Introducing "In Focus"

The Sabre and video partner WCAV are teaming up after Cavalier home games to bring you an exciting new feature: In Focus. The feature is a multimedia look at one of the Hoos' football stars. WCAV uses one camera to focus on the chosen player throughout the game and then puts together a highlight package to showcase that player's weekend. The Sabre brings you several selected snapshots from the game so you can get an up close look at one of your favorite Cavs. Plus, we bring you a short story, quotes, and an analysis of the player's performance.

The Duke home game gave us the opportunity to kick things off with one of UVa's biggest stars: Chris Long. Make sure you tune in late today for this FREE feature. Be sure to let us know what you think by voting on the article, posting message board feedback, or emailing us at [email protected].

Kris Wright
Editor
TheSabre.com

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

Basketball recruiting ...

Virginia hosted two important low post recruits this past weekend in John Brandenburg and Deshawn Painter.

Brandenburg, a 6-11, 235-pound center out of De Smet Jesuit School in St. Louis (MO), was making an official visit to UVa. This visit was crucial, as it is Brandenburg's last before he makes a college decision. He has already made an unofficial visit to Stanford, which is the other finalist in this race. Brandenburg had a great visit to Stanford and an early report by The Daily Progress indicates that the UVa trip went well.

Stay tuned as we hope to catch up with the 4-star recruit early this week for comments on his UVa experience. Brandenburg plans to make a decision soon, possibly as early as this week. He is UVa's top target at the center position.

Booker T Washington (Norfolk, VA) junior Deshawn Painter was spotted at Saturday's football game being escorted around by head coach Dave Leitao. Painter, who goes about 6-8 according to Booker T head coach Darren Sanderlin, is considered one of the top juniors in the nation at this point. Earlier this year, he attended the Southern Invitational, an AAU tournament played on UVa's grounds.

Last month, UVa hosted another top junior low post prospect in 6-9 Ryan Kelly. Kelly, a top prospect out of Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, North Carolina, enjoyed his time in Charlottesville. He is also considering offers from N.C. State and Virginia Tech, among others.

Holy Cross (Flushing, N.Y.) guard Sylven Landesberg made an extended unofficial visit to the University of Virginia on the previous weekend. Landesberg stayed in Charlottesville for five days before returning home last Monday. EDGE subscribers can read about his experience and get an overview of an important month for Virginia's men's basketball.

The 6-5 Landesberg has narrowed his list to Georgia Tech, St. John's, and Virginia. He made an official visit to St. John's this past weekend and plans to head to Georgia Tech this weekend coming up. The top prospect expects to have a decision by the end of September.

Football recruiting ...

Game ball ...

It didn't take long for DeMatha Catholic (Hyattsville, MD) to rebound from its season-opening loss to St. Xavier (Cincinnati, OH). The Stags dominated Gilman 42-0 on Saturday, recovering quickly from the 28-7 defeat in the Kirk Herbstreit Ohio versus USA Classic.

Virginia recruit Rodney McLeod, a 5-10, 180-pound CB/WR, jumpstarted the Stags by returning the opening kick-off 85 yards for a touchdown. He also hauled in a 41-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter.

This week, look for more updates on UVa 2008 recruits as well as a few articles on potential 2009 targets. One of the top seniors we will feature will be Centreville (Clifton, VA) defensive back Darryl Hamilton, who is the brother of former Virginia star cornerback Marcus Hamilton. Darryl has an offer from Virginia and plans to visit sometime this fall or winter.

Chris Horne, our resident recruiting expert, provides updates throughout the week for Edge subscribers about UVa's commitments and recruiting targets in football and men's basketball. To sign up for an Edge subscription, please check out the Sabre Edge Sign Up and Information Page. If you're already on board as an Edge subscriber, click the links below to catch up on recruiting.

Sabre Edge recruiting updates from the past week ...

Landesberg's Visit Start of Big Month for UVa
Sylven Landesberg kicked off an important month of September for the Virginia Cavaliers with a five day visit that lasted until Monday. Landesberg is the first of four key 2008 class recruits the staff is expected to host this month.

Other updates since the last SabreMail ...

• 5-Star Hale Hears from UVa
• Pantale Still Considering Options
• Freeman Closing in on Final 10

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Diehard football fans know that preparing for the game starts a long time before Saturday. That's where the Sabre has you covered! Our game info pages are stocked with all the information you need for the Hoos' next game. That means you can get the essentials (time, place, TV, postgame stats, weather forecasts, preview articles, depth charts, roster cards, etc.) in one convenient location.

