Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 10, 1993                   TAG: 9311100023
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                                LENGTH: Medium

UVA RUNNER WASHINGTON BEGINNING TO HIT HIS STRIDE

Somebody, probably one of Virginia's other football coaches, had raised the possibility of a change at tailback.

Jerrod Washington, the starter and a senior, was outgained by sophomore Kevin Brooks in four of the first five games this season.

"I think a lot of people were wondering about [a change]," Mack said. "We did have the briefest of conversations as a staff. My reaction was, `No, I don't want to do that. Jerrod hasn't been healthy. He'll come around eventually.' "

Actually, Washington "came around" before he got healthy. After pulling a quadriceps muscle in practice, he did not start against Florida State in UVa's sixth game, but came off the bench to register 170 all-purpose yards.

That included a 58-yard kickoff return and 39-yard run - the longest against the Seminoles this season in each category.

Nevertheless, it was hard to say Washington had influenced the outcome of a game until Saturday, when he rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns in the second half as Virginia rallied for a 21-9 victory over Wake Forest.

"We rode him in the second half," said George Welsh, the Cavaliers' head coach. "He carried us. No question."

Washington, one of UVa's co-captains, was reluctant to speak when Welsh invited the players to express their feelings at halftime.

"A lot of things were running through my mind right then," said Washington, who had five carries for 29 yards in the first half. "I was thinking, `If we lose this game, what could happen? We wouldn't go to a bowl. Our record wouldn't be that good.' I just had to step up and do something."

During one stretch, Washington had gains of 11, 18, 15 and 18 yards in succession. That was followed by a 30-yard touchdown run on which he left two Wake defenders motionless and outran the pursuit down the boundary.

That run and the conversion kick put the Cavaliers ahead 14-9, and in the fourth quarter he added a 6-yard touchdown run - only his third scoring run of the season. His first had come Oct. 30 against North Carolina State, ending a string of 147 carries without a touchdown.

"My first reaction was, `Finally!' " said Washington, who scored touchdowns on three of his first five receptions of the season. "I couldn't believe I didn't have any rushing touchdowns."

The N.C. State game also marked the first 100-yard rushing performance of the season for either of UVa's tailbacks. Washington rushed for 109 yards and Brooks added 107 in the Cavaliers' 34-29 loss to the Wolfpack.

"I asked them the week before the N.C. State game, `What are you guys waiting on?' " Mack said. "But in all fairness, when you've got two good tailbacks, it's hard to get them enough carries to pile up the yardage."

Washington isn't sure what he had in mind after starting three games last year while Terry Kirby was injured, but it wasn't to have 387 yards after seven games.

"On the one hand, I was thinking, `Hey, it's my senior year,' " said Washington, who rushed for 643 yards last season. "On the other, we were winning, so that kind of kept me motivated, kept me going."

The low point, Washington said, came when he fumbled twice in Virginia's opener against Maryland and was replaced by Brooks in the fourth quarter.

UVa's staff was quick to point out that Washington had missed a week of practice because of a previously unreported hamstring injury that wouldn't heal.

"At one point, I thought, `This hamstring thing is going to bother me the whole season,' " Washington said. "I figured, `It may come; it may not come,' but if there's one thing I've learned throughout the years it's patience."

Washington came to Virginia with good size (he currently measures 6 feet 1 and weighs 215 pounds) and sprinter's speed, but he arrived in the same recruiting class as Kirby. After a redshirt year, Washington was a backup fullback in 1990 and played defensive back in 1991.

He got his chance last year, rushing for 100 yards or more in three games, but Washington was taken aback this fall when he tried to buy insurance in case injury prevented him from playing professionally. A UVa professor, acting on Washington's behalf, found that talent scout Mel Kiper and his staff had not heard of Washington.

"I think Jerrod felt he had something to prove," Mack said, "and he's the kind of player who responds to challenges. It's easy to make him mad and, when you do, he really gets after it."

Wake Forest can vouch for that.