SB Nation - Mikell Simpson

Virginia Tech 42, UVa 13: What They're Saying

furrer4heisman — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:00:20 -0000

by Don Petersen - AP

What the mainstream media and blogosphere is saying after a very satisfying win over our rivals in Charlottesville.

National Media and Bloggers

Virginia Tech controls rivalry (Annette)
"The game went according to script, with Virginia hanging around early on Senior Day in Scott Stadium before the disparity between the two programs showed up in the second half. Virginia's defense couldn't stop Ryan Williams, who has played an outstanding rookie season and scored four rushing touchdowns for the second straight game. He should be a 2010 Heisman contender."

Hokie and Hoo Beat Writers

Tech takes UVa's best shot, then crushes rivals (Aaron McFarling)
"Every year, it seems, Tech-UVa week plays out the same. The days leading up to the game, the Cavaliers dominate the storylines. They're the ones with something to prove. Can they keep it close? Can they put it together for one day? Can they perhaps pull the upset? Then they play the game, and the answers spill forth in capital letters: NO. NO. NO."

Hokies sprint to finish against UVa (Randy King)
"Tech, which knocked itself out of the national picture with back-to-back losses to Georgia Tech and North Carolina in October, finished 4-0 in November with an average scoring differential of 24.25 points per game. Continuing to get better offensively, the Hokies rolled up 482 total yards against a fired-up UVa squad that was hoping to hand Al Groh a victory in what was likely his final game as Cavaliers' coach."

In perhaps Groh's final game, Va. Tech wins (Mark Viera)
"With losses by Clemson and North Carolina on Saturday, Virginia Tech is aligned for a trip to the Chick-fil-A Bowl in Atlanta on Dec. 31. An at-large Bowl Championship Series invitation seems unlikely."

U.Va.'s Dowling burned by Taylor-Coale connection (Kyle Tucker)
"But rival Virginia Tech picked on Dowling early and often Saturday. Quarterback Tyrod Taylor's first pass of the game went deep down the right sideline to Danny Coale, who had blown by Dowling. Even when the pass was short, Coale came back to it for a 41-yard, shoe-top catch. Taylor's next pass also went deep to Coale, who out-jumped Dowling for a 36-yard grab to set up the Hokies' first touchdown. By halftime, Dowling had been beaten on four passes that covered 131 yards. That wasn't necessarily an accident on Tech's part."

Six it is: Tech trounces rival Virginia (Gordon Block)
"For the second week in a row, Williams reached the end zone four times and became the second Tech player to score four touchdowns in back-to-back games. Lee Suggs accomplished the same feat by scoring five times against the University of Central Florida and then four times against UVa in 2000."

Ryan Williams...what more can you say? (Norm Wood)
"Though Williams won’t catch former Oklahoma running back Adrian Peterson for the Football Bowl Subdivision single-season rushing record by a freshman, there’s a chance Williams could at least finish within shouting distance. Oh, by the way...just noticed this note in U.Va.'s postgame package. His four rushing touchdowns were the most by an opposing player against U.Va. since 1982, when Georgia Tech's Robert Lavette also scored four."

Coverage of Virginia Tech 42, Virginia 13 (Darryl Slater)
"And the Hokies’ defense was stingy again. Tech, which led 14-13 at halftime, held Virginia to 96 yards in the second half. The Hokies did it by shutting down Sewell, who ran 10 times for 99 yards in the first half, including seven for 91 in the first quarter, then seven times for 24 yards in the second half, not counting sacks. Tech allowed two offensive touchdowns in the regular season’s final four games, all wins."

Groh's final words with player comment (Michael Phillips)
"Make what you will of that, but it seems like Al Groh’s final words as U.Va. head coach. The poem refers to you being the only person who can effectively judge yourself at the end of the day, a message Groh sends out, I’m sure, to his many critics. At the end, he listed some of the attributes he wanted to be remembered by."

Cavaliers stung by boyhood UVa fan (Doug Doughy)
"Coale, whose older brother played lacrosse for the Cavaliers, continued to show UVa the error of its ways Saturday in a 42-13 Virginia Tech victory at Scott Stadium. Coale, who had a season-high five receptions in a 2008 meeting with the Cavaliers, finished with six catches for 135 yards Saturday."

There's only one word to describe Williams - great (Bill Roth)
"With no offense to the ageless Tony the Tiger, who’s been pitching the quality of Frosted Flakes for a half century ("They’re Grrrrreat," as you know), true greatness, in reality, should be hard to find. It should be uncommon and rare. So when you read that Virginia Tech’s Ryan Williams is having the greatest freshman season in the history of Virginia Tech football and the greatest freshman year in the history of the ACC, understand that in this instance, the word is used in its intended form."

Hokies control second half in pulling away from Virginia (Jimmy Robertson)
"The momentum totally went the Hokies’ way following a UVa turnover. Sewell tried to pitch the ball to tailback Mikell Simpson on the option, but the pitch hit Simpson in the facemask and fell to the ground at the UVa 25, where Tech safety Kam Chancellor picked it up and ran to the UVa 10."

