Scott German: Special teams lay an egg in Chick-fil-A Bowl
Turnovers and string of special-teams miscues put Virginia in the HOV lane to disaster in the 2011 Chick-fil-A Bowl against an Auburn University team that knew exactly how to convert those mistakes into quick points. The end result was a 43-24 drubbing at the hands of the defending national champions Saturday night in the Atlanta Georgia Dome.
Virginia was able to leave Atlanta with some confidence as the Cavaliers put up impressive numbers on offense, including 435 yards against an Auburn defense that at times this season had been thin. Sophomore quarterback Michael Rocco finished off a successful year with 312 yards passing and two touchdowns . Virginia’s running game, which had been virtually shutdown in its previous two games (Florida State University, Virginia Tech), ground out 125 yards against the Tigers. Continue reading “Scott German: Special teams lay an egg in Chick-fil-A Bowl” »
Chris Graham: ‘Special’ teams, yeah, sure
No, since you ask, Virginia’s special teams weren’t exactly all that special Saturday night.
Consider: Auburn recovered an onside kick that led to a touchdown that fueled a game-changing 14-point second-quarter swing. The Tigers also blocked two Virginia punts, setting up a touchdown and a third-quarter safety that snuffed out a brief UVa. rally. The second of the blocked punts, the one that iced it, came after a UVa. punt returner lost an Auburn kick in the Georgia Dome ceiling, allowing the Tigers to pin Virginia at its own 6.
Virginia also gave up field position on a 62-yard return on the ensuing free kick that led to an Auburn field goal and at least three points on a botched fake-field-goal attempt that the Tigers followed up with a quick-strike TD drive.
That is by conservative estimates a 22-point swing all told. The final margin in the Chick-fil-A Bowl – 19 points. Continue reading “Chris Graham: ‘Special’ teams, yeah, sure” »
Auburn smacks down UVa. in Chick-fil-A
Auburn rode a 21-point second quarter to a 28-17 halftime lead, and the Tigers dominated on special teams en route to a 43-24 win over Virginia in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.
Virginia (8-5) scored first on a 27-yard touchdown pass from Michael Rocco to Kris Burd at the 8:05 mark of the first quarter to give the Cavs a 7-0 lead. Auburn (8-5) tied the game at 7 on a three-yard run by Kiehl Frazier following the first of two blocked punts.
A second Rocco-to-Burd touchdown, this time from six yards out, made it 14-7 UVa. at the 12:59 mark in the second. Auburn answered quickly, marching 85 yards on six plays capped by a three-yard Onterio McCalebb touchdown run to tie the game at 14.
Auburn then executed a successful onside kick and got a one-yard TD run by Frazier five plays later to go up 21-14 with 10;33 to go before the half. Continue reading “Auburn smacks down UVa. in Chick-fil-A” »
Weekend Watchdog: National championship weekend
Back in the old days, college football ended Jan. 1. The big bowl games, and that was it. In 2011, the second weekend of the New Year means college football championship games – one official, one assumed.
Friday, the Football Championship Subdivision (old I-AA) closes its expanded playoffs when Delaware meets Eastern Washington in Frisco, Texas on ESPN2. The playoffs previously ended before Christmas, but adding four teams – including a Coastal Carolina squad that lost to one-win Towson in September – meant the game had to be pushed into the New Year.
The Bowl Championship Series title game keeps going deeper and deeper into January. It lands January 10th this year, with Auburn trying to maintain the pride of the SEC against Oregon.
Several other bowls fill the weekend while awaiting Auburn-Oregon. Middle Tennessee plays Miami of Ohio Thursday in the GoDaddy.com Bowl (wonder if Danica Patrick will be there) on ESPN, and FOX has the Cotton Bowl between Texas A&M and LSU Friday at 8 p.m.
Saturday at noon, Pittsburgh and Kentucky square off in the Compass Bowl while Boston College faces Nevada Sunday at 9 on ESPN in the Fight Hunger Bowl from San Francisco.
The pros begin their march to the Super Bowl this weekend with four games. The last in will likely be the first out, as the 7-9 Seahawks host New Orleans at 4:30 p.m. Saturday on NBC. In the nightcap, Peyton Manning and the Colts take on the Jets.
Sunday, the Ravens invade Kansas City at 1 p.m. on CBS. The Packers, who began the campaign in Philadelphia back in September, will try to continue onward against the Eagles at 4:30 p.m. on FOX. The winners advance to next weekend’s conference semifinals. The losers start talking about the looming labor agreement.
In college basketball, ESPN2 has a doubleheader from the Midwest Thursday. Cincinnati takes on Xavier in a cross-town battle at 7 p.m., followed by Northwestern-Illinois.
