Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 1, 1994 TAG: 9401010103
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
Yet, Virginia does not lack for motivation today when it meets 15th-ranked Boston College at 1:30 p.m. in the Carquest Bowl at Joe Robbie Stadium.
This one is about reputation and credibility and all the respect lost when the Cavaliers lost four of their last six regular-season games, including three of the last four.
The UVa players don't have to be told what the perceptions are.
"We're known as a team that gets to the big game and doesn't show up," offensive guard Peter Collins, a fifth-year senior, said. "This is my fourth bowl game and we haven't won one yet."
The Cavaliers almost didn't have a bowl game to win or lose before Arkansas upset Louisiana State. The Carquest Bowl had fifth choice of teams from the Southeastern Conference, which did not have five teams that were eligible.
"We're an unranked team in a New Year's Day bowl," UVa defensive end Mike Frederick said. "We realize we've got to take some heat for that."
If UVa has a booster at this point, it is Boston College coach Tom Coughlin, whose Eagles (8-3) received the Carquest bid on the strength of their third-place finish in the Big East.
"All we've got to do is show our players the tape," said Coughlin, whose son, Tim, is co-captain of the UVa baseball team. "Virginia could be 9-2 in the blink of an eye."
The Cavaliers won their first five games for the second year in a row and were ranked high as 15th before finishing 7-4, the same record they had in 1992, when they didn't go to a bowl.
Turnovers were a major factor in UVa's late-season collapse, and neither coach minimized their potential impact on today's game.
"Speaking strictly from our standpoint, [in] games 3-10 very rarely did we turn it over," Coughlin said. "Then, in game 11, we turned it over at four critical times."
The Eagles were trying to run out the clock, leading West Virginia 14-9, before the Mountaineers recoved a David Green fumbled and drove for the winning touchdown in a 17-14 victory.
"It denies you opportunities," said Coughlin, whose team seemingly was headed for the Fiesta Bowl before the WVU rally. "You don't get the ball that many times; then, when you give it to the other guy . . . "
In George Welsh's 12 seasons as Virginia head coach, the Cavaliers are 47-9-1 when committing fewer turnovers than the opposition, including 4-0 this year.
After committing 10 turnovers in the first seven games, after which they were 6-1, the Cavaliers had 15 turnovers in the last four. That included 10 interceptions and two fumbles by quarterback Symmion Willis.
The UVa coaches were most upset by the fumbles because they were the result of carelessness and "because it cost us a couple of games," Welsh said.
Willis fumbles resulted in touchdowns in losses to North Carolina State (34-29) and Virginia Tech (20-17), and it is safe to say Willis could lose some of his grip on the starting job for next year with another sub-par performance today.
Willis, who broke the UVa record by passing for 2,347 yards, will have the advantage of his full receiving corps for the first time since October. All-ACC tight end Aaron Mundy, receiving leader Patrick Jeffers and deep threat Larry Holmes all missed at least two games.
The Cavaliers will be without a pair of co-captains, All-America offensive guard Mark Dixon and veteran cornerback Greg McClellan, both academically ineligible. Jeremy Raley, an injury-plagued redshirt freshman, will make his first start at Dixon's spot.
"We've got to move the ball and hope we keep BC's offense on the sideline," Welsh said. "Defensively, we've got to keep [BC gains] short. If we've got to score 40 points to win, I think we've got problems."
BC, which enters the game as a six-point favorite, scored no fewer than 31 points during an eight-game winning streak following season-opening losses to Miami and Northwestern. Five times the Eagles scored more than 40 points, topped by a 66-14 rout of Temple.
The Eagles are led by quarterback Glenn Foley, the Big East offensive player of the year, who passed for 3,397 yards and 25 touchdowns, but fullback Darnell Campbell was able to rush for 1,071 yards, mostly out of a one-back set.
"I think a lot of time, you're remembered not for what you did all season, but how you end up," Coughlin said. "This team has been on the threshold of nine wins before. I think we've got an awful lot at stake."
Welsh consistently has used the term "reward" in referring to the Carquest Bowl bid, but players said that workouts this week were more tiring than some games.
"I can usually tell if things are going bad, which they aren't, but I'm not always sure when they're going good," Welsh said.
"I used to think I had the answers when we won our first couple of bowl games, but I don't have the answers anymore."
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB