Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 20, 1995 TAG: 9508210098
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: FRANK VEHORN LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
``Intensity,'' said the 6-foot-2, 226-pound linebacker.
That intensity sparkles in Jones' eyes and bristles in his words as he speaks about the 1995 season, which begins Saturday at Michigan in the Pigskin Classic.
It is an intensity that has been building for four years, the length of time it has taken Jones to get in position to prove himself on the football field.
``This season is long overdue,'' said Jones, a fifth-year senior. ``It is time to show I am capable of being the big-time player that Virginia recruited me to be in 1991.''
Jones was one of the state's top athletes during his junior and senior years at Green Run High School in Virginia Beach, excelling in football, basketball and track.
But his progression to the spotlight was slower than he expected at Virginia.
He played mostly on special teams in 1992 after a redshirt season. The past two years he has played a backup role, starting twice.
Jones acknowledges the waiting has been tough, especially with friends from the old neighborhood constantly asking, ```Skeet, how come they're not playing you more?'''
``I've said before I always had the potential to play with the best in the country,'' Jones said. ``It is just sometimes situations don't go your way. Sometimes decisions are made that you don't agree with. You've just got to keep playing hard and good things will come.''
Jones' career hasn't exactly been a bust.
He has played in 35 consecutive games, and last season backed up Randy Neal, who was cut during the past week by the NFL's Cleveland Browns.
``Randy was very special to me,'' Jones said. ``He taught me a lot about the game, and off the field he was like a brother to me. I miss him a lot, but I am ready to do the job he did, or even better.''
Virginia coaches are complimentary of Jones' contributions, both as a leader and a player, during the last three years. Like him, they expect more this year.
Coach George Welsh says having to play backup roles at inside and outside linebacker the past two years slowed Jones' progress.
``It is not easy to play both of those positions in our system,'' said Welsh, who senses ``a new maturity'' in Jones, elected a captain by his teammates.
Jones said the maturity Welsh speaks about is on the field.
``I am still the outgoing, wild person I have been since the beginning of time, and I am always going to be Skeet'' off the field, he said.
``But I have matured as a player. I understand the defense, and I can pick up what the offense wants to do, and I can come to the sideline and say, `They are doing this and we need to call this play.'
``I think the coaches respect me more now than a year ago, and my teammates respect me more, too. A lot of that has to do with my improvement and my desire.''
Virginia's defense was one of the best in the nation last year and largely responsible for a 9-3 record that included an Independence Bowl victory over Texas Christian.
Jones is determined to keep the defense playing at the same high level this season.
``Sometimes after a good season players might want to get lazy,'' Jones said. ``But I am not going to allow that to happen to my defense.''
His defense?
``If that sounds like I'm taking it personally, I do. I take it real personal,'' Jones said.
``I am the captain, and what I say in the huddle goes. We are going to run to the ball and swarm. We've got to want it more than ever before.
``I've got to make the big plays, and I am taking it on my shoulders to do that. I am hungry.''
by CNB