White: Dowling Steps Into The Spotlight
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com Release: 08/08/2009
By Jeff White

CHARLOTTESVILLE - If he's not the most talented player on the University of Virginia football team, he's on the short list. He made the all-ACC second team as a sophomore last year and was the only Cavalier named to the preseason all-ACC team last month.
But cornerback Ras-I Dowling, his distinctive given name notwithstanding, has kept a low profile since enrolling at UVa. He plays a position often associated with players whose confidence borders on - and occasionally crosses into - cockiness, but comes across as a soft-spoken and unassuming. No Deion Sanders is he.
"I'm all about the team," Dowling said after practice this afternoon, "not really about myself."
A few minutes earlier, Al Groh had stopped to talk about Dowling, a potential star at a position where UVa has struggled to produce playmakers in recent years.
"He's not a brash guy," Groh said, "but as his skills develop and he can see that he's able to handle a lot of different deals, his picture of what he can become is getting bigger and clearer, and so that's given him the confidence. With him, it's more a confidence of, 'If I really aim high I've got a chance to get there,' rather than the type of confidence where he says, 'I'm The Man.'"
Virginia's projected starters at cornerback - fifth-year senior Chris Cook and Dowling - might be the ACC's top tandem. They're definitely among the league's biggest.
Cook is listed at 6-2, 210 pounds; Dowling, at 6-2, 200. That's part of what makes Dowling special, according to Groh, who cited such former NFL greats as Rod Woodson, Mike Haynes and Willie Brown.
"I wouldn't compare him to Hall of Fame corners, but those are guys who were able to go beyond being good and distinguish themselves as being really superior," Groh said.
"They have size to go with athletic ability ... He's got that multiplicity to his game."
A graduate of Deep Creek High in Chesapeake, Dowling spent the 2006-07 academic year at Hargrave Military Academy. As a true freshman in 2007, he played in the Wahoos' final 12 games and led the team with nine pass break-ups. He also had two interceptions to tie for the team lead.
As a sophomore, Dowling led UVa in both categories, breaking up 11 passes and picking off three. He also had five tackles for loss. Two of his interceptions came at Duke, where he also made a career-high eight tackles despite missing a significant portion of the game with cramps.
"He's got a sense of where the ball's going," Groh said. "Some guys, they've just got a sense for it. Like in basketball, some guys just get steals. They just have a sense of how to play the passing lanes."
So, how can Dowling elevate his game this season?
"Well," Groh said, "one thing is to stay out there all year, which he didn't and which dramatically affected him last year."
A hamstring injury slowed Dowling during training camp, and he missed the opener against Southern California. He cramped up at Duke and, three weeks later, hurt his back against North Carolina.
"It is frustrating when you're not playing," Dowling said, "because you practice all year-round to get ready for the games."
Could those health problems have been avoided? Maybe so, Dowling said, if he'd kept himself more hydrated and taken better care of his body. To that end, he met with Rob Skinner, UVa's director of sports nutrition, and set up a plan that has Dowling eating better.
Groh said he's seen other changes in No. 19, including increased self-confidence.
"Part of it is just the maturity of the player, but in his particular case it's also a demonstrated performance to go with that maturity," Groh said. "It really started in the spring when his work became purposefulness or every play, and he was really outstanding in the summer program."
Dowling said: "I'm playing with more urgency now, playing hard and not taking stuff for granted. Not coming out here lazy and not wanting to practice. I come here and practice hard every day."
Cornerback might be the Cavaliers' deepest position. New secondary coach Anthony Poindexter's options at that spot include Chase Minnifield, Mike Parker, Dom Joseph and, of course, all-ACC candidates Cook and Dowling.
"We're just trying to make the team better," Dowling said when asked about the duo's goals. "If both of us make plays, then that'll make the team better."

 

Sewell back in the saddle for Cavs
By Jay Jenkins
Published: August 9, 2009

It would make for an odd handshake.

One is right-handed. The other considers his left hand to be dominant.

For the southpaw in the variable, Virginia senior Jameel Sewell, that is where the peculiarities end in regards to his relationship with teammate Vic Hall.

