Brooks will miss opener
Senior Mark Miller will start at inside linebacker for Virginia against Western Michigan.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Nobody who has seen Ahmad Brooks seems terribly concerned about his rehabilitation from offseason knee surgery.

Western Michigan, which opens its football season Saturday at Virginia, can only go on what it hears.

The Broncos aren't going to see him.

Brooks was not listed on an updated depth chart distributed Tuesday and will not play Saturday, UVa head coach Al Groh said.

Groh said Brooks has been practicing in pads, an increase in his workload since the start of drills, but showed little interest in elaborating.

"He's got his pads on," Groh said. "You can call that what you want. He's done a little bit, but as I've said before, not to dodge the question, but until it really looks like he's going to play in a game, it's just a distraction from what we're trying to do."

Mark Miller, a 6-foot, 220-pound senior from Birmingham, Ala., will make his first college start in Brooks' place.

Miller, who began his UVa career as a walk-on, will be backed up by fifth-year senior Bryan White. White, who underwent back surgery after the opening game of the 2004 season and successfully appealed for an extra year of eligibility, also is listed No. 2 behind Kai Parham at the other inside linebacker spot in UVa's 3-4 defensive scheme.

"Whether anyone's hurt or not hurt, I'm ready to play," said White, who said he has never felt better after surgery to repair two "burst" discs and a fractured vertebra.

There has been considerable speculation that the Cavaliers might be saving Brooks for their second game, Sept. 17, at Syracuse. If so, nobody has told the players.

"It's one of those things where we're not allowed to talk about injuries, [but] it's a mystery to us," White said. "Whether we get him back this week or next week, we can't wait."

Redshirt freshman Clint Sintim, scheduled to start at outside linebacker, seemed excited by the prospect of Brooks' return.

"He's moving around; he's looking real good," Sintim said. "He'll be back. When he comes back, you'll know it. Ahmad is Ahmad. There's no other athlete like Ahmad in the world."

The first team

There were numerous changes in the depth chart first published in UVa's media guide, not all of them surprises, including moves that sent guard Brian Barthelmes to center and cornerback Tony Franklin to safety. Both players will start at their new positions.

Taking Franklin's place at cornerback is Chris Gorham, a sophomore who played a total of 20 plays last season. In something of a surprise, UVa will start 6-foot-7, 310-pound Branden Albert, a true freshman, in Barthelmes' former spot at left guard.

Albert, lightly recruited out of Glen Burnie (Md.) High School, qualified for admission after spending the 2004-05 school year at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham.

"This was one of those keep-turning-over-the-rocks kind of deals," Groh said. "Branden was not a highly recruited player, although he's going to play like a top player.

"There were a couple of plays [Monday] where Branden was out on the edge and really running and I thought to myself, wow, that this is the best this play has ever looked."

Also winning spots in the opening-day lineup were fifth-year wide receiver Ottowa Anderson, who was academically ineligible in 2004 and began the summer at the bottom of the depth chart, and senior nose tackle Kwakou Robinson.

When asked about past opportunities and why things will be different for Robinson in 2005, Groh responded, "Faith. ... He's got one last chance to do it. Sometimes, that's the best self-motivator."

Still a question

The only position at which there is an "or" between the first and second names listed is at punter, where junior-college transfer Ryan Weigand is battling sophomore Chris Gould, who was handed the punting job with three games remaining in the 2004 season.

"I learned a lot from a lot of different coaches, some of whom I've never met," said Groh, who wanted to observe his punters for two more days. "Bud Grant [of the Minnesota Vikings] once said, 'Never make a personnel decision until you have to.' "

Groh said that Weigand, like Gould, has a redshirt year at his disposal.
 

U.Va. Football Report
By ED MILLER, The Virginian-Pilot
© August 31, 2005
Cavaliers are eager to get things going against W. Michigan

CHARLOTTESVILLE — All in all, Virginia had a very enjoyable trip to Kalamazoo, Mich., two years ago, barely breaking a sweat in a 59-16 win over Western Michigan.

