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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. -- Virginia wide receiver Keeon Johnson wishes he would have worked harder after a fast start to his career at Virginia. Instead, he went from having a prominent role in the Cavaliers plans to being an afterthought.Now, in his final season, the 6-foot-3, 215-pounder is trying to make up for lost time.After my first year, I kind of didnt grind as hard as I should have and I kind of got complacent and things like that, Johnson said. That can always come back and bite you in the end. Thats one thing I learned from it.A coaching change gave him new life, and a resolve to get back to working hard to be at his best. And it has paid off early in the season as Johnson has a team-high 17 catches for 159 yards and two touchdowns.In each of the previous two seasons, he managed just 13 catches per year.The Cavaliers (0-3) will look to get their first win on Saturday when they host Central Michigan (3-0). The Chippewas victories include a last-play win over then-No. 22 Oklahoma State.Johnson is eager to get back on the field and continue his career resurrection.It feels good. The biggest thing for me is just to have fun, Johnson said. Its my last year. Its going by way too fast so I just try to make every play, every rep count in practice. From winter workouts in the cold up to camp when its hot outside, you dont feel like doing anything, just try to have fun with it.Defensive end Andrew Brown spoke this week of players who he thought were in the shadows the last few seasons, all but forgotten by the coaching staff, even after making some contributions on the field. Seeing some of them like Johnson and pass-rushing specialist Mark Hall get back in the mix, Brown said, has been uplifting to everyone.Now I feel like this coaching staff is exposing them, finally, Brown said.Johnson, particularly, seems to have become one of quarterback Kurt Benkerts go-to receivers. As Virginia tried to rally last week in a 13-10 loss at Connecticut, Benkert hit Johnson for 34 yards on a fourth-down pass.The rally came up short when the Cavaliers missed a rushed short field goal attempt on the final play. Despite the winless start, Johnson, like many of his teammates, insists the confidence and winning attitude that new coach Bronco Mendenhall is working to instill gains momentum each week.I think everybodys even more focused than they were, Johnson said. You can see it throughout each week. We get closer and closer and everybody, they get hungrier and hungrier throughout the week. We have practice tonight and tomorrow morning were back at it and everybody should be full speed, running around. Theres no negative energy at all. Everybody still has high spirits and up, so thats one positive about the whole situation.Another is Johnson getting a second chance.My first year I was getting the ball a lot, but it came to the point where we were running a lot more than we would throw, he said. Now, in practice, Were throwing the ball a ton of times. Its more reps with me catching the ball and with other receivers as well. Just being able to get those mental reps and all the reps in practice, come game time it becomes easy.---Online: The APs college football page: http://collegefootball.ap.org---Follow Hank on Twitter: www.twitter.com/hankkurzjr Authentic Custom Tigers Jersey . The Montreal Canadiens announced on Friday that the veteran forward will return to the teams line-up on Saturday night when the Habs visit the Nashville Predators. Custom Tigers T-shirts . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at . http://www.customtigersjersey.com/ . Boucher previously coached the Tampa Bay Lightning and had a 97-78-20 record over two-plus seasons. He was dismissed by the team last March after the Lightning struggled in the lockout-shortened season with a 13-18-1 record. Cheap Custom Tigers Jersey . Darren Helm scored on Detroits sixth attempt in the shootout and then Jonas Gustavsson stopped Andrew Shaws shot, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 5-4 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night. Wholesale Custom Tigers Shirts . All of the scoring came in the final 20:04. Lucic scored on a power play at 15:46 of the third period, when he tipped a shot over Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen for a 3-1 lead. EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- The first field goal by Blair Walsh this season that counted for Minnesota on the scoreboard, exhibition game or not, was good from 51 yards out.Never mind that the ball hit the crossbar before bouncing over for three points. The sight of Walsh confidently walking off the field at halftime in Cincinnati was satisfying for the Vikings and their agonized fans, who havent forgotten about his unfathomable miss in January that kept the team from moving on in the playoffs.Walsh found it gratifying, too.Any time you go out there and have a mistake-free game and just do what you do and make kicks, it helps, Walsh said. I didnt expect anything less. Im confident in my abilities and myself and what Ive shown so far in camp, and its nice to show that in game time.He told coach Mike Zimmer thanks for sending him out for the long try on Friday against the Bengals.I wouldve let him kick it anyway, Zimmer said.Confidence maintenance for a potentially vulnerable player can be strategic. Still, Zimmer and special teams coordinator Mike Priefer have repeatedly expressed pride in the way Walsh has bounced back this spring and summer from that infamous 27-yard field goal attempt with 22 seconds left in the frigid air that veered left and sealed a 10-9 victory for Seattle in the first round of the playoffs.Guess who the Vikings play this week in their second preseason game?The Seahawks.Change of venue, vastly different weather, nothing at stake. Yet an unavoidable reminder, even if the coaches and players arent thinking that way.Not at all. Its a completely new season, Priefer said. I can understand why people would think that, but at the end of the day weve long since moved on. Blairs had a phenomenal camp. Hes stronger than he was a year ago. Hes kicking off well. Hes kicking fieeld goals well.dddddddddddd Im excited about this year.Overshadowed by Walshs most visible miss were the 34 field goals he made during the regular season, the most in the NFL, and the three others he converted that afternoon against the Seahawks.I dont know if you ever get over something like that, Priefer said, but Ive moved on from it.Walsh has plenty of success to bank on in the quest to put that game in the past. The move inside U.S. Bank Stadium will also provide climate-neutral conditions. Then theres the new task hes been busy trying to master: kickoffs with hang time.Instead of simply winding up and trying to boom the ball into the end zone, Walsh will be asked more often to drop the ball inside the 5-yard line to force a return in light of the league rule change that sets the line of scrimmage at the 25-yard line following a touchback instead of the 20.We werent told to kick deep at all on Friday, Walsh said. Thats kind of showing you what were going to do. I dont think thats always going to be the case. When were playing a really good returner or somebody we want to keep the ball out of his hands, we could do stuff like that. But weve got a good enough coverage unit where I dont see us backing down from returners.Walsh, too, has a good enough leg to keep from backing down from the challenge of bouncing back from that ill-timed miss.You just want to continue to work hard, like you always do. You just want to continue to prove yourself as one of the best kickers in this league, which I am, Walsh said. Im confident in what I do each and every day.---Online:AP NFL website: http://www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '