Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9409210005
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Long
Ronde Barber stared 33 years of history in the face Saturday and showed he sn't much of a traditionalist.
A mistake-filled afternoon ended happily for Virginia's football team after Barber intercepted his second pass of the game and returned it to the Clemson 5-yard line.
Four plays later, Rafael Garcia kicked a 19-yard field goal with 26 seconds remaining to give the Cavaliers their second victory in the history of the series, 9-6, at Scott Stadium.
Many in the crowd of 39,000 stayed for the finish, which sent students storming the field and knocking down the south goal post after UVa improved its record against Clemson to 2-31-1.
``This was only my first Clemson game, so the record didn't mean that much to me,'' said Barber, the only player to receive a game ball. ``I'm just somebody who wants to make plays. I want the weight on my shoulders.''
Barber, a redshirt freshman from Cave Spring High School in Roanoke, had broken up a pass at the goal line on Clemson's next-to-last possession and forced the Tigers to kick a field goal with 6:29 left that made it 6-6.
``I thought it was going to be a tie,'' said UVa coach George Welsh, thoroughly disgusted with the play of his offense. ``It would have felt like a loss to me. I tell you, this was a bizarre one.''
The Cavaliers (2-1 overall, 1-1 in the ACC) outgained Clemson 419-167 in total offense, had 26 first downs to the Tigers' seven, ran 30 more plays and had possession for more than 36 minutes.
On the other hand, UVa had seven turnovers, four inside the Clemson 5-yard line. The Cavaliers threw four interceptions and lost three fumbles.
It could have been a rout ... or it could have been disaster.
``Most of the time you lose games like this,'' Welsh said. ``I'm exhausted. I'm happy with the win, but I'm unhappy with the way the offense played.''
Clearly, the day belonged to the UVa defense, which had 13 tackles for losses. The Tigers (1-2, 0-2) had rushed for 200 yards or more in 15 of 16 previous games with Virginia, but gained only 60 yards on the ground Saturday.
``I think that's as good a defensive effort as we've had here,'' said Welsh, in his 13th season at Virginia. ``Offensively, they're [the Tigers] not Florida State, but I can't remember another game with all those turnovers when our defense kept us in the game like that.''
Clemson's lone first down of the fourth quarter came after the Tigers inserted backup quarterback Louis Solomon at their 3-yard line with 3:57 remaining in the third quarter. Solomon, more of an option threat than starter Patrick Sapp, picked up 11 yards on two runs.
``When I saw him come in the game, I said to myself, `Geez, they're going to run the ball,''' said UVa defensive tackle Ryan Kuehl. ``I was thinking, `They've got a new coach and he's going for the tie.'''
Tommy West, the Tigers' first-year coach, probably wishes he had gone for the tie.
When two more Solomon keepers failed to pick up any yardage, West called for a pass. Solomon, anticipating a blitz and UVa single coverage, changed the call to a fly pattern in hopes Marcus Hinton could beat Barber.
West later said that crowd noise prevented Hinton from hearing the audible, but it wouldn't have mattered. The ball fluttered so horribly Barber hardly knew whether to shoot it or catch it.
``It was there for me to take,'' said Barber, who made the catch at the Clemson 40. ``Usually, we're trying to take it down the sideline, where all our blockers are, but our offense wasn't working too well and I was just trying to get it as close to the end zone as I could.''
Barber, who was under the impression Sapp still was in the game, caught the ball near one of the hash marks and reversed field until being pushed out of bounds at the opposite sideline.
``You could tell he was tired,'' Welsh said, ``[but] he did all the right things. I didn't want to see the offense back out there again. Hell, they may have given the ball back.''
Three sure-handed running plays took the Cavaliers to the Clemson 1, but there was nothing automatic about the field goal. On its only previous attempt from placement, UVa had botched an extra point when holder Tim Sherman failed to handle a high snap.
``My big concern was getting it down - 19 yards is as close as you can get,'' said Garcia, who is 4-for-4 on field-goal attempts this season. ``Before the interception, I definitely felt [a field-goal attempt] would be a lot farther than that.''
UVa fans held their breath after Andre Humphrey returned the ensuing kickoff to the 41-yard line, but Joe Crocker intercepted Sapp's pass to end any threat.
Sapp completed only seven of 23 passes for 107 yards and was intercepted twice. His longest completion was a 41-yarder to Andre Williams, who wrestled the ball from Barber.
``I had the ball when we hit the ground,'' Barber said. ``The way I keep statistics, I had that one.''
It was not as memorable an afternoon for Barber's twin brother, Tiki, who fumbled at the Clemson 2-yard line with UVa leading 6-0 in the third quarter. He was not alone, however. Charles Way fumbled twice, once in the end zone, and quarterback Symmion Willis yielded two end-zone interceptions.
Willis started both halves before giving way to Mike Groh, who scored UVa's lone touchdown on a 1-yard dive, but was intercepted twice in the third quarter.
``I'm not looking forward to the film session Monday or Tuesday,'' Way said, ``but, for now, I'm not going to worry about all the problems we've been having. Forget it! We beat Clemson and it wasn't too long ago they were one of the beasts of the ACC.''
Indeed, Clemson was ranked No.22 by The Associated Press less than two weeks ago and had beaten favored Virginia teams in each of the past two seasons, overcoming a 28-point deficit to win 29-28 here two years ago.
``I'm not elated right now,'' said Welsh, whose 1990 team gave Virginia its first victory over Clemson. ``but it's still a win over Clemson and I'm sure I'll feel better about it tomorrow.''
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB