Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 7, 1995 TAG: 9510070016
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Virginia football coach George Welsh doesn't see a 2-2 team when he watches film of North Carolina.
``It's a 4-0 football team in my opinion,'' Welsh said earlier this week. ``The record doesn't show it, but that is a big-league defensive football team right now. They are really good.''
Carolina, which entertains ninth-ranked UVa at 12:06 this afternoon, is ranked No.1 in Division I-A in total defense and No.5 in rushing defense.
``Maybe they played Ohio U.,'' said Welsh, referring to the Tar Heels' 62-0 victim last week, ``[but] no matter who you're playing, if you're only giving up 70-some yards rushing and about 100 passing, that's good. We have not played a defense like North Carolina's.
``They're better than Michigan.''
The Cavaliers (5-1 overall, 4-0 ACC) have won five games in a row since losing to Michigan, 18-17, in the final seconds. North Carolina (2-2, 0-1) has a modest two-game winning streak after being upset by Syracuse and Maryland.
Virginia Tech, another team looking to pick up ground after an 0-2 start, will go after its third straight victory when it visits Navy at 1:30 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium.
The Middies, who have not had a winning season since 1981, are coming off a 30-9 victory last week at Duke. The Blue Devils were 121/2-point favorites in that game.
``I'm sure folks thought, `Wake Forest beat 'em, so they couldn't be a very good football team,''' said Wake Forest coach Jim Caldwell, a 30-7 winner in Annapolis, Md., the week before. ``It's quite the contrary. That's [Navy] a good team.
``They really should have beaten Rutgers [instead of losing 27-17]. They just missed wide-open receivers, or they could have scored 38 points. It wasn't a surprise to me that they were able to put points on the board [at Duke] and run the ball so well.''
Sophomore quarterback Chris McCoy, a refugee from the secondary, rushed for 144 yards and the Middies had a total of 377 rushing yards against the Blue Devils. Navy operates out of the ``broken'' wishbone in its first season under head coach Charlie Weatherbie.
``They've been rushing the ball on everyone this year and we've been stopping almost everybody so far except Pitt,'' said Virginia Tech linebacker George DelRicco, one of the leaders of a defense that ranks sixth in Division I-A against the run. ``We're going to take this as a challenge.''
At the beginning of the season, Navy was lumped with Cincinnati and Akron as non-conference opponents Tech could expect to beat. However, Cincinnati stunned the Hokies 16-0 in the second game.
``What's keeping us on mental edge is the Cincinnati game,'' Tech offensive tackle Jay Hagood said. ``We know we can't look ahead. We were looking forward to Miami and Cincinnati caught us sleeping.''
There is absolutely no chance that Virginia will look past North Carolina despite the Tar Heels' 2-9-1 record against UVa since 1983. Eighth-year coach Mack Brown is 1-6 against the Cavaliers.
``You go back to '88, '89 and '90 and we weren't competitive with anybody,'' Brown said. ``Very honestly, we were just bad. We've been more competitive the last four years - this being the fourth one - but we haven't played very well against Virginia.
``I'm glad we've got them at home. I think we've played uptight against them for the last two years, and my job will be to make sure we're focused. When we've played uptight this year, we haven't played very good.''
The Tar Heels are 108th out of 108 Division I-A teams in turnover margin, one reason it lost its first two games despite outgaining its first two opponents by an average of 175 yards. It is widely believed that Carolina has the second-best talent in the ACC next to Florida State.
``I haven't seen a defense like that all year. And, when you take in all the backs, the tight ends and the wideouts, they probably are,'' said Welsh, leaving his own team out of the comparison.
VMI (2-3 overall, 1-1 Southern) will be looking for its first victory over Marshall since 1981 when it visits the Thundering Herd (3-1, 2-0) at 7 p.m. Marshall won the championship last year courtesy of VMI's 26-23 victory over Appalachian State in the final game.
``I'm still looking for that payoff check for beating Appalachian State,'' Keydets coach Bill Stewart said.
Washington and Lee, victimized by missed field goals in back-to-back games, will attempt to win for the first time this season against Davidson (1-3) at 1:30 p.m. in Lexington. Tailback Seth McKinley rejoins an offensive unit that boasts the top three receivers in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference
Josh Whitley will make his second consecutive start at quarterback for Ferrum, which plays host to Guilford at 1:30 p.m. The Panthers (2-2) have won their last six meetings with Guilford (2-1).
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB