DATE: Saturday, September 27, 1997          TAG: 9709270764

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL, N.C.                 LENGTH:   92 lines

WHEN IT'S U.VA. VS. UNC, IT'S PERSONAL

Forget that today's game against North Carolina begins the ACC conference season for Virginia.

Forget that playing the No. 5-ranked team in the nation is a golden opportunity for the unranked Cavaliers to attract national attention.

Forget all of that, say the players who crossed the Carolina border to play at Virginia.

``What really matters is that this is Carolina, and we've got to live with the consequences the entire year,'' said Cavaliers junior linebacker Wali Ranier from Charlotte. ``There is something about this game that makes me want to go crazy on the field.''

While UNC coach Mack Brown says the most important step in rebuilding the Tar Heel program was convincing state players to stay home, he still has not plugged the pipeline from North Carolina to Virginia.

Ranier and his brother, Jami'h, are among nine North Carolinians playing for the Cavaliers. North Carolina imports a few players from Virginia, too, such as cornerback Dre' Bly and fullback Deon Dyer, both from Chesapeake.

But Virginians don't receive as much heat for leaving the state as do North Carolinians. Bly said this week the biggest thing he had to tolerate after last year's loss to Virginia was chiding from friends who play for the Cavaliers.

``They told me, `You should have come here, because if you had come here you would have won the game,' '' Bly said. ``You know your home state is going to harrass you a little bit.''

It is more than ``a little bit'' for North Carolinians leaving the state, though.

``People in North Carolina take pride in where you live, where you are from, and they really don't want you to go out of state,'' Ranier said. ``It's OK for Dre' Bly to leave Virginia to play for Carolina. But it's not OK for anyone to leave North Carolina to play anywhere else.

``They despise anyone who leaves the state and call them traitors. Even if they know you, they hate you for doing that.''

Defensive tackle Antonio Dingle, from Fayetteville, N.C., says no one ever called him a traitor.

``If they had, I would have punched him in the mouth,'' the 300-pound Dingle said. ``But I did catch a little static about leaving.''

Of all the transplanted Carolinians, Dingle is the most vocal about his hatred for the University of North Carolina. He won't give his reasons but says, ``I just hate the school. Hate that Carolina blue. I have friends who go there, and I respect their reasons for going, and I think they have a great staff. But I just don't like the school at all.

``It felt so good last year when we beat them. I went back home, stuck out my chest and put all my Virginia stuff on.''

Receiver Germane Crowell of Winston-Salem, N.C., says there is ``bad blood'' between the teams.

``It's been like that ever since I've been at Virginia,'' he said. ``Some of us are good friends off the field, but we are enemies on the field.''

Ironically, Crowell almost signed with North Carolina.

``I went to their recruiting weekend and got all excited and was ready to sign,'' he said. ``But my father told me not to get caught up in the hype and to wait. I came to Virginia the next week and liked it better.''

Crowell says James Brooks, who was recruiting him for UNC, was furious about his decision.

``He called and wanted to know why I had picked Virginia,'' Crowell said. ``He was really mad. I felt a little bad, but a few months later he (Brooks) left to go to Tennessee.''

If geography isn't enough to make the rivalry special, circumstances the last few years are.

North Carolina upset the Cavaliers two years ago, costing Virginia the ACC title outright and an Alliance bowl bid.

The Cavaliers returned the favor last year, stunning the sixth-ranked Tar Heels with a fourth-quarter rally that produced a 20-17 upset.

Leading the comeback was a couple of North Carolinians, Antwan Harris with a 95-yard interception return, and Crowell, whose key reception set up the game-winning field goal.

Crowell is friends with many UNC players, including Bly, and he knows there will be a lot of chatter during the game. In fact, he says, it began during the summer when he got together with some of his UNC friends.

``We had a big debate about that catch I made, and they were telling me that it would be different this time because we had to play at their place,'' Crowell said. ``I know it is going to be a feisty game, and I'm looking forward to it. There'll be a lot of trash talking going on, and I'll do my share, too.''

No one is looking forward to the game as much as Wali Ranier, though. He played in every game last year except the one against UNC, which he missed because of an ankle injury.

``I was almost crying on the sidelines I wanted in that game so much,'' Ranier recalled. ``But it will be even better when we beat them in their place in front of all those Carolina fans. I'm going to love that to death.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos

Wali Ranier

Germane Crowell

Antonio Dingle

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