Marques Hagans settled any doubts as to whether his future was at quarterback or receiver, throwing for three touchdown passes. Tony Franklin returned an interception 45 yards for a score. Wali Lundy rushed for 123 yards and two touchdowns and threw for another TD.

Saturday, the Broncos come to Scott Stadium, and there’s little reason to expect things will be much different this time. Oddsmakers have made Virginia a 32-point favorite.

Western Michigan is led by a new coach, Bill Cubit, the former offensive coordinator at Stanford. The Broncos, 1-10 last season, are picked to finish fifth in the Mid-American Conference’s West Division.

What does coach Al Groh know about the Broncos?

Not a lot, he said Tuesday.

“Our game preparation has been of a much more general nature than it usually is for the first game,” he said.

Players don’t know much about the Broncos, either . But a fter a training camp that was six days longer than usual, Groh said players are eager to get the season started.

“We’re really at this point kind of stretching the limits of focus and concentration” in practice, Groh said.

Linebacker Brooks not quite ready to play

As expected, All-American linebacker Ahmad Brooks will not play Saturday. Groh said Brooks, coming off knee surgery, has “done a little bit” in practice but is not ready for game action.

Mark Miller, a senior, will start in place of Brooks. Senior Bryan White is also expected to play, in reserve of both Miller and fellow starter Kai Parham.

True freshman to get first start Saturday

It’s no surprise that a true freshman is starting on the offensive line. It is a bit of an upset that the freshman is lightly recruited Branden Albert and not high school All-American Eugene Monroe.

Albert, 6-foot-7 and 310 pounds, beat out sophomore Ian-Yates Cunningham for the starting job at left guard. The spot opened when senior Brian Barthelmes moved to center.

“Brandon was not a highly recruited player, though he’s going to play like a top player,” Groh said.

Albert made great strides in a prep season at Hargrave Military Academy last year, Groh said. Though he’s older than most true freshmen — he’ll turn 21 in November — he began playing football just three years ago.

“He can really get out and run,” Groh said.

Monroe, considered the nation’s best high school lineman a year ago, will also play Saturday, as a backup to right guard Marshal Ausberry.

Eight will be making their first career starts

Ausberry and Albert are two of eight players who will be making their first career starts.

The others are Miller, defensive end Chris Long, outside linebackers Clint Sintim and Jermaine Dias, safety Nate Lyles and cornerback Chris Gorham.

Albert and Sintim will be playing their first college games. Gorham played just 20 snaps last year as a true freshman.

“Across the board, this is the most inexperienced team we’ve had,” Groh said.

Other players will be starting at new positions. Barthelmes moves from guard to center. Senior Kwakou Robinson, formerly a defensive end, will start at nose tackle. Tom Santi, who started two games at fullback, will start at tight end, his natural position. Franklin moves from cornerback to safety.

The only position that remains up in the air is punter, where Chris Gould and Ryan Weigand are competing.

“We haven’t come to a firm decision on that because we haven’t had a clear-cut difference,” Groh said.

 

Fast learning for Cavs
Plenty of inexperienced players will play in Virginia's season opener on Saturday.
BY DARRYL SLATER
247-4641
Published August 31, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- They always say the speed is the difference, that the game moves so much faster up here, that everything seems like it's going 100 mph. Football players often offer those platitudes when talking about the differences between the high school game and college game - as if someone pushed the fast-forward button on their athletic careers.

Five Virginia football players will try their best to keep pace Saturday at 6 p.m. when the Cavaliers open their season against Western Michigan at Scott Stadium. Those five - true freshman left guard Branden Albert, sophomore right guard Marshal Ausberry, sophomore defensive end Chris Long, redshirt freshman outside linebacker Clint Sintim and sophomore cornerback Chris Gorham - will see a lot of action for the first time.

Three more - senior center Brian Barthelmes, senior nose tackle Kwakou Robinson and junior safety Tony Franklin - are veterans playing at new positions.

