THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 30, 1995 TAG: 9512300509
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
Virginia coach George Welsh dreads the thought that tonight's Peach Bowl might go into overtime and he'll have to wrestle with the NCAA's complicated tie-breaker formula.
``I don't see anything wrong with a bowl game ending in a tie, unless it is for the national championship,'' Welsh said. ``I hope we don't have to go through that.''
Welsh and his staff have taken time to study the tie-breaking formula, just in case.
It is the same formula the NCAA uses for lower-division teams involved in championship playoffs. The formula was used two weeks ago in the Las Vegas Bowl.
In case of a tie, the teams alternate possessions from the 25-yard line and the team that is ahead after an equal number of possessions wins.
Welsh said one problem is whether to kick a field goal and then risk having the opponent score a touchdown on its possession.
``If they are going to have overtime, I wish they would do it like the NFL, with the first team to score winning,'' Welsh said.
But Georgia coach Ray Goff said he was intrigued by the possibility of a playoff.
``I would like to have a chance to try it,'' said Goff, who is being replaced by Marshall's Jim Donnan.
HEISMAN WATCH: Virginia tailback Tiki Barber will begin his campaign for the 1996 Heisman Trophy tonight.
``If I have a good game, it has to catapult me into next year and give me a good base to start from,'' said Barber, a junior. ``I don't think I was mature enough this year to be considered one of the nation's great running backs, but I am knocking on the door and should be there next year.''
Barber, who set a school record by rushing for 1,397 yards this season, already has been mentioned by a few national television commentators as a future Heisman candidate.
He got a lift from Georgia defensive coordinator Joe Kines this week, when Kines said Barber might be the premier running back in the nation.
INJURY UPDATE: Welsh said he won't decide until after pregame warmups whether senior defensive back Paul London will be able to play. London has a sprained knee and has not practiced this week.
``He is a fifth-year player, so if he can play, we will play him,'' Welsh said.
Welsh also reported that leading receiver Patrick Jeffers, who missed the last three games because of a hamstring injury, is ``100 percent healthy.''
Jeffers has been invited to play in the Hula Bowl in Hawaii on Jan. 21.
STILL BIG: Bowls might not be as prestigious as they once were, but players still enjoy giving up their holidays to play in them, and coaches say they are important to their programs.
``I definitely think it is worth the extra work,'' Tiki Barber said. ``I never want to see the season end. Plus we get to have a lot of fun, and it's not just work.''
Welsh says going to bowls definitely helps in recruiting.
``High school players want to go to bowls and they look at schools with a good record of going,'' he said. ``Our program really got a boost when we made our first bowl trip.''
That first trip was to the 1984 Peach Bowl, where Virginia defeated Purdue 27-24.
D.J. REMEMBERED: Goff, who is being ousted after seven years as Georgia coach, says he probably would not have had the chance to coach the Bulldogs if his boss, Vince Dooley, had ever seen a quote several years ago attributed to former football star D.J. Dozier of Virginia Beach.
Goff was an assistant coach under Dooley, now the Georgia athletic director, when the two visited Dozier during his senior year at Kempsville High School in hopes of signing him for Georgia.
Goff said he had been up two straight nights entertaining prep coaches before making the long and tiring trip through a snow storm. While Dooley made his pitch to the Dozier family, Goff quickly fell asleep and began snoring. Dozier later decided on Penn State and led the Nittany Lions to a national championship.
``I read a newspaper story that quoted D.J. as saying he might have gone to Georgia if an assistant coach had not gone to sleep while recruiting him,'' Goff said. ``I hid that story from Dooley. He would probably have fired me then if he had seen it.''
FINAL WORDS: Goff, who was told he was being fired during the regular season, was asked before a final press conference Friday what possibly was left for him to say.
Goff smiled and replied, ``Kiss my ---.''
While Georgia fans have been after Goff for two years, most observers think he did an outstanding job this season after losing his top two quarterbacks and star running back to injuries. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Virginia running back Tiki Barber, a junior, already is being
mentioned as a Heisman Trophy candidate for next year.
by CNB