Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 23, 1995 TAG: 9508230047
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
Barber will get that opportunity Saturday - before a crowd of more than 100,000 and a network TV audience - but, of course, he won't be wearing maize and blue.
Barber, from Cave Spring High School in Roanoke, was told Monday that he will replace Kevin Brooks as Virginia's starting tailback.
There are no promises past this week, but the combination of Barber's performance in the preseason and Brooks' groin injury left assistant coach Ken Mack with a decision to make.
``Kevin's healthy enough now to start,'' Mack said Tuesday, ``but Tiki has worked his butt off and I can't turn my back on that. Otherwise, I'd be a hypocrite.''
It will not be the first college start for Barber, who rushed for a career-high 123 yards last year when he took Brooks' place against Georgia Tech.
``I'm not pressing anything,'' Barber said before a meeting Monday with Mack. ``It's not an issue as far as I'm concerned.''
Barber said all the right things when he wasn't starting, so he wasn't about to pop off when he was starting, but it was worth a call home.
``He called me [Tuesday] morning and told me he had a summer cold,'' Barber's mother, Geraldine, said. ``Then, he said, `Oh, by the way. I thought you might want to know I'm starting.' Usually, I read about these things in the newspaper.''
A trip to Ann Arbor, Mich., has been on the Barbers' calendar since it was announced last winter that Virginia would be playing Michigan in the Pigskin Classic. But, there was no assurance that either Tiki or his twin brother, Ronde, would be starting.
Ronde Barber, a third-team All-America defensive back and last year's ACC rookie of the year, underwent surgery May 18 after fracturing the navicular bone on the inside of his left ankle.
``I was sitting at home, looking at some of the information we received from the football office, and I was like, `God, I can't miss this game. It's just too important,''' he recalled. ``I was worried.''
Ronde participated in only one of UVa's two daily practices for the first week, but has not missed any practice time since the Cavaliers' first scrimmage Aug.11. That was when his brother launched his bid for the starting job with 17 carries for 118 yards.
The Barber twins will be making their first trip to Michigan, a school they intended to visit as seniors at Cave Spring in the winter of 1993. The Wolverines were one of their final three choices, along with UVa and Clemson.
``Their coach [assistant Bobby Morrison] called and said, `I can't come down there. I'm snowed in,''' Tiki said. ``My thought was, `I don't want to deal with this anymore,' so I canceled my visit and committed to Virginia.''
``The big-time atmosphere was very attractive to me. At first, that was all that attracted me. Recognition was very important. I wanted to go somewhere where I could be seen.''
Eventually, the Barbers looked at other factors, such as academics and closeness to home and found the mix they desired at Virginia.
Moreover, the football team received bowl bids following their first two seasons, although Tiki Barber did not post the kind of rushing numbers he might have envisioned. In his best year, 1994, he rushed for 591 yards before a fractured shoulder blade caused him to miss the final game.
``I think he set some goals for himself,'' Mack said. ``He wanted to be a little tougher, he wanted to stay healthy and he didn't want to fumble because he felt he'd been labeled a fumbler.''
And, who gave him that label?
``It wasn't me,'' Mack stressed. ``In all fairness to Tiki, we went back and looked at tape and he only had three of those things - I don't like to say the word [fumble] - all year. With all the touches he had, that was respectable.''
Barber had another goal: to break the UVa football record for 40 yards. He accomplished that in the spring, with a time of 4.28 seconds, while gaining 15 pounds (from 180 to 195).
``He's got a little more power with those 15 pounds,'' head coach George Welsh said, ``but he hasn't lost any of his speed.''
It was difficult for the coaches to sit down Brooks, who rushed for 741 yards in the regular season, and then had a 114-yard night in the Independence Bowl.
``Kevin had earned the job previously,'' Mack said, ``so, if he shows me he's healed and he plays well, I've told him that he can have his job back.''
Even if Barber shines in the Pigskin Classic?
``That,'' said Mack, ``would be a nice problem to have.''
by CNB