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Virginia football coach Mike London will take points any way his team can get them. But if he can sculpt how the Cavaliers register on the scoreboard next fall, the use of big plays will be a regular part of the routine.
It isnt that Virginia struggled getting big plays a season ago. But the third-year coach wants more consistency in that department.
Last fall, nine UVa receivers had receptions of at least 23 yards; six had catches that went for at least 35 yards. Even the ground game was explosive at times, as seven backs had runs of 12 or more yards, with Kevin Parks (34) and Perry Jones (47) having the longest runs from scrimmage.
Achieving more consistency means getting the tight ends more involved. UVas tight ends combined to catch 20 passes for 152 yards a season ago, and the Wahoos were shut out in the regular season finale at home by Virginia Tech.
Becoming more consistent by increasing the number of gains between 15 and 25 yards could make the Cavs a more serious threat to with the Coastal Division than they were a year ago, and they werent too far off.
I think theres more of an emphasis on explosive plays those plays beyond 15 yards that automatically move the chains, London said. And in some instances, when youre in the minus territory and suddenly youre in the plus territory youre changing the strategy of how you play the game.
We have guys that can run, and those guys were very good athletes in high school, they were track runners. We have those types of guys we have to find ways to get the ball to them.
In addition, the Hoos must do it with a lot of Londons recruits to achieve this, as the bulk of skill position players are young. The breakdown of the nine wide receivers listed on the spring depth chart reveals that two are juniors (one of whom barely plays), six are sophomores and one is a freshman.
One tailback is a senior and the other three are sophomores. And junior Michael Rocco is the starting quarterback, but his backups are a sophomore and freshman.
London liked what he saw in the spring game and believes his team will convert more big plays in the fall. As for the rest of the spring game, the coach was quite pleased.
Youre always happy that there were no injuries, he said. Youre always happy that there were offensive plays, there were defensive plays.
Youre happy that when youre playing a game and the coaches are off the field that some guys can get out there and they can play. They dont have to have a coach standing over them and coaching them. We wanted to make sure the last game resembled a game. That was pretty good in terms of where weve been in the past.
Empty Jackets
Heres a statistic that seems too difficult to believe, but is true: Not one wide receiver on Georgia Techs roster has ever caught a pass in a college game.
Four running backs have caught passes: A-Back Orwin Smith had 13 receptions for 306 yards and a touchdown last season; A-Back Tony Zennon had 3 receptions for 104 yards and a score; B-Back David Sims, who has also taken snaps in practice at quarterback, also had 3 receptions for 29 yards and a touchdown; Running Back Charles Perkins had 2 catches for 38 yards.
The Yellow Jackets lost receiver Stephen Hill early to the NFL and senior Tyler Melton to graduation. A possible first-round pick in next weeks NFL draft, Hill caught 28 passes for 820 yards and five touchdowns. Melton hauled in 17 balls for 263 yards and no scores.
Nothing has been decided as far as the new starters at receiver. Tech plays its spring game Saturday, which could settle the depth chart.
Miscues In Miami
Miamis spring game last weekend was so ugly head coach Al Golden seemingly didnt know what to say afterward.
The Orange beat the White 7-6 in a game that included missed field goals, two interceptions thrown by each of the top two quarterbacks on the depth chart, dropped passes, and overall, the quarterbacks completed 33 of 60 pass attempts.
The Hurricanes defense gained high praise, but in intra-squad scrimmages can be misleading when one side dominates the other.
I dont think we played particularly well as an offense, Golden said. We didnt convert, whether it was field goals or in the red zone when we were down there. Well look at (the film) and move on.
Quite a few jobs remain open for competition, thus fall camp in August should be interesting in Coral Gables. Of note, spots on both lines of scrimmage and wide receiver have openings.
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