More On Bob Davis

Kevin Parks joined some elite company on Saturday night when he rushed for 3 touchdowns in his debut. Parks became the first Cavalier to rush for three touchdowns in his collegiate debut since Bob Davis in 1964! Davis did so as a sophomore since freshmen were ineligible to play at the time. That's a pair of impressive debuts!

Davis made the Cavaliers' No. 12 jersey popular back in the 60's before QB legend and current assistant coach Shawn Moore rocked the number as the Hoos rose to No. 1 in the national polls. Kevin Edds, the creator and director of "WAHOOWA: The History of Virginia Cavalier Football" (Buy the DVD here at UVa Bookstores, TheSabre.com's longest running sponsor!), included a segment on Davis in his recent movie. Edds shared these thoughts with The Sabre on Davis:

In 1964, an athletic, scrambling, Cavalier quarterback began to amaze University of Virginia fans with not only his arm, but his feet. Bob Davis, who would lead the team in rushing that year, began to strike fear into the hearts of opposing defensive coordinators. With two 100-yard rushing games by his third year, Davis was a prelude to the dual-threat quarterbacks like Shawn Moore that would come 25 years later.

Former teammate Al Groh remembers it this way: "Bob Davis, who was a great player for us, and remains one of those guys in the brotherhood, a real good friend, was kind of in the Roger Staubach mold." Another teammate, and 1968 ACC Player of the Year Frank Quayle recalls: "He was an extraordinarily talented football player. I had heard about how they changed the rule on hurdling because of him. In his sophomore year, two or three times, a tackler would be coming in and he would just go over the top on them. And they put in a rule that that wasn't legal." But Davis was more than just a running quarterback. Quayle adds: "He was a scrambler, a guy who could make things happen, but he passed the ball well and he was a great leader."

As a second-year quarterback, Davis led UVa to a shocking upset of heavily favored Army. Groh said, "At the time that I was playing, and certainly it's chronicled as one of the exciting wins in Virginia football history or at least of that era, was when we beat Army here 35-14. At that time Army was a national power, and it was a big deal for the Army team to come to Charlottesville to play, with all the pageantry that goes with it, with the corps cadets coming down." The image of Davis scrambling, buying time, and even more time, before finally unleashing a pass that was tipped into the arms of Virginia receiver John Pincavage for a touchdown was truly a sight to see.

Davis' stellar 1964 campaign led to him being voted First-Team All-ACC. For the next two years, Davis would continue to reinvent the position with his athleticism. In 1966, when he was again voted the First-Team All-ACC quarterback and ACC Player of the Year, Davis put a scare into Clemson, a team Virginia had never beaten in nine tries.

In a back-and-forth contest, Davis threw and ran for scores seemingly at will. Aided by Quayle, a second-year running back at the time, it seemed that whoever had the ball last would win. After leading 35-14 late in the third quarter, the Tigers capitalized on long scoring strikes to take a 40-35 decision with Virginia being stopped on the last play at the Clemson 10-yard line. According to newspaper reports, Clemson coach Frank Howard, the man who coined the unfortunate nickname "white meat" when referring to Virginia teams, then did something for the first time ever in his storied career: go to an opponent's locker room to congratulate a player. Howard told the press matter-of-factly: "He is the finest quarterback I believe I've ever seen."

Bob Davis ended his career setting Virginia and ACC records for total offense.

Virginia fans are sharing their thoughts and memories on Bob Davis too. Check it out on the EDGE message board in this thread.

This Week In Recruiting

Football recruiting Stratford (Houston, TX) cornerback Kelvin Rainey made the trek to Charlottesville for an official visit this past weekend, and TheSabre.com will have more on his visit this week. The 6'0", 175-pound DB does not appear to have made any decisions as far as his college future, but we'll check in for more on his recruitment, the visit, and where he goes from here.

