Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 13, 1994 TAG: 9409140067
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
That's some faith in a football team that has exactly one victory in the 33-year history of the series.
Although there was no line in Monday's edition of USA Today, other services are listing UVa as a five-point choice to beat the Tigers, who visit Scott Stadium at noon Saturday.
Coach George Welsh said he expected Willis to be available and start, although back-up Mike Groh has thrown five touchdown passes in two games and ranks first in the ACC in passing efficiency. Willis suffered a hamstring injury in practice that caused Welsh to hold him out of UVa's game Saturday at Navy.
``The trainer said Symmion looked really good,'' Welsh said. ``They would like him to lift 35 pounds with the leg and he's lifting 25, but that's up from 10 at the end of last week, so he's improved a lot.''
Of greater concern was the availability of middle linebacker Randy Neal, who set a Virginia record last year with 139 tackles. Welsh said Neal remains questionable with a knee sprain that sidelined him at Navy.
Two other projected starters, defensive tackle Mark Krichbaum and safety Paul London, have not played in a game. Krichbaum has a broken leg and probably will not return until Oct. 8; London, who had offseason knee surgery, cut short his return to practice last week after two days.
``Randy's a leader, he makes plays, he gets people fired up,'' defensive tackle Ryan Kuehl said. ``I think he'll be out there. That's [an able-bodied Neal] big for us.''
Clemson generally has dominated Virginia on the ground, rushing for 200 yards or more in 15 of the past 16 meetings. The Tigers amassed 402 yards in rushing offense two years ago when they rallied from a 28-0 second-quarter deficit to win 29-28 at Scott Stadium.
CROWELL OUT: Welsh said Virginia may make a hardship appeal on behalf of freshman wide receiver Germane Crowell, who suffered a separated shoulder Saturday and will be out for at least five weeks and possibly for the remainder of the season.
Crowell, if incapacitated, would meet NCAA hardship guidelines because his injury occurred in the first half of the season and he has played in fewer than one-quarter of the Cavaliers' games. He had one reception Saturday after catching a pair of touchdown passes against Florida State in his first college game.
``We'll wait till a month from now and see how he is,'' Welsh said. ``It's a second- or third-degree separation, which means it's pretty bad, so maybe he won't be ready in a month. But, you might get a couple of guys hurt and might need him to win some games.''
CLEMSON ABSENTEE: North Carolina State, a 29-12 upset winner Saturday at Clemson, beat Clemson free safety Andre Carter for three touchdown passes. Carter is standing in for 1993 starter Leomont Evans, who has been bothered by dizziness since collapsing during a preseason practice.
HISTORY LESSON: Welsh was the Virginia coach when the Cavaliers ended their 29-game losing streak to Clemson in 1990, but he also has the dubious distinction of losing more games (10) to the Tigers than any other UVa coach.
That stands to reason because Welsh has been at Virginia longer than any other coach; eight other UVa coaches have lost between one and five games to the Tigers. What might surprise some people is no Tigers' coach has coached in as many Clemson-Virginia games as Welsh.
Frank Howard was the head coach at Clemson for 17 seasons (1953-69), but the Clemson-UVa series did not begin until 1955. There have been three two-year interruptions in the series (1961-62, '67-68 and '75-76).
KICKING GAME: Sophomore Will Brice is averaging 35.2 yards per punt - well under his 42.2-yard average from a year ago - but six of his 13 punts have been downed inside the 20-yard line and four inside the 10. Only four of Brice's punts have been returned, for a 2.8-yard average.
ODDS AND ENDS: Tiki Barber's 74-yard punt return for a touchdown Saturday was UVa's longest return for a touchdown since Chris Warren went 76 yards against Navy in 1986. Barber, a sophomore from Cave Spring High in Roanoke, leads the ACC in punt returns and ranks third in all-purpose yardage. ... Tyrone Davis has moved into third place on UVa's career list with 1,586 yards even though he had one 100-yard receiving game in his career before catching nine passes for 119 yards against Navy. ... Virginia has been favored to beat Clemson four times since 1985, but the Cavaliers were underdogs when they beat Clemson 20-7 in 1990 and tied the Tigers 20-20 in 1991.
by CNB