ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 22, 1996 TAG: 9612230139
SECTION: ORANGE BOWL PAGE: O-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
THE CARQUEST BOWL will be the fifth-year senior's 37th consecutive start at guard for Virginia.
The last time Virginia visited the Carquest Bowl, the Cavaliers were without All-America offensive guard Mark Dixon, suspended on the eve of his final regular-season game.
Jeremy Raley knows the story well.
Among other things, he was a newlywed at the time.
It says something that Raley has been a husband longer than he has been a starter. He has enjoyed the latter status for 37 consecutive games and should join teammate Jamie Sharper as the first Virginia players to start in four bowl games.
``It's a record that can only be tied; it can't be broken,'' Raley said. ``I take a lot of pride in that.''
Unlike Sharper, Raley's first start was in the 1993 Carquest Bowl, against a Boston College team that had beaten Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., and had won eight of its previous nine games.
``It was my indoctrination into UVa football,'' said Raley, who is from Cumberland, Md., in the mountains close to the West Virginia border. ``I think, for the most part, I held my own. I wasn't dominating or anything, but I got the job done.''
Raley had not started the final regular-season game, a 20-17 loss to Virginia Tech. With less than 24 hours to come up with a replacement for Dixon, coach George Welsh moved left tackle Jim Reid to guard and inserted Jason Augustino at tackle.
``For whatever reason, they wanted to change it for the Carquest Bowl,'' Raley said. ``It was the first time since high school that I had started a game. That was two years, roughly. I guarantee you I was nervous.''
Starting has become part of his routine, although there is nothing routine about starting every game for three-plus seasons, particularly at guard.
``Last year, during the Maryland game, I sprained my ankle,'' he said. ``If I wouldn't have practiced Wednesday and Thursday, I wouldn't have started. Right before the Virginia Tech game, I banged my shoulder a little bit and took a day off, but I practiced the next day.
``Those were the only instances [the streak] was really in jeopardy.''
There was some motivation in playing next to a center, Tom Locklin, who had a torn anterior cruciate ligament in one of his knees and started every game this season.
``I feel that way and I think some other guys do, too,'' Raley said. ``We have a tremendous amount of respect for what he's gone through.''
Raley and Locklin were the only starters returning to an offensive line that was viewed as one of the question marks on the team before the season. However, Tiki Barber rushed for an ACC-high 1,360 yards and the quarterbacks passed for a combined 2,099 yards.
Most observers felt it was unlikely Barber would be able to rush for the 1,320 yards he needed to break Terry Kirby's school record for a career.
``It's a really good feeling knowing we played a part in that,'' Raley said. ``Personally, I know every game I would ask him how many yards he had [and] how far away he was. I know before the Virginia Tech game I said, `Well, how many is it?' We knew he needed 125 [actually 123].''
Barber, named the ACC player of the year before the Tech game, finished with 162. The offensive line didn't go unrecognized, as Raley was named first-team All-ACC, no small accomplishment for a player considered small by Division I-A standards at 6 feet 3 and his current 275 pounds.
Raley also performed at a high level despite spending his days at Albemarle High School, where he taught ninth-grade physical education and 10th-grade health. He will graduate in May with a master's degree in UVa's five-year teacher-education program.
Raley's wife, Cyndy, has been an instructional assistant at Jackson-Via Middle School in Charlottesville while taking night courses at Piedmont Community College. She has provided much of the support for the couple since they were married July 24, 1993.
``I'm lucky, I guess, that everything's gone well,'' said Raley, who is the Cavaliers' only married player and has been for two years. ``We knew it was going to be tough. A lot of people, when we first got married, said, `Aw, it'll last six months.'
``We were so young, I was playing football. I was never going to be home. But we've proven all the naysayers wrong. We didn't start off with the most money, but we've managed, we've worked hard and it's really been a success story.''
So have Raley and football.
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN Staff. Guard Jeremy Raley's first start atby CNBVirginia was in the 1993 Carquest Bowl. KEYWORDS: FOOTBALL