By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com
CHARLOTTESVILLE — In a matter of seconds, a kickoff return can swing momentum in a football game. That was evident Sept. 17 at Scott Stadium, where University of Virginia junior Demick Starling’s 37-yard return against Old Dominion set up the drive that ended with Brendon Farrell’s game-winning field goal as time expired.
It was apparent again last Saturday night at Wallace Wade Stadium, where Starling hurdled a defender at the end of a 38-yard return late in the first quarter and lost the ball. Duke recovered. The drive that followed gave the Blue Devils a 21-0 lead, and UVA ended up losing 38-17.
“Every day, every practice, we prioritize ball security, just making sure we’ve got the five pressure points on the ball,” Starling said Wednesday. “During the moment, I didn’t prioritize that, and it came back and bit me, because I fumbled the ball.”
Mike Hollins took over as the Cavaliers’ lead returner for the rest of the game, but Starling figures to get more opportunities on special teams.
The key for Starling, head coach Tony Elliott said Tuesday, was to “go out and have a good week of practice and show just improvement with his attention to detail with the ball security. Again, that probably won’t happen again. That’s one of those anomalies, [where Starling fumbled] on air because he jumped over somebody.”
The Wahoos turned to Starling with 1:02 left against ODU, Elliott said after that game, because “he’s the guy right now on kickoff return that has the ability to take it a long way. And so I’m just glad that he was able to field the ball and give us a spark that kind of put us in better field position.”
Starling, who’s averaging 28.1 yards per return this season, said he’s recommitted himself to securing the football, “because the ball is the most important thing. I can run as fast as I can and juke as many people and hurdle as many people as I want, but if the ball is not in my hand, it doesn’t really matter. So I’m just prioritizing the ball, just to show [the coaches] that they can still trust me and believe in me.”
A native of Nashville, Tenn., the 6-foot, 188-pounder Starling in his third year at UVA, where he’s majoring in African-American and African studies.
His goal is to contribute on offense as well as on special teams. Starling, who wears jersey No. 6, has yet to catch a pass this season, but he came into the year with career…