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Blast From the Past

Ignoring blustery conditions the Maryland Terrapins scored on four of their first five possessions in route to a critical 27-17 Atlantic Coast Conference win over the Virginia Cavaliers at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Maryland last Thursday night.

Tailback Josh Allen ran for a career best 257 yards and two touchdowns as Maryland remained in the hunt for second place in the ACC by improving its league mark to 4-2 and 7-3 overall. Meanwhile the loss dealt a crippling blow to Virginia’s post-season bowl hopes. The Cavaliers fell to 3-4 in ACC play and dead even overall at 5-5.

Virginia quarterback Matt Schaub ran for a touchdown, threw for another and rallied the Cavaliers to within seven at 24-17 midway through the final quarter. However when the Virginia defense needed to stuff the Terps, it could not.

Make no mistake about it, the Terps came out loaded for bear and Virginia came out with the same non-descript, take-it-or-leave-it intensity that they have shown for the better part of the season. When the players departed for halftime, our fans let them know that we had come a long way on a cold night to see some football and that we were ready, why couldn't they be? My sense is that the players picked up on this, and it may have motivated them, but we still could not meet Maryland's intensity when they elevated their play at crunch-times. Coming Attractions

Football

During the summer of 2003 all of the talk regarding the Georgia Tech football program was how poorly they played in late season blowout losses to Georgia and Fresno State last year, the academic suspensions and all the injuries and just how bad could this Yellow Jacket team be? Oh, we know they had lots of problems in the off season and we know they had questions on defense, but we also knew that this team returned 12 starters from a team that with all the adversity of 2002, still had a winning record at season's end.

When everyone talked about how horrible the 2003 Jacket season would be, tight end John Paul Foschi refused to hear it. When all the critics were bashing Tech in preseason Foschi is quoted as saying back in July, “Everybody in this town is going to try and get back on the bandwagon and well decide if they can or can’t.” He has what coach Al Groh refers to as “personality.”

The Yellow Jackets enter this game with a 6-4 overall record and a 4-3 record in the ACC and is fighting for second place in the conference to the surprise of many. But the road has not been a pleasant place for most ACC teams this season and Charlottesville, where six of the last seven meetings have been decided by eight points or fewer, has never been a place where Tech has had much success. In fact, the Jackets have lost the last 5 games played in Charlottesville and have won only twice in nine attempts in the Hook.

Georgia Tech’s offense is led by freshman quarterback sensation Reggie Ball. Tech play-by-play man Wes Durham has said that he felt that Balls’ “football IQ as a true freshman is better than [former Tech standout] Joe Hamilton’s as a redshirt freshman.” Former walk-on P.J. Daniels, who currently leads the conference in rushing, has provided a spark for a Jacket running attack that has averaged 196.5 yards per game over Tech’s last four contests. Playmaker Jonathan Smith is second in the ACC and 19th in the nation in receiving yards per game (92.5) and fourth in the conference in receptions at 5.6 per game. For the season Smith has caught 57 passes for 925 yards. His 124.8 all purpose yards ranks him second in the league and he leads the ACC in punt returns at 10.4 yards per return.

Georgia Tech’s defense, under the direction of coordinator Jon Tenuta, features the ACC leaders in tackles (LB Keyaron Fox, 12.6 per game), sacks (DE Eric Henderson, 8) and interceptions (FS James Butler, 5). The Jackets are in the top 25 nationally in rushing defense (23rd, 116.8) and scoring defense (23rd, 19.3) while ranking 31st in total defense (334.0).

Georgia Tech is third in the ACC and 23rd nationally in rushing defense, allowing 116.8 yards per game on the ground. Tech has held five of its 10 opponents this season to fewer than 100 yards rushing. In 10 of 23 games under defensive coordinator Jon Tenuta the last two years, the Jackets have allowed fewer than 100 yards rushing.