They have been roommates for four years. They have been friends even longer.

Now, as the sands fall through the hourglass of the careers of both players, Hall and Sewell are both quarterbacks again.

And in theory, they are desperately fighting for one job to lead Virginia’s offense onto the field on Sept. 5 against William & Mary. It would be easy for animosity to creep into the picture.

Think again.

“We truly work hand-in-hand,” said Sewell, dripping with sweat following Saturday’s training-camp practice, the second for the Cavaliers. “We’re just competing to try to make each other better and this team better. We continue to try to always help each other.

“We just push each other and push each other. Regardless of how much we compete, because we do compete every single play, it is never like, ‘Okay, you did this on this play, so I’m about to go do this on this next play.’ We want the best for Virginia football.”

Sewell, who said he feels faster on the field, appears sincere in the statement based on the path he took to get back on the field at Virginia. Days after starting the Cavaliers’ Gator Bowl loss to Texas Tech on Jan. 1 2008, the left-handed throwing quarterback learned that he was suspended and ineligible to return to UVa despite being academically eligible to play at other schools.

He could have transferred. He could have found a home and enjoyed two seasons of college football.

“That’s not Jameel,” Hall said. “He is the ultimate teammate. He did not want to quit on this team.”

For now, Sewell is running reps with the second-team offense in the shadow of Hall and just ahead of 2008 starter Marc Verica. That may be the case all year, something Sewell says he can live with.

“The best man is going to win,” said Sewell, who has 3,518 career passing yards and 17 touchdowns. “If it gets to the point that Vic is the starting quarterback and I can get on the field to help him win, heck, even at left tackle, I don’t care. I will do it. I just want to win.”

Off the field, Sewell has desires as well. He longs to graduate in May and took a heavy class load last spring with that in mind.

His summer work, however, was not quite as “strenuous,” he said, noting that one of his classes was an acting class that he enjoyed immensely.

“Graduating on time is still in the picture for me,” he said. “That is why I am still pushing.”

On the field, Sewell said he is not pretending. He claims his passion for the sport that was taken from him for a year is back is stronger than ever.

“It is redemption,” he said referring to the team motto for this year’s season. “I have been gone. I have to redeem myself.

“We all have something to prove. We are not out here to proof something for the fans — no disrespect to them — but we have to prove something to ourselves first and foremost. Once we get it in our heads that we are doing much better and getting much better everyday, then we can come out here and show everyone else what we are capable of doing. Then we can get redemption.”
 

Cavalier rookies looking versatile
By Dave Fairbank
247-4637
August 9, 2009

Virginia freshman Perry Jones, the versatile performer from Chesapeake's Oscar Smith High, is representative of a handful of newcomers on the Cavaliers' roster: players capable of filling multiple roles.

Jones, 5-foot-8 and 185 pounds, was an all-star-caliber performer on offense and defense — a two-time all-state linebacker and a record-setting running back.

"It's very easy to be excited about him either way," U.Va. coach Al Groh said.

Groh said that he and his staff take a couple of different routes in early evaluations of players with broad skill sets.

Sometimes a player will be worked at the position at which he is most comfortable or had the greatest success. Other times, the staff will ask a player where he prefers to play when he begins training camp, and evaluate from there.

Speaking of versatile
Freshmen Riko Smalls and Quintin Hunter, high school quarterbacks from Plano, Texas, and nearby Orange, respectively, worked out at wide receiver the first couple of days of practice.

Groh described Smalls as a good athlete and aggressive. He said that Smalls' work at wide receiver is more testament to the fact that the Cavaliers have three veteran quarterbacks — Jameel Sewell, Marc Verica and projected starter Vic Hall — than any shortcoming Smalls may possess at quarterback.

Groh said that receiver is likely the best path to early playing time for Smalls. He likened his situation to Marques Hagans' several years ago.

Hagans, a former Hampton High standout, was behind Matt Schaub on the QB depth chart for two years, but rather than sit, he played receiver and did other things until Schaub departed, then led the Cavs at quarterback in 2004 and '05. Hagans now is trying to stick with the Redskins.

