Cavaliers boost tight end position with Swanson
CHARLOTTESVILLE — At 6 foot 6 and 255 pounds, Zachary Swanson hardly qualified as a prototypical fullback. And, if you’ve heard new Virginia football assistant Tom O’Brien, what the Cavaliers really lacked in the spring was a prototypical blocking tight end. At UVa’s final open practice of the preseason, Swanson was all that and more, catching two touchdown passes, the second of which he punctuated with an emphatic spike. “Jake [McGee] would always joke that I was never really a true fullback,” said Swanson, a redshirt junior from Katy, Texas. “He always pictured me as a tight end and I think that’s where I belong. I was doing what I had to do to help the team last year and I’m much happier now.” Virginia had a full complement of tight ends last year, including McGee, who had 28 receptions for 374 yards and five touchdowns, including game-winners against Penn State and Miami. McGee frequently entered the game in passing combinations and started once all season.
Virginia's starting QB may not be a secret for much longer
CHARLOTTESVILLE - An announcement on Virginia's season-opening quarterback could come as early as Monday, according to head coach Mike London. The Cavaliers practiced in pads for the first time Friday. It was the last UVa practice that will be open to the media and will be followed by a closed scrimmage today. Sophomore David Watford was with the first-team offense Friday, as he has been since the start of spring drills. Redshirt freshman Greyson Lambert was with the second offense. "I think [today's scrimmage] will be the last little piece of an evaluation," London said.
College football: Virginia Tech-Wisconsin series pushed back
BLACKSBURG - Virginia Tech's football series with Wisconsin has been pushed back again, although the Hokies are in the process of lining up a "major conference opponent" as a replacement. The Hokies and Badgers won't play their long-anticipated football series now until 2019 and 2020, according to Virginia Tech athletic director Jim Weaver. The teams will play at Wisconsin, Sept. 14, 2019, and in Blacksburg on Sept. 12, 2020. Weaver
Virginia linebacker Coley steps up for Cavaliers
CHARLOTTESVILLE — Henry Coley is aware of the productivity that Virginia is losing with the departure of middle linebacker Steve Greer, the Cavaliers’ leading tackler in three of the past four seasons. Coley also points out that it will be easier to put up impressive tackle numbers from the field than the bench. Or the stands. Coley was suspended for the final four games of the 2012 season, a development
College notebook: Jamelle Hagins to French league
Former William Fleming and Delaware standout Jamelle Hagins will be playing pro basketball overseas. Hagins, last season’s Colonial Athletic Association defensive player of the year, has signed with Chorale de Roanne of the France Pro A League. Hagins, who was bypassed in this year’s NBA draft, played in both NBA summer leagues last month but did not make much of an impact. The power forward played in four games for
Virginia Cavaliers land highly regarded football recruit
When the clock struck 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Mike London nervously glanced over at his son, Korben. Korben had Dad’s phone. Was it ringing yet? Virginia entered the day with nine commitments for its 2014 recruiting class. London hoped to get to 10 before practice No. 3 of the 2013 season was over. California three-star athlete Jeffery Farrar was scheduled to make his decision on ESPN.com before 5 p.m. For
Cavaliers count down to BYU -- and Virginia Tech
CHARLOTTESVILLE — Forget one game at a time. When you haven’t beaten your rival in nearly a decade, cliches go out the window. That’s why in the Virginia football locker room, the Cavaliers have two countdown clocks. One ticks down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until UVa’s season opener against Brigham Young. The other? It displays the time remaining until the regular-season finale against rival Virginia Tech, which has
Virginia quarterbacks battle to be Cavaliers' starter
CHARLOTTESVILLE — The Virginia football team has held two practices and it still doesn’t have a starting quarterback. OK, OK. So Cavaliers head coach Mike London just hasn’t made the announcement yet. Tuesday, before David Watford and Greyson Lambert battled it out for another afternoon, London stood before reporters and ran down his early impressions. A day before, neither of the candidates exactly lit up the McCue Center outdoor field.