Other confirmed visitors from this past weekend's contest against William & Mary included 2012 commits Maurice Canady, Tyrell Chavis, Ryan Doull, Eli Harold and Andre Miles-Redmond. Top 2013 class target Tim Harris, a defensive back out of Varina High School (VA), was in attendance as well. Harris has been offered by Purdue, Tennessee, Virginia and Virginia Tech but is high on the Hoos in the early going.

Basketball recruiting

Good news and bad news on the basketball front.

Starting with the good, UVa is now on the board in the class of 2014 after Brunswick (Lawrenceville, VA) rising sophomore B.J. Stith verbally committed to head coach Tony Bennett this past Saturday. Stith is the son of former UVa star Bryant Stith, who now serves as Brunswick's head varsity basketball coach.

B.J., along with his brother, Brandan, participated at Virginia's Elite Camp this past June. He is a 6'4" combo guard with potential at the point and the 2-guard spots. Last season as a freshman, he helped Brunswick to a Group AA Division 3 State Championship. TheSabre.com was unable to reach the elder Stith over the weekend but we hope to have much more on this development this week.

The bad news is another 2012 class point guard target is off the board. Westbury Christian (Houston, TX) standout L.J. Rose has reportedly committed to Baylor. ESPN.com reported last week that the 6'3" point prospect was seriously considering an official visit to UVa.

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 ...

Recruiting Insider: Rainey Set To Visit And More
"Recruiting Insider" is a compilation of news and notes focused on recruiting. Today's edition provides info on incoming official visitor Kelvin Rainey, thoughts on Virginia's 2012 class haul from Varina High School (VA), and a look at Fork Union's postgraduate football roster, which does not include one University of Virginia recruit.

Preseason Report: Catching Up With Matt Johns
Quarterback Matt Johns and his Central Bucks South (Warrington, PA) teammates will get the 2011 regular season underway this Friday with an away contest against Council Rock High School South. Johns' spirits are high for a big-time senior season, individually and team-wise.

More recent recruiting updates on The Sabre ...

• Stith Commits To Hoos
• 2013 Updates: FUMA's Hackenberg, Stone Bridge Notes
• Hermitage Notes: A Look At RB Derrick Green
• Report: UVa In The Running With 5-Star Guard (blog)

Many men value time with their family above anything else. That is why they take the initiative to get checked for prostate cancer. Missing a screening could mean missing important moments in life. That's why Carilion Clinic is providing free prostate screenings In September!

In its early stages, prostate cancer has no symptoms, but it can usually be detected with a quick test and examination by a physician. One in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and if you're African American, your chances are even greater. So "man up" and register for a free prostate screening if you are:

• Age 50 or over
• Age 45 or over and African American
• Age 45 or over with a family history of prostate cancer
• Age 40 or over, call for additional criteria

Again, Carilion Clinic is providing free prostate screenings In September. Get more information now!

The third season of "Hoos Talking" is back on the Richmond airwaves on Sportsradio 910 am (WRNL)! The show normally airs from 6-7 p.m. on Wednesdays. "Hoos Talking" is a sports magazine style program that is devoted to University of Virginia sports, athletes, alumni, coaches, and fans. The show's third season plans to run on Wednesdays from August 2011 to March 2012. As always, you can access the live web stream and listen to archived shows as well on TheSabre.com. Just click here for the "Hoos Talking" page on TheSabre.com.

UVA Bookstores Football Fan T-Shirt

The 2011 UVA Bookstore Football Fan T-shirt features a full-front design. A two-color football with the V-Sabre is "flying" past the stacked Go Hoos Go! imprint and V-Sabre logo. Virginia Football is underneath with a stylized line graphic below.

Get Spotted To Win! Wear your UVA Bookstore Football Fan T-shirt to a home football game for your chance to win a $25 UVA Bookstore Gift Card. Click here for details.

And don't forget about "Orange and Blue Football Fridays" at the UVA Bookstore. Save 25% in-store only on the Fridays before home football games (9/2, 9/23, 9/30, 10/14, 10/21, 11/11, 11/25)! For more information and restrictions, click here.

