Virginia Football Team Opens Practice

By: Kris Wright |
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Virginia opened fall training camp with Matt Johns as the No.1 quarterback. ~ Mike Ingalls

The Virginia football team opened fall practice Friday night with a cool evening practice outside of the McCue Center. The first of three open practices for the public got things started with helmets only per NCAA rules.

The players said it felt like fall practice arrived quickly.

“It’s crazy,” linebacker Zach Bradshaw said. “I was telling some of my teammates when we stepped in there for the walk-through in the beginning that it felt just like spring ball was just yesterday. It really crept up on us. I’m super excited. I know everyone else is super excited. I’m ready for week one.”

“It definitely feels like it came up on us quick,” running back Daniel Hamm said. “I’m so excited and I know every person on this team is excited to get this season rolling.”

Virginia practices on Saturday and Sunday outside of the McCue Center at 3 p.m. The sessions are open to the public. The other opportunity to see the Hoos before the season is Meet the Teams Day on August 16 from 1-2:30 p.m. at the John Paul Jones Arena.

Catch Of The Night

During 7 on 7 action in the red zone, Matt Johns squeezed a pass into the back of the end zone for a slanting Daniel Hamm from out of the backfield. The throw beat bracketed coverage from Quin Blanding (over the top) and Micah Kiser (underneath) by fitting into a tight window. Hamm made it the catch of the night though by making a ridiculous one-handed grab with his right hand.

“I don’t really have much to say about that. I’m blessed. I’ve truly been blessed by the man upstairs,” Hamm said. “It was a tight window. I guess that’s what we do out here. It’s division one – make plays.”

“It’s just a matter of trusting them and knowing they’re going to make a play,” Johns said. “Hamm’s pass, he was completely covered and I just tried to put it in a spot where he could hopefully make a play. He made the one-handed snag. Kudos to him.”

7 on 7/11 on 11 Notes

  • Andre Miles-Redmond intercepted two screen passes and returned them for touchdowns. In both cases, the quarterbacks were under heavy pressure early and the tackle had dropped into underneath coverage. The first pick was thrown by Connor Brewer to the left side and the second was thrown by Corwin Cutler to the right side.
  • Matt Johns connected on two deep passes. The first went to Canaan Severin against Maurice Canady in 7 on 7 action. The second went to T.J. Thorpe on a play-action bomb in 11 on 11 action.
  • Corwin Cutler threw a deep post pattern to David Eldridge that was caught on the slide. Corwin Cutler also hit Ryan Santoro for a touchdown during 11 on 11 action.
  • Connor Brewer found Olamide Zaccheaus with a ball just over the outstretched defense of Mark Hall and the running back leaped to make the touchdown catch.
  • Fullback Vincent Croce caught two passes. The Hoos also showed some two tight end sets with the second tight end in an H-Back role of Tom Santi’s days gone by.
  • Micah Kiser knocked down one pass with nice coverage on an out pattern. The defense as a whole forced at least three “all covered” throw-aways or scrambles.

Depth Chart Notes

  • Offensive line (left to right): first team – Michael Mooney, Ryan Doull, Jackson Matteo, Ross Burbank, Jake Fieler; second team – Jay Whitmire, Jack McDonald, Eric Tetlow, Sean Karl, Eric Smith; third team – Jack English, John Pond, R.J. Proctor, Steven Moss, Grant Polk.
  • Defensive line: first team – Kwontie Moore, David Dean, Donte Wilkins, Mike Moore; second team – Chris Peace, Andre Miles-Redmond, Andrew Brown, Darrious Carter/Trent Corney
  • Linebackers: first team – C.J. Stalker, Micah Kiser, Zach Bradshaw; second team – Malcolm Cook, Mark Hall, Cory Jones; third team – Eric Gallon, Dominic Sheppard, Gladimir Paul; fourth team – Reed Kellam, Jahvoni Simmons, Michael Guerci/Tucker Gamble
  • Quarterbacks: Matt Johns, Corwin Cutler, Connor Brewer
  • Positions like receiver, tight end, and running back were mixed opportunities. Defensive backs remained Quin Blanding, Kelvin Rainey, Maurice Canady, and Tim Harris with Demetrious Nicholson and Darious Latimore as backup corners. Wilfred Wahee and Mason Thomas were the backup safeties.

Other Notes

  • Offensive lineman John Pond, a redshirt senior, is now on scholarship.
  • Daquan Romero and Rijo Walker are graduate assistant coaches.
  • Two guys from southern states look like long and rangy defensive linemen: 6’5″ Naji Abdullah (Jacksonville, Fla.) and 6’4″ Steven Wright (Waycross, Ga.). Both are listed at end.
  • Andrew Brown looks much more trim and muscular than this time last fall.
  • Quarterback Joe Spaziani is also a long snapper.
  • During a break for special teams, transfer T.J. Thorpe spent much of the down time running sprints alone.
  • Sadiq Olanrewaju is not cleared for full practice and he spent Friday’s session conditioning. Jay Whitmire has been cleared and he ran on the second team offensive line at left tackle.