Diamond anniversary: Ten years after Coach Brian O’Connor’s arrival, UVA baseball is a powerhouse
It was Sunday, April 21, 2013, Brian O’Connor’s 42nd birthday. Virginia had taken both games of Saturday’s doubleheader against No. 5 Florida State and was an inning away from its first-ever sweep of one of college baseball’s most dominant programs. Pitcher Kyle Crockett stepped into the batter’s box in the bottom of the eighth inning, [...]
Hope for the ‘Hoos? UVA football coach Mike London seeks to turn talent into wins
On Nov. 19, 2011, Virginia’s players engulfed Bobby Bowden Field after upsetting nationally-ranked Florida State, 14-13. With an 8-3 record and a bowl berth looming, the reclamation project was complete, the program built. Since that night in Tallahassee, UVA has lost 10 of its last 14 games—six of them by 19 points or more—and suddenly [...]
‘Hoos lose heartbreaker to Hokies in frustrating fashion
Antone Exum’s interception of Michael Rocco proved to be Virginia’s final offensive play of the game – but it didn’t have to be. Tied at 14, UVA had two timeouts when Tech’s ensuing possession began at the Cavalier 24-yard line with 3:21 on the clock. The Hokies ran six plays before calling their own timeout [...]
Wahoos miss opportunites, chance at postseason play in loss to UNC
Carolina’s third straight win over Virginia was not as thorough as the scoreboard suggested Thursday night. UVA made three costly mistakes, far fewer than a 24-point pasting would imply. His team trailing 14-10 with five minutes remaining in the first half, Michael Rocco threw an interception. Tre Boston returned it 36 yards for a score. [...]
Late-game heroics shock Miami, keep postseason hopes alive
Rumors of Virginia’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. With their backs placed squarely against the wall, the Wahoos staved off bowl ineligibility in magical fashion Saturday, coming from 10 points behind to edge Miami, 41-40. Michael Rocco orchestrated an epic 16-play, 87-yard drive that gave UVA a signature win in a topsy-turvy 2012 campaign. Rocco [...]
Virginia’s quarterback platoon a dicey proposition
Phillip Sims had thrown for 83 yards, one touchdown, and nary an incompletion when he was replaced by Michael Rocco in the first quarter Saturday against N.C. State. Virginia does not have a controversy at quarterback, but a timeshare – an unorthodox arrangement still waiting on its first sustained success story. “They were both going [...]
Wahoos wallop Wolfpack, pull off ACC stunner
Nearly two months elapsed between wins for Virginia’s football team, but the ‘Hoos got their money’s worth Saturday against N.C. State, shellacking the double-digit favorite, 33-6. “Our guys played fast and excited,” Mike London said. “When we play like that, we are a good team.” UVA’s defense had forced just four turnovers and registered only [...]
Desperate Wahoos approach stretch run after winless October
No team is quite the same from one year to the next, no matter how similar the personnel might be. Few teams are as markedly different as Virginia’s 2011 and 2012 editions. Last year’s squad won five of six one-score games. Early, ugly wins over Indiana (34-31) and Idaho (21-20) gave UVA the confidence it [...]
And the beat goes on: UVA drops sixth straight game
Denial gave way to acceptance Saturday at Scott Stadium: Virginia is a bad football team, and its problems are systemic. The Wahoos lack confidence, discipline, and leadership and have now matched the school’s longest losing streak in 31 years. It was Khalek Shepherd’s muffed punt that ultimately handed Wake Forest a 16-10 win before a [...]
Long-lost rivals UVA, Wake Forest stumble into Saturday showdown
Two desperate conference foes will meet for the first time since 2008 Saturday at Scott Stadium. The Wahoos are losers of five in a row, while Wake Forest has dropped three of four. UVA has won 20 of the last 22 meetings, but the two programs have played just twice in the last nine years [...]
Mike London and UVA in search of answers after dropping fifth straight
Virginia outgained Maryland by 135 yards and limited the Terps to minus-2 yards on the ground. Kevin Parks ran for a career-high 129 yards against the nation’s No. 7 run defense, and the Wahoos allowed just 2-of-13 third down conversions. For all it did right Saturday, UVA managed to find a way to lose its [...]
