Doubt never entered Billy McMullen's mind. There were no second thoughts, no second guessing: He would play as a first year. Jerton Evans wasn't quite so sure. He was ready, but he didn't know if everybody else thought he was.
Seven games into the season, not only do the Cavaliers think highly enough of the duo to put them on the field, but they depend on them.
"We learn quickly," Evans said. "We've been thrown in the fire real quick and had to learn how to handle responsibility. We don't like to make excuses."
McMullen a big catch for Cavs
Monday afternoon, Billy McMullen strutted into the team's weekly press conference at University Hall sporting a New York Yankees hat. With the Bronx Bombers aiming to repeat as World Series Champions, it made perfect sense. McMullen was supporting his favorite team, right?
"No, I'm just wearing it because it matches my outfit," McMullen said. "Braves all the way, baby."
Classic McMullen: Just when you finally think you've figured the first year out, he finds another way to stump you.
Football scouts needed one glance at the gangly, six-foot-four wideout to conclude that his gait was graceful but his wheels turned too slowly for big-time college ball. So the former Henrico High School and Fork Union Military Academy standout recently clocked in at 4.4 in the 40-yard dash.
N.C. State's secondary expected the rookie, suiting up in just his seventh college game, to play like, well, a rookie. So he decided it was time for a breakout: four catches, 109 yards and two touchdowns against an unsuspecting Wolfpack defense.
"I knew that with the holes in the receiving core, I was going to play," he said. "It hasn't been above my expectations. I was just waiting for my time. I believed in my ability."
But McMullen's emergence is well above the expectations of most. A number of prominent programs overlooked him - the Wolfpack in particular, who decided that McMullen wasn't quite fast enough to run routes in Raleigh.
But as the first year proved against the team that all but forgot about him, paybacks are hell.
"Last year when N.C. State was recruiting me, they kept coming back and saying 'you haven't run away from anybody yet,'" McMullen said. "That was my motivation going into the game."
And when he caught the two touchdown passes, he said only one thought entered his mind: "Gotcha."
Motivation has taken McMullen a long way, from a 17-year-old nearly lost in the shuffle in a run-oriented offense at Henrico to a star at Fork Union last year to a staple in Charlottesville. He ranks second on the squad with 16 receptions for 265 yards.
"It just seems like when he's out there he has a presence about him," Ellis said. "He's not scared. He's not intimidated. He believes he's going to get the ball when it's in the air."
Virginia Coach George Welsh believes in his precocious playmaker as well, envisioning the physically gifted McMullen as a potentially potent weapon.
"He could be a deep threat," Welsh said. "He's a big target, and he runs pretty well."
Humble Evans makes name
Jerton Evans' name wasn't the biggest in Virginia's 1999 spring recruiting haul either. That crown was reserved for the Bryson Spinners and Matt Schaubs of the first-year class. Just a few months later, Evans is now the headliner.
The Lynchburg, Va., product is tops on the team with three interceptions, highlighted by a two-pick masterpiece in a 45-40 win at BYU. Evans has checked his ego, though, an ego that could have found reason to balloon if not for a little home cooking.
"I went home during the bye week and sat down with my dad, my mom, my brothers and my girlfriend," Evans said. "Hearing them arguing really humbled me, knowing that with all the stuff going on around me, I still have people here that care about me."
The bye week has passed, replaced by thoughts of facing the indomitable Peter Warrick and his band of top-ranked Seminoles Saturday. Such a threat means Evans has little room for error.
But he's ready for the ultimate test.
"I'm not intimidated at all," Evans said. "It's not a matter of whether you're the number one or number two team in the nation. It's a matter of how big a team's heart is. They're human, too."
As for the pressure of hosting No. 1, Evans says bring it on.
"I like competition, and I like pressure," he said. "The only way you get better is to play good competition."
Saturday night, Evans and company won't play good competition. They'll play the best.
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