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(01/15/09 8:36am)
As a freshman and a member of the women’s tennis team, how do you make a name for yourself?Try winning a professional tournament.That is exactly what Lindsey Hardenbergh, a freshman out of Fairfax Station, Va., did in the fall season. Hardenbergh defeated four opponents, including the tournament’s top seed and then-world No. 581 Allie Will, en route to winning the Dwight Davis/Merrill Lynch Championships on the USTA Pro Circuit. She defeated third-seeded and then-world No. 614 Anda Perianu 7-5, 7-6 in the final Oct. 19.“I didn’t even know if I was going to get in the tournament,” Hardenbergh said. “I think I just wanted it more than anyone else.”Now, with Virginia playing host in its spring season debut this weekend at the annual U.Va. Winter Invitational at the Boyd Tinsley Courts at the Boar’s Head Sports Club, Hardenbergh will try to make her presence felt as a Cavalier.“I think the sky’s the limit for someone like a Lindsey,” Virginia coach Mark Guilbeau said. “Everything that Lindsey does is genuine ... If Lindsey’s gonna go from here to that door to get some treatment, she’s gonna do it with some serious intensity.”And, Guilbeau added, the tennis isn’t bad either.“She’s extremely quick in terms of the effort that she gets to move to the ball,” he said. “She’s got probably one of the best serves in college tennis. She’s got a great forehand — good from the ground, period.”Hardenbergh was a top-30 recruit in the country according to tennisrecruiting.net, although she noted that her junior rankings “weren’t as impressive.” Her win on the professional circuit, however, has raised a few eyebrows — including her own.“When I won that pro tournament, it showed me what I was capable of,” Hardenbergh said. “I’d like to be ranked nationally by the end of my first year and just see how good I can get.”While Hardenbergh is certainly the leader of the pack of three freshman currently listed on the roster — and Guilbeau noted that the team is attempting to add a fourth if she can become eligible — fellow freshmen Emily Fraser and Claire Bartlett also boast impressive junior resumes. Fraser was ranked as high as No. 23 nationally and Bartlett as high as No. 6, and the two even paired off as a doubles team at the ITF Grasscourt Championships in summer 2007, making the finals. The competition with her peers, along with some veteran leadership from senior Amanda Rales — “I kind of try to take the freshmen and the newcomers under my wing,” Rales said — was exactly the preparation Hardenbergh needed for the victory in her pro debut.“I really came in here trying to work hard, and then Emily and Clare, the other freshmen, they’re such accomplished players, so it really helped being able to hit with them,” Hardenbergh said. “I’d be out there at the pro tournament playing girls, and I’d say, ‘Oh this girl doesn’t have Emily’s forehand, OK.’ I was seeing things that my teammates were always giving me.”It also didn’t hurt that when Hardenbergh arrived at Virginia, Guilbeau and assistant coach Troy Porco worked to put Hardenbergh at a level of fitness she said she had never reached before.“We were out there on the track,” Hardenbergh said. “I’ve definitely been keeping up over the winter, but it’s definitely a challenge to get back into shape.”Now, Hardenbergh is chomping at the bit to show the college tennis world that the pro win was no fluke — and, as one might expect, she has her eyes on the top dog this weekend at the U.Va. Winter Invitational.“I know that the No. 1 player in the country is gonna be here, so maybe I’ll get a chance to be on the court with her,” Hardenbergh said.The player she referred to is senior Aurelija Miseviciute of Arkansas, and it wouldn’t be the first time she faced off with the Lithuanian No. 1 — Hardenbergh noted that she played a practice set with Miseviciute a short time ago.“I lost 7-5,” she said. “I was actually up 5-4, and I could not finish it out.”But, she added, she was not quite at the top of her game — “We’re still getting the rust off,” she said.Now that Hardenbergh has had a couple weeks to work out the kinks, knocking off the best player in the nation this weekend would be another way to make herself known.
(01/14/09 5:00am)
For sophomore guard Mustapha Farrakhan, talent has never been an issue.He has a smooth, lefty jump shot with a quick release, an explosive first step and the ability that has plagued some of his teammates in recent years: ball-handling. Yet, for all of last season and the first month of this season, the grandson of Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan could never seem to put it all together.After two conference games, however, it appears that Farrakhan has finally hit his stride. Most recently against Virginia Tech Saturday, Farrakhan simply couldn’t miss in the second half, knocking down four threes in a row late in the game as Virginia nearly overcame a 15-point deficit in Blacksburg, eventually falling 78-75. Farrakhan ended with 17 points in 12 minutes.“I don’t think any of us were surprised,” freshman guard Sylven Landesberg said of Farrakhan’s scoring outburst. “When he gets hot, he just gets going. It’s hard for him to turn off.”For Farrakhan, who scored 20-plus points per game at his high school in Harvey, Ill. just outside of Chicago, the hot shooting was not anything new.“I used to score quick like that, like in the first halves, have like a quick 25,” Farrakhan said. “I’m just a confident shooter.”Though the opportunities given to Farrakhan were sparse last season, Virginia coach Dave Leitao made it clear that he expected big things from his young guard — he was even observed at an open practice telling Farrakhan in front of the entire team that he could be a premier player in the ACC if he wanted to be. He backed up his words by giving Farrakhan the start at the two spot during the first two games this season, but again Farrakhan did not produce, scoring just 2 points as Leitao yanked him from the lineup early in both games.Finally, against Hampton Dec. 23, Farrakhan earned back some playing time, hitting three of his five field goal attempts, including two threes, in eight minutes during the second half.That game appeared to be just the lift that Farrakhan needed. In Virginia’s conference opener against Georgia Tech, he had another big half, hitting a perfect 3-3 field goals and 2-2 free throws for 10 first-half points, as the Cavaliers stole an overtime win.After following that with 9 points in a blowout victory against Brown University and the huge night against the Hokies, perhaps Farrakhan is done taking his lumps.“What’s ailed him before ... he has not been able to play through some errors,” Leitao said. “Mentally, he’s playing through those errors a little bit better.”Before finding his stride recently, Farrakhan was disappointed that it took so long to get his chance and even said transferring to another school crossed his mind.“I was surprised [that it didn’t work out last season],” Farrakhan said. “I came out the first exhibition game, played, and then after that, the minutes came real hard. But it’s just a learning experience — a lot of freshmen gotta go through it I guess.”It took not only the support of his teammates, but also the support of his dad, also named Mustapha, to push “Mu,” as the younger Farrakhan is known to teammates and fans, through the tough freshman season.“I talk to my dad about seven times a day,” Farrakhan said. “He’s my best friend.”Now that he has the confidence of his coach, Farrakhan has put himself in position to offer his team another weapon at the offensive end of the floor, one that the occasionally point-starved Cavaliers so desperately need.“Everybody on the team knows that I have a good jump shot,” Farrakhan said. “If you see a shooter hitting shots, they’re just gonna keep coming back to you.”
(01/13/09 5:00am)
My 5-year-old nephew came with me to the Virginia men’s basketball team’s 75-78 loss to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg Sunday. In a feeble attempt to make conversation about sports with a 5-year-old, I asked him what I thought was a rhetorical question. “There weren’t a lot of U.Va. fans at that game, were there?”Without pause, he responded, “That’s because Virginia Tech wins all the games.”How poignant. I wasn’t sure whether to laugh, cry or punch a hole in the wall.Because he is right! In the last three years, Virginia is 1-7 against the Hokies in football and men’s basketball; the last time Virginia beat Virginia Tech in either sport was two years ago, when the men’s basketball team split its two contests with the Hokies; the Cavs’ home win was one of 11 conference games they won that year on their way to a four seed in the NCAA Tournament. That seems way too long ago.I don’t bring up these facts to depress the U.Va. fan inasmuch as I would like to admit the following: When it comes to sports, Virginia Tech gets the clear nod.This year in football, the Hokies won the Orange Bowl; next year, they return a peaking Tyrod Taylor at quarterback and a blossoming group of wide receivers. Virginia, after losing four straight contests to choke its way out of bowl eligibility, loses nearly its entire starting linebacker corps, its two best wide receivers, its starting running back and yet another NFL-bound offensive lineman and returns one quarterback who sat out all of last year and one quarterback with a career 1:2 touchdown-interception ratio.In men’s basketball, Virginia Tech has nearly its entire team back this season after winning nine games in the conference and falling just short of the NCAA Tournament last year. They return essentially the same nucleus of players for the next two years as well; last season the Hokies finished fourth in the conference while giving big minutes to four freshmen. Virginia, meanwhile, comes off its worst season in the Dave Leitao era with five conference wins, despite having one of the best players in the history of the program in Sean Singletary playing at his peak. After Singletary’s graduation, the Cavs certainly have been a pleasant surprise this season — in that they have been competitive thus far in conference play thanks to the freshman from the Big Apple, Sylven Landesberg — but a trip to the Tournament ain’t happening.As for next season, the return of Landesberg along with some other key cogs to go with two promising recruits in next year’s freshman class offers hope, but Virginia Tech’s youth is deeper and has proven that it can win.Don’t give me Commonwealth Cup; I know we win it every year. As the now infamous Colin Cowherd once said about U.Va. on his radio show, “I’d rather win football games.” He’s absolutely on the money; except, now also add, “and men’s basketball games.”I have all the respect in the world for the other athletes at this university, and I cheer my heart out for them. But, let’s face it — win all the baseball, field hockey, lacrosse and swimming that you want, I’ll take the school that goes to the Orange Bowl and makes the NCAA Tournament.And that’s not the only reason why, when it comes to sports, it’s better to be a Hokie. Go back to the question I asked my nephew: “There weren’t a lot of U.Va. fans at the game, were there?”No, there weren’t. When Tech took a free throw, there was one guy — a Virginia fan, I would hope — screaming his head off. If he had gone to get popcorn, the silence would have been palpable. At both the Virginia-Virginia Tech football and men’s basketball games last year, Hokie sightings — and noises — were numerous. Why? Because they travel; because they care more.At Cassell Coliseum, meanwhile, Tech fans are loud; yes, louder than Wahoos at John Paul Jones Arena. Cassell is built to hold noise; JPJ is built to offer comfort to alumni. Scott Stadium is loud; Tech’s Lane Stadium is a frenzy.And then there are the fans themselves. Put it this way: If a firework went off over Lane Stadium versus Scott Stadium during a football game, the fans at Lane wouldn’t notice not only because of the decibel level of the crowd but also because they’d be intently focusing on the game. All it takes to distract your average Wahoo is a girl in a sundress.Want to hate me more? In the two revenue sports I have been discussing, I’ll take the coaches at Virginia Tech against their counterparts at Virginia. That’s not to say I don’t have a soft spot for both Al Groh and Dave Leitao, because I do; however, I find the Frank Beamer philosophy more agreeable to college football, and I can’t get enough of Seth Greenberg. If I were a basketball recruit looking at schools, Greenberg would be the coach in the ACC I would most want to play for. He is one of the few coaches, for example, who I have ever seen that will turn and raise his arms to get the home crowd fired up, and his obvious passion for and patience with his players is exactly what I would look for. While Leitao certainly knows basketball, his quick trigger in his substitution patterns and his in-your-face confrontational coaching would absolutely ruin my confidence.Let me be clear: I attend U.Va., and there are many reasons why. I hate Blacksburg; engineering isn’t for me, and liberal arts at U.Va. easily takes the cake; etc, etc.I don’t want to be a Hokie. But if it came down to the performance, personnel and atmosphere surrounding the athletic programs, I absolutely would.
