Sophomore running back Mikell Simpson (pronounced Mike ell) also announced his official arrival on the college football scene. It's a stretch to say that Simpson came out of a nowhere, because he was a four-star running back prospect coming out of high school. The Pennsylvania native had played sparingly during his first few seasons in Charlottesville, but injuries to running backs Cedric Peerman and Andrew Pearman forced him into action against the ‘Terps. Simpson made the most of his opportunity and displayed why he was so highly coveted out of high school. The third-string tailback shredded the Maryland defense for 271 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner with 16 seconds left to give the Cavaliers the 18-17 victory.

Virginia trailed Maryland 17-12, with 7:42 left to play in the contest. Maryland couldn't stop Simpson all night long, so it shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone that Virginia's coaches fed him the rock nearly every play on their final drive. Simpson touched the ball on 14 of their final 15 plays and accounted for 92 yards. Two of those touches stood out above the rest. One came when there were 49 seconds on the clock, and the Cavaliers had the ball, 4^th and 4 from the Maryland 14 yard line. Jameel Sewell tossed a screen pass to Simpson, who stretched the ball to the first down marker while he was being tackled out of bounds by a Maryland defender. The officials gave the Cavaliers the first down, the spot was then reviewed, and the play stood. It was a very close call, but I truly believe officials made the correct call. It shouldn't surprise anybody that Maryland head coach Ralph Friedgen didn't agree with me, "I watched the replay on the Jumbotron and the receiver looked to be out of bounds to me on the fourth-down play. I know they are professionals up in the booth reviewing, so I'm sure they're doing the right things."

The next touch Simpson had proved to be the dagger in the heart for the Maryland Terrapins. It was 2^nd and goal for Virginia from the goal line. The sophomore running back took the hand off from Sewell, leaped in the air and stretched the ball inches across the goal line right before linebacker Erin Henderson forced him to fumble. The score gave the Cavaliers the lead, 18-17. "When I was in the air I looked down with the ball to see where the yellow [end zone] line was because it sticks out so much on the field. I knew it was a touchdown," Simpson said. "I saw it. I crossed it." The play was reviewed and it was ruled that the ball crossed the goal line before the fumble and it was indeed a touchdown. Once again I believe the correct call was made and I saw it replayed several times on TV, where ESPN commentator Bob Davie actually drew a straight line down the screen with his telestrator and the ball had clearly crossed the plane. Ralph Friegden once again didn't agree, but he didn't have the luxury of instant replay either. "I actually had a pretty good view. I saw the ball come out on the goal line," Friedgen said. "I saw it and I don't think he had possession. You really don't see anyone overrule too many calls anymore." Sounds like sour grapes to me, Ralph.

The Cavaliers failed their two-point conversion attempt, but Maryland never came remotely close to reaching field goal range in the closing seconds.

The win likely marked the biggest road win for head coach Al Groh since he has been in Charlottesville. He hadn't won in College Park since he arrived at Virginia in December of 2000. Once you add in the element that the win came against a bitterly detested rival on the road and you can see why it is such a big win for Groh.

After the Cavaliers' season-opening 23-3 disaster against Wyoming, it appeared as if Al Groh was finished in Charlottesville. The Virginia offense put together one of the most atrocious performances of the Al Groh era, gaining a paltry 110 yards of total offense and just five first downs for the entire game. Many fans, including myself, thought for certain there was no way Al Groh was making it out of this season alive.

Seven improbable wins later, it makes me smile to say I was wrong about Al Groh and my beloved Cavaliers. Virginia has won five of their games by five points or less, something no other team in the nation has accomplished. The "Cardiac Cavaliers" are a story line that fits in remarkably well in a college football season where coaches, fans, and media have been taught to expect the unexpected. "Our M.O. evidently is to give as many people as possible heart attacks," said senior defensive end Chris Long. "Hospitals are probably buzzing right now around Charlottesville. But we are just trying to win games and have more points than the other team."

The nation should be buzzing about Chris Long after he posted one of the best performances of his career against the Terrapins. He was a one-man wrecking crew in the backfield and Maryland quarterback Chris Turner(aka the Napoleon Dynamite clone) never had any time to throw. Long delivered one of the most bone rattling hits of the game when he sacked Turner for a safety at the end of the third quarter. He posted 10 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and 2 pass breakups. Those are Lombardi Award worthy numbers folks!

The first team All-American used a variety of swim moves and rips to breeze his way past the Maryland offensive line and proved to be an unblockable force for the ‘Terps all night long. Just as the Maryland defense could find no answer for running back Mikell Simpson, the Maryland offensive line could find no way to contain Chris Long. Virginia head coach Al Groh had words of high praise about star defensive end after game. "Clearly, there's no better player in college football than Chris Long," Groh said. After last night's performance, you could certainly make that argument and ESPN's Todd McShay would likely agree with you. Long is arguably the most dominant defensive player in the country and very few players can change the complexion of a game from the defensive line like he has this season.

