Football Features 
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Football Features
Mountain View (Stafford, VA) wide receiver/defensive back DaeSean Hamilton visited Duke, Illinois and Wake Forest in recent weeks. Still, at least publically, he has yet to narrow his list of schools.
Virginia tight end Colter Phillips has faced some challenges in his Cavalier career. Last season, that meant playing through pain with an ankle injury that required surgery in the offseason. Healthy again after rehabilitating with fellow veterans Billy Schautz and Steve Greer, Phillips hopes to finish strong in the orange and blue. Phillips answered The Sabre's "5 Questions" for the preseason. Stay tuned to the Hoo Preview for the same set of questions for someone from every position on the field.
Over the last decade the tight end position has become a great source of pride for Virginia football. You remember many of the names: Casey Crawford, Heath Miller, Tom Santi, Jon Stupar, John Phillips, Joe Torchia, Patrick Estes and Chris Luzar. Seniors Colter Phillips and Paul Freedman top the depth chart this season with Jake McGee and Jeremiah Mathis pushing for more playing time. The most intriguing of the four may be Mathis, who is looking for one thing in 2012.
Since arriving in Charlottesville, coach Mike London has had a simple philosophy when it comes to the offensive line; the best five will play. Tackles have been moved to guards and guards have moved outside, with the goal of getting the most talent on the field. With two starters gone, London and the coaching staff will again be looking for the five most talented linemen to field a starting five. Junior Sean Cascarano has waited for his turn, and is ready to prove that he belongs among the quintet.
Some of the staple plays for many offenses in football feature pull blocking. The concept is simple. Take an offensive lineman away from the line and have him run into open space as a lead blocker. The pull can go in either direction and it can lead the way into a gap between blocks or to the outside area toward the sidelines. UVa offensive line coach Scott Wachenheim helped point out some of the basics on "How to be a pulling blocker" in this article for the Hoo Preview.
Penn State football's class of 2013 has taken a hit as a result of the heavy sanctions the NCAA recently laid down on the program. UVa recruiting was impacted today, when former Nittany Lions recruit Zach Bradshaw, a 6'3", 200-pound outside linebacker/wide receiver out of Damascus (MD), pledged to the Hoos.
Virginia started the same five offensive linemen in every game of the 2011 season. Considering the starting five featured two tackles with NFL potential and two others with a wealth of college experience, that stat played a key role in the team's success. Entering the 2012 campaign, UVa must replace two holes on the line but a steadily growing depth chart makes that a less daunting task than in years past.
Virginia opened football practice Monday at an unfamiliar location but that didn't stop the quarterbacks from being the focus of attention. That's not surprising. After all, high-profile transfer Phillip Sims sparked the offseason interest level in the position when he left Alabama to join UVa so the practice at The Park provided the first side-by-side glimpse of Sims, Michael Rocco, and David Watford. Each flashed signs of starter potential for the Hoos.
It looks like Virginia's Morgan Moses enters this season as a refocused junior. The offensive tackle shed weight in the offseason and begins training camp at approximately 325 pounds. There was also the mature and determined way he talked about the season at UVa's Media Day on Friday where Moses answered The Sabre's "5 Questions" for the preseason.
Stay tuned to the Hoo Preview for the same set of questions for someone from every position on the field.
When comparing the past two seasons at Virginia, one of the top storylines in the 8-5 bowl run of 2011 proved to be the defense's improvement. In the second season of a 4-3 alignment with Defensive Coordinator Jim Reid, the Cavaliers played the run better and created more disruption behind the line of scrimmage. Another key development? Third down defense.
Fall Saturdays tend to provide lots of emotions for football fans. Rivalries are intense. Wins are uplifting. Losses are crushing. When your favorite team can put together enough wins to go to a conference championship game or a postseason bowl, it adds another game or two to the emotional roller coaster. That's part of the fun, though. The Hoo Preview tackles the Virginia schedule next to see what Saturdays - and one Thursday night - could be like for the Hoos this fall.