The links to each game are available through our schedule on the Football Info page (Click here for Football Info page.); all you have to do is click on the game of interest and the information is all on that game page! Check out the UNC page now!

That doesn't even include the articles you get as part of our premium EDGE coverage. Each week, you'll receive features, columns, and analysis on the Hoos' next game. If you want to be "in the know" and impress your buddies at the next tailgate, the EDGE is the place to be. To sign up for an EDGE subscription, please check out the Sabre Edge Sign Up and Information Page.

UVa Bookstores' 2007 Virginia Football Pick 'Em

Pick 'em is simple. The first contestant who picks the winner and comes closest to predicting the final score wins. In case of ties, the earliest entry will be awarded the prize. Entries must be received by 12:00 a.m. EST game day. Entries received after 12:00 a.m. (midnight the night before the game) are ineligible. Limit one entry per person.

The prizes for the Pick ' em are awesome! The Virginia at UNC contest this week will reward a Nike Conference II Polo shirt with a V-Sabre logo to first place and a 1-Year Cavalier Corner Magazine subscription to second place.

For the full information or to enter, click here!

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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Virginia Men's Soccer Tops Tulsa 2-0 To Split Weekend Contests: The No. 3 ranked Virginia men's soccer team picked up a 2-0 win over Tulsa on Sunday at the SMU Mi Cocina Classic. In the win, Yannick Reyering scored his third goal of the season on an assist from Chris Tierney. The Cavs had to bounce back from a disappointing 5-1 loss to SMU on Friday. In that 5-1 lsos, Neil Barlow scored the only goal on an assist from Tierney.
• Women's Soccer Goes 0-1-1: The No. 8 ranked Virginia women's soccer team concluded play at the 2007 Santa Clara/adidas Classic with a 0-0 tie against No. 3 Santa Clara Sunday afternoon. Goalkeeper Chantel Jones made four saves in net to post her third shutout of the season. The tie followed a 2-1 loss to Stanford on Friday. Meghan Lenczyk scored her first career goal in that loss. Becky Sauerbrunn and sophomore forward Caitlin Miskel were named to the All-Tournament Team.
• Cavalier Women Victorious at Lou Onesty Invitational: Virginia All-American Emily Harrison led a pack of four Virginia runners in the top 10 with her first-place finish, helping the Cavalier women take the team title at the Lou Onesty Invitational at Panorama Farms. Lauretta Dezubay and Stephanie Garcia finished third and fourth, respectively, to help pace the women's side. The Cavalier men put two runners in the top ten, led by Andy Biladeau's individual title, but Virginia was edged by Duke in the team standings.
• Field Hockey Tops New Hampshire and Vermont: The Virginia field hockey team picked up a pair of wins over the weekend All-American Inge Kaars Sijpesteijn had a goal and an assist against Vermont while Traci Ragukas had a goal and Sara Confer had an assist. In the win over New Hampshire, Taylor Swezey and Sijpesteijn each scored.
• Volleyball Wins One: The Virginia volleyball team (5-4, 0-0 ACC) rebounded after dropping its first two matches of the USD Invitational to knock off UC Santa Barbara on Saturday, 3-1. Four Cavaliers reached double figure kills, led by Sarah Kirkwood's 22. Katie Oakes finished with 14, while Kendahl Voelker and Shannon Davis posted 12 and 10 kills, respectively. Defensively, Melissa Caldwell paced UVa with 22 digs.

For more Hoo news or to read full releases, check out Virginiasports.com.

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Issue No. 107 - October 3, 2003

Cavaliers win on Hughes' and Winborne's late-game heroics

Connor Hughes kicks the winning FG with less than 10 seconds remaining.

Wake Forest gave Virginia quite a fight last Saturday, but the Hoos dug down deep and were able to pull out the win. While there were many heroes on the day, no one shined more than sophomore placekicker Connor Hughes. With the game under two minutes, Hughes connected on a booming 53-yarder field goal to tie the game. After a remarkable interception by Jamaine Winborne to get the Hoos into field goal range, Hughes nailed another one with less than 10 seconds remaining to win the game.

As mentioned above, there were quite a few heroes on the day for the Hoos. Matt Schaub returned to action for the first time since the opening drive against Duke over a month ago. Schaub came out hot, completing 30 of his 45 pass attempts for 326 yards and two touchdowns. Schaub also showed some guts, breaking free from an apparent sack and diving into the end zone for a crucial two-point conversation to tie the game at the start of the fourth quarter.

