USC Trojans Game 1 Preview: Virginia Cavaliers

Glaspy, a former walk-on like Jon Copper, made a career-high 71 tackles in 13 games last season as part of a defense that allowed just nine rushing touchdowns, fifth in the nation. The coaching staff is also high on sophomore Ras-I Dowling (6-foot-2, 200). Dowling played in 12 games and recorded 44 tackles. He led the team with nine pass break-ups and shared the team lead with two interceptions.

As for the defensive front three, the Cavs' biggest loss was at defensive end, where Chris Long was the overall #2 pick in the NFL Draft. Only junior nose guard Nate Collins (6-2,280) saw much real action in 2007, backing up starter Allen Billyk. Collins played in all 13 games and recorded 31 tackles.

Redshirt sophomore Sean Gottschalk (6-foot-4, 275) appeared in nine games as a reserve defensive end and recorded four tackles. He also played on the kickoff return team Senior Alex Field (6-foot-7, 270) will be at the other defensive end. Field played in all 13 games as a reserve and had 11 tackles.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Last week, Groh named Yannick Reyering, a German national who led UVA’s soccer team in goals in each of the past three seasons, as the new place kicker.

Here’s the Cavalier lineup at a glance…

Offense

QB - P. Lalich; S. Deke; M. Verica

TB - C. Peerman/M. Simpson; R. Horne; M. Millien

FB - R. Jackson; K. Payne; C. Orshoski

TE - J. Phillips; J. Torchia; A. Devlin

WR - K. Ogletree; D. Inman; S. Jobe

WR - M. Covington; K. Burd; C. Koch

LT - E. Monroe; Z. Stair; L. Milstead

LG - Z. Stair; P. Slebonick

C - J. Shields; A. Miholta

RG - B.J. Cabbell; B. Cuffee

RT - W. Barker; Z. Stair; L. Milstead

Defense

DE - S. Gottschalk; M. Conrath

NG - N. Collins; N. Jenkins

DE - A. Field; J. Fuller

LOLB - C. Sintim; A. Clark

LILB - A. Appleby; J. Bivens; T. Fells-Danser

RILB - J. Copper; J. Bivens; T. Fells-Danzer

ROLB - D. Burrell; J. Detrick

CB - R. Dowling; C. Minnifield

CB - V. Hall; M. Parker

SS - B. Glasby; M. Leemhuis

FS - B. Woods; C. Mosely

(NB - T. Womack)

Special Teams

PK - Y. Reyering; R. Randolph; C. Hinkebein

P - J. Howell; J. Thornton

LS - D. Aiken; C. Reiss

PR - V. Hall; M. Simpson

KR - M. Simpson; C. Minnifield; K. Ogletree; J. Green

Holder - V. Hall; S. Deke

A crowd of 61,500 fans is expected to attend. There is a chance for scattered thunderstorms in Charlottesville for Saturday’s game, with an expected high of 83 degrees.

Oddsmakers opened the Trojans as a 17-point road favorite. The odds currently favor the Trojans by 19½ points. While I prefer not to make any predictions but simply give an overall preview of USC opponents based on the facts as I know them, I can offer one suggestion – take the points.

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