Guard leads charge
Point guard Sean Singletary scores 19 points after halftime as Virginia continues its mastery of Northwestern.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Maybe Virginia should inquire about the possibility of making Northwestern a permanent opponent in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

The Cavaliers got a rare road victory at Northwestern last year and overcame a sluggish first half to make it two in a row, 72-57, at University Hall.

The Wildcats (3-3) took advantage of Sean Singletary's foul problems to take a 27-26 halftime lead, but all that did was inspire a virtuoso performance by Singletary in the second half.

Singletary hit a 3-pointer and made a three-point play on UVa's first two possessions of the second half and the Cavaliers (3-1) never trailed again. He scored 19 of his game-high 23 points after halftime.

"It was really difficult sitting there and watching," Singletary said. "I hate being on the sideline. It was pretty irritating."

The Cavaliers were leading 19-12 when Singletary picked up his second foul with 10:20 remaining. Coach Dave Leitao quickly substituted for him and Singletary did not return to the floor until 1:23 remained before halftime.

During his absence, Northwestern outscored the Cavaliers 17-2 in taking a 27-21 lead.

Leitao's predecessor, Pete Gillen, frequently would allow a player to stay on the floor after picking up two first-half fouls, but most coaches take a more conservative approach.

"I play it close to the vest," Leitao said. "I'd rather have them sit. Again, this year is going to test everything I believe in.

"Unless you get down big, I'd like to protect guys for the second half. But we needed a little bit of a lift and he gave it to us."

Actually, it was senior Billy Campbell, a walk-on, who provided a lift when he hit a 3-pointer from the corner to make it a 27-24 game with 1:53 left.

J.R. Reynolds added a pair of free throws with 1:13 remaining in the half to make it a one-point game.

The Cavaliers had reason to be happy, trailing by only one and knowing they would get Singletary back for the second half, but they weren't.

"Everybody was mad," said Reynolds, who finished with 13 points. "Coach [Leitao] was mad. We knew we weren't playing up to our abilities. We knew we kept them in the game. We were just killing ourselves."

The Cavaliers built their lead to 20 points during a second half in which they outrebounded the Wildcats 22-12 and committed just two turnovers, none in the first 13 minutes.

Singletary, who had zero assists and nine turnovers Sunday in an 81-51 loss at Arizona, had three assists and zero turnovers Wednesday night.

"I never had a game like that," said Singletary, referring to Sunday's performance. "I've just got to learn to pick my spots."

In addition to Singletary, Leitao was quick to praise freshman forward Mamadi Diane, who had 18 points and six rebounds, and senior post man Jason Cain, who got all seven of his rebounds in the second half.

"There's nobody I get on more in games and practices," Leitao said of Cain, "but he keeps coming back for more."

Diane had scored three points and four points in his two most recent games, respectively, going 2-for-14 from the field. He was 6-for-9 Wednesday night.

 

UVa's Prince emerges as leading candidateBy Ivan Maisel
ESPN.com

Virginia offensive coordinator Ron Prince has emerged as the leading candidate to become head coach at Kansas State, two sources told ESPN.com on Wednesday.

Kansas State has sent a plane to Charlottesville, Va., that will bring Prince back to Kansas, his home state, for a second interview, either Wednesday night or Thursday morning.

Prince has no connection with Bill Snyder, the legend who over the course of his 17-year career changed the Wildcats from a doormat into a national power. The man assumed to be the top candidate, South Florida coach Jim Leavitt, has not been interviewed by Kansas State.

Leavitt, a former Kansas State assistant, agreed Tuesday to a contract extension that will keep him at South Florida through 2012.

Kansas State athletic director Tim Weiser led a three-man delegation that flew to Charlottesville on Monday to interview Prince, who impressed them so much that he moved to the top of their list.

Prince, 36, has coached the Cavaliers' offensive line for five seasons. He developed two All-Americans last season, guard Elton Brown and tight end Heath Miller. This season, Virginia tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson has been touted by Mel Kiper as a possible first pick in the 2006 NFL draft.

He would become the fourth African-American coach in Division I-A.

Prince played at Dodge City Community College in Kansas for two seasons before moving on to I-AA Appalachian State.


