Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, November 11, 1995 TAG: 9511120006
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
If Virginia is looking for omens in its bid for a second ACC football championship, the Cavaliers might find one in the site of their final conference game.
Ex-Maryland coach Joe Krivak is no longer on the opposing sideline - he can be found in the UVa coaches' box - and a second deck has been added to Byrd Stadium's north side, but it's the same surface where the Cavaliers defeated the Terrapins for a share of the 1989 title.
That Maryland team finished 3-7-1, but the Terrapins were coming off a 13-13 tie the previous week with 13th-ranked Penn State. Maryland led Virginia 14-7 before the Cavaliers scored three touchdowns in the final 10:05 before halftime.
Once again, UVa (7-3 overall, 6-1 ACC) faces a Terrapins' team on a bit of a roll. Maryland (6-3, 4-2) had lost three of its past four games, scoring one touchdown in the process, before roaring past favored North Carolina State 30-13 last Saturday in Raleigh, N.C.
It completed a Maryland sweep of the ``Big Four'' programs in North Carolina - North Carolina, Duke, Wake Forest and the Wolfpack.
The Terrapins had been shut out in back-to-back games before installing the I-formation, a total deviation from the run-and-shoot offense that coach Mark Duffner has favored for his first 31/2 seasons in College Park, Md.
``We were totally surprised by them running the I,'' said N.C. State coach Mike O'Cain, whose team was coming off an open date. ``They'd not done it all year long. They'd had two backs in the backfield some in short-yardage situations and [at] the goal line, but that's about it.
``We had no idea. We practiced against their four wideouts and had some things, we felt, that could work against them. A week and a half of work was really thrown out the window. But that was not the reason they won the ballgame. They executed; we did not.''
The Terps, who had rushed for a total of 97 yards in their four previous games, took defensive tackle Mario Chavez and put him at fullback in front of tailback Buddy Rogers, who carried 21 times for 83 yards. Maryland rushed for 137 yards as a team.
``It's hard enough to [prepare for] the run and shoot,'' said UVa coach George Welsh. ``It compounds your problem, [but] let me put it this way: I'd rather be in this position than N.C. State was last week, when they didn't know what was coming.''
The Wolfpack led 10-3 at the half and, oddly, seemed to have more problems with Maryland's I-formation the longer they were exposed to it. It didn't hurt the Terrapins that quarterback Scott Milanovich completed 20 of 24 passes for 209 yards.
It was only the third start of the season for Milanovich, who missed the first four games while on NCAA suspension for gambling. His return did not have a positive effect on the Terrapins, who had gone 4-0 under stopgap quarterback Brian Cummings.
Milanovich started and played the whole way in game No.5, a 31-3 loss to Georgia Tech. In game No.6, Cummings relieved Milanovich before the half and led the Terps to a come-from-behind 9-6 victory over Wake Forest. The next week, Milanovich never got off the bench in a 17-0 loss to Clemson.
``There was a time when I just wanted it to be done,'' said Milanovich, who had not been talking to the media until Thursday, when he broke his silence. ``When things go bad, the easiest thing to do is quit, put your head down and feel sorry for yourself.''
Now, it appears the Terrapins have rediscovered their offense, which includes game-breaking wide receiver Jermaine Lewis. Lewis, whom many consider the fastest player in the ACC, had scored two touchdowns all season before he had four against N.C. State - two on runs, one on a pass reception and another on a punt return.
The Terrapins' defense has been respectable all season. Maryland, which two years ago set an NCAA record when it became the first Division I-A team to allow 6,000 yards in a season, has held seven of nine opponents under 400 yards.
Virginia will test the Terps with quarterback Mike Groh and tailback Tiki Barber, who are on the verge of single-season school records for passing and rushing yardage, respectively. Barber, however, is one of several UVa players whose helmets were swiped after a 33-28 upset of then-No.2 Florida State.
``Does that mean he won't play?'' asked Barber's mother, Geraldine, in apparent jest.
``My sense is that they'll find another helmet for him,'' school spokesman Rich Murray said. ``That will be worked out.''
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB