No one saw that one coming. Definitely not anyone wearing a UNC uniform. A 15-point win in Chapel Hill goes a long way in helping rid the painful memories of Thursday's loss to Va Tech. Where the Hoos failed to finish against the Hokies, UVa always had an answer last night against North Carolina. Everyone knew, or at least felt, the Tarheels would make a run in the second half, yet the Cavs kept them at arms-length (and then some) after they built a big lead early in the second half. Sylven Landesburg played lights out, and Sammy Zeglinski shot extremely well from beyond the arc. Jerome Meyinsse posted another solid outing and played a big role in keeping UNC bigs Ed Davis and Deon Thompson in check. He and Mike Scott hounded the tandem all night long making it difficult for either of them to find any type of rhythm on offense. UVa's front court either blocked or altered their shots on numerous occasions and held Davis and Thompson to a combined 11 points on the evening.
Against Va Tech, Virginia struggled to hit big shots when the Cavs needed points the most, yet last night was a completely different story. UVa responded every time it looked as if UNC might mount a run and knocked down several key baskets to maintain control of the game. As Jeff White notes, Virginia's performance at Chapel Hill was impressive especially given what happened last Thursday night against the Hokies.
Speaking of winning at the Dean Dome, last night marked only the third time Virginia has ever won at the Smith Center and it was Virginia's first victory in the last six tries against the Tar Heels. For many UVa players, this marks one of the biggest victories of their college careers.
A surprising 4-2 in ACC play, tied for second in the league standings, has Virginia coach Tony Bennett starting to garner some attention for ACC Coach of the Year honors.
There's no question the Hoos caught UNC on an off shooting night, and even Bennett acknowledged as much in both his halftime and post-game tv interviews. Certainly some of that was due to UVa's defense (especially inside where seemingly almost every shot was contested) and some was due to the Tarheels having a tough outing. Couple that with a very strong offensive performance from the Cavs and it effectively created a near-perfect storm. Regardless, a win in Chapel Hill against the Tar Heels is huge and to finish the game so emphatically after blowing a 10-point lead against Va Tech makes the win that much more impressive. Without a doubt, Sunday's win was just what the doctor ordered and it showed this years' squad has the moxie to shake off a tough loss. This week the Hoos take on two more teams from North Carolina, and if Virginia can hold serve at home, the whispers of postseason play will certainly grow louder.
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Amidst all the talk of the new offense, the fact that the defense has uncharacteristically struggled has been lost in the conversation. Not Saturday. They could have played eight quarters, and the Heels still wouldn't have crossed the goal line. Some thoughts on Virginia's first win of the season:
- LB Steve Greer set the tone on the opening drive with two tackles for loss. Matt Conrath (3 batted balls) continued the momentum. Nate Collins finished the job with a hit on T.J. Yates that led to a Chase Minnifield interception, setting up the game-clinching TD.
- If he's going down, Al Groh is going to go down his way. From his offensive adjustments two weeks ago to his defensive game plan against UNC, Al Groh is putting his stamp on this team. Even on offense, the game was called to avoid mistakes under the assumption that UNC couldn't score without help. They couldn't.
- I'll admit I was a little nervous about how Virignia would respond after literally getting run over in back to back weeks against TCU and S. Miss. Then I saw John Shoop in the coach's box calling UNC's plays and immediately felt better.
- As we've said in this space before, Mikell Simpson is the best offensive player on the team, and UVA should be getting him the ball more. Inspired by watching 2007 game film Friday night, Simpson WAS the offense on Saturday, with 20 carries for 102 yards and a TD, and a team-leading four catches for 45 yards. That wasn't so hard, was it?
- Less than a month after Virginia played three QBs in the season opener, its now exclusively Jameel Sewell's show. Marc Verica made a brief appearance, but only because Sewell was nursing a hand injury at the time. And Vic Hall took himself out of the QB picture with an act of selflessness. Sewell is flawed - he makes bad decisions from time to time, sails throws on an almost regular basis, and doesn't always seem to see the field particularly well - but he gives Virginia its best chance to win. If Sewell can stick to the script - only 169 total yards but ZERO turnovers on Saturday - Virginia will at least be competitive the rest of the way.