Struggling ‘Hoos, upstart Terps set to renew testy rivalry
In November 2002, during the week leading up to his team’s game with UVA, then-Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen famously said: “We expect to beat teams like Duke and Virginia.” Smart. That Saturday, UVA crushed Maryland, 48-13. Friedgen was fired in 2010, having lost more games than he won against the orange and blue. At halftime [...]
Will the dawn of the Phillip Sims era spell a much-needed victory for the Hoos?
“Nobody’s asking me to go out and be Superman or be Michael Vick or Peyton Manning or anybody like that,” said the Alabama transfer. “I’m just being asked to be Phillip Sims and go out there and do the things that I’ve been taught to do within this offense and help my team win and move the ball offensively.”
Substitution infraction crushes Cavaliers’ comeback bid
Louisiana Tech quarterback Colby Cameron could not draw Virginia offsides on 4th-and-1 with 1:45 remaining, his team desperately clinging to a 44-38 lead. Coach Sonny Dykes called timeout, and UVA trotted its punt return team onto the field. Dykes didn’t oblige. Punter Ryan Allen stayed on the sideline, and Cameron lined up behind center. Virginia [...]
Wahoos set to welcome high-octane offense to Charlottesville
It is Virginia’s most pivotal game of the season, and it comes against a team averaging 54.7 points per game. Louisiana Tech’s air-raid offense ranks in the top 25 in every major statistical category. The Bulldogs are the nation’s only team to have put up 50+ points in each of its games this season: LA [...]
Virginia shows improvement, but can’t overcome perennial power TCU
Mike London was encouraged. Gary Patterson wasn’t. But it was Patterson’s TCU team that thumped Virginia, 27-7, Saturday in Fort Worth. “We found a way to get to 3-0,” Patterson said. “It was not pretty.” Unbeaten and ranked No. 15 nationally, TCU ran its winning streak to 11 games, the longest active streak in the [...]
Georgia Tech humbles Virginia, hands ‘Hoos first loss going away
Virginia gained 297 yards of total offense on Saturday. Georgia Tech gained 210 on its first four plays. The Wahoos trailed 14-0 four minutes into the game, 35-7 at halftime, and 56-20 when it mercifully came to an end. Paul Johnson’s spread-option attack netted 594 yards in all, the most a Virginia team has given [...]
Running games crucial for Virginia, Georgia Tech in ACC showdown
As spotter and statistician for the Virginia Sports Radio Network, it is my job to know relevant personnel, follow the football, and relay information to our on-air voices. There are countless perks to the gig, with one exception: Georgia Tech week. Paul Johnson’s triple-option, spread offense is designed to deceive. On any given play, there [...]
UVA rallies, escapes with wild 17-16 win over Penn State
It never had a chance. Sam Ficken’s fourth missed field goal sailed wide left and gave Virginia an improbable 17-16 win over Penn State on Saturday at Scott Stadium. “I understand there’s a lot of pressure on kickers,” UVA coach Mike London said. “But I also understand the pressure that can be applied on the [...]
Penn State travels to Charlottesville for first road game since scandal
UVA dispatched Richmond last weekend in most ordinary fashion. This Saturday’s contest against Penn State will be anything but ordinary, no matter the outcome. The NCAA imposed unprecedented sanctions on PSU in the wake of Jerry Sandusky’s conviction on 45 counts of child sex abuse and a subsequent report that accused school officials of concealing [...]
Rocco named starting quarterback, will lead UVA in season opener
“I really believe it’s my job to lose, and I’m not going to lose it.” Consider Michael Rocco 1-for-1 in 2012. UVA coach Mike London named Rocco starting quarterback Monday, just 24 days after the junior publicly laid claim to the job. “It became apparent that Michael has the best grasp of the offense right [...]
“Smoke” could signal Virginia’s return to recruiting prominence
He answers to “Smoke.” That alone should speak to the budding legend of Taquan Mizzell, one of just 22 prep prospects in the Class of 2013 to have received five-star distinction from recruiting authority Rivals.com. Mizzell verbally committed to UVA last Tuesday, spurning offers from a host of college football’s bluebloods — Miami, Notre Dame, [...]