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breath when Reader floated a pass toward the end zone, not even knowing this mo- ment would define Virginia's season. The Cavaliers, a 17-point favorite over I the visiting Vandals, looked good early while rushing out to a 14-0 lead, but turn- overs had kept Idaho in the game, and the contest went to overtime after a blocked punt led to a Vandals touchdown late in the fourth quarter. BY SHANE METTLEN DAHO QUARTERBACK BRIAN Reader rolled to his right, the play seemingly taking forever while he practically jogged toward the side- line looking for a receiver. The Scott Stadium crowd collectively held its games of the season remaining. Of course, by season's end the loss to the eventual Conference USA champions didn't seem so bad, but at the time it made the Oct. 1 game against Idaho a must win. "That was probably an ugly football game right there, but in the end, what mat- ters is that we found a way to win it," Lon- don said after the game. "It's a huge win for us going into this bye week. It sets a mindset and tone that it's better to be 3-2 right now. The defense played extremely well and did a great job keeping us in the game, even though in the first half we had three turnovers. I appreciate the resilience of the entire team to hang in there and keep swinging." things happen — 'Oh, here we go again,'" London said. "That's been kind of a theme of the whole season, whether it's on the field or whether it's something that happened in a classroom or in the community, whatever it is. You don't have to keep reliving that state- ment every time something happens. "You have an opportunity to do some- thing about it. Change the way you behave, change the way you study, change the way you prepare — different things like that. It's just not accepting that as an excuse for the outcomes here the last couple of seasons. Sometimes, as a person and as a team, you just have to draw the line in the sand a little bit and say that this is what we've got to do to be better. Either be with us or not." PERSEVERANCE PAYS OFF The Cavaliers Shrugged Off Early Struggles En Route To Their Best Season Since 2007 Virginia struck first in the extra period when David Watford and Dominique Ter- rell, a first-year tandem, hooked up for a 27-yard touchdown pass to make it 21-14. Reader answered with a 23-yard touchdown pass of his own. Knowing he had a shot for a huge upset in an ACC stadium, Idaho head coach Rob Akey decided it was all or noth- ing. The Vandals put it in Reader's hands and went for two and the victory. "That's the way the Vandals do it," Reader said afterward "It's worked in the past for us, and we thought we could do it again. It sure was close there at the end …" Reader's pass was in the air and heading toward a receiver, but Virginia safety Rod- ney McLeod was also there and got his hand on the ball, which fell to the ground, saving a 21-20 Virginia victory. The significance of that play in what would become a breakout 8-5 season for second-year head coach Mike London and the Cavaliers could hardly be overstated. The Wahoos had lost two games in a row, falling 28-17 at North Carolina before re- turning to Charlottesville for a home game against Southern Miss. At the time, the 30-24 loss to the Golden Eagles was disheartening. The Cavaliers fell at home to a non-BCS conference program and stood at 2-2 with some of their toughest 14 ◆ CAVALIER CORNER The Idaho victory wound up being the start of a stretch that saw Virginia win six of seven games to give the program its best season since 2007 and earn London the ACC Coach of the Year award, a prize most followers of the conference were ready to hand to Clemson's Dabo Swinney at midseason. During that stretch the Cavaliers were able to beat a pair of ranked teams, then- No. 12 Georgia Tech (24-21) and then- No. 23 Florida State (14-13). The win against the Seminoles paired with a 28-21 victory at Miami gave Virginia a sweep of its Florida opponents. The Wahoos also hammered rival Maryland (31-13) and snapped a three-game losing streak to Duke (31-21) on the way to an established and well-regarded bowl game (Chick-fil-A) and had an opportunity to play their way into the ACC championship game in the final week of the regular season. Not bad for a program that had suf- fered through three straight losing seasons and was picked to finish fifth in the ACC Coastal Division. Virginia certainly had talented players, but for London the biggest change to the team was in its attitude. "It is just kind of the approach that you take with the guys that, when negative The road to the Chick-fil-A Bowl wasn't without bumps, though. The offense strug- gled in a 28-14 loss to North Carolina State Oct. 22, but London earned his paycheck with adjustments after that game. Virginia scrapped its two-quarterback system — Watford had been sharing time with starter Michael Rocco, a second-year, in the first half of the season. But after Wat- ford's three interceptions helped push the Wolfpack to victory, the job became Roc- co's on a full-time basis. With a short week to prepare for a Thurs- day night ESPN game, Rocco responded against Miami. He threw for 226 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Cavs past the Hurricanes for the second straight season. Rocco followed that with a 307-yard, two- touchdown game against Maryland and took over the role of solid, unquestioned starter under center for the remainder of the season. By season's end, Rocco had completed 60.7 percent of his passes for 2,671 yards with 13 touchdowns. He was intercepted 12 times during the year, but eight of them Mike London was named the ACC Coach of the Year after leading the Cavaliers to an 8-4 (5-3 ACC) record in the regular season and the program's first bowl ap- pearance since 2007. PHOTO BY ANDREW SHURTLEFF