 

More Groh assistants could be on the move
Rocco offered post at Liberty; Golden pursuing Temple job
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Dec 1, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- There's been considerable turnover among University of Virginia assistants since Al Groh took over as coach after the 2000 season, and more could be coming.

U.Va. associate head coach Danny Rocco and defensive coordinator Al Golden are candidates for head jobs.

Rocco, who oversees Virginia's outside linebackers, has been offered the job at Liberty University, which is looking for a successor to Ken Karcher. A decision from Rocco is expected today.

Golden is a finalist at Temple University, where Bobby Wallace stepped down as coach last month.

Rocco and Golden are among the five assistants left from Groh's first staff at Virginia. Groh does not permit his assistants to be interviewed by reporters during the season, so neither Rocco nor Golden could comment yesterday.

Groh has lost five assistants since returning to his alma mater. Bill Musgrave, Andy Heck, Corwin Brown and Mike London took jobs as NFL assistants. Kevin Ross left to join his father's coaching staff at the U.S. Military Academy.

The Philadelphia Daily News, citing anonymous sources, reported yesterday that Temple's athletic director, Bill Bradshaw, interviewed two candidates Tuesday: Golden and Hue Jackson, the Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers coach. Also interested in the job is Wisconsin co-offensive coordinator Brian White.

The Times-Dispatch's attempts to reach Bradshaw yesterday were unsuccessful.

Sources at U.Va. confirmed yesterday that the Temple opening interests Golden, 36, a native of Red Bank, N.J., who played at Penn State and later coached there under Joe Paterno.

Golden's closest friends include Mark D'Onofrio, who coaches Virginia's inside linebackers and coordinates its special teams. If Golden went to Temple, D'Onofrio probably would follow.

The Owls lost by 48 points at Virginia last month en route to an 0-11 finish. They'll become full members of the Mid-American Conference in 2007.

After last season, Golden, had he pursued the job, could have joined Charlie Weis' new staff at Notre Dame as defensive coordinator. He also drew interest from the Miami Dolphins before choosing to remain at Virginia.

Rocco, 45, wouldn't be the first member of his family to work at Liberty. His brother Frank Jr. was the Flames' offensive coordinator for four seasons (2000-03). He's now the coach at Liberty Christian Academy in Lynchburg. Their father, Frank Sr., was Liberty University's director of football operations in 2000 and '01.

 

Virginia drubs Northwestern
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Dec 1, 2005
VIRGINIA 72 NORTHWESTERN 57

CHARLOTTESVILLE - Virginia's second encounter with the Princeton offense went as well as its first.

Eight days after beating Richmond by 16 points, U.Va. whipped another methodical basketball team, Northwestern, by 15. The final was 72-57 last night before 7,331 at University Hall as the Cavaliers contributed a victory to their conference's effort in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

The game was Virginia's first since its ill-fated trip to Tucson, where then-No. 10 Arizona romped 81-51 on Sunday night.

"We knew that wasn't the true Virginia team out there," sophomore point guard Sean Singletary said. "We had a lot of mental lapses and really weren't focused in for 40 minutes."

Last night, U.Va. (3-1) trailed 27-26 at the break, in part because Singletary spent nine of the opening 20 minutes on the bench with two fouls. Nothing slowed him in the second half. Singletary scored 19 of his game-high 23 points, and the plodding Wildcats fell to 3-3.

Against Arizona, Singletary had nine turnovers and no assists. Against Northwestern, he had no turnovers and three assists.

"We just weren't able to contain Singletary," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "The freshman kid's good, too."

That would be 6-5 swingman Mamadi Diane, who scored a career-best 18 points and grabbed six rebounds. Also in double figures for U.Va. were junior guard J.R. Reynolds (13 points) and sophomore forward Adrian Joseph (10).

Jason Cain, a 6-10 reserve, grabbed all of his game-high seven rebounds in the second half to help Virginia pound Northwestern 36-26 on the boards.

"I thought Jason was very, very good today," said Dave Leitao, the Cavaliers' first-year coach.

Cain, a junior, helped hold the Wildcats' star, 6-8, 245-pound senior Vedran Vukusic, to 21 points, four fewer than his average.

Northwestern missed its first 15 attempts from beyond the 3-point arc and finished 3 of 22 from long range. Virginia, by contrast, hit eight 3-pointers. Senior point guard Billy Campbell supplied perhaps the biggest trey.

