While critics claim that the chances of Virginia returning to back-to-back bowl games this season are questionable, the Cavaliers know they have a not-so-secret weapon on their side: their own “Man of Steel,” senior tailback Perry Jones.
“They call him Superman for a reason,” UVa strength and conditioning coach Evan Marcus said of the 5-8, 185-pound back.
The heavily muscled tailback hasn’t always carried such respect. When he was in high school, he heard critics say he was too short and too slow.
“People look at Perry’s size and probably underestimate him because he doesn’t have the biggest stature. But when he hits, I’m sure all that power translates to a guy that’s coming into hit him, whether Perry’s giving the shot or absorbing the blow.”
Jones does everything for Virginia. He rushed for 915 yards last season, averaged five yards per carry, hauled in 48 passes (second-most on the team) for another 506 yards, scored eight touchdowns, and even threw one touchdown pass in the process.
Pound-for-pound, he’s also the strongest player on the roster.
With pressure on the Cavaliers’ offense to become more explosive this fall, Jones is excited about the prospect of getting his hands on the ball even more and perhaps becoming UVa’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Alvin Pearman in 2004.
“I think Perry gets kind of annoyed with all the Superman talk, but we love getting on him for being Superman,” quarterback Michael Rocco said.
Jones played a key role in UVa’s upsets at Miami and Florida State last season. He caught a career-high nine passes against the Seminoles and pulled in a 78-yarder against the Hurricanes, the longest by a Cavalier all of last season.
The moniker has grown on Jones, who now displays a Superman T-shirt his mom bought for him when he goes to the weight room. He sometimes wears it under his shoulder pads in practice and games.
“I feel honored that my teammates would even consider to call me that,” Jones said.
“They tell me all the time that I’m one of the players that really can do anything. They say I shock them a lot with things I do, but I’m not shocked about how I produce on the field.”