News and Notes

Kudos to much maligned Cavaliers' offensive coordinator, Mike Groh, who called an excellent game and found ways to feed Mikell Simpson the rock. He also made sure that quarterback Jameel Sewell didn't have to throw too many deep balls, allowing Sewell to throw shorter screen passes. The two shovel passes called on the final drive were brilliant. He also used the zone-read remarkably well, because the Terrapins' defense was over-pursuing for much of the game. It was a very big reason Simpson sprung the 44-yard touchdown run late in the 2^nd quarter.

Quarterback Jameel Sewell played well, but had some misleading stats. He didn't play as well as his 22-35, 243 yard stat line might indicate. Sewell still demonstrated that he has plenty of accuracy issues and his deep ball sails on him way too much. He didn't turn the ball over but nearly threw a costly interception at one point in the game. I still give Sewell a lot of credit for getting back in the game after he got injured on the final drive and apparently "blacked out". I'm not sure if the Cavaliers would've wanted to put the game-winning drive in the hands of their immensely talented freshman signal-caller, Peter Lalich.

To be fair to Sewell, you have to look at the fact that Sewell didn't have his top target, tight end Tom Santi, who left the game with an injury after the first play from the line of scrimmage. He also had receivers like Andrew Pearman drop balls that should have been caught.

I think if Mike Groh keeps up the play-calling with the short screens, shovel passes, and slants across the middle then Jameel Sewell will be able to handle the Cavalier offense and move the chains effectively. I think sooner or later, somebody is going to take away those shorter passes and force him to throw the deep ball and attack the field vertically, which is where the Cavaliers could likely run into trouble. Sewell's deep ball is by far his worst pass and it will be interesting to see if the Cavaliers will be forced to use Lalich down the stretch.

Running back Mikell Simpson's 271 all-purpose yards are Virginia's most since Thomas Jones had a school-record 333 vs. Buffalo in 1999. Simpson's total is sixth in school history.

Kudos to cornerback Vic Hall who locked down Maryland's sensational receiver, Darrius Heyward-Bey all night long. Heyward-Bey is well-known as one of the best vertical receivers in college football because of his blazing speed. He was limited to 4 catches for 52 yards by the supremely athletic Hall. I still think Hall would be more of an offensive threat and that Virginia's coaches need to find ways to give him the ball in space and line him up at running back, wide receiver, and run more trick plays with him. Hall doesn't have great instincts as a corner and it shows. He doesn't know how to tackle and I mean he's not the biggest kid so it really isn't his fault. That's kind of a big deal, if you are on defense and don't know how to tackle. To Vic's credit, corner back is not his natural position. The kid was one of the most decorated quarterbacks in Virginia high school football history. How ‘bout we use him coach?

The Payne Train: Redshirt freshman running back Keith Payne, already a UVa fan favorite, made his first start last night. He had 13 carries for 69 yards, an average of 5.3 yards per carry.

Kudos to Chris Long, Jeffrey Fitzgerald, and the Virginia defense: The Virginia defense allowed 14 points in the first half, but buckled down in the second half, only allowing 3 points the rest of the way, paving the way for another magical Cavalier comeback.

Kudos go to Maryland linebacker Erin Henderson-who reminded everybody of his legendary brother E.J.-Henderson racked up an eye-gouging 18 tackles in the losing effort for the ‘Terps.

Maryland running backs Lance Ball and Keon Lattimore each had touchdowns in the first half for the ‘Terps, but were shutdown in the second half.


I talked about the spread of this game on Thursday afternoon, on a podcast for BETUS sports radio with Damon D...he asked me who I would pick. Maryland was given 4 points before this one. Of course, with Virginia's history in Maryland, I figured the ‘Hoos were not going to be able to pull this one out and I've never been happier to be proven wrong. I knew this game was going to be a close one, but I don't think anyone expected Mikell Simpson to have such a stellar performance. I'm willing to admit when I am wrong and I definitely was with the Cavaliers in this game. Historically they rarely show up for the big games, but rest assured the Cavaliers showed me some true mettle on Saturday night. What a great finishing drive.


This was one of the best Virginia football games I have seen in my lifetime and it was remarkably well-played by both teams, with very few penalties and no turnovers. I felt privileged to be able to watch the game and this one will definitely go down as one of the sweetest wins in Virginia football history in my opinion. Of course, it was against the Maryland Terrapins, who I cannot stand. I think I hate the ‘Terps more than VT and that is saying a lot. The Maryland-Virginia rivalry is one of the more intense rivalries in all of college football and just because there isn't a trophy to win, doesn't mean the games don't mean a lot to both fan bases, players, and coaching staffs. This game has gotten really intense in the past few years and you only need to look at the game in which coaches from opposing teams were caught yelling at each other at midfield before a game.

I equate the Maryland-Virginia rivalry to two animals caged in the same area, fighting for the same oxygen. It just isn't going to work out. These are two historically mediocre teams competing to try and reach the upper echelon of their conference, of course things will get a little nasty. Rivalries are what make college football so very special.


Next up for Virginia: at N.C. State on Saturday on ESPN-U: 4:30 p.m. kickoff.

Next up for Maryland: they roll out the welcome mat for Clemson: the game is in College Park at 3:30 p.m.


That's it for now! Feel free to drop me an e-mail at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it with any thoughts, questions, comments, or concerns.

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