THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 28, 1996 TAG: 9609280536
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: 76 lines
Virginia placekicker Rafael Garcia has attempted all week to keep tonight's game against Texas in perspective and not make it a personal issue.
It's been difficult to do, however.
Texas kicker Phil Dawson noted earlier in the week that Garcia is ranked No. 1 and he No. 2 in some college magazines, and added he is looking forward to renewing acquaintances.
Dawson was the one who walked away a winner when the two kickers met for the first time last year in Austin in one of the college season's most dramatic games.
After Garcia had kicked a career-best 56-yard field goal to put Virginia ahead with 3:12 left, Dawson came back to kick a 50-yarder into the wind as time expired to give Texas a 17-16 victory.
``I remember that I felt awful,'' said Garcia, a 22-year-old native of Toledo, Spain.
``I had just kicked the longest field goal of my life and I thought we were going to win the game. Then he kicks a 50-yarder. I felt very bad after the game.''
Still, Garcia says the emphasis on the nationally-televised game tonight (ESPN, 7:30) in a sold-out Scott Stadium should be on the two teams - No. 13 Texas and No. 19 Virginia.
``I don't care what Dawson has to say. I look at it as Virginia-Texas and not a Garcia-Dawson showdown,'' Garcia said.
``But if he wants to look at it as a showdown between us, so be it. I guess we will have the chance to see who is the better one.''
No one, including oddsmakers who have established Virginia a 3 1/2-point favorite, should be surprised if Garcia is the difference in the game.
Garcia, who originally came to America to play soccer at a Danville high school, was listed as the top college kicker in the nation and a preseason All-American by both Lindy's and The Sporting News.
He has made 5 of 6 field-goal attempts this season, including a 42-yarder against Central Michigan, and holds Virginia's career record with 42.
Dating back to last season, he has connected on 20 of his last 23 attempts, including two against Georgia in the Peach Bowl.
The average distance of his successful attempts in the stretch is 34.7 yards, and his average miss is 44 yards.
``He is a little more accurate and stronger, too, this season,'' said coach George Welsh.
Garcia has kicked off 17 times this year and 10 have resulted in touchbacks. He boomed four other kickoffs into the end zone, too.
Other than normal practice and jogging, which he does to keep down his weight, Garcia has no explanation for his improvement this season.
Neither does Welsh, who does not have a kicking specialist on his staff.
``I hate to tell him what to do. He knows better than I do,'' Welsh said.
Garcia thinks he may have been trying to kick the ball too hard previously. ``Now I'm just making contact with the ball and it goes a long way,'' he said.
Garcia had never kicked a football before arriving in the United States in 1990 as an exchange student.
After only two days at George Washington High School in Danville, Garcia found himself on the football practice field, attempting an extra point.
The kick was perfect, and he had a new sport to write home about.
He was offered a scholarship by Wake Forest, but delayed accepting because he thought Virginia Tech also wanted him.
The Hokies didn't come through, though, and Wake Forest already had signed another kicker by the time Garcia got back in touch.
He walked on at Virginia, where he thought he might be able to play for the Cavaliers' national-championship soccer team if football didn't work out.
Football did work out, however, and he became the No. 1 kicker his sophomore season.
Garcia says he doesn't know if he is the best college kicker in the nation because he hasn't had a chance to go toe-to-toe with all of them.
``But when I go on the field, I feel I am the best,'' Garcia said. ``I might not be, but when I go out there I feel I am.''
It's a feeling he hopes he still has when he leaves the field tonight, unlike the sick feeling he had after last year's Texas game. by CNB