"Across the board, it's the most inexperienced team that we've had," coach Al Groh said. "It'll be very interesting for us to see the game reaction of some of these players." Preseason camp was six calendar days longer this year because of changes to the U.Va. academic schedule, so the newcomers have had plenty of time to think about their first games.

The most notable rookie is Albert, who jumped into the starting role after Barthelmes switched to center. Ian-Yates Cunningham, who was the No. 1 center before camp, was moved to backup left guard.

The 6-foot-7, 310-pound Albert spent last year at Hargrave Military Academy, which helped his development, Groh said. "We were pretty pleased with ourselves over the course of the last year in anticipation of this player," Groh said. Albert will be the second true freshman to start on U.Va.'s offensive line since 1972. Current left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson is the other.

But as senior wide receiver Ottowa Anderson said: "He's seeing a lot of things he's never seen before. ... You're gonna make mistakes as a freshman, especially on the offensive line."

Eugene Monroe, U.Va.'s other promising true freshman on the offensive line, is slotted as Ausberry's backup. But Groh said Monroe would play Saturday.

Defensive starters Long and Sintim locked up their positions early in camp, with Sintim taking the spot vacated by Heritage High grad Darryl Blackstock, who left early for the NFL. Sintim and fellow outside linebackers Jermaine Dias, Marvin Richardson and Aaron Clark have never started.

Along with the five players who will get significant experience for the first time, three more-experienced former backups will make their first starts - safety Nate Lyles, inside linebacker Mark Miller and Dias.

In the defensive backfield, Gorham will start because former cornerback Franklin moved to safety. True freshman Chris Cook will back him up, and true freshman Mike Brown will back up Marcus Hamilton at the other cornerback spot.

Gorham played sparingly on special teams last year, which he said helped him, along with the strength and 10 pounds he has gained since arriving at U.Va. "After a year, the game kinda slows down for you," he said. "You become more relaxed. You end up playing football like you know how."

Though Robinson, a former end, won the tight battle for the nose tackle spot, Groh expects to rotate in Keenan Carter and Ron Darden.

Since Western Michigan, which went 1-10 last year, likely won't pose much of a challenge, many of U.Va's inexperienced players will see time - though it certainly won't be as fast-paced as, say, Florida State.

"Getting a chance to play is great any time you get a chance to do it," Sintim said.

Leitao eager to get going in Charlottesville
Virginia's Dave Leitao talks about recruiting, expectations and fans as the season approaches.
BY MELINDA WALDROP
247-4634
Published August 31, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- With less than two months to go before the first day of practice, new Virginia men's basketball coach Dave Leitao sounds like a child staking out the chimney for Santa as he sits in his bare office, white walls undecorated except for one family photo perched on a shelf. With a move from University Hall to $130 million, 15,000-seat John Paul Jones Arena on the horizon, the coach is hesitant to unpack many of his belongings. But that doesn't mean he's not eager to begin his first season with the Cavaliers, an era that officially will begin with a Nov. 18 home game against Liberty.

On Oct. 15, Leitao can conduct his first practice with the players he's been getting to know over the summer. Virginia finished 14-15 overall and 4-12 in the ACC in Pete Gillen's last season. As a recent interview with the Daily Press revealed, Leitao can hardly wait to start trying to improve upon that record.

Q: What are you most looking forward to about the upcoming season?

A:

Practice. Getting into the gym. ... That's the one thing you are in this industry for, and that's to teach and to coach, so I look forward to being in there every day and teaching and getting guys better. What professor doesn't want to spend time in the classroom?

Q:

What changes are you planning to make in U.Va.'s style of play?

A:

We want to play every possession like it's our last and play with the kind of passion that successful teams need to play with. ... You're gonna fight and defend and scratch and claw every inch of the floor. Initially if somebody watches Virginia play, that's the first thing that I want them to say, is, 'Boy, they play hard, and they play defense.'