- Jared Green isn't a star but he's developing a nice little niche as 3rd down receiver. Only two catches, but both moved the sticks on 3rd down.
- Tip of the cap to K Robert Randolph. Teams often don't notice the kicker unless he's missing kicks, so we should recogize them when they do the job. Randoph went 3-for-3 to stake Virginia to a lead before Simpson's TD sealed the deal.
Virginia is now 7-2 against North Carolina under Groh and 10-1 in October under Groh since 2007. Perfect storm? Maybe. But the calendar doesn't turn from October until four more games are played. November largely has been a different story (13-17, including 0-4 last year, under Groh), so UVA better get fat while it can.
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Its probably too late to discuss turnarounds or bowl chances. Too many tough games left on the schedule, and not enough signs of life. As the Daily Press notes, Virginia is in the midst of its longest losing streak since 1982 (seven and counting dating back to last season). But as we noted earlier in the week, Virginia's annual matchup with its state-school neighbor to the south has often produced surprising Cavalier victories.
Reports abound of a productive bye week, here and here. Hootie, noting Groh's 6-2 mark against UNC, thinks this might be the week the Cavs may be able to break through with a W. North Carolina has struggled offensively, especially in last week's 24-7 loss at Georgia Tech. Although its a bit much to call them hapless. Last time I checked, hapless looked a lot more like 0-3 than 3-1, even if those wins are against the Citadel, UConn, and ECU. And after watching TCU's Jerry Hughes live in the Cavalier backfield three weeks ago, Virginia can't be looking forward to seeing Robert Quinn, he of 5.5 TFL, three sacks, and an uplifting comeback story. Mr. Quinn is probably licking his chops to get after the team that has surrendered the most sacks in the nation this season.
Speaking of struggling offenses, the Post notes its Sewell's show with Hall's status still uncertain. Doug Doughty notes that they'd just like to keep Sewell upright. At least perhaps his receiving corps are coming around. After two games in which they were largely invisible, the Cavs' receiving corps showed improvement against S. Miss. The Cavs are hoping rookies Tim Smith and Javaris Brown continue to develop in order to supplement the production of "vets" Kris Burd and Jared Green. The Post also notes that Smith is working his way into the KO return rotation.
Finally, its not surprising to see guys like Hootie picking the Cavs to win, but it is a little surprising to see ESPN saying the same thing. Its not out of the realm of possibility, but something tells me Carolina is looking to make a statement at home coming off last week's loss at Ga. Tech. So don't hold your breath, and remind yourself its only two weeks until basketball practice starts.
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When the Cavaliers make this weekend's trip down to Chapel Hill, you know as a football fan that the Tar Heels return trip won't occur until next season. And that's OK, its the nature of football scheduling. But it reminds me that when the basketball team makes a similar trip in late January, UNC will, as in football, not be making the return trip until the following season. Similarly, Duke will be gracing the confines of the JPJ this season, but there will be no return trip to Cameron until 2011. It begs the question -- we're giving that up for what exactly?
Six years ago, the Atlantic Coast Conference expanded its membership to twelve teams. In came Miami, Virginia Tech, and (out of left field) Boston College. The idea was to make the ACC a major football conference, complete with large TV contract, annual conference championship game, and more BCS bowl game appearances. There were rumblings from the likes of Mike Krzyzewski and Gary Williams that it would be bad for the gold standard that is ACC Basketball, but after college presidents reminded them who paid their checks those criticisms largely fell by the wayside.
Expectations were that this might finally be the year that the ACC lived up to that master plan. Four teams cracked the Preseason AP Top 25, and a number of other programs, including Clemson and the U, were supposed to make strides back towards respectability. It was thought that 2009 at least had to be better than 2008, when mediocrity reigned. No ACC team finished better than 5-3 in the conference, a four-loss Va. Tech team went to the Orange Bowl, and a 7-5 Clemson team went to the Gator.
