Snowden looking forward to getting back to South Beach

Weeks off during the college football season are good for a lot of reasons, most notably because it gives teams a chance to rest up while also allowing for some self evaluation and extra prep for what's to come.

For Charles Snowden, he said Monday that he is pretty clear on the season he’s had to date. But he’s also clear on the way the 35-20 loss at Notre Dame left a bad taste in everyone's mouths.

Now, the 20th-ranked Wahoos get set to head to South Florida to face Miami on Friday night (8 p.m., ESPN) in a return to a venue that the 6-foot-7 linebacker says was easily the craziest atmosphere he’s played in during his career.

“I think I started off a little bit slow,” he said Monday, “and then as the season progressed I’ve kind of gotten better week to week. So, there’s definitely a lot of room for improvement but so far I’d say it’s been pretty decent.

“I already have more sacks this year than I had last year so that’s already an improvement,” Snowden added. “And in the run game, I think I’ve shown flashes that I can be better but I still think, play in and play out, I have a lot of room to improve just from the physicality standout and in the playmaking not just being in my gap but owning it, going to make the play. I think both have taken steps forward but both are still not where I’d like them to be.”

To this point, Snowden has racked up 31 tackles (six for loss) including three sacks and seven quarterback hurries. He and teammates Jordan Mack (ACC-high six) and Zane Zandier (three) have combined to give the Cavaliers one of the nation’s most productive linebacking corps and defenses in terms of “havoc” plays.

“It started in the spring,” he said of the intense drive to get to the QB. “And that’s just been our focus. It’s just fun making plays. When you can make a play, celebrate with your teammates, that’s what football is all about. Running and hitting. The coaches kind of presented that to us and the guys really embraced it early on. It’s just something we just really try to identify ourselves with.”

With Chris Peace now playing at the next level, UVa was going to have to find a new ringleader in the sack department and much of that, he was fully aware, would fall on Snowden’s shoulders.

“I kind of knew that in the back of my head, that when Chris was gone I was going to have to be the next guy to step up really,” he said. “So when the coaches said it, it just made it a reality. It was a challenge. Like, ‘Let’s go.’ Like we say, ‘Any challenge.’ I was excited for the opportunity. For a long time I definitely did kind of struggle with the pressure and kind of thinking what if I can’t do it, what if I can’t do it. But I just talked to a lot of my teammates, a lot of my friends, and people just believed in me and that helped me believe in myself.

“Now,” Snowden added, “we have everyone flying around getting after the quarterback and that helps.”

The Hoos, of course, didn’t create nearly the level of havoc against the Irish as they created against Virginia. And leaving South Bend with a loss made the bye week seem even longer.

“You don’t have that satisfaction,” he explained, “going into the bye week because you’re coming off of a loss but it is nice getting those extra hours of sleep, kind of refresh, reframe. That pain of that loss, once we start back practice up, you kind of have that in the back of your head while you’re practicing.”

Of course, the chance to get back on the field does come a day earlier than normal with Friday night’s matchup in Miami Gardens. It’ll be against a Hurricane team that Snowden and many of his teammates watched nearly come back to beat Virginia Tech this past weekend.

“I just enjoyed my Saturday being able to be a college football fan,” Snowden said. “I just watched it in my apartment by myself and it was a good game. One, Miami’s resilience being down early and fighting back. And also just Tech’s resiliency, once Miami went on their run at the end of the game and just that competitive spirit, the back and forth, the way it ended, cutting to the other [game] one there was one play left.

“It was just…,” he trailed off. “That’s what college football is all about.”

That game, the Cavaliers believe, showed exactly why you can’t take the Canes lightly.

“You’ve just got to be diligent, be disciplined play in and play out,” he said. “Because at any moment, if they do get off to a slow start, at any moment they could turn that around. Not getting content, not getting satisfied, staying on edge, play in and play out. When you’re playing an offense like that, you have to be ready at all times.

“They have athletes everywhere on the field,” Snowden added later. “They’re explosive. When they’re clicking, they’re clicking and it’s hard to stop them. Keeping that in mind, we just have to know that at any moment they can gash us.”

Facing Miami away from Charlottesville means returning to Hard Rock Stadium where in 2017 the Hoos nearly upended then-No. 2 Miami. Snowden, then a rookie just getting on the scene, blocked a punt that day. He remembers the energy in the building.

“That atmosphere is still the craziest atmosphere I’ve ever played in,” he said. “It was like a party in the stands. It was truly like South Beach, Miami. It was national TV, ABC. Their football team was feeding off the crowd’s energy and personally I was feeding off that as well. The atmosphere was unlike anything I had ever seen.”

So what’s he tell his younger teammates about their first time playing down there?

“Just enjoy the experience,” he said. “Not everyone gets to experience stuff like that. This is why we work so hard, day in and day out all year long. It’s for moments like these. Everyone’s going to be nervous but try not to be too nervous and just really enjoy it.

“Hone in on your job,” Snowden said, “and focus on that and make plays within your responsibility.”

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