(12/05/08 8:41am)
At this point in the season, the Virginia men’s basketball team is right where it should be.The Cavs’ 3-3 record is certainly not pretty. It puts them squarely in last place in the ACC, and they now have two long weeks off for final exams to think about it.And indeed, dead last is the appropriate slot for Virginia, right? It’s where the ACC media picked them preseason.That is not, however, where I picked Virginia: I had them 11th. A bold prediction, I know.But then again, it is rather bold. Most people aren’t even giving Virginia a chance to compete in the conference; I, however, am suggesting that they can.And after what I saw the past two days, I’m sticking to it. Here are a few reasons why:1. Strength of schedule: Everyone in the ACC must deal with the ACC/Big 10 Challenge early in the season. Virginia, however, was the only team that had to play a Syracuse team four nights before that was fresh off two straight wins against ranked opponents.And, of course, the ACC/Big 10 Challenge was no treat, either. Minnesota is no Michigan State, but nor is it Northwestern, who Virginia had the pleasure of throttling by 42 points last season at John Paul Jones Arena. Throw in the fact that the Cavs were playing in Minneapolis, and we’ll say they broke even in the drawing for this year’s opponent in the Challenge.With that in mind, let’s now consider how they fared in the two games. Certainly, 0-2 doesn’t invite optimism; I can picture Virginia coach Dave Leitao now saying something about how it’s hard to be encouraged by anything after a loss.From the standpoint of a competitor, I always understand that perspective; but of course there is such thing as a silver lining.Indeed, the Cavs very nearly stole one from Syracuse at the Carrier Dome, and that is certainly worth something. In the first half of that game, Virginia shut down one of the best point guards in the country in Jonny Flynn on its way to a 13-point lead. It took lights-out shooting by the Orange and two of Virginia’s hottest-playing guards to get in foul trouble — freshmen Sammy Zeglinski and Sylven Landesberg were both forced to the bench in the second half — for Syracuse to scurry away with a 3-point win.What about the loss to Liberty the game before, you say? Admittedly, like you fans out there, I was considering the possibility that night that Virginia could go winless in ACC play. The Flames shot a ridiculous 69.6 percent in the second half on their way to an 86-82 win. It would appear that if Liberty can find holes in Leitao’s defense, Virginia might as well throw in the towel in the conference.But, Virginia’s performance against Syracuse shows that the Cavs can hang in with a premier opponent. Chalk that Liberty embarrassment up to youth and give a little credit to Liberty’s Seth Curry, the brother of Stephen Curry of Davidson and the one who put up 26 points against Virginia. If another Curry comes around, perhaps teams from the major conferences will figure out that maybe they should recruit him.But that’s a tangent; the point is, Virginia is young and still figuring itself out, and playing against a Curry certainly spiced things up.2. Freshmen who can play: While Landesberg has gotten most of the attention as Virginia’s leading scorer, Zeglinski is quickly becoming a fan-favorite, and for good reason. He is filling Virginia’s obvious need for a point guard and then some. While he is easily the best ball-handler on the team and hits the open jumper as a starting point guard should do, he has also shown the ability to get into the lane and create. Defensively, he is an annoyance to the opposing team’s point guard in a similar fashion to Singletary last season.Throw in the 7-foot, hustling freshman center Assane Sene — who has started the last two games after he was ineligible early in the season because of problems with pre-college enrollment — and Virginia has gotten some contributions from the youth.3. Jerome Meyinsse: He is a reason unto himself because he deserves it — against Syracuse, the junior nearly put up double-double numbers while coming up with huge offensive rebounds in the second half, keeping Virginia in the game despite a stagnant offense. Though undersized, Meyinsse does not look overwhelmed as he did at times in his first two seasons.With Sene, Meyinsse and the experience of 6-foot-11 senior center Tunji Soroye at the five, and a versatile, rebounding fiend in Mike Scott at the four, Virginia’s bigs are still far from anything to brag about. It appears, however, that they can at least hold their own.So, Virginia is 3-3. Already, I have seen fans who, if they haven’t cashed it in for this season, have at least opened the register. And frankly, if you’re one of these people, you’ve got good reason. On the other hand, it looks like Virginia’s season might not be a train wreck. That, in my book, is reason enough to stay tuned.
(12/02/08 6:42am)
The headline of this column is what senior Vic Hall called the Virginia formation with Hall under center Saturday.The Hoo-cat, the Wildcat, the Vic-cat, whatever you want to call it — it was certainly a curveball, and it most certainly worked. Hall ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns, almost fooling Virginia Tech into its first loss to the Cavs since 2003.“Probably because we got 3 less points, it probably won’t be remembered quite as well,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “But it had to be one of the best performances ever in this series by an individual player.” Now, the big question that Wahoo fans have — particularly in the bitterness of defeat to Virginia’s fiercest rival — is, what took so long? Why did it take three years for the coaching staff to put Hall — who owns the Virginia high school records for rushing yards from scrimmage (13,770), passing yards (8,731) and passing touchdowns (104) — under center?Here was Groh’s answer Saturday.“He’s not a big man,” Groh said of Hall. “Four months of that, who knows if he’d be able to withstand up to that. In fact, there was one time today where we were told that he wasn’t available, but fortunately that didn’t last for a few seconds.”Groh is right; Hall is not a big dude. And he’s probably also correct that Hall can’t take the majority of the snaps as he did Saturday.But yet, Groh was still in some sense dodging the question; it wasn’t whether Hall could be used every game to the level that he was used against the Hokies but whether Groh ever thought of giving Hall snaps at quarterback before this game.And the fact is, Hall should have been used at quarterback long ago. Groh would certainly have a tough time defending the status quo; assuming this year’s rankings don’t change dramatically, Virginia will finish outside the top 100 in total offense for the third straight season.What’s more, many of these problems can be traced to the man taking the snaps. Most of Virginia’s offensive difficulties this season relate to sophomore quarterback Marc Verica’s 16 interceptions in 10 games. Verica’s decision-making this season — or at least the three interceptions that he tossed against Clemson two weeks ago — is indeed what led Groh to leave the offense in Hall’s hands Saturday. “The difference between those two teams last weekend was turning the ball over,” Groh said. “We felt that our team needed a spark, needed somebody to believe in; there’s nobody in this team that the players and the coaches believe in more than Vic Hall.”That’s just what I don’t get, though — the weeks before that, and in fact the years before that, haven’t seen particularly laudable play from Virginia quarterbacks, either. Quarterback Jameel Sewell wasn’t as bad about turnovers but he was rough around the edges, to say the least, with downfield accuracy — he completed just 58.8 percent of his passes in 2007 and 57.9 percent the year beforeYet, with the athletic Hall in uniform to witness all of the offensive hardship, the coaching staff waited until the last week of this mediocre season, against a perennially terrific defense, to give Hall a shot.The most amazing part, which lends credence to the fact that this offense should have been tried well before the final week of Hall’s third non-redshirt season, is that even given these circumstances, Hall made it work. With one week’s notice, in one of the most hostile environments in the ACC, against an accomplished defense motivated by the incentive to make the conference championship, Hall was magnificent.“To do that on a few days’ worth of practice is unbelievable,” Groh said.Just imagine what could happen if Hall had two weeks. Or training camp.“It’s like riding a bike,” Hall said. “You never really forget something you’re blessed with.”But of course, Groh wasn’t second-guessing himself.“That’s not the way I live,” he said.Fair enough — hindsight is 20/20.But now, foresight might be pretty clear as well — next season, use Hall as often as possible.Like Groh said, though, Hall might not last a full season taking as many snaps as he did Saturday — but he wouldn’t have to. With Sewell back after missing this season because of academic ineligibility, Virginia now has all kinds of options. If Sewell can return to the form he had in 2007 — which was not exceptional, but certainly passable for a starter — he could be the primary quarterback, with Hall as the change of pace. If Verica can recover from his issues with turnovers, Groh could run a system similar to that of Virginia Tech’s with Tyrod Taylor and Sean Glennon — plus another healthy dose of Hall.“The proof is in the pudding,” Hall said.Yes, Vic, it is. Unfortunately for the Cavs, with one year of eligibility remaining for Hall, they will at best only get a taste.
