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Fourth-year defensive lineman Matt Conrath finished his career strong, posting 48 total stops, 12 tackles for loss and three sacks. PHOTO BY JIM DAVES/COURTESY UVA came earlier in the season before London and offensive coordinator Bill Lazor decided to make the Lynchburg product the full-time quarterback, a move that helped Rocco's confidence and comfort in the pocket sky rocket. "His knowledge of the offense and the pre-snap read and his knowledge of post-snap read — the mechanics of drop- ping back, taking a quick look, looking at the secondary, the rotation of the safeties — he's done a good job doing those type of things," London said. "When you do that and the passing game part of it with throw- ing through the windows — that knowl- edge has put him in the position where he can command the offense. He's not always flashy, but he's getting the job done so far. That's probably the biggest asset that he has going for him right now. He can command the offense and keep it moving." Rocco was hardly the only offensive star to emerge for the Cavaliers. Third-year run- ning back Perry Jones did a little bit of ev- erything. He rushed for a team-high 915 yards, was the third-leading receiver with 48 16 ◆ CAVALIER CORNER catches for 505 yards, threw a touchdown pass against Miami and took over punt re- turn duties late in the season. Jones had plenty of help in the backfield from first-year Kevin Parks. The speedy runner, who rewrote the high school record books in North Carolina, was outstanding in his college debut, rushing for 114 yards and three touchdowns in a 40-3 victory over William & Mary. That set the tone for a sea- son in which he rushed for 709 yards and a team-high nine touchdowns. Fourth-year wide receiver Kris Burd left his mark on the Cavaliers with a season that will leave him among the best pass catchers in Virginia history. Burd caught 66 passes for 913 yards. He finished the season with five games of 100 yards or more and caught at least five passes seven times. Defensively, familiar faces led the way for the Cavs, who finished third in the ACC in total defense allowing just 351.7 yards per game. Fourth-year defensive backs McLeod and Chase Minnifield combined to intercept seven passes and break up 15. Minnifield also recorded seven tackles for loss from the cornerback position. Third-year linebacker Steve Greer led UVa with 73 tackles, includ- ing five for loss. But the most dominant Wahoos on de- fense might have been fourth-year defensive linemen Matt Conrath and Cam Johnson, who lived in the opponents' backfields. Conrath had 48 tackles, 12 stops for loss and three sacks. Johnson had 22 tackles from the defensive end spot, 11 stops behind the line of scrimmage and four sacks — in- cluding one that resulted in a fumble and recovery at Indiana to set up the game-win- ning field goal in a 34-31 triumph that gave the Cavaliers the first of four road wins. "The play that Cam Johnson made was unbelievable," London told reporters after- ward. "It was a big win for our program." It certainly wasn't the only one for a pro- gram in which any victory had been hard to come by in recent years, but London's second season wasn't without some disap- pointment. As shocking as the level of suc- cess was, there were some games that left Wahoo fans wondering, "What if?"