The UVA Spring Football Festival was this weekend and the WahooWatch was there to take in the action. The game was the first chance to see new offensive coordinator Greg Brandon’s spread offense. While it was expected that not much of the offense would be revealed what was seen was impressive and a nice change of pace.
The Quarterback battle has been the most publicized competition in camp this season and the game answered some, but not all, of the questions. The game to me separated Jameel Sewell and Vic Hall as the two leading candidates to take snaps for the Hoos this fall. Hall took the first round of snaps during the game and looked good throwing and running with the ball. He also seemed to progress through his reads faster and better than I expected and looked like he’d been playing QB since he’d arrived at UVA. Sewell on the other hand looked sharp as well. Despite an interception on what looked like a miscommunication in route Sewell looked strong and noticeably larger. Sewell obviously has the stronger arm of the two and is a proven leader on this team. If there is a tie between the two I think you’ll see Vic Hall move to the slot receiver role as Sewell is a QB option only.
The next thing I noticed was the use of the tight end. First I’d like to congratulate my friend Ryan Shaw who walked on as a tight end this season. But that was not the only reason I watched the tight ends closely. UVA has always produced extremely talented tight ends such as Tom Santi, Jonathan Stupar, John Phillips, and Heath Miller, but Coach Brandon’s offense does not have a tight end in its design. However in the game you saw the tight end in the formations split out wide as a receiver but seemed to be used more as a lead blocker than anything else. While this doesn’t necessarily bode well for receiving tight end it shows that Coach Brandon is attempting to use what he has and is letting his style evolve to fit the ACC. Ryan unfortunately had a pass deflect off his shoulder pad for an interception. But it was still awesome to see him out there.
On a positive note Chris Cook is back and he looked like a monster out there. Corner is obviously the strength of this team. Between Cook and Ras-I Dowling the Hoos boast probably the best pair of corners in the ACC. Cook, who was suspended last season for academic reasons, looked much larger and stronger and as if he hadn’t missed a beat since he last played. The pair of corners is key to the success of the defense which is breaking in 4 new linebackers this season. At this point the two linebackers that have their spots lined up are Cam Johnson and Denzel Burrell. Johnson looked great during the game and is one of the most athletic players on this team.
The offensive line did not impress me very much and I’m curious how many of the new freshman will find their way onto the field this fall. Morgan Moses was seen at the game and is even bigger in person than he sounds on paper. In fact when he sat down on the bleacher I was sitting on he almost threw me off. Look for offensive line, along with wide receivers, to be the two possible places where there could be a large freshman contribution.
Overall I’d give the defense a b+ and the offense a b- just based on what I could see. I assume that once the season starts Coach Brandon will open up the playbook and show us exactly why we’ve pinned the hopes of the football program on his new offense. Also hopefully UVA will get off to a hot start attracting new and faster recruits to improve the team.
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