With Singletary on the bench, the Wildcats scored 11 straight points to take a 27-21 lead with 2:09 left in the half. Walk-ons Campbell and Drew Shiembob (St. Christopher's) helped the Wahoos battle back. At the 1:51 mark, Campbell bured a 3-pointer from the right corner to pull U.Va. to 27-24.

"He plays with a passion and practices with a passion," Leitao said of Campbell, "and I think he does a real job of living with a passion. . . . That 3 was huge, because it cut the deficit in half, and it not only was three points, but it was an energy lift."

Next up for U.Va. is its ACC opener. Virginia plays Sunday night at Georgia Tech (2-2).

"We still got a long way to go," Reynolds said, "but it's nice to be 3-1 right now."

 

Evolution of a football conference
David Teel
December 1 2005

Eight bowl-eligible teams, most in the nation. Laudable victories at Auburn, West Virginia and South Carolina.

No hope of a Bowl Championship Series at-large bid and no traditional members among the top 20. Embarrassing efforts against Louisville and Florida.

Call it the yin and yang of the ACC's first season as a 12-member, built-for-football, did-someone-mention-basketball? superpower.

Much trap blocking and zone blitzing remain, of course. There's the inaugural ACC championship game, pitting Virginia Tech and Florida State on Saturday, followed by those eight bowl tests.

Virginia-Utah in the Emerald? North Carolina State-South Florida in the Meineke Car Care? Be still my heart.

Virginia Tech against Penn State in the Orange? Yikes. The ACC champion is 1-6 in BCS games.

But bowl matchups won't be finalized until next week, so let's focus on the newfangled ACC's regular season.

Most computers rate the ACC behind only the Big Ten among Division I-A's 11 conferences, a laughable notion before the addition of Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College. And considering the ACC's overall quality, the computers have a case.

Georgia Tech won at Auburn, Virginia Tech at West Virginia, and Clemson at South Carolina. Combined record of those victims: 25-7.

No conference can match the ACC's road success, certainly not the Big Ten, where Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan didn't play a non-league roadie among them. The Big 12's Texas won at Ohio State, the Pacific 10's Southern California at Notre Dame. No other non-conference road victories trump Georgia Tech at Auburn or Virginia Tech at West Virginia.

Such praise usually is reserved for ACC basketball. The conference has produced at least one Final Four squad in 16 of the last 18 seasons, and during that span Duke (three), North Carolina (two) and Maryland (one) have won national championships.

But basketball played no part in the ACC's growth from nine to 12. Snatching Virginia Tech, Miami and Boston College from the Big East was a football power play, and don't let anyone con you otherwise.

Expansion eventually should improve the ACC's chances of placing a second team in the BCS. But this is the BCS' eighth season, and for the eighth time the ACC will not earn one of the two at-large bids. Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon and Auburn reside above any ACC team in this year's at-large food chain.

Blame parity. Every ACC team except Virginia Tech and Miami dropped at least three conference games. And every team except Duke won at least three league games.

Please explain: Clemson beat Florida State but lost at Wake Forest. Florida State beat Miami but fell to North Carolina State. Boston College won at Clemson but stumbled at North Carolina. Georgia Tech upset Miami but lost to Virginia. Miami cruised at Virginia Tech but crashed at home against Georgia Tech.

Parity means one of two things: Everyone is pretty good, or no one is any good.

The evidence says it's the former, though there are red flags. North Carolina's 69-14 flop at Louisville and Florida State's 34-7 clunker at Florida came against top 20 opposition, but the jarring margins were inexcusable, particularly Florida State's against its most bitter rival.

Taking a more global view, the ACC's best teams this season are the three newcomers. Translation: The conference's old guard, including once-invincible Florida State, has some work to do.

This only fuels the notion that ACC football, no matter how successful on the field, is a boardroom contrivance. The flip side is, ACC honchos saw a weakness and managed a remarkable restoration.

 

Up to the Challenge
UVa routs Wildcats in showdown
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
December 1, 2005

With the holidays fast approaching, Cosmo Kramer may have called what transpired last night at University Hall "a festivus miracle."
First, there was the Cavs backcourt of J.R. Reynolds and Sean Singletary rebounding from a dreadful performance against Arizona.

Then, there was Mamadi Diane and Adrian Joseph, providing the extra scoring oomph that the Cavs have been so desperately seeking.

Making the miracle official was the play of Cav big men Tunji Soroye and Jason Cain, who gave the Cavs an inside presence for the first time this season.

One could make the argument that at least six members of the University of Virginia basketball team played their best games of the season in the school's 72-57 route of Northwestern in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Even walk-ons Billy Campbell and Drew Shiembob contributed to the win in front of a crowd of 7,331.

Virginia coach Dave Leitao was particularly pleased with his team's offense.

"The highest total they had given up was 59 [points]," Leitao said. "One of the things I told them was that I want to score at least 60."

The Cavs were able to do so in large part to Singletary, who rebounded from a nine-turnover, zero-assist performance against Arizona.

Singletary scored a game-high 23 points and didn't turn the ball over once.

Leitao was pleased with how Singletary responded to his coaching after the Arizona loss.

"One thing about Sean I've learned in a short time is that when you tell him something specific about his game, he makes sure to try and turn it around," he said.

Singletary took over the game in the early moments of the second half. After Vince Scott put the Wildcats ahead 29-26 on the team's first possession, Singletary hit a 3-pointer to tie things up. He then went coast-to-coast on a driving layup and was fouled for another 3-point play.

'Sean started pushing the tempo of the game," Leitao said. "At times he was a one-man fast break and put a lot of pressure on them to get back."

After an aggressive drive to the hoop by Reynolds and a basket by Soroye, Singletary hit two more 3-pointers to boost the lead to 45-35.

About that time, Singletary's supporting cast got into the act. A Joseph steal led to a Diane 3-pointer. Cain got a couple of big offensive rebounds. The route was on. The Cavs led by 20 with four minutes remaining in the game.

Diane scored a season-high 17 points on very efficient 6-of-9 shooting. Joseph, who started the game in place of freshman Laurynas Mikalauskas, finished with 10.

Reynolds, coming off 3-of-14 shooting against Arizona, had 13 points and five assists.

"I think they played a nice game and took control in the second half," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said. "They guarded us better and pushed the ball down a little bit and we weren't able to contain them. Singletary is good. Diane is very good, too."

The Cavs had no answer for Northwestern big man Vedran Vukusic, who came into the game averaging 25 points. Vukusic finished with 21, including 14 in the first half, but it didn't really matter.

The Cavs were able to do a good job on everyone else. Northwestern missed its first 15 3-pointers and finished the game 3 for 22.

Reynolds said playing Richmond, who ran the same motion offense as Northwestern, was a big help.

"We still had it fresh in our heads," he said. "Hopefully we won't have to play against it again."

From the opening tipoff, the Cavs came out strong, playing with the energy that seemed to be lacking in the second half of the Arizona game.

They also shared the ball, registering as many assists within the game's first few minutes as they did the entire Arizona game.

Reynolds had four of the Cavs' five assists in the first half, including a perfect alley-oop to Joseph on a fast break that gave the Cavs an early 10-4 lead.

The Cavs led by as many as eight in the first half, but Northwestern took advantage of Singletary's absence from the game because of foul trouble to go on an 11-0 run and take a 27-21 lead.

However, Campbell, who replaced Singletary, hit a big 3-pointer to stop the bleeding.

Reynolds said the team will use the win as a stepping stone for its first ACC game against Georgia Tech on Sunday.

"We're still building and have a long way to go," he said, "but it's nice to be 3-1."
 

Wingmen deliver for team in need
By Jerry Ratcliffe / Daily Progress sports editor
December 1, 2005

A good 20 minutes after Virginia's second-half meltdown at Arizona on Sunday, Cavaliers coach Dave Leitao stood in a hallway talking about all the things his young team must do to get better.
One of the major concerns was the development of a third and fourth scorer on the team. Plain and simple, Leitao knew that his team couldn't go into ACC warfare depending only on guards Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds for firepower.

As good as Virginia's backcourt is, it can't hold up night after night with that kind of pressure placed upon its ample shoulders. Like Sgt. Pepper, they needed a little help from their friends.

The obvious solution was the Cavs' two wings: freshman Mamadi Diane (pronounced Mom-uh-dee Dee-on-ee) and sophomore Adrian Joseph. Each had been hot and cold in their first three games, particularly Mamadi, a product of the fabled DeMatha program.

