Author: Macon Gunter

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, his team three outs away from victory. A lock-down closer, Crockett had never taken a turn at bat in his collegiate career.

“I really didn’t have anything to lose,” he said.

To the delight of his coaches and the amusement of his teammates, the junior lefty ripped a single up the middle and eventually came around to score the final run of the game. He then completed the six-out save, striking out four of seven batters, while allowing just one hit. UVA won, 5-2.

The historic sweep was the result of a typical formula for O’Connor’s brand of Virginia baseball: stellar pitching and sound defense paired with power, patience, and precision at the plate.

Over the 10 years since the coach arrived from Notre Dame, the names have changed, but the results have not. Once pedestrian, UVA’s baseball program is now a perennial power. The ’Hoos humbled FSU before a total of 13,890 fans, a program record for a three-game series. Sellout crowds of 4,980 attended each of the final two games.

“Pretty good present, certainly,” O’Con-nor said of his birthday.

He wasn’t the only one enjoying himself. Seated in section 106, 74-year-old Marvin Ripley hasn’t missed a home game in more than seven years: “Man, there’ve been some cold ones. Woo-eee.”

Ripley, who sits alongside his wife, Maxine, at Davenport Field, has loved baseball ever since he started listening to the Boston Braves and New York Giants on the radio in 1948. He played the game in high school and eventually coached Little League. He’s a sucker for fundamentals, which is why he fell in love with O’Connor’s teams.

“When they need to lay a bunt down, most times they can. When they need to steal a base, they can,” he said. “And when you hit the ball, you don’t look to see if it’s foul or not, you run to first. Somebody will tell you whether it’s foul or not.”

Since O’Connor’s hiring, Virginia has won more than 450 games, captured two ACC crowns, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament nine times. (UVA had made just three such appearances prior to his arrival). O’Connor has twice taken his team to Omaha, Nebraska, site of the College World Series, and developed quite the following en route.

“We could not have the program at this level that we do today without the fan support,” said O’Connor, who answers to “Oak.” “That fan support that we got the Florida State weekend and that we’ve had for years here impacts every facet of this program.”

Virginia has seen a six-fold increase in home attendance during O’Connor’s reign, a testament to the coach and the juggernaut he has built. In nine seasons, the program has hosted six NCAA regionals and notched seven 40-win seasons. It has produced 48 Major League Baseball draft picks, 13 All-America selections, and 40 All-ACC honorees, including two ACC Players of the Year and two ACC Pitchers of the Year.

The Wahoos have won more games than any other Division I baseball program over the last five years, and the mid-April domination of Florida State—the only ACC team O’Connor had yet to sweep—served as a monument marking 10 years of Oak’s legacy.

“I tell the players all the time, ‘Never take winning for granted’” O’Connor said. “I always guard them against this, that when you have a successful program and you win a lot of games, sometimes they can have a tendency to think that it just happens. College baseball games are hard to win no matter who it’s against. And you need to take enjoyment out of each and every time that you step on the field and are victorious.”

 

Headfirst baseball

In June 2003, Virginia Athletics Director Craig Littlepage phoned Paul Mainieri to inquire about his top assistant, a 32-year-old named Brian O’Connor. Then Notre Dame’s skipper, Mainieri spoke with Littlepage at length before calling O’Connor, who was recruiting prep prospects in Omaha, naturally.

“Paul said, ‘Hey, I have the perfect job for you,’” O’Connor recalled. “‘I think I just talked to your future boss.’”

Days later, Littlepage and O’Connor met inside a Radisson Hotel just outside the Cincinnati airport.

“I knew within 10 minutes of our meeting that Brian O’Connor was a guy that offered the University of Virginia and our baseball program something really special,” said Littlepage, who had only taken his post two years prior. “His preparation, his vision, and the detail with which he spoke about what we needed to do to have a nationally competitive baseball program were very, very much on target.”

That Littlepage was even vetting coaching candidates was a victory in and of itself. In the spring of 2001, school administrators proposed a tiering of varsity sports, and baseball was slated to become little more than a club offering.

“Instead, the Board of Visitors made sure that excellence at UVA would include athletics, and we were charged with a game plan by which we could advance and grow our intercollegiate sports programs,” Littlepage said.

That game plan ultimately afforded Littlepage the opportunity to upgrade facilities, fully fund scholarships, and attract strong coaching candidates. He sought to identify coaches who would bring new ideas and energy to programs that were experiencing malaise “to the point where we could have success, be competitive, and win championships both on a conference and national level.”

