Cavs land another in-state commit

When quarterback Scott Deke scooped up a bad snap in the spring game in April, he saw a streaking player and quickly fired a 42-yard pass to walk-on wideout Matt Snyder, a relative unknown.
Virginia football fans, get to know the name — especially the last name.
On Tuesday, Snyder’s younger — but bigger —brother verbally committed to play football at the University of Virginia.
Jake Snyder, a two-way standout at Deep Run High in Glen Allen, became the 11th commitment for the Class of 2009, continuing the Cavaliers’ recent in-state dominance. Jake Snyder, who had an ever-growing list of offers, is the ninth recruit from Virginia to offer a verbal assurance.
Standing at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Jake Snyder has showcased his talent at tight end and defensive end in such strong fashion to land offers from Ohio State, Penn State, Louisville, Virginia Tech and Boston College.
The offers came rolling after he had 14 catches for 260 yards and five scores and had four interceptions, eight sacks and 58 tackles on defense as a junior.
It was his first offer, however, that meant the most.
“I got the offer from Virginia back in December,” said the younger Snyder, who was a first team defensive performer in the Colonial District. “It was shortly after the high school season ended and they were the first ones to offer which was a really big deal. I thought about it for a while and waited to see who else came in during the recruiting period and it was always in the back of my mind.”
Eventually, and after watching numerous suitors hold their spring games, Jake Snyder settled on following his brother and former Deep Run defensive end Sean Gottschalk to UVa.
“It is very exciting and it feels good to have it over with and have it done and be able to focus on this upcoming season,” he said.
“There were a lot of factors, but the first thing I was looking at was the school, the academics, and UVa is a great school. And with the football program, the coaches have done a great job with everything and I like that part of it, too.
“Location was also a big part of it. It is under an hour drive and if I need to get home for the weekend or the day, it is not impossible. That was a good thing, and having my brother play there doesn’t hurt either.”
The elder Snyder joined the program as a walk-on after landing a tryout and has progressed up the deep depth chart at wide receiver, and served as a sounding board for his brother during the recruiting process.
“We talked about it. He was pretty good about being impartial about it the whole time and made me make my own decision,” Jake Snyder said. “He wouldn’t try to persuade me one way or another, and I definitely asked him about it — the whole experience, the team and everything, what the locker room is like, what are games like? I just wanted to get a feel for it and it definitely helped to have him up there to help guide me with it.”
Possessing a 4.0 grade point average and a 1,300 on the SAT, Jake Snyder said prides himself on paying attention to detail — inside the classroom and on the field.
“I think that is one of my stronger points,” he said. “I want to make sure that I focus on detail and make sure that I do it as well as I can do it, not necessarily perfect, but I am going to do everything to the best of the ability that I have.
“I am going to make sure that I give everything that I have to everything that I do.”
While being switched to tight end is a remote possibility, Jake Snyder expects to start out at defensive end as his first preseason practice begins at Virginia in 14 months.
“I do like defense better,” he admitted. “I feel like it’s more my style; I like making the plays.
“It is a very fundamental position and like to put myself in that position where I can work off the offensive line and do my own thing.”