Virginia's defense should get some credit as well. While they did give up 47-yard touchdown pass to Wake in the third quarter, they dug down deep when the team needed it the most. When Virginia was coming back, Schaub threw two interceptions late in the game. Wake was unable to capitalize on either turnover. On a game-deciding 4th and 2 on UVa's 8-yard line, the Cavalier defense stopped Wake Forest to give Schaub a chance to move the team down the field for the tying score. And let's not forget Winborne's interception that put Virginia in field goal range to win the game, rather than going to overtime.

This was a character-building win for the Hoos over an improving Wake Forest team. The win puts UVa at 2-0 in the conference and 3-1 overall, which puts them off to a better start than last year's 9-5 bowl-winning team (the 2002 team started 2-2).

Coming Soon

The Sabre has you covered when it comes to Hoo news. Here are a few of the articles to expect on the site in the coming days:

• Game Week Previews The Sabre has adjusted its game week coverage to fit a more streamlined format while also adding content. Stay tuned each week to get ready for the upcoming opponent.
• North Carolina Tar Heels The Sabre breaks down North Carolina's special teams, offense, and defense.
• Looking Back at Duke Each week, the Sabre breaks down the previous week's contest. Stay tuned for JHoo's 10 Things I Learned Against Wyoming, Greg's Game Grades, A Sabre Roundtable, and more.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Inside The Game: Duke
The Virginia football team picked up a 24-13 ACC win on Saturday by defeating visiting Duke at Scott Stadium. The Cavaliers led 17-2 in the early going before finally putting the pesky Blue Devils away in the fourth quarter. Let's take a closer look at some of the game's details like Nate Lyles' role as the "third safety" on some plays.

UVa Pockets Win Over Duke
It sure wasn't perfect. And it wasn't exactly pretty. But one week removed from an agonizing loss in Wyoming, Virginia will take it. The Cavaliers bounced back from a 20-point loss at Wyoming with a 24-13 victory at Scott Stadium on Saturday, defeating Coastal Division foe Duke in an often sloppy ACC contest.

Best Seat in the House: Drew Diener
There's nothing like getting a promotion so you can imagine how happy Drew Diener is this week. Diener, the director of men's basketball operations at Virginia the last two years, has been elevated to an assistant coach for the Cavaliers. Diener joined Jay James on The Best Seat in the House to talk about the new post.

Wes' Ways To Win - Duke
Let's be honest with ourselves, a loss to Duke would ignite a riot down Rugby Road. And at the same time, a home win over the Blue Devils would qualify to be as satisfying as a dinner full of Rice Cakes. Yet a win is a win and after last week's debacle, one of those would be nice for the Hoos. So how do they pick up the victory? Here are Wes' Ways To Win with ESPN 840 AM's Wes McElroy.

UVa Vs. Duke Preview: Duke Special Teams
In last week's loss to Wyoming, Virginia's special teams units easily stood out as the most productive in the contest. After all, the only points came from a Chris Gould field goal and punter Ryan Weigand spent the afternoon booming kicks through the thin air. Back on the East Coast, Duke struggled with much of its special teams' effort. With two offenses still waiting to get on track, the spotlight could be on special teams this weekend.

Best Seat in the House: Duke's Ted Roof
Virginia welcomes Duke to town this weekend for an ACC Coastal Division showdown. The Blue Devils have lost 21 straight games and have not won an ACC contest since beating Clemson 16-13 in 2004. Duke coach Ted Roof joined The Best Seat in the House to talk about his team and Saturday's contest with the Cavaliers.

5 Duke Questions - The Durham Herald-Sun
Virginia and Duke both struggled in their season openers last week with a pair of lopsided losses. One team will try to get its season back on track this weekend with a win in the ACC's Coastal Division. Of course, the Cavaliers won last season's meeting 37-0 in Durham. What's in store this time around? The Durham Herald-Sun's Bryan Strickland answers 5 Questions About The Blue Devils.

UVa Vs. Duke Preview: Duke Offense
Duke not only returns all five starting linemen this season, but all 11 offensive starters plus the entire two-deep. One might see that as a positive but it looked like the same old miserable Blue Devil offense from last season in the opener against Connecticut. Still, the wide receivers are talented and that could be a key match-up this weekend in Charlottesville.

