On the road to Virginia

We have arrived at the team hotel in Virginia after a very easy trip.

If you have never been on a road trip with a college or professional team, everything is planned right down to the minute.

The team buses left Dix Stadium just after 1 p.m. for the short 15 minute drive to Akron-Canton Airport. They stagger the departure of our four buses to keep lines short as we check through security for our charter flight. That check takes place in a hanger just north of the main CAK terminal, and then it is just a short walk to the tarmac to board the airplane.

Our players always love it when we fly JetBlue. Comfortable seats. DirecTV in the headrests. Very friendly staff. 

It's almost a shame the flight to Charlottesville lasted only 45 minutes. 

There were some cheers at takeoff from the players seated behind me, and I overheard a few friendly jabs at the first-time flyers. 

After landing, we boarded a new fleet of buses to Scott Stadium for a brief walk through. 

The Flashes decided not to visit Ohio Stadium two weeks ago prior to the game with the Buckeye. With so many players on the roster had already been to the Horseshoe at some point in their lives, the stadium was pretty much a known quantity. 

This is the first visit to the University of Virginia for all of the players and most of the staff on the Kent State travel roster, and head coach Paul Haynes thought the team would benefit from seeing the field, getting a look at the locker rooms and acclimating themselves to the surroundings. 

Deputy Athletic Director Devin Crosby used to work at Virginia. Athletic director Joel Nielsen visited Virginia often during his ACC days at Wake Forest. Nielsen described to us what Scott Stadium looked like before renovations that increased its capacity from 44,000 to its current 61,500 back in 1999. It's a beautiful facility. 

Now that we are at the hotel, players and coaches are getting ready for dinner at 5:45 p.m., film session at 6:30 p.m., a team meeting at 8:30 p.m. and then a light snack before lights out at 10 p.m. 

Walk-through meetings begin at 9:30 a.m. before a pre game meal at 11:30 p.m.

The assumption here is that sophomore starting quarterback Greyson Lambert will not play for Virginia tomorrow due to the ankle he injured throwing a third-down pass to Miles Gooch last week at BYU. That means sophomore Matt Johns, the holder on placekicks for the last two years who has played well spotting Lambert during the Cavaliers' 2-2 start. Lambert has thrown two touchdowns and four interceptions in his 97 passes so far this season. Johns has four touchdown passes and just two picks in 58 attempts this year. Meanwhile, David Watford, last year's starter, has thrown just one pass for six yards. Watford has also been sacked once in his short stint while Johns has avoided being sacked in his four appearances. Against UCLA, Johns completed 13-of-22 for 154 yards and two scores. He was 14-of-23 with a touchdown last week in relief of Lambert.

While the Cavaliers are likely to be without Lambert, they could catch a break with the return of longtime starter Demetrious Nicholson at cornerback. He hasn't played since a turf toe injury in a blowout loss to Ball State last on Oct. 5, 2013.

The Flashes will be without cornerback Najee Murray. That means redshirt freshman Demetrius Monday steps in as the starting cornerback. The Douglasville, Ga. native made some nice plays in coverage two weeks ago replacing Murray after he was injured on the game's first play.