THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 31, 1995 TAG: 9512310218
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Medium: 96 lines
Demetrius ``Pete'' Allen promised all season that he would return a kickoff for a long touchdown.
With his career down to its final seconds, he finally did so Saturday night in the Peach Bowl to lead Virginia to a 34-27 victory over Georgia. The 5-foot-10, 148-pound senior from Norfolk's Granby High School raced 83 yards with 57 seconds remaining for the winning score.
The dramatic victory was in keeping with the 18th-ranked Cavaliers' season, in which six games were decided in the final minute.
A record Peach Bowl crowd of 70,895 fans witnessed this nail-bitter, which gave the Cavaliers a 9-4 mark for the season.
About 20,000 Virginia fans in the massive Georgia Dome cheered Allen down the field as he narrowly avoided stepping out of bounds twice while Georgia fans looked on in disbelief.
Only a few seconds earlier, they had seen the Bulldogs, playing their final game for the fired Ray Goff, tie the score at 27 on a freak touchdown.
U.Va. appeared to have shaken the late-game jinx that followed them through the season when they stopped the Bulldogs at their 13-yard line with 2:08 left. But a minute later, U.Va. tight end Walt Derey caught and then fumbled a pass thrown by quarterback Mike Groh. Georgia defensive tackle Jason Ferguson scooped the ball on a bounce and lumbered 10 yards into the end zone with 1:09 left.
Instead of going for a two-point conversion, Goff elected to kick the extra point with the intention of sending the game into overtime.
But Allen had other plans.
Georgia had to kick off from its 20 after being penalized for excessive celebration following the touchdown.
Allen caught the ball on his own 17. He headed upfield, swinging to the left sideline after eluding a wall of red jerseys, and never slowed.
Most of the ballots for most valuable offensive player already had been collected before Allen's game-breaking run, and the honor was awarded to U.Va. tailback Tiki Allen. However, there was a spontaneous roar of ``Pete, Pete'' from the Virginia crowd when the award was presented.
Earlier in the game, Allen had scored on an 83-yard yard touchdown pass from Groh. It was the longest touchdown reception of Allen's career, only 1 yard longer than an 82-yarder against Duke this year.
Senior linebacker Skeet Jones of Virginia Beach's Green Run High was named Virginia's most valuable defensive player.
Most of Virginia's first-half points were set up by big plays by an aggressive defense. The Cavaliers had to go only 7 and 10 yards for their first two touchdowns, following an interception and a blocked punt.
Jones picked off only the second interception of his career and returned it 28 yards to the Georgia 7 with the game only three minutes old.
Barber carried for 4 and 2 yards before outracing the Georgia defense to the left corner of the end zone to score from the 1 with 10:37 remaining in the first period. It was the 15th rushing touchdown for the junior tailback this season, the second-most in school history.
Defensive back Percy Ellsworth gave Virginia another grand opportunity minutes later when he intercepted another of Georgia quarterback Hines Ward's throws and returned it 28 yards to the Bulldogs' 10. But this time a pass from Groh was deflected at the line of scrimmage and intercepted in the end zone by Georgia's Corey Jackson.
The Cavaliers' defense provided another scoring opportunity minutes later when linebacker James Farrior blocked Dax Langley's punt and Joshua Nowocin recovered on the Georgia 14. Running back Kevin Brooks, a senior from Great Bridge High in Chesapeake, gave Virginia a 14-0 lead two plays later with a strong 5-yard run.
Georgia finally gave its fans something to cheer about with a 64-yard drive that ended with a 36-yard field goal by Kanon Parkman.
The Bulldogs had another three points to cheer only 70 seconds later after Allen fumbled the kickoff and Georgia recovered at the 20. Parkman's 37-yarder trimmed Virginia's lead to 14-6 only 10 seconds into the second quarter.
The Cavaliers got a 36-yard field goal from Raphael Garcia following a 55-yard punt return by Tiki Barber to lead 17-6 at 9:42 of the second quarter.
Virginia opened a 24-6 lead on Groh's long pass to Allen with 2:34 remaining in the half.
Georgia replied with its most impressive drive of the half. The Bulldogs drove 81 yards, culminating with a 1-yard, fourth-down plunge by Ward.
Ward passed tight end Marcus Hunter for the two-point conversion. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Georgia's Phillip Daniels reaches out to stop Virginia's Demetrius
Allen. Allen, a Granby graduate, scored a pair of 83-yard
touchdowns, including the game-winner.
Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Virginia's Ronde Barber, foreground, and Adrian Burnim halt
Georgia's Brice Hunter. Two touchdowns in the final 1:09 turned the
game into a nail-biter.
by CNB