Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 18, 1993 TAG: 9309180181
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Medium
The Cavaliers not only lost 46 yards on three successive plays, but their sudden ineptitude seemed to give Georgia Tech hope and momentum heading into the second half.
"I think a lot of people were exhausted because the offense had spent so much time on the field," said UVa wide receiver Larry Holmes. "That [series] didn't feel good at all. I was concerned. I knew if we came out flat, we'd have problems."
The only thing flat in the second half was Georgia Tech's defense, after 25th-ranked Virginia steamrolled the Yellow Jackets for 191 rushing yards in a 35-14 Atlantic Coast Conference victory at Grant Field.
Although Virginia led 18-7 at the half, it was hard to say the Cavaliers had controlled the action with 138 yards in total offense - 9 on the ground.
A look of disbelief crossed Mark Dixon's face when informed of the meager first-half rushing total.
"No way!" exclaimed Dixon, a preseason All-America selection at guard.
"Even if you throw out the losses, it's only [55] yards and that's not very good no matter how you look at it."
Georgia Tech was able to confuse the Cavaliers with stunts and blitzes, a strategy that sent the UVa coaching staff to the blackboard at halftime.
"You live by the sword, you die by the sword," Dixon said. "I figured, if they kept [blitzing], sooner or later we'd pick one up and that's what happened on Charles Way's touchdown run."
Dixon and center Bryan Heath held off the blitz and Way rambled untouched for 33 yards and a touchdown. The conversion put the Cavaliers ahead 28-7 with 10 minutes, 15 seconds remaining.
A 50-yard kickoff return by Derrick Steagall set up a Georgia Tech touchdown that made it 28-14 with 8:39 remaining, but an opportunistic UVa defense refused to let the Yellow Jackets back into the game.
The outcome was sealed with 4:14 left, when Randy Neal intercepted a deflected pass and returned it to the Georgia Tech 35-yard line. Neal became the fifth linebacker to intercept a pass for UVa through three games.
"I think [the Yellow Jackets] made a lot of mistakes," said George Welsh, UVa's coach. "They dropped some balls, didn't they? I think their coaches are telling them, `If you had been able to execute better, you could have won the game.' "
Of Virginia's seven scoring drives, four started inside the Georgia Tech 40-yard line and a fifth began at the UVa 48. Three of UVa's four touchdowns resulted from four-play drives.
"You can't turn the ball over against a team like Virginia and expect to win the game," said Bill Lewis, the Yellow Jackets' coach. "If you turn the ball over, you give them good field position and they're good enough offensively to take advantage of that."
Georgia Tech's time of possession for the second half was less than 10 minutes - a big reason the Yellow Jackets' record fell to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the ACC. Their next two games are at Clemson and Florida State.
"We've got a lot of people who are talking the talk and not walking the walk," Georgia Tech defensive tackle Richard Kimsey said. "We're not playing up to our ability."
Virginia (3-0, 2-0) now has a pair of ACC road victories and has a 7-1-1 record in away games since Georgia Tech beat the Cavaliers 24-21 with a last-minute field goal in 1991.
"We've got five really tough games on the road," said defensive end Mike Frederick, aware that the Cavaliers still must visit Florida State, North Carolina State and Clemson. "We're going to have to do well on the road to have a really successful season."
UVa will be a heavy favorite at home the next two weeks against Duke and Ohio University, respectively, after which the Cavaliers will have an open date. Two victories would put them 5-0 going to Florida State on Oct. 16.
The Cavaliers were picked sixth in the ACC before the season and were a two-point underdog Thursday night to Tech, a team they had beaten 55-24 in Charlottesville a year earlier.
"That's [the spread] a betting line and we don't really get into that," Neal said. "Everybody on the outside had us as the underdog, but on the team we knew we were just as good as Tech, if not better."
by CNB