Maury grad is key reason U.Va.'s defense has grown up

ATLANTA

University of Virginia defensive coordinator Jim Reid said it with a smile. But as always with effective humor, his point was delivered regarding the inspired work of linebacker LaRoy Reynolds this season.

"I think he did a magnificent job... making mistakes last year," Reid said of the junior outside linebacker from Norfolk's Maury High School. "Now he's doing even a better job of playing within the framework of our defense. Magnificent."

OK, so Reid throws around "magnificent" easily enough that it dilutes the meaning. Nonetheless, it's also easy to see Reynolds as the personification of a newly confident defensive unit, ranked 31st nationally, that's most responsible for the Cavaliers' appearance opposite Auburn in tonight's Chick-fil-A Bowl.

Reynolds a year ago was a converted safety who struggled mightily to find comfort in a new body - he added some 25 pounds for his position move - and his new place in the 4-3 defensive alignment favored by then-new head coach Mike London.

There was sputtering all around. Basically, as Reid paints it, Reynolds sort of just ran around out there, athletic and enthusiastic but too often oblivious. Still, there was promise: Reynolds was U.Va.'s leading tackler, though he frequently took, shall we say, unscripted paths to make plays.

In a parallel way, that was the learn-as-you-go story for U.Va.'s defense as well during a 4-8 season. It was painful to watch the Cavaliers, who were among the country's worst at stopping the run, get pummeled on the ground and yield 28 points a game on average.

But there would be a blooming, right?

It seems the proof is in U.Va.'s prime-time TV presence tonight amid the celebratory hats and horns that, in a Wahoo home, could as fittingly toast the Cavaliers' progress.

The defending national champion Tigers (7-5) will face a Virginia defense that yields a touchdown less than a year ago.

And though you couldn't tell from the deflating 38-0 rout by Virginia Tech a month ago, the Cavs (8-4) are dramatically stronger in run-stuffing, tackling for loss and foiling third-down conversions, benchmark categories upon which all defenses hang their helmets.

It's as they ought to be if effective teaching and learning are going on. Reid said assignments are clearer to U.Va.'s defenders, reads and reactions are less robotic, and routes to the ball-carrier are more direct.

All of that is particularly so for Reynolds, the second-leading tackler behind inside linebacker Steve Greer.

"I wouldn't necessarily say I was overwhelmed last year," Reynolds said. "But it did become a lot easier once I understood what was going on."

Funny how that works.

Reid challenged Reynolds to get better, to become more instinctive within the defense, through exhaustive offseason video study. Reynolds, to no surprise, devoured the task and asked for more.

"Nobody has watched any more tape of our opponents and of himself, from the standpoint of getting better, than LaRoy," Reid said. "He's made a dramatic improvement in the detail of playing great and playing fast, he truly has.

"You never want to slow a player down, ever. But we had to get him to play, not less fast, but with better direction and angle. And when you have his intelligence, it's pretty simple to do once you get the opportunity to really watch yourself."

Reynolds has to admit the images he's seen in 2011 are plenty more self-satisfying.

"I had to really learn how to prepare this year," he said. "To say, 'OK, I really can't just run fast, I've got to know what I'm running to and what I'm doing.' "

"So that's helped. But so has understanding that it's just a game. Through all the schemes and everything, it's still just football."

Tom Robinson, 757-446-2518, tom.robinson@pilotonline.com

Hamptonroads.com/robinson

Twitter @RobinsonVP