THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 4, 1995 TAG: 9510040492
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium: 86 lines
Intercepting an opponent's passes make most coaches happy, but Virginia coach George Welsh wishes his team would stop it, at least for one game and end what may be the NCAA's longest interception streak.
The Cavaliers have stolen one or more passes in each of their last 22 games, dating to the North Carolina State game on Oct. 30, 1993.
Neither the NCAA nor ACC keeps statistics on consecutive games in which a team has intercepted a pass, so no one knows if the Cavaliers' feat is a record.
But the streak already is too long for Welsh.
``I would like to see the streak end and we still win the game,'' said Welsh, whose ninth-ranked Cavaliers play North Carolina on Saturday.
Welsh began disliking the streak when he noticed his defensive backs talking about it in the media.
``I think it is in the players' minds that they want to go out there and get an interception to keep the streak going,'' Welsh said.
``But sometimes you don't play the defense and you take chances you shouldn't take just to get the interception.''
Welsh says it is sometimes safer for a back to just knock the ball down.
``Don't go up there with two hands and try to catch the ball in your chest, where the offensive receiver has a better chance to take it away from you,'' he said.
Welsh can't be sure his players are guilty of taking chances to preserve the streak, but he's seen them go for interceptions when he thought they should have just knocked the ball down.
``The Michigan game is one example,'' he said, ``and there have been other games, too. I think it is in their minds to keep the streak going.''
Thirteen players have intercepted a total of 48 passes during the streak.
Sophomore Ronde Barber has 10, followed by Joe Crocker with nine.
Crocker said it would be ``absurd and almost impossible'' for a coach to tell his players not to play to get interceptions.
``I don't think (Welsh) would do that,'' Crocker said.
``I think his message to us is not to get carried away with the streak and to go out and do things that we always do.''
Crocker says the streak is not discussed much by the defensive backs.
``We mainly talk about going out and staying in the defense and making plays,'' he said.
But Percy Ellsworth, whose interception last Saturday against Wake Forest continued the streak, says the streak is important.
``It is something we take pride in, and we don't want to be the defensive backfield that breaks the streak,'' Ellsworth said.
``Hopefully it is something that keeps going and becomes a tradition at Virginia.''
But he added that the defensive backs don't go into games saying, ``Uh-oh, we got to get an interception.''
``Once we do it, we are glad we kept the streak alive,'' he said. ``But we are not going to risk giving up a touchdown to keep it going.''
Streak aside, Ellsworth believes interceptions make the defense more effective.
``Turnovers kills teams. It can turn a game around. I remember the Michigan game when I thought I should have had an interception and I didn't quite get there,'' he said.
``That was the series in which they scored their first touchdown. If I had made the interception, maybe they don't get momentum and they don't win. If you can get it, get it. That is our job, to catch the ball.''
Welsh has not formally conveyed his concerns to the defensive backs, but they are aware of them.
``I guess he (Welsh) thinks it is a distraction,'' safety Paul London said.
``If he feels that way, I can understand why he is concerned. But, really, we aren't thinking about the streak during the game. We are just trying to make plays.''
London, though, is hoping the streak continues against North Carolina, which has yielded an ACC-high six interceptions already this season.
But if Virginia can win without any thefts, Welsh would be just as happy to bury the streak. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE
U.Va.'s Duane Ashman, left, and Ronde Barber celebrate an
interception by Joe Crocker, right, earlier this year.
by CNB