch and lost for the 13th time in their last 14 conference road games.

N.C. State entered last among ACC teams in scoring, field-goal percentage and 3-point accuracy, but you wouldn't have known it Sunday night. The Wolfpack (6-2, 1-0) finished with its second-highest point total of the season on 51-percent shooting and went 11-of-27 from behind the arc. The Cavaliers were 3-of-19 from 3-point land.

"Those eight points were big," said Cavaliers coach Pete Gillen, referring to the differential. "Plus the emotional lift that you get from 3s, that also helped them. They would have been effective against anybody the way they shot it in the second half."

State began the final period by hitting six of its first eight attempts from the arc - with a different player hitting each shot. Levi Watkins and Marcus Melvin, who go 6-foot-8 and 6-7, were a combined 5-of-9.

"That's what makes that team unique," Virginia guard Todd Billet said. "If they get it going the way they had it going tonight, they're a tough team to beat. They were passing it well on the perimeter and getting clean looks. When you move it well on the perimeter and have five guys who can shoot it, it makes it tough on the defense."

Not that Virginia made it tough on State.

"We've got guys who can guard," forward Elton Brown said. "We just didn't do it tonight."

Though they return two of the ACC's best 3-point shooters, the Cavs continue to struggle from the perimeter. Virginia is 50-of-160 from the arc this season for 31 percent. Devin Smith, who made 64 3-pointers a year ago, is 3-for-27. Billet is 18-of-51.

After hitting 1-of-7 from the arc in the first half, the Cavs began the second period with a 20-footer by Billet to cut N.C. State's lead to 38-36. But from there, the Wolfpack went 6-of-7 from 3-point land in a 4:07 stretch and went ahead 60-53 on Engin Atsur's trey with 12:42 left.

Virginia stayed within range and cut the Wolfpack's lead to 64-61 on Smith's dunk at 8:55. But State answered with a 6-0 run - started by Ilian Evtimov's 3-pointer and capped by Julius Hodge's layup - and went ahead 70-61 with 7:11 left. The Cavs finally answered with a Brown layup, but Melvin's jumper and Hodge's 3-point play pushed State's lead to 75-63 with 4:33 left.

Pack all fired up
By AL FEATHERSTON : The Herald-Sun
afeatherston@heraldsun.com
Dec 28, 2003 : 11:51 pm ET

RALEIGH -- N.C. State, coming off a pre-Christmas disappointment at South Carolina, turned the holidays around by knocking off Virginia on Sunday night in the ACC opener for both teams.

Call it smart scheduling by Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek - Virginia has been the Pack's favorite ACC whipping boy in recent years, especially in Raleigh, where the Cavs haven't won since 1997. Throw in the fact that the Cavaliers haven't won an ACC opener since 1995, and N.C. State's 86-69 victory in the RBC Center hardly was a surprise.

"They're tough to beat here," said Virginia coach Pete Gillen, who never has won in the RBC Center. "It's not just us. They're usually 15-2, 14-3 at home. They would have beaten a lot of teams here tonight."

N.C. State (6-2, 1-0 ACC) picked up its game after the loss in Columbia when Sendek put his team through a spirited workout on Christmas night.

"Usually, that's a tough practice," Sendek said. "I've been part of Christmas practices before where you get them back and just try to run some turkey off them. But those guys came back and had a great practice Christmas night."

The hard holiday workout paid off against Virginia (8-1, 0-1 ACC) as the Pack played with far more poise and purpose than against the Gamecocks. Leading the way was junior Julius Hodge, the only 2002-03 first-team All-ACC performer returning to the league this year, who showed off the full range of his skills to help N.C. State seize control of the game early in the second half.

The slender 6-6 swingman scored 23 points to lead the Pack's scoring. But he was more important as a playmaker, passing out six assists in the second half.

"That's when he's at his best," Sendek said. "He's at his best when he combines his scoring with getting everybody else involved. That's when our team is at its best, when he makes others better. Tonight, he really did that."

Hodge's finest moment came as Virginia mounted a furious rally to start the second half. The Cavs, down 38-33 at the break, scored on nine of their first 10 possessions after the break.

At the end of that spurt, Virginia had cut a single point off the Pack's lead as N.C. State embarked on a torrid 3-point shooting streak -- all keyed by Hodge.

