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but tore his ACL late in fall camp and had to miss the season. He came back this spring and competed for the job again and though that competition was expected to go into the fall, he decided to transfer instead. In landing at Virginia, Benkert is reunited with his former head coach Ruffin McNeill, who now serves as Bronco Mendenhall's associate head coach while overseeing the team's defensive line. "The coaches told me the competition will be wide open," Benkert said. "They said that everything is earned and not given. I'm going to have to go in and earn the respect from the team and work hard like everyone else does. "I'll have to mesh with the guys and learn about them and that will be the most exciting task. I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a hard task, but not an unaccomplishable one by any means." While "earned, not given" is built into the fabric of Mendenhall's program, it's hard to see the three- man battle not trending Benkert's way. He's more of a dual-threat quarterback and his comfort in the system that UVA's other two quarter- backs are trying to master may be tough to overcome. But his addition wasn't the only change for the team's quarterbacks this spring. In the week after Benkert announced he was headed for Charlottesville after getting his degree from ECU, the Cavaliers lost redshirt first-year Nick Johns when the former Gonzaga signal-caller decided it was in his best interest to leave the program. Still, this fall the focus will be on Virginia's quarterbacks in a big way. Along with Benkert, the Cavaliers will also add two first-year signal-callers this summer when 2016 signees Sonny Abramson and Devante Cross join the program. — Brad Franklin