There's this little poster floating around Grounds, and perhaps you have seen it. On this otherwise nondescript piece of paper is a list of the hundred or so things that fourth years are supposed to do before they take their degrees and leave the University on their path toward the real world. Now, on this list are such sweet and wholesome items such as studying in the McGregor Room and streaking the Lawn. Those things are all well and good for most students, but not for me. Since I first stepped onto Grounds nearly three years ago, I have had one thing and one thing only on my to-do list before I walk the Lawn one last time as a student - watch the Virginia football team compete in a postseason bowl game.
My first two years at the University all but completely destroyed my hopes of ever accomplishing this goal. With Al Groh seemingly unable to convince the powers-that-be to fire him - despite numerous attempts to prove his ineptitude through late season collapses - I harbored little hope that I would one day follow my beloved Cavaliers on the road to a bowl game. But then something happened last year that breathed just enough air into the fire to keep my struggling hopes alive - Mike London.
Despite last year's disappointing finish, London and his squad showed enough promise that I began to think the unthinkable - that with a good recruiting class, maybe, just maybe, I would pull out a miracle and complete my goal in my final year. Well, national signing day has come and gone, and after viewing this year's recruits I'm officially throwing my name into the hat as a candidate for the driver of the Virginia Cavaliers' bandwagon. That's right, you heard it here first - in a little more than 10 months, the Cavaliers will be playing in a bowl game.
How is a team that went 4-8 last year, loses arguably its best overall player in cornerback Ras-I Dowling, its top offensive weapon in running back Keith Payne and its starting quarterback and captain, Marc Verica, going to become a bowl-bound team simply by adding 26 recruits with as much college football experience as yours truly?
First and foremost, Verica's graduation in no way hampers the 2011 edition of the Cavaliers, as the team should easily find a more capable signal caller than the man whose interception totals ranked in the top 15 in the nation during his two full seasons as Virginia's starting quarterback. Furthermore, Virginia's new recruits should more than make up for the skill position players lost to graduation and the NFL. Demetrious Nicholson and Brandon Phelps are both potential all-conference players in the defensive backfield who should shore up a defense that ranked 10th in the ACC in both scoring and total defense. Meanwhile, on the offensive side of the ball, Clifton Richardson and Darius Jennings should both provide some excitement for an offense that lacked a true home-run threat last year. Don't believe me? Watch Richardson's high school highlight video on YouTube and tell me you're not impressed. I haven't seen a high school running back look that good since Petey ran wild for T.C. Williams in "Remember the Titans." The new Cavaliers should provide the necessary spark to help boost Virginia to a few more wins.
In addition, the schedule makers appear to have sympathized with my cause and provided a relatively painless road for the Cavaliers as they try to travel toward their first bowl game since 2007. After learning from last year's mistakes, Virginia has scheduled just one game against an FCS team - William & Mary - so the Cavaliers need only six wins to qualify for a bowl. Virginia's first four games are all extremely winnable - William & Mary, at Indiana, Southern Miss and Idaho - and the Cavaliers should enter their ACC schedule undefeated and needing just two conference wins to become bowl-eligible. Assuming Virginia beats Duke at home - and I refuse to believe that the Cavaliers will lose to the Blue Devils four years in a row - that only leaves one win left to achieve bowl eligibility. With Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech both facing the daunting task of replacing their departing star quarterbacks - Joshua Nesbitt and Tyrod Taylor, respectively - Virginia should be able to use the raucous Scott Stadium crowd to eke out at least one win between the two games to punch their ticket to a bowl game.
So there you have it - a completely realistic scenario that sees the Cavaliers in a bowl game at season's end. Thanks to a recruiting class ranked in the top 20 by ESPN and a favorable schedule, the Cavaliers now have the talent and the good luck every team needs to make a serious run to the postseason - and to complete my Virginia bucket list. And if next year ends in yet another disappointment, well, I guess there's always grad school for me.
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