The Pack's leader hit just one 3-pointer during the streak, but he assisted on five others -- driving and dishing to teammates Scooter Sherrill, Engin Atsur, Marcus Melvin, Mike O'Donnell and Ilian Evtimov.

"They just hit some 3s and we couldn't match it," Gillen said. "They shoot very well at home and sometimes on the road. We made mistakes, getting sucked in on their penetration. They'd penetrate, and we'd all drop back and help and not get out and cover the 3s."

N.C. State hit 7 of 15 3-pointers in the second half -- by seven different players.

"We were just on tonight," Hodge said. "Our offense was clicking. We got a couple of new pieces we put in and we were making shots and playmaking. It definitely felt good."

The six assists were one less than Hodge's season high, but were well short of his career best of 10 he had last season against North Carolina A&T.

"Coach always tells me I'm a great playmaker and I make other guys better," Hodge said. "Sometimes I go out there and think for us to be successful, it's more important that I have to score a lot of points. But tonight I had a lot of trust and faith in my teammates. They were making shots so I kept feeding them the ball."

Hodge got a lot of help as Sherrill scored 19 points, Melvin 14 and Levi Watkins 13. But the biggest boost may have come from Atsur, who came off the bench and gave the Pack some strong playmaking in the first half and some good defense in the second.

Hodge also wanted to credit junior Jordan Collins, calling him "the X-factor" for his defense on Virginia center Elton Brown. The Cavalier big man did lead the Cavs with 18 points, but he also had seven turnovers as he was continually double-teamed in the post.

"When things got bad, we got a little flustered," Gillen said. "Our kids played hard, but they didn't play smart."

NOTES -- Freshman guard Mike O'Donnell left the floor with an injured right knee in the second half. He returned to the bench, but not the game. Sendek said he wouldn't know the extent of O'Donnell's injury until today, but indications are that its just a twisted knee and won't be a serious injury. ... N.C. State will be in action again Saturday night when UNC Wilmington visit the RBC Center. Virginia is about to start a four-game homestand as Iowa State, Providence, William & Mary and Duke will visit Charlottesville over the next two weeks. ... Virginia has won 16 of the last 27 games with N.C. State, but the Pack has now won six of the last seven, including seven straight from Virginia in Raleigh. ... Gillen is 0-6 in ACC openers; Sendek is 5-3. ... With his 14 points, Melvin raised his career total to 965 points. He's trying to become the second N.C. State player this year to top 1,000. Hodge topped the 1,000 mark against Hartford two weeks ago.

 

Cavs Drop ACC Opener
N.C. State 86, Virginia 69
By Jim Reedy
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, December 29, 2003; Page D13

RALEIGH, N.C., Dec. 28 -- Virginia fell from the ranks of the unbeaten Sunday and extended a pair of undesirable streaks, suffering an 86-69 loss at North Carolina State that marked its seventh straight loss in Raleigh and its ninth straight loss in an ACC opener.

N.C. State (6-2, 1-0) earned its first notable win of the season by hitting 11 of 27 three-point attempts. The Cavaliers (8-1, 0-1), who entered conference play undefeated for the third time in four years, made just 3 of 19 en route to their 13th loss in 14 ACC road games.

"We didn't get to their shooters, simple as that," Virginia's Derrick Byars said.

"We were helping too much sometimes on the penetration," teammate Devin Smith added. "Really they didn't want to go all the way to the basket. They wanted to kick it out to the shooters. That's how they got the majority of their open looks."

Byars (4 of 10, 10 points) and Smith (6 of 15, 14 points) were part of a quartet of Virginia veterans who did not play their best Sunday night. Todd Billet hit only 3 of 12 shots, and though Elton Brown scored 18 points and was 7-of-11 shooting, he committed seven turnovers.

"We need our veterans -- Devin and Todd and Elton and Derrick -- to really be solid, to shoot it well," Cavs Coach Pete Gillen said. "They've got to carry us early, those four guys, and the freshmen will give us what they can."

N.C. State, which has won six of the teams' past seven meetings, scored more points and shot better (51 percent) than any other Virginia opponent this season.

