Miles Gooch moved to receiver as a freshman after he committed to Virginia as a high school quarterback. After five years in the program and steady progress in his development, he made his biggest splash Saturday against Louisville.

The Georgia native grabbed four passes for 78 yards and a touchdown. That included a 50-yard bomb on the first play of the game and a 15-yard touchdown in the first quarter.

“He’s a selfless individual and has made himself into a guy that tries hard, works hard, and became a starter for us,” Virginia coach Mike London said. “His selfless attitude has went throughout the team. Whatever it is you do, whatever your job, whatever your responsibility, do it because it is going to be a credit to the team. All that matters is about the team. When you have an older guy like that, who signifies this is who I am and what I’m going to do for the team, then other people take notice. I believe he had a career day and it was great to see him have some success.”

Gooch slowly started to carve out a role on the team after a redshirt season, initially finding a role on special teams. He eventually picked up some chances on offense as a big blocking receiver. In particular, he started to get some snaps in the red zone and scored his first career touchdown against Miami in 2012. (Yes that means he has caught a touchdown pass in Virginia’s last two ACC wins.) Last season, Gooch played even more snaps but he rose to starter entering his fifth year.

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