Junior end Cam Johnson, who combined with his fellow Orange team members to shut down Virginia’s first-team offense Saturday, will look to bolster the Cavaliers’ defensive unit during the 2010-11 season. Photo by Jason O. Watson.

When Mike London was introduced as the new head coach of the Virginia football team Dec. 7, he spoke of the great opportunity to revitalize a program that had suffered three losing seasons during the last four years, the optimism of bringing in his own staff and also the various challenges that lay ahead of him.

Things may not have gone as planned. And after the team’s annual spring game this past Saturday, London acknowledged the wounded prides of players who had lost nine games during the 2009 season.

“In December, there were fragile egos, dark cloud hanging over the guys, ‘woe is me’ type of thing,” London said. “Then change occurs. Sometimes when that happens, [guys] get a new lease on life. You introduce them to new people in their life that say, ‘Look, you can’t do this.’”

Players said the attitude of the team has changed since London’s arrival, emphasizing the three pillars of his program: Go to class, show class and treat people with dignity and respect.

“There’s a lot of parts we have to work on — that I have to work on,” London said. “But I know the attitude part has changed.”

Many of the loose parts were on display during Saturday’s game between the Orange team — which featured the first team defense and second team offense — and the Blue team, which included the first team offense and second team defense. The Orange squad, led by rising senior cornerback Ras-I Dowling and rising junior defensive end Cam Johnson on the defense, and redshirt freshman quarterback Ross Metheney on offense, prevailed 30-3.

The controlled scrimmage was organized around five 15-play series that began at different yard-lines and a sixth “Beat the Clock” set from the 40-yard line.

The Orange squad’s victory was highlighted by an interception by Johnson, who picked off a tipped pass from junior quarterback Marc Verica and sprinted 51 yards down the field for a touchdown. With 14 practices under his belt at the new position, Johnson — who played outside linebacker for Al Groh in the former coach’s 3-4 system — discussed the progress he has made in his adjustment to defensive end in London’s 4-3 scheme.

“I’m a lot more comfortable now, now that I know the schemes and where the coaches want me to fit on the plays,” Johnson said. “But I still got a lot of work to do.”

Dowling also showcased his first-round draft potential with several breakups on deep passes down the field intended for rising sophomore receiver Tim Smith. As a whole, London was pleased with his team’s defensive performance.

“Defensively, we’ll be fairly representative of putting a good team out there – guys that can rush, guys that can cover,” London said. “Today, I thought the defense did a good job putting pressure on Marc [Verica], causing some turnovers, some sacks.”
Offensively, London described his team as “erratic at some times” but also praised his eclectic group of running backs, including the 6-3, 255-pound Keith Payne, a downhill runner, the 5-foot-8, 185-pound, quick Perry Jones and Torrey Mack, who London praised for his good hands. The three combined for 47 yards rushing on 16 carries. Rising redshirt freshman Dominique Wallace, who did not play last season because of injury, was also sidelined for the spring.

Taking the snaps for the Blue team was Verica, who finished with eight completions on 23 attempts, including two interceptions.

“I haven’t thrown many interceptions this spring at all — I’ve thrown none in team periods,” Verica said. “Just happens that today I throw two — but that’s all right. We’ve really done a great job this spring; although it wasn’t that great today, I’m not worried about it, we’ve really had a great spring this year.”

Adding that he has spent most of his time during the offseason working on playing with a higher tempo, Verica, named one of the team’s captains for the 2010 season, said he has tried to stay positive during his time at Virginia. He became Virginia’s starting quarterback during the 2008 season and had many bright moments, including a six-game span when he threw for 200 or more yards, but served as departing senior Jameel Sewell’s backup during the 2009 campaign.

“I’ve been through a lot of things in my career here,” Verica said. “There’s been some ups and downs, but the way I’ve learned to handle it is to be resilient and to just accept every challenge and make it into a positive, and putting your head down and fighting through it. My teammates have encouraged me and the staff has been supportive, and the fans have been supportive, too, so it’s nice to have the encouragement of everybody surrounding this program.”

His counterpart, Metheney, completed 6-of-10 passes for 140 yards, including a 57-yard touchdown toss to Ray Keys during the “Beat the Clock” session to punctuate the Orange team’s victory. Although Metheney performed better statistically than Verica for the Cavaliers, the rising redshirt freshman said Verica remains London’s No. 1 option. London added that the presence of offensive coordinator Bill Lazor has had a positive influence on the quarterback, as well.

And although his quarterback and kickers — who converted on only 2-of-6 field goal attempts — struggled during the spring game, London said the program is headed in the right direction.

“We made such an improvement from the first practice to this practice,” London said. “At the beginning of this process, we had to kind of start from scratch … 14th practice, with two of them being a special teams practice, you’re still trying to find your identity and working out some of the kinks, but I think we’ll be OK.”