Hunter headed back to receiver

The Quintin Hunter carousel may finally be coming to a long-awaited halt.

After playing numerous positions on both sides of the ball at Orange County High School and bouncing from quarterback to wideout and back at Virginia in his first year as a Cavalier, Hunter may have a permanent position.

It’s one that he ultimately asked for as the spring practice period essentially weeded out the athlete at quarterback.

“After accumulating an amount of reps, Quintin just kind of looked at the situation and said, ‘I played last year as a true freshman as a wide receiver. I think I can help the team there,’” Virginia coach Mike London said Tuesday. “That’s where he’s going to be, and now we have to try to find places to use his open-space skills as he did when he was a quarterback in high school.”

It was more to do with the two-back offense that London plans to run and less to do with Hunter’s ability to make plays with his feet in the pocket.

“[Hunter is] a style of quarterback that is that read style of quarterback, where he has good feet and he can read the end closing down on a dive and pull the ball and juke and things like that,” London said. “But this offense is not that offense.”

Hunter’s redshirt was burnedby former coach Al Groh last year — the former All-Central Virginia selection caught just one pass last year for the Cavaliers as he played in nine games. The catch, which came in the Cavaliers’ loss to Texas Christian, netted 13 yards.

Hunter’s move to quarterback at the opening of spring practice was also a move that Hunter wanted to experience after London’s hiring.

“[Players] came in and said, ‘Coach, I played this position. Will I have an opportunity to play that position?’” London recounted.

“I just wanted to be true to my word and then said look, ‘Anybody that wanted to start out at a position they thought they could compete at, I’ll let that happen.’”

Oregon on the East Coast?

With countless options, Oregon’s football fans arrive at games anxious to see what uniform combination will be on display.

Could the same anticipation be coming to Scott Stadium?

Sources confirmed to The Daily Progress that Virginia will have at least three jersey combinations to wear in 2010 with the addition of an orange top, a move that players have longed to make a permanent option.

“It will be different on one Saturday,” said London, “and it may be different on another Saturday. I can tell you that.”

Images of the new-age Nike uniforms are expected to be released by the school’s media relations department late next week.

It will remain a secret until then.

“It’s a work in progress,” London said. “I got memos and e-mails and guards standing outside the door.

“I can’t do anything or say anything about that.”

Missing in action

For the most part, the Cavaliers that were cleared to take the field for the first session have remained injury-free in spring drills.

The program did lose middle linebacker Steve Greer and defensive end Brent Urban, however, to injuries that will keep the pair off the field for an undisclosed amount of time.

Greer, who will be the anchor of the new 4-3 defensive scheme as a sophomore, suffered a “high ankle sprain,” London said. He led the Cavaliers with 92 tackles last season.

A redshirt freshman, Urban needed to go under the knife, but playing time next year does not seem to be in jeopardy.

“Urban hurt his knee early and it was a small tear and he had to get that surgically repaired,” London said. “He’s missed spring practice because of that but he’ll be fine going into the fall.”

The injury has left additional reps for John-Kevin Dolce, Will Hill, Nick Jenkins, Cam Johnson and Zane Parr to “rush the passer on the edge,” London said.

Extra points

The spring practice period is nearing an end at Virginia. The Cavaliers, who are allowed 15 practices, held their ninth on Monday and will also hold a closed session Friday. … The annual spring game, which will be held on April 10, will not be the team’s final practice session. In a new move for the program, the 15th practice will be held three days after the live scrimmage to allow the coaching staff to work on issues noticed in film study.