ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, December 30, 1996 TAG: 9612310041
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
VIRGINIA HELD ITS OWN against some strong postseason teams this year, but its 31-21 Carquest Bowl loss to Miami on Friday night was typical of the final results.
If Virginia's football team wants to prolong its agony, the Cavaliers need only watch the Bowl Alliance games on television this week.
UVa was the only team to play three alliance teams, and it led all three of them - Texas, Florida State and Virginia Tech - at the half
The Cavaliers held on to beat Texas and probably knocked a fourth team (North Carolina) out of the alliance, but those were the highlights in UVa's first five-loss season since 1986.
``I'm not satisfied with five losses,'' coach George Welsh said during a news conference the morning after Friday night's 31-21 loss to Miami in the Carquest Bowl. ``For this team, that was too many.''
Four of the five losses were to bowl teams - Florida State, Virginia Tech, North Carolina and Miami. The other was to Georgia Tech, which was 4-1 when it beat Virginia 13-7, but lost six of its last seven.
It was no revelation when Welsh traced Virginia's problems to an ineffective passing game and too many turnovers. UVa had 33 turnovers - 15 fumbles, 18 interceptions - after losing the ball 20 times in 1995.
As for the passing game, one statistic bears repeating. There are 111 NCAA Division I-A football teams this year and only two - Indiana and Rice - threw fewer touchdown passes than Virginia (five).
``The last half of the season, in the first halves of games, we had passing statistics that were very bad,'' Welsh said. ``Maybe it was play selection. Maybe it was X's and O's. Sometimes it was pass protection.''
Most of the time, it was the quarterback, although Welsh has been reluctant to single out Tim Sherman, who is the son of UVa receivers coach Tom Sherman.
Although back-up Aaron Brooks had his best game in the Carquest Bowl, the sophomore was shaky during the regular season. It left many to wonder how Virginia could get caught without a decent quarterback.
Actually, Virginia has signed a high school quarterback to a letter of intent in each of the past five seasons, including Roanoke's Shannon Taylor twice. Taylor eventually was moved to linebacker, as Derick Byrd was moved to wide receiver before him.
``The biggest mistake they ever made was moving Derick Byrd,'' said John Shuman, who coached Byrd at Fork Union Military Academy. ``With Derick Byrd at quarterback, UVa would have gone 10-1 this year.''
It was the kind of quote sportswriters and second-guessers love, but there's little question Virginia would have been better than 7-5 with a consistent quarterback.
For one thing, it is possible Virginia never has had a better defense. Seven teams failed to run for more than 100 yards against the Cavaliers, including Miami on Friday night.
Until the final game of the season, only Florida State had outgained the Cavaliers. Virginia Tech had a 413-407 edge in total offense, and Miami's advantage was 334-324.
UVa's ability to move the ball was a tribute to the Cavaliers' offensive linemen, considered suspect at the beginning of the season. They opened enough holes for Tiki Barber to lead the ACC in rushing and gave the quarterbacks enough time to pass for more than 2,000 yards.
``I figured, if we could play conservatively, complete 50 percent of our passes and hang onto the ball, we could win because of our kicking game and our defense,'' Welsh said. ``And, that's the way our year turned out. By turning the ball over, we hurt our defense. Sometimes, the kicking game wasn't good enough. The offensive line got better.''
But the line wasn't big enough, a problem Welsh hopes to address in recruiting. While teams like cross-state rival Virginia Tech averaged 300 pounds or more across the offensive line, Virginia had five starters struggling to hit 275 on the scale.
That raises questions about the UVa strength program, which is in the hands of its third head coach in four years, Barry Johnson. Predecessors John Gamble and Eric Fears were in no hurry to leave before other schools offered them more money.
``Barry's a great guy who's helped me a lot as far as explosiveness,'' said tailback Tiki Barber, ``but every one of these strength coaches has a different philosophy about how to get bigger and stronger.
``Eric always wanted to lift `heavy.' Barry comes from a track background. In his eyes, initial quickness and explosiveness is more important than brute strength.''
Barber, voted the ACC's offensive player of the year, was one of 13 seniors who completed their eligibility with the Carquest Bowl. Defensive back Ronde Barber, Tiki's twin brother, has another year of eligibility, but could announce any day that he is turning pro.
UVa would be more frightened about next year if Brooks hadn't distinguished himself Friday night and true freshman Thomas Jones hadn't rushed for a game-high 67 yards in the Carquest Bowl.
Moreover, the ejection of defensive end Jon Harris after the third offensive play gave another freshman, Travis Griffith, his most extensive playing time. Griffith had four solo tackles.
Welsh was impressed by Jones, ``but we need more backs in the program,'' he said. ``When [Anthony] Southern was hurt and Tiki went down, we had to use two fullbacks back there. We didn't have anyone else.''
Welsh will resume recruiting Thursday and Friday. Until then, he will take a look at candidates to replace offensive coordinator Tom O'Brien, who resigned Dec.14 to become the head coach at Boston College.
``I think we could use some new ideas in our passing game, not that I'm necessarily going to adopt them,'' he said. ``The one thing we do need is a couple of guys with more speed at wide receiver.
``Florida State, Virginia Tech and North Carolina play a lot of man-to-man coverage. We've got to be able to beat that. [With] another couple speedsters, we can make it tougher to cover us.''
The performance of UVa's younger players made it easier for the coaches to look toward next year, which opens Sept.4, when first-time opponent Auburn comes to Charlottesville for a Thursday night ESPN game.
The rest of Virginia's home schedule is Florida State, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Duke, Wake Forest and Richmond. North Carolina and Clemson provide the toughest road tests, and the Cavaliers also visit Maryland and North Carolina State.
Staff writer Jack Bogaczyk contributed information to this story.
LENGTH: Long : 117 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. DON PETERSEN Staff. Virginia coach George Welsh said:by CNB``I'm not satisfied with five losses. For this team, that was too
many.'' 2. ERIC BRADY Staff. The Cavs would be more concerned about
1997 if Thomas Jones (6) hadn't run for 67 yards against Miami.