This time last year, walk-on junior holder and wide receiver Jacob Hodges had a very different relationship to his eventual teammates on the Virginia football team. He was deep in the bowels of the McCue center doing the Cavaliers' laundry.
Before successfully trying out for the team this past spring, Hodges served as the Cavaliers' student manager. In that position, the Stafford, Va. native's duties included washing players' athletic wear, assisting the Virginia coaching staff during team practices and keeping track of the various pieces of equipment required for every Cavalier outing.
Secretly, Hodges was dreaming of making the move from washing jerseys to donning one of his very own. When coach Mike London arrived on the scene touting an era of new beginnings, Hodges embraced the opportunity to go after his long-time dream.
"With [former coach Al] Groh being here and already being a manager, I felt like they saw me as a manager," Hodges said. "But with the new coaching staff coming in, I thought it was a new opportunity. Everything was fresh. Everybody's getting a fair shot. I saw it as a great opportunity."
Although some might assume it would be a bit awkward for Hodges to make the switch from manager to teammate, he said the Virginia football team has welcomed him into the fold with open arms.
"Everyone's been nice, and it's been great just being a part of the football family," Hodges said.
So far, the 5-foot-11, 190-pound junior has proven himself to his new family, serving the primary holder for field goals and extra point attempts. With Hodges as the holder, junior place kicker Robert Randolph has knocked in 8-of-11 field goal opportunities and is a perfect 35-for-35 on extra point attempts.
"You got to trust your holder and have confidence that the kid will put it down," special teams coordinator Anthony Poindexter said. "Jacob's been doing a great job [at that]."
Poindexter also has used Hodges in two special teams trick plays that resulted in touchdowns during the Cavaliers' last two matchups against Duke and Maryland.
Against the Blue Devils, Hodges appeared to place the ball on the turf for a field goal attempt but instead tossed it gently over his head and into Randolph's arms. Randolph then scampered downfield for a 20-yard score to slice into an early 21-7 Duke lead.
One week later against the Terrapins, Hodges again crouched into his holding position for what appeared to be a field goal attempt for the Cavaliers. This time, Hodges threw a quick shovel-pass ahead to junior fullback Terence Fells-Danzer for the special teams' unit fifth touchdown of the season. With his first career touchdown toss, Hodges became the fifth Cavalier to throw a touchdown this season.
Even though Saturday marked the wide receiver's first collegiate touchdown pass, Hodges is quite familiar with distributing the ball downfield. Hodges played quarterback for three seasons at Mountain View High School after transferring from Halifax County High School following his freshman year. He still holds Mountain View's school records for most touchdown passes and passing yards in a single game, with five touchdown passes and 321 yards, respectively.
"Out of high school, I could have gone to smaller Division III, Division 1-AA, but I had always wanted to come to school at U.Va.," Hodges said.
Hodges has not seen as much playing time during his brief collegiate career as he did in high school, but he claims to relish every opportunity he gets on the field as a member of the special teams' unit - especially when a trick play call comes in.
"You really learn to appreciate [special teams] when that's all you do and realize how important to the game special teams are," Hodges said. "It's really big for the team and it's exciting when the players know that the coaches coach them to win instead of coaching them not to lose. It gets people excited and makes the players play even harder"
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