Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 15, 1994 TAG: 9411150103
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
``Got to get to eight,'' UVa quarterback Mike Groh said Monday.
The Cavaliers have won seven football games in each of the past two seasons but have faltered when afforded the opportunity to do something special in November.
``We agreed as a team and a coaching staff in the spring that it's important for us to get off the seven-win level, [and] that we weren't satisfied with 7-4,'' head coach George Welsh said. ``Now, we're in the position where we can do something about it.''
Standing in the Cavaliers' way are 14th-ranked Virginia Tech, which entertains UVa at 12:07 p.m. Saturday, and No.25 North Carolina State, which comes to Charlottesville the day after Thanksgiving.
Virginia is one of eight Division I-A teams that has won seven or more games in eight straight seasons, but the Cavaliers almost seem to be apologizing for a feat that puts them in the company of Florida State, Miami, Nebraska, Colorado, Michigan, Alabama and Texas A&M.
``When you consider the company,'' center Bryan Heath said, ``it's something you can be proud of.
But if you look back at the records, those other teams won 10 games or nine games, then won seven games, then won 10 games again.
``It seems like we've won seven or eight every year except when we went 10-2 [in 1991]. It's nice, but it's something we need to get out of. I would not be proud of another seven-win season, followed by another loss in a bowl. That stinks.''
ANOTHER BLOOD-LETTING: Welsh says there are no ``big games,'' so nobody was surprised when he declined to give Saturday's game that distinction. But, he did call it ``one of those in-state rivalries,'' presumably comparing it to Auburn-Alabama and not VMI-Richmond.
``I'll say this,'' Welsh elaborated. ``I'd cut my wrist for this one. I borrowed that from [Bobby] Bowden. This is true: The year Army beat us [at Navy], they all cut their wrists and put them together. Bonded their blood. Then, they played as well as they ever did against us.''
TECH TIES: Although he never has played against the Hokies, Groh knows Lane Stadium top to bottom.
Groh, whose father was the head coach at Wake Forest, said he attended Tech's football camp for two or three years when Bill Dooley was the Hokies' coach in the mid-1980s. Wake did not have a camp, so Al Groh, who had worked under Dooley at North Carolina, sent his son to Tech.
``I can remember getting caught up after curfew one night and having to run the stadium steps,'' the younger Groh said. ``At that age, it's [summer camp] basically a baby-sitting service.''
Groh also went to camp at North Carolina State and has connections with most of the teams on UVa's schedule. He took a recruiting visit to Maryland, and his father coached at Wake Forest, North Carolina and Air Force, where current Duke coach Fred Goldsmith was a fellow assistant.
ALMOST A HOKIE: No Virginia player came as close to going to Virginia Tech as junior defensive back Joe Crocker, the first player in UVa history to score touchdowns on an interception return, punt return and kickoff return.
``I really enjoyed my visit to Virginia Tech and had my mind all set on going to Virginia Tech,'' Crocker said. ``I had done everything but say I was coming. I had every intention of going there.''
Crocker said he changed his mind when UVa assistant Bob Petchel, on his last trip to see Crocker at Sussex Central, produced a list of in-state players who already had committed to the Cavaliers.
``He got up to go to the bathroom,'' Crocker said, ``and, when he got back, I had put my name at the bottom of the list.''
ON SECOND THOUGHT: A review of the statistics from Virginia's 46-21 victory over Maryland revealed that the Cavaliers were not given credit for one of their five sacks and had held the Terrapins to minus-42 yards rushing, a school and ACC record. UVa now ranks No.1 in Division I-A in rushing defense with a yield of 58.6 yards per game.
ODDS AND ENDS: Ronde Barber, James Farrior and Crocker rank 1-2-3 in the ACC in interceptions. ... Of the 10 touchdowns UVa fullback Charles Way has scored in the last two years, five have come against Maryland. ... The Cavaliers do not have a fumble in the last four games. ... The UVa players were awakened Saturday at 4 a.m. by a hotel fire, but it might have been a good omen. The Cavaliers beat Georgia Tech 55-24 in 1992 after another fire alarm.
by CNB