The Cavaliers trailed throughout the second half, but got within 64-61 with nine minutes remaining after T.J. Bannister hit two free throws and Smith dunked in transition. But Ilian Evtimov answered immediately with a three-pointer to push N.C. State's margin back to six, and Virginia went cold for the next few minutes.

The Wolfpack's lead grew to seven, to nine and finally to 75-63 when leading scorer Julius Hodge converted a three-point play with 41/2 minutes left.

Hodge, whose scoring average against Virginia was three points higher than his overall career average, had a game-high 23 points and was 9 of 12 shooting and added six assists. Scooter Sherrill added 17 in what Wolfpack Coach Herb Sendek called perhaps the best overall performance of his career.

"When Julius defines himself as a scorer alone, he takes away from his ability," Sendek said. "Tonight we saw him get his teammates involved and that shows what a complete player he is and how truly better he makes the rest of the team."

The lead exchanged hands three times in the first half before N.C. State pulled ahead to stay in the final seven minutes. After taking a 38-33 lead at the break, it maintained the cushion despite allowing Virginia to score on nine of its first 10 possessions of the second half.

The Wolfpack kept pace with three-pointers. Marcus Melvin, Hodge and Sherrill hit on back-to-back-to-back attempts and Mike O'Donnell, Levi Watkins and Engin Atsur followed soon thereafter, making the margin 60-53 with 121/2 minutes remaining.

"They hit shots against zone. They hit shots against man," Gillen said. "They were rolling pretty good. . . . Part of that is our defense has got to get better, but part of that [is] you've got to give them credit. They shot it well."

Cavaliers Notes: Freshman guard J.R. Reynolds, a key reserve through the first month of the season, was back after missing two games because of a flu-like virus, but he played only eight minutes, mostly at the end, and had little impact. . . . Virginia returns home to University Hall for its next four games: Iowa State, Providence, William & Mary and Duke.
 

Panthers could affect date for 2004 bowl
RICK BONNELL
Staff Writer

Christmas and the potential for a Carolina Panthers home playoff game figure to push the 2004 Continental Tire Bowl back a few days.

Charlotte's bowl game has prospered with a Saturday-morning start its first two years. Next year, Christmas falls on a Saturday. Also, the prospect of the Panthers hosting a playoff game complicates late-December scheduling for Ericsson Stadium.

Bowl executive director Ken Haines said he'd rather push the game back to Monday the 27th or Tuesday the 28th than play it before Christmas.

Haines believes attendance has been strong both years because Charlotte was a convenient drive for one or both teams. He doesn't want to compete with Christmas shopping in marketing this game.

Bringing Proehl to Wake Forest

Virginia coach Al Groh was at Wake Forest years ago when an assistant coach came back talking about a high school receiver he'd seen named Ricky Proehl.Because so few schools were recruiting Proehl, the assistant asked Groh, the Deacons coach, to watch film to make sure the receiver deserved a scholarship. Nearly two decades and 600 NFL receptions later, Proehl is one of the game's most prolific receivers.

"Every game (on high school film), Ricky did something really special," Groh said. "I told the young coach he needed to have more confidence in himself. But he thought because there weren't 15 big schools recruiting Ricky, maybe he wasn't right."

Groh continues to admire Proehl, who plays for the NFL's Carolina Panthers.

"When they talk about a guy being a professional, that's Ricky Proehl." -- RON GREEN JR.

Swallow those whistles, refs

The SEC-based officiating crew had a rough first half. First, a referee had to rescind a penalty for too many men on the field because there weren't too many. Then, Virginia lost a takeaway to a premature whistle.

Pittsburgh's Tutu Ferguson dropped a punt return right into the hands of the Cavaliers, seemingly giving Virginia great field position with about 51/2 minutest left before halftime. However, one of the officials blew his whistle early, negating the turnover and causing Virginia to punt again.

Virginia coach Groh said the rule interpretation was correct, but he had a strong suggestion for the officials: Don't put the whistle in your mouth until you're ready to blow it. -- R.B.

Pitt misses at crucial times

Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris said Saturday's game was decided by three or four plays. It was easy to see that he really meant blown scoring chances for the Panthers:• A first-and-goal at the 1 resulted in no points in the first quarter.

• The Panthers' regular kicker, David Abdul, missed an extra-point attempt in the second quarter.

