Simpson, Sewell are shaken up

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The grind of the football season is beginning to wear on two of U.Va.'s top offensive players.

Quarterback Jameel Sewell (Hermitage) has battled an ankle injury for the past few weeks and also injured his shoulder at some point in the past week. He is listed as "doubtful" for tomorrow's game, with Marc Verica the backup-in-waiting.

"He's a very physical player for a quarterback," coach Al Groh said. "He takes a pretty good licking but keeps coming back."

Sewell was unavailable to reporters this week, though has said in the past that he'll try to play through his pain.

At running back, Mikell Simpson was carted off the field in the third quarter of the Indiana game with a neck injury, and has yet to fully rebound.

"It'd be foolish to think there wasn't the potential for some mental hangover," Groh said. "We did talk about the fact that it looked, on same carries, that it wasn't the same Mikell carrying the ball."
Injury update

Defensive end Matt Conrath might be able to return tomorrow when Virginia takes on Miami. He's listed as questionable on this week's injury report.

Linebacker Aaron Clark also is questionable after having missed last week's game. If he returns, he'll split snaps at linebacker with Denzel Burrell.
Hall growing into receiver role

For the multitalented Vic Hall, wide receiver is a position he's had his eye on.

When Sewell took the reins at quarterback this year, it was an opportunity to take his first-ever snaps at the position.

"It looked fun to me," he said. "And I'm enjoying it a lot. I've always wanted to take a try at receiver."

He instantly grew into the team's leading receiver, despite not having played the position in the opening weeks.

Groh credit's both Hall's previous knowledge of the playbook from being a quarterback, as well as the skills that made him a shut-down cornerback.

"He's such a diligent worker and has such a football aptitude," the coach said.

Hall also gets some occasional snaps in at quarterback and remains the team's third-stringer behind Sewell and Verica.
 

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Cavs hope to perform salvage work in steamy Miami


Virginia's football practices this week were conducted in sweats, not because the temperature was low in Charlottesville, but rather to try to imitate the heat the Wahoos will face today in Miami.

"It's hard to simulate, but we're trying to get as close to it as we can here," receiver Vic Hall said.

That said, it would be hard to find a player who gripes about a November trip to South Florida. The Cavs got their fun in the sun yesterday, now this afternoon it's down to business against a Miami team that dodged a bullet -- in the form of a 60-yard field goal -- last week against Wake Forest.

For the Hoos, it's an opportunity to reclaim a season that in recent weeks has started to slide away. The road won't get any easier, though, as today starts a stretch of four games against quick teams with winning records.

"We've probably entered into the speed part of our schedule -- the high-speed part," coach Al Groh said.

This will be the first time the teams have met in Land Shark Stadium. The last time U.Va. invaded Miami, the Cavaliers knocked off the Hurricanes 48-0 in the final game at the Orange Bowl.

"It was quite the big dog and pony show, and all the big guns were brought in to make it quite a celebration," Groh said. "That particular team really took the challenge and played about as well as we could possibly play, as well as we've ever played against a real quality opponent."

Today's game will be played under less pomp and circumstance, though it is homecoming at Miami.

In recent weeks the Canes have shown signs of slipping after a strong start -- they lost to Clemson, then there was last week's nail-biter against the Demon Deacons, but Hall said the Cavs won't be making any assumptions.

"We can't say that just because it happened to them, it will happen to us," he said. "They're very talented, with lots of speed, so we'll have to match our speed and talent with execution."

Part of that is the fertile recruiting ground that Miami occupies. Florida and Texas are regarded as the top places in the country to scout out high-school talent, and many out-of-state colleges have a presence there.

Virginia's is minimal. Kicker Robert Randolph is the only starter from the Sunshine State. Cornerback Mike Parker and tight end Paul Freedman are also from the area.

"There's a lot of fish in that sea, and you have to know where to drop your hook," Groh said. "It's difficult to recruit there unless you do it actively."

He said that when he was hired as Virginia's coach, he wanted to put a stronger emphasis on recruiting in-state students.
 

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Miami Hurricanes' line must serve and protect

The Hurricanes offensive line plans better protection for Jacory Harris, who has been sacked 20 times in the past five games.




Jason Fox held out his hands like a proud warrior eager to show off his battle scars. From his thumbs to his pinkies, the University of Miami's starting left tackle pointed to each of his fingers that were either broken, mangled or completely exposed without fingernails.

``It's just bumps and bruises,'' grinned Fox, set to make his 45th career start at noon Saturday against Virginia (3-5, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) at Land Shark Stadium.

``That's football. That's the season. Everybody is beat up. But I'd be lying to you if I told your our bodies didn't feel it going out there and hitting every week. I'm happy coach is taking it a little easier on us in practice now. Because the team that can push through [injuries] and not get complacent is the one that is going to win games down the stretch.''

The Hurricanes (6-2, 3-2) have taken quite a few licks in their first eight games -- mostly on defense.

But the offensive line, where Fox is among six iron men who have taken the majority of the snaps this season, hasn't been spared either. Fox ``banged up'' his left knee against Clemson doing what he and the rest of UM's offensive line have been asked to do a lot more of lately -- play on their heels and try to protect quarterback Jacory Harris from the blitz.

UM did a good job protecting the quarterback early this season, allowing only four sacks in the first three games. But opponents have found leaks in the Canes' pass protection schemes lately with different blitz packages.

THE KITCHEN SINK

Last week, Wake Forest got to Harris five times, bringing the total to 20 sacks in the past five games.

``People are just throwing the whole kitchen sink at us and hoping they get there before Jacory lets go of the ball,'' Fox said. ``We're doing the best we can. But when they're blitzing seven guys and we only have six guys to protect, somebody is going to get through.''

The Cavaliers, ranked 34th nationally in total defense (329.3 yards per game) and 40th in scoring defense (21.8 ppg), don't blitz often. But they are averaging two sacks a game (16 this season) and present problems for the Hurricanes in various ways, including being the only ACC team to run the 3-4 defense.

``We've seen the 3-4, but they run it differently,'' Fox said. ``It's a very unique defense. It's an NFL-type defense. It's not a penetrating-type defense. It's reading and reacting.''

UM coach Randy Shannon said: ``Defensively, they play eight-man fronts. Sometimes they'll line up and play man coverage the whole entire game. They're just going to try and out-execute you.''

PLAYMAKERS

The Cavaliers have several playmakers on defense. Defensive end Nate Collins has been named ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week twice, making 35 of his 57 tackles during the past three weeks. He leads Virginia in sacks with five.

Ras-I Dowling (6-2, 200) was named to the All-ACC Preseason Team and is fourth on the team with 40 tackles.

He and fellow cornerback Chris Cook (6-2, 210) have combined for 11 career interceptions and 39 pass breakups and are part of a secondary that has given up just four passing touchdowns all season.

It wasn't until last week against Duke that the Cavaliers finally allowed an opponent to throw for more than 200 yards.

Another Virginia defensive strength: red-zone stops. Of the 27 times opponents have driven inside the Cavaliers 20-yard line, they have forced 15 field goals.

``We got out of the running game early last week because we were down. But we plan on running the ball a lot more this week,'' UM center A.J. Trump said. ``Virginia doesn't blitz as much on film. But every week we say that, and we end up seeing more blitzes. We just have to do a better job winning the battle up front.''
 
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