Michael Rocco

Michael Rocco
College	Virginia
Conference	ACC
Sport	Football
Position	Quarterback
Jersey #	16
Class	Sophomore
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight	210 lb (95 kg)
Nationality	American
High school	Liberty Christian Academy, Lynchburg, VA

Michael Rocco is an American football quarterback for the University of Virginia Cavaliers football team.

Personal

Michael Rocco is the nephew of former UVA football assistant and now head football coach of Liberty University. His grandfather served as an assistant under Penn State head coach Joe Paterno.

High School

Michael Rocco attended Liberty Christian Academy in Lynchburg, Virginia. He was a four-year starter at Liberty Christian as he passed for 2,066 yards, 24 touchdowns and rushed for seven scores as a junior in 2008. In 2009 he suffered a broken left arm and dislocated left wrist before the start of his senior season. He eventually returned for Liberty Christian's final five regular season games and led the Bulldogs to the 2009 VIS state championship game, passing for 235 yards and three touchdowns. He was rated the overall number 109th quarterback in the nation by ESPN.

College

Michael Rocco appeared in six of Virginia's 12 games as true freshmen. He played under starting quarterback Marc Verica. He went 4-of-6 with a touchdown for 64 yards in his collegiate debut against Virginia Military Institute He went a perfect 3-of-3 for 12 yards in the second quarter at Boston College on November 20th. He completed at least one pass in every appearance which included games against VMI, University of North Carolina, Eastern Michigan University, Maryland, Boston College, and Virginia Tech. He is competing with redshirt sophomore Ross Metheny, redshirt freshman Michael Strauss, and true freshman David Watford for the starting job for the 2011 season.

As spring practice ended, and going into fall camp Rocco began to separate himself from the other players. In the last two weeks of fall camp, the majority of the reps were given to both Rocco and true freshman David Watford who began to improve dramatically. During a press conference a week before the season opener, coach Mike London named Rocco the starter, and also stated that Watford will share time with him as well. On September 3rd, UVA opened there season at home against William and Mary. Rocco played well in his first start, completing 21 of 29 passes for 174 yards with neither a touchdown or interception. He will again split snaps with the speedy Watford for upcoming games. In the second game of the season at Indiana, Rocco struggled to throw the ball down field while throwing two interceptions. He completed 15 of 29 passes and threw for 191 yards. UVA gave up a 20 point lead as the Hoosiers scored 28 unanswered following different turnovers by the cavs, which included an ugly interception by Rocco. He responded well on the next drive, driving the hoos 77 yards for a touchdown, and a game tying two point conversion.

External Links

• http://www.virginiasports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17800&ATCLID=204971351
• http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/recruiting/player-Mike-Rocco-91750
• http://espn.go.com/college-football/player/_/id/501176/michael-rocco

Sporting positions
Preceded by Marc Verica	Virginia Cavaliers Quarterback 2011	Succeeded by TBD

Persondata
Name	Rocco, Michael
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth
Place of birth	Lynchburg, Virginia, US
Date of death
Place of death