ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 26, 1995 TAG: 9512270002
SECTION: BOWL GUIDE PAGE: BG-14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
THE PEACH BOWL selection committee didn't do Virginia any favors when it bypassed Arkansas, the West Division champion in the Southeastern Conference, for a University of Georgia team that won six games.
The Bulldogs (6-5) certainly won't be intimidated by the Cavaliers (8-4) - not after facing a schedule that included second-ranked Florida, No.4 Tennessee, No.16 Auburn and No.21 Alabama.
Those were four of the five teams that beat Georgia, with the other loss coming at Mississippi, 18-10, when promising quarterback Mike Bobo suffered a broken leg in the first quarter. The Bulldogs also beat a nationally ranked team, No.23 Clemson, and enter the Peach Bowl with a 2-0 record against ACC teams.
If the ACC is looking for a way to settle a first-place tie between Virginia and Florida State, it could award the championship to Georgia if the Bulldogs beat UVa on Saturday night.
``I wish it was that easy,'' said Ray Goff, who did not win an SEC title in his seven seasons as Georgia's coach, ``but I don't think it's going to be that easy. They're [the Cavaliers] a good football team, but we've played five of the top 20 [actually, 25] football teams in the country. This is just one more.''
A brutal schedule and a decade's worth of injuries didn't prevent Goff, a former Bulldogs quarterback, from losing his job. He was allowed to resign, but essentially was dismissed by athletic director Vince Dooley after the program failed to show ``significant improvement.''
The Bulldogs wouldn't even be in a bowl if they hadn't rallied from a 14-point deficit to defeat Georgia Tech 18-17. Georgia never led until Kanon Parkman kicked a 34-yard field goal with 47 seconds remaining.
That gave Georgia the six victories over NCAA Division I-A opposition that are required for bowl eligibility; however, it took an unusual set of circumstances for the Bulldogs to get a Peach Bowl slot.
Alabama would have been a popular choice until the NCAA rejected the Crimson Tide's appeal to have its bowl sanctions reduced. Then, Miami accepted bowl sanctions this year, meaning only two Big East Football Conference teams were available for postseason play.
That opened a slot for Arkansas in the Carquest Bowl, which had the third choice of Big East teams. The Razorbacks weren't wild about returning to Atlanta, where they played in the SEC championship game Dec.2, but they would have gone to the Peach Bowl if the alternative was staying home.
Georgia, on the other hand, was delighted to go anywhere. It didn't matter that the Bulldogs would be playing at the Georgia Dome, an hour's drive from their campus and only a few blocks from where they had finished the regular season against Georgia Tech at Grant Field.
``As far as us being deserving, I feel we deserved the bid,'' said Georgia linebacker Whit Marshall. ``With what we've gone through and the schedule that we've had, it's been tough. In the SEC, it's always going to be tough.''
Marshall, who finished with a team-high 128 tackles, was one of only five Bulldogs defensive players who started every game. Linebacker Randall Godfrey, a one-time Butkus Award nominee, and nose guard Travis Stroud had a combined eight starts and were at reduced effectiveness when they did get on the field.
Godfrey (hamstring) and Stroud (knee sprain) are expected to be at close to full speed for the Peach Bowl, where they will fortify a defense that has given up as many as 300 yards only twice in the past seven games.
The Bulldogs did not have a first-team All-SEC selection, but they had a pair of second-team choices in defensive tackle Phillip Daniels, a 6-foot-6, 260-pounder, and free safety Corey Johnson. Offensive tackle Troy Stark (6-6, 292) also made the second team.
Georgia's most impressive offensive numbers were put up by a pair of wide receivers, Juan Daniels and Brice Hunter, who had 46 and 44 receptions, respectively. Hunter holds the school records for receptions, receiving yardage and touchdown receptions in a career.
Hines Ward, who had 103 yards in receptions against South Carolina in the opener, later moved to ``scatback'' and ended up starting the last three games at quarterback. Ward was a high-school All-America quarterback in Rex, Ga., but was not expected to play that position in college.
Ward is the likely starting quarterback against Virginia, although Bobo might be available. The Bulldogs passed for 250, 276 and 270 games in the three games Bobo started, which were three of their four biggest passing games of the season.
Converted cornerback Robert Edwards had 30 carries for 169 yards and four touchdowns in the Bulldogs' opening game, a 42-23 victory over South Carolina, but was lost for the season when he suffered a broken foot one week later.
Edwards' backup, Torin Kirtsey, had 38 carries for 195 yards against Clemson, but suffered a sprained ankle the next week that derailed his bid for 1,000 yards. Edwards will not play in the bowl, but Kirtsey, who finished with 603 yards, will be close to 100 percent.
NOTE: Please see microfilm for statistics.
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA. Hines Ward, a sophomore, is oneby CNBof three quarterbacks who have started for the Georgia Bulldogs this
season.