Sewell snares his first pelt
Jameel Sewell's numbers weren't the greatest - but the redshirt freshman quarterback wasn't worried about that as much as he was the numbers on the scoreboard.
"It feels good to have a win. I'm just worried about the win," said Sewell, who led Virginia on a game-winning 80-yard drive in the fourth quarter of its 14-7 victory over North Carolina State last weekend in Scott Stadium.
Sewell, who took over as starter four games into the 2006 season, was 3-for-4 for 35 yards on the drive after completing just nine of his 18 pass attempts for 96 yards through three and a half quarters to that point.
He also checked off into a different formation and blocking scheme on the play that gave UVa. its eventual winning margin - a 17-yard touchdown run to the right side of the offensive line by senior tailback Jason Snelling with 1:31 to play.
"I had to go away - it was a certain look that we got, and I went away from the pressure so that we could get a better look and get our linemen able to move," Sewell told "ACC Nation" after the game.
Sewell also made his presence felt as a runner - he gained 45 yards on 10 carries and ended up with 22 net yards on 12 official rushing attempts on the afternoon after yardage from two sacks was factored in.
"With me being able to run the ball, I can try to get out on the edge a little quicker - because once I make that fake, they're going to go to the big boy, they're going to go to J-Snell, so it gives me a free opportunity," Sewell said.
Snelling, who had 99 yards on 20 carries against the Wolfpack, said opposing defenses definitely give Sewell the respect his speed on the edge has earned him.
"It helps the whole offense as well as me out in the running game just to have that dual threat. Him being out there getting on the perimeter on bootlegs and stuff like that, his running ability just opens up our offense tremendously," Snelling told "ACC Nation."
Sewell's presence is being felt in another way - in giving the coaching staff more options to call plays from their thick playbook. It had been a necessity to simplify things as much as possible early in Sewell's tenure, but ...
"Me, personally, it's given me a lot of confidence," sophomore tailback Cedric Peerman told "ACC Nation." "From the first day that he was coming in, I knew that he was going to do a great job for us, and he was going to be a great quarterback for this offense. He's just stepped it up big."
"His leadership role that he's taken on the offense has helped us tremendously," Snelling said of Sewell. "He's a big part of our success on the offense. He's our leader and commander on the offense. We rally behind him. Him making plays like that, it definitely makes the offense perform well."Virginia coach Al Groh, as usual reserved in offering praise, nonethless threw a few bones in Sewell's direction after the State game.
"There had been quite a few series there - I'm sure you all observed the same thing - where things were a little rough for Jameel," Groh said. "The reads were coming slow, the passes weren't on target. But if you want to be a tough-minded, competitively tough-minded team, the quarterback has to be tough-minded. And that means they have to come back from some circumstances where things weren't going their way and step up when the moment's there. He did an excellent job of that, and as a result, he hit a couple of those throws early that got things started.
"You judge a quarterback by his pelts - and Jameel had some rough throws in there that were probably a factor in our not putting drives together. But when he really had to - he's got one of those really important pelts, a fourth-quarter drive," Groh said. "That's one of those deals that every quarterback's got to do - you know, be able to step up at that particular moment. And now he's done one."
- Chris Graham