ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, November 18, 1996 football TAG: 9611190010
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
SITTING ON THE BENCH may have been good for UVa quarterback Tim Sherman, who came back to spark a victory.
Virginia quarterback Tim Sherman could understand why he was benched Saturday. That didn't mean he had to like it.
``Obviously, I was upset,'' said Sherman, pulled after throwing an interception that North Carolina's Dre Bly returned for a touchdown. ``I don't want to come out of the game, no matter what happens.
``But it was a fair decision, I guess. He gave Aaron [Brooks] a chance to move the team; then, he gave me another chance. I can't argue with that. Maybe it wouldn't have worked out if he hadn't played it that way.''
Sherman, who re-entered the game after a Tar Heels punt with 8:13 remaining, led the Cavaliers on a pair of scoring drives as they rallied to defeat No.6 North Carolina 20-17 before a crowd of 42,500 at Scott Stadium.
Although he has been benched on other occasions, none of the benchings has been permanent. Still, there was no assurance Sherman would play again after Bly's 51-yard interception return put ahead the Tar Heels 17-3 with 3:38 left in the third quarter.
``I honestly didn't know,'' Sherman said. ``Coach [George] Welsh told me that he was putting Aaron in. That was it. I had to wait and see what would happen.
``We were down two touchdowns. We hadn't moved the ball very well in the second half and it looked like we just might run out the clock or something.''
Sherman was sharp early in the game. He completed five of his first six passes, but the Cavaliers seemed wedded to a vanilla game plan that called for tailback Tiki Barber to carry the ball on every first and second down.
``Last week we get all this [flak] about eight sacks,'' offensive coordinator Tom O'Brien said. ``But eight sacks are attributed to the fact that, `Hey, we're behind, we're trying to come back.'
``But, you don't have eight sacks last week, like you don't have 'em today, if you play the way you want to play. We tried to play conservative, get off to a good start, not turn the ball over, stay in the football game. All right?''
That's why Virginia was disappointed when Bly intercepted Sherman twice. Despite the emphasis on reducing the number of mistakes, the Cavaliers had five turnovers.
``I felt I made a couple of mistakes that really hurt the team,'' said Sherman, who was 0-for-5 to start the second half. ``I'm just glad Coach Welsh had the faith to put me back in the game. I can't argue with the results.''
Welsh, who later questioned himself for pulling Sherman, said it was experience that prompted him to change quarterbacks a second time. Sherman is a fifth-year senior and his poise showed down the stretch.
Sherman rushed for 24 yards on UVa's tying drive, including two fourth-down conversions. On fourth-and-one, Sherman turned upfield on an option play and went 7 yards for a touchdown. Rafael Garcia's extra-point kick made it 17-17 with 5:06 remaining.
``Once they saw Tiki go out to the flat, they all went with him,'' Sherman said. Fullback ``Charles Kirby kicked his man out and I was able to walk into the end zone.''
It was only the second touchdown in the past 10 quarters for the Cavaliers, although they did outgain North Carolina 294 yards to 165. The Tar Heels had given up 10 points in the fourth quarter all season before yielding 17 on Saturday.
``Antwan [Harris] made the big interception; that was the key,'' said Sherman, referring to the 95-yard return that cut the deficit to seven, at 17-10, with 10:02 left. ``I credit most of that last offensive output to the line.''
Sherman, who was not sacked all day, finished 10-of-24 for 136 yards. His longest completion was his last, a 41-yard pass to Germane Crowell, who wrestled the ball from Robert Williams and Omar Brown.
``Either he catches it down there or they intercept it and they're 80 yards away,'' said Sherman.
UVa's quarterbacks have been intercepted 17 times, compared with five touchdown passes, but UVa will carry a 7-3 record into the regular-season finale and is ranked higher, 19th, than it was when the season started, 23rd.
``We had talked all week about how we hadn't won the final home game since we'd been here,'' said Sherman, playing as a graduate student. ``I can't describe the emotion of all the seniors walking around hugging everybody for dear life.''
None of the players knows the history of the program better than Sherman, who has not seen the Cavaliers lose to Carolina at Scott Stadium since 1982, when his father was named to Welsh's staff.
``I saw him afterward,'' the younger Sherman said. ``He told me how proud he was and he was close to tears. That's something I might remember down the line. I'll know we won the game, but that bond between my father and me is special.''
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. UVa quarterback Tim Sherman (7) slips by Carolinaby CNBdefenders Greg Ellis (87) and Omar Brown (2) to score on Saturday. KEYWORDS: FOOTBALL