Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 13, 1993 TAG: 9309120160
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Certainly, Virginia football coach George Welsh can't be serious about wanting to drop Navy from the schedule.
The Cavaliers made it back-to-back shutouts over the Midshipmen with a 38-0 triumph Saturday in Virginia's home opener.
It wasn't an awesome display - at least in comparison to last year's 53-0 annihilation in Annapolis, Md. - but big plays covered up some obvious UVa inadequacies.
Sophomore quarterback Symmion Willis, who completed just seven of his first 16 passes, connected with walk-on Patrick Jeffers on touchdown passes of 31 and 65 yards and ran 48 yards for a score.
"If we don't get three big plays, that game's into the fourth quarter and it's close," Welsh said. "There wasn't that much difference in the two teams today."
Indeed, Navy had three possessions inside the Cavaliers' 5-yard line, the first time when the Middies had first-and-goal at the 2 with UVa leading 17-0 in the second quarter.
Navy kept losing yardage until, on fourth-and-goal from the 8, quarterback Jim Kubiak's pass was intercepted in the end zone by Percy Ellsworth.
Although some might have questioned coach George Chaump's decision not to kick a field goal, maybe Chaump knew something. After Navy got to the UVa 3-yard line in the the third quarter, kicker David Gwinn missed to the right from 21 yards.
"It's embarrassing," Chaump said. "We had a goose egg when we should have had 14 or 17 points. You cannot analyze the game by the score."
On the verge of seeing its lead cut to 17-7, UVa drove 80 plays in seven plays to go ahead 24-0 with 4:42 left in the third quarter. Willis went the final 48 yards after faking a pitch on third-and-one.
"It wasn't really an option," said Willis, who was instructed by Welsh to keep the ball. "It was a possession-type play, almost like a [quarterback] sneak."
Willis, who had a 45-yard touchdown run against the Middies last year, finished with six carries for 68 yards. Jerrod Washington led the Cavaliers with 71 yards in 17 carries, but the longest run by any UVa back was 16 yards.
"I don't know what was wrong on offense," Welsh said. "We weren't precise. There were too many penalties. We missed some blocks. It was sloppy."
The Cavaliers were penalized eight times, six in the first half. During one stretch of four plays, UVa was called for three penalties, two of which the Middies declined.
The equalizer was Jeffers, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound wide receiver from Fort Worth, Texas, whose nine receptions last year included three touchdowns. He had four catches for 124 yards Saturday.
"It all happened in the first half, which is fine, get it over with," said Jeffers, who was placed on scholarship before the 1992 season. "I don't see myself as a big-play player."
Jeffers, who followed an older sister to UVa, caught a short pass in the flat, broke a tackle and used an Aaron Mundy block to score his first touchdown.
His second touchdown came on a corner route on which Willis lifted the ball over the hands of a lunging defender. Jeffers, who has surprising speed, raced the last 50 yards untouched.
"We probably had too many athletes for them," Welsh said. "You can only hang in there so long. I thought they let down a little after Willis' touchdown. They didn't give up, but it's hard to come back from there."
The Cavaliers led 31-0 when second-team quarterback Mike Groh entered the game with 7:56 left. Welsh said he suggested Groh throw several short routes, but the Cavaliers finished the game with 10 consecutive running plays.
Five successive calls went to freshman Tiki Barber, making his first appearance of the season. Barber got the Cavaliers to the 1-yard line before Darrell Medley scored UVa's last touchdown with 2:12 left.
"I wanted badly to score the touchdown, but they gave me a chance," said Barber, from Cave Spring High School in Roanoke. "At least I held on to the football."
Kubiak, whose 23 completions covered only 150 yards, took the Middies as far as the UVa 3-yard line before the clock ran out with Damon Dixon, who had a school-record 10 receptions, trying to bounce into the end zone.
"Maybe they could have gone for the field goal [in the second quarter], but they didn't and we stopped 'em," said Rick Lantz, UVa's defensive coordinator. "As well as you might play, it's just a little more satisfying with a shutout."
See microfilm for statistics.
by CNB