Hokie and Hoo Bloggers

The Guy in the Glass and the Best of #BeatUVa (College Game Balls)
"And now for something more fun, the best of #BeatUVa (in no particular order)."

Hokies Whip UVA, Await Bowl Fate (Tech Sideline)
"Virginia got off to a hot start offensively, running the read option with quarterback Jameel Sewell. Sewell finished with 104 yards and a touchdown on the ground, but Hokie defensive coordinator Bud Foster made adjustments at halftime and the Hokies shutout the Hoos in the second half. UVA finished with 295 yards of total offense."

CHECKMATE (Beer Control Offense)
"Sometimes, you just gotta stick your face in the fan."

I Smell Pretention: Hokies WIN 42-13 (Fight for Old DC)
"As for the game, there's not a ton to say. It was an awesome second half effort by both lines, and you have to give credit to Bryan Stinespring. He called a VERY good game. Tyrod wasn't super accurate, but his receivers came up with some amazing catches and made him look great at points."

Requiem for an era: Let It Go In Peace (From Old Virginia)
"Yes, it's still happening, the criticism and the name-calling and the good-riddance-ing, and yes, it's pissing the rest of us off and that's all it's accomplishing. So help me, if I see another good-riddance style post on any UVA message board the rest of the year, I'm gonna go off on someone. You got what you wanted - Groh is fired. You also got a 3-9 season to go with it, which has been just all sorts of fun, but hey, you got what you wanted."

NCAA10 Sim: Hokies 21, Cavaliers 17

Hokie20 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:00:15 -0000

Virginia Tech played a conservative offensive game in the second half to avoid an upset from Virginia 21-17 in Charlottesville.

The Hokies' Tyrod Taylor found tight end Greg Boone often in the early quarters to propel Tech to an early 14-0 lead. Taylor continued his hot start with a touchdown strike to Jarrett Boykin with just under two minutes left in the half.

Things were looking good for Tech until Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell started to pick apart the Hokies' secondary in under a minute. In just three plays, Virginia was on the board with a 27 yard touchdown pass to Kris Burd.

Tech turned into a running team in the second half with limited success. Taylor threw one interception early in the third quarter leading to a Mikell Simpson 6 yard touchdown run to cap off a seven play drive to help the Hoos to pull within a touchdown. Tech's defense clamped down only allowing a field goal at the end of the third quarter.

The Hokies ran out the clock in the fourth quarter to squander any form of upset in head coach Al Groh's final game on the Virginia sideline.

VT 14 7 0 0 -21
UVA 0 7 10 0 -17

Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
VT:TD 3:43 R. Williams, 3 Yd run (M. Waldron Kick)
VT:TD 0:30 G. Boone, 31 Yd pass from T. Taylor (M. Waldron Kick)
2nd Quarter
VT:TD 1:53 J. Boykin, 7 Yd pass from T. Taylor (M. Waldron Kick)
UVA:TD 0:52 K. Burd, 27 Yd pass from J. Sewell (R. Randolph Kick)
3rd Quarter
UVA:TD 2:22 M. Simpson, 6 Yd run (R. Randolph Kick)
UVA:FG 0:03 R. Randolph, 20 Yd FG

Significant Stats
First downs VT: 11 UVA: 21
Total Offense VT:293 UVA: 444
Turnovers VT: 1 FUM UVA: 1 INT

Virginia Tech Top Player Stats
Passing: T. Taylor 12-20 for 176 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: R. Williams 22-for-83 yds, 1 TD
Receiving: G. Boone 5-for-115 yds, 1 TD
Defense: B. Rivers 8 TAK, 1 TFL, 1 SAK

Virginia Top Player Stats
Passing: J. Sewell 29-52 for 347 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: M. Simpson 15-for-65 yds, 1 TD
Receiving: J. Brown 7-for-119 yds
Defense: D. Childs 6 TAK, 1 TFL

2009 Virginia Tech Football: What to Watch vs. UVa

furrer4heisman — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:00:14 -0000

More photos » by Don Petersen - AP

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The Team

UVa has nothing to lose and it's the last game in Hooville for its seniors and its coach. I expect a motivated Wahoo team playing at its highest level.
If the Hokies can't match that intensity level, it's very possible for them to lose. UVa is better than its record indicates and has a defense that will keep it hanging around. That's a dangerous proposition for the Hokies.

