Virginia fans got a glimpse of the future Saturday. And it's a future that won't include four-year mainstays Marques Hagans, Wali Lundy, Connor Hughes or D'Brickashaw Ferguson.
Nope, the future of Virginia football is going to look a lot different -- at least on the offensive side of the ball.
So with Virginia taking out its frustration in full force against Temple in its 51-3 win, there was no better time to give the soon-to-be-departed starters a break and let the younger kids get some playing time.
Taking advantage were two of Virginia's youngest wide receivers, freshmen Kevin Ogletree and Maurice Covington, each of whom logged significant minutes in the first half, when the game was still "in doubt."
Ogletree, from St. Albans, N.Y., had five receptions for 20 yards, while Covington, who Virginia snagged out of Duke and UNC's backyard in Durham, recorded four receptions for 45 yards including a long of 16.
"I think they're just doing good in practice, so they get a chance to play [in the games]," Hagans said. "They're making some plays in practice, and the coaches are giving them the opportunity to play. It's good to see the young guys get out there."
Sophomore wide receiver Emmanuel Byers, who had no catches Saturday, made his impact felt in a different way. With junior running back Michael Johnson out with an ankle injury, Byers filled in for Johnson in his other role, punt returner. Byers took each of Temple's four punts back for a total of 53 yards and came close to wiggling free for a bigger gain on more than one occasion.
Virginia's two back-up quarterbacks, Christian Olsen and Kevin McCabe, also saw significant time in the win. The two, who size-wise look identical in pads (Olsen is listed as 6-3, 216 pounds and McCabe at 6-2, 213), had limited chances to put the ball in the air with the game tempo and score dictating a run-first approach. For McCabe, it was his first action in a game this year. One of the two will most likely fill the void left by Hagans next season, although Vic Hall, an athletic freshman quarterback cut from the same cloth as Hagans, is a dark horse to win the starting position.
Even Noah Greenbaum, a junior back-up place kicker, got into the action, kicking a 41-yard field goal on Virginia's second to last drive of the game to push the Cavaliers over the 50-point mark.
In addition to giving younger players opportunities, Saturday's blowout provided the Cavalier veterans a chance to iron out the wrinkles in their own games, as well as to get the bad taste of a loss out of their mouths.
Lundy, who prior to the win had yet to record a rushing touchdown on the season, snagged four en route to 114 yards on the grounds. Jason Snelling, the starting fullback for most of the season, backed up Lundy and ran for a game-high 126 yards and two touchdowns after freshman back Cedric Peerman left the game in the first half with a ginger right leg.
Besides opening up the roster, the coaching staff opened up the playbook, inserting more surefire passing plays and more creative calls to help out a now 100 percent healthy Hagans. To take advantage of his speed, a few more designed running plays made their way into the huddle, the first of which being a fake draw hand-off to Lundy in the first quarter, which Hagans kept for a nine-yard gain and a first down. The option also was used on various occasions, one of the first times during Hagans' tenure it has been embraced rather than shunned.
If the Temple matchup was any indicator of the future, next year's young Cavaliers will be just fine, even without their current offensive superstars.
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