Saturday basketball starts early on ESPN2, with West Virginia meeting Georgetown at 11 a.m., followed by Kansas State-Oklahoma State and Florida State’s visit to Virginia Tech at 3 p.m. Vanderbilt plays South Carolina at 5 p.m. on ESPN2, while Connecticut takes on Texas at 4 p.m. on ESPN.
The ACC season heats up Saturday at noon when North Carolina visits Virginia on NBC29, followed by Wake Forest-N.C. State on CW29 at 2:30 p.m.
CBS follows NFL playoff football with Kansas heading to Michigan Sunday at 4:30 p.m.
Comcast heads west Thursday night for California at Arizona. Saturday there’s an afternoon doubleheader, with George Mason-Old Dominion tipping off at 2 p.m. Richmond meets LaSalle at 4 p.m., and then Sunday’s
ACC prime time contest matches Maryland and Duke. The night concludes with UCLA taking on Southern Cal.
MASN offers Charleston Southern’s visit to Liberty Thursday at 7 p.m. and five games Saturday – three from the Big East. The day begins at noon with Syracuse-Seton Hall, followed by Marquette at Pittsburgh. The action moves to the Atlantic 10 at 4 p.m. – UNC-Charlotte at St. Bonaventure – then Coastal Carolina takes on Liberty. Providence tackles Rutgers at 8 p.m.
Versus has the Mountain West Saturday at 4 p.m., with San Diego State heading to Utah.
CBS offers a women’s basketball doubleheader while the NFL playoffs are on NBC. Connecticut tries to build a new winning streak at Notre Dame at 2 p.m., followed by Ohio State-Iowa.
Comcast has the ACC battle between Maryland and Duke Thursday at 7 p.m., then a pair of games Sunday afternoon – North Carolina-Boston College at 1 p.m., followed by James Madison at Old Dominion. ESPN2 has Dayton-Xavier at 3 p.m. Sunday, followed by Tulane’s game with UAB.
TNT’s NBA doubleheader starts Thursday at 8 p.m. with the Thunder visiting Dallas. In the nightcap, Denver heads to Sacramento. ESPN’s twinbill on Friday starts with the Rockets in Orlando, then the Knicks visit the Suns.
The Wizards host the Nets Friday on Comcast at 7 p.m., then visit Charlotte Saturday on Comcast-plus.
The Capitals take on Florida Saturday on Comcast.
You can think warm thoughts, since the new PGA season begins in Hawaii Thursday on the Golf Network.
Weekend Watchdog: Changing of college seasons
With college football basically down to the bowl season, college basketball begins to step into the spotlight.
Saturday, CBS has a two-sport doubleheader. Saint Louis visits national champion Duke at noon at Cameron Indoor Stadium, then the coverage heads to Philly for the annual Army-Navy game. While it’s the biggest game of the season for both, they still have bowl season to look forward to.
The Football Championship Series (old I-AA) playoffs provides the rest of the football this weekend. The quarterfinals start Friday at 8 p.m. on ESPN2 with a battle between CAA schools – New Hampshire at Delaware. Villanova visits Appalachian State Saturday at noon on ESPN, and MASN features Georgia Southern-Wofford at 2 p.m. North Dakota State visits Eastern Washington following the conclusion of that contest.
Off the field, ESPN has the college football awards season, capped by the awarding of the Heisman Trophy Saturday at 8 p.m. Plenty of other awards will be given Thursday at 7 p.m.
ESPN continues its early-season hardcourt action Thursday – Georgetown-Temple at 9 p.m., while ESPN2 has the doubleheader starting at 7 p.m. with Kansas State-Florida. Butler battles Xavier at 9 p.m.
The SEC takes center court Saturday on ESPN, with Tennessee against Pittsburgh at 3:15 p.m. followed by Kentucky-Indiana. ESPN2 begins the day with Auburn-Rutgers at 12:30 p.m., followed by Wisconsin-Marquette. Then it’s a matchup in the Big 12/Pac-10 challenge – Washington vs. Texas A&M – followed by a team moving from one conference to the other – Colorado – meeting Kansas.
Gonzaga plays Notre Dame at 8:30 p.m.
MASN offers George Mason at Liberty Saturday at 7 p.m., then Sunday at 2 p.m. Wake Forest takes on UNC-Wilmington. Comcast shows Dayton’s game at Old Dominion Saturday at 4 p.m., then Sunday Virginia Tech hosts Penn State at 1 p.m. and Maryland battles Boston College at 4 p.m.
The NFL weekend begins the Indianapolis visiting Tennessee Thursday on NFL Network. The other primetime games come from Texas – Eagles at Cowboys on NBC Sunday night, then the Ravens take on the Texans on ESPN Monday night.
