While the Virginia football team has struggled to make its mark in the win column during the past three losing seasons, the Cavaliers, nevertheless, have continued to churn out plenty of NFL-caliber players. Offensive linemen like Eugene Monroe, Branden Albert, D'Brickashaw Ferguson and even tight end Heath Miller have dominated Virginia's draft day headlines during the last five years, but the backfield behind the big uglies upfront hasn't enjoyed consecutive years with a 1,000-yard, 10-touchdown tailback in more than a decade. Thomas Jones last accomplished the feat during the 1998 and 1999 seasons and Tiki Barber did the same in 1995 and 1996, but the Cavaliers have not since come close to matching the quality and consistency of the running game during the two NFL stars' respective collegiate careers.
Yet hope for the ground game springs eternal in coach Mike London's second season at the helm. Running backs coach Mike Faragalli, who followed London from Richmond to Virginia after the 2009 season, has been grooming a stable of ground-game talent which includes a veteran starting running back, three freshmen tailbacks and two senior fullbacks. Junior tailback and team captain Perry Jones picks up where workhorse Keith Payne left off last year, and the 5-foot-8, 185-pounder has big shoes to fill if he hopes to match the bruising back's ACC-leading 14 rushing touchdowns from 2010. Jones amassed 646 yards, a 4.7 rushing average, and just one touchdown while sharing carries with Payne last season, but his big strides in the leadership department this offseason suggest that he is more than up to the task of carrying the offense until sophomore signal caller Michael Rocco becomes acclimated under center.
"[Jones has] always been a great worker and a physical player, but he's started to take some of the younger guys under his wing," Faragalli said. "He's started to be a little bit more vocal in the huddle; he's not afraid to get in somebody's face if he doesn't think they're giving 100 percent. He's just becoming a little bit more of a leader - he's always been a team guy, always had that in him - but it's starting to come to the forefront a little bit."
Jones' speed and elusiveness provided the perfect complement to Payne's punishing running between the tackles last season, but after being tackled for a loss for 34 yards on the season, easily the most among running backs, Jones has worked hard to find a happy medium between the two running styles, and the coaches like what they have seen so far.
"He's become a much more decisive runner - especially between the ends, between the tackles," Faragalli said. "We're running our inside draws and zones and different schemes like that, and he's now getting four, five, six yards a pop, whereas last year he might stop at the line and bounce it out, stop at the line and cut back ... There [are] times to go for a home run and there [are] times to get four yards, and I really think he's done great things in that regard."
Jones is joined in the Virginia backfield by redshirt freshman Kevin Parks, redshirt freshman Khalek Shepherd and true freshman Clifton Richardson, adding an impressive amount of tailback depth and development for the foreseeable future. Although Jones "will certainly start things out" from the depth chart and playing time perspectives, Faragalli said, all four figure to factor into the team's game plans this season.
"Everybody's going to have a role," Faragalli said. "Each of them has their own strengths and weaknesses - strengths I guess is the biggest thing. Kevin Parks is an excellent runner with the football, a great pass protector even though he is a little bit short, and Khalek Shepherd's a really good receiver and a solid runner as well. Clifton Richardson, being a freshman, he'll get some time, and it'll [be] more of the basic things that are a little simpler to learn. I think we have four really good guys going into the season, and last year proved that we're really going to need all of them at some point in time over the course of an 11 or 12-game season."
To take some of the pressure away from Rocco and allow the young quarterback to establish an early rhythm, the team also will rely on its tailbacks to run routes and catch passes out of the backfield, a challenging added dimension the youthful unit has picked up surprisingly well.
"They're all really good [receivers]," Faragalli said. "All four of them have excellent ball skills, they're learning to run more precise routes, [and] we're expanding the kinds of routes they run every day. Perry and Khalek can do a lot of the inside slot-back type passing game, so when we do go to a spread-out type situation maybe with two tailbacks in the game, those would be the receiving backs and then Kevin [Parks] or Clifton [Richardson] would be in the backfield as the I-back type guy. From a downfield pass receiving standpoint, I think Perry is as good as a lot of wide receivers in this league, and I think Khalek is learning to be that type of player as well."
Although the current crop of running backs oozes with promise, even superstar talents like Thomas Jones and Tiki Barber needed bulldozing blockers in front of them. The offensive line may lack the name recognition and NFL pedigree of past linemen like the New York Jets' Ferguson, but the unit - which boasts a healthy mix of youthful energy and veteran savvy - has earned rave reviews and injected an abundance of confidence into the ground game ahead of Saturday's home opener against William & Mary.
"I love our line, [they're] really good," Faragalli said. "They're obviously big and strong, but they're kind of nasty too, which is a running back's dream. Those guys will hit you and keep hitting you until they hear the whistle. They won't take anything from anybody, they don't ever back down, and I love the attitude they play with - they play with an edge. It's a lot - I won't say different - but they're all more experienced with the offense, so a year later I think we're going to be that much better"
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