Issue No. 283 - March 12, 2007

Cavaliers Hire Receivers Coach

Virginia football coach Al Groh announced the hiring of Wayne Lineburg, a 1996 UVa graduate, as the Cavaliers new wide receivers coach. Lineburg replaces John Garrett who was recently named tight ends coach for the Dallas Cowboys.

"We are very pleased to have Wayne join our staff and make his return to the University," Groh said. "As a Virginia graduate, he has a great love and passion for the University and he brings with him a firsthand knowledge of what it takes to successful here as a student-athlete. That's an invaluable combination for us."

Check Out SabreMail #283.

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: TheSabre.com prepares you for the Virginia football team's game at Indiana.
• Greg's Grades and JHoo's 10 Things: The Cavaliers won their season opener against William & Mary. TheSabre.com continues to give you the most in-depth analysis of anyone on how and why the Hoos won the opener with a grades report from Greg Waters and "10 Things I Learned" from JHoo!
• Pro Hoos: TheSabre.com has debuted a new series in August too. Beyond The Lawn" is a 12-month series found exclusively on TheSabre.com that follows three Virginia Cavaliers through a year as a professional athlete. Baseball's Tyler Wilson (Baltimore Orioles), track and field's Stephanie Marie Garcia (U.S. Olympic hopeful), and football's Clint Sintim (New York Giants) share their experiences throughout the year. Stay tuned for the next edition!

In Case You Missed It ...

Sabre articles since the last SabreMail

The Sunday Sampler 2011 - W&M
No group on the Virginia football team received more offseason scrutiny than the Cavalier defense. That's what happens when you barely cracked the top 50 in any categories and sunk to the bottom third of the Football Bowl Subdivision in many slots such as run defense. When the D gives up more big plays than it creates - by a long shot - it leaves a lot of bad memories on the table for everyone to stew over for an entire offseason. For one game at least, the UVa defense answered its critics.

Wahoos Trample Tribe
The last time William & Mary visited Charlottesville, Scott Stadium turned into a house of horrors for the Virginia football team. Saturday's return trip featured nary a hint of such terrifying times. Not one. The Cavaliers did not turn the ball over and eventually erupted for a 40-3 victory as 51,956 UVa fans left happy with thoughts of a bright future dancing in their heads.

William & Mary Watch List
The season's first kickoff is nearly here for the Virginia football team. Players like Darius Jennings are ready to make their Cavalier debut, while veterans like Kris Burd are focused on the last season of their college careers. Those UVa journeys start off with William & Mary at 6 p.m. on Saturday. The Tribe probably won't be a season-opening cake walk for the Hoos so get ready for the matchup with this William & Mary Watch List.

Mind The Gap: Hoos Eye Better Run Fits
One of the ugliest parts of Virginia's transition to a 4-3 defense last season turned out to be run defense. We're talking Quasimodo level ugly in some cases like Florida State, Virginia Tech, Duke and Eastern Michigan. So what have the Hoos been doing to remedy the issues? The answer is in the combination of pop culture phrases. Mind the gap and get in where you fit in.

Tailgating With Chefhoo - W&M
Here we are ... it's getting cool outside and football is in the air. Virginia's home opener against William & Mary this weekend pits two of the oldest schools in the country against one another. Such history almost demands a traditional tailgate and the 6 p.m. start time gives us enough time to get it done. On this week's menu we have fried chicken and country ham biscuits.

Game Preview 2011: William & Mary
Many will be tempted to make this fit the "revenge game" theme since this is William & Mary's first return to Scott Stadium since winning 26-14 in 2009. Even with some familiar names still around on both teams, that's a stretch. UVa is a totally different program with a totally different outlook than two years ago. Will that help lead to a different outcome?

Watford, True Freshmen Will Play In 2011
Mike London's opinion about the 2011 recruiting class has been steady. The true freshmen came to Virginia to play and if the youngsters can help the Cavaliers win now, then they will play. The chorus didn't change with the season's first game-week press conference. In fact, London said that 10 to 12 true freshmen, including quarterback David Watford, "will play" this season at UVa.

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