Changes Coming

Wahoo fans,

We will be working to change the design of TheSabre.com this week in the hope it will be completed by the start of football season on Saturday. The changes will not affect your ability to use the site and the changes will not all happen at once - we will change each page's design one by one. The new design will be clean and functional and include new navigation elements, including drop down navigation that will allow you to jump to just about anywhere on the site with one click. This new design is a wider format, so you'll need to have your screen resolution set at a minimum of 1024x768 and will need to fully expand your browser. Chances are, 99 percent of you are already doing this if you've visited most news or sports sites on the web (i.e. ESPN, CNN, etc.).

Besides freshening up and widening the site, as well as adding better navigation, one of the primary reasons for this change is to bring the design code up to today's standards. For you technical types, it means we're moving out of our table-based layout and into a full CSS layout that is XHTML compliant for most of the site. While the message boards will adopt the new look, the programming for them will still be the same until we switch over to a new board system hopefully next spring or summer.

We hope you enjoy the changes. If you have any problems with the site or see anything broken or misaligned, please let us know so that we can make adjustments promptly.

Sabre Staff

This Week In Recruiting
By Chris Horne

The regular season is finally here, and two top targets appear set to take in Saturday's home game versus William & Mary. First Colonial (Virginia Beach, VA) safety/linebacker Nick Dew and Southeastern (Detroit, MI) defensive tackle Johnathon Hankins headline the prospects expected to be in Charlottesville this weekend.

Dew, a 6-2, 195-pound prospect, will be making an unofficial visit. A Virginia Tech lean, the Under Armour All-American decided against making an early commitment to the Hokies in favor of thoroughly exploring more options. He listed Virginia in his top three earlier this month, with Virginia joining the Hokies and West Virginia.

Dew has never taken a visit to UVa, which will have its shot to impress this weekend. The staff has been persistent in its pursuit over the past few months, Dew says, a big reason why the Beach standout wants to visit.

Hankins, a 6-3, 300-pound prospect, seems like an ideal fit for the nose tackle spot in Virginia's 3-4 defense. Illinois, Ohio State, Oklahoma and Wisconsin are among the other programs in the mix with the talented big man, who reportedly favored Ohio State as of several weeks ago. He did not name a clear favorite when talking to TheSabre.com earlier this month, though, and seemed excited about visiting UVa.

Hankins says he will be in Charlottesville on an official visit this weekend. Seniors are allowed to take official visits beginning in September, which is also when FBS coaches are allowed phone contact with prospects.

Stay tuned to TheSabre.com over the weekend, as we'll follow up with any news on these prospects and more.

Today, be sure to check out the latest on one of Virginia's top remaining offensive line targets, Lake Braddock (Burke, VA) prospect Khamrone Kolb. The 6-6, 300-pound prospect claims three favorite schools and he plans to visit all three in the fall. Virginia, a program Kolb says has recruited him the hardest, is one of the three.

Later in the week, I'll release my In-State PreSeason Top 30. Don't expect too much change from the PreSummer ranks, but there will be some slight movement. Currently, Virginia has earned commitments from three prospects in the Top 30. They are Deep Run (Glen Allen) offensive lineman Conner Davis (15), Bethel (Hampton) cornerback Rijo Walker (27) and Bayside (Virginia Beach) linebacker Henry Coley (30).

For the latest on Davis, be sure to check out my EDGE article posted last Friday and linked below.

Chris Horne, our resident recruiting expert, provides updates throughout the week for Edge subscribers about UVa's commitments and recruiting targets in football and men's basketball. To sign up for an Edge subscription, please check out the Sabre Edge Sign Up and Information Page. If you're already on board as an Edge subscriber, click the links below to catch up on recruiting.

Sabre Edge recruiting updates from the past week ...

Preseason Report: OL Conner Davis
This time last summer, Conner Davis, then a 6-5, 255-pound rising junior, was getting acclimated to playing offensive tackle for the first time in his high school career. Now, he only has one more year at Deep Run High School (Glen Allen, VA) before he is slated to move on to the University of Virginia, where he has accepted a scholarship offer from head football coach Al Groh.

UVa Coaches Impress Star Junior
The University of Virginia coaching staff gave its full attention to 6-11, 200-pound rising junior Marshall Plumlee last Friday, when the talented center prospect made an unofficial visit to UVa. The itinerary ranged from a tour of the Grounds to meeting with academic advisors to meeting with Athletic Director Craig Littlepage, but Coach Tony Bennett and company stood out the most to Plumlee.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• 2011 Profile: Osbourn Park's Dominique Terrell
• Top Target Working on Visit Schedule
• Top DT Plans Visit to UVa

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Hoo Preview Concludes

The Sabre's annual "Hoo Preview" has wrapped up its August-long run. The site produced 31 updates over the course of August to get you ready for Virginia's football season! The final update featured a breakdown of Virginia's new offense: check it out. If you're not a subscriber, you don't know what you're missing on the EDGE! Sign up here!

The Sabre now shifts the attention to game week as the Cavaliers prepare for William & Mary this Saturday. Stay tuned to the site for press conference notes, the game preview, feature articles, columns and more!

In the meantime, make sure you get all the important information for the game on our FREE game news page: William & Mary game news.

McDonald On The Air Again

Mac McDonald, the former play by play Voice of the Cavaliers, is back on the airwaves - here's The Daily Progress report.

Starting today (8/31/2009), McDonald is hosting his own three-hour talk show called "Inbounds" and it will air on various stations throughout the state (Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, Roanoke, and Lynchburg for example). In Charlottesville, 1400 AM is carrying the show.

Men's Basketball Schedule Arrives

The UVa men's basketball schedule was released last week. The Sabre has updated the "basketball info" area with the new schedule so you can reference it quickly. Just click here.

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Around the World of Wahoo Sports ...

• Baseball Team to Be Honored Sept. 6 by Washington Nationals: Following a record-setting season which included a trip to the College World Series, the Virginia baseball team will be honored by the Washington Nationals prior to the team's Sunday, Sept. 6 game against the Florida Marlins at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. The game is slated to start at 1:35 p.m.
• Devvarman, Shabaz to Compete at U.S. Open: The Virginia men's tennis program will be well represented this week as the U.S. Open begins. Junior Michael Shabaz will compete in doubles while former Cavalier Somdev Devvarman will compete in singles.
• No. 6 UVa Tops No. 11 Penn State 1-0: The sixth-ranked Virginia field hockey team (2-0) topped No. 11 Penn State 1-0 Sunday at the University Hall Turf Field. Newcomer Inga Stöckel scored the only goal of the game on a penalty corner in the first half.
• Cavaliers Roll to 7-0 Win Over Hofstra: The No. 14 Cavalier women's soccer team recorded its second consecutive impressive victory of the weekend, downing Hofstra 7-0 Sunday afternoon at Klöckner Stadium. Virginia broke open the game with five goals in a 10-minute span early in the second half and cruised to their most lopsided victory in four seasons.
• Virginia Falls To WVU In Exhibition, 2-0: The Virginia men's soccer team was defeated in its final preseason exhibition contest, falling to West Virginia 2-0 on Saturday night at Klöckner Stadium. The Cavaliers now turn their attention to the regular season, which kicks off Friday with the Nike Portland Invitational in Portland, Ore.
• Cavaliers Earn First Win, Sweep Iona: The Virginia volleyball team rebounded from a tough first day at the Texas A&M Invitational by sweeping Iona, 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-16), on Saturday morning to earn its first win of the season. The Cavaliers conclude the season opening tournament with a record of 1-2, while Iona falls to 0-3 on the season.
• UVa Announces 2009-10 Women's Basketball Schedule: A 17-game home schedule and at least eight televised contests highlight the Virginia women's basketball team's 2009-10 schedule released by the Atlantic Coast Conference. Among the teams scheduled to visit UVa's John Paul Jones Arena during the 2009-10 season are ACC opponents Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Maryland, North Carolina, NC State and Virginia Tech. The Cavaliers also host non-conference opponents Cornell, Furman, James Madison, Liberty, Longwood, Manhattan, Purdue (Big Ten/ACC Challenge), Samford, St. Bonaventure, Tennessee, USC Upstate.
• Christensen Named to United States National Team: Virginia senior swimmer Mei Christensen has been named to the 2009-10 National Team roster, USA Swimming released Thursday. The list features a total of 110 swimmers and also includes Cavalier alumnus Fran Crippen.
• Alex Clemsen Named Assistant Wrestling Coach: Alex Clemsen has been named assistant wrestling coach at Virginia, as announced by UVa head coach Steve Garland. Clemsen, a 2007 Edinboro graduate, served the last two years as Oregon State's Director of Wrestling Operations.

