Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 22, 1994 TAG: 9411150004
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Never until this afternoon, however, when the ACC rivals meet on Scott Stadium's artificial turf and ABC regional TV, has UNC-UVa been played on 80-pound paper stock glossed with durocoat.
That's the finish on the cover of the Cavaliers' 1994 football media guide. What began as a computer-generated illustration of UVa's new blue-based football uniforms has evolved into bulletin-board material that has Carolina seeing red.
In the drawing, a Cavalier is tackling a Tar Heel. It's a flammable cover in more ways than one. Craig Hornberger, UVa's sports publications editor, said the Cavaliers thought about using a generic opponent, then decided to make the drawing as realistic as possible.
Perhaps it was the rivalry, maybe the fiercest in the ACC, certainly the oldest in Division I-A this side of the Mississippi River. Perhaps it was UVa's recent dominance of the series, 8-2-1 in the last 11 meetings, six wins in the last seven games and six straight triumphs over UNC at Scott Stadium.
Whatever the reason, UNC is unhappy about being a cover-boy tackling dummy. Certainly, the Cavaliers understand. They were incensed last weekend when ESPN anchor Chris Fowler made Georgia Tech his ``Mighty Dog'' pick against the Cavaliers, who won 24-7.
Guess what? Fowler has picked UNC, a 31/2-point underdog, this week.
Woof, woof.
Still, there's much more to this cover story.
It's a matchup of 5-1 nationally ranked teams; a matchup with bowl coalition implications. If No. 15 UNC keeps winning, the Tar Heels could find themselves 10-1 and in the Fiesta Bowl on Jan. 2. Virginia, having climbed into The Associated Press poll this week at No. 25, could get a sixth straight win and be favored to finish behind Florida State in the ACC race.
There's the UVa defense, ranked first nationally against the run, facing a test from Carolina's Johnson & Johnson rushing attack that has averaged 247 ground yards per game and 338.5 yards in its last two games. Each team averages more than 400 yards of total offense per game. And there's always the quarterback intrigue on coach George Welsh's sideline.
Instead, Welsh is fielding questions on the media guide cover, which UNC coach Mack Brown calls - understatingly - ``a real good conversation piece.''
Welsh said he's been reading about the UNC reaction to the guide since the summer.
``I didn't like it when I saw it,'' he said. ``I knew it was a problem, but it was too late then.''
Welsh need look no farther than his own football office to answer why it happened. Hornberger, refusing to divulge a rubber-stamper, said one of UVa's assistant coaches approved the cover before it went to print. ``I'm just personally sorry coach Welsh has had this distraction,'' Hornberger said.
How could UVa be so cavalier? And how did it happen? Charlottesville designer Ron Martin developed the cover from a decade-old, black-and-white photo of UVa linebacker Charles McDaniel making a tackle in a game against ... Clemson. The Clemson orange wouldn't have worked as well in the color scheme and wouldn't have made UVa's new blue jerseys and helmets stand out, which was the whole idea.
``We decided to go with Carolina,'' Hornberger said, ``although if we had it to do over again, we'd do something different. It is a big rivalry. I think the fact that the cover has been getting as much attention as it has says something about that.''
UVa couldn't use a photo of the new uniforms because they hadn't been delivered. The illustration has only produced more color - and colorful language - in a series that has been played every season since Virginia returned to football in 1919 after a two-year interruption during World War I.
With basketball guides about to be published, do not expect UNC to fire back. Carolina coach Dean Smith always has his senior players featured on the cover, but you won't see a drawing of little-used guard Pearce Landry dunking over Junior Burrough.
No, expect any future put-downs in this rivalry to be more undercover.
by CNB