A worthy test

No better time to kick-start that scoring revival than Wednesday night at University Hall in the Cavaliers' ACC-Big Ten Challenge showdown with visiting Northwestern.

Scouting reports revealed that the Wildcats were big and slow, a perfect setup for Virginia to use its quickness, especially if Singletary could push the ball down the court and catch the plodders back on their heels.

That strategy worked to perfection, particularly in the second half when Singletary was almost a one-man fast break. It got so bad that Northwestern was conceding the defensive rebound just so its players could get a head start down the floor.

Of course, this played into Singletary's hands. He could afford to pull up for a 3-point try (he hit all four of his attempts from Bonusphere in the second half). Or, he could drive and kick the ball out to an open Reynolds, Diane or Joseph.

On this night, all three responded, giving Leitao more weapons from the perimeter.

Diane gets the job done

Diane delivered an eye-opening performance with a career-high 18 points, hitting 6 of 9 field goal attempts, two of them from beyond the arc. Joseph's percentages weren't as high, but he did finish with 10, which complimented Singletary's 23 and Reynolds' 13.

"That Diane kid looks like he's going to be a good perimeter player," Northwestern coach Bill Carmody said.

That's what Virginia needs, for the 6-foot-5, athletic Diane to not play like a freshman.

The DeMatha grad, whose high school coach said might be the best athlete to ever come out of the Stags' basketball program, showed some signs of maturity against Northwestern as he bounced back from a tough lesson at Arizona where he was 1 for 7 shooting.

"He's 3 and 2," Leitao commented. "He's had three good games in this building and two mediocre games on the road in terms of shooting. But that's being young. He's going to be a terrific player."

But it wasn't as much about the shooting as it was the way he got his shots against the Wildcats.

Early on in practice this season and even up until Monday, Diane had a tendency to force things a bit.

"Forcing things that weren't there," the rookie confessed Wednesday night. "I had to let the game come to me and run the offense instead of trying to create something off the dribble."

That strategy was pounded into his head during a film session in reviewing the Arizona game. Run the offense all the way through.

Amen must have been the comments of Singletary and Reynolds if they were within an earshot of the freshman's voice. If Diane and Joseph can continue to remain scoring threats, it opens up all kinds of avenues for this basketball team's offense.

"It keeps the defense honest and allows me and J.R. to make plays for us and for the other guys," Singletary said. "Today, Mamadi picked his spots and knocked down some big shots."

Reynolds said that if the wings aren't scoring then opposing defenses tend to cheat out and close down options for both he and Singletary.

When Diane drills it, defenses have to respect the threat and it keeps those defenses honest.

Diane could clearly see the difference in doing it Leitao's way as opposed to Diane's way. The other option is the highway, but we won't go there.

"Playing this way is a lot better," the rookie smiled.

Now, if he can just take that shooting touch on the road.

 

3 football programs interested in Virginia coaches
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
December 1, 2005

What do Kansas State, Liberty and Temple all have in common?
In a matter of days all three of those universities might have new head football coaches who were employed by the University of Virginia during the 2005 calendar year.

Speculation and published reports have tied Virginia's top three assistant football coaches - Al Golden, Ron Prince and Danny Rocco - individually to head coaching vacancies at the three respective institutions.

While Golden (Temple) and Prince (Kansas State) appear to be in the early stages of the interviewing process, sources said late Wednesday that Rocco's situation had picked up steam.

Liberty offered Rocco its opening on Wednesday and he will make an official decision today.

Rocco has coached at Virginia since 2001, when he left the New York Jets to follow coach Al Groh to Charlottesville.

During his time at UVa, Rocco has coached linebackers and served as the recruiting coordinator for a year, before relinquishing those duties to become associate head coach.

Rocco, 45, has family ties both locally in Lynchburg and to the football program at Liberty. His brother, Frank, Jr., is the head football coach at Liberty Christian Academy and his father was LU's director of football operations in 2000-01.

Also, Rocco's younger brother, David, coaches at Staunton River High in Moneta.

In 1984, Rocco graduated from Wake Forest University, giving him a keen awareness of the challenges that lie ahead at a smaller, church-affiliated university like Liberty.

Golden, UVa's defensive coordinator the past five seasons, interviewed on Wednesday at Temple with the selection committee and the school's president.