Q:

What has been the biggest difference you've noticed at Virginia after coaching at DePaul for the past three seasons?

A:

The major change is that you're a state university, and are treated as such, and so there's a lot of interest in your program. There's interest at DePaul and other places, but when you're in a major market like Chicago, you share people's interest with other sports, professional sports and college sports. ... Here, you have Virginia Tech, you have other schools in the area, but you don't have a pro franchise locally that people cheer for and get distracted by, so you're in a little bit of fishbowl as to how people view you, and how you do deal with the responsibilities that go along with that. But I think that's a major plus in selling this university, that you can be looked on with such high regard by so many people, with that amount of great interest.

Q:

Does that put greater pressure on you?

A:

It increases, obviously, the visibility. There's no place to hide. I don't know if I would call that pressure as much as opportunity. I've been fortunate to be put in this position, and I hold it in very high regard.

Q:

You open the conference schedule at Georgia Tech, which played for the national championship in 2004, on Dec. 4, and play host to defending national champion North Carolina on Jan. 19. How does a team catch up to a conference not likely to sit still and wait for that to happen?

A: That's part of the challenge. You have to create your own niche. If you look at some of the programs that have done it - Maryland has had a time where it's went through a very low period in its existence and risen up to become a national champion. Georgia Tech went through their own coaching change a few years ago. Paul (Hewitt) came in and took the program over, and before you know it, they're in the national championship game. I think there's a lot of room, because this conference has such great respect nationally, for teams to improve and get better. Obviously it starts with the kind of people and the kind of player you bring in, and so you have to get better as a group with your talent level. But I think you can feed off of the success that some of the other teams have had in creating your own success.

Q:

You and your staff will be hitting the recruiting road soon. What will you be looking for? (A pair of 6-7, 235-pound forwards are reportedly on the Cavaliers' wish list - local product Duke Crews of Bethel and Jonathan Mitchell of Mount Vernon High in New York.)

A:

Initially, when we got here, with the limited amount of scholarships that we have, we thought that our strength would be in the backcourt and we had to improve our frontcourt. I think that's for the most part true, but at the same time, we have to try as best we can to improve our overall talent level. If we can get a guy at any position that can help us do that, then obviously we're going to try to do that.

Q:

How many scholarships (out of the NCAA-allowed 13) do you have available? (Shooting guard Stephen Kendall, a junior at Blue Ridge High School, committed to Virginia last fall.)

A:

Technically one, because we have 11 guys here and the previous staff had another young man committed. We're still in an ongoing process as to what will happen with that young man. If it stays that way, then we'd have one. If not, then we'd have two and keep moving on from there.

Q:

Will you make it a priority to keep Virginia's home-grown talent in-state?

A:

I think over time this state has proven to, year in and year out, produce some of the highest-quality athletes in the country, and so I think it behooves me to be in position to try to recruit those guys.

Q:

Will the new arena help sell your program?

A:

It's very helpful. ... It's an avenue to the future, it's an avenue of change. ... Along with a new building and getting a new coach, there's a new start around here as a result of some positive changes in a lot of critical areas.

Q:

What are the strengths of the players you have returning?

A:

These guys have good, solid personalities, and I think through that they have established the desire to want to be better. I think one of the biggest things when you take over a program that has existing players that have contributed before is them having the ability to allow you to coach them.

Q:

How are you going to define success in your first season?

A:

I think the last thing that I would do is define it by wins and losses. We could win more games than the team did last year and be less successful in my eyes, or vice versa. Success for me will be defined as each individual trying to maximize their potential and be the best that they can be.

Q:

Do you feel the administration (which gave Leitao a five-year contract that guarantees him $925,000 annually) will give you the time you need to succeed?

A:

You're not judged on any given day, but you're judged over a period of time. And I know you don't have a ton of time, but you have enough to maybe stumble a time or two, and then get up and continue to run. With the new building, with all the money they've spent on it, and with the money they've spent bringing in a new staff, the new coach, new changes around here - I think if you're looking for instant gratification, I think that's maybe the wrong way to go about it. I don't think they're doing that.

