THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 11, 1995 TAG: 9509110146
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Short : 49 lines
You really had to be there to appreciate the scene that took place after Virginia's 29-24 come-from-behind victory against North Carolina State.
You had to see those sweaty, tired mega-sized linemen wrapping their arms around each other and nodding knowingly as they walked off the field in triumph.
Coach George Welsh had said before the ACC opener for both teams that it would be wrong for either team to place too much importance on the outcome because the season was just getting started.
He repeated the same message following the victory.
But all you had to do was read the relief in the facial expressions of the players after the game - or to have seen Welsh himself jumping about four feet high after the winning touchdown - to know this was not just another chalk mark in the win column.
Had gritty quarterback Mike Groh not taken the Cavaliers for the winning drive in the final 75 seconds, Welsh and his team would have faced a miserable week preparing for Georgia Tech.
Instead of winners, they could have picked up any newspaper or listened to any sports program and found themselves called chokers.
There was the collapse against State last year. The collapse against Michigan two weeks ago. And a lot of other skeletons in the closet that critics could rattle.
If Virginia, which led, 20-7, at halftime, had let this one slip away, too, it would have had a disastrous effect on a season difficult enough because of the road schedule.
As sweet as the victory was, the Cavaliers didn't overlook the fact that they do have a problem sustaining leads.
Welsh said he doesn't know if the letdowns are caused by a lack of defensive depth or if the team that has trained since early August is not in top condition.
At least no one is saying it is because they are quitters or chokers. And that is what they would have been hearing if they had lost.
FRANK VEHORN ILLUSTRATION: L. JACKSON/Staff
Mike Groh drove Virginia to the late winning touchdown vs. N.C.
State.
by CNB