ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, August 16, 1996 TAG: 9608160064
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: UVA NOTES
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
If everything goes according to plan, Virginia's football team should know its starting quarterback by the time the Cavaliers begin preparations for their opener Sept.7 against Central Michigan.
``The optimum time would be a day or two after our final scrimmage Aug. 28,'' coach George Welsh said at Media Day on Thursday as veteran players reported for the start of practice today. ``I hate to tie myself down, but unless there are unusual circumstances, we will have a quarterback named by the following Sunday'' Sept. 1.
Fifth-year senior Tim Sherman and sophomore Aaron Brooks are the candidates to succeed Mike Groh, who set a school record last season when he passed for 2,510 yards.
Sherman was the No.2 quarterback last year, when he played in six games and completed 11 of 17 passes, but Welsh was reluctant to pick a starter in the spring. That is consistent with past competitions for the Cavaliers' quarterback job.
``It's unlikely they would be deadlocked after three scrimmages and another two weeks of practice,'' Welsh said. ``When we've had these situations before - and this has to be the third time or the fourth - we've always felt that somebody had an edge.''
Welsh said he would not feel a need to reward Sherman for his perseverance or give Brooks special consideration because he has three years of eligibility remaining.
``Maybe you do that if you're in a building program,'' said Welsh, who has watched the Cavaliers win seven or more games in nine successive seasons. ``This team is not in a building program. We feel we have enough talent to win this year.''
SECONDARY SOLIDIFIED: Welsh, attempting to replace three starters in the secondary, got some good news when fifth-year defensive back Joe Rowe was allowed to rejoin the team after missing spring practice while on academic probation.
Rowe appeared in all 12 regular-season games last year, as well as the Peach Bowl, and has experience at safety and cornerback. Neither Rowe nor fellow fifth-year senior Sam McKiver is expected to start, but they provide valuable experience and depth.
Defensive coordinator Rick Lantz said Joe Williams, previously a back-up at cornerback, is the leading candidate to start at safety. Lantz is high on redshirt freshman Dwayne Stukes, who will concentrate on cornerback after playing offense and defense in the spring.
HELP AT RECEIVER: Derick Byrd, who virtually disappeared after catching passes in 14 consecutive games, has overcome academic concerns and off-season back surgery to put in his claim for one of the receiver spots.
Byrd has been cleared for full contact after undergoing a lumbar dissectomy, a procedure that relieved a sharp pain that extended from one of his hamstrings to one of his feet. Byrd's uncertain status was one reason the coaches moved Terrence Wilkins, last year's No.3 tailback, to wide receiver.
JONES A FACTOR: Welsh said prize recruit Thomas Jones from Powell Valley will begin the fall as UVa's No.3 tailback behind Tiki Barber and Anthony Southern and will not be redshirted as long as he is contending for the back-up job.
Lantz said his judgment after the freshmen had practiced twice a day for two days was that there were ``no washouts'' in UVa's recruiting class. Said Welsh: ``I walked off the field after the second practice and told somebody, `Don't let me ever count on freshmen again.'''
STILL TALKING: Defensive tackle Todd White, who last year established a reputation for colorful quotes, informed his friends in the media that he took a diction class during the summer.
``Some people said I had trouble talking [and] that I wasn't that clear,'' said White, who, with Barber, is a co-captain. ``I have to enunciate my words a lot better, so when I start yelling in the locker room, people can understand a lot better.''
White, who is from Baton Rouge, La., is one of seven fifth-year Cavaliers who will be playing as graduate students. He said he learned he has been mispronouncing his surname and demonstrated the correct way by saying ``White'' as if blowing out a candle.
WARE SIGHTING: Media visitors included former Virginia offensive lineman and Roanoker David Ware, who has taken a position as a sales representative for WTEM, the all-sports radio station that carries UVa football and basketball games in the Washington, D.C., area.
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN SPEARMAN Staff. 1. Defensive lineman Todd White,by CNBthe quotable Cavaliers co-captain, is the center of media attention
Thursday during UVa's photo session in Charlottesville. 2. UVa
players clown for the media Thursday in Charlottesville.