• Abdul's replacement, walk-on J.B. Gibboney, missed a 36-yard field-goal attempt in the fourth. -- R.B.

Pearman shines for Cavaliers

Charlottean Alvin Pearman had a big day for the Cavaliers with 104 yards rushing, plus six catches for 32 more yards. Pearman plays behind starter Wali Lundy, but Groh figured he had something extra in his tank playing in his hometown.

"Nothing against Wali, but he was really on his game so we stayed with him a little longer," Groh said of Pearman, who missed last year's Tire Bowl with a knee injury. "If he hadn't had a sprained ankle, we probably would have stayed with him" in the fourth quarter. -- R.B.

Here and there

• Paid attendance was 51,236. While that's down from last year's sellout between Virginia and West Virginia, Haines was pleased to top 50,000. By his estimate, Virginia sold about 26,000 tickets, Pitt was responsible for 12,500 seats (many went unused) and locals bought more than 12,000.

• Carolina Panthers coach John Fox dropped by the press box for about a half-hour before the game to chat with friends scouting the game for various NFL teams. Panthers owner Jerry Richardson walked the sidelines during the second quarter.

• Word to the wise for Virginia linebacker Ahmad Brooks: Don't get into a fracas with your helmet off.

Brooks dragged Pittsburgh receiver Princell Brockenbrough back about 8 yards after a reception, and lost his helmet on the play. So Brockenbrough shoved the ball at Brooks' face, setting off a shoving match. Virginia ended up with a 15-yard penalty.
 

Opener-and-shut case
Virginia begins its ACC schedule in usual way, losing to N.C. State
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Dec 29, 2003

RALEIGH, N.C. - For long stretches of the second half, Virginia matched N.C. State basket for basket last night. Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, they were making two-point field goals. The Wolfpack was hitting 3-pointers.

And so this game ended as have most of the Cavs' ACC openers have in the past decade: with them on the losing end.

N.C. State sank seven treys in the second half - each by a different player - and cruised to an 86-69 victory over previously unbeaten U.Va. before 16,627 fans at the RBC Center. Six of those bombs dropped in the first 7:15 of the second half.

"They hit shots against zone, they hit shots against man [defense]," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "They were on fire."

Virginia (0-1, 8-1) lost its ACC opener for the sixth straight season under Gillen and ninth straight overall. More troubling trends for the Cavaliers: They've dropped seven in a row to N.C. State in this city and 13 of their past 14 ACC road games.

State (1-0, 6-2) came in ranked last among ACC teams in field-goal percentage, 3-point percentage and scoring. But Virginia has been known to cure opposing offenses' ills, and such was the case last night. The Wolfpack finished 11 for 27 from beyond the arc - the third time in Virginia's past four games that its opponent made at least 10 treys.

"We've got to do a better job defending the 3," Gillen said. "We work on it, believe it or not."

Reserve forward Levi Watkins led the Pack with three 3-pointers. Forward Marcus Melvin and swingman Julius Hodge added two apiece. In all, seven State players made at least one trey. The Pack shot 57.7 percent from the floor in the second half and 50.8 percent for the game.

"We knew they could knock down shots, but we didn't expect them to make that many," U.Va. forward Devin Smith said.

Virginia, down 38-33 at the break, sank 6 of 8 from the floor in the first six minutes of the second half. The Pack, however, made 7 of 9 during that stretch, including five treys.

"It seemed like a night when they just couldn't miss," Cavaliers forward Derrick Byars said.

Virginia, meanwhile, missed 16 of 19 attempts from beyond the arc. Senior point guard Todd Billet was 2 for 9 from long range, Smith was 0 for 4 and Byars was 0 for 3.

Smith established himself as one of the ACC's top marksmen last season, hitting 64 treys and shooting 38.6 percent from beyond the arc. But a back injury has caused him to miss extensive practice time this season, and his perimeter shooting has suffered.

He's only 3 for 27 on 3-pointers, though his all-around game has been excellent. Smith had 14 points, eight rebounds and two steals last night.

Against a team that didn't press and didn't play suffocating halfcourt defense, the Cavs turned the ball over 18 times last night. Billet had seven assists and no turnovers, but Virginia's frontcourt players couldn't hold on to the ball. Junior center Elton Brown hit 7 of 11 shots from the field and led U.Va. with 18 points, but he also had a career-high seven turnovers. Smith, a junior, had four, and Byars, a sophomore, had three.