(11/29/08 5:00am)
Many Virginia Tech fans are not too fond of Sean Glennon.Virginia coach Al Groh, on the other hand, has nothing but good things to say about the senior quarterback. As the Cavaliers prepare to take on the Hokies Saturday at Lane Stadium, they will also prepare for two quarterbacks: the dual-threat junior Tyrod Taylor – who will start, Frank Beamer announced on his radio show Monday – and the pocket-passing Glennon.There has been much controversy surrounding the quarterback situation in Blacksburg all season. The stickiness began in training camp when Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer announced his intention to redshirt Taylor, thereby giving Glennon the opportunity to take all the snaps in his final season, to the objection of many Hokie fans. When Glennon threw for just 139 yards with two interceptions in the team’s first game as it was upset 27-22 by East Carolina, however, Beamer had second thoughts. Against Furman, he went back to using Glennon in tandem with Taylor. Taylor completed just four passes but rushed for a team-leading 132 yards, while Glennon was 3-8 passing for 42 yards. Though Glennon – the MVP of last season’s ACC Championship game, a 30-16 win against Boston College – threw just four passes over the next five games, he worked his way back into the lineup after Taylor was injured on the first play against Florida State Oct. 25. Glennon himself suffered an ankle injury in the same contest – freshman Cory Holt finished the game at quarterback – but he returned to start the next game against Maryland with Taylor still ailing. He completed 14 of 20 passes for 127 yards in a 23-13 win.Glennon again took the first snap against Miami, though Taylor returned to the lineup and took the majority of the snaps in that game and the following Saturday against Duke. Glennon, however, has clearly earned back Beamer’s trust after the rough start to the season.Whether he has earned the respect of the fans, however, is another issue, which had Groh scratching his head.“I would certainly say that he was the MVP of the [Virginia-Virginia Tech] game last year,” Groh said of Glennon, who completed 13 of 19 passes for 260 yards with 1 touchdown and no interceptions against Virginia at Scott Stadium last year. “I’m sure [that game and the ACC Championship game] are two games that are very important to fans that he was the MVP of, so from our perspective it’s pretty easy to give him his props.”Though Beamer has made every attempt to keep his quarterbacks as distant from the media as possible, there have been snippets of discontent from Glennon, particularly of late.“When they told me before the game they were going with Tyrod, it was definitely a blow,” Glennon told reporters following Saturday’s game against Duke. “Shoot, I’m only here for a couple more games. I got my opportunity tonight and all I can do is hope I will be out there again next week.”Groh marveled at Glennon’s ability to take quality snaps in the unusual position for a quarterback of coming off the bench.“I guess it’s kind of like, not every pitcher works well out of the bullpen – some of them have gotta know when they arrive at the stadium that they’re gonna be on the mound that day,” Groh said. “Some quarterbacks are that way, but he’s handled his circumstances extremely well, and come in and really done a good job on quick notice in a number of games.”The one-two punch that the Hokies bring with Taylor and Glennon is obviously nothing new to Virginia. The pair worked in tandem last year, though it was Taylor who appeared off the bench with Glennon in the starter’s role.Like Virginia, however, the offense has struggled of late, putting up just 14 points in each of its last two games, including last Saturday against Duke.“We respect their offense even though people might say that they've been struggling over the past few weeks,” Virginia senior defensive end Alex Field said. “They're still a very good team, and we're going to have to be on our game to compete with them.Though Groh does not hesitate to laud Glennon, there will be plenty of preparation for the scrambling Taylor. Groh noted that his team will spend as much time preparing for the dual-threat Taylor “as if he was going to be the only quarterback.”Virginia senior safety Byron Glaspy also indicated that from his perspective, he would rather see Glennon under center.“I would always say that I like playing against quarterbacks who have to stay in the pocket more,” he said. “When a quarterback stays in the pocket, you pretty much know he has a certain amount of seconds to throw it, and that’s how long you have to throw your coverage.”On the other hand, Glaspy noted that Glennon certainly posed problems to Virginia in last year’s game.“Once the ball was snapped, he was able to get a good read on what defense we were in, and knowing the weak spots of that defense, whether it was a one-safety high coverage or a two-safety high coverage,” Glaspy said. “Just all those things that come with experience, he was able to use that to his advantage last year.”So, while both Virginia Tech fans and Virginia players may both breathe a bit easier when Glennon is in the game, the Cavaliers have no intention of relaxing when it is Glennon taking the snaps.“He’s pretty responsible for the fact that there’s an ACC Championship trophy down there in one of those trophy cases,” Groh said.
(11/29/08 5:00am)
For a former scout-team quarterback who inherited the starting role in the third week of the season, sophomore Marc Verica has not had such a bad year. Verica has “won a lot of games and helped us win a lot of games this year early on that we might not have won without him,” senior tight end John Phillips said. On the other hand, Verica certainly has not had a stellar season either. After getting off to a predictably tremulous start in his first two games – in which he led Virginia to just 6 total points and committed six turnovers in road blowouts at Connecticut and at Duke – Verica appeared to be rejuvenated by the return of senior running back Cedric Peerman from injury as Virginia went on a four-game win streak. The Cavaliers put up 26.5 points per game during the streak, and Verica averaged 232 yards in the air while throwing five touchdowns and four interceptions. Just as Virginia’s winning ways came screeching to a halt, however, so Verica returned to becoming turnover-prone in the games that followed. The sophomore has thrown three interceptions in each of the last two games as the Cavaliers threw out any opportunity they may have had at a trip to Tampa Bay for the ACC Championship game. “He's just kind of going through some growing pains right now,” Phillips said. “He's had some unfortunate incidents with interceptions and whatnot, but you're going to have that - that's expected.” When the Cavaliers take on Virginia Tech at Lane Stadium Saturday, Verica will quickly have to put his turnover woes behind him. The Hokies are second in the ACC and 16th in the country in turnover margin this season, forcing 25 turnovers while committing just 15. Of course, forgetting that you have thrown six interceptions in two games is easier said than done. “You can’t let that stuff get into your long-term memory frame,” said Peerman, who fumbled to the opposition for the first two times in his career in back-to-back games against Miami and Wake Forest earlier this season. “You just have to realize that you can master the present, and you can be successful.” In Verica’s defense, however, he has often been hindered in losses by a stagnant running game and has been forced to play catch-up as Virginia gave up early leads. Of their 11 games this season, the Cavaliers’ opponents have gotten on the board first on eight occasions. “You can’t help [Verica] out, say, the same way we helped out [former Virginia starting quarterback] Marcus Hagans,” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “The year that Marcus was a first-year starter, we had the No. 1 rushing offense in the conference, and steamrolled some teams with it, so there were quite a few games where we were able to let Marcus go 8-14 and score plenty of points. We haven’t been able to do that, so it’s forced some circumstances where Marc, under his situation – first time and so forth – has had to be, in some games, kind of be the man, make the plays that win the game.” Verica also has shown that he is not afraid of attempting to thread the ball in between defenders. While this is perhaps an admirable mentality, Groh noted it is one that can get him in trouble. “You mean like, ‘Peyton Manning can’t make this throw, but I can?’” Groh said when asked about Verica’s gun-slinging mentality, adding, “I know all those Westerns that we watch are fictional, but usually, eventually, the gunslinger gets his, because there’s a faster gunslinger. It’s usually the guy who waits for his shot who survives for a long time.” As Virginia gets ready to head to Blacksburg, Verica has plenty of incentive to take better care of the ball. With a win, the Cavaliers would become bowl eligible, afford the seniors their only win against the Hokies in their careers, and rob Virginia Tech of the chance to play in the ACC Championship game. Looking even further down the road, however, Verica has even more riding on this contest, although he may not be thinking about it right now. With junior quarterback Jameel Sewell – who was suspended this season for academic reasons – eagerly awaiting his chance to return to the team in the spring, a productive trip to Blacksburg would certainly bode well for Verica as he attempts to earn back the starting job for next season. “It oughta be fairly competitive,” Groh said of the spring quarterback competition. “We’ll be looking at a spring in which we’ll have two guys who have started an appreciable amount of games, as opposed to last spring when we had no players who had started [an appreciable number] of games.”
(11/25/08 10:16am)
On paper, it would seem that any ACC men’s basketball team should put a pounding on Virginia’s Big South foe Liberty tonight at John Paul Jones Arena.Virginia, however, has yet to dominate anybody this season, including two other foes from the Big South. While pleased with his team’s undefeated record, coach Dave Leitao is far from satisfied with his team after only scraping by Big South opponents VMI and Radford and Big East opponent South Florida, the preseason’s worst-ranked team in that conference, in the first week of the season.“We’ve got a lot of work to do and we’ve got a short period of time to start getting serious about our work if we have any visions of being a good team,” Leitao said.Most recently, against Radford, Virginia (3-0, 0-0 ACC) trailed for the majority of the game before escaping with a 2-point win after the Cavaliers took back the lead for good with only 29 seconds remaining.“By chance [Friday], we made a play or two at the end, or they didn’t execute a play or two at the end, and we were fortunate enough to win,” Leitao said.Though the Cavaliers have focused on defense since the start of preseason, the offense’s struggles have been particularly noticeable. The Cavaliers have shot a dismal nine for 44 from 3-point range on the season and 38.6 percent from the floor in their last two games. The team’s 54.4 percent shooting in the back-and-forth, full-court shootout in the 107-97 win against VMI inflated Virginia’s accuracy to a respectable 44.5 percent. Even Virginia’s free throw shooting has been off: The team has made 55 from the charity stripe on 80 tries (68.8 percent).The abysmal shooting from the perimeter is of particular concern. Leitao has said this is not the best penetrating team he has ever had, nor does he have the inside threats to put up big numbers on the block. If Virginia does not shoot well from the perimeter, it likely will not win.“I can tell you specifically why we’re not making shots, and it’s not because we’re not good shooters,” Leitao said. “We’re not creating — through our offense or our execution — comfortable [3-point shots]. We take them as a last resort, or we take them because we need to take them, or just because a guy’s open, and you don’t make shots like that.”In fact, it is arguably because of Virginia’s McDonald’s All-American freshman guard Sylven Landesberg that the team is in the win column at all. Landesberg has scored 28, 21 and 22 points in the first three games, respectively, to lead all Virginia scorers. The New York City product has shown off his inner-city flair and touch around the basket in the process.Landesberg “right now, for good, for bad, for indifferent, he’s oblivious — he just plays basketball,” Leitao said. “I think because he is naturally an attacker, he challenges the defense, he finds openings.”But as Virginia looks ahead to its schedule before getting a break for final exams, tonight’s game against Liberty (1-1, 0-1 Big South) would be a timely occasion to start playing team basketball. Following tonight’s matchup, Virginia makes its most taxing road trip of the season, traveling to Syracuse, N.Y. Friday and following that up with a contest at Minnesota Tuesday.The rest of the troops will have to get more involved if Virginia wants to keep winning.“It’s hard, because you’ve got to change a lot of people’s personalities,” junior guard Calvin Baker said. “Naturally, we’ve got a lot of players who are introverted — they really stick to themselves. In order for us to be a good team, everybody’s got to give more than they have been doing.”Liberty, however, will likely not be any less resistant than fellow Big South opponents VMI and Radford. Liberty was picked to finish fourth in the conference in the preseason, sitting between VMI (seventh) and Radford (second). The Flames took down Montreat by 20 to open their season but were rocked 84-56 Tuesday by UNC Asheville, which was picked to finish ninth in the Big South. Like Virginia, Liberty’s leading scorer, Seth Curry, is also a freshman guard and was a McDonald’s All-American nominee, though he did not play in the All-American game as Landesberg did. Curry has put up 20.5 points per game in his first two games, while returning leading scorer and senior guard Anthony Smith has added 19 points per game.With the big Thanksgiving weekend road trip to the Northeast looming, it would certainly make Leitao breathe easier if his team could win by 15 or 20 points instead of by 1 or 2.“We’ve got to be in a better position from the start of games and throughout the games to not be toward the end of a game trying to eek out victories night in and night out,” Leitao said. “You don’t win that way; not each night.”