“My thought hasn’t changed from when we got here and that is to have a very, very consistent program at the highest level that can play in the NCAA tournament every year,” O’Connor said. “We don’t talk about big expectations. We talk more about daily expectations, because if we do the little things, then we’ll have those special opportunities like we had in 2009 and 2011 [at the College World Series].”

The dawning of the 2013 campaign brought with it great uncertainty for Oak & Co. The talent was unmistakable, but so was the inexperience. Pundits held UVA out of preseason polls and predicted a rebuilding year in Charlottesville.

“This year, our expectation was that we were going to win,” said O’Connor, a four-time ACC Coach of the Year. “Are the players different? Do we not have as much experience? Sure that’s the case, but that’s never held us back before. I don’t like to put limitations on any team. Our expectations are to succeed at the very, very highest level and that will never change.”

Three weeks into the season, Virginia was 14-0. The team won its 30th game before it lost its fourth. The sweep of FSU vaulted the Wahoos into the top five of the national rankings. The success didn’t surprise the man in charge.

“It’s a really good group of young men that play the game the right way,” O’Connor said. “Many times this year, we’ve been what people would think would be out of the ball game, down five or six runs in the last couple of innings, and found a way to come back and win the game. We have a chance to win every game and they just don’t quit fighting until the last out.”

The embodiment of the team’s never-say-die attitude is Scott Silverstein, a fifth-year senior from Brookeville, Maryland. Coming out of St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C., the 6’6″ pitcher was a more highly regarded prospect than area phenom Danny Hultzen, who became one of the most decorated players in Virginia baseball history.

In the beginning of his senior season at St. John’s, however, Silverstein experienced sharp pain in his throwing shoulder and was shelved for the majority of the season. In June 2008, he underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum. The southpaw arrived on Grounds that fall and began throwing again but not without discomfort. He was shut down once more and watched from the dugout as his team advanced to Omaha for the first time in school history in 2009.

That summer, Silverstein visited renowned orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews. After multiple cortisone injections and repeated attempts at pitching, he underwent a second major shoulder surgery—this one performed by Andrews. The subsequent rehabilitation was successful, though he was forced to redshirt in 2010. Silverstein threw just 14 innings in 2011, mostly in relief. While Virginia made its second College World Series appearance that year, he logged just one-third of an inning in Omaha.

In 2012, Silverstein pitched regularly for the first time since 2007, his junior year in high school. While his numbers weren’t spectacular, the experience he gained set the stage for a breakout performance this season.

Statistically, Silverstein is among the team leaders in every significant pitching category. Against FSU, he threw seven innings of one-hit ball, as UVA became the first team to hold the Seminoles to one base hit in 15 years. One of the Wahoos’ most dependable pitchers, Silverstein will be a critical piece of his team’s postseason run. He is the epitome of a program built on discipline, devotion, and desire.

“I remember saying to myself that the injury wouldn’t define me as a baseball player, but it would define me as a person, how I responded to it,” Silverstein said. “I’m proud of how far I’ve come.”

While the whole has always been greater than the sum of its parts for Virginia’s teams, O’Connor, a consummate professional, always measured and tactful, is acutely aware of the benefit of strong-willed individuals inside his clubhouse. He is as proud of his pitcher’s comeback as he is of his team’s wins.

“It would have been easy for that kid with the surgery that he had to give up,” O’Connor said of Silverstein. “I mean, 50 percent of the people never return from one of those surgeries, let alone two. It just shows the type of person he is… He’s going to have that for the rest of his life, that he had really tough times at this point in his life and he persevered through them. What a great lesson.”

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 the program is irrevocably broken.

Just as last November’s coronation was premature, rumors of Virginia football’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. The Wahoos were 5-1 in one-score games a season ago, but just 2-4 this year. The 2012 campaign could have looked a lot like 2011, and vice versa.

Unfortunately, Mike London’s second 4-8 finish in three years mandated change. Eight days after UVA’s ninth consecutive loss to Virginia Tech, London fired four assistant coaches and granted quarterback Michael Rocco an unconditional release.

“After conducting a complete evaluation of the program and discussing my thoughts with administration, there are a number of areas we need to improve on and it starts with me as the head coach,” London said in a statement. “The decision to release these four coaches is very difficult, but one I feel is necessary in order to meet the goals we have set for the Virginia football program.”

