What do you do when your breakout season is interrupted by a knee injury on the first drive of the opening game?
If you're Monsanto Pope, you make yourself stronger and faster than you've ever been.
The junior defensive tackle blew out his knee on the sixth play of the season opener against North Carolina last year. He returned for the final three regular season games and the Micronpc.com Bowl, but he was never quite 100 percent. Now back at full strength, the 6-foot-4, 282-pound Pope is anxious to get back on the field.
"I'm definitely looking forward to being back this season," Pope said. "You've got to have confidence. Last year was a difficult year. I was happy to get through it. This year is totally different and I'm ready to play."
Though he only had 11 tackles last season - down from 28 in 1998 - seven came in the last regular season game against Maryland. It showed what he was capable of doing and how far he had come after a mentally draining year.
The anthropology major from Hopewell, Va., had the backing of the Cavalier fans to help him through the tough times.
"I got a lot of fan support that I really appreciated," Pope said. "I got a lot of e-mails and had a lot of people coming up and asking me how I'm doing. It's pretty nice to know I have that support."
Superstitious Cav fans want to see Pope in the starting lineup because Virginia won all eight games in which he started. Cavalier coach George Welsh and the rest of the team want to see him back at right tackle to help anchor an unproven defensive line.
"He's pretty much back to where he was last season," Welsh said. "He's a different player now. He's over the knee problem."
Pope is joined on the defensive line by junior left tackle George Stanley and junior Ljubomir Stamenich and sophomore Merrill Robertson, the two defensive ends.
Though the defensive linemen are relatively inexperienced, they hope to avoid the injuries that plagued last year's starters.
Pope, Stanley and sophomore Colin McWeeny battled all summer for the starting tackle spots. Though McWeeny will not start, his pass rushing skills and 27 tackles last season mean that he should see regular playing time as well.
Pope's experience has allowed him to be a leader within the line and improve those around him.
"I set goals for the defensive tackle position, not individually," Pope said. "We look at the stats from last year and add on to that."
The Virginia offensive linemen who practice against Pope have noticed his growth as a player and anticipate a big year. Senior right tackle Brad Barnes called Pope "definitely a force to be reckoned with," and senior center Dustin Keith also has seen firsthand what Pope can do to opposing blockers.
"He and I go against each other constantly in practice," Keith said. "He's faster, stronger and he has this new technique, but he won't tell me what it is. He's used it on me a couple of times, but I haven't figured it out yet"
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