Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 20, 1993 TAG: 9311200185
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
"There've been a lot of times where we've been home and they've come home after the [Christmas] break," said Tech quarterback Maurice DeShazo. "We really just want to beat them. The bowl situation gives you more of the incentive."
The Hokies, rebounding from a 2-8-1 season in 1992, carry a 7-3 record, a No. 25 ranking and an Independence Bowl bid into Scott Stadium today (12:10 p.m., WSET).
The Cavaliers, also 7-3, have lost two of their past three games and three of the past five. They are ranked No. 23, yet they face the possibility of not getting a bid for the second consecutive year if they finish 7-4.
"If Virginia loses, [the Cavaliers] will be in dire straits," said Tom Mickle, assistant commissioner of the ACC. "I'd be surprised if they didn't go to a bowl at 8-3."
UVa already has clinched at least a tie for third place in the ACC, which has arranged bowl tie-ins for four of its teams, but it appears the Hall of Fame Bowl would select fifth-place North Carolina State over the Cavaliers if both teams finish 7-4.
Jim Copeland, UVa's athletic director, bristles at the suggestion that he has been outhustled by N.C. State athletic director Todd Turner. "But they've [the Wolfpack] gone after the game aggressively," Mickle said.
"They've had their alumni in the [Tampa, Fla.] area call and they've sent faxes," Mickle said Friday. "I don't know if that makes a difference, but they've done some things."
Mickle said it is unlikely the Cavaliers will go to the Peach Bowl, which has the third choice of ACC teams, even if UVa wins and Clemson loses. Both teams are 7-3 overall and tied for third in the ACC at 5-3.
"The Peach is pretty heavy on Clemson," Mickle said.
All of this interests Virginia Tech only from the standpoint of its opposition in the Independence Bowl on New Year's Eve in Shreveport, La. Dave Braine, Tech's athletic director, says the two potential opponents he hears most frequently are N.C. State and Indiana.
Memphis State is another possibility, because of its relative proximity to Shreveport and its potential to bring a large following.
The last - and only - time Tech and Virginia went to bowls in the same year was 1984, when the Cavaliers played in the Peach Bowl and the Hokies made their first Independence Bowl appearance. That year, Tech and UVa played in the fourth game of the season, when both teams were 2-1. The Cavaliers won 26-23.
They have met in the last game of the season six times, only once with a possible bowl bid at stake, when Tech was 8-2 and Virginia was 6-4 in 1983. UVa, under consideration for the Peach Bowl, was hammered by the Hokies 48-0.
The Cavaliers have won five of the past six games between the teams, including a 41-38 triumph last year in Blacksburg, and come into today's game as a five-point favorite.
"I don't want to bet on it," said Tech guard Chris Malone. "I just like our chances. We're a much more mature football team than at this time last year. It's going to be a four-quarter fistfight.
"It's culture vs. agriculture. Ivy-league types vs. a blue-collar type school. I have some friends there, and [the stereotype] is pretty much valid as far as I can see."
Malone followed UVa when he was growing up in Lawrenceville, but the Cavaliers didn't recruit him.
"I don't know the last time [Tech] went there and beat them," he said, "but I was there to see it. It's one that sticks out in my mind."
Tech's last victory at Scott Stadium was in 1985, when the Cavaliers squandered a 10-0 halftime lead in losing 28-10.
Blown leads have been Virginia's trademark. As recently as Oct. 30, the Cavaliers led N.C. State 27-17 in the fourth quarter before falling 34-29.
Tech and Virginia have displayed high-powered offenses, but the Cavaliers have been plagued by turnovers - 11 in the past nine quarters. UVa might not be able to stop Tech and the Hokies might not be able to stop Virginia, but there is a good possibility the Cavaliers will stop themselves.
Both defenses have had their moments, Tech in a 14-13 loss to unbeaten West Virginia and most recently in a 45-24 victory over Syracuse, when freshman Torian Gray had seven tackles and two interceptions in his first start at strong safety.
"One of the interceptions came when he had the pitch man on the option and read the dump pass," said Phil Elmassian, Tech's defensive coordinator. "In my 18 years of coaching, I've never had a player do that before. It was unbelievable."
When Tech beat Virginia six out of seven times from 1982-88, many wondered if UVa coach George Welsh put the proper emphasis on the game. However, nobody has questioned his approach since then.
"The big thing is, it's a football game first and it's Virginia Tech," said Welsh, dismissing the bowl talk. "We see their coaches [in recruiting], our players know their players, so it builds up. It's very intense most of the time."
by CNB