The School of Hard Knocks

It didn’t take Kwakou Robinson long to realize he wasn’t at Poly Prep Country Day School anymore.

During one of his first practices with the Virginia football team, the 322-pound freshman defensive end was sent sprawling by 324-pound sophomore offensive guard Elton Brown. “I’ve never been hit like that in my life,” Robinson said later, shaking his head.

That wasn’t the only hard knock Robinson and the rest of UVa’s young defenders have taken. Since their arrival less than two months ago, true freshmen like Robinson, fellow defensive linemen Braden Campbell and D.J. Bell, linebacker Darryl Blackstock and safety Willie Davis have had to make the difficult adjustment to major college football. Yet three games into their Cavalier careers, all five have already made an impact.

Same goes for the redshirt freshmen and sophomores who pepper the two-deep chart on defense: ends Brennan Schmidt and Chris Canty, nose tackle Andrew Hoffman, linebackers Rich Bedesem and Bryan White, and cornerback Jermaine Hardy.

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