Momentum, mistakes seen as keys Saturday

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Posted 5:21PM on Friday, October 27, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - There is an undeniable upbeat feeling at Virginia these days, borne of two games in a row when the Cavaliers offense showed vast improvement. But as the Cavaliers (3-5, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) look forward to Saturday's game against North Carolina State, they see clear evidence that trends can be fleeting, particularly in what's become a topsy-turvy season in the league. The Wolfpack (3-4, 2-2) started conference play with victories against two teams considered among the best in the ACC, beating Boston College and Florida State. Since then, they've lost close games to Wake Forest and Maryland. Chris Long expects the former Wolfpack, rather than the latter, to show up, and will try to make sure his teammates know that the good feeling brought by a 23-0 victory against North Carolina just over a week ago won't help them this week. ``All we did was confirm something that we knew we could do,'' the junior defensive end and co-captain said. ``I'm not saying we did anything groundbreaking, but we've won a couple of games now and we're starting to feel like we have that identity.'' With the Cavaliers remarkably still in contention to win the ACC's Coastal Division with some help, this game marks the beginning of a very difficult road. After Saturday, Virginia plays at Florida State, at home against Miami and at Virginia Tech. It is, Long said, a chance to lift the program after a slow start to the season, and to show that the recent gains by the young Cavaliers are going to continue. ``We're looking forward to the next month,'' he said. ``Coach (Al) Groh talks about how good teams play well late in the season. We're hoping we can do that and put everything behind us. ... They're going to be the best team we've played so far this year.'' Wolfpack coach Chuck Amato, whose team has had its own quarterback issues before settling on Daniel Evans, sees the development of redshirt freshman quarterback Jameel Sewell and the Cavaliers defense as the primary reasons for Virginia's improvement. ``They are getting better and better,'' Amato said. ``The quarterback, ever since he began starting, has improved and improved and improved. He is a quarterback who can hurt you with his feet. He has a cannon for an arm. They play very good defense.'' Groh said the Wolfpack is ``the most one-play explosively dangerous team that we've played in all three phases,'' and that its failures can be tied to mistakes. ``They've had difficulty with turnovers as they did last week, they've been unsettled at quarterback, and they've gotten untimely penalties,'' he said. In its loss to Maryland, N.C. State fumbled the ball away on the first play from scrimmage in the second half, setting the Terps up for a 31-yard touchdown drive, and Evans threw an interception on the next possession, setting up a 24-yard TD drive. The Wolfpack also drew nine penalties for 80 yards. Groh would rather his team expect the same Wolfpack team that beat the Seminoles and handed Boston College its only loss in seven games, 17-15 on Sept. 23. ``It certainly shows, at their best, what they can be,'' Groh said. Kickoff is set for noon.