Early evaluations
In discussing player evaluations and depth-chart decisions when the team is literally only hours into preseason camp, Groh brought up a talk given by legendary Minnesota Vikings coach Bud Grant years ago.

Grant's message to a roomful of coaches: Don't make decisions before you have to. It wasn't a license to procrastinate, Groh said, but a recommendation to use the time available.

If you have a couple of days, don't reach a conclusion in an hour. Premature judgments, particularly when dealing with younger players, will ultimately hurt them and hurt a team, Groh said.

Given that the team has 28 remaining practices before the season opener, he said, it wouldn't be prudent to jump to conclusions about players and packages just for the sake of making a decision.

Receiving corps
Groh said he hasn't made decisions on the minimum number of wide receivers he'd want available for the Cavaliers' new spread offense.

He said special teams likely will factor into how many receivers he would use or the Cavs would take with them on road games. A receiver who also is productive on special teams would receive greater consideration, he said, than someone who is simply a receiver.

The Cavs are without their top three receivers from last year — and top five pass-catchers, counting backs and tight ends. Jared Green is the top returning wideout, catching a dozen passes for 144 yards and one touchdown.

More special teams
Though Ron Prince returns as new special-teams coordinator, Groh said his principle for stocking special teams remains the same.

The most productive player at a particular job will play on kicking and return teams, he said, whether it's an All-American or a reserve who only plays special teams.
 

Cavs counting on first-rate secondary
Date published: 8/9/2009
BY TAFT COGHILL JR.
CHARLOTTESVILLE

--Jared Green has a bit of expertise on talented defensive backs.

The University of Virginia sophomore wide receiver has lived with one all his life.

Green is the son of Washington Redskins Hall of Fame cornerback Darrell Green.

And when he practices against the gifted members of Virginia's secondary, he likes what he sees.

"They make us better every day," Green said yesterday following fall practice. "I like what they're doing. I'm excited to see what they'll do to the other wide receivers they face."

When Virginia's football team is discussed these days, questions surrounding head coach Al Groh's future, the introduction of the spread offense and the quarterback situation are the dominant topics.

That's because they're question marks.

The secondary isn't.

The Cavaliers' depth is allowing two-year starting cornerback Vic Hall to compete for the quarterback job. Groh said it's the fastest group of players he's had in the secondary in his nine-year tenure.

"It's one of the best circumstances I've been in since I've been here," senior cornerback Chris Cook said. "There's nobody I don't trust when I'm out on the field. In the past it was kind of iffy, but now I feel good about everybody."

Cook has reason to feel that way.

Junior cornerback Ras-I Dowling (6-foot-2, 200 pounds) is the only preseason all-Atlantic Coast Conference selection on the team.

Cook (6-foot-2, 210 pounds) is similarly talented, but missed all of last season because he was suspended from school for academic issues.

He's back this upcoming season to help form one of the most imposing cornerback duos in the ACC.

"If I was on the opposite team, I would be intimidated," Green said of Dowling and Cook. "They're big and fast. Who doesn't want that on their team?"

The Cavaliers could use a jolt from the secondary this season.

They were ninth in the ACC in interceptions in 2008 with 11. They've registered 22 interceptions the past two seasons combined, just two more than state rival Virginia Tech recorded last year.

In addition to Cook and Dowling, the secondary features safeties Rodney McLeod and Corey Mosley.

Mosley (5-10, 200 pounds) is a hard-hitting sophomore who registered 46 tackles in nine starts last year.

McLeod appeared in the final nine games of 2008 as a true freshman cornerback.

Cook and Dowling said McLeod's presence at safety provides an extra playmaker.

"That just gives us a better cover guy at safety," Cook said. "He can make the same plays a corner can make. That gives us a lot of quickness and speed back there."

The Cavaliers' secondary should also be energized by a new coach.

Former running backs coach Anthony Poindexter is now guiding the unit. Poindexter was an All-America safety for the Cavaliers in 1997-98.

Cook said Poindexter's passion for the game "gives us the same passion. We just feed off him."

Said McLeod: "He's coaching what he did in college. This is what he loves to do."