(11/24/08 5:00am)
Should Virginia coach Al Groh be fired?It’s a question that sportswriters and fans have brought up following every game since Virginia was embarrassed at Duke 31-3 in Durham Sept. 27. Since that date, I have heard everything from “Groh should get fired now” to “Groh should win ACC Coach of the Year.”Now, with Virginia standing at 5-6 following a dismal 13-3 loss to Clemson during senior day at Scott Stadium Saturday, followers of Virginia football will naturally swing again toward putting Groh on the chopping block. With the luck Virginia has had in Blacksburg throughout the years, it is certainly not unreasonable to project a 5-7 season; should Virginia fail to be bowl-eligible for the second time in three seasons, the future of the head coach is naturally a question.It is a question, though, that I have personally tried to dodge to this point. As a student reporter in my first year covering football, I am a bit timid about calling for the removal of an accomplished, ex-NFL coach who has been around this game for more years than I have been alive. There are older, wiser reporters who have been covering Virginia football for 20 years or more, and the meager kid from the student newspaper shouldn’t be the one to sing for the removal of the head coach of a major program if it has any chance of being premature.Now, however, with only the minor unpredictability of a 5-7 season versus a .500 season hanging in the balance, I think it is an appropriate time to weigh in. Regardless of what happens against Virginia Tech and despite some considerable evidence against him, I do not think that Al Groh should be fired. Offensive coordinator Mike Groh, however, is another story that I will save for a later date.Before you Al Groh haters start screaming for my removal from this paper along with Groh from Virginia, let me recognize the reasons why the seven-year Virginia coach indeed should be fired.The reason that should first be considered is the off-field issues. Quarterback Jameel Sewell, corner Chris Cook, linebacker Darnell Carter and wide receiver Chris Dalton are suspended this season for academic ineligibility; Jeffrey Fitzgerald was removed from the team because of an academic issue; J’Courtney Williams and Mike Brown got kicked off the team after being arrested on felony charges; Peter Lalich had problems with alcohol and marijuana use that include violating his probation, leading to his removal from the team.Groh is ultimately responsible for the activities of his players, and he has admitted as much; however, in reality, the fault lies as much with others as it does with himself. He can preach the importance of making grades all he wants; it is not just Groh’s job, however, to force his athletes go to academic advising sessions or make it to athletic study halls. Nor is it solely on him when players have run-ins with the law; what’s the guy supposed to do, monitor his players with tracking devices?Groh spends 90 to 100 hours a week meeting with coaches, running practices, studying film, drawing up plays, and the like. He can tell his players they need to be stand-up students off the field, but there are people whose job it is to make sure that happens beyond the head coach.What would have truly tipped me toward the firing of Groh in this regard, however, is something that never occurred: if his players had reacted to the off-field difficulties in any negative fashion. They could have splintered; they could have given up; they could have started pointing fingers.Instead, however, they only grew closer. They rallied around some of the classier players on the team, like seniors Cedric Peerman, Clint Sintim and Jon Copper, and told each other they can’t be broken.Which brings me to the next reason many Groh foes will call for his firing: performance. Should the Cavs lose to Virginia Tech Saturday, Virginia will have its 9-4 season in 2007-08 sandwiched between two campaigns of 5-7. Virginia has never had two losing seasons so close together since 1981-82, when Virginia had back-to-back sub-.500 seasons in the transition between coaches; Dick Bestwick left following a 1-10-1 1981 season, and George Welsh took over in 1982, and his Cavs finished 2-9.What is most important when considering outcome, however, is this year’s team, and this year’s team has already been surprisingly successful, even in its mediocrity. Virginia was picked to finish third to last in the Coastal Division by the ACC media preseason, just ahead of Duke and Georgia Tech. That was before Lalich was removed from the team, forcing former scout team quarterback Marc Verica into the lineup, before defensive end Sean Gottschalk disappeared because of personal issues, before Aaron Clark went down for the season with an ACL tear. It was before Peerman dealt with early leg troubles that limited him for the first four games and before fellow running back Mikell Simpson suffered a clavicle fracture putting him out for the final three weeks of the season.Somehow, though, Virginia has still scraped five wins, including several impressive ones. How the Cavs beat North Carolina at home and went to Atlanta to take down Georgia Tech I may never figure out.The biggest reason why Groh should stay, however, is a simple one: His players like him. And don’t think I’m too naive to recognize the possibility that players just say they like him to appease the sharks in the media; I have considered that possibility and dismissed it.When Peter Lalich’s father Todd tells The Daily Progress that Al Groh turns boys into men after Peter is kicked off the team, that tells me something. When players rally around Peerman after he gives up a game-costing fumble against Miami, there is further proof of this camaraderie. When all of the players proclaim the exact same message in their interviews that Groh preaches in his, that too is a telling sign.So, this is the bottom line: You can’t fire a coach who has his players so deeply in tune with his philosophy and who wins more games than he should. All season, Groh has maintained Virginia as a team undivided. For all the rough patches this team has hit both on the field and off, forcing Groh out could be the biggest splinter of them all.
(11/24/08 5:00am)
“It’s a pretty easy game to describe, right?” Virginia coach Al Groh said. “I’m sure that you won’t have to scratch your heads to write the story about this one.”In Virginia’s 13-3 loss to Clemson senior day Saturday at Scott Stadium, the statistics show in no subtle way how the 111th ranked scoring offense in the country sank to 115. With four turnovers — including three interceptions from sophomore quarterback Marc Verica — and zero fourth-down conversions on two attempts, the Cavalier offense blew any chance the team had of being ACC Championship-bound.“The game, as you all could see, was a pretty even match other than about seven plays,” Groh said. “A touchdown that we didn’t get, [four] turnovers, and two failed fourth downs, which essentially are the same thing as a turnover.”There was little positive to speak of for Virginia on the offensive side of the ball. Senior running back Cedric Peerman, the spark for Virginia throughout its four-game midseason win streak, finished with just 45 yards rushing on 19 carries, as he was granted few holes from a futile offensive line.“With some [Clemson] guys, we had a little difficulty moving [Saturday] obviously,” Groh said. “We need a lot more in that area; there’s no doubt about it.”When asked if offensive coordinator and son Mike Groh would be back next year, Al Groh dodged the question.“I love these divisive questions,” he said. When asked if that answer meant his offensive coordinator would be back next season, Groh responded, “That means I blew the question off.”The best offensive play of the day for Virginia was called back by an official. As the Cavaliers took control of the ball and the momentum after recovering a bad snap by the Tigers and drove into the red zone, Verica launched a deep pass targeting junior wide receiver Kevin Ogletree on first down. With the Clemson cornerback and Ogletree fighting for position all the way, Ogletree stuck his hand out to gain separation, hauled in the catch beyond and marched into the end zone for an apparent 53-yard score. The flag, however, came out without hesitation, as Ogletree was called for offensive pass interference, negating the touchdown and moving Virginia backward 15 yards to a chorus of boos from the Wahoo faithful.“There appeared to be contact involved with both players,” Groh said. “It’s one of those calls that, when you make it, you better be right. Because if you were wrong, you had a profound influence on the game in an incorrect way if you’re the person who called it.”Ogletree was also careful with his words about the penalty, though he too noted that there was contact both ways.“You can’t get a penalty in that situation,” Ogletree said. “It’s unfortunate that the flag was on the other side, because there definitely was some pushing and shoving going on.”The called-back touchdown was one of many blown opportunities that Virginia had to put points on the board. On the opening drive, senior wide receiver Cary Koch had a Verica pass bounce off his hands — after he lost the ball in the sun, Groh said — that would have put Virginia in field goal range; the Cavs ended up punting. On the first play of Clemson’s final drive of the half deep in Tiger territory, sophomore corner Ras-I Dowling got a perfect read on a pass by Clemson senior quarterback Cullen Harper but, like Koch before him, had the pass bounce off his hands, ruining a possible pick-six opportunity.In addition, both of Virginia’s muffed fourth-and-1 attempts came as Virginia knocked on the door of field goal range. The first failed after Verica’s pass intended for Koch out of the shotgun — a play that had been successful “close to 90 percent all year long,” Groh said — was batted down by Clemson sophomore linebacker DeAndre McDaniel. On the second occasion, Virginia elected to hand to Peerman, but he was wrapped up in the backfield as he attempted to get outside by the blitzing Clemson sophomore cornerback Byron Maxwell.“There [are] turnovers, and then there [are] giveaways,” senior outside linebacker Clint Sintim said. “Overall, today we had a lot of giveaways — a lot of giveaways on offense, a lot of giveaways on defense.”With few exceptions, however, the Virginia defense was commended for an outstanding day against one of the most talented, albeit underachieving, offenses in the country. Virginia held Clemson to just 192 yards of total offense — 2 yards more than the 190 the Cavaliers accumulated — and gave up just one touchdown on a trick play, a 15-yard halfback pass from junior running back C.J. Spiller to senior wide receiver Tyler Grisham for Clemson’s opening score.Clemson’s lineup “is like reading out an all-star team,” Groh said. “For the only touchdown to come on a well-executed play, but a play of that nature, that we wished we would have covered a little bit better, that part of it worked out pretty well.”For the seniors, it was certainly not the ending that they envisioned on senior day. With ACC Championship hopes down the tubes and bowl eligibility teetering on the edge of failure, however, the seniors were not the only ones with their heads down.“I’m sure that we all feel badly,” Groh said.