Virginia Tech Offense vs. Virginia Defense

The Wahoos have a surprisingly good defense this season, especially against the pass.
It will be up to Ryan Williams to lead the charge against UVa in this game. If he goes off, Tech will win easily. If he is stymied by the Wahoo defense, this game will be a dogfight.
The Hokies have had success against teams that run a 3-4 defense (at least ones that aren't Alabama). Last year Tech ran for 216 yards against UVa, including 137 yards from Tyrod Taylor.
Hopefully Taylor can again have success breaking containment and getting yards with his feet against the Hoos. While he didn't run for many yards against UVa the last time the teams met in Charlottesville, he did have two rushing touchdowns.
The Hoos last out-rushed the Hokies in 2004, when Andrew Pearman ran for 147 yards in a 24-10 VT win. If the Hokies can continue their success on the ground against UVa, it should be a sixth consecutive Commonwealth Cup win.
If the Hokies have success through the air, I think it will be on shorter routes to the tight ends or flankers like Danny Coale. Coale grew up a UVa fan and this will be his first chance to play in Charlottes while wearing orange and maroon. I think he'll have a big day getting the ball in the middle of the field.

Virginia Tech Defense vs. Virginia Offense

Last year it seemed like every one in the Commonwealth knew Vic Hall was going start at quarterback for Virginia except the Hokies and their coaching staff. Hall came out and ran the single wing offense to perfection and led the Hoos to a 14-7 halftime lead.
The Hoos introduced another single wing wrinkle last week with running back Mikell Simpson taking direct snaps. However, Simpson's status for Saturday is up in the air. If he plays, I think you'll see him under center at times. Hopefully the coaching staff has been dissecting film to come up with a way to defend what the Hoos have done out of the single wing this year.
Two guys that will have a lot of say in stopping the single wing attack are Barquell Rivers and Kam Chancellor. If those two guys can take care of the inside run game, guys like Cody Grimm and Jason Worilds can focus on stringing plays to the outside where the Hokies' cornerbacks can make tackles.
Tech's cornerbacks have been solid against the run this year and if Tech is going to stop Virginia's single wing plays, they'll need to be on their game.
The Wahoo passing attack has been pretty bad this year, whether it's Jameel Sewell, Marc Verica or whoever at quarterback. If the Hokies are going to give up points to the Wahoos, it's going to be on the ground, just like last year.

Outcome

Someone is going to make a play on defense or special team that completely changes to momentum and possibly outcome of this game. Hopefully it's one of the good guys.

Watch the Box Score for:

Turnovers
Ryan Williams rushing yards
UVa third down conversions
Non-offensive points

Virginia Tech Players to Watch:

34 - Ryan Williams, Fr., RB
19 - Danny Coale, So., WR
52 - Barquell Rivers, So., LB
17 - Kam Chancellor, Sr., FS

Virginia Players to Watch:

4 - Vic Hall, Sr., QB/DB/KR
31 - Rashawn Jackson, Sr., RB
98 - Nate Collins, Sr., DE
19 - Ras-I Dowling, Jr., CB

Final Score

Virginia Tech 24, Virginia 19

Quick Thoughts: Through UVa, Early Week Thoughts for USC

FIGUREFOUR — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 04:20:35 -0000

More photos » by Richard Shiro - AP

23 days ago: Clemson's C.J. Spiller (28) acknowledges fans during the first half of their NCAA college football game against Virginia, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009, at Memorial Stadium in Clemson S.C. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

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I think we are all pleased that Dabo Swinney, in his first full season at the helm of the Clemson football program, finally meshed the talent that Clemson has recruited with more intensity, enthusiasm, and a winning attitude to completely transform the program from where Tom Bowden left it just over a year ago after getting crushed by Alabama, giving one away to a bad Maryland team, then looking completely inept against Wake Forest. There is nothing like promoting your receivers coach to clean up an underachieving mess. It was also refreshing to see Swinney remove the Mad Scientist from his role, add Pearman, Steele, etc... to the staff, and come out with lots of energy all season. Interestingly, Swinney's contract calls for the 40 year-old coach to receive a nice (approx $1 million) bonus due to Clemson earning a spot in next month's championship game. Not too shabby for the former Crimson Tide walk-on. This incentive-laden contract really was beneficial for both parties.

The Virginia game was, by itself, not entirely impressive other than the fact that Clemson came in and was able to to take care of business and lock up sole possession of 1st place in the Atlantic regardless of how BC plays next week. The defense was obviously confused by the Wildcat formation and the misdirection/trickery from the Wahoos. The defense, led by senior Ricky Sapp, did get it together in the second half to pitch a shutout over the final 30 minutes. I was happy to see this group get after the Virginia QB late in the game and record a half dozen sacks in the final period of the game. Clemson also forced two fumbles on the afternoon, giving this defense 29 turnovers this season. Winning the turnover battle has been extremely important for the Tiger this year because it limits the opponent's touches while keeping them on their heels all game long. I was happy to see Da'Quan Bowers in the game for a handful of plays Saturday. Hopefully he will be ready to go this weekend against Carolina then next again against Tech. Bowers gives us a lot of athleticism and creates depth along the defensive line. Clemson was aided in the second half by an injury to Mikell Simpsonon Virginia's final TD to end the half. Al Groh elaborated after the game on this loss and the how it limited the ability of the Cavaliers and their wildcat strategy.

