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Roles established as Orange-Blue scrimmage concludes spring practice

UNC transfer Thorpe shines in intrasquad scrimmage, Brown stars on defensive line

<p>Senior wide receiver T.J. Thorpe made big plays on the first drive of the Orange-Blue game. He gained 47 yards on a jet sweep and hauled in a 12-yard touchdown.  </p>

Senior wide receiver T.J. Thorpe made big plays on the first drive of the Orange-Blue game. He gained 47 yards on a jet sweep and hauled in a 12-yard touchdown. 

A season ago, Cavalier fans got their first taste of T.J. Thorpe. And it wasn’t a good one.

In an Oct. 25 matchup against North Carolina in the South’s Oldest Rivalry, a wide-open, then-UNC wide receiver Thorpe caught a 16-yard third-down pass and raced in for the go-ahead touchdown with 4:05 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Cavaliers couldn’t answer, falling 28-27.

But in a twist for the 2015 football season, Virginia is hoping the senior makes similar plays in Scott Stadium. Only this time, they will be greeted with cheers and perhaps a playing of the Good Ol’ Song.

Thorpe, a transfer with immediate eligibility, made his presence known early in Virginia’s annual Orange-Blue spring football game.

On the first drive, the former Tar Heel took a jet sweep to the right for 47 yards. A few plays later, he caught a 20-yard pass before hauling in a 12-yard touchdown.

On the sixth drive of the game, he also drew a pass-interference penalty on senior cornerback Demetrious Nicholson, eventually setting up a 44-yard field goal by junior kicker Dylan Sims. Although punt returns were not incorporated into the spring game, Thorpe is also the favorite to take that job come training camp in August.

“He’s a dynamic player,” coach Mike London said. “We want to try to find ways to get him the ball. He’s been a guy that’s been pretty consistent throughout camp being able to make plays.”

But the signal caller who will throw him the ball still remains unclear. Neither of the two junior quarterbacks competing for the starting job — Greyson Lambert and Matt Johns — provided any separation as spring practices concluded.

Lambert, who took the first snaps with the first-team offense, completed six of 14 passes for 79 yards. He tossed a touchdown on the opening drive to Thorpe, but also had a well underthrown deep ball intercepted by sophomore safety Quin Blanding.

Meanwhile, Johns connected on 11 of 23 passes, but for just 66 yards. His highlight was a 27-yard touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Brendan Marshall, although the ball was underthrown and nearly batted away.

“We have to do a better job of trying to keep the intensity up with our offense,” Lambert said. “We started off hot — we have to keep that intensity up throughout the whole game.”

The goal, however, is not to have to rely on the passing game. As London has reiterated throughout his tenure at Virginia, his goal is for the Cavaliers to develop a power-run oriented scheme.

“We wanted to establish an identity running the ball,” London said.

Coming out of spring practices, it appears Virginia will lean on a three-headed running back trio of sophomore Daniel Hamm, junior Taquan Mizzell and redshirt freshman Jordan Ellis.

Mizzell led all ball carriers with 83 yards on nine carries, although he did cough up a ball that was returned for a touchdown. Ellis, who at 220 pounds is considered the best power-runner, amassed 72 yards on the afternoon. Hamm, who took the first carry of the game, finished with 40 yards on 11 carries and also took a screen pass 12 yards to convert a third down.

“We’re all pretty well-rounded in our abilities,” Hamm said. “We can all protect. We can all run the ball. We can all run a route. So we can all do everything we need to do to be successful.”

But while the big names out of spring camp were all on offense, the defense, perhaps more so than their offensive counterparts, needed the spring repetitions to build much-needed depth.

In addition to the graduation of linebackers Henry Coley and Daquan Romero along with safety Anthony Harris, defensive end Eli Harold and linebacker Max Valles both declared for the NFL draft, leaving gaping holes in an aggressive defense.

Furthermore, senior defensive line mainstays David Dean and Mike Moore each missed spring practice due to injuries, and the projected starting mike-linebacker for next season, sophomore Micah Kiser, did not play in the spring game due to a knee injury sustained last week during practice.

But those subtractions meant additions in repetitions for those buried on the depth chart a season ago, especially sophomore defensive end Andrew Brown.

The 2013 Gatorade national high school player of the year took up boxing in the offseason in an effort to shed fat for muscle and improve his quickness. With injuries along the defensive line, Brown found a home on the starting unit this spring. Saturday, he amassed half a sack and led the team with 3.5 tackles for loss.

“Andrew [Brown] has done a really good job of trying to catch up to what he lacked last year,” London said. “What a lineman needs most of the time is more reps. Having a healthy spring allowed him to have all of those reps. His learning curve is starting to catch up with his ability.”

Over the next week, London and his staff will watch film and meet with each player individually to discuss his role on the team. Plenty of questions remain to be answered, most notably at quarterback.

But it appears Virginia might have found the explosive weapon it has long lacked at wide receiver in Thorpe, who after three seasons donning Tar Heel blue is happy to give the orange jerseys a try.

“I felt a little bright,” Thorpe said. “But I feel like I can make it look pretty good.”

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