ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, September 28, 1996 TAG: 9609300122
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
In the early 1980s, when George Welsh was beginning his tenure as Virginia's football coach, it would have been ludicrous to think a team like Texas might come to Scott Stadium.
``I doubt that we could have gotten a team like Texas to come here,'' Welsh said earlier this week. ``I wouldn't have wanted to schedule them in those years anyway.''
In other words, the Cavaliers did not have the kind of reputation to attract intersectional opponents - at least the kind that would come to Charlottesville - and Welsh didn't feel they could beat them.
Supporters of Welsh's predecessor, Dick Bestwick, could point out that Virginia won at Georgia (31-0) in 1979 and at Tennessee (16-13) in 1980, but Welsh is right about one thing: Those teams never would have come to Charlottesville.
The Cavaliers also played Michigan in 1971, Missouri in 1972, Washington in 1976, Texas in 1977 and Georgia in 1985. All were one-game series. All were on the road.
Virginia's first home-and-home series against a national power was with Penn State in 1988-89 and even that had extenuating circumstances. Welsh had worked under Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno for 11 years, 1963-73.
But even that friendship had its limits. The series was discontinued when the Cavaliers learned that Paterno wanted two home games in exchange for one trip to Charlottesville.
In that respect, the Cavaliers' game with No. 13 Texas at 7:30 tonight represents a first, at least during the 15-year Welsh era. No intersectional opponent of the Longhorns' stature previously has been willing to schedule the Cavaliers on even terms.
Virginia Tech and Penn State are the only other nationally ranked non-conference teams to come to Charlottesville during Welsh's tenure. Before that, UVa's last non-ACC home game with a Top 25 team was against Army in 1957.
Outside the conference, Virginia has beaten one Top 25 team at home, No.20 Virginia Tech in 1995 (20-17). Oddsmakers may not have been aware of that when they installed UVa as a three-point favorite in a line that jumped to four points by week's end.
``It's another opportunity for us,'' Welsh said, ``but not necessarily to see how we measure up. I think we are competitive with just about everybody these days. But, it's a challenge. That's why I wanted teams like Texas and Auburn.
``If we're going to be a top 10 football team, which everybody likes to think they can be, then we have to play teams like that and have to learn to win games like this.''
A home-and-home series with Arizona was canceled when the schools could not reach agreement on dates, but UVa starts a two-game series with Auburn next year and has Penn State, Boston College and Syracuse on its future schedules.
``After that, it's up to the next guy,'' said Welsh, who recently signed a four-year contract but does not expect to be coaching at UVa past the year 2000. ``I think it's good for television. A network like ABC, which has our games and the Big 12, would like to see more games like that.''
Tonight's game will be televised by ESPN and there were early week predictions that the atmosphere at Scott Stadium might rival the setting last year when the Cavaliers handed Florida State its only ACC loss, 33-28, on a Thursday night ESPN game.
``I know the tickets have been hard to come by and there's been a lot of talk about it,'' Welsh said. ``We're sold out and I think the crowd will be into the game. But, whether it's going to be like Florida State that would be hard to duplicate.''
It would be hard to duplicate last year's UVa-Texas game, won by the Longhorns 17-16 when Phil Dawson kicked a 50-yard field goal into the wind with no time remaining. UVa had gone ahead 16-14 on a school-record 56-yard field goal by Rafael Garcia with 3:12 left.
Many of the principals from that game remain, including Texas quarterback James Brown, who completed a fourth-and-10 pass to keep alive the Longhorns' final drive and then scrambled out of the pocket and gained 11 yards on the play before Dawson's kick.
The Sporting News, in its college football yearbook, ranked seven Texas players among the top five players in the country at their positions. They include Brown, No. 5 among quarterbacks, and Dawson, No. 2 among place-kickers.
The others are No. 1 fullback Ricky Williams, No. 2 offensive guard Dan Neil, No. 3 wide receiver Michael Adams, No. 4 tight end Pat Fitzgerald and No. 2 nose tackle Chris Akins. The only Virginia player in the top five at his position was Garcia, rated No. 1 among place-kickers.
``I always look forward to games like this,'' Welsh said. ``You don't have to worry about the emotional state of the team or how they practiced or if they're thinking about something else. If they're not concentrating on this, they don't belong playing college football.''
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP James Brown, rated as the No.5 quarterback in theby CNBnation by The Sporting News, will try to direct his Longhorns to a
repeat of last year's win.