Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 15, 1995 TAG: 9510160112
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
That's when it started raining.
Maybe it's because Virginia's head coach is an old Navy man, but the Cavaliers seem to play better when the conditions turn downright amphibious.
In rallying for a 44-30 triumph over stubborn Duke, it took UVa a half to find its sea legs. And when it did, the Blue Devils couldn't find them or tackle them.
On an afternoon when most everyone was concerned about what was coming from the sky, Tiki Barber brought a needed webfooted quality to Virginia's attack. Duke had an easier time grasping at raindrops.
``Playing in the rain doesn't bother me,'' Barber said on the best day of his career. ``Actually, I've faced that a lot of times. The rain can be a factor. You can make it a factor.''
George Welsh, UVa's coach, agrees the Cavaliers seem to sail easier in the rain, and he said Barber is one of those backs who is just ducky in those conditions.
``Unless he slips,'' said Welsh, drier than the weather.
The only things Barber slipped against the Blue Devils were tackles. He scored two touchdowns, ran 30 times for 185 yards and caught three passes on quarterback Mike Groh's record-setting day.
Sure, he fumbled a punt that contributed to Duke's 11-point halftime lead, but Barber had 255 all-purpose yards, the most since 1968 in the UVa record book. In history, only the storied Bill Dudley, Frank Quayle and John Papit have had better total yardage days.
It's been a decade since any UVa back rushed as many times. Barry Word had 33 carries for 170 yards in a 1985 victory over North Carolina. In the past two decades, there have been only six better ground games than this one by Barber, and three of those were by Terry Kirby.
``He got a lot on his own ... a lot,'' Welsh said of the junior tailback, who leads the ACC this season with 12 touchdowns. ``Tiki broke tackles, he cut back, he stumbled, he kept his balance. There were some great performances there.
``That [third-quarter, 11-yard touchdown] pass in the flat he caught, I still don't know how he scored. Duke had four guys there. That's what a good back can do. He can make the linemen look better.''
Welsh figured Barber, diminutive in height only, might have such a day, although not the way it developed. Duke (2-5 overall, 0-4 ACC) visited giving up 296 yards rushing per game.
On the Cavaliers' early possessions, it appeared Barber's mother, Geraldine, was calling the plays. He kept getting the ball.
``And Duke was doing a good job stopping us,'' Barber said.
In the first half, UVa's offense look like it belonged in some of those hefty bags many in the crowd had altered into rain gear. Then, the Cavaliers began flowing.
Barber had 117 of his ground yards on 14 second-half carries. His 907 yards in UVa's 6-2 start already ranks 11th on the school's single-season rushing list. At Barber's current 113.4-yard pace with four games left, he projects to a 1,360-yard season.
In the ACC's 43-year history, only former North Carolina greats Don McCauley and Mike Voight have run for more.
``That's Virginia football, running the ball,'' Barber said. ``That's the way our offense works.''
Barber's advantage against the Blue Devils is that not only didn't they know where he was going, he didn't, either. Changing direction is his strength. Going forward, amazingly, isn't.
``Tiki is good in the rain,'' said Tom O'Brien, UVa's offensive coordinator. ``He gets in there among the blockers and hides and the other team can't find him.
``Sometimes he's just going too fast and we try to get him to slow down. He wants to take it sometimes and run it 9,000 miles per hour, right up the back of the fullback.''
Maybe the weather slowed Barber just enough. Duke certainly couldn't.
by CNB