Dowling lets his play do the talking

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Published: August 12, 2008

Don’t expect any long-winded conversations with Virginia starting cornerback Ras-I Dowling. If a question can be answered in 20 words, Ras-I can do it in 10.

“I let my game do my talking,” Dowling said proudly.

Enough said.

If that is the case, then his game offered up a lot of smack last season when the Chesapeake native was one of only five true freshmen to play for the Wahoos. His two interceptions tied for the team lead and his nine pass break ups (PBUs) led the defense as he played in 12 games.

With those kinds of numbers, Dowling became the first true freshman to win the team interceptions competition since Jerton Evans back in ‘99, and the five PBUs against N.C. State tied a school record for most in a game.

Now, what does he do for an encore?

Setting the bar high

“He had a good break-in season for a rookie ... very promising,” Virginia coach Al Groh said of the sophomore. “Ras-I is fun to work with because he’s a very humble player. He takes coaching very well and makes adjustments to his game.

“Because of that fact, he can clearly see where the bar is. He may have set the bar high for a first time player, but the bar for a big-timer corner is a lot higher than what he set it at last year,” Groh said. “But, he has ambitions to do that.”

The question is, what does Dowling have to do in order to take his game to that level Groh referenced?

“Development is an easy answer, just for him to see more plays,” Groh said. “The more he sees, not only will he develop his skills but his confidence.”

But there’s much more than that and the coach sort of struggled to put it in printable language for a family newspaper.

“There’s got to be a little bravado that goes with playing corner,” Groh chuckled. “A player’s got to have some snickers.”

Selective memory

Dowling, who played at talent-rich Deep Creek High before a prep year at Hargrave Military Academy, wasn’t quite sure what his coach was talking about, but acknowledged that playing corner isn’t an easy assignment.

“Corner is one of the toughest positions out there,” Dowling said. “If you get burned, you have to go out there and forget about it. You have to go out and make plays.”

He’s part of a secondary with a fair amount of experience with himself, Vic Hall and Mike Parker at the corners, while Byron Glaspy and Brandon Woods return at safety. There’s some talented backups at both positions: redshirt freshmen Chase Minnifield and Dom Joseph at the corners, with Matt Leemhuis, Trey Womack, and Rico Bell at safety.

Groh feels pretty confident in his secondary, which is sure to get a test with Southern Cal comes to town for the opener on Aug. 30. The Trojans boast talent galore and are not afraid to throw the ball deep.

“That’s a good team to open with,” Dowling said. “They have a reputation of being good every year. I have looked at everybody on their team and they’re pretty solid. But it’s just football.”

Maybe it’s because he’s only a sophomore, but if Dowling was intimidated in any way, shape, or form by USC, he wasn’t showing it.

He was neither impressed or surprised by last year’s deeds when he was named an ACC All-Freshman team member by the Sporting News and by winning the Dudley Award, which goes to the Cavs’ most outstanding freshman. His 44 tackles (3.7 per game) ranked eighth among all ACC rookies and fourth among true freshmen.

Dowling showed dogged determination on the kickoff team when he blew away the rest of his teammates by recording 16 tackles, one of the most accurate gauges of how aggressive a player can be.

While he may have appeared to be under control at all times last season, it didn’t come that easy. Playing in front of 60,000 fans was quite a transition from high school and military school.

“The biggest challenge for me last year was to be calm and controlled out there,” Dowling said. “I had never played in front of that many people. But you just learn to zone that out.”

Mostly what he took away last year other than the confidence that he could be successful at that level of football was how to deal with shortcomings.

“I didn’t really have any doubts that I could play,” Dowling said. “I learned to play hard and fast. You’re going to make mistakes. When you get down on yourself, you have to have that short memory and just keep playing hard and never give up. I’m going to make mistakes. I’m not perfect. You just have to shake it off and keep going.”

The short memory he mentioned helped him bounce back and make interceptions in back-to-back games, the first time a UVa corner had accomplished that feat in quite some time. In fact, his pick against the Wolfpack was the first interception by a Cavalier corner last season. He also stole one from Wake Forest the following week.

A hard hitter, Dowling caused two fumbles last season while being in on 424 plays, building an impressive resume for a true freshman. He was one of the components of a defense that finished fifth in the nation in rushing touchdowns allowed with only nine (second-lowest in the ACC).

All Dowling has to do now, is make sure that he picks up his game where it left off with seven tackles against Texas Tech in the Gator Bowl. He’ll get plenty of chances to make plays against Southern Cal.

That’s when Dowling can show Groh just how much snickers he really has.