Defensive coordinator Jim Reid was let go, along with Jeff Hanson (defensive line/ recruiting coordinator), Mike Faragalli (running backs), and Shawn Moore (tight ends). It was announced that Anthony Poindexter will no longer be in charge of special teams, though he will remain on staff.

Added London: “I have coached with some of these men for many years, won a national championship with some, and I truly appreciate their dedication and commitment, and more importantly, their friendships. I wish them the best.”

The staff’s unorthodox rotation of quarterbacks this season—a practice surely to be abandoned in 2013—prompted Rocco’s decision to transfer.

“The quarterback position is one where, if you have a lot of things going through your mind, it inhibits the way you play,” Rocco told The Roanoke Times. “It’s an unhealthy environment for any quarterback at UVA. It was hard on all the quarterbacks, not just me. I had no idea what was going to happen next year.”

Virginia’s on-field results have been inconsistent during London’s tenure. In 2010, an overmatched squad nearly knocked off USC and did beat No. 22 Miami, but allowed nearly 40 points per game in four losses down the stretch. In 2011, the Wahoos needed overtime to beat Idaho, just weeks before they became the first team ever to record road wins over FSU and Miami in the same season. In 2012, UVA torched double-digit favorite N.C. State after losing six in a row, including home games to lowly Maryland and Wake Forest.

London’s pedestrian 16-21 record at Virginia makes his success on the recruiting trail all the more impressive. The current class, his third, is ranked 20th nationally by recruiting authority Rivals.com, though staff attrition could alter its makeup. His second class ranked 27th. His first, 25th. The 2010 group (next season’s senior class) was recruited primarily by his predecessor Al Groh and ranked 67th.

The trick now is to translate talent into wins.

“My primary task is to continue to evaluate this program and take the necessary steps to make us successful on the field,” London said. “This University and its fans deserve a program that competes for championships. In order to do that, we need to make improvements in every aspect of our football operation.”

MACON GUNTER is a licensed real estate agent with McLean Faulconer, Inc. in Charlottesville, where he represents buyers and sellers of homes and land. A University of Virginia graduate, Macon has long covered UVA athletics and currently contributes to C-VILLE Weekly and the Virginia Sports Radio Network. Contact Macon through www.macongunter.com. 

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 to set up the game-winning field goal with only four seconds remaining. UVA still had two timeouts.

Mike London twice attempted to “ice” kicker Cody Journell, a tactic proven statistically ineffective. Journell made the 29-yard chip shot as time ran out.

Realistically, Virginia’s offense would have had roughly one minute to tie or win had timeouts been used effectively. Shortly after the game, London was caught off-guard – and provided no discernible explanation – when asked by radio sideline reporter Jay James about his clock management.

Moments later, Times-Dispatch writer Michael Phillips asked the coach if he had considered stopping the clock in the game’s final minutes.

“Not really,” London responded. “Again, I thought we were playing well defensively. You just have to make the decision, if you try to save timeouts with seconds on the clock, or hopefully your defense will get a crack at maybe causing a turnover or maybe knocking them back a little back. That didn’t occur. You try to play the game so you can get into it in the last second.”

Daily Press columnist Dave Teel then asked for further clarification on the decision to let time elapse.

“I’d have to go back and look at that again,” London said. “I’m trying to remember the sequence of the events and the information that I’m getting from upstairs and all that. When I do, and if I do, then I’ll definitely talk to you about how that played out.”

Given the benefit of time and reflection, London text messaged Teel from the team bus:

Getting back to you. 40 sec left thought process.

1. PK missed previous one.

2. Make them run/handle FB.

3. did not want expend the last two TO and concede 3 pts. Even with poss 30/25 secs left.

4. They would be kicking off with the wind. All kickoffs from the opp end to our locker room were ALL touchbacks.

Aspect of down 3 pts – ball on our 25 no time outs, 3-14 for 3rd downs, and drive the field to tie or score Td to win against the wind?

Anyway, out of respect to your question and your right to disagree. You deserve a proper answer. If you want to discuss further, let me know.

Thank you,

Mike London

To London’s first two points, Tech would have had to handle the football and kick a field goal regardless of whether Virginia used its timeouts or not. The final point appears to be an indictment of his offense: “Aspect of down 3 pts – ball on our 25 no time outs, 3-14 for 3rd downs, and drive the field to tie or score Td to win against the wind?” In other words, a game-tying or game-winning drive was so daunting that the coach would rather have lost or gone to overtime on the game’s final play of regulation.

