Blog Banter: Disaster

Really, what else can you call this? So far this season, the Hoos have been blown out twice and struggled to beat a 1-AA team. Sure, there are excuses for this latest embarrassment: Verica's first game, an injured Peerman, blah blah blah. But the offense didn't score more than 3 non-garbage time points and the defense was torn up like a sign by a Scott Stadium usher.

Really, there's no excuse for the complete dismantling at every level last night. A Virginia team should never be 40 points worse than a UConn team. Hell, the Huskies weren't even 1-A til recently, so it's not like the Hoos were facing some juggernaut. No offense to UConn, but we should at least be able to play a competitive road game against them any given year, rebuilding or not.

There's a lot of talk already about firing Al Groh. I'm not going that far yet. But I'm also not able to not go anywhere near that sort of talk. The coaching staff needs to seriously rethink its approach in every way. They have to figure out their attrition issues with regard to academics and behavioral problems. They have to figure out the utter lack of depth on this team and the continual failure to have a succession plan for various units. They have to figure out why there seems to be a lack of any offensive identity in this program. They have to figure out why they haven't been able to develop a quarterback since Matt Schaub (jury still pending on Lalich, of course). Unfortunately, these are all long term issues. And it's certainly tough to consider giving Groh another 4-5 years to try and figure things out again. I just don't see an easy solution either way if things progress to the team's second losing season in three years (with a Chris Long fueled aberration in the middle).

But, let's cross that bridge if needed. This season isn't completely lost yet. And the other ACC teams could be weak enough even for the Hoos to some how salvage a winning season. A bye week and a game against Duke could give this team a chance to iron out its Blue Ridge size wrinkles. Let's see how this plays out. But I think we're all entitled to a big dose of pessimism after last night.

Check out this entry! Make sure to check out the The Good Ol' Blog after each football game for notes from the past week's game.

Rob Mahini (Vandy-Hoo)
The Good Ol' Blog

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

Basketball recruiting ...

At this point, we are hearing that the Virginia men's basketball staff may be focusing its attention to the 2010 recruiting class, though 2009 recruiting may not be totally closed off. The staff will host a 2010 target this coming weekend, when 6-2 point guard Will Spradling visits the University of Virginia.

Spradling, who was featured in an EDGE article last week, is considering offers from Kansas State and UNLV and serious interest from Virginia and Virginia Tech, among others. He will visit both Virginia and Virginia Tech this coming weekend and is hoping to leave the Commonwealth with two additional offers.

Spradling, who averaged 18 points per game last season as a sophomore, would like to make his college choice in November.

In other 2010 recruiting news, Courtland (Fredericksburg, VA) forward Josh Hairston did indeed travel to Duke this past weekend. Before leaving, he made a verbal commitment to the Blue Devils, choosing Duke over Georgetown, Ohio State, Virginia and Virginia Tech, among others.

Football recruiting ...

With 19 commitments in the fold, there aren't too many 2009 class targets remaining on the board for the Hoos. The staff certainly has some, though, and there are others the staff continues to evaluate. Falling in the latter category is 6-5, 270-pound offensive lineman Devin Bolling.

Bolling, the subject of quite a few EDGE updates over the past month, has an important day of practice today. Virginia head coach Al Groh will make his way to Brookville (Lynchburg, VA) to watch Bolling and the rest of the Bees' varsity football squad in action. It certainly would not be a surprise to see the Cavaliers extend an offer, but we'll check in later this evening to find out what happened.

Brookville, one of the more talented teams in the state, boasts top senior Logan Thomas and junior Zack McCray. We'll have an update out on McCray later today and hope to have one on Thomas out sometime this week as well.

Also this week, we'll check in with Xaverian (Brooklyn, N.Y.) OL/DL Oday Aboushi, who has been offered by Iowa, Maryland, Rutgers, and Virginia. Aboushi feels as though more offers could be on the way soon, though, especially after what he called a "dominating" performance in his team's season-opening win over Holy Cross.

In not-so-good news on the recruiting front, Virginia lost out on top senior defensive end target Anthony LaLota, who verbally committed to Michigan last week. Virginia, which boasts three defensive end commitments in this 2009 class, is still very much in the running for other top defensive end targets including Lafayette (Williamsburg, VA) standout Will Hill and St. Xavier (Cincinnati, OH) star Pat Muldoon.

Virginia 2009 class commitments continue to impress on the gridiron early into the 2008 season. Last week, two commits faced off against one another when Quintin Hunter and Orange took on Dominique Wallace and Chancellor. Hunter, a quarterback/wide receiver prospect, was held to just 180 total yards (147 passing, 33 rushing) in the 21-7 loss to Chancellor.

Wallace, a running back recruit, carried 20 times for 147 yards and two touchdowns.

Stay tuned this week, as we'll recap the performances of all of Virginia's commitments.

