Cavaliers Travel to Southern Miss Saturday in Road Opener

Story Links

Game 3 • Sept. 19 • 3:30 p.m. ET
M.M. Roberts Stadium

Game Details
Playing Surface: FieldTurf
Series vs. USM: First Meeting
Television: CBS College Sports (Ch. 732 on Comcast in Charlottesville)
P-b-P: Jason Knapp
Analyst: Akbar Gbaja-Biamila
Radio: Virginia Sports Network (affiliates)
P-b-P: Dave Koehn
Analyst: Frank Quayle
Sidelines: Chris Slade
Satellite Radio: XM Radio 191, Sirius 219

Live Stats: Click here for the link to the LiveStats page. Note: Link available 30 minutes before kickoff. Allow 1-2 minutes for it to load at the start.
Twitter: Follow updates live from the press box during the game at UVa’s Twitter Site.

Jeff White‘s Blog: Read Jeff White‘s updates from Hattiesburg.

Rosters: Virginia Southern Miss
Game Notes: Virginia Southern Miss

Five Things You Need to Know
• Virginia is playing its first game ever in the state of Mississippi.
• UVa’s defense has allowed just six third-down conversions in 31 attempts (19.35%). That is tied for eighth-best in the FBS.
• Jameel Sewell had 21 rushes last Saturday – third most in school history for a QB and most since 1942.
• T Will Barker will make his 40th career start this week.
• Freshmen Javaris Brown and Tim Smith became UVa’s first frosh combo to score TDs in the same game since 2006 last week vs. TCU.

Virginia, Southern Miss Play for First Time
• Virginia and Southern Miss are meeting for the first time in football.
• The game is the first of a home-and-home series; Southern Miss is slated to make the return trip to Charlottesville in 2011.
• Virginia will be making its first-ever trip to the state of Mississippi.

Cavaliers Have Limited History with C-USA
• Virginia has played just two games against teams from Conference USA – both against East Carolina.
• UVa split those games with ECU, falling in Greenville in 2006 and winning in Charlottesville last season.
• C-USA also consists of Houston, Marshall, Memphis, Rice, SMU, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, UCF and UTEP.

Noting Openers on the Road
• Virginia is 42-72-3 all-time in road openers.
• UVa is 2-6 in road openers under Al Groh.
• UVa last won its first road game in 2005, a 27-24 victory at Syracuse.
• The Cavaliers were 1-4 on the road in 2008.

On the Road Against Non-Conference Opponents
• This is the only road non-conference game the Cavaliers will play this season.
• It marks the 12th year in a row they have played at least one non-league road game.
• Under Al Groh Virginia is 3-8 in non-conference road games since 2001 (regular-season games).
• UVa’s last non-conference road win was a 23-21 win at Middle Tennessee in 2007.

A Sign of Things to Come?
• This is third time since 1987 that Virginia has started a season 0-2.
• In the last two instances, Virginia bounced back and earned a bowl berth.
• In 2002, UVa lost its first two games (Colorado State, Florida State) but went 9-3 the rest of the way and won the Continental Tire Bowl.
• In 1987, UVa dropped its first two (Georgia, Maryland) but went 8-2 to conclude the year and downed BYU in the All-American Bowl.

Seventeen Cavaliers Get First Playing Time
• Perry Jones saw his first career game action last week vs. TCU, becoming the 14th Cavalier freshman to see the field this year.
• He is the fifth true freshman to play for UVa this season.
• Here is a list of the 17 players:
• True freshmen (5): Will Hill, Quintin Hunter, Perry Jones, Tim Smith and Dominique Wallace
• Redshirt freshmen (9): Landon Bradley, Javaris Brown, Steve Greer, Torrey Mack, Matt Mihalik, Aaron Van Kuiken, Colter Phillips, Ausar Walcott, Devin Wallace.
• Others (3): sophomore Matt Snyder, juniors Patch Duda and Daniel Childress.

True Freshmen Get Chance to Shine
• Al Groh is not afraid to use true freshman, as evidenced by the five he already has played this year.
• Since Groh started as UVa’s head coach in 2001, 58 true freshmen have seen playing time for the Cavaliers.

Youth Is Served
• Fifty-six players have seen game action this year – 30 are underclassmen (five true freshmen, nine redshirt freshmen, 12 sophomores).
• Eleven of the 30 underclassmen have made at least one start this season.

Six Cavaliers Make First Starts
• Six Cavaliers made the first start of their careers vs. William & Mary:
• ILB Steve Greer, WR Kris Burd, OT Landon Bradley, S Rodney McLeod, WR Javaris Brown and WR Matt Snyder.

