D2
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KLMNO COLLEGES
Terps’ Robinson takes charge BY ERIC PRISBELL During Monday’s Maryland
football scrimmage, Terrapins Coach Ralph Friedgen urged his quarterback to organize the hud- dle but, as he often does, referred to him incorrectly as Jamal. With down and distance and a play call swirling in his mind, Jamarr Rob- inson turned toward his coach and said, matter-of-factly, “Jama- rr.”
“For all the stuff he has got to
be thinking about, he is correct- ing me on how I call his name,” Friedgen said. “So I would say he is pretty poised.” Maryland coaches and players
rave about Robinson’s athleti- cism, which will allow the Terra- pins to diversify their offense this season. They talk up his arm strength, which offensive coordi- nator James Franklin calls “spe- cial.” But how smoothly the of- fense functions could hinge on his ability to lead and remain cool under center. Friedgen said Robinson so far
has exceeded his expectations as the fourth-year junior prepares to start the season-opening Sept. 6 game against Navy after starting two games last season. Yet coach- es said his evolution remains a work in progress. Robinson, a native of Char-
lotte, is among the most popular players on the team, well liked and respected. He is laid-back, not particularly loud and has a dry sense of humor. He exudes a quiet confidence, according to coaches, and the role of vocal leader does not come naturally for him. Franklin has talked to several
players, including Robinson, about the importance of body language and appearing in com-
mand.He correlated it to asking a woman for her phone number, saying that if you ask meekly then “you’re not getting the number,” Franklin said. “You have to exude that confidence and show every- body you are in control. Leader- ship is so, so important, especial- ly at the quarterback position.” It is particularly important on
an offense that is expected to feature only three seniors— wide receiver Adrian Cannon, center Paul Pinegar and running back Da’Rel Scott — in the starting lineup. A large responsibility rests with Robinson to lead, and he knows it. He said his demean- or changes when he gets in the huddle. “I try to be laid-back, butwhen
I go in the huddle, people want to have conversation, people want to tell me to throw them the ball,” Robinson said. “I have to change my ego and turn into the enforc- er: ‘I have to run this play. I can’t let you all keep talking.’ ” Friedgen has been as im-
pressed with Robinson’s control in the huddle as he has been with his performance on the field. In the scrimmage, Robinson com- pleted 6 of 11 passes for 146 yards and threw two touchdown pass- es. Among his only mistakes: He took a sack in the red zone. “I am a lot more comfortable,”
Robinson said. “I get more confi- dence every day in what we are doing. Just going over it over and overandover. It ismakingitmore second nature to me.” Robinson was admittedly
“jumpy and nervous” when he was thrust into a game last sea- son at North Carolina State in place of injured starter Chris Turner. Robinson calmed down but again felt jitters the nextweek during the first start of his career against Virginia Tech.
He rushed for 129 yards—the third-highest total by aMaryland quarterback—and the next week completed 20 of 27 passes for 213 yards at Florida State. The good news: He has yet to throw an interception in 85 pass attempts. The bad: He has yet to lead Maryland to victory. “You could make the argu-
ment that he played well enough to win the games,” Franklin said. Coaches are hoping an im-
proved offensive line translates into more opportunities for Rob- inson to use his talents. And even if there are miscues, there is hope. Right tackle R.J. Dill told Frank- lin he loves having Robinson at quarterback because if Dill does get beat, Robinson won’t get wal- loped—he has a chance to make a play. “He brings an element to the
game we have not had here in a while,” Franklin said. “With all the players, there is a comfort with him being back there and the mobility that he brings.” The Terrapins used variations
of the option during the first few years of Friedgen’s tenure, before getting away from it with quar- terbacks Sam Hollenbach and Turner. Friedgen has hinted at going back to it at times to best use Robinson’s strengths. Coaches envision Robinson
becoming a complete quarter- back — and a leader. Franklin said Robinson’s approach to foot- ball, to school, to life has been different since last season. Partic- ularly noteworthy: his attention to detail. On that note, he never lets his
head coach slide when Friedgen calls him Jamel, Jamal or any other two-syllable name. Robin- son corrects him. “All the time,” he said.