On paper this looks to be a dreadful game for the Virginia defense. All season long we've highlighted the Hoos' inability to stop the big play and slow teams with good running games. Georgia Tech does both. In every victory this season (except Maryland) the Jackets have had at least one play in excess of 49 yards on offense including a 90-yard kickoff return and a 73-yard punt return for scores.

The Yellow Jacket running game is average (145 ypc) by league standards but over the last four games Tech has averaged 196.5 yards per game. They are 3-1 in those four games. The Jackets are content to play ball control and field position and let their defense win games. They lull teams to sleep with run game then strike with the lethal combination of Reggie Ball and Jonathan Smith after opponents safeties have crept into the box to stop the run.

Look for Virginia however to try and force Tech to win on the arm of Reggie Ball. 3 times this season (BYU, Clemson and Duke) the Jackets have thrown more times than they have run the ball and lost all three games. Also expect the Cavaliers to aggressively blitz the young quarterback who will be seeing the Virginia 3-4/cover 2 for the first time. The Virginia defense will need to limit the Tech scoring because it is unlikely the Yellow Jacket defense will give up significant points. Hoops

The Virginia Cavaliers open the 2003-2004 men’s basketball season this Saturday, Nov. 23, at University Hall against Mount Saint Mary’s. Game time is 7 p.m. Next Friday, Nov. 28, the Hoos will face in-state rival Virginia Tech also at University Hall starting at 8 p.m.

The Virginia women also open the 2003-2004 season this weekend starting tonight (Friday) as they face UNC Greensboro at 7:30 p.m. at University Hall. On Sunday the Cavaliers will meet the Virginia Tech Hokies under eighth-year head coach Bonnie Henrickson with tip off at 1 p.m.

Tickets are available for all four games. Extra Points

The Virginia men’s basketball team completed their exhibition season with wins over the Coaches vs. Cancer All-Stars (91-90) and Big Apple Basketball (104 –80). Todd Billet recorded 35 points and 9 assists in the two contests while sophomore Derrick Byars added 46 points. Newcomer Dante Minter was impressive in the two games scoring 33 points and collecting eight rebounds against the C vs. C All Stars and junior Elton Brown posted 33 points and grabbed 17 rebounds in the two games.

Tight end Heath Miller , a sophomore from Swords Creek, Va., has caught a pass in Virginia’s last 18 games, the longest current streak on the team. Miller is tied for fourth among the nation’s tight ends in receptions and sixth in yards. With two games remaining, Miller needs just 5 receptions and 138 yards to break the ACC’s single-season tight end records for receptions and yards. Matt Schaub has the opportunity to leave Virginia with virtually every quarterback passing record available. Against Maryland Schaub passed for 186 yards, passing Shawn Moore as the school’s all-time passing leader with 6,661 career yards. Below is a list of the three remaining career passing marks that Schaub will have a chance to break in the final two games of the season. Total Offense Yards: 6718 (Record - 7897, Shawn Moore) Matt needs 1,180 yards Total Plays: 1079 (Record - 1177, Shawn Moore) Matt needs 99 plays Touchdown Passes: 52 (Record - 55, Shawn Moore) Matt need to throw 4 more touchdown passes Park It : The Emmet/Ivy garage is now open and available for football game day parking. The garage is open to football fans three hours before kickoff. Individuals holding a regular permit for the garage can park at no additional charge. The cost for non-permit holders to park in the garage is $10 a vehicle. Traffic exiting the garage will be routed west on Ivy Road. The garage will also be available for basketball parking. The garage will be available to basketball fans 90 minutes before the game begins. Individuals holding a regular permit for the garage can park at no additional charge. The cost for non-permit holders to park is $5 a vehicle. As on football game days, traffic exiting the garage will be routed west on Ivy Road. Greg Waters is the co-host of the Virginia sports radio program CavTalk (8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday on AM950 WXGI) and the associate editor of the Virginia Cavalier sports web site The WagonOnline (virginia.rivals.com).