For more Hoo news or to read full releases, check out Virginiasports.com.

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Issue No. 206 - Sept. 9, 2005

Well, Virginia's first game of the football season sure generated a lot of discussion on the message boards, huh? To me, that's a good thing.

Fans were talking about the positives from the 31-19 win over Western Michigan - Cedric Peerman's performance, Ottowa Anderson, Deyon Williams and the vertical passing game. You also may have noticed that much of the talk was critical. Posters were criticizing everything from the Cav Man intro to Coach Groh's postgame comments, from the offensive line to the secondary, from the three turnovers to the inane "That's Another Cavalier First Down!" announcement on changes of possession. Apparently, there was a lot not to like about UVa's 2005 debut.

That's fine. In fact, that's the beauty of the Sabre message boards - fans can discuss the good, the bad, the ugly and the excellent about UVa sports. It's not a cheerleading site or a mouthpiece for the athletic department. TheSabre.com represents and reflects the whole spectrum of fan opinion and provides an open forum for discussing anything and everything about the Cavaliers. That's why it bothers me when some fans try to stifle those discussions by attacking anyone who's critical.

Over the course of the week, some posters jumped into critical threads and accused anyone negative of failing to be a good fan. As if being a good fan means never voicing complaints or expressing concerns. Please. Sure, some fans overreact to a poor performance and become overly negative or critical. If you don't like it, ignore them. Just please do me a favor and avoid casting a chill over the message boards by accusing your fellow 'Hoos of being lesser fans.

Challenge their opinions if you like, but don't challenge their right to express themselves. And please don't forget that you can be critical and still be a great fan.

Coming Soon

The Sabre has you covered when it comes to Hoo news. Here are a few of the articles to expect on the site soon:

• Game Week: The Sabre's weekly look at football opponents starts this week with William & Mary.
• Soccer Season Nears: The Sabre will try to catch up with George Gelnovatch as the men's soccer team prepares to start its season.
• Kelsey Wolfe: The Sabre caught up with Kelsey Wolfe, who recently committed to Debbie Ryan's women's basketball program.

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

Hoo Preview '09: The Spread
The state of the Virginia football offense at the end of 2008? Transition. But it's a transition that has been ongoing since Groh arrived in 2001. This is the first time since Bill Musgrave that Virginia has hired an offensive coordinator that actually has an existing offensive philosophy. The moment Groh made that hire, he established an identity for Virginia's offense. For now anyway. Gregg Brandon is who he is. The question is will Groh allow Brandon to be who he is and run the offense. The Sabre's Hoo Preview wraps up with a look at "The Spread."

Hoo Preview '09: Q&A - Dom Joseph
Al Groh has long preached that, if you want to get on the field early in your career, show up on special teams. Then, get the job done there, and you might get a look on another unit. Dom Joseph is proof. Though he was listed as the second-team corner last season, he played almost exclusively on special teams. Now, after winning the Rock Weir Award for the most improved player on the defense in the spring, the sophomore is likely to see time on defense this season.

Hoo Preview '09: Defensive Backs
In many ways, it's fitting to wrap up the position outlooks for The Sabre's "Hoo Preview" with the secondary. After all, this unit has a lot of talent, a lot of versatility, a lot of exciting playmakers and a lot of depth. From the confident cover skills of Ras-I Dowling to the rocking hits of Corey Mosley to the comeback story of Chris Cook and beyond, the Cavaliers have plenty of substance to go with a healthy dose of swagger in the secondary.