(11/21/08 6:09am)
He’s played just two regular-season games, but freshman guard Sylven Landesberg — “Learning Center,” as some have dubbed him — is already way ahead of the curve.As Virginia prepares to take on Radford tonight at John Paul Jones Arena, it has a common denominator in each of its close wins to open the season: Landesberg was the leading Virginia scorer. The freshman put up 28 points to open the season in a 107-97 win against VMI and 21 points Wednesday in a 77-75 victory against South Florida.There has been plenty of hype for the freshman from New York City since the preseason, but even Virginia coach Dave Leitao did not expect Landesberg to perform so well this soon.“Obviously, to be able to deliver in the first two games is a bit surprising,” Leitao said. “Hopefully it’s establishing himself as a good player on this team.”His teammates, however, seemed to think Landesberg’s production was more predictable.“We saw him in high school, and just in pickup games you could see that he can bring a lot to the table,” junior forward Jamil Tucker said. “We’re not surprised at all — we’re happy that he’s bringing it in the game.”Perhaps most impressively, Landesberg’s points have not come easily. He has knocked down the open three and has used his strength to get cheap baskets, for sure, but it is his uncanny ability to get to the hole in traffic that separates him from most freshmen in their first games.“I just attack the rim,” Landesberg said. “Good things always happen from that.”Landesberg also credits his ability to get to the basket and finish with contact to pickup games in the parks of New York City. The Big Apple is clearly not lacking in tough-minded players, and Landesberg appears to be of that mold.“He’s got a very good mind for the game and a very good competitive spirit,” Leitao said. “Most good players that grow up in New York City have that by reputation, and his reputation happens to be true.”It also helps that while Landesberg is not outwardly cocky, he does not doubt himself.“I’m a confident person; I always have confidence in myself,” Landesberg said. “There were some pregame jitters, but that came out after the Shepherd game — the exhibition — and after that they were all gone.”It appears that if Landesberg kept playing this well, he would get the chance to enter the everyday starting lineup; whether that will happen tonight against Radford, however, is still a question. Landesberg started against VMI only because of the small lineup that the Keydets offered; with a more standard lineup against South Florida Wednesday, however, Landesberg came off the bench.Landesberg still was second on the team in minutes against South Florida with 31, and that’s all that matters to him.“As long as I’m on the court, I’m happy,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if I’m coming off the bench or I’m starting as long as I’m getting playing time.”Regardless of Landesberg’s spot in the rotation, he will have another chance to shine tonight against yet another mid-major that could give Virginia a run for its money, similar to what VMI did Sunday. Though the Highlanders are coming off a 2007-08 season in which they went 10-20 (5-9 Big South) — including 2-15 on the road — Radford was picked to finish second in the Big South in the preseason, five spots ahead of fellow Big South team VMI that gave Virginia all it could handle. The Highlanders — coached by Brad Greenberg, brother of Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg — feature a 6-foot-8 stat sheet stuffer in preseason All-Big South pick junior forward Joey Lynch-Flohr and have a high-scoring, experienced group of guards in senior Kenny Thomas, senior Martell McDuffy and junior Amir Johnson, who return as the three leading scorers from last season.With one of the biggest road trips of the season looming Thanksgiving weekend to Syracuse Nov. 28 followed by the Cavaliers’ longest trek of the year to visit coach Tubby Smith and Minnesota, Virginia cannot afford to lose at home to mid-majors like Radford.“We wanted to get off to a fast start, and we’re 2-0,” Leitao said. “We’ve got some very difficult games ahead that we’ve got to be ready for, so you don’t want to give away home games at this point in the season.”In other words, Virginia is undefeated, but it has a long season ahead.The same goes for the stunningly rapid development thus far of Landesberg.“I’m not that successful, it’s only my second game,” Landesberg said. “Ask me that a little later on in the season.”
(11/20/08 8:04am)
For all intents and purposes, Virginia’s 77-75 win against South Florida was its season debut.Before I get to why it was a debut, let’s appreciate how fitting a matchup it was for coaches to try to gauge their teams at this point in the season. This game pitted the team picked to finish last in the ACC against the team picked to finish last in the Big East. It was the battle of the bottoms of two of the biggest barrels in the country.Now, back to why it was a debut. Obviously, it was the Cavs’ second game of the season; indeed, you say, what about that game against VMI? The Keydets beat Kentucky to open their season, and the Cavs pulled out a 107-97 win two nights later — encouraging, right? After the Cavs put up triple digits on VMI, fans certainly had some hope that the offensive woes, at least, couldn’t be that bad this season.What you optimists out there must remember, though, is that the Keydets don’t play D. They don’t care if you score 100 because they believe they can put up 110.And, the biggest question facing this team is, at both ends of the floor, whether it can play in the half-court set. On offense, the Cavs had a hard enough time scoring when the game slowed down last year, and it would appear that they can’t get much better in this area with the graduation of number 44. The ability to improve on defense certainly appears more feasible; after suffering injuries to the frontcourt last season, Virginia has size that measures up with everyone. Add the focus on the defensive end that Leitao and his players have echoed, mix in some team cohesion and expose the returning nucleus of players to another year of Leitao earfuls, and the Cavs have every reason to pick it up at that end of the floor.The VMI game, however, yielded zero information on these qualities. Leitao compared Sunday’s game to the NHL All-Star Game; that should serve as a reminder of how much half-court play there was in that contest.So, how did Virginia fare in its first time playing a true game of basketball?The Cavs won. That certainly comes first.But, on the other hand, they didn’t look too good in the process. South Florida shot an all-too-familiar 49.2 percent from the floor. Sophomore guard Dominique Jones and senior guard Jesus Verdejo poured in a combined 45 points. Had the Bulls not shot 6-12 from the foul line, the game would have taken on a different tone.Then, the offense wasn’t great either. Virginia shot 40.3 percent from the floor — borderline against an ACC opponent, poor against a South Florida team that won just three games in the Big East last season. A Virginia team that is supposed to be composed of shooters shot 5-19 from the 3-point line and 18-28 from the foul line. On the other hand, there was more good news: Virginia has two freshmen who can really play. When point guard Sammy Zeglinski and shooting guard Sylven Landesberg have the ball in their hands, I feel comfortable that at least nothing bad is going to happen, and maybe even something good will come.Landesberg ended with 21 points and four rebounds, including the biggest bucket of the night with 13 seconds remaining to put Virginia up 1, and the biggest rebound of the game on the ensuing stop at the defensive end.“I live for those moments,” Landesberg said.And it’s not just the points that impress; it’s the way he gets them. He snakes his way through defenders and finishes around the basket with contact the way a freshman isn’t supposed to do in his second game of the season.“That’s from playing in the parks, man,” Landesberg said. “In the parks, you don’t call any fouls — you’ve just got to finish everything.”Zeglinski’s numbers aren’t as gaudy, but he was solid at the point for the second straight night, committing just one turnover while adding four assists; there probably would have been more if foul trouble hadn’t limited him to just 22 minutes. Even though he stands a meager 6 feet, I am beginning to buy into Zeglinski’s ability to run the show both in the half-court and in transition, even against high-pressure, high-octane ACC opponents.“I feel real comfortable out there,” Zeglinski said. “I always like to be the floor general and show my composure on the court.”The best news of the night, however, was Virginia’s grit in the last five minutes. The Cavs have had Sean Singletary on the floor for four years in crunch time, and for most of that time he was getting the ball.With Virginia in possession down 75-74 and 34 seconds to play, the fans may have been looking for Singletary, but the players weren’t. As junior guard Calvin Baker — on a night that certainly wasn’t his best — made a fantastic spin move into the lane and dished to Landesberg for an open lay-up on the baseline, Virginia proved it doesn’t need Mr. Big Shot to take — and make — a big shot.The best part about the go-ahead bucket, however, was that it wasn’t by design.“We had set up a play actually to get the ball in [Diane’s] hands and drive a little bit and draw some help,” Leitao said. “It broke down early, so we found ourselves just kind of improvising.”That play was something that would make even Singletary, the king of improvisation himself, proud.Of course, I’m a realist. This is South Florida. If Leitao can improvise a way for Virginia to win in the ACC, that would really be something.
(11/20/08 8:00am)
No one said married life was easy. But senior Jon Copper takes it to an entirely new dimension.While starting 36 consecutive games and counting for Virginia at inside linebacker, Copper is also the only current football player for Virginia who has tied the knot. His wife, Holly Dixon Copper, is also a full-time student and senior at the University; the two married in May 2007.When Virginia coach Al Groh was asked if Copper is the only married player he has ever had, he had an answer that had everyone in the room chuckling.“Officially, yeah,” Groh said. “We’ve had quite a few that it wasn’t recorded down at the hall of records, but who had a lot less independence than Jon has got.”With all that Copper adds to the team, his teammates are pleased that he still has time for football. Though not a captain this season, Groh said Copper is “one of the most respected players on the team.” A product of Fork Union Military Academy and a native of Roanoke, Va., Copper was initially offered a partial financial-aid package from Bucknell, but the package was then rescinded — “they dropped me,” Copper said. With his first choice always to attend the University, Copper — undersized at 6-foot and with uninspiring athleticism — then decided to give it a go as a walk-on, with nothing but a tryout invitation from the Virginia coaching staff and his own competitive nature to lean on.“When I came up here, I think my senior year of high school, and watched spring practice, I knew I could be competitive with the guys that were on the field,” Copper said. “But the things that have happened ... I see a lot of it out of my control, and I’ve just been very fortunate. It’s been a blessing.”Now in his fifth year, Copper is preparing to walk into Scott Stadium for the last time Saturday in a home bout with Clemson as a three-year starter and one of the most overachieving players on the team. With 85 tackles thus far this season — 25 more than any Cavalier — Copper is well on his way to leading the team in tackles for the third straight season and to becoming the 14th player in Virginia history to tally at least 300 tackles in his career. The last Virginia player to reach this mark was linebacker Angelo Crowell, a Class of 2002 graduate.“Remarkable, amazing, distinguished,” Groh said of Copper’s career thus far, adding, “As productive as he’s been, he’s unassuming as a person could be but not unconfident.”Fellow senior linebacker Clint Sintim had similar thoughts.“He’s a great player, especially — and he’ll tell you this — for the lack of athleticism and his height,” Sintim said. “I think he feeds off the fact that he’s not the fastest or the strongest or the tallest and he’s still able to be as productive as he is.”What’s more, this season, Copper now takes nearly every snap in the 3-4 as well as in Virginia’s nickel and dime packages because of injuries that have plagued the linebacker corps. Known to be one of the fiercest film-viewers on the team — he brings a dog-eared spiral notebook to film sessions, Groh said — Copper simply does everything the right way.For players like Copper, “We’re able to say to some of [the freshmen], ‘Look, you see that guy over there? He plays your position — just watch him all year,’” Groh said. “‘Watch how he lifts weights. Watch how he practices. Watch him during film sessions. He’s figured out how to do it.’”Then, at the end of the day, the student-athlete-husband goes home and squeezes in a little study time for his major, religious studies. If he has time, he might also help out with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Young Life or Athletes in Action at U.Va, all clubs with which Copper is involved.”He’s a married man, he’s very religious, he has a lot of things in his life that are extremely important to him,” Sintim said. “This football thing is obviously important to him, but [Copper] is very mature and old, so he handles himself the way an older, married man would.”To say the least, when Copper walks into Scott Stadium during the senior day celebrations, Holly won’t be the only one clapping.“Copper is the man,” Sintim said.