C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford combined for two great senior efforts to conclude their Death Valley careers, with both tallying touchdowns and Ford breaking the 100 yard receiving threshold on the day. Kyle Parker again had a steady day, compleing 19 of 26 passes for 234 yards and 2 tds. His maturation over the course of this season combined with an exceptionally strong arm and decent mobility set Parker up to be a great collegiate QB should he chose to avoid professional baseball. I was a little disappointed not to see Willy Korn in a mop-up role. His future at Clemson appears to be all but sealed with Parker's success this season and Tajh Boyd becoming available next season. Both Andre Ellington and Jamie Harperboth ran well here, with Ellington punching the rock in for a 3rd quarter TD. Once again, Clemson got good consistent play from the TE's, with Michael Palmer having three grabs and Dwayne Allen bringing down an early TD catch. Rendrick Taylor got a couple looks Saturday. I really expected more out of Taylor over his CU career, but was pleased to see him get some work on senior day.

All in all, this team has played hard all season long. Clemson never gave up, even after the embarrasment at Maryland. In fact, I firmly believe that the meltdown at College Park may have spurned the offensive coaches to return to a more basic and focussed offensive strategy, featuring only the proven playmakers (Spiller, Ford, and the TE's). Since laying an egg against the Terps, Clemson has not been defeated. The defense has continued its solid play and the offense has scored 34 or more points in each of those six contests. The improved play calling and execution coupled with a more focussed attack has silenced both critics of Swinney and Steele. As we pointed out earlier in the season,inexperience from the offensive staff as well as the QB position was a huge question mark, and both areas should immprove as each member gets more real game repetitions week in and week out.

On to our feathered friends in Columbia. South Carolina's season began well and has really tapered off over the balance of the games. After opening the year with a 5-1 record, the Gamecocks (6-5 overall, 3-5 in the SEC) have lost 4 of the past 5 games, with the lone win coming in a low-scoring affair against Vanderbilt. At some points this season, USC has looked like a really good team. Other times, South Carolina has struggled against teams they probably should have beaten handily (Vandy, Arkansas, NCST, and Kentucky come to mind). SOS has openly stated that he has and will continue to have more influence on playcalling and game flow.

This year's team features a talented defense and improved offense. Eric Norwood, school leader in sacks, is the best player on the team. He is a great athlete who runs well and has a nose for the football. Clifton Geathers is a pretty good defensive end, and the secondary (lead by Chris Culliver) rotates in a lot of young but talented DB's. Offensively, this team is much improved from a year ago. Steven Garcia getting more reps and actually participating in spring practice this year has paid off, as Garcia looks night and day better than he did last year. South Carolina has also found a couple of good, tall freshman receivers in Tori Gurley and Alshon Jeffery to compliment senior Moe Brown. Spurrier has repeatedly thrown jump balls the Jeffery, who has 29 receptions and 6 TD's on the season (including 3 TDs in a dominant performance against Kentucky). I really like TE Weslye Saunders. He is freaking huge (6'5", 280 lbs) is a good blocker and catches the ball well. This is one guy who can do some damage if he gets a full head of steam. Up front, bringing in Eric Wolford as offensive line coach has helped tremendously, as South Carolina's OL has improved dramatically since a year ago. Ellis Johnson (former Clemson, Alabama, and Mississippi State DC and Citadel HC) has been successful everywhere he has coached, and was also a quality hire for the Old Ball Coach.

Most of South Carolina's woes arise from depth and experience issues. While South Carolina has improved up front, their rushing attack is still sub-par. Kenny Miles, Jarvis Giles, and Brian Maddox share the carries for this team. I continually question why Maddox gets as many touches as he does because the two freshmen (Miles and Giles) are unquestionably better ball carriers than Maddux. South Carolina's size at receiver and tight end scares me a bit. Clemson likes to play man/man-press coverage, so this size advantage could be a big deal this weekend. Defensively, South Carolina is quick, but thin. The way to attack this defense is head on, as the Gamecocks lack quality depth at linebacker and up front. If you can get the starters tired, there is a nice opportunity to pound this team to death. USC's secondary is good and can hold its own against most any squad. The Alabama game was an excellent illustration of this point, as the Tide and Greg McElroy could do nothing through the air while Mark Ingram averaged 10 ypc and picked up almost 250 yards on the ground.

We will have much more insight on this contest as the week progresses. We are also looking to work with the Gamecock SBNation blog, Garnet And Black Attack, to provide some extra coverage and segments for this week's contest.

Below are highlights from last season's contest.

Maryland-Virginia Preview

Ben Broman — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 01:56:54 -0000

More photos » by Robert Willett - AP

2 months ago: Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell (10) slips between North Carolina's Quinton Coples (90) and Bruce Carter (54) for a gain of 12 yards to set up a touchdown in the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game, on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009 in Chapel Hill, N.C. Virginia won 16-3. (AP Photo/The News & Observer, Robert Willett)

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Done with the somewhat boring Maryland Madness? Don't forget, there's going to be a rainy, drizzling football game tomorrow. Here's what to expect for homecoming:

Virginia Offense vs. Maryland Defense: As with the entire rest of the game, it really depends on which team shows up...for both teams. Will it be the UVA offense that lit up Indiana for 47 points, or the UVA offense that was 103rd in scoring offense after three weeks? Will it be the Maryland defense that somewhat successfully reigned in Clemson and strangled Rutgers until the final two possessions, or the Maryland defense that got scored on five straight possessions to open the game against Wake Forest? Depending on who shows up, we may have two very different scenarios.