prisbelle@washpost.com
WNBA
Tensions run high as Mystics’ victory over Liberty is followed by a center-court fracas
mystics from D1 By the final twominutes itwas
hard to tell that Washington had once held a 12-point lead on the Liberty. The Mystics’ offense had driedup, failingtotallyafieldgoal in justmore than fourminutes in the fourth quarter just as Cappie Pondexter, who led all scorers with28points, launchedadesper- ate individual effort to try to keep her team’swinning streak alive. When Pondexter (8 for 14)
banked a jump shot off the back- board to create a 74-73 edge with 12.6 seconds remaining, the all- star had scored 10 of New York’s previous 14 points. But that bas- ket would also be the Liberty’s last. The tension that rose in the
playoff-type game — with poten- tially home-court advantage, the regular season conference title
and top seed in the playoffs at stake — didn’t subside after the final buzzer. At center court, members of both teams were in- volved in a fracas during which Pondexter was pulled away twice while yelling back at the group. It’s unclear if a punch was
thrown, which would result in an immediate one-game suspension perWNBA rules regardless if the blow made contact. WNBA offi- cials would not make the game’s officials available for comment following the contest. When asked about the incident Pondex- ter said: “Idon’tknowwhat you’re talking about.”
carrerak@washpost.com
l SILVER STARS 75, FEVER
61: Becky Hammon and Edwige Lawson-Wade combined for 19 fourth-quarterpointsandSanAn- tonio all but clinched a playoff spot with a victory over visiting
Indiana. After the Fever erased a 13-
point third-quarter deficit to tie the game entering the fourth, Hammon took over. She hit two three-pointers and a free throwin a 10-0runthatput the Silver Stars back in control. San Antonio (13-20) ended a
two-game losing streak. A loss by Los Angeles later Friday night would give the Silver Stars’ their fourth straight postseason ap- pearance. l SUN 78, SKY 71: Renee
Montgomery scored 20 points and visiting Connecticut held off Chicago. The win was the second
straight for the Sun (17-16) which will miss the playoffs for the sec- ond straight year. Epiphanny Prince scored19points for theSky (14-19),whichwas eliminated last week.
JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST
“I just kept looking at the clock thinking, please let them miss. Just please miss,”Mystics Coach Julie Plank said of the victory.
DIGEST TELEVISIONANDRADIO
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 4 p.m.
7 p.m. 7 p.m.
BASKETBALL
Texas at Baltimore » WTTG (Channel 5), WBFF (Channel 45),WTNT (570 AM) Washington at Philadelphia » MASN, WXTR (730 AM), WFED (820 AM, 1500 AM) ChicagoWhite Sox at Kansas City » WGN
PRESEASON NFL 7 p.m.
Baltimore atWashington » WRC (Channel 4), Comcast SportsNet,WDCW (Channel 50), WWXT (92.7 FM),WWXX (94.3 FM),WTEM (980 AM)
LITTLE LEAGUEWORLD SERIES 11 a.m.
1 p.m. 3 p.m. 6 p.m. 8 p.m.
SOCCER 10 a.m.
WNBA 11 p.m.
GOLF Noon
2 p.m. 4 p.m.
5:30 p.m.
TENNIS 2 p.m.
7 p.m.
Toms River (N.J.) vs. Hamilton (Ohio) » ESPN Chitre (Panama) vs. Vancouver (B.C.) » ESPN
Waipahu (Hawaii) vs. Columbus (Ga.) » WJLA (Channel 7), WMAR (Channel 2) Kahosiung (Taiwan) vs. Dhahran (Saudi Arabia) » ESPN Teams TBA » ESPN
English Premier League, Blackpool at Arsenal » ESPN2 Los Angeles at Seattle » ESPN2 PGA Tour,Wyndham Championship » Golf Channel
PGA Tour,Wyndham Championship » WUSA (Channel 9),WJZ (Channel 13) Champions Tour, the Tradition » WRC (Channel 4),WBAL (Channel 11) LPGA Tour, Safeway Classic » Golf Channel
Western&Southern Financial Group Masters » ESPN2 Western&Southern Financial Group Masters » ESPN2
AUTO RACING 7:30 p.m.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Irwin Tools Night Race » WJLA (Channel 7), WMAR (Channel 2)
MAJOR LEAGUE LACROSSE Noon
MEN’S BASKETBALL 3 p.m.