It marked the second interview for Golden, who was first interviewed shortly after Virginia's win over Temple at Scott Stadium on Nov. 5.

It has been reported that the Owls have also interviewed Cincinnati Bengals wide receivers coach Hue Jackson and Wisconsin co-offensive coordinator Brian White, who has already said publicly that he will not return to Madison, Wis., next season.

Golden, 36, has obvious ties to Pennsylvania, having played and coached at Penn State University. In his final season as an assistant coach under Joe Paterno in 2000, Golden was the recruiting coordinator for the Nittany Lions.

For Golden, this marks the second straight season in which his name was attached to a vacant position. Last year, it was speculated that he would leave UVa to become the defensive coordinator on coach Charlie Weis' staff at Notre Dame.

That did not happen.

Prince, Virginia's offensive coordinator the past three years and offensive line coach for the last five, interviewed on Monday in Charlottesville with officials from Kansas State University according to multiple sources.

Prince, who was also incorrectly rumored to be a candidate for the Temple job earlier in November, was born in Omaha, Neb., and played and coached in Kansas at Dodge City Community College.

According to ESPN.com, after Prince's interview on Monday, Kansas State wanted to send a plane to pick up Prince for a second interview, which was to be held Wednesday night or today.

Kansas State must fill the vacancy left by the retirement of legendary coach Bill Snyder, who led the program for 17 years.

One of the leading candidates for the job at Kansas State was South Florida coach Jim Leavitt, a former assistant coach at KSU, but he received a seven-year contract extension from South Florida on Wednesday that goes through 2012.

If hired by Kansas State, Prince would become the fourth active African-American coach in Division I-A.


 

Small step for Cavs, giant leap for Diane
Barney Breen-Portnoy, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

While Virginia's 72-57 victory over Northwestern Wednesday night should not send Virginia fans running to buy tickets for the Final Four, it was just the type of victory that a rebuilding program such as Virginia needs in order to maintain momentum on the long road to excellence. The Cavaliers displayed numerous reasons for Virginia fans to be optimistic that this season will not be a total washout.

The main reason for optimism has to be the play of freshman forward Mamadi Diane. The DeMatha product scored 18 points and pulled down six rebounds while notching 33 minutes of playing time. It is clear that Diane has become Virginia's third scoring option behind Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds. Diane has already shown that he understands what it takes to play stellar defense at the ACC level. Diane has struggled offensively in Virginia's two road games, but that is to be expected from such a young player. If Diane can consistently play up to the level of his potential, this Virginia squad will surprise some teams.

The jury is still out as to whether Reynolds can be the reliable offensive force that Coach Leitao needs him to be. Reynolds seems to understand that he must step up if the Cavaliers hope to have any sort of success. He has played well in all of Virginia's games except for the loss to Arizona, in which he was held to seven points on three of 14 shooting.

What more can one say about Sean Singletary that has not already been written? He plays with a level of passion and intensity that should be emulated by all of his fellow Cavaliers. Singletary led Virginia with 23 points against Northwestern and helped the Cavaliers pull away by pushing the tempo of the contest.

Senior walk-on Billy Campbell displayed a great amount of emotion and grit as he ran the offense in the latter part of the first half when Singletary was sitting on the bench with two fouls. He rattled in a critical three from the right corner to end a Northwestern run a few minutes before halftime. He seems to have a much deeper understanding of how to run the offense compared to his forays onto the floor during the Gillen years.

Laurynas "Lars" Mikalauskas, Diane's roommate, is the definition of a development project. I think that he will be a solid contributor, perhaps a Nik Caner-Medley type player a year or two down the road, but now he commits too many silly fouls and is too inconsistent from the free throw line to be relied upon in the paint.

It is always a bit of an adventure when Jason Cain enters the game. He occasionally can look like a fish out of water, but he played well against Northwestern, setting decent picks and pulling in seven rebounds including four offensive boards. Coach Leitao has been tough on Cain in practice and hopefully tonight's performance is a signal that Cain has responded positively.

Sophomore Tunji Soroye maintains a strong defensive presence in the frontcourt, but has yet to show much offensive punch this season. If Soroye can elevate his offensive stats, Virginia's lack of depth in the frontcourt will not look as dire.