Hoo Preview '09: The Hawk's Nest
At the start of September the Virginia Cavaliers embark on another journey in hopes of becoming champions of the very competitive Atlantic Coast Conference. The last time the Cavs were crowned champs of the ACC was 1995, a team that included a very talented secondary and featured one of the best cornerbacks to ever play at UVa in Ronde Barber. This year's Cavaliers will look to be led by a very talented defensive secondary as well, one that has already received high praise by some as potentially the best secondary the University has had in over a decade.

Hoo Preview '09: Greer Set To Start
When linebacker Steve Greer arrived at Virginia, he did so without much knowledge about Al Groh's 3-4 defense. "Not much at all," he says. But after a redshirt year with the Cavaliers, Greer has climbed the depth chart at inside linebacker in the 3-4 and is expected to be a starter when the season kicks off in early September. He's ready for the challenge: "Linebacker is linebacker."

Hoo Preview '09: JHoo's 10 Things ...
Finally, after what seems like way too long, football ... real football ... is almost here. Camp is pretty much done. The games are right around the corner. Game planning has begun in earnest. Yes, football is almost here. Fans and coaches learn a lot each offseason ... but not nearly as much as is learned during the season, when wins and losses start piling up, players have to perform under the spotlight, and coaches' calls are put to the test. So what am I expecting to learn in 2009? Here are just a few of the things ...

Hoo Preview '09: Linebackers
Entering 2009 few players suiting up at linebacker have proven to be consistent producers for UVa thanks to the success of the recently departed trio of Jon Copper, Antonio Appleby and Sintim. Yet, three projected starters for Virginia are seniors. Will the familiarity with the scheme and leadership qualities of Aaron Clark, Denzel Burrell and Darren Childs be enough to carry an otherwise young and unproven group of linebackers?

Hoo Preview '09: Clark Happy To Return
Aaron Clark earned the right to start at outside linebacker for last season's opener against USC but had his season cut short when he heard a pop in his right knee."I definitely was not expecting anything good to come out of it," he recalls. One year later, Clark is expected to line up as a starter once again for the Hoos.

Hoo Preview '09: Head Or Heart For Hoos?
My cynical brain foretells 5-7. My bleeding heart yearns for 9-3. My visceral (and rotund) gut murmurs 7-5. Headaches, tummy aches and heartache ... Tylenol, Tums and tequila - such is the scrambled existence of the Wahoo Football fan during Al Groh's Space Mountain escapade, now on its ninth ride. So, here are the point-counterpoint grenades that my brain and heart have been lobbing at each other over the past few weeks. Pick a side, and see which bodily organ you pay mind.

Hoo Preview '09: Defensive Line
New defensive line coach Chad Wilt may have the fewest worries of any of Virginia's new assistants after inheriting a D-Line that has plenty of experience and promise. Wilt's group features three players - Matt Conrath, Nick Jenkins, and Nate Collins - who have significant game experience entering the 2009 season.

Hoo Preview '09: Dolce Finds Niche
Al Groh loves to use baseball analogies in talking about football. A free safety as a centerfielder. A defensive lineman who has bend like a pitcher. Perhaps it is stealing Groh's thunder to use such an analogy for John-Kevin Dolce. But, such a description fits nicely; Dolce is Groh's utility infielder on the defense.

Hoo Preview '09: Special Teams
By mid-season 2008 it was clear that Al Groh was fed up with how his special teams units, especially the return and kickoff coverage groups, were performing. Throughout the offseason months and again this preseason, Groh has emphasized the need to improve special teams play. Can Ron Prince give the Cavaliers a much-needed boost this season?

Hoo Preview '09: Practice Photos II
As the Virginia football team continues to prepare for the 2009 season, The Sabre is helping you prepare for the upcoming campaign too! The month-long Hoo Preview continues with our second photo gallery of the preseason - it features 66 photos of the Cavaliers, including a look at Keith Payne.

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