U.Va. notes: Punter blown away

Punter blown away

It was a long day for Virginia punter Nathan Rathjen. In his second start of the season, he booted the ball four times for an average of 25.8 yards, each time into a 25 mph wind that was gusting up to 30 mph.

"In the early part of the game, we gave them, as a result of special-teams plays, three possessions basically in our territory," coach Al Groh said.

Miami used that to its advantage toward the end of the first quarter. With the Cavs in their own territory and 8 seconds left before they had the wind at their back, they opted for a run on third and long.

The'Canes, however, stopped the play and took a timeout with 2 seconds left, forcing U.Va. to punt into the wind. The result was a 12-yard kick.

Rathjen was replaced by Jimmy Howell in the second quarter.

But the biggest return of the game wasn't Rathjen's fault. He had a nice kick that was fielded by Thearon Collier, who bolted 60 yards for the touchdown, seemingly shaking off every U.Va. tackler.

"It was a great individual return," Groh said. "He's the most dangerous guy, and he lived up to that, for sure."

Replay confusion

On Miami's second scoring drive of the second half, it appeared Virginia had shut things down before the replay official decided otherwise.

Cam Johnson blitzed Jacory Harris, bringing him down by the back of his helmet for a 13-yard loss. The two players then exchanged words, and Miami lineman Jason Fox, who was beaten on the play, came in and pushed Johnson. Offsetting personal fouls for unnecessary roughness were given, and the official announced that they would go to replay to determine where the ball was spotted.

However, after the replay, Johnson was penalized for a face mask, which turned the loss into a 2-yard gain and a first down. After the game, a reporter asked Groh about the ruling, because face mask penalties are not subject to booth review.

"That's a new one on me, too," he said.

Any explanation given by the ref?

"Not a satisfactory one."

After a pause, he joked that "Urban makes a lot more money than I do," referring to Florida coach Urban Meyer being fined $30,000 for comments about the officiating in his game last week.

On his end, Johnson said that "if the refs called it, I guess it was" a face mask.

Extra points

It was the first time U.Va. blocked two punts in a game since Oct. 19, 1996. . . . Cam Johnson recorded his first career sack. . . . Miami had a homecoming crowd of 48,350 in cavernous Land Shark Stadium. . . . Steve Greer (14), Darren Childs (15) and Rodney McLeod (11) set career highs in tackles. . . . Virginia is 0-4 in the stadium, having appeared in three bowl games previously. - Michael Phillips