THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 8, 1995 TAG: 9510080163
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: TOM ROBINSON
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
George Welsh was backed into a corner. That doesn't refer to the pickle his Virginia Cavaliers faced with two minutes to play at North Carolina's Kenan Stadium on Saturday, but the position the U.Va. coach chose to meet his inquisitors outside a losing locker room.
Welsh's hope coming in was that his ninth-ranked team could merely ``squeeze out'' a victory over the Tar Heels, deceptively good despite a 2-2 record.
Instead, it was North Carolina who applied the squeeze, overpowering the Cavaliers' defense during a decisive scoring drive in the fourth quarter, then stifling Virginia's final gasp. Thirty-nine yards from winning with 1:51 left, but its timeouts burned, Virginia gained 2 yards on four plays and bid farewell to the top 10 - and another miserable day in Chapel Hill.
``Yeah we could've won,'' grumped Welsh, whose Virginia teams are 2-4-1 amid the pines and hedges here. ``But we didn't. . . . We've played seven straight games now and maybe the wear and tear's showing. I know we've got to be careful in practice this week, I'm sure. We've been out there a long time without any breaks.''
So it was from the 12:07 mark of the fourth quarter to 6:13, when Virginia was bullied for six minutes before succumbing to Leon Johnson's 6-yard touchdown run that put the Tar Heels over the top, 22-17.
It was no way to protect the 17-16 lead that had just been acquired. Yet Virginia's fade was familiar, though not as debilitating as the last-play loss at Michigan that started the season in August.
Nonetheless, it is cause for soul-searching. It always is when you alternately get fooled, physically trumped and frazzled so much that your composure dissolves under heat.
Johnson, a former high school quarterback, twice baffled Virginia with halfback passes, one that led to a touchdown and one that went for a score. North Carolina's critical drive, on which Johnson converted a 4th-and-1 for 19 yards, was a nose-to-nose test that Virginia failed.
And with 5:06 to play, offensive tackle Chris Harrison, a senior, took an inexcusable extracurricular poke at a Tar Heel at the North Carolina 33, costing Virginia 15 yards that were never regained.
``That last series, the adrenaline's pumping, you've got to step up and be a man and make the play,'' Virginia safety Percy Ellsworth said of North Carolina's critical push. ``Everything they did out here today we had worked on at least 20 times. They just physically beat us, that was all. There wasn't no, `They tricked us,' or anything. They just came out and beat us.''
It had to pain Rick Lantz, Virginia's defensive coordinator, to admit as much.
``(North Carolina's) a talented team,'' Lantz said. ``We went into the game saying it's going to come down to the last five minutes or maybe the final series, and it did. If we play the exact same kind of game and make one more play on offense or defense, we'd be damn happy. It's upsetting.''
Thus Welsh's puzzle, with five regular-season games left, remains. Cornered, Welsh again pondered the caliber of these Cavaliers, when a victory here would have supported their (former) top-10 status.
So Virginia spanks Duke in Charlottesville next week. But Texas, Florida State, Maryland and Virginia Tech? Like Welsh, you've got to wonder.
``What does this mean? It makes us 5-2 instead of 6-1,'' Welsh deadpanned. ``We've got a lot of football to play, that's why I wasn't getting too excited. It doesn't matter where you're ranked. But I'd like to think we can be a better football team next week.'' by CNB