Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 1, 1994 TAG: 9411010084
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Willis is recovering from his second of two hamstring injuries and apparently will be available Saturday, when the Cavaliers visit No.23 Duke at noon, but Virginia coach George Welsh informed the players last Friday that Groh was his choice.
``[It was] mostly because Groh was playing well,'' Welsh said. ``I don't know if Willis is 100 percent. He says he is, but I didn't want to wait.''
Although Willis set a school record last year for total offense in a season, Groh has led the ACC in passing efficiency for most of the year and ranks sixth in Division I-A.
``It's nice,'' Groh said. ``I felt, the way I've played, that I deserved to be out there. The offense has been going well, so it would be foolish to make a change.
``If I had been the one chosen last year, I felt I could have done the things Symmion did.''
BACK IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT: Welsh isn't surprised that Fred Goldsmith has become the driving force behind Duke's football resurgence.
Goldsmith, the Blue Devils coach, was driving when Welsh met him.
``He was [Joe] Paterno's driver at the Orange Bowl in 1968 or 1969,'' said Welsh, who then was an assistant under Paterno at Penn State.
Goldsmith was a high-school coach in Florida at the time and was one of several coaches serving as chauffeurs.
``I don't know if he was Paterno's personal driver,'' Welsh said, ``but I was in the car with him a couple of times. I forget where we were going.
``I do remember him from then. Don't ask me why. Maybe we talked football sometime. You know, you hang around the lobby a lot at those games.''
Goldsmith was only two years out of college at the time and presumably had not been driving for a long time, but Welsh was impressed.
``I know one thing: He knew how to get to Joe's Stone Crab House,'' Welsh said. ``We went there a few times.''
NO BIG DEAL:Virginia, which was unranked when it was 4-1, has won two games and jumped all the way to 10th in the USA Today-CNN Coaches' Poll and 13th in The Associated Press rankings.
``Top 10?'' Welsh asked. ``Could have fooled me. All you've got to do is have an open date and have a lot of teams get beat.''
The Cavaliers have risen 12 notches in each poll by virtue of one victory, a 34-10 triumph over then-No.15 North Carolina. UVa was idle last Saturday.
``It's ridiculous,'' UVa center Bryan Heath said. ``How many spots [five] did we move up last week? Maybe we should take off the rest of the season and we'll win the national championship.''
SPECIAL TEAMS: Welsh said several personnel changes have been made in the kickoff team, which has been an area of concern for weeks.
What Welsh would really like is for Rafael Garcia to start booming his kickoffs deep into the end zone. After four of Garcia's kickoffs resulted in touchbacks against William and Mary, 19 of the last 20 have been returned.
UVA SIBLING: Damon Wallace, the brother of ex-Cavaliers' defensive back Jason Wallace, starts at offensive guard for the Blue Devils after bouncing between positions for his first four years.
``We never saw him as an offensive lineman,'' Welsh said. ``I don't remember how big he was in high school, but he's probably 40 pounds bigger [250] right now. He's a good guard now. He really has handled some teams.''
ODDS AND ENDS: A third Wallace brother, Eric, was a defensive back for Welsh at Navy. ... Virginia, an eight-point favorite, is bidding for consecutive victories over ranked teams for the first time in school history. ... The Cavaliers and Blue Devils have met once when both teams were ranked, in 1952, when sixth-ranked Duke beat No.7 UVa, 21-7, in Charlottesville. ... One more victory would give Virginia its eighth straight season with seven or more wins. The ACC record is eight, set by Maryland between 1973 and 1980. ... UVa offensive tackle Chris Harrison is scheduled for a court appearance today on charges that he sold books that had been stolen by another student.
by CNB