Cain Breaks Into Starting Lineup
• Guard Isaac Cain made his first career start last Saturday vs. TCU.
• The junior was playing in his fourth career game. He was a reserve in the William & Mary game and appeared in one game in each of the past two seasons.

Sewell Back in the Starting Slot
• UVa QB Jameel Sewell made his first start since 2007 last week vs. TCU. He now has made 23 career starts.
• He returned to the field against William & Mary after not playing last season.
• Sewell’s second-quarter rushing TD against William & Mary was his first scoring run since he rushed for a pair of scores against Virginia Tech during the 2007 season.

Three Options at QB
• Virginia played three quarterbacks vs. William & Mary.
• Vic Hall started and was the QB for five series (2-for-5, 7 yards; 54 rushing yards, TD). He missed all but one play of the TCU game because of an injury.
• Jameel Sewell was the second QB in and played nine series (9-for-17, 80 yards; 40 rushing yards, TD). He played the entire game vs. TCU.
• Marc Verica entered in the fourth quarter vs. W&M and led the Cavaliers in three series (7-for-11, 50 yards).

Sewell Racks Up Rushes
• Jameel Sewell had 21 rushing attempts Saturday – most by a UVa QB since Bill Dudley had 22 vs. Lehigh on Nov. 15, 1941. (167 yards)
• It also was the third most by a UVa QB in a game.
• Dudley owns the single-game rushing
attempts mark by a UVa QB with 25 vs. Virginia Tech in 1941 (132 yards).
• The last time a UVa QB rushed 20 times in a game was Shawn Moore vs. Maryland on Nov. 19, 1988 (20 attempts for 34 yards.)

Most QB Rushes in UVa History
1. Bill Dudley (11/1/41 vs. VT) 24
2. Bill Dudley (11/15/41 vs. Lehigh) 22
3. Jameel Sewell (9/12/09 vs. TCU) 21
4. Shawn Moore (11/19/88 vs. MD) 20

Freshmen Combine for Scores
• Freshman WRs Javaris Brown and Tim Smith each scored TDs Saturday vs. TCU.
• It marked the first time two UVa freshmen scored touchdowns in a game since Sept. 30, 2006, when Mikell Simpson and Jeffrey Fitzgerald each scored in a 31-0 win at Duke.
• Simpson scored on a 2-yard run and Fitzgerald on a 23-yard fumble recovery.
• Smith’s touchdown came as part of his first career reception.

Sewell-Brown Combine for Longest Pass Play Since 2005
• Jameel Sewell’s 56-yard touchdown pass to Javaris Brown Saturday was Virginia’s longest pass play and passing touchdown since 2005.
• Deyon Williams had a 90-yard touchdown recpetion against Miami on Nov. 26, 2005.

Youth at Wide Receiver
• Youth is the buzzword for Virginia’s receivers this year.
• Last week, UVa started three freshmen at wide receiver (Matt Snyder, Tim Smith, Javaris Brown).
• All four Cavalier receivers on the two-deep are underclassmen, with Snyder and Brown joined by sophomores Jared Green and Kris Burd.
• Five Cavalier freshmen have recorded catches this year.
• UVa had to replace its three leading wide receivers-Maurice Covington, Cary Koch and Kevin Ogletree-who were 1-4-5 in receptions last season while catching 121 passes among them.

Burd Makes Big Impact
• Kris Burd has started the year strong, with six receptions for 54 yards.
• He led UVa’s receivers with five receptions for 46 yards vs. William & Mary.
• Both totals were career highs.
• Coming into the season, Burd had seven catches for 65 yards in his career.

First Two-Pt. Conversion Since ‘03
• UVa registered its first successful two-point conversion since 2003 when Colter Phillips rushed for the score in the fourth quarter vs. TCU.
• UVa’s last two-point conversion came on Sept. 27, 2003, vs. Wake Forest when Matt Schaub ran in for two.
• It was UVa’s first two-point attempt since Oct. 20, 2007, at Maryland.

Buckling Down on Third Down
• Virginia’s defense has been tough on third down opportunities this year.
• UVa opponents have converted on just six of 31 attempts on third down.
• TCU was 1-for-11 on third down.

Defense Learns on the Job
• Six Virginia defensive starters have eight or fewer career starts, with two making their first starts this year.
• Steve Greer and Rodney McLeod each have made their first career starts this year.
• Nate Collins and Nate Jenkins each have eight career starts.
• Seniors Darren Childs (four starts) and Aaron Clark (three) each have worked their way into the starting lineup this year.

Greer Wastes No Time at LB
• Redshirt freshman ILB Steve Greer posted 10 tackles in his first playing time at Virginia against William & Mary.
• Greer is the first UVa freshman to record 10 tackles since Antonio Appleby did so in the 2005 Music City Bowl.
• Greer followed up that effort with an eight-tackle day against TCU.