Bewerbungen » said House worked with his footwork, s

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Bronco Mendenhall had never started a season with three consecutive losses before coming to Virginia.When the Cavaliers finally broke through with a 49-35 victory against Central Michigan on Saturday, giving Mendenhall his 100th career victory, the team figured it was time to celebrate.They were waiting for me to come in like it was a big deal to them to celebrate for me. I couldnt wait to celebrate for them, Mendenhall said. Thats gratifying when it meant a lot for them to make me feel special and vice versa. Its one of those things I wont ever forget. Ever.It almost didnt happen.Kurt Benkert threw five touchdown passes, the last three after Virginia had squandered all of a 28-0 lead, to awaken a hushed stadium and invigorate a team that appeared to be slipping back into its history of seeing things go from good to bad quickly.Were not immune from that being past history and Im not sure the stadium was, Mendenhall said. It seemed like there was this cultural `we know what this feels like, and I felt that. We are fighting that as hard as we can but you have to be able to battle through that a few times before that becomes the new normal. Hopefully this will start that.Benkert hit Olamide Zaccheaus with a go-ahead 82-yard pass after the Cavaliers defense forced its first punt since the opening quarter. Virginia (1-3) forced another punt, and Benkert hit Albert Reid for a 5-yard touchdown, capping a 73-yard drive. Taquan Mizzell also scored twice for Virginia on runs of 4 and 53 yards.The Chippewas (3-1), seeking their first 4-0 start since 1985, scored on four of five possessions after going behind 28-0 less than 20 minutes into the game. Cooper Rush passed for 402 yards and two touchdown passes to Corey Willis, including an 85-yarder, and Amari Coleman read a screen pass perfectly and scored on a 47-yard interception return.This is a game of execution, and when you drop balls, miss tackles and let people behind you in coverage, thats when you get beat, Central Michigan coach John Bonamego said. It doesnt matter who you are playing or what their record is.Mendenhall, in his first year at Virginia, was 99-43 in 11 seasons at BYU before coming east.THE TAKEAWAYCentral Michigan: The Chippewas are a confident team, and showed it even when trailing by three touchdowns in a loud stadium. They used timeouts when Virginia had the ball late in the second quarter to stop the clock, and cashed in with two touchdowns in the last 4 1/2 minutes of the half to get within 28-14.Virginia: Rush picked apart the Virginia secondary, which lost cornerback Juan Thornhill on the first play of the game. The unit also lacks speed and played off the Central Michigan receivers for much of the day, allowing several long completions that produced third-down conversions. Kareem Gibson was a frequent target, but acquitted himself with a fourth-quarter interception to set up an insurance TD.MOTIVATORReid and Mizzell were getting ready to leave the hotel for the game when they heard a commentator talking Virginia down.They disrespected us, Reid said. They made us the laughingstock of TV today just because they said this game for Central Michigan was going to be a look-ahead game because the Chippewas are slated to play rival Western Michigan next Saturday.I want to thank everyone for not believing in us, Reid said, because we proved you wrong.UP NEXTCentral Michigan: The Chippewas head into Mid-American Conference play at home against Western Michigan.Virginia: The Cavaliers, losers of 17 in a row on the road, will try to end that skid as they open their Atlantic Coast Conference schedule at Duke.---Online: The APs college football page http://collegefootball.ap.org---Follow Hank on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hankkurzjr Patrick Marleau Jersey . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. Connor Brown Jersey . The showiest items on Calgarys lot were forwards Mike Cammalleri and Lee Stempniak. Both will be unrestricted free agents this summer. http://www.officialmapleleafsfanstore.com/authentic-kris-versteeg-maple-leafs-jersey/ . "Hes going to have hip surgery on Jan. 7, and hell be expected to rehabilitate for four to six months beyond that," Canucks general manager Mike Gillis said Friday in an interview. Wendel Clark Jersey . -- Gus Malzahn finally had his day in Fayetteville. Calvin Pickard Jersey . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. BEREA, Ohio -- Knowing that Hue Jackson will decide on the Cleveland Browns starting quarterback before the first preseason game was welcome news to the players involved.I think Coach is going to come out and see what he needs to see and make that decision, Robert Griffin III said as the team prepared for its first training camp practice. Its our job as players to put our best foot forward.I believe the earlier the better, Josh McCown said.McCown should know. Hes a 13-year veteran, a 37-year-old who has been through drawn-out quarterback competitions.The Browns should also know. They have had several competitions since the team returned in 1999, and almost every time, the contests wound up dividing and distracting the team.The Browns have four quarterbacks in camp: McCown, Griffin, Austin Davis and rookie Cody Kessler. Griffin and McCown clearly are the top options. Naming a starter early makes things clear -- both for the players involved and the rest of the team.It gives us a sense of direction and the way hes headed, McCown said. The team can get behind the guy and move forward.Griffin would seem to be the leader at the moment. He took the bulk of the first-team reps in the offseason, and the Browns brought him in to hopefully start. He, though, was not about to saay anything that might get tagged with the words quarterback and controversy.ddddddddddddMy focus is on doing what I can to be the best player for this team, help lead them to victory, he said. Thats all I can focus on.In the time between the last minicamp and the start of training camp, Griffin worked with throwing guru Tom House. Griffin said House worked with his footwork, stressing consistency on every drop.How does Griffin get back to his rookie-season form?I just think you gotta have fun, he said. This is a kids game that you get to play for a kings ransom. At the end of the day, you know what youre doing. Youve done your studying. Youll continue to do your studying.Youve worked hard. Youve run, youve lifted and all those things. Now you got to come out and have fun. I think thats the beauty of the game. The more fun you have, the easier it is for you to play freely and go out and make plays.Griffin had a little fun in his interview. While talking about how comfortable he is with the other quarterbacks, he quipped, in reference to the 40-yard dash: Obviously theres one of us that runs a 4.3.Its not me, Ill tell you that, McCown said. ' ' '