Former Virginia standout Long ready to lead St. Louis Rams
ST. LOUIS — Minus the two-a-days, the IV drips, the soft tissue muscle pulls and the fatigue, Chris Long has actually become a fan of training camp. The leader of the St. Louis Rams pass rush, and their seniority leader heading into his sixth season, does not miss the summer grind that was eliminated with the new collective bargaining agreement. The defensive end relishes how fresh his body still feels
Redshirt-freshman QB a Virginia veteran
CHARLOTTESVILLE — By the time first-semester classes begin at Virginia later this month, Greyson Lambert will qualify as a junior academically. On the football field, he’ll be a redshirt freshman. “I feel like I’ve been here forever, honestly,” said Lambert, a 6-foot-5, 220-pound quarterback, “and I haven’t played in a game yet.” Lambert had enough credits to graduate in December of his senior year at Wayne County (Ga.) High School
Davis steps in for Cascarano on Virginia's O-line
CHARLOTTESVILLE - Sean Cascarano was on the McCue Center practice field on Monday. Just in a hat and on crutches. Conner Davis was out there, too. In a helmet, running first team right guard. These were key images for the Virginia football team as it began its 2013 season with an afternoon practice. Cascarano, battling a hip injury that could require surgery, will not be participating this August and might
5 questions for Virginia football
There will certainly be college football teams being criticized for weak early season schedules in advance of the 2013 season. Virginia will not be on that list. The Cavaliers have home games with Brigham Young and nationally ranked Oregon, as well as their ACC opener at Pittsburgh, all before October. Add to the mix that this year's team is operating under new coordinators in all three phases of the game,
Cavaliers expect an improved defense (with video)
CHARLOTTESVILLE — In Mike London’s first three seasons as Virginia’s football coach, the Cavaliers ranked 88th, 90th and 98th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in quarterback sacks. Jon Tenuta’s record would suggest he can change that. Over the same three seasons, Tenuta was the linebackers coach and then the assistant coach for defense at N.C. State. The Wolfpack was fourth, eighth and 27th in sacks over the same time period.
McFarling: Virginia's Watford emerging as a leader (with video)
CHARLOTTESVILLE — David Watford never revealed the conflicting emotions he was feeling last season. Not to his Virginia teammates anyway. Not when he was impersonating the Miami or North Carolina quarterback in practice. Not when he was signaling in plays from the sidelines. Not when the losses piled up — six, then seven, then eight — and he had to stand there in that red shirt and stone face. Future
ACC to weigh whether channel is next logical step for conference
ACC commissioner John Swofford has a vision of what a TV channel devoted to the league would look like. It would have a reasonable number of football and men's basketball games, the lifeblood of any endeavor like this. Live and replay programming. Historical shows. Coaches shows. Awards shows. And, best of all, it would be constant. "I think the beauty of it is it would be ACC all day, 24/7,"
UVa’s Jenkins named ACC’s top male athlete of the year
Virginia standout Jarmere Jenkins has been named the ACC’s male athlete of the year for the 2012-13 school year. Jenkins won the Anthony J. McKevlin Award in voting by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. Crystal Dunn, who helped North Carolina win the NCAA women’s soccer title, was voted the Mary Garber Award as the ACC’s female athlete of the year. As a senior this year, Jenkins made the NCAA
Former Virginia star Minnifield gets home-field advantage at Redskins camp
The relocation of the Washington Redskins’ training camp to Richmond was appropriate for Chase Minnifield. It was a homecoming, of sorts. The former University of Virginia standout has seen more than a few familiar faces since training camp formally convened Thursday. Minnifield remains true to his former school, sporting a UVa shirt on Saturday following the afternoon session at the Bon Secours Washington Redskins Training Center. “It’s an awesome experience,”
Virginia QB Sims to transfer to Winston-Salem State
Phillip Sims, declared academically ineligible to play football for Virginia this coming season, has decided to transfer to Division II Winston-Salem State. It will be the third college for Sims, who began his career at Alabama, where he was the back-up to A.J. McCarron on the Crimson Tide's 2011 national-championship team. Sims transferred to Virginia this past spring and played in 12 games for the Cavaliers, including four starts. He
Pulaski County hires alumnus, ex-UVa star King as baseball coach
Jared King has been hired as the new baseball coach at Pulaski County High School. King, 23, was a two-sport star at Pulaski County before playing baseball for four years at Virginia, where he started 202 games in a career that ended in June when the Cavaliers lost to Mississippi State in an NCAA Super Regional in Charlottesville. King takes over a Pulaski County program that won just four River
Washington's Citi Open honors Virginia tennis
WASHINGTON - It was "Virginia Day" at the Citi Open on Monday as the UVa men's tennis team was feted in a special ceremony in the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center's Stadium Court. Past and present varsity players joined head coach Brian Boland as the honorees. It was fitting that Somdev Devvarman, UVa's two-time NCAA champion, would come from behind to produce a sparkling win to advance into the second
Virginia football welcomes more walk-ons
Since a posting a blog last week that covered Virginia’s updated football roster, there has been another update that includes more than a handful of walk-ons. The roster currently on UVa’s athletics websites contains 111 players, only 105 of whom can go to camp with the Cavaliers. The rest of the players can join the team after the start of classes, or sooner if there is any attrition in the
1. 41-vehicle wreck ties up traffic Sunday on I-81 in Rockbridge County
2. Virginia Tech football roster has holes on picture day
3. Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys
4. Microfestivus beer event gets downtown Roanoke hopping
5. McFarling: 2 little numbers are a big hurdle for Virginia Tech football
6. DAN CASEY: Copter cost still stirring up dust
7. Roanoke farmers markets making local foods more accessible
8. Arrest made in case of missing Nelson County teen
9. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli
10. Man's drowning is 5th in Lynchburg area
THE ROANOKE TIMES
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