Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 16, 1994 TAG: 9410180043
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Long
If the nation's awareness didn't increase Saturday, at least the winning streak did as unranked UVa made it five in a row with a 24-7 victory at Georgia Tech.
``Everybody is going to say Georgia Tech is 1-5 and that they're [the Yellow Jackets] no good,'' defensive end Mike Frederick said. ``I can tell you, they looked pretty good on film.''
More than a few people thought the Yellow Jackets would beat Virginia, most notably ESPN football host Chris Fowler, who selected Georgia Tech as his upset pick of the week.
``Georgia Tech was his `Mighty Dog,''' UVa linebacker Randy Neal said. ``He said they were his lock of the week. I think everybody on the team saw it because we had just gotten to the hotel when it came on.''
Needless to say, Fowler's comment fired up the Cavaliers.
``Did it!'' Neal exclaimed.
If Virginia needed a lift once the game started, it was provided by Neal, who intercepted a Tommy Luginbill pass on Georgia Tech's second series and returned it 77 yards for a touchdown.
To that point, Georgia Tech (1-5 overall, 0-4 ACC) had moved the ball with some success against the Cavaliers, but Neal's interception set the tone for the latest in a series of outstanding defensive performances.
The Cavaliers, ranked fifth in Division I-A in rushing defense, limited the Yellow Jackets to 19 yards and two first downs on the ground. Luginbill passed for 310 yards, but was sacked six times - UVa's third consecutive six-sack game.
``That's the way you win football games,'' Frederick said. ``You stop the run and make them pass and that makes it easy. It takes a lot of the guessing out of it.
``It's a simple game when you execute it the right way. How hard is it to figure out, when they're down 17 points in the fourth quarter, that they're not going to run the ball? They don't have time to run the ball.''
Virginia (5-1, 3-1) outgained the Yellow Jackets only 333 to 329, but was able to control the ball with a running game that rushed for more than 200 yards for the third straight week.
Tiki Barber, a sophomore from Roanoke, started in place of Kevin Brooks at tailback and carried 22 times for a career-high 123 yards. Barber's 3-yard touchdown put Virginia ahead 17-7 at the half.
Charles Way's 1-yard plunge with 4 minutes, 46 seconds remaining in the third quarter was the final score for Virginia, which didn't get too fancy with Mike Groh subbing for injured starter Symmion Willis at quarterback.
After missing badly on his first three passes on a windswept day, Groh connected on nine of his next 10, with the only miss on a drop. The ACC's passing-efficiency leader, he finished 12-of-20 for 113 yards.
``I would have liked to have thrown the ball a little more,'' UVa coach George Welsh said, ``but the tempo of the game dictated our calls. We wanted to run the ball and the clock in the second half.''
When the standard question, ``What about the quarterback,'' was asked after the game, Welsh responded with a question of his own: ``What about the punter?''
Sophomore Will Brice had the longest punt of his career, a 78-yarder in the fourth quarter, and had three other punts downed inside the Georgia Tech 20, two inside the 5. The captains awarded him one of the game balls.
There were few highlights for Georgia Tech, which did not get inside the Virginia 30-yard line in the second half. Starting tailback Jimy Lincoln, who rushed for 229 yards against UVa in 1991, had 3 yards on nine carries Saturday.
Third-year Georgia Tech coach Bill Lewis has not beaten the Cavaliers, who won for the fifth time at Grant Field since 1985. Lewis' job future has been a topic of conversation on Atlanta sports talk shows.
``I'm really disappointed in our football team,'' Lewis said. ``I don't think that we played anywhere near as well as we're capable. I don't think we coached well and I don't think we played well. That is totally my responsibility.''
The Yellow Jackets had two turnovers, which was less than their average, but their minus-1.4 turnover margin increased because the Cavaliers didn't have any. Tech had ranked 100th out of 107 Division I-A teams in that category.
``Obviously, the guy made a great play on (the interception),'' Luginbill said. ``I thought it was incomplete, and then I see all these people running the other way. I just gave them a touchdown.''
It marked the 10th straight game in which Virginia has had an interception and Welsh admitted the UVa defense has seldom played better, a welcome sign as the Cavaliers prepare for 15th-ranked North Carolina next week in Charlottesville.
``I'm sure it's going to turn into the war - in the media if nowhere else,'' Frederick said. ``I don't care who we've beaten. Up to this point it's our game of the year.''
\ see microfilm for box score
by CNB