Sadly, I'm not a fortune-teller, so I can't really help you out there. What I can help you out with is who exactly UVA has. Obviously, Jameel Sewell heads the UVA attack at QB, and he's been looking better and better each week. I'm sure you remember Sewell, the up and down QB who started as a freshman to solid results; he has the talent to be successful, but he's very inconsistent. Unfortunately, when he's on, he's really on, and he's on right now. His main targets are Vic Hall, who also starts at cornerback and played some QB last year, and Kris Burd, who is leading the team in receptions and yards, though he only has one touchdown.

Heading up RB is usually Mikell Simpson, whom you probably know pretty well. He got hurt last week, though, and is questionable for the game today. His status very well could be a deciding factor Saturday. If he's not good to go, Torry Mack will take his place as backup RB, but Rashawn Jackson, a running FB, will likely receive the majority of the carries. If it's rainy, they might have to rely on the running backs, and the lack of Simpson would really hurt.

The Cavs' OL has only one senior, Will Barker at RT, and the inexperience shows: they're one of the five - only five - teams to allow more sacks than Maryland. Let that sink in a bit. The defensive line has to show up tomorrow and make an impact against one of the few OLs that won't have a big advantage.

Maryland Offense vs. Virginia Defense: Ok, so it's not the biggest of sample sizes, but Virginia has completely dominated their last two opponents defensively. They're allowing just five points a game over the last two weeks, and that's against legitimate opponents in good conditions. They didn't hold Western Kentucky to 3 in the driving rain; they beat UNC in sunny conditions in Chapel Hill. The same can be said of the Indiana game, when they held the Hoosiers to just 7. I really don't know what changed, but something radical happened in just a few weeks.

Again, even though I'm not psychic, I can tell you what they bring. UVA has a 3-4 defense again, which has had mixed results in the past. If they blitz a decent amount, as 3-4s normally do, a possibly Bruce Campbell-less Maryland might have a lot of trouble picking up speedy linebackers.

Speaking of linebackers, they're led by redshirt freshman inside linebacker Steve Greer, who is tops on the team in tackles. He's still not close to Alex Wujciak, but he does have a very respectable 37 tackles. Perhaps the most striking thing about Virginia has been their pass defense. While they have played two very run-heavy teams, they've looked solid against UNC and Indiana, both of whom are normal, passing teams. It also helps to have two very good corners in Ras-I Dowling, who was preseason All-ACC, and whom most QBs try to avoid, and Chris Cook, who has two INTs.

This is a pretty solid defense. They're probably not as good as #1 in the nation, like they've played, but they're very solid and could be tough to score against.

Prediction: Virginia 21, Maryland 17. Virginia's hot, but not as good as they've been playing. A motivated Torrey Smith alone will give Maryland 14 points, and UVA's offense isn't good enough to put up as much as Wake Forest did. Still, not much is going right for Maryland, and I don't expect that to change against a streaking UVA.

Maryland Minute 10.15.09 - Gameday Predictions

Ben Goldstein — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 00:17:32 -0000

Saturday Predictions - Dinich

She says Virginia 21 Maryland 17. I really have no idea what to expect. I could see us pulling out a close one or getting blown out. It's just the nature of MD football these days.

"It was against the Terps that Virginia turned the corner, and they should do it again. The Cavaliers’ defense has been playing very well, and Maryland’s hasn’t. If tailback Mikell Simpson returns from a neck injury and hasn't missed a step, he could be the difference offensively, otherwise it will be a battle of the quarterbacks, and the Cavs' secondary will win."

D1SCOURSE Picks the Hoos, as well

Cavaliers 27-21. Oy.

Dr. Saturday on Maryland-UVA

I agree:

This one would almost be interesting, given the collision course between Al Groh and Ralph Friedgen and their shared tendency to save their jobs after miserable stumbles. Except that the way both teams have played this year so far, we're not entirely sure they won't both find a way to lose, somehow.

Could be ugly. Or UVA could run away with it. I suppose that'd be ugly, though. - bbroman

Luke Winn Quotes Us

Slowly but surely, moving up in the world:

The best image from recruiting season appeared on the Maryland blog Testudo Times, under the headline, "Tobias Harris Tennessee Visit Update - They Painted A Rock." Harris is the No. 2-ranked power forward in the Class of 2010, and the guy Bruce Pearl dearly wants to put in his frontcourt once Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism leave following this season. And so, when Harris visited Knoxville last week, someone painted a giant rock on campus with an image of him in a Vols jersey, under the words "The Future." Harris liked it enough to pose for pictures next to it, causing the Maryland blogger to write, "We gotta find a way to top this [for Harris' visit to College Park]. I mean, we can organize the Scheyer-face ordeal, I'm pretty sure we can top a painted rock, no matter how amazing it looks."

Yep. - bbroman

Hartsfield Likely to Play, Robinson May See Field

I still don't get why you'd play Hartsfield this week when he has to miss three weeks regardless; this just increases the chance of a serious injury. Don't get it.

Also, Jamarr Robinson might see the field on Saturday. We all know how that turned out last time. - bbroman

2011 FB Recruit Jennings Likes FSU, Maryland

Here's what the junior safety had to say about the Terps:

"I like Maryland a lot," Jennings said. "They have a really good program and I used to live in Baltimore, so I just always wanted to play for them. They run a good defense and I enjoy watching them when I can, but they don’t play them on TV down here as much."

I don't know about the good defense part but everything else sounds good.

UVA/MD Preview - UVA Official Site

Maryland-Virginia First Look

Ben Broman — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 23:08:07 -0000

More photos » by Robert Willett - AP

2 months ago: Virginia's Mikell Simpson (5) scores the only touchdown of the afternoon on an eight yard run in the fourth quarter against North Carolina during an NCAA college football game, on Saturday, Oct. 3, 2009 in Chapel Hill, N.C. Virginia won 16-3. (AP Photo/The News & Observer, Robert Willett)

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If you've been living under a rock for two weeks, like I have wanted to with the state of the football program right now, you might've assumed Virginia would be the easiest game on Maryland's schedule. After all, after their first three games the Cavs were 0-3 with a loss to lowly William & Mary, and were in the hundreds in ranks of at least six major categories: rushing offense, total offense, rushing defense, scoring offense, scoring defense, and turnovers. Free money.

Well, do you remember the post about the defense's surprising turnaround after Clemson? Imagine that type of change, only multiplied by ten and reflected in the entire team. That's exactly what happened to Virginia the past two games. Not too long ago, this was a team that committed seven turnovers against an FCS team and couldn't do anything except stop the pass against teams that didn't pass anyway. Then, they transformed into a squad that handed UNC their lunch in Chapel Hill and demolished an Indiana team that only lost to Michigan by three and kept it respectable against Ohio State. Quite the turnaround.

Indeed, the transformation, both from a statistical and real life viewpoint, is pretty amazing. First three games? 53rd in total defense. Last two? Fourth. First three games? 102nd in scoring defense. Last two? First. It's just as impressive offensively: they went from 117th three weeks ago to 57th in the past two games in total offense, and jumped from 103rd to 36th in the last two weeks in scoring offense. More impressive and important, they actually look good.

The source of this? Maybe it's turnovers. The first three weeks, the Hoos had a total of ten turnovers; that's pretty terrible. Granted, seven of them came against one team, but still, it's a lot. The last two games? Zero turnovers. We Maryland fans have first hand experience of what TOs do to a team, so it's no wonder UVA's looked so good.

Of course, something had to cause the turnaround, and that's players (we know it isn't Al Groh's coaching). Jameel Sewell, after a rough few weeks at QB, started to turn it around against UNC, and he looked downright ACC-starter worthy against Indiana. He has plenty of targets; none of them (Vic Hall, Kris Burd, Tim Smith, Jared Green, Javaris Brown) have really separated themselves as studs, but they've all been at least average or above-average.

They've yet to find a bona fide RB, as Mikell Simpson hasn't yet looked as good as he was in past years, but the running attack has several options, from Simpson and Sewell to fullback Rashawn Jackson and do-everything Vic Hall. Simpson suffered an injury against Indiana and might be out this week, but it's too early to call at the moment. If he is out, expect explosive but untested Torrey Mack to take the field in his place. Regardless of Simpson's status, this is a team that can run just enough to keep a defense honest.

Defensively, they absolutely shut down two respectable teams the past two weeks. They're led by the underrated Steve Greer at linebacker, who's their leader in both tackles and tackles for loss. They also have Ras-I Dowling, who was second team All-ACC last year, and Chris Cook, who has two interceptions, manning the corner spots. Both Dowling and Cook are great at what they do, and beating them through the air may prove difficult.

There'll be more on Friday and a gameday on Saturday, like usual. Right now, I'm not feeling good about this. There's just too much going right for UVA and too much going wrong for Maryland.

Wrap-Up: Maybe We Can Dismiss This As Parity

Kevin HD — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 14:00:28 -0000

via BHGP: The Pictures

Iowa 30, Michigan 28

A first drive Stanziball, good for six Michigan points, set the tone early in this one, but Iowa made up for it by harassing Tate and ended his Disneyland start to the season.

Forcier finished 8/19 for just 94 yards, zero TDs and one pick. Denard Robinson entered in relief and led Michigan on a late scoring drive. The eventual pick by the more mobile of the two freshman quarterbacks sent the Mgofans into civil war over RichRod's decision.

But, like, look at Forcier's numbers? They're frickin' awful, and although Robinson is more of a runner and perhaps not fit for a hurried drive, he was averaging a half yard more per rush than Tate was putting up per pass.

