Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 23, 1995 TAG: 9510230150
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: AUSTIN, TEXAS LENGTH: Long
One of the first things George Welsh told his team in its postgame meeting Saturday was not to feel snakebit, which, in itself, was no easy task.
Virginia had just lost a football game for the second time this season on the final play of the game and the players were searching for explanations.
``We know that, obviously, we are the only people who control the outcome,'' said wide receiver Patrick Jeffers, trying hard to follow the party line. ``Put up more points and we're not even in that situation.
``We don't feel like we're snakebit, but, at the same time, it's like our luck has just flat run out. You expect something good to happen to you sometime, but, when it comes down to the last play, it's only bad.''
The Cavaliers led almost the entire way against Texas before Phil Dawson kicked a 50-yard field goal against the wind to give the Longhorns a 17-16 victory as time expired.
Virginia (6-3) had lost on the final play at Michigan, when wide receiver Mercury Hayes - a Texan, no less - caught a 15-yard touchdown pass to make it 18-17 on Aug.26 in the Pigskin Classic.
The Cavaliers' three losses have come by a total of seven points, including a 22-17 setback at North Carolina in a game that was not decided until the final minute.
``I told 'em, `Those things turn around,''' Welsh said. ``Maybe the next close one we'll win. Maybe it'll be a conference game. [If] so, it'll be more important. I think that's the attitude we've got to take.''
The Cavaliers' next game is with No.1-ranked Florida State, which has won 29 consecutive conference games, but at least 20th-ranked Virginia has an open date (as do the Seminoles) before the Nov.2 matchup.
``There's no question we need it,'' Welsh said of the break. ``Not only is it the toughest [schedule] in my memory, but the way it's set up - with five road games - and then we added Michigan [and that] just compounded it.
``We've been to Michigan, North Carolina, Clemson, Texas ... you name it. Plus, N.C. State. I think our kids have done well. I'm proud of them. I think they played a hell of a game.''
The Longhorns, now ranked 15th, had 453 yards in total offense and 256 yards on the ground - both highs against Virginia this season. Freshman tailback Ricky Williams, a baseball player for the Martinsville (Va.) Phillies during the summer, had 14 carries for 139 yards.
``We've had guys rush for 100 yards against us before,'' Welsh said. ``The whole point is they only got 14 points to the very end. You're going to go back and forth if teams are evenly matched.''
Virginia had 411 yards in total offense, boasting a 200-yard passer in Mike Groh and a 100-yard rusher in Tiki Barber, but Welsh wouldn't have minded just one more first down.
If Jeffers had been able to come up with a low throw from Groh on third-and-nine on UVa's last series, the Cavaliers would have been able to run more time off the clock instead of sending kicker Rafael Garcia on the field with 3:12 remaining.
``That wasn't [a] tough [catch] at all,'' said Jeffers, who had a career-high seven receptions in his return to his native Texas. ``I probably should have tried to catch it with my hands. I tried to cradle it into my body and it just bounced out.
`` ... I felt bad about that for all of about five seconds, till Rafael made that field goal. I was saying, `Hey, that didn't matter.' Everybody was feeling pretty good at that time.''
Garcia's 56-yarder, which tied a school record established by Kenny Stadlin in 1984, was his third of the game. But nobody was more devastated than Garcia after Dawson's kick went through at the end.
``The last time I felt they didn't give me a chance,'' said Garcia, who was not given an opportunity to attempt a field goal late in the Michigan game. ``This time, they had to give me a chance, but it's the same feeling, really, when you lose.''
Welsh was left to ponder an assortment of plays, including a fourth-and-one on Texas' last drive, when a measurement gave the Longhorns a first down by an inch - ``half an inch,'' Welsh said.
Then, there was a scramble by Texas quarterback James Brown, who ran out of bounds at the UVa 33-yard line on the Longhorns' next-to-last play. Virginia players were in the area, but basically let Brown go untouched for 3 or 4 yards.
Still, nobody was thinking Dawson would make a 50-yarder after he missed from 52 and 57 yards with the wind.
``You know how I am,'' said Welsh, a worrier by nature. ``I think it's always possible, but his chances of making those every week are not very good. It just happened against us.''
Groh, visibly moved as he cheered on the defense during the final drive, was so distraught after the game he did not come to the interview area. Neither did defensive coordinator Rick Lantz.
``I told [the players] after the game, `Get away from it. Forget about it. We've still got a lot to play for,''' said offensive coordinator Tom O'Brien, who plans to leave home at 6:30 a.m. today and recruit until practice resumes Wednesday.
``If we play our butts off, we can still win eight or nine games,'' he said. ``If we win eight or nine, with the places we've been, this can still be judged [as] a heck of a Virginia football team.''
by CNB