Cavs’ defense carries day, shutting out ex-coach’s Spiders

By Doug Doughty

CHARLOTTESVILLE

One year ago, Mike London would have been delighted with Virginia's defensive performance against Richmond.

On Saturday, he could only admire it.

London, the Cavaliers' defensive coordinator for the past two seasons, was on the losing end Saturday as U.Va. blanked his first Spiders' team 16-0 at Scott Stadium.

"I think he was proud of what he left behind," U.Va. linebacker Clint Sintim said, "but I know he was wishing for a different outcome."

Virginia struggled offensively for most of the afternoon and nursed a 3-0 lead until late in the fourth quarter, when Mikell Simpson finally gave the Cavaliers some breathing room on a 1-yard touchdown run with

7:25 remaining.

Richmond (1-1) subsequently drove to Virginia's 5-yard line, but an end-zone interception by redshirt freshman Chase Minniefield ended the threat.

Vic Hall ended the scoring on a 60-yard interception with 2:08 left.

"We saw this as a significant challenge," said U.Va. coach Al Groh, whose team was coming off a 52-7 home loss to Southern California in their season's opener. "There were quite a few people in the county who saw us as the underdog."

Groh did not produce a list of names, but the Spiders are ranked third in Division I-AA and returned 16 starters from a team that won 11 games in 2007.

U.Va. outgained Richmond 295-194, but the Spiders did not lack for chances.

Richmond had eight possessions on which it got to U.Va.'s 40-yard line or deeper, including two that resulted in 29-yard field goal tries, but the Cavaliers would not break.

Virginia blocked one of Andrew Howard's field goal attempts and deflected the other, but there was no cause for rejoicing until Minniefield's interception with 4:10 remaining.

The Cavaliers led 10-0 at the time but Richmond had responded with its best drive of the day, marching from its 26 to the Virginia 5, where it had second and goal.

Richmond quarterback Eric Ward appeared headed for the end zone until he was met at the 2-yard line by U.Va. linebacker Jon Copper, whose hit caused Ward to fumble.

The ball rolled into the end zone, where it was recovered by the Spiders' Jordan Mitchell for what would have been a touchdown if not for a flag behind the play.

An illegal-procedure penalty nullified the Spiders' apparent score, but U.Va. wasn't home safe. Richmond was sent back to the 10-yard line for a repeat of second down, but the Cavaliers caught a break.

Ward was shaken up on Copper's hit and required medical attention, which meant he had to leave the game. He was replaced for one play by back-up Will Healey, whose second-and-goal pass hit the upright.

When Ward returned for third down, he was flushed out of the pocket and was victimized by Minniefield, whose interception took a field goal out of the equation.

"Two things you have to be able to do are run the ball in the fourth quarter and rush the passer," Groh said.

The Cavaliers had six sacks, including 1-1/2 by redshirt freshman Matt Conrath, and 10 tackles for loss. How well they were able to run the ball in the fourth quarter is open to debate.

The touchdown that made it 10-0 followed a 21-yard Richmond punt that gave Virginia possession at its 46-yard line.

Cedric Peerman opened the drive with a 9-yard run and Simpson added a 9-yard run to the Richmond 7, but it took five more rushing attempts before U.Va. could reach the end zone.

Virginia has based its 2008 promotional efforts on the slogan, "Power of Orange," but it was more like an orange power outage on a day that U.Va. recognized its 1989 team, one of the school's all-time offensive juggernauts.

Peerman ran for 17 yards on U.Va.'s first offensive play and added a second 17-yard run later in the drive, but he injured a hip with 11 minutes remaining in the first quarter and played sparingly the rest of the day. He finished with 10 carries for 60 yards.

"Every time he takes the field, you get that type of tough performance," Groh said. "He took a very substantial hit early in the game but he will never lay the flag down easily."

The first drive summed up Virginia's day.

A pass to Kevin Ogletree gave the Cavaliers a first and goal at the Richmond 1, but Simpson lost yardage on back-to-back running plays before Peter Lalich threw an incompletion.