Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 20, 1994 TAG: 9411220055
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Rafael Garcia, playing in front of his father for the first time in his college career, broke a Virginia school record Saturday by kicking five field goals in the Cavaliers' 42-23 victory over Virginia Tech.
``I was 0-for-5 the only time he saw me play in high school,'' said Garcia, a sophomore from George Washington High in Danville. ``It definitely made it more special that he was here today.''
Garcia had field goals of 28, 43, 37, 50 and 22 yards to break the record of four field goals shared by five players, including Jake McInerney and Kenny Stadlin, who each accomplished the feat twice.
Garcia had not kicked a field goal of more than 40 yards all season before his 43-yarder in the first quarter, but coach George Welsh said he was ``playing a hunch'' when he let Garcia try a 50-yarder in the third period.
``I had such a bad week of practice that I thought, if we had fourth down, that we were either going to go for [the first down] or punt,'' Garcia said.
``Coach Welsh came up to me on Thursday and said, `If there's one thing I can say to you, it's just, you gotta kick it.'''
Welsh has never been considered a special-teams guru, but apparently his advice worked.
Garcia set a school record with his 17th field goal of the season (in 21 attempts) and broke another UVa record with 18 kicking points in the game.
The records came against a Tech program that recruited Garcia and would have gotten him with the offer of a scholarship. Garcia ``walked on'' at Virginia and received a grant this fall.
BARBER SCORES: Tiki Barber, a sophomore from Cave Spring High in Roanoke, accomplished the one goal he set for Saturday when he had a 14-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
``This is a highlight for me,'' said Barber after his first appearance at Lane Stadium, where his father, J.B., played running back for the Hokies in the early 1970s.
Barber carried 16 times for 74 yards, but was happy the Cavaliers weren't hurt by a punt he muffed, leading to a Tech field goal that made it 25-16 in the third quarter.
``I probably shouldn't have been back there,'' Barber said. ``I took a shot to the shoulder earlier in the game and can barely lift my arm now.''
INJURIES: UVa defensive tackle Mark Krichbaum was limping after the game after being kicked in the same leg that was broken before the season and caused him to miss the first five games. ... Cavaliers' offensive guard John Slocum suffered a sprained ankle and did not play after the first series. ... Tech did not report any new injuries.
TOUGH SPOT: Virginia got much of its rushing yardage off counter plays that some may have interpreted as an effort to exploit true freshman Tony Morrison, a first-time starter at outside linebacker.
``It was more a case of running away from Cornell Brown than running at No.8 [Morrison],'' Virginia offensive coordinator Tom O'Brien said. ``He lines up away from Cornell Brown, so it just makes sense that you test the new kid.''
Morrison was starting in place of Brandon Semones, who moved to inside linebacker when regular Ken Brown was sidelined by a hamstring injury.
COLORFUL: Virginia Tech receiver Antonio Freeman said the Hokies' all-orange uniforms were not intended as a motivational ploy. In 1990, the Hokies wore all-maroon uniforms for the ESPN-televised Virginia game and routed the Sugar Bowl-bound Cavs 38-13.
``As a football player, you're supposed to be psyched anyway,'' Freeman said. ``No jersey's gonna psyche you up. We just thought we'd change it up a little bit. A jersey can't win a football game. If it was a fashion show, maybe we'd have been in the running.''
DESHAZO REVIEW: Tech senior quarterback Maurice DeShazo's 235 yards passing and 2 yards rushing make him Tech's all-time total offense leader with 6,105. Don Strock had 5,871 from 1970-72. DeShazo's five interceptions Saturday overshadowed some of his career achievements - among them having led Tech to a 17-6 record and two bowl games in the past two years - but his teammates didn't forget.
``I feel real bad for him. I love Maurice to death,'' tight end Kevin Martin said. ``Maurice is an exceptional quarterback. Things didn't go his way.''
DeShazo and Freeman played four years together and became Tech's career leaders in touchdown passes and receptions, respectively.
``We're both hurting,'' Freeman said. ``We embraced [after the game]. I thanked him for five years of fun. It's sad to see it come to an end on your home field the way we got beat.''
Tech coach Frank Beamer said the staff talked briefly about replacing DeShazo with Jim Druckenmiller late in the game, but decided against it.
``I wasn't about to desert him at that point,'' Beamer said.
ETC: The attendance of 53,157 is the third-largest crowd in Lane Stadium history ... Tech punter Robbie Colley just missed setting the single-season punting average record. His 42.1 trails Dave Smigelsky's 42.3 set in 1979 ... DeShazo had not been intercepted in his last 78 passes at home before Joe Crocker's pickoff in the second quarter. That came after UVa's Randy Neal intercepted DeShazo's point-after-touchdown try, but that play does not count in official statistics ... Tech had scored 30 or more points in its last 12 home games, including an average of 42 in its last three games, before Saturday.
by CNB