And the turnovers: Michigan had five of them, but as BHGP points out:

Team A: 367 yards, 2/3 RZ opportunities for 10 points, 6 points scored off 5 TOs
Team B: 319 yards, 3/3 RZ opportunities for 21 points, 7 points scored off 1 TOs

Ohio State 31, Wisconsin 13

Ohio State is getting a lot of credit for beating Wisconsin so badly without actually have to do much, but I'm surprised there isn't more of a "dodge a bullet" reaction to this one.

Wisconsin dominated the game statistically, summarized nicely by DocSat:

I think if you'd told the Badgers coming in that they would run twice as many plays as Ohio State; gain twice as many yards; force almost as many three-and-outs (six) as they allowed first downs (eight); and hold Terrelle Pryor below 150 yards total offense and pick him off once while limiting the Buckeyes to one offensive touchdown, I think the Badgers would have taken that game.

The short and sweet of it was this: two pick-sixes and a kickoff return were enough to cancel out any advantage Wisconsin might of had in actual offense.

And what is giving me shivers is the realization that this years OSU-PSU game could quite possibly eclipse last year's version in defensive dominance and offensive conservatism.

Ohio State's defense is clearly elite, but there's nothing to suggest that Penn State (when healthy) can't play in stride. That means the game will likely hinge on offensive miscues exploited by the defense. So the bet becomes: who would you take to make the first major mistake, Pryor on the road or Clark at home? If Paterno has more faith in Pryor having success, he needs to takes chances to win. If Paterno backs his senior quarterback, we're talking 1920s football at its finest.

Michigan State 24, Illinois 14

The wheels have come off, the roof is on fire and the floorboard is wearing thin on the proverbial FAILmobile that is 2009 Illinois Football. This was supposed to be the year things came together -- strong recruiting, an all-star QB and the return of one of the league's best receivers -- only to have the offense lack momentum in every way.

Zook's decision to pull Juice lasted for about a half when he realized that change is not always good. McGee was 2/11 with a 2.8 ypa average. Williams came in and upgraded that average in garbage time: 7/17, 109 yards and a touchdown.

The score was 27-zip with a little over 3 minutes to play. Michigan State wins big but at a cost: starting RB Glenn Winston is out the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Minnesota 35, Purdue 20

via www.idsnews.com

Virginia 47, Indiana 7

WTF, Indiana? Virginia came into Bloomington with three losses to non-BCS teams, one of which wasn't even a D1-A squad, and all they did against the Hoosiers was gain 536 yards, pick up 29 first downs, and get running back Mikell Simpson four touchdowns, which is more than he scored all of last season.

Indiana QB Ben Chappell is insisting "that wasn’t our football team," which is probably what I would say too.

Northwestern 16, Miami (OH) 6

You can't ever beat a MAC school by 10 and be happy, but LTP is already deviling into the archives:

The 1983 White Sox called. They want their slogan back. Northwestern's 16-6 win over Miami (OH) today was a thing of ugly.

[...]

Yes, it was Miami (OH), but it appears our D is getting the locomotive moving in the right direction. We hit hard. We made plays. We should have had a shutout. But man, was that offensive exhibition God awful. LTP will go in to full breakdown tomorrow, but you don't need to be a rocket scientist to know the offensive playcalling, and thus Mick McCall, gets an "F" grade today.

Even with an OOC schedule that would make Tim Curley blush, they sit at 58th in total offense and 49th in total defense.

Virginia 47, Indiana 7: a look at the ugly box score.

John M (The Crimson Quarry) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 13:07:28 -0000

I'm still trying to figure out what happened. I doubt that even the most optimistic Virginia fan thought that yesterday's game was within the realm of possibility. Again, by the numbers, Virginia's offense was one of the very worst in Division I-A before yesterday. Here's what that offense did against IU:

Total offense: 536 yards

Yards per play: 7.1

Yards per rush: 5.1

Jameel Sewell, who was completing 51 percent of his passes before yesterday, completed 67.7 percent yesterday, the second-best percentage of his career. The 308 yards were the second best total of his career, and his 10.3 yards per attempt were his third-best. As for Mikell Simpson, his four touchdowns were by far a career-best. The Hoosier defense sacked Sewell twice, but IU's ability to pressure the quarterback wasn't as might have been hoped considering Virginia's difficulties in that regard.

As for IU's offense, the Hoosiers generated only 272 yards of offense and only 82 yards on the ground. Perhaps the loss of Darius Willis was that big a deal. I suppose we will find out if he is able to play against Illinois next week. Chappell was sacked twice by a previously inept Virginia pass rush and IU turned the ball over twice while forcing none. of IU's 272 yards, 148 were generated on IU's last four drives, meaning that when UVa took a 37-0 lead in the third quarter, IU had generated only 124 offensive yards.