Star rankings ...

Check out the recruiting database this week, as we will be busy updating star rankings on each and every prospect in the 2009 recruiting class. In case you don't know, TheSabre.com does its own star rankings for prospects from the state of Virginia. For those outside the state whose film we have yet to review, we take an average of the two main recruiting services - Rivals.com and Scout.com - and factor in quality and quantity of offers. Find out where Virginia's commitments and current serious targets measure up in the world of recruiting rankings.

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 ...

2010 Class Profile: PG Will Spradling
Shawnee Mission South (Overland Park, Kansas) point guard Will Spradling does not intend for his recruitment to be a long one. The 6-2, 150-pound junior, a first-team all-league, first-team all-county and honorable mention all-state performer last year as a sophomore, would like to have made his college choice by the time his junior season begins.

UVa Recruiting Notes
In "Recruiting Notes," I check in with Brookville (Lynchburg, VA) head coach Jeff Woody for the latest on senior offensive lineman Devin Bolling, senor tight end/wide receiver recruit Logan Thomas and junior tight end/defensive end target Zack McCray. I also catch up with defensive end commitment Justin Renfrow for a "Quick Take" and reflect on notable performances from other UVa commits from last week's games.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• Robinson LB Lands Offers, DE Draws Interest
• The Latest on OL Cody Bohler
• Gough Adds Three Offers
• Is Hairston Closing in on a Decision?

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License Plate section is up in Wahoowa!

In recent months, SabreMail made a request for anyone who had license plates that reflected your status as a Hoo fan. The responses have started to trickle in and the Plates Photos are up and running the Wahoowa! section of the site. The Wahoowa! section of the Sabre is dedicated to all things associated with UVa Fan-dom. There are various fan-related areas including desktop wallpaper, Fan of the Week photos, V-Sabres Worldwide, and more. If you have suggestions for new and interesting things in the Wahoowa! section, please email us at [email protected] with the header: Wahoowa! suggestion.

We'd like to keep adding photos to the section so if your license plate shows that you're a Hoo fan, let us know so we can include you in our gallery. All you need to do is snap a picture of your license plate and email a jpeg version of the photo to [email protected] with the email header: License Plate Photo.

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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Cavaliers Defeat Dartmouth to Win Virginia Nike Soccer Classic: The No. 9 Virginia women's soccer team captured the 2008 Virginia Nike Soccer Classic title with a 2-1 victory over Dartmouth Sunday at Klöckner Stadium. In the 87th minute, Lauren Alwine sent a ball to Meghan Lenczyk, who dribbled past a defender in the box and slid a shot past the charging goalkeeper for the game-winner. That goal gave the Cavaliers the victory, their sixth of the season (6-0-1). Alwine, who had a goal and an assist in Friday's 2-1 win over William & Mary was named the tournament's MVP.
• Virginia Falls At VCU, 3-1: Tony Tchani scored the Cavaliers' goal, a penalty kick in the 39th minute, but the Virginia men's soccer team fell at VCU, 3-1, Saturday night in Richmond, Va. "We played hard and we played well," Virginia coach George Gelnovatch said. "It was another game where we created fantastic scoring opportunities but failed to convert."
• Cavaliers Claim Marriott Jefferson Cup Title: The Virginia volleyball team swept its own Marriott Jefferson Cup this weekend to open the season 3-0 at home. The Cavaliers defeated Appalachian State, 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-21), Saturday evening to claim the tournament title for the fourth time in six years. Virginia (7-2) opened the tournament defeating Virginia Commonwealth, 3-0, before beating Binghamton, 3-0. "We look at each match as another opportunity for us to continue building and applying the things that we continually emphasize and teach throughout the week in practice," first-year coach Lee Maes said. "We've grown leaps and bounds throughout the season and now we're working on being able to sustain a certain level of effort and focus on what we've been taught."
• No. 8 Cavaliers Beat No. 15 Louisville 4-2: The eighth-ranked Virginia field hockey team (6-1) defeated Louisville (3-2) by a score of 4-2 Sunday at the University Hall Turf Field. Four different Cavaliers scored, including freshman Floor Vogels, sophomore Kaitlyn Hiltz, and seniors Inge Kaars Sijpesteijn and Lucy Meyers. "We bounced back with two wins this weekend," UVa coach Michele Madison
• Cavaliers Win Four Titles at UVa Fall Invitational: The Virginia men's tennis team wrapped up play in its opening tournament of the 2008 fall season, the UVa Fall Invitational, with two singles and two doubles titles. The Cavaliers won both of the "A" singles flights along with the "A" and "B" doubles flights. Sanam Singh took the A-1 singles title with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Cavalier freshman Drew Courtney. Lee Singer won the A-2 singles title, topping No. 2 seed Michael Shabaz 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 in the final. The top-seeded team of Houston Barrick and Singh won the A doubles title with a 9-8 victory over No. 2 seeded Keziel Juneau and Sebastien Vidal of William & Mary in the final. In the B doubles final, the freshman team of David Nguyen and Reese Milner topped Scott Myers and Walker Lyons of Davidson 9-8 for the title.
• Cavaliers Conclude Strong Performance in Georgia: The Virginia women's tennis team concluded play at the 2008 Bulldog Invitational Sunday at the Dan Magill Tennis center with another strong performance. The Cavaliers went 5-1 in singles and 2-1 in doubles on the final day of play. Virginia returns home to host the UVa Invitational next weekend at the Snyder Tennis Center.
• UVa Golfers Tied with Georgia for First at Cougar Classic: The 14th-ranked Virginia women's golf team is tied for first after the opening round of the Cougar Classic in Charleston, S.C. The Cavaliers shot even-par 288 to share the first-round lead with ninth-ranked Georgia. Virginia's Whitney Neuhauser carded a career-best score of 4-under 68 to share the lead in stroke play with Georgia's Mallory Hetzel. The second round of the 22-team tournament is scheduled for Monday and the final round takes place Tuesday.