Semifinal, Chesapeake vs. Boston » ESPN2 Lithuania vs. United States » ESPN
West is suspended 10 games by theNBA Free agent guardDelonteWest
was suspendedwithout pay for 10 gamesFriday afterpleading guilty lastmonthtoweapons charges. Maryland authorities said he
was carrying two loaded hand- guns, a loaded shotgun and an 81/2
-inch Bowie knife while speed-
ing on a three-wheel motorcycle on the Capital Beltway last Sep- tember. West, an Eleanor Roosevelt
High graduate, played for the Cleveland Cavaliers last season. The Minnesota Timberwolves waived himAug. 3 after acquiring West ina trade. West received a home deten-
tion sentence that includes flexi- bility totravel togames. Ifhe signs with a team, his suspension will begin with the first game of the regular season for which he is eligibleandphysicallyabletoplay. West, 27, has averaged 9.9
points in sixNBA seasons.He has battled bipolar disorder during his career. . . . Former Alabama standout
point guardMikhail Torrance col- lapsed after a workout in Braden- ton, Fla. and is hospitalized in critical condition, a person famil- iar with the situation told the As- sociatedPress. Torrance had been training at
only from Comcast.
the IMG Academies when he lost consciousness, according to the personwho spoke on condition of anonymity because the player’s family had not authorized the re- lease of any information. . . . Serbia’s Nenad Krstic, a center
for the Oklahoma City Thunder, was released after being held in police custody overnight follow- ing a chaotic brawl during a game againstGreece. The fight broke out during the
last game of theAcropolis tourna- ment,whichwas abandonedwith 2 minutes 40 seconds remaining and Greece leading by one point. The incident occurred just aweek before thebasketballworldcham- pionship in Turkey, where both teamswillplay. “This shouldn’t have hap-
pened,” said SerbianCoachDusan Ivkovic, who is due to take over Greek club Olympiakos next sea- son. “Relations with the Greeks arenowvery bad.” Players from both teams ex-
changedpunches andkicksonthe floor and in the tunnels leading to thedressing rooms.
TENNIS Serena Williams pulled out of
the U.S. Open, saying she still is recovering fromsurgery to repair cuts onher right foot. Williams, ranked No. 1, has
wontheU.S.Openthree timesand haswon13GrandSlamtitles. Last year, she lost in the U.S. Open semifinals after a tirade at a line judge over a foot-fault call, anout- burst that drew a record fine. She said missing this year’s tourna- ment “one of themostdevastating moments ofmy career.” She is the first No. 1 woman to
miss theU.S.Open since the rank- ings began in 1975, according to theU.S.TennisAssociation. . . . . VeraZvonarevaupsetanailing
KimClijsters 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach thesemifinalsof theRogersCupin Montreal. . . .
UnseededMardy Fish survived
triple-digit temperatures and two tiebreakers to edge fourth-seeded Andy Murray and move into the Cincinnati Masters semifinals with a grueling 6-7 (7-5), 6-1, 7-6 (7-5) victory.
GOLF Brandt Snedeker feels right at
home in central North Carolina, nomatterwhichcourseheplays. Snedeker shot a 65 and shared
the leadwithArjunAtwal at 12-un- der-par 128after tworoundsof the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro,N.C. Snedeker had an eagle and
threebirdies tomove intofamiliar territory atop the leader board of the PGA Tour’s final pre-playoff event.Hewon this tournament in 2007 and shared the lead after a rainy firstday last year.. . . D.A. Weibring shot his second
straight 5-under 67 to take a two- stroke lead over Tom Lehman in the Champions Tour’s Jeld-Wen TraditioninSunriver,Ore. . . . Japan’s AiMiyazato has set her
sights on reclaiming her No. 1 status.Miyazatoshota6-under66 for the first-round lead at the LPGASafewayClassicatPumpkin RidgeGolfClubwest ofPortland. Miyazatohadaone-stroke lead
on Teresa Lu of Taiwan and Jee Young Lee of SouthKorea.
AUTORACING JRMotorsports expects to field
a Nationwide Series car next sea- sonforDanicaPatrick. JRM co-owner Kelley Earn-
hardt said she’s waiting for the IndyCar schedule tobe releasedto determine how many races Pat- rickwilldrive inNASCAR.
She’s running a 13-race sched-
ule this year for JRMthat is built around her IndyCar commit- ments. Patrick had a career-best finish of 24th at Chicago last monththroughsix races so far. . . . Carl Edwards said he has com-
mitted to racing the full Nation- wide Series schedulenext season.
BASEBALL Blake Toler and Jake Orlando
hit homers over the outfield hedg- es inthe first inning andPearland, Texas powered past Plymouth, Minn., 10-8, at the Little League WorldSeries. The home runs set the tone for
Texas, which scored eight runs over the first two innings and hit fourhomers inthe game. . . . Jack Quinn’s two-run double
broke a 1-1 tie in the bottomof the fifth as Fairfield, Conn., defeated Auburn,Wash., 3-1.. . . Manati, Puerto Rico hit five
homers and two pitchers com- bined on a one-hitter in an 11-0 victory over Ramstein Air Force BaseGermany.