When Media Day rolls around every year, it's a clear sign that football practice is just around the corner. Virginia met with the press on Friday to talk about the start of practice on Monday, the 2012 season, and expectations for the Cavaliers. UVa captain Perry Jones said the excitement level and expectations are high for a new season to begin.
Virginia coach Mike London came to Charlottesville to rebuild the Virginia football program. An 8-5 record marked the first winning record for the Cavaliers since 2007, snapping a string of three losing seasons. A surprise bid to the Chick-fil-A Bowl provided a little proverbial icing. In Tony Bennett parlance, 2011 was a turnaround year. Now comes the hard part.
In conversations with Tabor Academy (MA) rising senior Tevin Montgomery, UVa head coach Mike London and defensive coordinator Jim Reid "say they really think I should go [to UVa] for a visit. They feel they will be able to offer me four years with the mentality that this is the best of two worlds, with great academics and athletics," Montgomery said.
The 6'5", 290-pound defensive tackle/offensive lineman plans to take the Virginia coaches up on their suggestion later this month.
When football season begins in early September, Virginia will try to put together back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2004 and 2005. To pull off that feat, the Cavaliers will have to replace the production of many departed seniors as they face an arguably tougher schedule. What are some of the key questions for the Hoos? Who are some of the key faces in 2012? "Take 5" as TheSabre.com covers some of the top themes, names, and more on day two of the Hoo Preview.
The Virginia football team surpassed expectations in 2011 with an 8-5 record and a trip to the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Considering that the Hoos had suffered through losing campaigns from 2008-2010, it marked a welcome change for anyone fond of the orange and blue. So as UVa fans prepare for the 2012 season, what do some of the important numbers look like? TheSabre.com's annual Hoo Preview begins with a look at Virginia "By The Numbers."
Where does time go? Once, a long, long time ago, I felt like I had a lot of it. These days ... not so much. Time has been flying by for UVa football, too, with an eventful summer creating quite a bit of buzz about what is to come next. I have been dying to talk about a lot of those developments ... but oh, that whole "time" thing has gotten the best of me again. So before the summer is entirely in the rearview mirror, let's take the CliffsNotes approach and jam in as much Summer Reading into a column as we can, covering a key player at each unit on the UVa squad.
Troy Reeder had never been to the University of Virginia before last weekend, but his first trip to Charlottesville was a successful one. The 6'2", 226-pound rising junior linebacker impressed head coach Mike London and company with his performance during the Cavaliers' one-day camp on July 21. Days later, he received a scholarship offer from the Hoos.
In this latest "News, Notes & Links" feature, I catch up with rising senior offensive tackle Sadiq Olanrewaju to talk about his latest experience at UVa. Also, running back Taquan Mizzell firms up his decision date, and Virginia men's basketball is set to host a potential transfer next week.
The University of Virginia's July 21 camp came to an end around 1:30 in the afternoon. At that time, safety prospect Malcolm Cook, fresh off an impressive camp performance, didn't plan on giving head coach Mike London a verbal commitment. Three hours later, the Richmond (VA) native changed his mind and is now the 16th member of Virginia's class of 2013.
The University of Virginia football program held its final one-day camp of 2012 today. In this "News And Notes" feature, I write about a new name (at least to fans) on the class of 2013 recruiting radar, a very promising rising junior linebacker who appears set to land a Virginia offer as a result of his performance today, UVa class of 2013 recruit Sadiq Olanrewaju, and more.
6'2", 305-pound Derrick Nnadi was in Blacksburg on July 14 for Virginia Tech's one-day camp. There, the Ocean Lakes (Virginia Beach, VA) rising junior defensive tackle showed why he has received scholarship offers from Illinois, N.C. State, Old Dominion, Virginia and Virginia Tech.
Tailback Taquan Mizzell revealed his five finalists earlier this week. Now, a decision date is in place for the Bayside (Virginia Beach, VA) 4-star rising senior.
"August 21 is the date," Marlins head coach Darnell Moore told TheSabre.com.
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