Virginia left tackle Aboushi returning for senior season

Michael Rocco can exhale.

Expected to be the starting quarterback at Virginia in 2012, Rocco will not have to worry nearly as much about his blind side on pass plays.

On Tuesday, Virginia left tackle Oday Aboushi confirmed that he would return for his final season of eligibility next year and put dreams of the NFL off for another year. The junior has been projected as high as a second-round pick had he elected to leave UVa a year early, something he is told and forced to face constantly.

“It is always around me, but whether it is e-mail to Facebook links to random mail and whatnot, I don’t let that faze me one bit,” said Aboushi, who was the ACC Offensive Lineman of the Week twice this season. “I am staying for my senior year. I want to get my degree, so I might as well get it done.

“I don’t feel that I am done with the team, as well. I have a lot more to get accomplished here at the University of Virginia, as well as things as a team.”

Virginia, 8-4 heading into the postseason, lost defensive end Zane Parr last season early when he had a year of eligibility remaining, but Parr was not picked in the seven-round draft after declaring.

Aboushi, a second team All-ACC selection this season, has started the past 24 games for the Cavaliers and is part of the reason the team will play in the Chick-fil-A Bowl against Auburn (7-5) on New Year’s Eve.

Listed at 6-foot-6 and 310 pounds, Aboushi started five games at right tackle in 2010 before former left tackle Landon Bradley was injured and opened the door for Aboushi to claim the prominent spot on the left side. He has started 19 straight games at left tackle since.
Upon arrival from Staten Island, N.Y., Aboushi had desires to play instantly and prepped in such a fashion in his first training camp under former coach Al Groh. He saw action in six games for a total of 94 plays.

“Coming in, I remember having a talk with Coach Groh and I told him, ‘I don’t plan on redshirting. I’m going to come here and I’m going to work,’” Aboushi said. “He said I was going to have the best chance that I ever wanted here. I said, ‘Alright,’ knowing the work ethic that I had and that I want to be the best at what I do.

“Coming here, I knew that if I worked as hard as I could that it would pay off in some sort of way.”

In his spare time, Aboushi watches as much football as he can, but asking him the outcome is not beneficial. He is focused on the tackles on either side of the offensive line and a future that will be waiting after the 2012 season.

“It has gotten to the point that I don’t even care about the score,” he joked. “It’s like, ‘He got beat on this move or he ducked his head in there too much.’

“It has gotten to point where every football game I watch, if not get better, I critique myself compared to that player.”