You Got To Know When To Hold 'Em
Sometimes, all you need to get through the hard times with your sports team is to take a little advice from some classic rock and rollers. Don't fear the reaper. Good times, bad times. You can't always get what you want. Don't stop ... believin'! Right now, it seems like a fitting bit of advice for us Wahoos might be to not stop believing. Or, better yet, to take the immortal advice to know exactly when to fold 'em, know when to hold 'em, know when to walk away, and know when to run. It ain't exactly rock and roll, but it still applies.

Best Seat In The House: Taylor Zarzour
Sabre audio partner The Best Seat in the House is gearing up for this weekend's home opener for the Cavaliers' football team. Jay James welcomed Taylor Zarzour of the Curtis Media Group to the show to talk about ACC football and the upcoming Duke-Virginia game. Zarzour is the Sports Director for 19 radio stations in the Raleigh-Durham area. See what he had to say about Virginia football and the coaching situation in this free audio segment.

Can Virginia Boost The Passing Game?
Virginia coach Al Groh said this week that the decision to play Peter Lalich this season had been made before the final moments in Wyoming. Groh said that the coaches decided to play Lalich when his play was "up to it" as protection for Jameel Sewell, who is starting after offseason wrist surgery. With that said, one thing is certain: the Cavs have to get better offensively and they need to do it soon. They haven't scored a touchdown in 10 quarters, dating back to the first half of last season's win over Miami. You have to go back much further than that to find a passing touchdown. UVa hasn't had a score through the air since the Maryland game on Oct. 14, 2006 when Kevin Ogletree hauled in a 44-yard touchdown in the final three minutes.

UVa Vs. Duke Preview: Duke Defense
If you listened to Duke coach Ted Roof and Al Groh in their weekly pressers, you'd think they were reading from the same script. "It wasn't a lack of effort; it was a lack of execution," Roof said of his team's season opening loss to Connecticut. On defense, lack of execution led to big plays and that killed the Devils as they yielded five running plays of more than 14 yards and eight passing plays in excess of 14 yards, including two that went for more than 40.

The Hawk's Nest - Playing Man To Man
For all of you who have played pickup football, you know that "man to man" means to guard the guy lined up in front of you wherever he goes. That is the true definition of playing man to man defense. But there is more to this art than you think when you are dealing with the college and professional level. Let's look at "The Art of Man to Man Defense for Defensive Backs" in The Hawk's Nest.

Tuesday Press Conference Notes - Duke
Virginia's loss at Wyoming on Saturday set off a firestorm among the fan base that is still burning hot three days later. And most of the venom is directed at UVa coach Al Groh, whose team struggled to a 5-7 record in 2006 before opening 2007 with a 20-point loss. The Sabre message boards have been active, Beta Bridge got a fresh coat of paint, and the Cavalier Call-in Show featured a barrage of Groh questioning.

Point-Counterpoint: Quarterback Quandary
Virginia fans were already shell-shocked Saturday with Wyoming rolling to an inevitable 23-3 victory late in the game. Then, Cavalier coach Al Groh inserted true freshman quarterback Peter Lalich in the final three minutes. Talk about shocked. Was it a mistake to play Lalich? Now What? Sabre Editor Kris Wright and Vandy-Hoo tackle the hot topic in Point-Counterpoint.

Greg's Game Grades '07: Wyoming
Coach Al Groh once said that the most hated guy by NFL players is the guy in the media that does game grades. Truthfully, readers sometimes find more to object to than agree with when it comes to grades. I guess that's makes this one of the less desirable pieces to write since no one is apparently happy with the conclusions. It's probably safe to say, however, that few will object with this fact: this week's grades aren't very good.

JHoo: 10 Things I Learned Vs. Wyoming
Rock bottom? I don't know. Tough to say with another game right around the corner. And were we to lose to the likes of Duke at home? Perish the thought. But it sure feels like what rock bottom must feel like. You could see that on the faces of the players as they walked to the buses after the final whistle - and I hurt for them, knowing what they had put into the preparation for this game. In some ways, I hope this is rock bottom, and that things start to look up after next week's game. But first, we have to look back at what went wrong this past Saturday.

Sabre Roundtable - What Happened In Wyoming?
Virginia's season-opening loss at Wyoming on Saturday certainly changed the mood around the football program. The eternal hope of a new season has evaporated and the Cavaliers are left to deal with the 23-3 debacle out west. So what happened in Laramie? Sabre Editor Kris Wright, WCAV sports anchors J.W. Stehle and Dave Strumpf, Daily Press beat writer Melinda Waldrop, and Sabre fan DLWAHOO weigh in with their thoughts in this Sabre Roundtable.

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