THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 21, 1995 TAG: 9509210538
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Moving up in the national polls once was an accomplishment worth celebrating at the University of Virginia.
Now it's such old stuff that some players contend they would be better off without the recog-nition.
``I really don't like rankings,'' offensive tackle Chris Harrison said when asked about the Cavaliers' latest jump to 11th place in the Associated Press poll.
Harrison believes rankings can create distractions and blur a team's focus.
``I wish we would have stayed a little lower until later in the season when we had a more victories,'' he said. ``The only time rankings matter is at the end of the season when bowl bids come out.''
PULLING PUNCHES: No has to worry about Cavaliers coach George Welsh running up scores to impress the pollsters.
``I don't even talk about polls until the end of the year,'' he said.
Welsh admitted he went to a running game against William and Mary to wind down the clock instead of trying to put up a bigger score.
But he is not critical of Florida State coach Bobby Bowden, whose Seminoles scored 70 and 77 points in two of their ACC victories.
Welsh said the Seminoles are close to perfection offensively.
``I have been around college football 30-plus years and everyone has always talked about making people defend from sideline to sideline and goal line to goal line,'' he said.
``But no one ever did it until recently. You used to see it only in the NFL. Now you see it in college. I don't think anyone can stop Florida State.''
A REAL MISMATCH: Bowden realizes his Seminoles' game Saturday against Division I-AA Central Florida could get ugly.
He's already trying to figure out how to hold down the score if it does, too.
``We'll play all of our reserves and if it still gets out of control, I don't know,'' Bowden said. ``I just hate to tell the kids to go out and lay down.''
Don't feel sorry for Central Florida, though. It had to beg to get on FSU's schedule and got the opportunity only after Auburn canceled out a few years ago.
Meanwhile, Bowden got no complaints from N.C. State coach Mike O'Cain after that 77-17 romp last Saturday.
``They could have scored 100 points on us,'' said O'Cain, whose team turned the ball over four times inside its own 30.
THE BENEFITS: While the Seminoles are making the rest of the league look bad on the scoreboard, Welsh says there are benefits to having them in the ACC.
``We have two freshmen playing on defense from Florida, Andre McNeal from Miami and Johnny Shivers from Fort Lauderdale,'' Welsh said.
``If Florida State was not in the conference and we did not have some exposure down there, I don't think we could have recruited them.''
UNC TONIGHT: North Carolina coach Mack Brown isn't exaggerating when he calls tonight's game against Louisville (8 p.m., ESPN) a must-win situation for his Tar Heels.
UNC, which was upset in its opening two games by Syracuse and Maryland, has had 10 days to prepare for Louisville (2-1).
Brown spent much of the practice time simplifying an offense that leads the ACC with nine turnovers.
BOWL TALK: Maryland athletic director Debbie Yow is so excited about the Terps' 3-0 start and No. 25 ranking that she is sending out notices to bowl officials.
Coach Mark Duffner, whose team plays Duke on Saturday, claims he isn't thinking about a bowl bid only three games into the season.
But, when the Terps convened to begin preseason camp one of the first things Duffner had his player do was to close their eyes and make believe they were on an airplane en route to a bowl game.
Another three or four wins and the Terps could make that vision come true.
SHARPER UPDATE: Virginia linebacker Jamie Sharper, who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery last Tuesday, could be back in the lineup against Wake Forest on Sept. 30.
Center Dave Gathman, who had surgery the same day as Sharper, is not expected back as soon since his injury was more severe.
SEEING DOUBLE: Virginia's Tiki and Ronde Barber won't be the only set of twins in uniform Saturday in the Cavaliers' game at Clemson.
The Tigers also have twin performers - cornerbacks Andy and Peter Ford - who often play in the same defensive backfield.
DeSUE READY: Clemson linebacker Tony DeSue, who was a star tailback at Kempsville High School, is expected to play against the Cavaliers.
DeSue missed last week's win over Wake Forest after undergoing surgery for a broken hand. by CNB