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

DATE: SUNDAY, November 14, 1993                   TAG: 9311140172
SECTION: SPORTS                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CLEMSON, S.C.                                LENGTH: Medium

ONCE AGAIN, IT WAS NOT TO BE FOR VIRGINIA

It was the third straight road loss for Virginia, which is 0-17-1 at Memorial Stadium.

It was with characteristic candor that Virginia coach George Welsh said this week that Clemson would be "crazy" not to run the option against the Cavaliers.

Apparently, four turbulent seasons at the helm of Clemson football has not caused coach Ken Hatfield to lose his sanity.

The Tigers, held to 3 rushing yards in their previous game, picked up 361 yards on the ground Saturday in a 23-14 victory over 18th-ranked Virginia before 64,000 at Memorial Stadium.

Unranked Clemson, a 6 1/2-point underdog, ran its record to 7-3 overall and 5-3 in the ACC and emerged as a leading contender for one of the spots in the Peach Bowl.

Virginia (7-3, 5-3) fell into a third-place tie with the Tigers in the ACC standings. With N.C. State considered a likely choice for the Hall of Fame Bowl, the Cavaliers' bowl prospects are up in the air.

The Peach Bowl has the third choice of ACC teams, with the Hall of Fame Bowl picking fourth. The Cavaliers play host to Virginia Tech on Nov. 20, while the Tigers travel to South Carolina.

"If we play next week like we played today, we'll probably get killed by Virginia Tech," Virginia co-captain Mark Dixon said. "It's up to us to win to deserve to go to a bowl.

"We definitely haven't earned the right to go, not in my eyes. You can't lose three of your last four in back-to-back years and go to a bowl either year. You shouldn't."

The Cavaliers had their problems on offense, with a season-low 293 yards and five turnovers, but it was their inability to stop Clemson's running game that was their downfall.

Clemson reserve quarterback Dexter McCleon rushed for 127 yards and one touchdown, and the Tigers got 113 yards from fullback Emory Smith, younger brother of Dallas Cowboys star Emmitt Smith.

Until Saturday, no individual had rushed for 100 yards against Virginia this season.

"This has not been a down week at all," said Hatfield, brushing off a 24-0 loss to North Carolina. "In looking at the films from last year, it never entered my mind that we were going to lose this ball game."

The Tigers, who trailed Virginia 28-0 in the second quarter last year, rallied for a 29-28 victory behind Louis Solomon, another back-up quarterback whose career otherwise has been marked by injury.

Strong-armed Patrick Sapp got the start Saturday, but after the Tigers missed field-goal attempts on their first two series, Hatfield went with McCleon, who started at cornerback against North Carolina.

McCleon, a redshirt freshman who had practiced at quarterback for three days, quickly directed a seven-play, 82-yard touchdown drive, going the final 29 yards on an option keeper.

McCleon also threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to Terry Smith to give Clemson a 17-7 lead early in the third quarter. That was mostly Smith's doing after several UVa defenders ran into each other.

McCleon fumbled once and was intercepted three times, but he was matched turnover for turnover by Virginia quarterback Symmion Willis, who for the second game in a row was intercepted four times.

"You can't afford that," Welsh said. "We thought he had a good week of practice. His arm was livelier. Today I don't think the pass protection was good enough."

The Cavaliers, whose first touchdown was on a 57-yard pass from Willis to Petey Allen, closed to 17-14 on a 3-yard touchdown run by Jerrod Washington with 9:56 left in the third quarter.

That's where the score remained when Virginia took over at its 6-yard line after a Joe Crocker interception with 12:09 left in the game. The Cavaliers got to their 45, then called a timeout on fourth and inches.

There were several interpretations of what happened next, but what mattered was that a dive by UVa fullback Charles Way resulted in no gain, no measurement and Clemson possession.

"I asked the referee later and he said there was no question it was short," Welsh said. "If that's the issue, then it looks to me like it was a bad spot."

It took Clemson three plays to score, with freshman fullback Chris Franklin going the final 13 yards with 8:29 left. The game was over for all practical purposes when UVa punted on fourth and one from its 16 with 2:14 left.

"I didn't feel it was lost," argued Welsh, whose move brought waves of disgust from some of the UVa players. "With two timeouts left, I felt we could get the clock stopped and get the ball back."

It was the third straight road loss for Virginia, which is 0-17-1 at Memorial Stadium. Clemson is 31-1-1 in all games against Virginia.

"We had the talent today to beat 'em and they beat us - again," Dixon said. "I mean, `When is it going to die? Is it ever going to die?'

"Whenever anything happened, [character] is the first thing that's attacked about this team. Anybody can say you have character, but you've got to do it between the lines to prove it. And, we haven't done that."