Al Groh, ‘Skins, Denny Hamlin, the Duke Dog

Winners and Losers column by Chris Graham
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WINNER: Al Groh and 3-0
What the heck … three weeks ago, UVa. fans were calling for Al Groh’s head. Now the Cavs are 3-0 in the ACC, and more importantly 3-0 in the Coastal Division.
And … it’s early to be saying this, yes, but the 2007 ‘Hoos are looking an awful lot like the 2006 Wake Forest team that won the ACC. Just like those Deacs, this Virginia team isn’t knocking anybody’s socks off, but they’re winning games.

  

LOSER: The ‘Skins blow a 17-3 halftime lead
The bandwagon lost a few revelers on Sunday – after Washington blew a 17-3 halftime lead en route to a disappointing 24-17 loss to the New York Giants.
Where to place blame … well, for starters, the Giants couldn’t seem to be stopped on third down in the second half, while the Redskins couldn’t seem to get a first down until their last drive.
One stop, one third-down conversion, either one, and things might turn out differently.

  

LOSER: Denny Hamlin falls to 12th in Chase
The Chesterfield native crashed and bashed his way to a miserable 38th in Dover over the weekend – knocking him back to 12th in the Chase for the Cup and effectively ending his hopes for winning the Nextel championship in 2007.

  

WINNER: Tim Hightower rushes for 295 as UR rolls
Richmond punted the ball one time and averaged nine yards a play in its 45-14 win over Bucknell on Saturday.
And Hightower did most of the damage – getting his 295 yards in 24 efficient carries.
Hightower is putting up some mighty good-looking numbers this year. He ran for 246 yards against Northeastern two weeks ago.

  

PUSH: Virginia Tech blows out W&M
Beating a good William & Mary team is one thing. Beating this year’s Tribe 44-3 without breaking a sweat is another.

  

LOSER: The Duke Dog
JMU got its revenge from 2005 on Coastal Carolina in a big way – pasting the Chanticleers by a 45-10 count on Saturday.
But in the process of doing so, the person playing the JMU mascot got into a scuffle with the person playing the Chanticleer – and was taken away from Bridgeforth Stadium in handcuffs.

  

Chris Graham is the executive editor of The SportsDominion.