It is worth noting that UVA’s only offensive scoring drive of the afternoon covered 50 yards in 1:31 and went into the wind. Under the hypothetical scenario that London eschewed, 50 yards would have put Virginia within field goal range, down 17-14. Had London not burned his first timeout with the clock stopped at 3:43, the Wahoos would have had even more time than the certain minute they gave away.

Indeed, Virginia had the game’s opening 59 minutes to put itself in a different position. The offense, however, could not take advantage of a stellar defensive performance. The Cavaliers produced season lows in passing yards, rushing yards, and first downs, and the special teams unit failed to convert a fake field goal. The would-be 38-yarder would have given UVA a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter.

Virginia finishes the 2012 campaign 4-8 and has now lost nine in a row to Virginia Tech.

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.

“The pass was intended for Tim Smith,” Rocco said. “The safety rolled down into cover three, and I tried to fit one in there. The ball was too low. It could have been a big play if I had gotten it over top of him, but the safety made a good play, and then made a good return. It wasn’t my best throw.”

UVA was poised to tie the game in the closing moments of the third quarter. The Wahoos faced second-and-goal from the 3, third-and-goal from the 2, and fourth-and-goal from the 1. Offensive coordinator Bill Lazor appeared to call identical plays on third and fourth downs, and Virginia gave away possession when Kevin Parks was dropped for a two-yard loss.

“It was a big turning point in the game,” Parks said. “[If] we get it, it’s a different ball game. We came up short. It hurts. I didn’t do a good job on my part getting in. You have to do anything possible to get in.”

“Seemed like the game kind of turned on that,” Mike London added.

All was not lost, even after UNC proceeded to march 97 yards for a touchdown to take a 14-point lead, 27-13. On the ensuing drive, Phillip Sims dropped back to pass on third-and-14 from his own 19-yard line. Darius Jennings got lost behind the Tar Heel defense but dropped what would have been a surefire 81-yard touchdown pass.

Said Sims: “I’m going to be honest with you. In practice this week, I really haven’t hit that play. It’s not my favorite play, if you were to ask anybody. I made a pretty decent throw on this one, but we just didn’t hit it tonight. It’s just the story of the night, I guess you could say.”

UNC would add 10 additional fourth-quarter points before the clock mercifully ran out.

A ticking time bomb, Virginia’s quarterback shuffle finally blew up Thursday night. In defense of his decision to lift Sims after he led UVA on a 67-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter, London said: “The next series was up, and Mike was the guy.”

On the first play of that series, Rocco threw the crushing pick-six to Boston – and was then given the next drive, as well. Virginia went three-and-out.

The pair continued to split time in the second half but combined to produce just three points against a UNC defense that allowed 68 to Georgia Tech a week ago.

Virginia’s struggles were not limited to the offensive side of the ball. The Cavalier defense slowed ACC Player of the Year-candidate Giovani Bernard but failed to address freshman receiver Quinshad Davis, who caught 16 passes – tying an ACC record – for 178 yards.

UVA defensive backs routinely gave Carolina receivers 10-yard cushions from the line of scrimmage, and Bryn Renner took full advantage. The junior quarterback completed more than 80 percent of his passes, many of them simple bubble screens to Davis.

With the loss, Virginia is guaranteed a losing season for the fifth time in the last seven years.

“We’re not happy,” Rocco said. “You play for a bowl game, you play for championships, and you play to win. After a loss, it’s tough, especially knowing that you’re not going to be able to go to a bowl game for our seniors and the guys graduating. But we’ll move on. We have a big one next week.”

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 ultimately found favorite target Jake McGee in the back of the end zone with just six seconds remaining.

“Coming to the line of scrimmage I said, ‘Jake, this one is coming to you, go catch it.’ And he did. I kind of knew pre-snap that I was going to throw it high in the back of the end zone and hopefully he was going to get it.”

It was the pair’s second game-winning hookup this season.

“If it came to me, there was no doubt in my mind that I was going to be able to make the catch,” McGee said. “If he threw it to me, I knew I had to go get it. I felt like it could have been even higher and I would’ve been able to get it.”

Rocco  completed 18 consecutive passes Saturday, a school record previously held by Matt Blundin (14 vs. Duke, 1991). The junior finished 29-of-37 for 300 yards, four touchdowns, and zero picks.

