Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 15, 1995 TAG: 9510160111
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Long
A whole lot of postseason plans were canceled during the second quarter Saturday at Scott Stadium.
Virginia's football season was at a crossroads, just as coach George Welsh had predicted earlier in the week.
``The players were more upset than I was,'' said Welsh, who, in that case, must have been throwing his hat for effect. ``I was thinking that it was still early in the game.''
It took the biggest comeback of the 14-year Welsh era, but if the Cavaliers have learned anything over the years, it's that no lead is too large or too safe.
Quarterback Mike Groh passed for a school-record 346 yards and tailback Tiki Barber had a career-high 185 yards rushing as 19th-ranked UVa prevailed 44-30.
``My heart's not going to take many more like that,'' said Welsh, whose team trailed 21-3 in the second quarter and 24-13 at the half.
Welsh's second UVa team twice rallied from 14-point deficits for victories in 1983, but the last time the Cavaliers had come from as many as 10 points down and won was against North Carolina in 1987.
``If we lose today, we're 5-3 going down to Texas next week and that's not a good position,'' Groh said. ``You never want to be 18 down, but we were confident we could come back.''
The Blue Devils came into Scott Stadium as 221/2-point underdogs after losing three games in a row, but many of the players returned from a team that beat UVa 28-25 last season.
``We got up 3-0 and it seemed everything was going pretty smoothly,'' UVa defensive tackle Todd White said. ``Then, bam, bam, bam, and it was 21-3. We were like, Damn!'''
Virginia cut the deficit to 21-10 on an 82-yard touchdown pass from Groh to Pete Allen and then something happened that Virginia fans had to consider a good omen.
It started raining.
``We play better in the rain,'' said Welsh, whose team had ignored the precipitation in a victory earlier this year over Georgia Tech. ``Don't we? It seems like we do.''
While it was still dry, Groh went through a stretch when he completed only three of 15 passes and was intercepted twice. In all fairness, however, reporters in the press box counted nine dropped passes by the Cavaliers.
``Really?'' Welsh said. ``I don't know about that. There's five or six, though, I'm sure. Whew.''
On the other side, Duke quarterback Spence Fischer completed 13 of his first 15 passes and was virtually flawless until the Blue Devils' first possession of the second half, when he was intercepted by Percy Ellsworth.
It was Virginia's first interception of the game, extending the Cavaliers streak of games with at least one interception to 24. More importantly, it gave UVa excellent field position at the Duke 25-yard line.
``Just for me personally, I thought the ball came back a little wet a few times,'' said Fischer, who finished 35-of-56 for 360 yards. ``There were a couple of throws I'd like to have back.''
Barber's 9-yard touchdown run made it 24-21 with 11:58 remaining in the third quarter and he put the Cavaliers ahead, 31-24, on an 11-yard touchdown reception with 36 seconds remaining in the period.
``It's a good thing I'm slippery when wet,'' said Barber, who had 255 all-purpose yards, most by a UVa player in 27 years. ``At least that's what Groh told me.''
Duke wasn't finished, cutting the deficit to 31-30 on Fischer's third touchdown pass of the game, a 35-yarder to Corey Thomas with 12:12 remaining. However, Tom Cochran's extra-point try was wide to the left.
No matter. Groh came right back with a 69-yard touchdown pass to Allen, whose last touchdown reception before Saturday was against the Blue Devils last year -- a string of 12 games.
``I'm going to remember this for the rest of my life,'' said Allen, who scored on a 49-yard reverse against Wake Forest. ``This [catching passes] is what I'm out there for.''
Allen finished with five receptions for 160 yards, including a 4-yarder with just over a minute remaining that enabled Groh to break Shawn Moore's record of 344 yards set against Georgia Tech in 1990.
Allen, one of several UVa players to return to the game after being injured, went to the locker room to receive fluids intravenously after being helped from the field with cramps.
Groh and Barber were injured on back-to-back plays at the end of the first half and Groh immediately went to the locker room for treatment after taking a shot to the knee.
``I didn't know if we were going to be able to play him in the second half the way he was,'' Welsh said. ``We wanted to put him in at the goal line [before the half], but he said he couldn't run.''
The Cavaliers, who turned the ball over three times in the first half, evened that score with three second-half interceptions. UVa held Duke without a first down on seven of nine possessions after it had gone ahead 21-3.
The Blue Devils fell to 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the ACC with their ninth loss in 12 games dating back to last season. The victory assured Virginia (6-2, 5-1) of a winning conference record.
``I think the team has to feel good about it,'' Welsh said. ``It's tough to crank it up, but I hope [the players] understand that a little emotion goes a long way.''
see microfilm for box score
by CNB