(11/18/08 5:05am)
As the 2008-09 men’s basketball campaign gets underway, there is one question that coaches, players, fans and media alike are trying to answer: What is the effect of the new 3-point line?The rule change to move the line back was passed in the spring of 2007 to take effect starting this season; the line now sits 20 feet, 9 inches from the basket, one foot further than the previous line of 19 feet, 9 inches.With the three-ball turning into a short jump shot in recent years as big men expanded their games to the perimeter and as players became more athletic and versatile on the whole, basketball has clearly become a perimeter-based game; in 1986-87, Division I games averaged 9.1 3-point attempts per game, an number that has climbed steadily to an all-time high of 19.07 3-point attempts per game last season. “I think [the 19-foot-9 line] gave almost everybody a license to think that they were shooters when they weren’t,” Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. “Now maybe players and coaches have more of a proven ground to see if you can do it or can’t do it based on their percentages.”In the Cavaliers’ first regular-season game with the new line, their 107-97 win against VMI Sunday, they shot three of 16 from 3-point range and appeared to leave many 3-point shots short, particularly in the opening minutes. Given that the Cavaliers sank 42.1 percent of their 3-point shots in their exhibition against Shepherd, however, the low shooting percentage was likely influenced more by other factors.The new line “really hasn’t [had an effect on the low shooting percentage] in the preseason, practices and games and things like that — the scrimmage game and exhibition game,” Leitao said, noting that against full-throttle VMI, “I think that the threes that we were trying to take were from full-court action, which sometimes aren’t the best.”When asked about the new line during the preseason, players around the ACC agreed: A foot doesn’t change their mindset all that much.“I don’t think it’s a big difference at all,” North Carolina junior guard Wayne Ellington said. “As you start to play with it, you don’t even notice any difference.”VMI led the nation with 11.6 3-point shots made per game last year, and coach Duggar Baucom agreed that the new line will not have a big effect on his game plan.“We’re still going to shoot them,” he said.More important differences, Leitao noted in the preseason, occur with how the players view the new line.“You take [the 19-foot-9 line] — guys typically would shoot not really at [it], they’d shoot a foot, foot and a half behind it,” Leitao said. “You move that line back, they move back. They’re not toeing the line; they’re attempting longer shots than the line requires them to.”Leitao added that this reaction was unexpected.“I thought that they would just take the normal shots that they had been taking all along, which is well within the range that they can shoot,” he said.Even beyond the 3-point shot itself, Leitao and other coaches have noted the differences in floor spacing — just as shooters expand their range, defenses are forced to stretch themselves to cover the extra space.“It’s more room that the defense has to have to chase you around — in the post, and recovering, close-outs, things like that,” Leitao said. “If you can become a good ball-movement team, then maybe you can take advantage of that spacing.”Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg disagreed with the Virginia coach’s assessment preseason.“I think the biggest thing you’re going to see this year is that the new 3-point line is going to shrink the court,” Greenberg said. “Not everyone is going to be closed out to that line. I think certain guys are going to be gapped off the ball because [from 19 feet 9 inches] it’s a two, not a three. I think it’s going to take away driving lanes because people are not going to have to extend as far out.”In addition, whereas Leitao said his players have been backing too far off the line, Greenberg said the biggest adjustment for his players is getting behind it.“We’ve shot a lot of two-pluses,” Greenberg said. “That’s the worst shot you can take.”Then, there’s the added factor of the line simply being confusing. The women still shoot from the old line that coincides with the top of the key; both players and referees now have to keep track of which line they are standing behind.Leitao said there were proposals to fix this problem, but none passed the scrutiny of the NCAA Rules Committee.“We talked about making it one thick line ... The men’s team would just shoot behind a different color, because it was one thick band,” Leitao said. “But, that didn’t pass, so what we settled on is something that aesthetically doesn’t look very pretty, and is a little confusing at the same time, and will cause stoppages in action.”Greenberg even suggested moving both the men’s and women’s lines to the Olympic line, which lies 20 feet, 6 inches from the basket.“I think we need to go to the Olympic line so we can have some uniformity,” he said. “I think the women need to do it also, so we can have one stinkin’ line on the court.”With all of the added dimensions that the new 3-point line adds, Leitao noted the importance of keeping practice conditions consistent with the new game setting.“Even in our practice gym we have both [the men’s and women’s lines],” Leitao said. “You don’t want to be in one gym and have two lines, and another gym being one line — there’s a little bit too much confusion, and you don’t have enough uniformity to promote that consistency that would hopefully make the play consistent.”
(11/17/08 6:32am)
“I just fired our schedule-maker.”Virginia coach Dave Leitao’s quip following the men’s basketball team’s 107-97 victory against VMI was naturally in jest, but his point was clear. In a season where clamping down on defense is the theme, opening a season with the run-and-gun Keydets — who averaged 91.3 points per game last season, which led the nation — is not an ideal team with which to break the ice.“It kind of felt like it was the NHL All-Star game,” Leitao said. “It affected everything that we do.”On the other hand, Virginia knew this Keydet team was no joke after it took down Kentucky 111-103 in its first game of the season Friday night. So, in last night’s victory at John Paul Jones Arena — with highly touted recruit Renardo Sidney in attendance — the Cavalier perimeter players were put to the test in their first game without the graduated Sean Singletary against VMI’s aggressive, trapping defense. By all accounts, they passed.VMI “is going to force you, if you’re ready, willing, and able, to score 100 [points],” Leitao said. “That was my goal; let’s score 100, and let’s not let them score 100, and we accomplished that goal.”The Cavaliers had several players who Leitao hopes showed their true colors last night. Freshman shooting guard Sylven Landesberg — who was told only moments before the game that he would start — was magnificent in his regular-season debut, putting up 28 points, eight assists and eight rebounds. His point total is an all-time Virginia record for a freshman debut since they became eligible in 1972-73; the previous record was held by Jeff Lamp, who put up 24 points in his debut in 1977-78. The freshman’s strength was particularly noticeable, as he finished several buckets with contact, including two 3-point plays.“If anybody knows me — particularly Sylven — I don’t hand out bouquets too often,” Leitao said. “I’ve known for a while now that he’s got great potential, and we just want to make that potential a reality.”Sophomore forward Mike Scott — who was the biggest Virginia player to see action as Virginia countered VMI’s speed with a small lineup — also took a piece of the spotlight. Scott was an efficient 11 for 13 from the field for 26 points and snatched 18 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive glass. The 10 offensive boards tied yet another Virginia record.“I think [Scott] probably turned [the 10 offensive rebounds] into at least 20 points, if not more on some 3-point plays,” VMI coach Duggar Baucom said.When informed about tying a school high with 10 offensive boards, Scott was a bit bewildered.“I didn’t know I had — man, that’s crazy,” Scott said. “Just trying to go after every rebound — that’s what I live by.”Scott also had the most impressive score of the night, and perhaps the biggest. With Virginia up 91-87 and just more than two minutes remaining, Scott received the ball in the open court with just senior guard Travis Holmes between him and the basket. After going up for the lay-in, Scott was body-checked in mid-air by Holmes but still remained upright and somehow flipped in the bucket, plus the foul.Only two minutes earlier, sophomore guard Jeff Jones also made two enormous 3-point shots on back-to-back possessions. With Virginia leading 86-84, Jones’ two 3-pointers pushed the lead to 8; the Keydets would never get closer than 4 points in the remaining minutes.While describing Jones’ threes as “huge,” Leitao also noted the importance of those shots to Jones’ confidence in his shot, which wavered often last year as he struggled to a 31.4 percentage from beyond the arc.“His first two or three shots didn’t go in,” Leitao said. “I think he’s different this year, especially mentally, that maybe you’ll have a string of shots after that that may not go in, but he knows he’s being counted on to score ... when he gets those open threes, to take it.”After Virginia opened up an early 17-point lead 9:46 into the first half, it appeared that the Keydets were suffering an emotional hangover from their big win against Kentucky two nights earlier. VMI’s full-court pressure, however, took its toll on the Cavalier backcourt in the latter portion of the first half. Whether it was junior guard Calvin Baker, redshirt freshman Sammy Zeglinski or sophomore guard Mustapha Farrakhan acting as the primary ball-handler, VMI both took the ball from Virginia and flustered the Cavaliers into making careless mistakes that led to turnovers. By halftime, VMI had cut the lead to 6, as Virginia committed 16 turnovers in the first half.Perhaps the biggest factor that swung the tide toward Virginia in the second half was the difference against VMI’s pressure; with Zeglinski handling the point guard reins for the majority of the second half, Virginia did not turn the ball over once in the final 10 minutes.At halftime, “we talked about the amount of unforced turnovers that were part of that 16, and those were the ones that we had to eliminate,” Leitao said. “That’s really what you’ve got to be able to do — get high-percentage shots without giving the ball back.”Baucom was particularly impressed with the play of Zeglinski, who had just three turnovers while playing 31 minutes off the bench.“The little guy, I think Zeglinski’s going to be good,” Baucom said. “He was a question mark coming into the game — I would think y’all would think that, he was kind of unproven.”Though the game remained tight throughout the second half, VMI never managed to take a lead. Senior guard Chavis Holmes had the opportunity to give his team the edge as he earned a trip to the foul line with the Keydets trailing 82-81 with just under seven minutes remaining but made one of two free throws to merely knot the game at 82 apiece. Two quick buckets by Scott and senior forward Mamadi Diane gave Virginia the lead that lasted to the final buzzer.“Anytime you can get an ACC team down with six minutes to go, your mindset kind of changes a little bit,” Baucom said.The Cavaliers return to JPJ Wednesday night to take on South Florida at 7.