“I think that Michael has done an outstanding job the last couple games,” coach Mike London said. “We talk about how selfless he is. He’s a team player. He wants to win. He has a great relationship with Phil [Sims]. No one cares about who gets the credit; we just want to win ball games.”

Virginia is 2-0 since adopting a quarterback rotation, though Sims (11-of-14, 83 yards) gave way to Rocco for good early in the fourth quarter with their team behind 38-28. After an egregious safety call, UVA trailed 40-35 when it received the ball for the final time on its own 13-yard line with 2:38 remaining. Twice would the Wahoos convert on 4^th-and-7.

“It was real calm, actually,” McGee said of the game-winning drive. “Everyone has complete faith that Mike [Rocco] can lead us down the field and we just knew it was hopefully a matter of time before we could get seven on the board. Everyone knew that this was it. It was our last drive so [Rocco] kept us focused and told us that we got this.”

Five of Virginia’s six games inside Scott Stadium have been decided by a single score, but not since the season’s second game against Penn State had UVA prevailed.

Said Coach London: “I’d just like to say what a blessing that is to see something like that come to fruition at the end of the game, where there have been a couple of times we’ve come on the short end of that: muffed punt, or interception or something. To see the players and coaches be really resilient, I’m just so elated, so happy for those guys.

“Sometimes you can’t measure desire and you can’t measure heart.”

With two games to play, UVA (4-6, 2-4 ACC) is two wins away from its second straight bowl berth, following a dizzying six-game freefall. The Cavs are now 5-1 in their last six games played in the month of November.

“We’re just winners,” Rocco said. “We all have that winning mentality that if we’re in a position to win it at the end that we’re going to. Sometimes the chips don’t fall as you would like them to but God was on our side today. We all played with guts and effort and got the win.”

UP NEXT: North Carolina

The south’s oldest rivalry will be privy to a national audience as ESPN visits Scott Stadium for its Thursday night showcase. Virginia won at Miami last season on a Thursday night and trounced UNC 23-0 in Scott Stadium on a Thursday night in 2006.  The Wahoos’ most notable mid-week contest took place 17 years ago in Charlottesville: UVA handed FSU its first-ever ACC loss, 33-28.

Larry Fedora is in his first season as North Carolina’s head coach. Fedora compiled a 34-19 record at Southern Miss, including two wins over Virginia in 2009 (37-34) and 2011 (30-24). He has employed a wide-open spread attack that is scoring more than 40 points per game in 2012. The unit is led by junior quarterback Bryn Renner and sophomore tailback Giovani Bernard.

Carolina (6-4, 3-3 ACC)  has dropped 18 of the last 25 meetings with UVA and hadn’t won in Charlottesville since 1981 before taking a lopsided 44-10 contest during its last trip in 2010.

UNC is ineligible to participate in postseason play this season. In March, the NCAA found the school responsible for violations including academic fraud, impermissible agent benefits, participation by ineligible players, and a failure to monitor the football program.

Virginia hasn’t won a home finale since a 2006 victory over Miami.

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 to play and they both knew they were going to play and what’s important is that we won the game,” offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said.

UVA’s staff, however, could be risking future spoils because of its inability to settle on a signal caller. Good quarterback play is predicated on rhythm, timing, trust, and confidence. The Sims-Rocco rotation appears to be nothing more than a stopgap.

“It was a determination that we have two guys that are very talented players that provide different things to our team,” Mike London said.

Coach London has declined to speak publicly about their respective skill sets, though it would appear from afar that the two are quite similar, save Sims’ bigger arm. While Rocco managed 36 yards rushing a week ago, neither can be deemed a mobile quarterback. The coaches have intimated that Rocco is more comfortable picking up blitzes and making the quick throw, but the junior consistently misfired on hot reads Saturday, finishing 8-19 for 49 yards after an initial touchdown drive.

“It could have been that either one of them could have stayed in there and played well enough to win the game,” said Lazor, “but we’re not going to look back and second-guess. We’re just moving forward.”

Sims completed eight of ten passes for 115 yards and a pair of touchdowns, one throwing, one rushing.

“You gotta deal with the situation you’re in each time,” Lazor continued “I may have said in the past that I didn’t like [rotating quarterbacks], but I liked what happened [Saturday].

“We reserve the right to make decisions as we go.”

