ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 28, 1996 football TAG: 9612300108
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: MIAMI
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
Well, no one can blame Tom O'Brien this time.
With the oft-criticized, erstwhile Virginia offensive coordinator and new Boston College head coach only a spectator on the sideline at the Carquest Bowl, George Welsh was wearing the play-calling headset.
However, it wasn't a play the Cavaliers' head coach sent onto the field that was the problem on a balmy Friday night.
It was a player.
The Cavaliers, already being bullied by Miami, were thwarted by Welsh's decision to return starting quarterback Tim Sherman to the lineup in the first quarter.
The move was, at best, ill-timed. At worst, it left the Cavaliers' offense marooned against the Hurricanes (9-3), who played like they had something to prove.
The Big East Football Conference co-champions gave Virginia plenty of opportunities, but while the Hurricanes were swaggering, UVa was staggering. Miami won 31-21 before a typical Carquest crowd of 46,418 at Pro Player Stadium.
In Sherman's absence after he injured his throwing (right) shoulder on a questionable fumble call that developed into Tremain Mack's 79-yard scoring return, back-up Aaron Brooks took only 39 seconds to push UVa 77 yards in four plays to a touchdown.
Brooks, although erratic in relief this season, actually gave the Cavaliers a charge in this bowl by the beach. Then, Welsh pulled more than the plug with the turnover-prone Hurricanes leading 14-7.
When asked why he went back to the senior, Welsh answered, ``because Sherman's the starter and he said he was fine So I put him back in.''
That was an option Sherman shouldn't have been given the chance to call.
Virginia's offense had been one-dimensional for most of the season. Then, with ACC player of the year Tiki Barber grounded by an injury after fewer than 10 minutes, the Cavaliers went nowhere in the final 18 minutes of the half.
Welsh turned to Brooks to start the second half, and he sneaked for a touchdown after an Anthony Poindexter punt block.
``I did it because I thought it was the best thing for the team to get Brooks into the game in the second half,'' Welsh said.
It was too late then.
The damage was done when a superbly thrown Brooks-to-Germane Crowell 29-yard scoring pass was followed by Sherman's return on the next Cavaliers possession, with 1:16 left in the first quarter.
The results for UVa's offense in the final four series of the half - with Barber benched because of a hip contusion - were 30 yards and one first down.
Of course, Welsh returned Sherman to the lineup because the senior quarterback hadn't done anything to deserve a benching. He hadn't thrown an interception. He was aching.
Still, this wasn't about losing a job; it was the last game of Sherman's career. It was about losing the game, and Virginia (7-5) finished with a five-loss season for only the second time since 1986. The other was in '93, also with a Carquest loss, that one to O'Brien's new employer.
Brooks' early scoring series wasn't just capped by UVa's only touchdown of the first half. It was the Cavaliers' only scoring pass in their last five games, since an Oct.25 loss at Florida State.
Miami played with more than confidence after getting a lead. When Mack scored his second touchdown of the game and the score was 24-7 with 2:34 left in the first half, the giddy Hurricanes were dancing on their sideline.
It was the kind of showoff strutting that hadn't been seen from the one-time bad boys of college football since coach Dennis Erickson left for the NFL in 1994.
In coach Butch Davis' first bowl victory, Miami - which stayed home on NCAA probation last postseason - played its old role of intimidator.
What had to frustrate the Cavaliers more was that long before they were unable to get a field-goal attempt airborne in the second half, Miami presented Virginia more than enough opportunities to make it a game.
In the first quarter, the Hurricanes committed three turnovers. Virginia kept the ball for more than nine minutes, but could only score when Brooks' athleticism and aggressiveness gave the Cavaliers a legitimate chance.
In 1997, the redshirt sophomore is expected to become Virginia's seventh starting quarterback to open a season in eight years.
The Cavaliers have the makings of their biggest rebuilding autumn in more than a decade. They lose more than half of their starters on offense, two superb kickers and significant players on defense - especially linebackers James Farrior and Jamie Sharper, whose speed made UVa's unit special.
The Cavaliers' difficulty in '96 came when they had the ball, as they proved again in the Carquest Bowl. The who's-who at quarterback was a season-long - and postseason - debate among Wahoos.
For one night, considering the early Hurricane warnings, the choice behind center should have been obvious, especially to an old quarterback who has coached more bowl games than anyone in ACC history.
LENGTH: Medium: 91 linesby CNB