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rushing touchdown of the sea- son. "I told my teammates that I would make up for it," Sims said. "I refused to come off the field without scoring a touch- down. It had to be done." It really did. The touchdown in Raleigh helped spark the Cavaliers to a 33-6 upset vic- tory Nov. 3, snapping a six- game losing streak. It had been a challenging year for Sims and Virginia; both he and incumbent starter Michael Rocco had seen action at quar- terback, but neither had been able to help the Cavs overcome a dev- astating turnover ratio — minus-12 (nine take- aways and 21 giveaways), which at minus-1.33 per game was tied for 117th out of 120 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision — in what had become a hugely dis- appointing season (3-6 overall and 1-4 in the ACC after the win at NC State). Sims, a second-year who was ginia head coach Mike London decided he would rotate quar- terbacks in the North Carolina State game in an effort to take advantage of each one's skill sets. It was a risky move, not knowing how Sims, who had taken over as the starter, would react to again sharing playing time with Rocco, but the move resulted in Virginia's best game of the season to that point. "It was a determination that we have two guys that are very "Things worked out for us." The situation might have got- ten to some players, but Sims wasn't rattled when he found out about the rotation, nor did he worry about being benched after the dropped pass. Instead his confidence and team-first at- titude seemed to help both him and Rocco play better. "You do as you're asked to "When your number is called, just go out there and play to the highest ability you can play." granted a waiver by the NCAA to play immediately after his transfer from defending na- tional champion Alabama to Virginia this summer, saw ac- tion in each of the Cavaliers' first nine contests and made four starts. He completed 92 of 165 passes (55.8 percent) for 1,115 yards with eight scores and four interceptions. Despite Sims' solid play, Vir- talented players that provide dif- ferent things to our team," Lon- don said. "There wasn't a whole lot of debate about it. In talking in the past, and as I said before, both guys have things that they do. Different skill sets that they bring to the table. Michael is a guy that's been in the offense, knows the offense — Phillip has a strong arm and is kind of learn- ing on the job, so to speak. And he has some skills himself that we like, and can get the ball to some of the other playmakers. "As they had the opportunity to go into the game, they exe- cuted the game plan that coach and the staff put together that he said this kind of fits best what they do," London added. SIMS do as a player," Sims said. "In a situation like this, we're just try- ing to win football games. So as a player, if the coaches feel that this is the best thing for us as a team, then you have no choice but to roll with it and do your job. When your number is called, just go out there and play to the highest ability you can play." And Sims has shown mo- ments when his ability seems to be limitless, but coming in as a transfer he's had to play catch-up on learning the system. "You know, for a quarterback in the system that kind of relies on timing, obviously the timing of when the ball has to be thrown based on the breaks of the re- ceiver is something that Phillip has been, needs to, continues to keep working on," London said. While Sims keeps working and improving, so does the like- lihood that both he and the Cava- liers will get better and put the disappointment of this season behind them. ◆