PARKERSBURG — University of Virginia starting center Jake Fieler is pretty pumped up about a lot of things and that includes having two extra weeks of practice to prepare for the Cavaliers’ Dec. 28 Military Bowl game against Navy in Annapolis. The ex-Parkersburg South standout for former head coach Jon Bolen has started at center in all 12 contests for Virginia this season. “Up to this point it’s mainly been workouts,” Fieler said by phone early Saturday from campus during one of the team’s media days. “Starting next week we’ll start actually preparing for the game as far as practice and everything goes. I just finished my last final on Friday.” The redshirt junior, who is a politics/foreign affairs major, is set to start graduate school this spring and hopefully help lead now second-year head coach Bronco Mendenhall’s program back to another bowl game. Fieler, who spent the fall of 2013 on the Fork Union Military Academy’s post-graduate team, enrolled in January of 2014 at UVA. This is the Cavs’ first bowl appearance since 2011. “This is a season we’ve all been waiting for,” Fieler admitted. “A couple of guys decided not to declare last year and they wanted to come back and start something like this. “I like our chances in this bowl game. I think it’s a great matchup. We are going to have to play well. Our defense knows what they are up against, plus it’s pretty close for a bowl game for us. I think we’ll have a lot of fans there.” Making his first postseason appearance, Fieler already is a fan of bowl games. “They just released it and I saw something on Twitter,” Fieler said of the perks players from each team will get to take home. “Each player will get a PS4 bundle and $150 gift card and then a couple other things, a bookbag and a beanie. It definitely pays to go to a bowl.” The funny part is Fieler, who has been surviving in Charlottesville without a cell phone, is actually an Xbox guy. “It’s a great town,” said the ex-Patriot of his current home. “It has anything you want shopping-wise, a great history and it’s beautiful. It’s just a great school and it was one of those things where I went down the checklist and it had everything I wanted. “I think it’s been about two months, probably, since I broke my phone. I don’t mind not having a phone to be honest with you. Kind of off the grid a little bit. I got it wet and dropped it in water. That will do it and rice couldn’t bring it back.” Last fall, Fieler played in every game for Virginia, which included starts in the opener versus Richmond and in the season finale against rival Virginia Tech. “The only position I’ve not played is left tackle,” noted the near 6-foot-6, 320-pounder, who missed the 2015 season after needing surgery on a broken navicular bone in his foot. “I had the exact same injury on my right foot as a junior in high school. “I didn’t have to have surgery for that. I was bummed to miss that season and it was a tough road back to get back to where I was before, but it all worked out.” Fieler admitted things “just fell in place” as far as him taking over the snapping duties at UVA. “I think it came fairly natural to me. Some guys are centers their whole lives and I just picked it up more in college,” he said. “That was one thing I saw last year on tape and for me personally we weren’t big enough down low against a lot of the ACC interiors. “I need to put on weight and mass. This year I feel I can move anybody and 320 plays pretty big. I gained a lot of strength in the offseason and I feel good.” The Cavalier also acknowledged there are “things I like about each position (on the line). It’s (center) a position I play well. At guard, you can kind of get off the ball a little bit and tee off on someone and kind of impose your will, so I also like that and then tackle is always fun, too.” Off the field, Fieler is also a little amped about becoming an uncle for the first time. “We talk about once a week,” Fieler said about older brother Chase of Florida Gulf Coast University fame. “He’s in a pretty cool time in his life right now. “He’s in Belgium (playing basketball) with his wife and she’s pregnant. I’ll have a nephew and I’m excited. It’s a pretty sweet time.” Fieler also added his parents tend to make just about every game and he’s just out to try and beat Navy then return for his senior year with hopes of another bowl game and maybe playing somewhere at the next level. “That’s the childhood dream. I would love to,” Fieler said of being a pro. “We’ve got these extra practices and the bowl coming up and if we win this game we’ll get even more momentum. (Being at) Virginia has been great. It’s hard to put in words honestly. “The school, this community, I feel like it has given so much to me. The football team has given me the best years of my life. I think the whole program is just trending upwards to this point and next year I want to have a season of a lifetime.”