When you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks, says the tried-and-true football adage. And while Virginia is unbeaten during its most recent QB shuffle, correlation does not necessarily imply causation.

“They both have bought into it,” London said. “There’s not an ego between Michael or Phillip. We have to get the job done when we do this. We will win. That’s all that matters to them.”

THIS SATURDAY

UVA (3-6, 1-4 ACC) will aim for its third consecutive win over Miami (5-4, 4-2 ACC) and fifth since 2006. The Wahoos beat the ‘Canes 28-21 last year, becoming the only team in college football history to beat Miami and Florida State on the road in the same season.

After losing consecutive games to Notre Dame, North Carolina, and Florida State, Miami topped Virginia Tech last time out to take control of the conference’s Coastal Division. The ‘Canes dominated VPI’s vaunted special teams units en route to a 30-12 win.

Miami is coached by dress shirt and necktie-clad Al Golden, who served as Virginia’s defensive coordinator under Al Groh (2001-05) and as a graduate assistant for George Welsh (1994-96). The school is reportedly considering self-imposing a postseason ban for the second consecutive season amidst an NCAA investigation into its compliance practices.

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 seven sacks in 2012 before facing one of the conference’s more prolific offenses. Saturday, Virginia tallied five takeaways and sacked State quarterbacks six times. The unit received breakthrough performances from first-years Eli Harold and Maurice Canady, both of whom made their first career starts at Carter-Finley Stadium.

“I was talking to the guys, ‘Hey, there’s nobody here!’” said Harold after a Homecoming crowd fled for the exits as Virginia took a 26-0 lead early in the fourth quarter. “‘There’s probably less than 1,000 people here right now!’”

N.C. State mustered season-lows in points, passing yards, and rushing yards against a Cavalier defense that has now held its last three opponents to 235, 213, and 216 yards of total offense, respectively.

“At 2-6, it’s easy to say, ‘Screw it. Let’s just go and play, whatever,’” defensive end Jake Snyder said. “But we kept preparing, kept focusing like this was the most important practice, the most important game, and that’s what you saw today.”

Credit London for keeping engaged a group that had lost six straight games by a combined 100 points.

“It’s rewarding because it’s easy sometimes to give up on players, point fingers at people, things like that, and scrap the whole system and try to do something else,” London said. “It’s rewarding to see those guys who work hard.”

UVA scored on its opening drive, but not before wide-open quarterback Phillip Sims dropped a tailor-made halfback pass from Perry Jones on first-and-goal from the four.

“Oh, man,” said Sims, who would run for a touchdown two plays later. “I was thinking about the celebration, to be honest. I had never had a pass thrown to me before so I was pretty much thinking about what I was going to do after I caught it.

“[The celebration] might have cost me a 15-yard penalty. I’m going to hold the secret because you never know, I might get a chance to do it again.”

Sims split time at quarterback with Michael Rocco in an unorthodox move that managed to pay dividends.

“We have two guys that are very talented players, and they provide different things for our team,” London said. “I just thought both of them brought something to the table.”

Sims completed eight of ten passes for 115 yards and a 38-yard touchdown strike to Tim Smith. Rocco finished 12-of-23 for 83 yards and an 18-yard score to Darius Jennings. Both were aided by a potent running attack that racked up 248 yards on the ground. Kevin Parks ran for a game-high 115 yards and a touchdown after addressing his team Friday night.

“I just spoke from the heart and said what needed to be said,” recalled Parks, who was overlooked by ACC schools in his home state of North Carolina. “Just telling everybody to believe in our system, and believe in our coaches.”

Virginia (3-6, 1-4 ACC) must win out to become bowl eligible. It hosts Miami (5-4, 4-2) and North Carolina (6-3, 3-2) before traveling to Virginia Tech (4-5, 2-3).

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 needed to top No. 12 Georgia Tech (24-21), Miami (28-21), and No. 23 Florida State (14-13) en route to eight wins and a Chick-fil-a Bowl berth. It was a composed team that learned how to win.

A season later, Virginia is timid and unsure, completely devoid of the bravado it displayed in 2011.

These Cavaliers have lost three games by a single score – all to teams with inferior talent. A loss Saturday would mark the program’s longest losing streak since 1981, Dick Bestwick’s final season as coach.

“We desperately want to win a game,” Mike London said. “We want to play and win a game. That’s priority for us.”

Virginia focused its attention inwardly during the bye week, a fine choice for a team that ranks near the bottom of so many statistical categories.

Said London: “We don’t get a lot of time to go out and practice the fundamentals of what we do, what we need to do, and that was a large portion of spending those practice opportunities in getting better but also making sure that we correct a lot of things, whether it’s personnel, scheme-wise, that we take a good look at what we’re doing and how we’re doing it and who’s doing it. Those are things that an open week allows you to do, and we try and take full advantage of that.”

London suspended three players for violations of team rules during the week off, effectively sending the message that the team’s record shall have no impact on how his charges conduct themselves.

Virginia (2-6) travels to N.C. State (5-3) this weekend for the first time since 2007. The Wahoos have won 15 of the last 24 meetings between the schools, but dropped last year’s game, 28-14, in Charlottesville.

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 crowd of 41,167.

“You would like to think that as a team you are learning from your mistakes the previous weeks,” said quarterback Phillip Sims.

Unfortunately, UVA has continued to make the same mistakes week in and week out during its six-game skid. Saturday, the Cavaliers committed three turnovers and forced none. The offensive line struggled mightily against the nation’s 102^nd run defense. The defensive line failed to pressure the quarterback. And the special teams play was horrid.

UVA’s punt team allowed a 60-yard return two minutes into the game (Wake scored a play later). Kyle McCartin and Henry Coley committed two costly special teams penalties that led to two field goals in a game decided by six points. And Shepherd saw Alex Kinal’s final towering punt glance off his facemask and into the waiting hands of a Demon Deacon.

“I love [Khalek],” said special teams coordinator Anthony Poindexter of the usually sure-handed Shepherd. “This man is great. No one outworks him. No one catches more punts at practice. He didn’t cost us the game because there were 80 plays before it in the game that affected it. It wasn’t just that one play.”

Virginia’s defense limited Wake Forest to just 213 yards of offense and one third-down conversion, but Bill Lazor’s group produced only 10 points against a Deacon defense that was allowing 31 per game.

UVA (2-6, 0-4 ACC) has now lost to Georgia Tech (which has since dropped three of four and fired its defensive coordinator), a Duke team ravaged by injuries, and pedestrian clubs Maryland and Wake Forest. Mike London’s team is off Saturday before it tackles the meat of its schedule – a sobering thought.

“That losing taste lingers in your mouth for a while and the only way you can get rid of it is to play another game,” London said. “Obviously we won’t play for a while, but you can go back and do things while you wait. We can dedicate time toward improving our fundamentals in blocking, throwing, catching and all those things. It’s not going to be about the schemes of who we’re getting ready to play, but taking care of ourselves and eliminating some of the things that we do that continue to keep costing us. That’s what the open week will be dedicated to, is fixing ourselves.”

The ‘Hoos will not be favored to win another game this season, as trips to NC State and Virginia Tech sandwich home dates with Miami and North Carolina.

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 because of ACC expansion.

And that might be a good thing for Virginia’s Cavaliers. Jim Grobe, the second-longest tenured coach in the ACC, has led the Demon Deacons to four bowl appearances in the last six years. A UVA graduate (’75, ’78) and former Cavalier football player, Grobe won the 2006 AP and ACC Coach of the Year awards after an 11-3 season in which the Deacs won their first conference championship since 1960. Wake won the teams’ last meeting, 28-17, four seasons ago in Winston-Salem, but UVA holds a 34-13 edge overall, and its 17 straight wins over WFU from 1984-2000 match the second-longest winning streak for one league team over another in ACC history.

Those days, sadly, are over. Virginia (2-5, 0-3 ACC) has been outscored by 94 points during its current slide, and a loss Saturday would equal the school’s longest losing streak in 30 years. Of 120 FBS teams, UVA ranks 88^th in scoring offense, 99^th in scoring defense, and 119^th in turnover margin. The Cavalier offense has outgained its last three opponents, but costly giveaways and penalties have spelled doom for Mike London’s third season.

Wake Forest (3-3, 1-3 ACC) is coming off of a bye week after losing 19-14 to Maryland, Virginia’s opponent a week ago. Since beginning the season 2-0 with narrow wins over Liberty and North Carolina, the Deacs have stumbled in recent weeks, averaging just 10 points per game in losses to FSU, Duke, and Maryland.

The Wahoos are a 3.5 point favorite, but beware: UVA is the only team in the nation that hasn’t covered the spread in 2012. Kickoff is set for 12:30pm.