Thomas, Rocco thrive after various struggles The crisis point for Virginia Tech quarterback Logan Thomas was a 23-3 home loss to Clemson on Oct.?1. Virginia quarterback Michael Rocco’s came three weeks later in a 28-14 home defeat against N.C. State.
The issue for both teams was quarterback play. Pressure mounted on the two sophomores from Lynchburg, Va.
Recommended Stories
| Up next |
| No. 6 Virginia Tech at No. 24 Virginia |
| When » Saturday, 3:30 p.m. |
| Where » Scott Stadium, |
| Charlottesville, Va. |
| TV » ABC |
But since then both have emerged. While Thomas has thrown 12 touchdown passes and two interceptions, sparking Virginia Tech to six straight wins, Rocco has tossed seven touchdowns and one interception, guiding Virginia to four straight victories.
When No. 6 Virginia Tech (10-1, 6-1) visits No. 24 Virginia (8-3, 5-2) Saturday in Charlottesville, both teams will look to their quarterbacks for strength and leadership. The game will decide the Coastal Division title and which team advances to the ACC championship against Clemson (9-2, 6-2).
“Both quarterbacks are playing well, and they’re leading their team because they’re minimizing their turnovers and bad decisions,” Virginia coach Mike London said. “What you’ve seen is two quarterbacks really, really mature.”
It’s a long way from where both were in October. In the Clemson loss, Thomas completed 15 of 27 passes for 125 yards and looked lost against the Tigers’ rush, which sacked him three times on third down. Through his first five games, Thomas had thrown more interceptions (five) than touchdown passes (four), and there were some calls for him to be replaced by untested redshirt freshman Mark Leal.
But the Virginia Tech coaching staff believed in the 6-foot-6, 254-pound Thomas and their ability to extract his extraordinary talent. The next week, in a 35-33 victory over Miami, Thomas completed 23 of 25 passes for 310 yards and three touchdowns and scored the winning touchdown on a 19-yard run with 56 seconds left. Since the Clemson game, Thomas has a 158.2 passer rating.
“It was like day and night,” Virginia Tech running back David Wilson said. “It switched over. It was like he was an All-America quarterback against Miami.”
Rocco (6-3, 225) doesn’t have the size, arm strength or speed of Thomas and was viewed as a placeholder for exciting freshman David Watford. But like with Thomas, it was the faith coaches placed in him that allowed him to emerge.
In the N.C. State game, after Rocco finished 0-for-10, London handed him the job and scrapped his quarterback rotation, which had included Watford.
Since then Rocco has compiled a 149.1 passer rating and led the Cavaliers to defining victories at Miami and Florida State. The Miami win snapped Virginia’s seven-game road losing streak in the ACC. The FSU victory was the Cavaliers’ first in eight tries in Tallahassee.
“He’s made great decisions,” Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said of Rocco. “Being in there for every play has really made a difference.”
Thomas and Rocco grew up five miles apart in Lynchburg (population 75,000) and went to the same Baptist church but don’t have much history. Thomas, who is a year older, played at public Brookville, while Rocco starred at private Liberty Christian.
Saturday will be their chance for bragging rights in their hometown and beyond.
“People wanted to see us in high school and never got that chance,” Thomas said. “Now we’re on a bigger stage.”
