It's the 2009 season opener, and William & Mary cornerback B.W. Webb is intercepting Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell for the third time. He's running into the end zone and doesn't stop. Now he's running into the tunnel, mocking an already embarrassed team.
It's the week leading up to the 2011 season opener, and B.W. Webb is running through the tunnel again. And again. And again. Mike London is showing the video on repeat, making his players watch until the montage is burned into their brains. He is reminding them that this year's matchup against William & Mary must be different than the preceding one.
London's message apparently resonated. Virginia trounced the Tribe 40-3, and the game was different in more ways than just the score.
The 2009 Virginia team coughed up seven turnovers. The 2011 one surrendered none, and London ensured Webb never had the chance to run through the tunnel. With William & Mary running a deep-three defense, the coverage dictated a steady diet of north-south running and short dump passes - and that is exactly what Michael Rocco ran during his debut as starting quarterback. Rocco started the game 11-of-11 on a series of solid, if unspectacular, passes. Despite a seemingly plodding offensive philosophy, such play-calling prevented a young quarterback from beating himself.
Rocco's shining moment came during the second quarter when Tim Smith hauled in a 40-yard pass at the one-yard line to set up Kevin Parks for his second of three touchdowns. That sequence - Rocco to Smith to Parks - highlighted another key change in the 2011 team; two of those three names weren't even listed on the 2009 Virginia roster. Virginia returned 16 starters this season but also debuted 22 players Saturday, most of whom contributed in more than just a token capacity.
Parks, a redshirt freshman, steamrolled a smaller William & Mary defense. The 5-foot-8 back said he prefers it that way: "I'd rather run over [defenders]. Because everyone thinks I'm so small ... I'm running right over you."
Parks' attitude reflects a Virginia team which wants to bulldoze - not just beat - the opposition. That attitude was evident in a defense that was often undisciplined and uninspiring last year, but limited William & Mary to just 169 yards Saturday night.
That unit also benefited from a youth movement epitomized as freshman Demetrious Nicholson started at cornerback and justified London's leap of faith. He buzzed around the ball all night and pulled in a pick during the third quarter.
Nicholson said before the game, one of his captains told him, "They think this is the same team from '09, they think we got the same players, but we got new players, we got new schemes."
That Virginia captain was right - this decidedly was not the same Virginia team as 2009. These younger players are untainted from losing, and hopefully more immune to it. The loss two years ago set a defeatist tone Virginia players have struggled to shake. Last night, senior Chase Minnifield remembered the loss, saying, "I was at that game, and it was one of my lowest moments at Virginia."
I was at that game too, and that feeling has been hard to shake for me as well.
It was the first game of my first year, and I remember rushing through the gates as soon as they opened. With all the na
Read More
Payton Cormier breaks Division I goals record
By Michael Liebermann | 5 hours agoCormier has forever cemented his legacy as one of the greatest lacrosse players in NCAA history.
Cavaliers advance to NCAA Championship with second place finish at Baton Rouge Regional
By Stephen O'Dea | 6 hours agoVirginia will head to the National Championship in Carlsbad, Calif., with a chance to make history.
Thank you, Reece Beekman
By Ben Istvan | YesterdayBeekman will leave Charlottesville as the program's all-time leader in steals.
