VIRGINIA
TO JOIN THE MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE
Charlottesville,
Va - If it had not been for the sweltering
heat and humidity, one would have sworn this was
a typical MWC offensive battle royal. Anyone watching
this opening day tilt between Colorado State and
Virginia got their cable money’s worth with
an offensive fireworks display and a total lack
of defense. Whether by run or by pass made no
difference - fans were treated to 849 yards of
total offense and what seemed to be a disappearing
act by both punters in the second half.
CSU quarterback Bradlee VanPelt is still cool
as a cucumber, just picking up where he left off
last season. His gritty running ability and fluent
throwing motion under any kind of pressure is
phenomenal. Cecil Sapp is back this year as “the
Diesel” he once was. He has shed the tumor
in his heel that caused him to miss the entire
2001 season, and he proved he is a workhorse.
Virginia
had their moments, although costly turnovers,
especially in the first half, seemed to stifle
a few scoring opportunities. The Cavaliers were
working with a duel QB system as Schaub and Hagan
rotated each quarter. Head Coach Al Groh needs
to pick one - redshirt freshman Marques Hagan
won today’s battle with much quicker feet
and an equally better passing attack. When speaking
of freshmen, Virginia is loaded with them. Down
the road, the people in Charlottesville have much
to be optimistic about. But today’s home
loss was a tough one, with a trip to Tallahassee
next weekend, followed by a home match up with
South Carolina. Dare we say 0-3 for the 2002 Cavalier
start? The odds point to this as a definite possibility.
The
Rams have had some question marks at wide receiver,
which just goes to show the difference a solid
quarterback makes. Sonny Lubick’s team will
regroup for next weekend’s big inter-state
tussle in Denver against Colorado. They are on
the right track.
– To Virginia’s slew of youthful running
backs including Alvin Pearman, Marquis Weeks,
and their iron man of tonight’s game…Wali
Lundy with 20 carries. Wali hails from New Jersey
- he was an All-State player his high school junior
year at receiver, and at running back as a senior.
– To the defenses. Both totally lack(ed)
of ability to stop either the run or the pass.
– To CSU kicker Jeff Babcock…In his
first appearance as a college kicker, he went
5-5 on field goals. What WAS considered a big
question mark is NOW an exclamation point.
–
The Charlottesville crowd seemed to be too busy
with the wine and cheese most of the evening.
Granted, this was the earliest college football
ever played in Division I history, but the noise
meter was certainly turned off for good reason.
– To the Jim Thorpe Classic…the excitement
of college football at its purest. With 10 seconds
left Virginia blew a chance to win the game by
fumbling on the half-yard line. Finding a game
this close for the remaining preseason classics
will prove difficult. If you were not receiving
this game on the tube, you missed a good one.
–
The Heat. 102 degree temperatures existed all
day, which landed somewhere in the 90’s
by kickoff at sundown. With the drought affecting
this part of the country in full swing, it was
just plain good to see green grass once again.
ONLY
12 GAME SCHEDULE FOR IRISH - Speaking
of eight preseason classic games, Notre Dame and
Maryland in the original Kickoff Classic of East
Rutherford, is the only match up that takes place
the following Labor Day Weekend. The situation
almost caused the set up to fall through as the
tilt was scheduled on August 25th a year ago.
Notre Dame asked for a switch when it realized
that the date coincided with mandatory freshman
orientation. With 16 teams playing in Preseason
Classics, Notre Dame is the only school out of
that pack that will maintain a 12 game schedule,
the rest play 13 opponents in accordance to NCAA
Preseason Games policy. Of course out of all the
universities participating in the preseason, who
really cares about the extra money another game
brings in?
JV FOOTBALL STILL ALIVE
- College Football fans fear not...filling the
void left behind by the switching of the original
Sunday Notre Dame/Maryland August 25th broadcast
will be a humdinger of a battle between Arkansas
State and Virginia Tech JV. We have not been able
to confirm yet if the Hokies still field a JV
squad. For those of you that still follow this
ancient ritual of junior varsity squads, we present
the 2002 Navy JV Schedule:
Sept.
8 - 1 p.m. Walter Reed
Sept. 13 - 3:45 p.m. Lackawanna College
Sept. 20 - 3:30 Hargrave Military
Sept. 29 - 1 p.m. Valley Forge Military Academy
Oct. 13 - 3:30 p.m. NAPS
Nov. 1 - 3:30 p.m. Milford Academy
Nov. 15 - 6:00 p.m. NAPS
THE
JOKE’S ON TALLAHASEE –
With this weekend’s Eddie Robinson Classic
duel between Florida State and Iowa State in Kansas
City's Arrowhead Stadium, the local Seminole fans
living in Tallahassee have found out just recently,
that the game will not be televised in their own
capital city. Don’t misunderstand the situation.
Just because your mother’s friend’s
uncle who lives in Nova Scotia can receive the
game via cable, doesn’t mean the people
directly involved should be able to watch it.
The local cable company in that part of the North
Florida Panhandle (Comcast) must have felt the
ratings would suffer while the Fox Big Boyz played
power trip games. The game can be seen on the
Fox Sports Net national broadcast for those of
you not directly involved.
Editor's note: As of Wednesday evening, the
game is now scheduled to view on Comcast Sports
Net in Tallahassee after intense pressure from
the locals, proving once again that the customer
is always right.
COLLEGE
FOOTBALL OXYMORONS – One
of our clever friends here at NationalChamps.net
has integrated his own version of this year’s
College Football Oxymoron’s. Not to be confused
with Bo Schembechler’s brother or the master
inventor of the tight end screen, Baltimore’s
Bill Canter chimes in:
Rutgers success; Temple's future; Paul Pasquiloni's
popularity; Michigan’s aggressive offense;
Ralph Friedgen's fitness; Clemson's ferocious
defense; Georgia Tech's focus; Alabama's integrity;
Miami's lack of talent; Tennessee's "classroom
first" attitude; Northwestern’s recruiting
base; Joe Tillers cautiousness; Minnesota's relevance;
Chris Simms’ field generalship; UCLA's heart;
USC's overachievement; Nebraska's offensive versatility;
Texas A&M's passing "attack"; Texas
Tech’s power game; Bob Davies future; Nick
Saban's calmness; Rick Neuheisel's honesty; Mississippi's
tackling; Mississippi State's momentum; Mack Brown's
game day coaching....
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