Q:

So no one has said to you, 'We want to be playing for an ACC title in X amount of years?'

A:

Oh, I've heard it, but the fans - fortunately, they don't pay me.

Q:

Some prominent names - Kentucky's Tubby Smith, Texas' Rick Barnes - came up in Virginia's search before yours. Does that bruise your ego at all?

A:

No, not at all. This university - whatever was out there, true or not true - has every right to try to find the best basketball coach that they can, and if I happen to be it - right now, I'm here, and that's the only thing that matters. I paid attention to little or none of that.

Q:

Was it difficult to leave DePaul after three seasons?

A:

It's difficult, more emotionally than anything else, because you're tied to the people that you've been around who have helped you put yourself in that position to be a viable candidate - mainly your players. ... But you also have to know that you're doing what's in the best interest both of your professional future and the lives of your family. And so at the end of the day, I think my family is what I care most about in this world, and doing right by them.

Groh is high on Albert, who'll make his debut
Richmond Times-Dispatch Aug 31, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The last true freshman to start a season-opener on the University of Virginia offensive line and the first to do so since 1972 -- was tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson in 2002.

Ferguson enters his senior year as a preseason All-American. U.Va. coach Al Groh hopes Branden Albert's career follows a similar path.

Virginia opens its season Saturday night against Western Michigan at Scott Stadium. Albert, a 6-7 320-pounder from Glen Burnie, Md., was listed as the starting left offensive guard on the depth chart released yesterday. Another mammoth true freshman, 6-6, 330-pound Eugene Monroe, is the backup at right guard and will play Saturday, too, Groh said.

Albert originally signed with the Cavaliers in February, 2004. He didn't meet NCAA eligibility standards coming out of Glen Burnie High and enrolled in the postgraduate program at Hargrave Military Academy.

"The year at Hargrave -- the year of physical maturity, the year of increased level of competition and the year, most particularly, of personal responsibility and maturity -- was clearly beneficial," Groh said.

Albert made it to U.Va. this summer, and his progress in training camp allowed the coaching staff to move Brian Barthelmes, the returning starter at left guard, to center.

In high school, Albert was known as much for his basketball prowess as for his football feats. He made The Baltimore Sun's All-Metro second team in hoops.

Albert's game, Groh said, was not "just a stand-underneath-the-basket-and-stuff-it-through-the-hoop deal."

That footwork is one reason Groh believes Albert, 20, can thrive as a pulling guard.

-- Jeff White

 

Cavs hungry for more
After'04 disappointment, Hagans & Co. searching for bigger victories
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Aug 31, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE Ask University of Virginia coach Al Groh if his program has come to a crossroads, and he'll flatly reject the notion.

U.Va., after all, has won at least eight games in each of the past three seasons. Moreover, Groh noted recently, the Cavaliers would have clinched a share of the ACC title had they beaten Virginia Tech in their regular season finale last year.

"Crossroads?" Groh said. "I'd say crossroads come when you've been having bad times."

U.Va. officials clearly are happy with the job Groh has done at his alma mater, given that they gave him a lucrative new contract this month.

Nonetheless, disappointment probably was the prevailing emotion among players, coaches and fans at season's end last year. Against the ACC's top three teams -- Virginia Tech, Miami and Florida State -- Virginia went 0-3. Then, in the MPC Computers Bowl, the Cavaliers (8-4 overall) blew a substantial lead and ended up falling in overtime.

"You hate to lose any game," Virginia quarterback Marques Hagans said, "but especially the last game. For me, it was like lighting a fuse."

U.Va. lost numerous standouts from its 2004 team, including seven players who were selected in the NFL draft. But Groh enters his fifth season at Virginia with one of the ACC's top returning quarterbacks in Hagans and big-time talent at several other positions -- most notably offensive tackle and inside linebacker, where senior D'Brickashaw Ferguson and junior Ahmad Brooks, respectively, are preseason All-Americans.