It hasn't happened. On opening weekend, Alabama ran over Virginia Tech, Cal thumped Maryland, and perennial Big 12 Doormat Baylor beat Wake Forest. And that wasn't even the worst of it. Duke and Virginia (as we all remember) lost to 1-AA teams. It hasn't gotten better since Week 1. Mountain West stalwart TCU now has a pair of road wins against ACC teams on its resume. Maryland lost (again) to Middle Tennessee State. Florida State was dropped by S. Fla. over the weekend. And after all the noise about Miami's revival, it appears they were just beating up on fellow ACC weaklings in light of Va. Tech's demolition of the Canes this past weekend.
So on January 5, 2010, some middling ACC team, who will have won a conference championship game that won't come close to selling out, will get to play the Big East Champion or an at-large opponent in a meaningless bowl game. And seven or eight other schools will get to go to contracted bowls too, all the way down to the Eagle Bank Bowl in D.C. College athletic departments will rake in more money, and the ACC can call itself a football conference when it goes 4-4 in bowl play (even though two or three of those wins will come against MAC teams or service academies). And everyone can look forward to next football season, when the U might really be back, or Florida State might return to national prominence, or Butch Davis might complete the turnaround in Chapel Hill, or Va. Tech might stay healthy.
Among all those mights, Sylven Landesberg will be looking forward to what might be his only trip to the cathedral that is the Dean Dome, or preparing for what might be his one chance to help vanquish Duke on his team's home floor. Of course, he'll get to play Virginia Tech, Maryland, N.C. State, and Miami twice each this season. I'm sure that's the ACC Basketball he was looking forward to when he signed his LOI. But hey, Wake Forest might get to play football in D.C. in December.
So again I ask, the ACC did this for what exactly?
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The Hoos and the Heels first butted heads in 1892, and will meet for the 114th time Saturday. For those of you who've forgotten what its like for Virginia to win a game (its been 11 months), a number of the more recent meetings with North Carolina have resulted in unexpected victories. So think positive thoughts for Saturday, and step away from the Jack Daniels (well, better keep it close by just in case). Some of the highlights:
4. 2007: Cedric Peerman rushed for 186 yards, Chris Long snatched a pass out of midair for a highlight-reel int, and Nate Collins batted down a a two-point conversion with less than two minutes to go to preserve a 22-20 victory in Butch Davis' introduction to the rivalry.
3. 2002: The outcome itself wasn't surprising, but that was before North Carolina took a 21-0 lead into the locker room at halftime. Marquis Weeks returned the second half opening kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, and QB Matt Schaub took it from there, throwing a pair of TD passes, the second of which put the Cavs ahead 28-21 in the fourth quarter. Virignia scored 37 unanswered points in the second half before a purely cosmetic Heels TD provided for the 37-27 final margin. It was the second biggest comeback in UVA history.
2. 2008: After Virginia rebounded from a poor early season start with back-to-back wins against Maryland and ECU, things were supposed to come crashing back down to earth against No. 18 North Carolina. The Carolina defense was stout, but the Hoos largely matched them after allowing a TD on the opening drive. That set up QB Marc Verica to march the Hoos down the field in the last two minutes. RB Cedric Peerman finished the Hoos first TD drive of the game with a 2-yard TD run with :47 to go to force overtime. Then, in overtime, Verica set the table again with a 19-yard pass to TE John Phillips. Peerman closed the deal, and a 16-13 OT win, with another 2-yard TD run. If you're the YouTube type, click here for game highlights.
1. 1996: It was supposed to be a rout. Virginia entered the game a respectable 6-3, but highly-ranked UNC was looking to lock up a "Bowl Alliance" bid. The game was going as expected with the Heels leading 17-3, and knocking on the door again to put the game away. Then Antawn Harris stepped in front of a pass in the flat and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown. The shell-shocked Heels never recovered, and lost 20-17.
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