THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 18, 1996 TAG: 9609180641
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: 114 lines
As Virginia fans turned loose a mighty cheer at the sight of 290-pound tackle Tony Dingle lumbering toward the end zone Saturday, teammates did a quick gulp.
``Was he . . . would he . . . oh, my gosh, yes . . .'' were the thoughts racing through their heads as they raced to meet Dingle in the end zone and grab him before he could do it.
``I thought he was going to do it,'' tackle Todd White said.
``That is why we swarmed him in the end zone, to keep him from doing it and embarrassing all of us.''
Do what?
A backward flip in the end zone, that's what.
``We all know he can do a backward flip, and he had promised to do it if he ever scored a touchdown,'' White said.
Dingle, a true sophomore from Fayetteville, N.C., became the first Cavalier defensive tackle in 24 years to return an interception when he picked off a pass and ran 10 yards for the score.
It provided Virginia a 7-0 lead, the Cavaliers' only score until the final three minutes of the game.
If Dingle had flipped, the Cavaliers almost certainly would have been flagged for a 15-yard ``celebration'' penalty.
So, in a close game, would he really have risked that?
``I didn't think he would do it,'' coach George Welsh said. ``I'm sure that is 15 yards. That is what they are trying to cut out of college football.''
But the free-spirited Dingle says he would have flipped over the touchdown if teammates had not swarmed him.
``If my teammates had not jumped on me immediately and taken me to the ground, I wouldn't be here now talking to you,'' he said.
``Coach Welsh would have had my head.''
Actually, Welsh might have taken something other than his head, which holds Dingle's long, black, braided hair.
``I don't like his hair style,'' the 63-year-old, buttoned-down Welsh said dryly.
Welsh doesn't care much for Dingle's diet of cheeseburgers, fries, and soft drinks, either.
``He came into the locker room with a bag of that stuff and and I told him he should be eating fruit and salad,'' Welsh said.
``But he is a colorful character.''
So colorful, in fact, that when Dingle first showed up on the grounds of Mr. Jefferson's university, he was sent a few miles down Interstate 64 to prep at Fork Union Military Academy for a year.
``I was going to be a big dog on campus,'' Dingle said, ``so they sent me away. They said I needed to go to Fork Union and grow up a little bit.
``Todd White told me the first time he met me, he wanted to kill me.''
Asked how he fit in at Fork Union, Dingle replied, ``Like a sore thumb. But it did a lot of good for me. When I came back here, people said I was a man and acted more mature.''
The mere mention of Dingle's name brings grins from his teammates. But they know he's all business on the field.
``His ability is the first thing you notice. Then comes the talk,'' White said.
He can keep strangers and teammates in stitches with his talk.
Dingle, the son of a military family, spent most of his years in Germany. He returned to Fayetteville to live with his grandmother and attend high school when he was 14.
``When I got back, my grandmother told me things had changed in Fayetteville,'' Dingle said.
``She said I shouldn't make trouble at school because they don't fight anymore, they shoot you. And she said if you get a gun, don't show me.
``The one plus with my grandmother was every night she made me a pan of homemade biscuits. That's why I'm as big as I am now.''
One of Dingle's favorite stories is about being recruited by Welsh.
``The thing that impressed me most about him was his nose,'' Dingle said. ``We really didn't have much to talk about. He was very quiet and didn't crack any jokes.
``He just kept looking at me, and I kept looking at his nose.''
The meeting soon ended and Dingle left the room without telling Welsh he wanted to attend Virginia.
``I forgot. I had to go back in the room and tell him,'' Dingle said.
Dingle's second college choice was Hawaii. ``I liked the hula girls,'' he explained.
Dingle decided on Virginia because the players ``are like one big family. If one thing happens to one player, everyone is ready to jump in,'' he said.
Still, he had to overcome a serious bout of homesickness last year as a freshman.
``I called home crying after my first week and told my momma to come get me. She told me she knew this was going to happen and that's why she did not let me take the car.
``She was like, `You can't come home, I'm changing the locks, I love you, bye.' ''
Dingle laughed that his mom brought him another key to the house only after he got over his homesickness.
Dingle played in every game as a freshman and started against Georgia in the Peach Bowl.
``He has got a lot of talent, and he is finally realizing some of it,'' Welsh said.
Despite social differences, Dingle and Welsh get along fine. It could be a first-name relationship, too.
``I told him if he'd come to Virginia, he could call me George,'' Welsh said.
``That's true, he told me that,'' Dingle said.
``But being from a military background, I'm used to calling everyone by their last name. I call him Coach Welsh.''
Dingle's sill determined to do a backward flip in the end zone.
``Oh, yeah, it definitely is coming. If I score another touchdown, I am going to do it, regardless,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
George Welsh
Tony Dingle
Photo by LAWRENCE JACKSON, The Virginian-Pilot
Against Maryland Saturday, Tony Dingle became U.Va.'s first
defensive tackle in 24 years to return an interception for a TD. by CNB