After the Cavaliers dropped to a 4-3 overall record on the season with a loss at North Carolina, Virginia defensive ends Brennan Schmidt and Chris Long had had enough.
Back when their season was hanging in the balance, the Cavaliers had done what no one outside of Charlottesville thought possible -- they shocked undefeated Florida State and "saved the season" in the process.But just seven days later, Virginia had inched back towards the precipice. The same team that had turned out the lights on FSU played horribly against unranked Carolina.After seemingly turning the corner the week before, the Cavaliers had taken another wrong turn somewhere on I-85 -- with just four games to play, they still needed two wins to qualify for a bowl game.
Printed just underneath winless Temple's slot on the November portion of U.Va.'s schedule were the words "Georgia Tech," "Virginia Tech" and "at Miami."
Schmidt and Long knew the intensity the team had brought to Chapel Hill wasn't going to cut it against any of those teams, especially when all three would be fighting for position in the ACC Bowl lineup.
That's why the Temple game mattered. The Cavaliers didn't just need a win against the worst team in America -- they needed a big win to prove their focus was sighted in on the challenge ahead.
But game intensity isn't born on Saturday morning. It all starts in practice.
"The intensity and emotion have really picked up in practice," quarterback Marques Hagans said about the trend that began in the week leading up to Temple. "It's making practice more competitive, and it's challenging everyone to be focused on every single play. [Schmidt and Long] went out and set an example of how we were going to practice for the rest of the season. It had the emotions running high, which is what we needed."
The on-field and off-field dynamic between Schmidt and Long is one of mentor and protégé.
Schmidt is in the twilight of his college career; Long is only beginning.
Schmidt is the proven commodity -- when he laces up against Georgia Tech this Saturday, he will break the Virginia record for consecutive starts by a defensive player with 48.
Long is in his first year as a starter -- but, with a pedigree that includes a Hall of Fame NFL father, the sophomore Charlottesville native is no stranger to the game of football.
The defensive end unit feeds off of the energy each other brings -- but, on the practice field, that energy has a contagious effect on the team.
"Just be more enthusiastic about what you're doing, and just bring in a fire," Schmidt said. "When one guy or two guys do that, it really raises the level of play around you. Maybe [Long and I] helped start it during practice last week, but we didn't do it alone. Everyone contributed to that."
To Long, that fire was lacking in the team's most recent loss.
"It was just the level of emotion that we didn't bring to the game [that bothered me]," Long said. "It's tough to get up sometimes for practice, but I would think for games you'd be up all the time. We've just got to feed off each other when it's a little tough -- we think that starts in practice."
Three games to play; one more win to qualify for a bowl. The preparation has already started.
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