Virginia also has one of the nation's better kickers in senior Connor Hughes. And don't forget senior tailback Wali Lundy, who ranks seventh on U.Va.'s list of all-time leading rushers.

What the Cavaliers don't have is proven talent at nose tackle or outside linebacker. Nor do they have much depth or experience in the secondary or at tight end. How well Virginia fares this season may depend on its ability to avoid serious injuries.

In 2004, the knee injury that prematurely ended defensive end Chris Canty's senior season proved catastrophic for U.Va.

If this team is to challenge for the Coastal Division title, it can't afford similar misfortune, particularly at linebacker or in the secondary.

In the media's preseason ACC poll, U.Va. was picked to finish third in the Coastal. That seemed reasonable to Groh, but he doesn't put much stock in what prognosticators say.

"I think we're one of 12 teams trying to get to Jacksonville on Dec.3," Groh said.

 

Brooks won't start for UVa
By Andy Bitter
Lynchburg News & Advance
August 31, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE - The worst-kept secret in Charlottesville was finally confirmed Tuesday when UVa released its probable depth chart for Saturday's season opener against Western Michigan: linebacker Ahmad Brooks will not play.
Brooks, who is still recovering from offseason surgery to correct a degenerative bone condition in his right knee, will be replaced in the starting lineup by Mark Miller. Bryan White is listed as the backup at both middle linebacker positions.

Though Brooks will not dress for Western Michigan, he has resumed practicing with pads. UVa coach Al Groh had held Brooks out of contact drills in training camp while he improved his conditioning level.

Groh chose not to disclose any further information.

"He's doing a little bit," Groh said. "Not to dodge this question, but until it really looks like he's going to play in a game, it's really a distraction from what we're trying to do."

After Western Michigan, the Cavaliers' next game is at Syracuse on Sept. 17.

Miller, a 6-0, 222-pound senior, played in all 12 games last season but made his biggest mark on special teams where he played on the punt return, kickoff and kickoff return units.

White, at 6-foot-1, 241 pounds, is playing as a graduate student. He played in the season opener last year against Temple but missed the remainder of the season after having back surgery.

Albert to start

Branden Albert might be a true freshman, but the offensive guard has a maturity level well beyond his years. That's just one reason the 6-foot-7, 310-pound Albert will start at left guard in his first collegiate game this Saturday.

Albert, who attended Hargrave Military Academy last year after coming out of Glen Burnie (Md.) High, beat out Ian-Yates Cunningham for the starting left guard position when senior Brian Barthelmes shifted to center.

"That extra year at Hargrave, the year of physical maturity, the year of increased level of competition, and the year, most particularly, of personal responsibility and maturity are clearly beneficial to him," Groh said of Albert. "He's certainly got the anxieties that go with this circumstance, but he's also pretty well at ease. He's very composed about it."

Freshman linemate Eugene Monroe is listed second on the depth chart at right guard behind sophomore Marshal Ausberry.

Depth chart differences

Albert's ascension to the starting lineup wasn't the only shakeup to the depth chart.

Senior Ottowa Anderson, back after missing last season while on an academic suspension, beat out junior Fontel Mines for one of the starting receiver positions. Freshman Kevin Ogletree, meanwhile, is listed behind Deyon Williams at the other receiver position.

Junior tailback Michael Johnson is listed ahead of redshirt freshman Cedric Peerman (William Campbell) as Wali Lundy's backup at tailback.

On defense, 6-foot-4, 327-pound senior Kwakou Robinson beat out sophomore Keenan Carter and junior Ron Darden for the starting nose tackle job. Also, sophomore Vince Redd is listed as Brennan Schmidt's backup at left end, while sophomore Allen Billyk is behind Chris Long at right end.

In the secondary, sophomore Chris Gorham will start at the cornerback position opposite Marcus Hamilton, with Tony Franklin moving to safety. The backup cornerbacks are both true freshmen - Mike Brown and Chris Cook (Heritage).

Gould or Weigand?

One position not yet resolved is punter. The depth chart listed the starting punter as sophomore Chris Gould or Pasadena City College transfer Ryan Weigand.

"We haven't come to a clear-cut decision on that because I guess we haven't had a clear-cut difference," Groh said.

Gould, who started the last three games and averaged 38.6 yards per punt, entered training camp as the No. 1 punter, though the two have been neck and neck since.

UVa ranked 116th in the nation in net punting last season.

- Andy Bitter

 

Unheralded wideouts look to prove doubters wrong
Cavaliers lack experience at wide receiver position, will look to Anderson, returning from year-long suspension, Williams to catch long balls for Virginia
Bayless Parsley, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor

At certain positions, Virginia is loaded with experience.

D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Brad Butler, Marques Hagans, Wali Lundy, Ahmad Brooks, Kai Parham, Brennan Schmidt...

The list of familiar faces is easy to draw.

But if you dip your bucket into the well looking for experience from the wide receiver position, you're going to find yourself with some pretty parched lips.

Ottowa Anderson may have enough tenure to fill up your glass, but he hasn't played a down of football since the Continental Tire Bowl against Pittsburgh in 2003. Who knows if the water he gives will still be good? After sitting out all of last year due to a suspension by head coach Al Groh, the senior wideout had a long time to sit at home in Norfolk and ponder his future.

"I couldn't watch every game since I had to work, but I tried to," Anderson said. "They were having a great year, and I was at home because of negative circumstances. My plan was to come back [in 2005]. Coach Groh and I stayed in contact, and he said if everything went well, I'd be able to get my scholarship back and return by the beginning of summer. That's what happened."

With a dreadlocked mane flowing out of his helmet, it would be easy to compare Anderson to another player who abandoned a locker room full of teammates before crawling back a year later.

But this is no Ricky Williams.

"I've been waiting for a long time to get back out there," Anderson said. "I'll be ecstatic. When you run out onto the field and see the fans screaming -- that's what I love about football. Every game is a new game, a new experience. It never gets old."

What does get old is a one-dimensional offense, which is what Virginia will bring to the field this year unless someone from the wide receiving corps steps up big. Behind Ferguson and the rest of the Virginia offensive line, Hagans and Lundy will continue to pump out rushing yardage.

It's the aerial attack that everyone is wondering about.

After Anderson's 62 career catches, junior Deyon Williams stands next in line. Williams has pulled down 27 balls as a Cavalier, totaling 383 yards. While he caught only one touchdown pass in 2004, Williams averaged 13.7 yards per catch to lead all Virginia wide receivers.

A sleek 6-feet-3-inches tall, Williams also has developed a reputation amongst his teammates as being the top deep-ball threat on the team.

"Right now, Deyon's been going to get a lot of [deep] balls in practice," Anderson said. "It seems like he catches a deep ball every day."

If Williams has been catching a deep ball every day, it's a good sign for his quarterback. With the loss of Heath Miller to the NFL, Hagans needs new faces to step up. Returning wide out Fontel Mines hopes that he is the one.

Mines had an unfortunate sophomore year, injuring his collarbone in the season opener and missing the next five games. He finished the year with only 70 yards in seven contests –- a reminder to the junior of how fragile a body can be.

"Everything happens for a reason," Mines said. "I just have to keep working to keep myself in top physical condition to try to prevent these injuries."

Emerging late last year to crowd the wide receiver slot was a promising freshman named Bud Davis, who waited until the MPC Computers Bowl in Idaho to make his first career start. Davis is back, looking to build upon the promising end to last season. Complete with a new name -- Theirrien -- expect Davis to be in the mix for significant playing time this fall.

With proven production, Anderson has the best chance to take the reins of leadership amongst the receivers. After going from the bottom of the depth chart in camp to the top of the starting rotation for the opening game against Western Michigan, look for Anderson to develop into the substantial passing threat that Hagans so badly needs.