(11/11/08 5:28am)
Virginia coach Al Groh has long said if a true freshman is ready to help the team, he will play.There is no more evidence to support this assertion than on special teams. From the first snap against USC to this point, freshman Jimmy Howell has been the starting punter. With freshman Robert Randolph leapfrogging senior Yannick Reyering as the place kicker on the field goal team last week, Groh has rookies at two of the highest-pressure positions on the field.“It’s a little different situation than if a player was playing on the line of scrimmage,” Groh said. “But there’s still a lot of pressure on the players to go in and do that.”Randolph got the start Saturday after receiving his first action three weeks before against North Carolina with Reyering sidelined by a leg injury. After converting one field goal from 37 yards and having another blocked from 39, Randolph’s game-tying extra point late in regulation was tipped at the line of scrimmage and barely flopped over the bar.After Reyering went 1 for 3 on field goals in the 24-17 overtime loss to Miami, in which he missed tries from 38 and 47 yards, however, Groh gave the nod to Randolph against Wake Forest.“I was actually informed earlier in the week that I was going to start,” Randolph said. “I took all the one-reps in practice, so I was prepared for the game.”Randolph said he thought the opportunity to start was a week overdue.“After I thought I did good in [the game against] North Carolina, I thought I had earned my spot,” Randolph said. “It kind of hurt a little bit, but I couldn’t let it get to me.”When finally inserted into the top spot on the depth chart against Wake Forest Saturday, Randolph hit two successful extra points and a 33-yard field goal, more than likely good enough to keep the starting job Nov. 22 against Clemson, Groh said.“It wasn’t a taxing tryout [for Randolph], but at least we got a positive result out of it,” Groh said. “Obviously we needed a better result than what we’ve been getting.”Howell, meanwhile, has taken every punt this season, averaging 39.3 yards per punt. A freshman from Florence, S.C., Howell was the favorite for the job even before training camp, and Groh said he has been happy with his progress in recent weeks. Howell has averaged 42.8 yards per punt the last two weeks, including two more than 50 yards. Against Miami, Howell put five of his seven punts inside the 20 and booted one ball a season-high 58 yards.“The distance and all those things were never an issue with Jimmy — it’s just the consistency of the kick,” Groh said. “Now it’s gone on for two weeks — each one hasn’t been beautiful, but there’s been some progress.”Like Randolph, Virginia was not in Howell’s plans until late in the recruiting process. Randolph received a scholarship from New Mexico State and had planned on playing for Georgetown “until Virginia called me.” Howell said he originally committed to Northwestern, in large part because Virginia had already offered a scholarship to another punter. The coaching staff, however, told Howell that the other punter was “a little shaky” and may de-commit, Howell said. Howell was subsequently offered a scholarship by Virginia and he took it without a second thought.“Northwestern wasn’t too happy, but the [Virginia] coaches here were,” Howell said. “I talked to every coach — they passed the phone around the table.”Now entering his ninth game, Howell considers himself a veteran; he noted, however, that all it took was one game against USC. If Howell can punt against the Trojans — he averaged 38.2 yards on eight kicks — it would appear that he can punt against anybody.“In high school, you maybe had 2,000 [fans],” Howell said. “Then you had 65,000, and then the No. 1 school in America.”For both Howell and Randolph, Groh said he has been pleased with their ability to handle nerves as starters in their first seasons.“They’ve handled it well, particularly Rob,” Groh said.
(11/10/08 5:49am)
For the fifth straight game, the Virginia football team gave up a score on its opponent’s opening drive.In every one of these games before their contest at Wake Forest Saturday, the Cavaliers managed to recover to take a win or send the contest to overtime. Against the Demon Deacons (6-3, 4-2 ACC), however, Virginia (5-5, 3-3 ACC) started flat and stayed that way for the entire first half, only emerging from its stupor in the second half to close a 25-point halftime margin to a 28-17 final score.“This case was a game where we came out flat, and it was flat for quite some time,” senior linebacker Clint Sintim said. “We just can’t keep giving teams the opportunity to get up on us so early in the game and then try to fight back in it.”Virginia’s early 28-3 deficit was facilitated by three first-half turnovers — including a 53-yard interception return for a touchdown after junior wide receiver Kevin Ogletree could not hang on to a pass over the middle — and seven first-half penalties for 43 yards.The most costly mistake, however, occurred in the second quarter. With Wake facing a 3rd-and-15 from its own 42 yard-line, junior quarterback Riley Skinner let loose a long bomb in the direction of freshman wide receiver Devon Brown. Senior safety Byron Glaspy appeared to be in good position to make a play by the ball but he got turned around and fell as the ball sailed over his head, hitting Brown in stride for a 58-yard touchdown.“I don’t know if it was the wind or I just misjudged it, but it seemed like the ball just carried further than I anticipated,” Glaspy said. “It just seemed like it was being pushed more than I thought.”This is the second straight week that Glaspy has fallen on a deep touchdown pass; the safety fell against Miami last week on the 26-yard touchdown pass that ultimately sent the game to overtime.Despite the devastating first half, the Virginia defense shut down Wake Forest in the second half and the offense appeared to wake up, as well; sophomore quarterback Marc Verica led back-to-back touchdown drives to start the fourth quarter and cut the lead to 11.When the Cavaliers got the ball back with 6:36 remaining and the score still 28-17, there appeared to be hope. Virginia, however, was forced to punt after Verica was sacked for a 12-yard loss in its own territory.The Cavaliers had one last gasp as they looked to make it a one-score game with 2:40 remaining, but Verica threw his third interception of the game to Wake Forest senior linebacker Stanley Arnoux to end Virginia’s chances of completing a comeback as compelling as the one it made the last time the team was in Winston-Salem, N.C. in 2002, when it rallied from 17 points down to take a 38-34 victory.Verica ended with 279 yards passing compared to Skinner’s 130, but it was Skinner’s lack of turnovers compared to Verica’s three picks that told the more accurate story.“If we don’t fall down on a long play and we don’t turn the ball over, who knows where it goes,” Virginia coach Al Groh said.The Cavaliers blew another chance to put the ball in the end zone early in the second half. After Verica hit Ogletree beyond the secondary for a 43-yard completion 1 yard short of the end zone, Virginia faced a seemingly automatic touchdown with 1st-and-goal at the 1-yard line. After senior running back Cedric Peerman was stuffed on the first and second downs, however, Verica faked the handoff to Peerman and kept it himself for a 4-yard loss on third down. Groh said Verica had the option to hand to Peerman, which, Groh noted, was the option he should have taken.“That’s easy to say from the sideline,” Groh added. “I didn’t have to be out there making the decision under pressure.”Then, on 4th-and-6, Virginia elected to try for the end zone. Verica, however, only managed a completion to Peerman, who was tackled immediately following the catch for a 3-yard loss and a turnover on downs.“You’re down 25 points — so now you’re down 28-6 [if you kick a field goal],” Groh said. “Maybe it looks a little better in the newspaper, but that’s not what we’re playing for.”Adding to the turnover total for the second straight week was Peerman, whose fumble in the first quarter was his second in two weeks; before last week’s game against Miami he had not surrendered a fumble to the opposing team in his entire career.Peerman “hasn’t carried it differently for three years,” Groh said. “Until I see other evidence, I’m going to assume that he was headed the right way.”With the turnovers, the defensive mishaps and the final outcome, Groh commented on the comparison between Saturday’s contest and the only other game his team played in North Carolina this year, a 3-31 loss to Duke Sept. 27.“We’ve come down to North Carolina twice and turned the ball over 10 times in two games,” Groh said. “That’s why we’re going home unhappy.”
