UVa head football coach Mike London announced Monday that junior Michael Rocco will be Virginia's starting quarterback for the season opener Saturday against Richmond.
"My mentality coming into this thing is I'm the quarterback," said Rocco. "I have the same mentality I had last year. Just my confidence and being in the offense a year, knowing what I have to do to compete and compete at a high level. I just believe that'll carry me, and my team is confident in me, and the coaching staff is confident in me."
Alabama transfer and redshirt sophomore Phillip Sims is listed second on the depth chart at quarterback.
"Phillip has a big arm, strong arm, being in college games as well, is a guy that's learning our offense," said London. "To expect him to know the whole offense by the time the season started, I don't think that'd be fair on him. He knows enough of the offense and enough of the concepts that we use that we understand that his situation will be kind of on-the-go training, on-the-job training."
"Michael has the best grasp of the offense right now," said London. "To start a game, he is the guy that we feel most comfortable with right now because of what he knows, and knowing the system, and the schemes and knowing the players that he will be throwing the ball to and handing the ball off to. He's done nothing to lose his position. He's put himself in position to be the guy."
"I was the starter throughout the spring into the summer," said Rocco. "Like I said, it was my job to lose, but I believe that I'm here to play quarterback, and I'm here to play quarterback at a high level, so I was excited whenever I heard from Coach London that he was going to go with me as a starter, but really, in my mind, I was preparing for Richmond to be the starting quarterback."
Sophomore David Watford is listed third. London says he'll try to redshirt Watford this season.
He also says there is no scripted plan to get Sims playing time in Saturday's game against the Spiders.