The Redskins host Tampa Bay Sunday afternoon on FOX, while CBS has the doubleheader. The Washington CBS channel doesn’t have a game at 1 p.m. – while most of Virginia sees Cincinnati-Pittsburgh – and in the nightcap New England visits Chicago.
TNT has the NBA doubleheader Thursday,with the Celtics visiting Philadelphia at 8 p.m. followed by the Magic’s trip to Portland. ESPN starts Friday with the Lakers heading to Chicago at 8 p.m., then it’s the Heat at Golden State.
The Wizards take on the Knicks Friday on Comcast.
The Capitals host Florida Thursday on both Comcast and Versus, then take on the Avalanche Saturday and visit the Rangers Sunday on Comcast.
NBC will feature the Shark Shootout Saturday at 4 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.
The NCAA crowns its men’s soccer champion this weekend. The second semifinal – Akron against Michigan – is Friday at 11 p.m. on ESPN2, with the final Sunday at 4 p.m.
Weekend Watchdog
Changing of college seasons
With college football basically down to the bowl season, college basketball begins to step into the spotlight.
Saturday, CBS has a two-sport doubleheader. Saint Louis visits national champion Duke at noon at Cameron Indoor Stadium, then the coverage heads to Philly for the annual Army-Navy game. While it’s the biggest game of the season for both, they still have bowl season to look forward to.
The Football Championship Series (old I-AA) playoffs provides the rest of the football this weekend. The quarterfinals start Friday at 8 p.m. on ESPN2 with a battle between CAA schools – New Hampshire at Delaware. Villanova visits Appalachian State Saturday at noon on ESPN, and MASN features Georgia Southern-Wofford at 2 p.m. North Dakota State visits Eastern Washington following the conclusion of that contest. Continue reading “Weekend Watchdog” »
Weekend Watchdog: Conference title time
The weekend in TV sports
We know when the BCS bowls will be. We basically know who’s going to be in the BCS bowls. But it won’t be until Sunday night that we officially know who’s going where, and who’s playing for the national championship Jan. 10.
ESPN’s BCS selection show Sunday at 8:15 p.m. – and the bowl selection show at 9 p.m. – caps off the final big weekend of college football.
Top-ranked Oregon knows it’s in the BCS, and plays Oregon State in the Civil War Saturday at 3:30 p.m. on ABC.
Over on CBS, No. 2 Auburn faces South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference final at 4 p.m. Continue reading “Weekend Watchdog: Conference title time” »
Brown-led comeback falls short at Auburn
’08 WHS grad scores 19, but Flames fall on road
Staff Report
Liberty U. sports: www.libertyflames.com
Liberty’s furious second-half comeback sliced Auburn’s lead from 14 points to three. However, the Tigers hung on to claim a 70-64 victory Tuesday evening at Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum.
Redshirt freshman Devon Brown spearheaded the Lady Flames’ second-half efforts, tallying 14 of her game-high 19 points and nabbing four of her game-high eight boards after the break. Nevertheless, Liberty drops to 6-2 after suffering its first road setback of the season. Continue reading “Brown-led comeback falls short at Auburn” »
Tigers rally, hold off Cavs, 58-56
A 14-2 run gave Virginia a 56-52 lead and had the Cavs in the driver’s seat. And then they couldn’t finish the deal.
“I’m obviously disappointed, particularly with our inability to play a game from start to finish that we prepared to play,” said UVa. coach Dave Leitao, whose Cavs could not score in the final 2:30 en route to a disappointing 58-56 loss to Auburn in front of 11,070 at the John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday. Continue reading “Tigers rally, hold off Cavs, 58-56” »
Live Blog | UVa.-Auburn
We will be live at the John Paul Jones Arena for today’s men’s basketball game between Auburn and Virginia.
Tipoff is at 4 p.m. The game is being televised on Comcast SportsNet and FSN South. Check your local listings for availability.
AFP editor Chris Graham will be live courtside providing commentary and analysis. Please join in to see what Chris has to say and to offer your own thoughts and observations.
Weekend Watchdog: National championship weekend
Posted by afp on January 6, 2011 · Leave a Comment
Friday, the Football Championship Subdivision (old I-AA) closes its expanded playoffs when Delaware meets Eastern Washington in Frisco, Texas on ESPN2. The playoffs previously ended before Christmas, but adding four teams – including a Coastal Carolina squad that lost to one-win Towson in September – meant the game had to be pushed into the New Year.
The Bowl Championship Series title game keeps going deeper and deeper into January. It lands January 10th this year, with Auburn trying to maintain the pride of the SEC against Oregon. Continue reading “Weekend Watchdog: National championship weekend” »
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