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

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Mapp holds teleconference

Majestic Mapp

Majestic Mapp held a teleconference today in order to speak with media representatives about his recovery from knee surgery and his plans for the future. Mapp had requested not to speak with the media for the past 6-7 months do to person reasons.

For those of you who have not followed the situation, Mapp tore the ACL in his right knee the summer before the 2000-01 season while playing pick-up basketball at home in New York. After complications, Mapp underwent two arthroscopic knee surgeries to correct the problem. Last summer, it was decided that he would need ACL reconstruction again on the knee, causing him to miss a second consecutive season.

Mapp has progressed well from his most recent surgery and hopes to start informal practices with the team in mid to late June.

"For the most part, the knee is progressing fine. The problems with the knee have been minimized," said Majestic at a teleconference today. "Now it's just a matter of getting my quad and my hamstring [muscles] back to one hundred percent. By September, I should be playing in every pick-up basketball game with the team. I think I'll be fine come October 13th [when official practices begin]"

Out of high school, Mapp was considered one of the top point guards in the nation. He participated in the McDonalds All-American game, as well as Magic's Roundball Classic in Detroit.

In high school, Mapp was known best for his incredible court vision, and the ability to make great passes and set his teammates up for easy scores. Mapp showed glimpses of his talent while backing up former UVa point guard Donald Hand during his freshman year. Minute for minute, Mapp matched Hand's performance on the court.

Mapp's on-the-court leadership was sorely missed the past two years, as UVa went from Top 10 early to falling hard near the end of each season, and failing to making past the first round in the post-season tournaments. If Mapp makes a full recovery, his leadership, along with that of junior transfer Todd Billet, should help the Cavaliers to improve considerably for the upcoming season.

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 soon:

• Looking Back At UConn: The Sabre brings you a column from JHoo as well as Sabre analysis from Kris Wright and Greg Waters.
• Jed Williams: Sabre columnist Jed Williams pens his most recent take on UVa Athletics.
• Ask The Experts: The latest in this series is in the works.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

View From The EDGE: UConn Postgame
Wow, did I pick the wrong game to try to help Kris out. I wanted to change channels almost midway through the second quarter, so that I could see the dismantling of Jim Tressel's Buckeyes. Every year I ask myself, what is worse, bad football or no football? For the first time, I think I would have preferred to miss the game in a drunken coma. I started to write this Saturday night; however, I did not have much to say and thought it would be best to "sleep on it." Originally, I was going to watch the game again to reassess my thoughts this morning. I really don't think that is necessary.

Hoo-miliated: UConn Crushes UVa
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. - When the Connecticut-Virginia game kicked off at 7:34 p.m. on Saturday, the theme of the day for Virginia was 'How will quarterback Marc Verica perform with just two days to prepare as the starter'? Two hours later, the question had become 'Can Connecticut outdo USC's throttling of Virginia?' The Huskies' 45-10 victory may not have matched the 45-point spread from Pete Carroll's bunch two weeks ago, but they certainly outdid the Trojans' first half effort. A 24-7 halftime score against USC would have seemed at least surmountable against a different opponent; the 28-0 first-half thrashing by Connecticut, which included four touchdowns on as many drives by the Huskies (3-0), made the Cavaliers (1-2) look like a high school team.

Quick Take: Nick Jenkins On UConn
Not once but twice last Saturday, the special teams came up big to preserve the defense's shutout by blocking two field goal attempts. Both were blocked by redshirt defensive linemen with the first being awarded to Matt Conrath and Nick Jenkins receiving credit for the other. For his performance, Jenkins was named one of the program's Special Teams Players of the Week.