While the Cavaliers may not be competitive against the upper echelon ACC teams this year, it may not be impossible for Virginia to win five or six conference games and gain some respect. Wednesday night's convincing victory over a mediocre Northwestern squad was a small, but hopeful, step. And it is always nice to see Virginia's victory cigar, composed of Matt Deasey, Drew Shiembob and Mike Forkin get some playing time in the closing seconds.

 

Injuries -- the real football scapegoat
Sean McLernon, Columnist

Tony Bennett left his heart in San Francisco. Maybe some lucky Virginia football fan making the trek out there for the Emerald Bowl will be able to find it and replace it with the one the Cavaliers broke this season.

The Cavaliers finished second in the ACC in the 2002 football season with a 6-2 record. Since then, Virginia has played .500 ball in conference play, compiling a 12-12 mark the last three seasons, including a dismal fifth place out of six finish in the Coastal Division this season.

Virginia can credit its weak out-of-conference schedule for its bowl eligibility this season. The Cavaliers needed all three wins against Syracuse, Western Michigan and Temple to qualify for postseason play and as a reward, will travel 3,000 miles to play a mediocre Utah squad at noon on Dec. 29. While a formal offer won't come until Monday, all reports have Virginia heading to San Francisco, as Emerald Bowl officials will be left with the ACC school that the seven other bowls don't want.

It was not a fun year to be a Virginia football fan. But as much as I want to get angry, point fingers and call for heads to roll, it's hard to blame Groh or Hagans or anyone else for that matter. The main reason the Cavaliers struggled so much this season was an exorbitant number of injuries.

I know this isn't exactly a groundbreaking discovery on my part. Any Virginia fan even casually following the team this season was aware of the fact that several of the team's stars missed time because of injury. But I think most fans don't realize how much of an impact these injuries really had on the team this year.

Linebacker Ahmad Brooks, Virginia's most heralded returner, missed the first three games while still recovering from offseason knee surgery, and then injured his ankle against Maryland in his first game back. Brooks never seemed to get back to full strength and didn't even make the trip to Miami for Virginia's final regular season game.

The other Cavalier who turned down the chance to be a first round NFL Draft pick for a senior season in Charlottesville, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, went down in Virginia's third game against Duke and did not even take the field in Virginia's losses to Maryland and Boston College.

Running back Wali Lundy, a prominent part of Virginia's offensive attack since winning a starting position as a true freshman in 2002, went down in the first half of Virginia's season opener against Western Michigan. He took a few snaps in the squad's third and fourth games against Duke and Maryland and even played into the second half the two weeks after that against Boston College and Florida State, but never seemed to truly get back to full strength.

Even signal caller Marques Hagans, who didn't miss a single start all year, strained his right hamstring during the Florida State game and was clearly less than 100 percent the following week in Virginia's 7-5 loss at North Carolina.

On top of all of these injuries, cornerback Chris Cook broke his leg against Boston College in the middle of a successful freshman campaign. Safety Nate Lyles injured his head against Georgia Tech and missed Virginia's last two games, which the team lost. Outside linebacker Jermaine Dias missed four games in October because of a fracture in his right foot. Nose tackle Ron Darden was forced to end his football career before the Nov. 3 Temple game because of recurring headaches.

You name the ailment, a Virginia player likely suffered from it in 2005.

Injuries are part of the game, and all teams have to overcome the absence of a starter and rely on second stringers to step-up. But few teams have to deal with as many injuries to as many impact players as the Virginia Cavaliers did this fall. This led to walk-ons like Ryan Best and Byron Galsby earning significant playing time in the secondary and causing Groh to insert more freshmen than expected into the lineup.

Groh has been criticized for playing so many freshmen, particularly prized defensive end Olu Hall (94 plays) and wide receivers Kevin Ogletree (7 receptions) and Maurice Covington (5 receptions). With so many players going down, Groh had to dig deep into his bench to fill the void. Even at wide receiver, where Virginia had its full arsenal of healthy players throughout the season, Groh's decision to throw Ogletree and Covington out there seems justified. With the running game failing the Cavaliers, you can't blame Groh for utilizing all of his available resources at wide receiver. The coach was just making sure he was doing everything he could to give Virginia a chance to win.

