Sewell Shines on Saturday Night
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By Raj Sagar and Carlos Valle
Jameel Sewell showed Saturday night at Scott Stadium he truly is a dual-threat quarterback. His performance was reminiscent of the Marques Hagans era.
While completing 16-of-31 attempts for 169 yards and three touchdowns, Sewell displayed excellent poise and presence as he was able to stand in the pocket and deliver a number of balls right on the numbers.
In his fifth start of the season, Sewell seemed especially comfortable as Virginia’s signal caller. Despite some good penetration from Pittsburgh’s defensive line, Sewell was able to evade the oncoming tacklers and was not sacked at all during the game.
“I had a bad habit of looking at the rush in the past,” Sewell said. “Now I just try to feel it and move around that way instead of focusing on the pressure.”
He ended the first quarter completing all of his seven passes, three of which went for touchdowns.
Sewell also had an admirable day on the ground. He recorded 66 rushing yards on the day with a long of 17.
“They gave us a lot of looks that left me one-on-one with a defender in a lot of space,” Sewell said. “The coaches allowed us to take advantage of that, and we were able to make some plays.”
As usual, Sewell’s favorite red zone targets were the tight ends. Both Tom Santi and Jonathan Stupar caught touchdown passes for the Cavaliers, as Virginia was able to successfully exploit the mismatch on Pittsburgh’s smaller linebackers. With 9:06 remaining in the first quarter, Sewell hit Santi for an 18-yard score, over a Pittsburgh defender.
“Jameel put the ball up and gave me a chance to go up and get it,” Santi said. “He put the ball in a perfect spot. I was able to make the play and it helped get us off to a good start.”
“We were against a good coverage and had a good idea of what they were doing pre-snap,” Sewell said. “Tom was one-on-one and I wanted to put the ball in a place where he could use his size advantage and ability to go up and get it. Once I got the throw off, I was confident Tom would go up and make a play.”
Whether it was through the air or on the ground, Sewell made plays for Virginia all night, marking one of his best performances as a Cavalier.