Cavaliers' Rocco Takes Big Stride in Setback to UNC

Virginia's recent game against North Carolina was a frustrating one for Cavaliers fans to watch.

Virginia lost 28-17 despite outgaining the Tar Heels 468-401 in total yardage.

Virginia managed to get into scoring range seven times while North Carolina only did that five time during the game.

UNC was simply more opportunistic than the Cavs.

The Tar Heels scored four touchdowns in their five forays into scoring territory.

The Cavaliers registered two touchdowns, a made field goal, a missed field goal, a turnover on downs where David Watford overthrew a wide open receiver who could have scored, an interception where the pass skipped off of the receiver's hands, and a fumbled snap.

However, there was a major bright side for Virginia.

Quarterback Michael Rocco looked much more comfortable and played at a higher level than he had in his first career road start against Indiana.

Rocco completed just under 60 percent of his passes despite several drops by his receivers.

He was hitting all the short throws he attempted, something he struggled with at times against Indiana.

He also looked sharp on throws deep over the middle.

His only accuracy issues were on deep out routes, where he overthrew receivers on the same route several times.

The good news there is that it's much easier for a quarterback struggling to hit one route to fix his accuracy than it is for someone missing on several different types of throws to correct his mistakes.

The most impressive part of Rocco's game, however, was his composure.

Facing a fierce UNC defense, Rocco almost always looked comfortable in the pocket, moving around to avoid a pass rush and keeping his focus downfield on his receivers.

He even scrambled when he had a chance to move the chains with his feet.

He scored on a four yard touchdown run where he broke away from a sack around the ten yard line before juking one defender and splitting two more while falling forward into the end zone.

Although UVA had several failings in scoring range, the Cavaliers moved the ball at will against one of the ACC's most vaunted defenses and it never appeared as though the Tar Heels were able to physically beat Virginia's offense.

They also didn't rattle or confound Rocco, who passed for a career high 287 yards and scored his first two touchdowns of the year.

Right now, Virginia's offense is the 31st most productive in the nation and 4th in the ACC despite having faced a serious opponent in UNC already.

Michael Rocco looked like the right man to lead this dangerous and balanced attack on Saturday.

Although they couldn't win Saturday, this offense could put up big numbers this year and help the Cavaliers to win a majority of their games.