"Some of our veterans didn't have great games," Gillen said. "For us to win on the road, our veterans have got to lead us."

Virginia's freshmen didn't seem fazed in their ACC debuts. Swingman Gary Forbes scored 11 points, point guard T.J. Bannister had a career-high five assists, center Donte Minter pulled down four rebounds and forward Jason Cain dunked on a first-half fast break. Guard J.R. Reynolds didn't score, but the Cavaliers were glad to have him back. He'd missed the previous two games with a viral infection.

Hodge, a junior from New York City, showed why he's an ACC-player-of-the-year candidate. He made 9 of 12 shots from the floor and totaled 23 points, six assists, five steals and three rebounds.
 

Not a good omen for Gillen's troops
BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH COLUMNIST Dec 29, 2003
Contact Bob Lipper at (804) 649-6555 or e-mail blipper @timesdispatch.com
RALEIGH, N.C. Trouble city.

I'm talking Raleigh as a port of call for Virginia's Cavaliers and maybe this 2003-04 campaign if last night is any indication.

The Cavs lost to N.C. State 86-69 last night, which isn't stop-the-presses material. The Cavs always lose to State - on the road, at any rate. They've dropped seven consecutive starts on the Pack's home floor, six of them with Pete Gillen at the helm. They're now 0-1 in the ACC standings for the ninth consecutive year. They look like they'll need a NASA rocket booster to rise above the crowd in this suddenly beast of a conference.

The spiffy 8-0 worksheet U.Va. brought to town? A figment of Gillen's scheduling imagination. Unblemished, the Cavaliers played a smorgasbord of High Points and VMIs and Coastal Carolinas. Unscathed, the Cavaliers limited opposing shooters to 38 percent accuracy.

Unmasked against their first remotely-serious competition away from Charlottesville, they were lit up for 50.8 percent marksmanship, trailed for the final 25:53, burped up 18 turnovers against a defense no one in his right mind would describe as relentless and sagged down the stretch after closing within three points with 8:55 to go.

"Just the way the ball rolls sometime," summed up U.Va. center Elton Brown. "We're a better team [than State], but tonight they were better than us."

Brown may have been blinded by his neon-lit seven-turnover performance that beamed off the stat sheet. But he did have something of a point if I take his comment to suggest the Cavs weren't suiting up against the next NCAA champions.

N.C. State isn't Duke or Wake Forest. It isn't Georgia Tech. It has gaping holes at center (Josh Powell bailed for an NBA draft that ignored him) and point guard (Clifford Crawford graduated). It lugged a 5-2 record into the RBC Center, with wins over five nobodies and losses to its only opponents that had more than a pulse. It is undersized, turnover-prone and soft off the glass. It isn't deep. It isn't buoyed by a raucous home arena.

It is, in short, quite beatable.

And obviously quite capable of handling Virginia.

Here's how bad it got for U.Va.'s movable objects: From the beginning of the second half, the Cavs scored on nine of their first 10 possessions.

And trimmed a five-point deficit all the way to four.

Brown would register a stickback, Scooter Sherrill answered with a 3-pointer. The Cavs would ring up six consecutive points, State freshman Mike O'Donnell responded with another trey. Derrick Byars scored on a leaner, Ilian Evtimov retaliated with a reverse layup. And so on and so forth till the Pack blew it open at the end.

"Our effort was pretty [good]," Byars said. "We just weren't playing smart. We just have to go into practice and focus harder on defense and play smarter on defense."

Not to be contentious here, but how smart do you have to be to guard people? That's been U.Va.'s void for years, and it looked no closer to a solution last night. Its zone couldn't locate State's shooters, and its man-to-man offered scant resistance to athletic Wolfpackers Julius Hodge and Sherrill. Gillen trotted out his time-worn "They were physical - we got to respond to that" line [as if State resembles the Packers], but what's mostly needed is want-to, fundamentals and some lesson plans.

Otherwise, any city is going to be trouble.

