When last heard from, Ray Keys was putting an exclamation point on Virginia's spring football game by catching a 57-yard touchdown pass on the next-to-last play.

Apparently, new Cavaliers head coach Mike London was paying attention.

London said on a teleconference Wednesday that Keys, a junior from Franklin County, was awarded a scholarship at the end of spring drills.

As opposed to some of his fellow walk-ons, who were invited to play for the Cavaliers, Keys already had been at UVa for a semester when he elected to join the team for spring practice in 2008.

He earned a letter in 2009, playing in all 12 games for the Cavaliers and recording 10 tackles, all on special teams. At 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds, he has a nice combination of size and speed.

Keys' father, Raymond Sr., played for the Cavaliers in the mid-1970s and was UVa's leading rusher in 1976.

Keys is one of three walk-ons who have been awarded scholarships since the spring, along with wide receiver Matt Snyder and place-kicker Rob Randolph.

"You look at them playing now and they're guys that are hungry," London said. "They've continued to do a nice job on into the August practices. There are a couple others who aren't getting on-the-field reps, but how you make your mark a lot of times is special teams."

The Cavaliers currently have 81 players on scholarship, safely under the Division I-A NCAA limit of 85.

n Track signee Drequan Hoskey participated in his seventh practice since joining the football team, but he will not count against football's scholarship limit until he plays in a game.

Hoskey made a football commitment to Richmond when London was the Spiders' coach in the fall of 2009 but did not sign with UR.

n David Marrs, named Southwest District offensive player of the year in 2009 as Graham's quarterback, has been added to Virginia's preseason roster.

Marrs, projected as a safety, planned to join the team as a walk-on after classes started but a spot opened when ex-George Wythe standout Drew Lester left the team during training camp. Lester still plans to enroll at UVa as a student, according to one of the coaches.

Personnel

London said that former Parade All-American Morgan Moses, a 6-foot-6, 350-pound offensive lineman from Richmond by way of Fork Union Military Academy, "definitely" will play this season as a true freshman.

Whether Moses can compete with sophomore Oday Aboushi for the starting job at right tackle is another story.

"Big 'Mo' is reaching the point where he's now getting lined up correctly," London said. "He's been doing it on sheer size and mass alone. It's hard to run around a guy that big.

"Where Oday has it on Morgan is, he's been in the system. He knows the schemes. But Morgan is learning every day. He's got some football smarts to him. A guy that big, he's got to play. So he's got to practice and he'll continue to get all the reps. Hopefully, he'll rise to a level that will push Oday."

n Fifth-year running back Keith Payne has met the academic requirements that will enable him to play this year, but the two running backs singled out by London for their preseason work were redshirt freshman Dominique Wallace, who missed spring practice following foot surgery, and fifth-year senior Raynard Horne, who may captain the special teams.

Local angle

Brady Stovall, a walk-on from Cave Spring, has given up football after being accepted into UVa's McIntire School of Commerce but not before being recognized as one of 14 UVa football players on the ACC academic honor roll. Twelve were walk-ons, including Brandon Jarvis from Rockbridge County.