An old adage holds that “defense wins championships.” While Virginia football teams of recent memory embraced that mantra, the 2012 Cavaliers will need more this year from their experienced offense.
Last year, the team finished 8-4, making its first postseason appearance since 2007 in the prestigious Chick-Fil-A Bowl. The 2011 Cavaliers owed a substantial portion of their success to a scoring defense that ranked 46th in the country, compared to an offense that ranked 86th in points per game.
The defense graduated eight starting players, however, while the offense lost just five. With seven returning starters, the team will place an added emphasis — and expectation — on both its aerial attack and ground game.
The aerial attack
When quarterback Phillip Sims decided to transfer from reigning national champion Alabama, he relied in part on advice from former high school teammates and current Cavaliers, wide receiver Tim Smith and tailback Perry Jones.
“They informed me quickly on coach [Mike] London, how he operated and his thoughts on me if I did decide to transfer,” Sims said. “They helped me a lot as far as things that I couldn’t ask directly, but I could run through them.”
In those conversations, one point resonated most with Sims: “The fact that [London] would be straightforward, honest, and wouldn’t beat around the bush with me as far as being able to play,” Sims said. “If I were able to play this year… [London] said it would be an open competition and the best man to play. I don’t expect to just be handed the job… I want to work for what I get, and I think coach London is the type of guy that will do that.”
Although NCAA regulations specify that an undergraduate transfer must sit out the subsequent season, Sims appealed his eligibility citing family circumstances, and the NCAA announced this summer it would allow the Chesapeake, Va. native to compete with the Cavaliers this fall.
The NCAA’s decision added another pedigreed quarterback into an already crowded competition to be Virginia’s starting signal caller. Sims left high school as ESPN’s No. 1-rated quarterback prospect after setting Virginia state records with 10,725 career passing yards and 119 touchdown passes. At Alabama, Sims lost a quarterback competition to sophomore AJ McCarron, but his potential alone required London to reexamine his quarterback depth chart.
Last year, junior Michael Rocco spent half the season cementing himself as the team’s primary quarterback. Rocco and sophomore David Watford alternated snaps until the Oct. 27 game against Miami, when London announced Rocco would see the bulk of playing time. The team won its next four games, and Rocco seemingly solidified his spot at starting quarterback.
True to his early promise to Sims, however, London will not make decisions based on history and “is not in a hurry” to choose between Sims, Rocco and Watford. The coach said he will announce his first depth chart — including a starting quarterback — Monday, a decision that “will be based on what’s been done in practice and how they can best lead the team,” he said.
In training camp, Sims’ strong arm and accuracy are evident. But it is equally evident that Rocco may be the best quarterback right now. Sims must still translate his natural talent into in-game success, and the quarterback needs time to learn the offense and build chemistry with his receivers.
“[Sims] has got a very good arm,” London said. “There are so many things positive about what he has, the only thing that’s lacking is [understanding] the system and schemes that our receivers and linemen and everyone else knows right now… He’s very skillful, that’s for sure, but David and Michael are very skillful in their own right as well.”
The ground game
Although quarterback debates again dominate camp conversation, Virginia’s offensive potency will likely hinge on its ground game.
The team returns its four premiere tailbacks from last season, but unlike the passing game, that surplus creates more opportunity than controversy. Senior Perry Jones and redshirt sophomore Kevin Parks compliment each other with a smash-and-dash rushing style that ranked fourth in the ACC in yards last year.
“At the running back group, we like to see ourselves as the focal point of the offense,” Jones said. “We know we have everybody that played running back last year back this year, so everybody is just going to step it up some more this year.”
Although Jones and Parks, along with sophomores Clifton Richardson and Khalek Shepherd, created a formidable foursome in the backfield, the 2011 team’s rushing success began with the five players in front. While Virginia rotated tailbacks, it fielded the same starting five offensive linemen for all 13 games last season. These veterans paved the way for more than 2000 rushing yards.
The Cavaliers lost All-American guard Austin Pasztor and established center Anthony Mihota from that group, but they retain seniors Oday Aboushi and junior Morgan Moses, two tackles who can play from either side of the line. Both Aboushi and Moses were included on the 2012 Outland Trophy Watch-list, an award that recognizes the country’s best interior linemen. The two were Virginia’s first Cavalier players included since Eugene Monroe, a later top-10 NFL draft pick, and London believes his pair of tackles can emerge as the conference’s best.
“When you have two guys that play both positions, left and right, the notoriety they’ve garnered is based on accomplishment on the field,” London said. “Their skill level… does make them at least in consideration for being the best pair.”
As a senior, Jones recognizes that such a strong returning core presents the offense with a unique opportunity. With such an experienced unit, Jones sees the biggest challenges as less about physical skills and starting quarterbacks, and more about ensuring the players live up to their potential.
“We feel good with the players that we have coming back on offense,” Jones said. “The thing that I want to improve on is not even anything physical, but being the leader of this team and bringing these younger guys along. I just want make sure [of] what the goals of the team are, and I want to be the person that gets to that point.”
This is the first in a four-part series previewing the 2012 Virginia football team. An analysis of the defense will run Tuesday, Aug. 28.
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