 

Strong start for '04
After another solid finish, Cavs optimistic about next year's team
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Dec 29, 2003

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - They're still part of Virginia's football family, coach Al Groh said, but they're no longer part of the team. The college careers of quarterback Matt Schaub and U.Va.'s other seniors ended Saturday afternoon with a second consecutive Continental Tire Bowl victory at Ericsson Stadium.

Schaub, the Tire Bowl's MVP, passed for 244 yards and one touchdown in Virginia's 23-16 win over Pittsburgh as U.Va. won its final three games to close at 8-5.

"We came down here with the theme that for our team this was a very, very, very important game," Groh said. "I thought the players were wonderful in the way they showed up and performed."

Strong finishes have become the Cavaliers' trademark in three seasons under Groh. Virginia won two of its final three games in 2001 and three of its last four in 2002. U.Va. didn't qualify for a bowl in 2001, but it thumped West Virginia 48-22 in last year's Tire Bowl to finish 9-5.

U.Va. started three seniors on offense against Pitt: Schaub, wideout Ryan Sawyer and fullback Kase Luzar. Three started on defense: linebacker Raymond Mann, cornerback Almondo Curry and safety Jamaine Winborne. Another senior, Ryan Childress, did the long-snapping. Luzar and Childress each played in 51 games at U.Va., a school record.

Those seniors, along with such classmates as wideout Art Thomas and offensive lineman Kevin Bailey, will be difficult to replace, but there's "a lot of talent coming back on this team," said sophomore Marques Hagans, one of the candidates to replace Schaub at quarterback in 2004.

Moreover, three players who, for various reasons, sat out this season will return to the rotation in 2004: fullback Jason Snelling, wideout Michael McGrew and tailback Michael Johnson.

"To lose a player like Schaub, that's a big loss for any team," offensive guard Elton Brown said, "but that's part of the game. You've got to move on and move forward. Things are looking very positive for next year."

All-ACC candidates will abound in Groh's program, among them Brown, offensive tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, tight end Heath Miller, tailback Wali Lundy, kicker Connor Hughes, defensive end Chris Canty and linebackers Darryl Blackstock, Ahmad Brooks and Kai Parham.

"The team can be great next year," Canty said.

Similar comments, you may recall, were made in Virginia's locker room after last year's Tire Bowl, and Groh's team entered the season ranked No.18 by The Associated Press. But an injury to Schaub, who separated his throwing shoulder Aug. 30, slowed the Cavaliers' progress. So did their repeated defensive lapses and inability to consistently run the ball well, especially in short-yardage situations.

In their final three games, though, the Wahoos resumed the ascent that began last season. Their young defense shined against all-ACC tailback P.J. Daniels of Georgia Tech, All-America tailback Kevin Jones of Virginia Tech and, perhaps most impressive, against Heisman Trophy runner-up Larry Fitzgerald, Pitt's sensational wideout.

Fitzgerald had caught at least one touchdown pass in 18 consecutive games - an NCAA record - before the Cavaliers shut him out Saturday. He finished with 77 yards on five receptions. Virginia allowed an average of 18 points in its final three games.

"We've been working very hard to become a significant defensive team," said Groh, whose resume includes five seasons as an NFL defensive coordinator. "There's a process that has to be gone through to accomplish that. We're moving down that process, and I think in the future we'll be a defensive team that really good defensive players want to play on."

Equally encouraging to Groh was his offensive line's late-season surge. The Cavaliers allowed only 12 sacks this year - by far the fewest of any ACC team - but they struggled at times to run with authority, one of their stated goals for 2003.

Against Georgia Tech, however, Lundy ran for 96 yards. Against Virginia Tech, he rushed for 89. Against Pitt, junior tailback Alvin Pearman picked up 104 yards on seven carries before spraining an ankle, and Lundy rushed for 70 of his 90 yards in the final quarter.

The offensive line, Brown said, has "been back and forth - good performances, bad performances. We knew down the stretch we had to be able to run the ball and step up as a unit, and that's what we did."

Groh's players scattered after Saturday's game, heading home for what's left of U.Va.'s holiday break. Before leaving, though, the younger'Hoos couldn't help looking ahead.

"We all thought after this game last year that we were ready to take the step and be one of the top teams in the country," Lundy said. "But obviously now, winning our second bowl in a row, winning eight or more games two years in a row and bringing the core of our team back, I think we got a good chance to be something special next year."