ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, November 27, 1996 TAG: 9611270031
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
While Virginia will be making its second Carquest Bowl appearance in four seasons, there were unprecedented accomplishments with the Cavaliers' acceptance of a bid to the Dec.27 game.
Not only will 20th-ranked Virginia be going to a bowl for a fourth straight football season, but it will be George Welsh's ninth postseason game at UVa. That's an ACC record for a coach.
What had been expected since Saturday afternoon became official Tuesday. In a telephone conference call, the Cavaliers were invited as the ACC's No.4 bowl selection to play the Big East's third choice, likely the loser of Saturday's Miami-Syracuse game at the Carrier Dome.
However, Carquest executive director Brian Flajole left open the possibility that West Virginia (8-3) could get the berth opposite UVa (7-3), which finishes its regular season Friday at Virginia Tech.
Miami is the likely UVa opponent. It is the team the bowl is said to want because of its neighborhood location and recent history as a solid television draw. Flajole said the bowl would like to select UVa's opponent Sunday, or even Saturday night, if possible, after the Big East spots in the Bowl Alliance and Gator are filled with Virginia Tech and Syracuse or the Hurricanes.
The sixth annual Carquest Bowl will kick off at 7:30 on a Friday night at Pro Player Stadium in Fort Lauderdale. It will be televised by Turner Broadcasting's TBS. Each school receives a $750,000 bowl check, and under ACC bowl guidelines, the Cavaliers will keep that. The league only shares bowl money from payouts in excess of $1 million.
The ACC agreement with the Carquest provides 12,000 tickets for the Cavaliers. UVa sold about 7,000 tickets and even fewer fans attended a 31-13 loss to Boston College in the same game four seasons ago.
UVa athletic director Terry Holland, speaking from Maui where the Cavalier men are playing basketball, said the school hopes that the early notice of a bowl bid will enable Wahoos to make travel plans. Holland said the South Florida location, while an excellent holiday travel spot, ``is a trip that's hard to drive.''
Welsh, in accepting the bid, said he is ``looking forward to coming back, and I know we'll have a better team this time than in 1993. We're going to come down there with a good football team.''
The '93 Cavaliers were 6-1, then lost three of their final four regular-season games, including Clemson and the Hokies at season's end, before skidding to a 7-5 finish with a Carquest loss.
``For me and my staff, it's a great relief,'' Welsh said when asked the importance of the Cavaliers being assured of a bowl bid before Friday's state rivalry game. ``I think you go in with added pressure if you don't [have a bid]. I know our players are going to be very happy when they find out about it.''
UVa's invitation was hardly unexpected, particularly after Georgia Tech, the other Carquest contender, slipped to 5-5 with Saturday's home loss to Navy. Still, Welsh said there were some anxious moments after the Cavaliers fell to 6-3 with a Scott Stadium loss to Clemson on Nov.9.
``You try not to think about those things,'' said Welsh, who had been tied with former Clemson coach Danny Ford with eight bowl trips as an ACC coach. ``We had two games left [against North Carolina and Virginia Tech], and I think that's why we played so hard against North Carolina. There's no question we had dug ourselves a hole by losing to Clemson.''
Welsh said that although the Cavaliers are due to begin workouts at the bowl location no later than Dec.22, he is hoping to take his team south sooner. Last year, the Cavaliers prepped for several days at Furman University in Greenville, S.C., before going to the Peach Bowl.
The Carquest will be Virginia's seventh bowl trip in eight seasons and eighth in the past 10 years. UVa is 4-4 in its bowl history and has won its last two postseason dates, over Texas Christian in the Independence and Georgia in the Peach.
The Virginia ticket office is accepting telephone orders only for the Carquest Bowl. The phone number is 1-800-542-8821. The priority sale will begin from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday, Dec.2, and continue through Wednesday, Dec.4. A separate sale for UVa students will begin Dec.5. There is no limit on the number of tickets a patron may purchase, but if demand should exceed supply, the ticket office reserves the right to reduce order quantities.
Reserved seat tickets are $35. Virginia Student Aid Foundation members may also purchase club level seats for $43 apiece.
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