ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 30, 1995 TAG: 9601020034
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ATLANTA
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
Last Sunday, Virginia offensive coordinator Tom O'Brien took his wife, Jennifer, to see the Atlanta Falcons play the San Francisco 49ers in the Georgia Dome.
It was a rough and tumble game that went down to the final minutes. The O'Briens should have figured as much. When the Falcons scored a touchdown to go up 28-27 with 1:45 left to play, the couple had to laugh.
``It's got to be you,'' Jennifer O'Brien said to her husband.
A game couldn't be played any other way if it involves O'Brien and the Cavaliers. All four of Virginia's losses were sealed in the final minute. In the one-point shortfalls at Michigan and Texas, it happened in the final second.
At 3.5 points, Virginia's average loss margin is second in the nation to Northwestern, which lost one game by two points.
``The theory goes that if you have two evenly-matched teams, it should come down to the last drive,'' Virginia defensive coordinator Rick Lantz said. ``We've tested that theory just a little too much.''
That's the real reason the Peach Bowl was the perfect place for the Cavaliers. Since 1989, no Peach Bowl has been decided by more than four points. Since 1984, Virginia's last Peach Bowl appearance and its first bowl visit ever, the average victory margin in the game has been three points.
Although the teams' records and rankings would lead one to believe otherwise, today's matchup could fit the game's recent trend.
Georgia may have been ravaged by injury, particularly at the skill positions this season, but the Bulldogs' lines can make up for that. After losing to the Bulldogs 19-17 on Oct. 7, Clemson coach Tommy West said Georgia had the best offensive and defensive lines he had faced.
That included Virginia, which had beaten the Tigers 22-3 two weeks earlier.
Clemson had one of the ACC's better defensive fronts, but it still could not keep Georgia scatback Torin Kirtsey from running for 195 yards. Kirtsey was the Bulldogs fifth starting scatback at the time and is one of three - along with Larry Bowie and Selma Calloway - who will play against Virginia.
``I wish we could say this is a lousy football team and we're just going to show up, but that's not true,'' Lantz said.
The Bulldogs are a banged-up team, though. Quarterback Mike Bobo, scatback Robert Edwards, linebacker Randall Godfrey and nose guard Travis Stroud, all early-season stars, will miss the Peach Bowl with various ailments. Free safety Corey Johnson, Georgia's top defensive back, is questionable. He didn't practice Thursday on the hard Georgia Dome turf.
Other than defensive end Jon Harris, who is expected to miss the game with a serious thigh bruise, the Cavaliers are healthy. Safety Paul London hasn't practiced with a knee he twisted last Friday, but Virginia coach George Welsh said he will play.
On the encouraging side for the Cavs, wide receiver Patrick Jeffers and tight end Bobby Neely will start the same game for the first time all year. Welsh said Jeffers has been practicing at 100 percent the past 10 days.
As a team, Virginia has been well-behaved, too. There haven't been any incidents that would result in a suspension. Welsh said that is a positive change from some past bowls, and he specifically mentioned the 1994 Carquest Bowl experience.
``We had too much Fort Lauderdale [Fla.] that week,'' he said. ``You're gonna see everybody, no surprises'' this time.
But if this game goes down to the last drive, fans may see something different - a tiebreaker. This season, bowls that end in ties after regulation will be decided in overtime.
Each team gets the ball on the opponent's 25-yard line and has a chance to score, as long as it doesn't run out of downs.
``I hope it gets to a playoff,'' Georgia coach Ray Goff said a day before his final game as the Bulldogs' head coach. ``Hell, I'd like to have that opportunity.''
Beside him, Welsh's eyes bugged out as he yelped, ``Hah!''
``I'd rather tie the game and go into overtime than go for two, though,'' Welsh said.
Goff looked at him.
``Can I count on that coach?'' Goff said, adding that he never has minded ties.
``A tie two years ago saved my job,'' he said, referring to Georgia's 23-23 lockup with then-undefeated Auburn. ``A lot of people say a tie is like kissing your sister. Well, my sister's pretty, so it never bothered me a whole lot.''
Neither team has played in the Georgia Dome, and neither has a great record in domes, anyway.
Virginia has played in a dome just once, falling to Tennessee 23-22 in the 1991 Sugar Bowl at the Louisiana Superdome. Welsh is 1-1 in domes, having beaten Syracuse in the Carrier Dome while a coach at Navy.
Georgia is 1-5 in domes, but that victory gave them the 1980 national championship.
Welsh said Friday he was concerned only about punt returns, because the illuminated Georgia Dome ceiling could obscure the football. Other than that, he liked the place.
``It's really, really cool,'' Virginia quarterback Mike Groh said.
There isn't much that can bother Welsh and the Cavaliers, unless the game goes like so many others this season.
``I think it's going to be a close game,'' Welsh said. ``If it goes down to the last play and we're on defense, I'm going to have visions of bad things happening.''
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. Georgia coach Ray Goff (right) claims his playersby CNBwant to win for themselves, not the outgoing coach. Virginia coach
George Welsh (left) thinks it will be a close game.