ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 30, 1996 TAG: 9612020099
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
THE VIRGINIA TAILBACK sets a school record for career rushing yards with 3,390.
If he ever pictured himself setting Virginia's career rushing record, Tiki Barber could not have envisioned it happening like this.
``I don't really know what my feelings are,'' said Barber following the Cavaliers' 26-9 loss at Virginia Tech. ``I have a lot of mixed emotions right now.
``It's sort of strange, but I have six or seven days that I don't have to think about football and I can just be a regular person. It's a good thing.''
Barber, needing 122 yards to break Terry Kirby's rushing record, raced 80 yards on the Cavaliers' first play from scrimmage and finished with a season-high 162 yards.
It gave him 3,390 yards for his career - more than 2,700 of it in the past two seasons. Kirby rushed for 3,348 yards and also broke the record at Lane Stadium, although under different circumstances.
``It's the one lasting thing I can take away from this game,'' said Barber, who one day earlier was named ACC Player of the Year, ``but it's not the way I intended to go out.''
The Cavaliers have one more game, a Dec.27 meeting with either Miami or West Virginia in the Carquest Bowl, but the Tech rivalry has been special to Barber and his twin brother, Ronde, because of their family ties.
Their mother and father graduated from Tech in the 1970s and their father, J.B., played football for the Hokies and finished his career as Tech's No.2 all-time rusher.
J.B. Barber was in the crowd Saturday, the first time during their college careers he has seen his sons play in person. He has been estranged from the family since the late 1970s.
``I haven't seen him in eight years,'' Tiki said. ``It was weird, him being here. I didn't know how to react. It was awkward in a way. I talked to him for a minute or two after the game.''
The Barbers knew that their father would be in attendance because he e-mailed them before the game. He quietly followed Tiki's record bid from his spot in the Tech season-ticket section.
``I was counting the yards,'' said J.B. Barber, chaplain for a hospice in Tulsa, Okla. ``I see all of their games on television. Watching Tiki is like watching myself, although I don't know if I had his speed.''
His son only wishes he had been able to find another gear on his 80-yard run. He was hauled down by Torrian Gray at the 10-yard line and the Cavaliers were forced to settle for a 19-yard field goal by Rafael Garcia.
``He must have had a good angle,'' said Barber of the longest non-scoring run of his college career. ``I don't know. That usually doesn't happen to me. I found myself losing a little bit. It must have been the thin air.''
If there is one play Barber would want to have back, it was his fumble on UVa's first series of the second half. The Cavaliers, leading 9-7, had just picked up a first down at their 37-yard line when Barber was stripped of the ball on first down.
``I think that changed the momentum,'' said Barber, who has lost a fumble in each of Virginia's past four games. ``I ran into the back of the guard and the ball squirted up into the air.
``The fumbles I've had in the past few games have not come from contact. They've come when I've run into my own guys. They're still my fault. I shouldn't let something like that cause me to drop it.''
Barber had 12 carries for 112 yards by halftime - the sixth time this year that he has had 100 yards or more in the first half - and he broke Kirby's record on a 9-yard gain with 13:13 remaining left in the third quarter.
A review of the film from Virginia's game with Duke had provided Barber with an extra 3 yards, but he didn't need it. Indeed, with a big fourth quarter, he could have threatened the single-season UVa record of 1,397 yards he set in 1995.
``We were down so far, we had to pass,'' said Barber, who carried twice for 5 yards in the fourth quarter. ``I thought we played pretty well in the first half. I was disappointed we didn't come out and do the same thing in the second half.''
It was the third straight game in which Barber had failed to score a touchdown after rushing for one or more touchdowns in each of UVa's first eight games. The UVa offense has scored one touchdown in the last 14 quarters.
``I think we were able to move the ball,'' said Barber, unaware that the Cavaliers had gained 407 yards. ``We have to work on our `red-zone' offense. That's the key to winning games. Big plays, if you don't score, don't mean anything.''
Barber finished the season with 1,360 yards and became the first player in ACC history to rush for 1,300 yards or more in back-to-back seasons. He is in position to win individual ACC championships in three categories - rushing, all-purpose yardage and punt returns.
He has said all season that he wanted Kirby's record, despite an offensive line that had three new starters and a passing attack that was unable to keep defenses honest. He knew, after the 80-yard run, that he would get it.
``At least I didn't have to worry about that,'' he said. ``It's a big deal for me, but I don't think I'm going to feel it till a couple of days. The loss is going to set with me for a while.''
LENGTH: Long : 102 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN\Staff. 1. Tiki Barber tries to helpby CNBquarterback Tim Sherman up after he was hurt on a play in the second
quarter Friday. 2. Roanoke's Tiki Barber became the University of
Virginia's all-time rushing leader with 162 yards Friday. color.
Graphic: Chart by staff: 'Hoos the man? color. KEYWORDS: MGR