It's tough to avoid overreacting to a game like this. The scoreboard does indeed reset to zeroes next week. Still, as I said last night, this continues a disturbing pattern of blowout losses to unremarkable teams. The caveat, of course, is that it's possible that Virginia has turned the corner. Still, there was nothing in the Cavaliers' performances of 2009 that suggested such a dominant offensive performance was possible. This wasn't a game that got out of hand late. Virginia dominated this game from the beginning.

Q&A with The Sabre, a Virginia website.

John M (The Crimson Quarry) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 00:18:35 -0000

More photos » by Andrew Shurtleff - AP

One win, five or six more to go (or maybe stay)?

Browse more photos »

Kris Wright, editor of TheSabre.com, a Virginia fan site with blogs and an active message board, was kind enough to answer some questions about the Cavaliers, the future of Al Groh, and the UVa basketball team, now led by Tony Bennett.

1. Virginia began the season 0-3, including a loss to William & Mary, but finally won a game last week by dominating heavily favored North Carolina in Chapel Hill. How do you account for the turnaround?

Kris: I hate to play down a win - especially when it is your team's only win - but the turnaround had as much to do with UNC as UVa. The Tar Heels' offensive line has been hit hard by injuries, leaving inexperienced players dealing with a lot of pressure from opponent defenses. Virginia, which has struggled to stop the run and struggled to pressure the quarterback, suddenly produced 8 QB hurries and 2 sacks while holding Carolina to 39 rushing yards. UNC threw an interception that led to Virginia's only touchdown too. Long story short: UVa is an inconsistent football team so it's hard to tell what kind of team will show up - great offense like at Southern Miss, great defense like at Carolina, or bad outings like TCU and William & Mary. We'll see.

2. For IU fans who aren't familiar with your team, which players on each side of the ball do you expect to have the most impact in Saturday's game?

Kris: There are a handful of names to keep an eye on. For offense, quarterback Jameel Sewell, running back Mikell Simpson, receiver Kris Burd, and "do it all" Vic Hall are all potential playmakers. On defense, start with Hall again as he'll likely be in on passing downs and add defensive end Matt Conrath, corners Chris Cook, Chase Minnifield, and Chris Cook as possible standouts. On special teams, punter Jimmy Howell has played well and Minnifield returns kicks.

3. Virginia coach Al Groh and IU's Bill Lynch both were included in all of the preseason "hot seat" articles. What do you think Groh has to do this season to save his job, or is it too late?

Kris: I don't guess it's ever "too late" as long as announcement hasn't been made yet. In Groh's case, the situation is fairly clear: he has to finish .500 or better to even have a chance of staying. Beyond that, I tell fans all the time that it's dangerous to take a "number of wins" perspective for the decision. Things like ticket sales, donation levels, recruiting, attendance, fan excitement, and so on are just as important as wins for any decision on Groh this year.

4. UVa has an interesting football history. The Cavaliers were horrible in for most of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, but since George Welsh arrived in the early 1980s, winning seasons have been the rule, by far. On the other hand, UVa hasn't really broken in to the top tier of the ACC very often. That's a long-winded way of asking what your expectations are for the program.

Kris: I think Virginia fans expect more than we've been getting lately. Two losing seasons in three years (and with a 1-3 start, a long way to go to avoid a third in four seasons) isn't acceptable. UVa is located in a strong high school football region (Virginia/D.C. and close enough to pick up players from places like North and South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc.) and has enough fan support, financial donors, and facilities to be much more successful than it has been in recent seasons. You'll get a big debate on how academics impact things depending on who you talk to, but as a whole, I think Virginia fans expect the consistency of the George Welsh years mixed with peak years similar to the likes of Virginia Tech and Boston College, last season's ACC Championship Game opponents.

5. Since I write about Indiana, I have to ask about basketball, of course. Virginia recently hired Tony Bennett, who was a strong contender for the IU job in 2008. From what I understand, Bennett is recruiting reasonably well so far. On the other hand, his deliberate, 58 possessions-per-game style is not exactly consistent with the typical ACC style. How has Bennett been received so far, and how do you and other UVa fans feel about his style of play?

Kris: Coach Bennett hasn't lost a game yet! What's not to like? Seriously though, the reception for Coach Bennett has progressed from shock (UVa fans were knee deep in Tubby Smith rumors before Bennett was hired) to disappointment (not a "big" name) to excitement (good recruiting start, good fan/community interaction, etc.). His style of play is one thing fans were concerned with initially and many probably still are. I will say that from talking with Coach Bennett, watching Washington State games/highlights, and listening to recruits describe their conversations with the coaches, I think this "grind-it-out, always-walk-it-up" perception of the style of play isn't exactly accurate. He likes to push the ball up the floor when it makes sense and to take early shots if the player is open for a practiced, in-rhythm look. The possessions drop and the game "slows" much more because of the pack-line defense and "force tough shots" mantra than because of the style of play on offense. Florida State, Boston College, Miami, N.C. State, Virginia Tech, and even Duke have had success with similar styles at times this decade in conference play. We'll see how it goes for Coach Bennett and company.