Groh accomplished that feat six times out of 11 this season -- good enough to secure a bowl berth for the fourth straight season. And for the fourth straight season, Virginia's bowl will be played before New Year's Day against a less-than-stellar opponent. Considering all the injuries Virginia had to overcome this season, I'll take a spot in the Emerald Bowl and hope that karma swings back in Virginia's direction next season.

 

Healthy respect for Hokies' luck
Aaron McFarling
The Roanoke Times

BLACKSBURG -- The Virginia Tech football team is lucky. The players and coaches will be the first to admit this. You don't get this far, to the brink of a second straight ACC championship, without luck.

And we're not talking about Georgia Tech beating Miami to clear the path back to the Coastal Division title. That was a shocker, no doubt, and fortune played a role there, but upsets happen during the course of a season.

No, for the Hokies of the past two years, it's simpler than that. The luck that has taken them by the hand and led them to greatness is, without question, the most difficult kind of luck to find in football, the most important factor in high school, college or pro.

They've stayed healthy.

Coach Frank Beamer was asked about his team's injuries Tuesday. The file was shorter than Kate Moss' grocery list. It took all of 15 seconds to rattle off.

n Tailback Mike Imoh is making progress from his ankle injury.

n Fullback John Kinzer missed some of the North Carolina game but looks better.

n Offensive lineman Duane Brown was sick Monday, but he's OK now.

That's it. And that's significant, particularly when Tech is about to face a Florida State team that could qualify for about $3.5 billion in workers' comp.

Of the 22 starters Tech will send out Saturday, 21 have played in every game. The exception is tailback Cedric Humes, who's played in 10 of the 11 games. And even he probably could have played in the Maryland game but was held out by the coaches because of a broken bone in his arm.

Beamer can't help but notice what's going on.

"I think if you get to the end and you've got a chance to play for a championship, you probably haven't had a lot of injuries along the way," he said. "That's a part of it. And I think that goes back to [strength coach] Mike Gentry and some of the work they do over the spring and summer. I think they're strong guys and well-conditioned."

Maybe that's part of it. Gentry is, after all, an award-winning strength coach who is well-respected in the industry. Trainer Mike Goforth has shown the ability to nurse players back to health quickly -- most notably last season, when linebacker Xavier Adibi needed only a few weeks to return from a potential season-ending arm injury.

On the other hand ...

"I think that's just luck and chance right there," defensive tackle Jonathan Lewis said of staying healthy. "I don't think strength and conditioning has a thing to do with that. Football's a violent game. You can go out there and get turned up, get landed on wrong, things like that. I think we're just fortunate."

How fortunate? Consider that Florida State has lost three offensive linemen, two cornerbacks, a tailback, a quarterback and a defensive end to ailments ranging from a sprained ankle to Lyme disease.

Meanwhile, the Hokies have featured two running quarterbacks -- Bryan Randall and Marcus Vick -- who have started every game the past two years. And it's not like they haven't been hit hard on occasion. Randall was sacked 10 times against N.C. State last year. Vick was punished by Miami several weeks ago.

Both remained upright.

Yes, Imoh is a key player, and he's been hurt the past two weeks. But unlike, say, the offensive line, Tech's tailback position is loaded with depth. Freshman Branden Ore has stepped in brilliantly with two 100-yard games.

Meanwhile, is it any surprise that FSU quarterback Drew Weatherford, who looked so good early, has struggled as the line injuries mounted? Is it any surprise that a team like Virginia, which had to shuffle a walk-on and several other inexperienced players into its defensive secondary because of injury, has faded late in the year?

Think back to 2003. Would things have been different for Tech's defense had standout end Jim Davis not suffered a season-ending injury to his chest muscle?

We'll never know. And that's why coaches and players don't like to use injuries as excuses. But those same coaches and players are smart enough to realize when they have a good thing going.

"I think a lack of injuries is more good fortune than it is preparation," Tech offensive lineman Will Montgomery said. "I don't know that we're doing anything different than anybody else in the ACC.

"But keeping guys healthy is golden. There's no substitute for experience. That's the best way, probably no matter what you're doing -- football, media, whatever it is. If you've got a new guy in there who doesn't have that experience, then obviously it's going to hurt you."

Just ask the Seminoles, losers of three in a row.

Or if you prefer, forget about FSU and do your part to help the Hokies. Go find some wood and make a fist.

Don't stop knocking until February.