Cavalier Corner

T BY SHANE METTLEN HE VIRGINIA CAVALIERS are coming off a 2011 season that saw Mike London's squad ex- ceed expectations in a breakout campaign. The Wahoos had an opportunity to play their way into the ACC championship game entering the final week of the season and earned a Chick-fil-A Bowl berth. But after less than impressive setbacks against nemesis Virginia Tech and defending national champion Auburn to end the season, the Cavs can look back at 2011 with confidence, but still know they have work to do heading into 2012. There's little doubt London has upgraded the talent level with back-to-back-to-back highly rated recruiting classes, but the Cavaliers will have some holes to fill — particularly on de- fense, where they lost veteran stars such as cornerback Chase Minnifield and defensive end Cam Johnson — that might be plugged by athletic, but inexperienced youngsters. Here's a look at how the Hoos might look, position by position: QUARTERBACK Heading into 2011, quarterback was a huge question mark with those around the program wondering if at least one of three inexperienced options might step up and do the job. This year, the Cavs are so loaded under center there might not be enough snaps to go around and at least a couple of quarterbacks may redshirt. Third-year Michael Rocco won the starting job last year and emerged as a solid ACC quar- terback, throwing for 2,671 yards and 13 scores, with expectations that he would improve in his second season as the starter. The offseason came with a surprise, though, and Rocco finds himself with competition for the job. Second- year Phillip Sims, once rated the top pro-style QB recruit in the country, transferred in from Alabama and was granted a waiver to be eli- gible this season. Second-year David Watford also returns after an up-and-down year as Rocco's backup, and true first-year Greyson Lambert and Matt Johns add to the depth. RUNNING BACK London also has to feel good about his ball carriers. Leading rusher Perry Jones (915 yards and five touchdowns) returns after doing a little bit of everything for the Cavs last year. Behind the fourth-year Jones is a trio of second-years who have all shown flashes of brilliance at times. Kevin Parks (709 yards and nine scores) is a similar small, shifty back to Jones and will likely enter camp No. 2 on the depth chart, but Clifton Richardson (6-0, 215 pounds) offers a bigger option. Khalek Shepherd saw limited action last sea- son behind Jones, Parks and Richardson, but was one of the standouts of the spring game. WIDE RECEIVER AND TIGHT END A group where the talent and athleticism is there, the wideouts will get plenty of on the job training this season. Redshirt third-year Tim Smith leads the re- turning group, after hauling in 33 catches for 565 yards (17.1 yards per receptions) and three scores in 2011. Opposite him are Darius Jen- nings and Dominique Terrell, young speedsters who got some playing time last year as true first-years (combining for 28 grabs, 297 receiv- ing yards and two TD), but will be expected to CAVALIER CORNER ◆ AUGUST 2012 ◆ 23

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