Defensive backs smoothly rotate in Cavs' scheme.(Daily Press)

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. _ His name often gets lost among his teammates in the secondary. Chris Williams is the guy Virginia coach Al Groh raved about in preseason. Jerton Evans is the ferocious hitter who has started since his rookie season.

Shernard Newby? For some reason, not much gets said about him. But four games into the season, with the Cavaliers using primarily a three-player rotation at the two safety spots, Newby is seeing the most playing time. He has been in for 258 plays, 21 more than Evans and 82 more than Williams. He has a team-high two interceptions, both coming in the past two games.

"He's doing a good job," Groh said. "This is a very different type of system for him and there's been a breaking-in period for him."

Newby, a junior, acknowledged that.

"I think I'm starting to get better each game," he said. "I'm starting to get more familiar with the system and starting to get a little more comfortable back there. I'm starting to see things I would have never seen before."

His interception last week against Duke is a good example. Tailback Chris Douglas had hurt Virginia's defense with sweeps, and Newby made a mental note that on one of those sweeps he might throw a halfback pass. And sure enough, trailing 17-3 late in the third quarter, the Blue Devils went for it. Newby stayed home and intercepted the pass.

Groh says he's happy with the Newby-Williams-Evans rotation _ Newby and Evans have started the last three games _ and considers them interchangeable.