(11/10/08 5:48am)
A favorite method of all sportswriters for hooking the reader into an article is to capture a particular moment or sequence of a game that is defining or epitomizes the game’s theme in some way. Said writer then finds a clever method of connecting this moment to the entire game, flowing like a brook into the mouth of a gentle river.In Virginia’s 28-17 loss to Wake Forest — which began with a 28-3 implosion in the first half — there were many such instances to choose from. As a fan of Virginia football, I was incensed with the team’s play; as a journalist, I was in heaven.So rather than paint a picture of just one example of Virginia’s mediocrity Saturday that leads into an entire column, I can’t resist trying them all. Instead of one long editorial, I will choose to write the beginning of three — just a few graphs apiece, as we say in the biz — and the end. Let your imagination run wild to fill in the gaps.(Disclaimer: I’m an amateur writer and make no claim that I have any idea what on earth I am doing.)Article 1: The fall from glory.With under two minutes in the first quarter, Wake Forest had the ball on the 42-yard line and it was 3rd down and about an acre. Junior quarterback Riley Skinner dropped to pass and saw freshman wide receiver Devon Brown streaking down the sideline. Senior safety Byron Glaspy was positioned perfectly; the receiver and the ball were in his sights. Worst scenario, I think to myself, it’s batted down. Best case, it’s an interception. (Sound familiar?)But as the ball moved further along its trajectory, Glaspy began to appear as if he was trying to chase a butterfly. He started facing one way, misjudged the ball, turned the other direction, slipped and ultimately fell down as Brown made the catch in stride for a 42-yard touchdown.Talk about déjà vu. The only play more devastating this season than Glaspy’s error Saturday was when he fell down against Miami last week, resulting in the game-tying touchdown that sent the game to overtime.And as Glaspy fell helplessly to the ground again Saturday, so fell Virginia off its high horse of potentially achieving first place in the Coastal Division with its 28-17 loss to Wake Forest.Article Two: The Longest Yard.Put your arm at your side. Now pick it up, and reach forward three feet. On 1st-and-goal at the 1-yard line, that’s about all you have to do. So when sophomore quarterback Marc Verica lined up under center following a 43-yard pass to junior wide receiver Kevin Ogletree to the 1-yard line, I marked it down: touchdown, senior running back Cedric Peerman. Midway through the third quarter, even down 28-3, there was still hope; 25 points is a blowout, but 18 is manageable.But on first down, Peerman was stuffed for a 1-yard loss. Second down: Peerman to the left, no gain. Third down: Verica is given the option of handing off to Peerman or faking the handoff and taking it himself, coach Al Groh said. Verica chooses to keep the ball himself and loses 4 yards. “It looked like we probably had a score there if the ball was handed off,” Virginia coach Al Groh said.On 4th-and-goal from the 6-yard line, the Cavaliers go for it, and who can blame them, being down 25 points. Verica, with another man open in the end zone, makes the intriguing decision of hitting a well-covered Peerman at the 9-yard line, and he gets taken down immediately. Demon Deacon football.As one reporter in the press box put it, if Virginia ran a QB sneak four times, it gets in. Or at least it doesn’t move back 8 yards.But there was no sneak in Al Groh’s mind on that series, and there was nothing sneaky about Wake Forest’s 28-17 win either, as the Demon Deacons opened up a 25-point halftime lead on Virginia, the largest deficit the Cavaliers faced since the 3-31 loss to Duke Sept. 27.Article 3: Peering ahead.Cedric Peerman doesn’t fumble.Or so we thought. After fumbling the ball to the opposition for the first time in his career on the play that spelled defeat last week against Miami, Peerman fumbled yet again Saturday to give the ball back to Wake Forest.There was indeed a lot of fumbling Saturday; up in the press box, I nervously fumbled with my soft drink, and on the field, Virginia fumbled away any chance it may still have had to win the Coastal Division, as the 28-17 loss to the Demon Deacons now puts the Cavaliers in the position that is familiar from a month ago: wondering if they will even make a bowl game.(Skip to the end)...The common sports cliché for up-and-down seasons is they are like a roller coaster ride; there are ups and downs, twists and turns, quick accelerations and sudden screeches to a halt.And sometimes, you think you’re going to be sick.
(11/04/08 8:35am)
In the gloom of winter nights, Virginia outdoor athletic teams can find themselves fighting not only practice squads and fatigue, but the most unpredictable of forces — Mother Nature. A recent building proposal seeks to remedy the difficulties weather poses for outdoor athletic teams.Athletic director Craig Littlepage said the athletic department has received conceptual approval from the Board of Visitors for a new indoor facility to be used by outdoor varsity sports teams for practices in the case of inclement weather. Littlepage brought the proposal before the Board in early October.The “indoor bubble,” Littlepage said, would include a 100-yard artificial turf field, to be used primarily during the winter months by all of Virginia’s “field teams,” which include 400 to 450 student-athletes. It would be located in the parking lot behind The Cage, he said.“What has been missing is a facility that would allow all of the field sports — essentially the majority of our outdoor sports — to be able to have a place to go during extreme weather or inclement weather; this would be December, January and February,” Littlepage said. “The facility that we have right now — The Cage — is a facility that is below a standard that can really be used by more than several dozen students at a given point in time.”Littlepage emphasized that the project has not been initiated, nor has any money been raised, and there is no timetable for when the facility would be constructed. He cited an editorial cartoon published in The Cavalier Daily Oct. 16, depicting a rain cloud labeled “Economic crisis” over the Rotunda and the indoor bubble, as evidence that there has been a misunderstanding as to when construction of the facility would begin.“Apparently, there is a little bit of concern about getting a project like this started during a time of economic downturn,” Littlepage said. “Just like everybody else at the University, we are also cutting budgets and looking at cost controls, so that goes back to the point that I made about, we have not started the project. We haven’t done anything other than to get approval for the concept.”Now that the concept has been approved, Littlepage said, the next step would be to determine if there is sufficient support for the facility to raise the money necessary for its construction. In addition to money needed for construction of the facility, he said, the athletic department would also require financial backing for the construction of a new parking area to replace the parking lost from the facility’s construction, as well as ongoing operational expenses for the facility.“What is different about athletics compared to other areas of the University, anytime that we do a project, we raise the money to do that project — we’re private-funded,” Littlepage said. “It doesn’t have any impact at all on what money is available from the [commonwealth].”The idea for the construction of the indoor bubble has been around for years, Littlepage said, noting that discussion of the facility has intensified in the last three or four years. He added that many other schools in this region, as well as in the Northeast and the Midwest, which also experience seasonal weather patterns, already have similar facilities.“I think [the bubble] is a great idea,” redshirt freshman football player Jared Green said. “I know a lot of teams do have that, and I’ve been to different facilities, and I think they’re amazing.”Though the bubble could be used year-round, the main use would be for practice during inclement weather, Littlepage said.“Just as an example, if we get several inches of snow, we have to plow the Turf fields, remove the snow early in the morning with the hope that the sunlight will dry out the field,” Littlepage said. “Right now, without such an indoor facility, we’re having to back up practice times into the evening, some teams practicing as late as 10, 11 at night; that certainly is not an ideal thing to do.”He noted that The Cage and University Hall may be torn down at a future point, but that these events would be independent from the construction of the bubble.“We’re not different than other departments, other schools or units of the University in terms of having needs, facility needs, and in this particular case having the need to upgrade, or to change, or to replace a facility that’s outdated or deficient in some way,” Littlepage said.
(11/03/08 8:16am)
“You probably can count on two fingers the amount of fumbles that Cedric [Peerman] has had.”Virginia coach Al Groh’s words for Peerman described the first occasion Peerman had fumbled the ball away to the opposition, or at all, in his Virginia career. The game-ending play reflected the contest’s heartbreaking nature for the Cavaliers; with Virginia needing a touchdown to keep the game alive in overtime, Peerman fumbled at the Miami 18-yard line, which granted the Hurricanes the 24-17 win. “We’ve been on the other end of that type of deal before,” Groh said. “It’s heartbreaking to our team.”Following the fumble, a group of Virginia players gathered around Peerman, who had been the spark that lifted the Cavaliers to four straight wins preceding this game.“We’re going to rally around him,” senior outside linebacker Clint Sintim said. “He’s the heart and soul of this offense as well as this team, and I don’t suspect anything like that will frequently be happening to a guy of his caliber.”On top of the comeback loss, the Virginia program now faces the news that junior running back Mikell Simpson — who suffered a left shoulder injury on Virginia’s final play of the third quarter — is out for the season. “I would say that that’ll be it for him for the year,” Groh said.Perhaps in testament to the game’s emotional intensity, several players who factored into the loss did not appear for postgame interviews. Groh made it clear in his postgame conference that these players did not appear at the coaches’ discretion.Peerman was not the only Cavalier who wished he could have a play back that might have changed the game’s outcome. Capping a drive from Miami’s own 5-yard line that lasted for 7:06 late in the fourth quarter, Miami freshman quarterback Jacory Harris was chased out of the pocket by Sintim and threw up a prayer of a pass to the back of the end zone in the vicinity of freshman wide receiver Laron Byrd, who was defended by both senior safety Byron Glaspy and junior corner Vic Hall. Glaspy fell, however, and the 5-foot-9 Hall, even after interfering with Byrd, was simply overpowered by the 6-foot-4 freshman, as Byrd ripped the ball out of the air to claim the game-tying touchdown.“It was one of those anything-can-happen plays,” Groh said.Though Sintim’s pressure on Harris forced a difficult throw, the linebacker said he should have done better to keep Harris in the pocket.“I was out-leveraged on that play,” Sintim said. “It wasn’t a sense of, I don’t know, ‘Pride,’ or ‘Good job,’ or whatever you want to call it. It was more ... ‘I could have been in better position, I could have helped stop that throw.’”Groh emphasized that Harris’ mobility was a problem for Virginia throughout the afternoon.“One of our principal things going into the game was, keep the quarterback in the pocket,” Groh said. “Let him go any place, but don’t let him get outside.”Even following the drive that tied the game, however, Virginia had a chance to put the Hurricanes away. With 55 seconds on the clock and the ball on Virginia’s 36-yard line following a good kick return from junior Kevin Ogletree, sophomore quarterback Marc Verica hit senior wide receiver Cary Koch for a 22-yard reception. On the ensuing play, Verica scrambled for 10 yards to the Miami 32-yard line but had the ball stripped by freshman linebacker Sean Spence, and Miami defensive back Bruce Johnson recovered the fumble.Though Virginia kicker Yannick Reyering had already missed two kicks from 38 and 47 yards earlier in the game, Groh said he had converted from as deep as 50 in practice, and therefore the Cavaliers were in Reyering’s range when the fumble occurred.“You can say I should have gone down,” Verica said. “But really what it came down to was not securing the ball in a crucial game situation.”Verica completed 27 of 41 passes for 240 yards and a touchdown, but the sophomore was inaccurate at key moments. Misses of both wide receivers junior Kevin Ogletree and senior Maurice Covington who had a step on their defenders into the end zone were among the errant throws Verica had to open receivers.“We definitely had some things there that we didn’t take,” Groh said.Verica also had another key mistake with Virginia in field-goal range. With the ball at the Miami 27-yard line early in the fourth quarter, Verica was chased down and sacked by sophomore Allen Bailey for a 12-yard loss, and Virginia was forced to punt.“You’d like to say, ‘Look, if there’s any circumstance in the game, you can’t take the sack in that circumstance,’” Groh said. “But we’re sure that under the circumstances in which it happened, it will leave an indelible mark on Marc [Verica].”With their chance to lock down the Coastal Division title blown, the Cavaliers must now regroup for the final stretch of the season that includes road matchups with Wake Forest and Virginia Tech.Players and coaches noted, however, that Virginia already has faced and overcome adversity this season.“It may or may not quite accurately reflect my innermost feelings, but the team usually takes its leaders from those people up front,” Groh said. “It’s our job to be the ones to come back the strongest.”