weekend review

Much to see, much to do. The weekend review plows ahead with....

....recruiting board update. Here's what's new:

- Removed LB Conner Crowell, who's down to OSU and PSU. Pick Penn State.

- Moved CB Blake Countess from yellow to red. Looking highly unlikely.

- Moved LB Curtis Grant from blue to red. Ditto. Also, dammit.

- Added S Avery Walls to red.

- Created a new green section. I kept seeing players in blue and yellow that didn't quite feel like they belonged there, exactly, and I kept thinking "if only I had an in between section that's where they'd be." And then I realized I had the power to do that because it's my blog. The new residents of the area just in between blue and yellow are DE Horace Arkadie and LB D.J. Hill (up from yellow) and LB Sean Duggan and CB Demetrious Nicholson (down from blue.)

Pessimism is the name of the game this week in recruiting. It has been two months since the last commitment, after all. But in a way that's by design: the staff has to be careful with who they take. There's probably only a small list of maybe six or seven players they'd take a commitment from right this minute - guys like Demetrious Nicholson and Travis Hughes - and they're all being patient with the process. You see the five players in bold orange - as you'll remember they're my own choices as most-desired names. Just below those five would be Sean Duggan and Rory Anderson. Of those seven, I would bet a lot of money on UVA getting at least one, and I doubt they get more than three. Three would be about the awesomest thing ever, really. (Remember, names in red don't get bolded in orange because red is while-we're-at-it-I-want-a-pony land.)

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....depth chart update. I did something new here too. Names in red are guys who are out for the season, and names in purple are guys who are out but not all year. They remain bolded and/or italicized so you have an idea of their role if healthy and what the team would look like without injuries getting in the way.

Changes are:

- Joe Torchia is out for the year, so Colter Phillips is your new starting TE and Paul Freedman the backup. Hopefully we don't have to go past that. Coach London said he's keeping the redshirt on the other tight ends, Swanson and McGee, but that's not for the sake of the redshirt. They're simply too small, still.

- As I mentioned yesterday, Morgan Moses moves over to right guard to back up B.J. Cabbell; that position will almost certainly see a changing of the guard (HAW!) by the end of the year. Probably sooner rather than later, as the depth chart lists an "or." Luke Bowanko is now listed as a backup tackle. Sean Cascarano and Oday Aboushi are the starters; who gets what side isn't really settled yet but for the purposes of this chart it doesn't matter.

This youth movement, by the way, I regard it as a huge positive. That's three members of the '09 recruiting class (Cascarano, Bowanko, Aboushi) in the O-line two-deep. Four if you count Moses.

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....newsy stuff.

- The mens' swim team opened the season with a huge dual meet win over Florida, and the women came within two points of achieving the same. Impressive. Florida's mens' team took 5th last year (UVA was 10th) and their women were national champions. Even with a loss, the womens' result is as impressive as the mens'; a two-point margin becomes at least a tie just by switching any finish in any race with the opposing swimmer one spot higher.

- UVA hasn't announced it, but UConn has: a 2016-2017 home-and-home rematch with the Huskies. The future schedules page is duly updated.

- The NCAA violation train pulled into Chapel Hill Station this week and left with three of their better players: D-linemen Marvin Austin and Robert Quinn and WR Greg Little, off the team permanently. This week is Carolina week, so I'll probably stop caring after Saturday until the sanctions come down from on high, but here is the official roundup of their player status as it stands now:

Out for good: Austin, Quinn, Little, S Jonathan Smith
Reinstated: RB Shaun Draughn, S Da'Norris Searcy, S Deunta Williams
Suspended: CB Kendric Burney, who returns after the UVA game
Pending, still out: DE Mike McAdoo, DE Linwan Euwell, RB Ryan Houston, CB Charles Brown, S Bryan Gupton, FB Devon Ramsey

Carolina has proven competitive without this bunch of miscreants, so I don't expect to see any huge advantage for UVA this weekend. What you've seen is what you get, and they're 3-2.

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....senior seasons:

- Fork Union 27, St. Christopher's 10: Loss for Thompson Brown.

- Petersburg 30, Matoaca 18: Kevin Green throws for two touchdowns and 189 yards, as well as 3 2PCs, in a win.

- Hermitage 34, Mills Godwin 7: Win for Diamonte Bailey, but he doesn't make the article.

- L.C. Bird 48, Cosby 7: Anthony Harris throws one touchdown to help in the win.

- I.C. Norcom 26, Maury 3: Little bit of a closer game than usual for Kameron Mack's team.

- Phoebus 44, Kecoughtan 0: It stays easy for Caleb Taylor, though.

- Green Run 33, Kempsville 13: Win for David Dean.

- Hampton 77, Heritage 0: Holy shit. With David Watford at the helm, Hampton scored on every possession of the first half. Heritage has scored three points all season long.

- Salem 19, Cox 0: Ross Burbank and his offense get shut out.

- Blue Ridge 42, St. S/St. A 28: Loss for Darius Lee, but he catches a touchdown pass.

- Denbigh 28, Menchville 17: Tough season continues for Clifton Richardson.

- DeMatha 31, Good Counsel 28: It hasn't been a season quite up to snuff for Jordan Lomax, Kelby Johnson, and DeMatha, but what better way to get back on track than with a huge, huge win over Vincent Croce and Good Counsel?

- Stone Bridge 56, Fairfax 0: Rob Burns has been helping produce shutout after shutout.

- H.D. Woodson vs. Spingarn, postponed.

- Damascus 49, Watkins Mill 21: Brandon Phelps is still undefeated.

- Providence 38, Independence 27: Loss for Adrian Gamble.

- STAB 14, Boys' Latin 10: Marco Jones visits Charlottesville and gets his first loss of the season for his efforts.

- Mt. Lebanon 31, Baldwin 21: Tim Cwalina also continues undefeated.


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....AP poll study update. I've created a new page wherein all the weekly updates are stored; if you're interested, it resides here. Also, it'll be linked on the side with the other useful stuff. This week, there's a slight uptick in evidence for regional bias, but it's still not as convincingly strong as it should be if there's to be a conclusion in favor of the hypothesis.

Tomorrow: the return of the ACC Roundtable!