Heading into Saturday's game against Richmond, the Cavaliers prepared to face highly touted sophomore Aaron Corp, the Spiders' gunslinger once thought to be the heir apparent to Mark Sanchez at Southern California before he broke his leg. Virginia players held no fear, however, as their pass defense carried credentials of its own. In 2009, then-junior and second-team All-American cornerback Ras-I Dowling, then-sophomore strong safety Rodney McLeod and then-senior cornerback Chris Cook anchored a defensive backfield that allowed just 10 touchdown passes and ranked fourth in the ACC and 23rd in the nation in 2009. Just one problem though.
None of those three players was able to play Saturday. Dowling's hamstring still felt tender. McLeod's knee continued to bother him. Cook had moved on to the NFL.
But these absences did not seem to trouble a Virginia defense that held Corp to 183 yards passing, no touchdowns and one interception. Richmond ended the day with 189 total passing yards, falling close to the 184.6 average mark the Cavaliers allowed last season.
"We had been waiting for this [game] a long time," senior safety Trey Womack said. "We have been working really hard in camp, and the way we play and practice is paying off. But we are not satisfied and we will continue to raise our level every week."
Sitting out Dowling and McLeod meant that Virginia was resting two players who combined for 120 tackles in 2009. Their replacements, Womack and sophomore cornerback Devin Wallace, totaled only four tackles between them last year. Both played mostly special teams last season - with Womack having made 11 appearances and Wallace having played four times - and yet they each racked up three tackles and one pass breakup during their first career starts Saturday.
Another fresh face that saw plenty of playing time against the Spiders was senior cornerback Mike Parker. He, too, was mostly resigned to special teams during the 2009 campaign, but he stepped up and proved that he could be a reliable defensive stopper this season.
"Mike Parker's played in games here before," coach Mike London said. "Devin [Wallace] had an opportunity to step up and show that he's a very capable corner here in the ACC, and I think he did that. We get added players on the field with guys like Devin and Mike Parker being able to play because then you can add more to other packages, like nickel, dime or whatever you want to use."
Starting alongside Wallace was junior cornerback Chase Minnifield. Last season, Minnifield was primarily employed on kick returns, ranking sixth in the ACC in punt return average (4.4) and eighth in kickoff return average (23.3). He entered this season with 1,003 career return yards, fourth-best in the ACC - but with senior tailback Raynard Horne assuming responsibility on kickoff returns, Minnifield's primary role this year will be at the cornerback position. He embraced that role with conviction Saturday, finishing with seven tackles and a game-sealing fourth-quarter interception that was capped off with a scintillating 65-yard run back, the seventh-longest interception run back in school history.
"It feels good because it was such a big goal to win this first game," Minnifield said. "The seniors have not won a season-opener since they have been here, so to make a big play for my teammates feels great."
Junior Corey Mosley - who tallied 93 tackles during his first two seasons - played alongside Womack at free safety Saturday and earned three tackles. Junior strong safety Dom Joseph also saw significant action, collecting four tackles of his own. Joseph was voted the team's most improved defensive player at the end of spring practice and will look to improve upon his nine tackles in 2009.
With so many weapons at their disposal this season, cornerbacks coach Chip West and safeties coach Anthony Poindexter see no reason why their units cannot eclipse their stellar 2009 numbers. The potential return of Dowling and McLeod this weekend should help their cause against sophomore USC quarterback Matt Barkley, who tossed five touchdown passes en route to his squad's 49-point performance against Hawaii last weekend.
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