View From The EDGE: UConn
The Virginia football team hits the road for the first time this season when it travels to face Connecticut on Saturday night. UConn has won four straight night games at Rentchler Field so winning on the road with a first-time starter at quarterback (Marc Verica) will be challenging for the Hoos. The Sabre's new "View From The EDGE" series continues this week as hoodaves takes a pre-game look at the Huskies.

UConn Scouting Report: Defense & Punting
UConn's defensive unit was among the best in the nation in 2007. The Huskies ranked 37th nationally in total defense, yielding just 351.38 yards per game. With eight starters returning and an influx of talent, Connecticut might have the best defense in the Big East in 2008. Early into the 2008 campaign, the Huskies are ranked seventh in the country in scoring defense and 20th in total defense, giving up just 234 yards per game.

Lalich Learning On The Job
Virginia sophomore Peter Lalich has made significant progress in his development since seeing the field last season as a true freshman. Enough progress, in fact, that he was named the starting quarterback this season. According to Al Groh, the staff is pleased with Lalich's development from the first two games - he threw for a career-best 204 yards against Richmond. Lalich, seemingly more comfortable than any time before in media settings, sat down with reporters earlier this week to discuss his progress, areas of improvement, UConn, and more.

The Hawk's Nest - Reading Quarterbacks
We have all heard coaches and players say "Defense wins championships." I agree with this phrase because in a big game it will most likely be up to the defense to provide a key stop to either seal a victory or to help give the offense another opportunity to win the game a la the New York Giants in the Super Bowl this past February. As a defensive back, we love the challenge of providing turnovers for the offense in key situation and one detail that I always study when I prepare to face a quarterback is his eyes.

JHoo's 10 Things I Learned ... Richmond
Coming off a season-opening blowout loss to USC, Virginia needed to win this weekend. A pretty win would be nice but no matter what, it had to be a win. Lucky, blowout, ugly, comfortable, accidental, whatever ... UVa needed a win and got one. Which of those adjectives should be used to describe the win, however, is up for debate. Let's take a look at 10 Things I Learned against Richmond.

Tuesday Press Conference Notes '08 - UConn
Virginia running back Mikell Simpson scored the team's only offensive touchdown against Richmond on Saturday, but the rest of the day probably can be filed in the "uncharacteristic" category for the explosive junior. Uncharacteristic at least for what Cavalier fans were used to seeing in 2007 when he piled up 570 rushing yards and 402 receiving yards to go with 10 total touchdowns. Against the Spiders, he gained just 36 yards rushing on 23 carries, an average of just 1.6 yards per carry. Simpson didn't have a single reception. Plus, he lost 20 yards on 7 of those carries; on an eighth, he got back to the line of scrimmage but no farther.

UConn Scouting Report: Offense & Kicking
With 19 starters back in 2008, Connecticut figures to once again be in the mix for a Big East Championship. While the Huskies might lack the relative star power of some of the other Big East contenders, there is enough depth and talent on the roster to suggest that another run at the title could be in the offering. The offense has a quarterback that fits UConn's ball control offense, a veteran offensive line, a solid collection of wide receivers, a consistent tight end threat, and backs with decent ball skills to complement an efficient running attack.

Cavalier Call-In Highlights '08, Show 3
Once again the Cavalier Call-in show was live and in prime time this past Monday night as Dave Koehn, the "Voice of the Hoos," hosted University of Virginia football coach Al Groh on the weekly radio show. Koehn and the coach took the opportunity to reflect on the 16-0 win over Richmond and to also preview the upcoming opponent in the University of Connecticut Huskies. In between the analysis on those topics were several calls from fans on several different topics.

Greg's Stock Report '08: Richmond
Thanks to strong performances from units like the wide receivers and defensive line as well as individuals like Matt Conrath and Cedric Peerman, the Virginia football team improved to 1-1 last weekend by defeating Richmond 16-0. Did the grades improve as well? What trends are developing? Check out Greg's Stock Report for the weekly update on the Hoos, including the grades from the showdown with the Spiders.

Inside The Game - Richmond
Antonio Appleby, often overshadowed by fellow linebackers Clint Sintim (led the nation's linebackers in sacks in 2007) and Jon Copper (led the team in tackles for two straight years), is off to a strong start in 2008. Against Southern California, he logged eight tackles and his first career interception. This past weekend, a noticeably active Appleby produced six tackles, including one tackle for loss.

Photo Gallery: Virginia 16, Richmond 0
The Virginia football team picked up its first win of the season Saturday by knocking off Richmond, 16-0, at Scott Stadium. Matt Conrath, Clint Sintim, and Vic Hall among others had big days for the defense in the shutout, while Kevin Ogletree's 100-yard receiving day provided much of the highlights for the offense. Check out the action from "Retro Day" and the team's orange jerseys in this 112-image photo gallery.

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