DATE: Friday, October 31, 1997              TAG: 9710310868

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                   LENGTH:   87 lines

U.VA.'S STUKES FOLLOWING IN FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS THE SON OF A FORMER NFL DEFENSIVE BACK IS JUST A CALL AWAY FROM SAGE ADVICE.

Dwayne Stukes happened to mention during an interview that he and North Carolina All-American cornerback Dre' Bly were childhood friends.

Because Stukes was a receiver who had switched to cornerback at Virginia, someone wondered if he had gotten advice from his old friend about playing the position.

Stukes smiled and shook his head. ``I've got someone better than that to give me advice,'' he replied.

Who better than Bly?

``My father. He was a pretty good cornerback, too,'' said Stukes, whose father, Charles, played in the NFL with Baltimore and Los Angeles.

Stukes said he talks frequently with his father, now an assistant principal at Oscar Smith High School in Chesapeake.

``He critiques me, tells me things I need to work on. He doesn't get down on me but tells me things that will help me out,'' Stukes said.

Stukes also gets support from his mother, Gloria, who he says gives him the inspiration to play his best.

The advice must be sound because Stukes, a redshirt sophomore, has been the big-play man for the Cavaliers' defense this season.

In the opening game, against Auburn, he rushed into the end zone to block a punt for a safety.

In the second game, against Richmond, he picked up a fumble and returned it 17 yards for a touchdown.

He scored again in the North Carolina game. Anthony Poindexter blocked a punt and Stukes scooped up the ball and ran 33 yards to the end zone.

Stukes' most spectacular play was against Duke, when he wrestled the ball out of the grasp of a much larger receiver as they ran side by side. Teammates credited their 13-10 victory over Duke to Stukes' gutsy steal, which set up the drive for a winning field goal.

``It was one of the best plays I've seen, and we wouldn't have won without it,'' tackle Doug Karczewski said.

The deeply religious Stukes says the Lord has blessed him by allowing him to be in the right places at the right time to make big plays.

``I've been going to church from an early age, when I was so young that I fell asleep on my mother's lap,'' he said. ``As I got older, I learned how central the Lord can be in your life and what He can do for you when you put your faith in Him.

``I pray the night before games, and before games, asking the Lord to watch over me as I play. He has helped me make things happen.''

Virginia defensive coordinator Rick Lantz agrees that Stukes has a knack for being in the right place at the right time. But, Lantz says, he also has a rare ability to pull off big plays.

``We can coach a player to be in position to make a play,'' Lantz said, ``but can't coach them to make the kind of big plays that Dwayne has. He has a rare talent to do that.''

Stukes, who was born in Portsmouth, moved to Baltimore when he was 6 to live with his mother after his parents divorced. He returned to Chesapeake to visit his father during summer and school breaks.

``My sister and Bly's sister were big friends, and my cousins and his cousins were friends. That is how we got to know each other,'' Stukes said. ``When we were little, we would play football in the street. Dre' was good back then, but not as good as he is now.''

Stukes was a SuperPrep All-America at McDonogh High School in Baltimore and was heavily recruited by Florida. He decided on Virginia, which was close enough for his parents to see him play.

Injuries, including a broken foot suffered in a high school all-star game shortly before arriving at Virginia, hindered his chances of playing receiver for the Cavaliers.

``I truly believe God has a reason for everything,'' Stukes said. ``We had an abundance of receivers and not so many defensive backs when I got over my injuries. When coach (George) Welsh asked me about playing DB, I was ready to get on the field any way that I could to help the team.''

Stukes had played defensive back as well as running back and receiver in high school.

Welsh says Stukes was ``an excellent receiver prospect'' and might have been moved back to that position if he had not developed so well at cornerback.

``He's got good hands. I'd love to have him on offense,'' Welsh said.

At first, Stukes thought he might want to go back to offense.

``Every kid wants to get into the end zone and score touchdowns,'' he said. ``But I've learned it is more fun to give a hit than to take one.''

Besides, he's still finding ways to get into the end zone and score touchdowns. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

HUY NGUYEN/File photo

Dwayne Stukes, right, established himself as a big-play man in the

season opener with this blocked punt.

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