Ogletree on comeback trail for UVa

By Andy Bitter

Published: March 31, 2008

CHARLOTTESVILLE — Kevin Ogletree has always been an athlete, a fiery competitor first and foremost. His body had never let him down, so when the Virginia wideout got the grim diagnosis at this time last year — an MRI revealed a torn left anterior cruciate ligament, ending his 2007 season before it began — he didn’t accept it.
He sought out alternatives as surgery loomed. Even after he went under the knife, he was the last person to rule himself out for the season, despite the eight-plus months of rehab ACL injuries normally require.
Eventually, the reality of the situation set in. Ogletree put 2007 out of his mind and 2008 became the focus.
“That was my whole motto,” he said after UVa’s practice Sunday. “Just trying to get back. Trying to get back. Trying to get back.”
A year after the injury, Ogletree is back. The 6-foot-2, 189-pound rising junior is the offensive piece the Cavaliers were missing in 2007 — a go-to receiver with big-play ability.
In 2006, his sophomore season, Ogletree stepped in for an injured Deyon Williams and caught 52 passes for 582 yards and four touchdowns, earning an all-ACC honorable mention nod. He and Virginia had grand plans for 2007 before Ogletree made a hard cut while running a route at the beginning of spring. His knee, he said, “kind of did something funny.”
Already short on receivers due to the graduation of Williams and Fontel Mines, Virginia had to rely on a young group of wideouts that couldn’t make up for the lost production.
Junior Maurice Covington, who missed four games with a broken hand, led the way with 21 receptions for 259 yards. Two freshmen — Staton Jobe, a redshirt, and Dontrelle Inman — combined for 34 catches, but neither had more than 37 receiving yards in any of UVa’s 13 games.
For the season, Cavaliers wideouts caught 72 passes. In Division I, 39 individuals caught more passes.
Virginia instead relied even more on its tight ends and running backs in the passing game, regularly throwing short passes and screens. Mikell Simpson, Jonathan Stupar and Tom Santi — a running back and two tight ends — finished as the team’s top three pass catchers.
“I would say (defenses) had to notice, because we didn’t have that deep-ball threat,” Simpson said. “Everybody saw it. That’s why they stacked eight, nine guys in the box. … Now that K.O.’s back, they’re going to have to really respect it.”
Especially if presumed starting quarterback Peter Lalich has the rocket arm that has been advertised.
“No matter how deep I’m at, he’s accurate,” said Ogletree, giving an early review.
Ogletree claims to be better off because of his injury. He got a different perspective of football last season, actively watching games from the sidelines (sometimes too actively — he was warned once by officials to tone it down). But the rising junior made his biggest strides — and impressed his teammates the most — by diligently going about his rehab.
“You really didn’t hear any crying, any moaning about nothing,” Simpson said. “He just got in rehab and worked hard.”
Doctors gave him the go-ahead to be a full participant in the practices leading up to the Gator Bowl and he hit the ground running once spring practice opened last week.
“Definitely a blessing in disguise,” an older, wiser Ogletree said. “It helped me realize how much football means to me and how much of an opportunity I have here. I really feel like I’m different than I was before, just as far as knowing what I want to do, knowing how hard I work (and) knowing what I want to get accomplished.”