DATE: Sunday, November 2, 1997              TAG: 9711020289

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: COLLEGE PARK, MD.                 LENGTH:   80 lines

CAVALIERS FIND BEST KIND OF SALVE FOR THEIR INJURIES

The spooks and goblins came out the night before, but for Virginia coach George Welsh the really scary moment came Saturday when he sent his Cavaliers onto the field to play Maryland.

``Believe me,'' Welsh said, ``I was scared to death.''

With good reason, too.

The Cavaliers were so beat up coming out of last week's loss to Florida State that there wasn't a day when Welsh had a full-scale practice to get ready for the Terps.

But Welsh's fears were no more justified than a toddler crying at the sight of a plastic ghost.

Virginia (5-3, 4-2 in the ACC) rolled to a 45-0 victory over the Terps (2-7, 1-5) for the Cavaliers' first shutout victory since blanking Navy four years ago.

``I don't know,'' Welsh said when asked to explain his team's high-octane performance.

``We played well and I didn't think we were capable of doing that because of all the injuries and lack of practice time.''

The shutout came with Virginia's top defender, co-captain Anthony Poindexter, in Charlottesville, nursing a pair of bad ankles and a bruised shoulder.

Aaron Brooks strengthened his hold on the starting quarterback job with his best performance as a Cavalier.

The junior from Newport News passed for three touchdowns and ran for two others in reply to those fans who had called on Welsh to start freshman Dan Ellis.

Ellis, who took Virginia to two second-half touchdowns against Florida State after Brooks sprained an ankle, didn't get into this game until late in the third period when the Cavaliers led 38-0.

``I think Brooks always has had confidence in himself, but this kind of game has to help him after last week,'' Welsh said.

The Cavaliers, who punted only once, scored on four of five first-half possessions for a 24-0 lead.

Brooks threw 12 yards to favorite receiver Germane Crowell on the first drive and ran 7 and 59 yards for scores on the next two possessions.

Welsh said it was Brooks' long run off a fake reverse that eased the coach's pregame jitters.

``We've been practicing that play and it was a good call by (offensive coordinator) Sparky Woods,'' Welsh said. ``It put us up 21-0 and I felt much better after that.''

Brooks made a perfect fake to wide receiver Terrence Wilkins, put the ball on his hip and had 10 of the 11 defenders going the wrong way.

He juked his way by the 11th and sprinted untouched into the end zone.

``When I got to the corner and saw I had only one of them to beat I let my instincts take over,'' Brooks said. ``I made a great move and then took it to the house.''

The Cavaliers, who had not rushed for more than 167 yards in any of their previous seven games, racked up 175 yards on the wet turf by intermission.

They finished with 226 yards, with Brooks netting 77 yards, tailback Thomas Jones 79 and reserve tailback Anthony Southern 61.

``When you run the ball that well, it opens things up for your quarterbacks,'' Welsh said.

Brooks completed 11 of 16 passes for 145 yards and Ellis hit 4 of 7 for 87 yards.

Virginia, which came into the game last in the ACC in third-down conversions, was good on 11 of 17.

Meanwhile, Maryland found the going almost impossible against Virginia's patched-up defense.

The Terps had only 127 yards of total offense, with most of it coming in the final period against Virginia reserves.

``We had so many guys missing in practice that I had no way of knowing how we would play,'' Virginia defensive coordinator Rick Lantz said. ``I think we all understood we had to step up and play harder, and that's what we did.

``You know, it's like those people who go on safaris. The last tiger they want to tangle with is the one that's wounded.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Virginia's Wali Rainer, left, and Patrick Kerney sack Maryland

quarterback Brian Cummings in the first quarter Saturday. The

Cavaliers limited Maryland to 127 total yards for both rushing and

passing.

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