OBITUARY Johnny Bailey, a record-break-
ing running back in the small col- lege ranks and former NFL Pro Bowl kick returner, has died from pancreatic cancer.Hewas 43. Texas A&M-Kingsville an-
nounced his death. Bailey played for the Division II school from 1986 to ’89,when itwas known as TexasA&IUniversity. Bailey was drafted by the Chi-
cago Bears in the ninth round in 1990. He holds the team’s record for the longest punt return, a 95- yardreturnhehadas a rookie. —Fromnews services
JONATHAN NEWTON/THE WASHINGTON POST
After LindseyHarding’s layup with 8.8 seconds left,NewYork’s JanelMcCarville, right, missed a game-winner from the corner.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 21, 2010 For Cavs’ wideouts, timing’s the key
Virginia’s new offense dependent upon precision routes
BY STEVE YANDA
charlottesville — One day early in Virginia’s training camp, junior wide receiver Jared Green ran a stop-and-go route with the sideline just to his left. Green blew past the opposing cornerback upon re-accelerat- ing and looked up just in time to see the ball conclude its arc into his hands for a 40-yard touch- down pass. A few days later, junior wide
receiver Kris Burd ran a sharp 12-yard out route and was just in time to meet the ball for their prearranged date along the side- line. “They’re becoming smart at
how to release and how to read coverages and how to run their routes and how to beat man-to- man coverage,” senior quarter- back Marc Verica said of the team’s wide receivers. “And do- ing it on time.” In Virginia’s new pro-style
offense, the passing game is dependent on proper timing, and if the Cavaliers’ wide receiv- ers are to develop into the dy- namic playmaking options the team sorely lacked last season, they’ll need to be punctual. So far, the wideout corps has
drawn rave reviews. CoachMike London this week pegged the wide receivers as the positional group that had most exceeded his expectations. He also noted that the primary challenge for Burd and the rest of the bunch is to continue “making it easy for the quarterback.”
Under the new system em-
ployed by offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, things are a little bit easier for the wide receivers, as well. There are 10 routes — commonly called a route tree — and each one is represented by a number. A number is given in the huddle; the receiver runs that route. Last season, a wide receiver’s
route was associated with a word,whichwouldbe dispensed in the huddle. At the line of scrimmage, though, that route could change based on hand signals the wide receiver had to look for from coaches on the Virginia sideline. With less information to memorize, the wide receivers are free to concentrate on other vital aspects of their role in Virginia’s offense. “We’re focusing on the funda-
mentals of route breaks, coming out of breaks and just getting a consistent rhythm with the quarterbacks,” Burd said. “I feel like, day-by-day, we’re pressing forward with that.” According to Verica, the sim-
plified, timing-based passing system aids both the quarter- back and the wide receiver. When the receiver bursts out of a break and is expecting the ball, the quarterback feels more con- fident throwing to a spot the receiver has not yet reached. Conversely, the receiver expects the ball will be there to greet him if he runs his route precise- ly.
“Because of that timing, you
gain more separation,” Verica said. The Cavaliers are hoping a
little extra separation will trans- late into more production from their wideouts this fall. In 2009, Burd led Virginia with 31 catch-
es and 413 receiving yards. Twenty-four players in the ACC talliedmorecatchesand28play- ers in the conference recorded more receiving yards. His 13.3 yards per catch rankedNo. 19 in the ACC. Wide receivers coach Shawn
Moore said his group of players has been diligent in their work thus far, but he wished he had morebodies with which to work. He gained one more option on Monday when redshirt fresh- man Kevin Royal was converted from tight end to wide receiver. London said the 6-foot-3, 218- pound Royal simply could not gain enough weight to stick at the tight end position. Burd, sophomore Tim Smith
and senior Dontrelle Inman are expected to be Virginia’s go-to options at wideout, though the efforts of Green, Royal and oth- ers will be necessary to rid the taste of last season’s dismal out- put.
Virginia scored an ACC-
worst eight passing touchdowns in 2009. With their newly imple- mented route tree at the dispos- al of a capable set of wideouts, the Cavaliers aim to be more prodigious in their air attack this year. “As long as the route tree’s got
fruit on it, I’m all about that,” London said. The wide receivers “like it, and that’s what it’s all about. There’s all different kinds of routes; people call ’em differ- ent things. But I think the route tree is also predicated upon the quarterback throwing the ball on time and them running the route. When the two of them are working together, then every- body’s having fun when you can catch it, no matter what tree you’re pulling from.”
yandas@washpost.com
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