THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 21, 1995 TAG: 9510210427
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: AUSTIN LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
Cowbells will be ringing nonstop. Some 70,000 fans will be roaring, ``Hook 'em 'Horns!'' And Patrick Jeffers' adrenalin will be gushing like an oil well when the Virginia Cavaliers run onto the field at Memorial Stadium for today's game against Texas.
``I can't imagine what I am going to feel like when I get out there,'' Jeffers said earlier this week. ``But I know I am going to be as pumped up as anyone on the field.''
Jeffers, Virginia's leading receiver, is from Ft. Worth. He grew up immersed in Texas football, although he was more devoted to Auburn and the Southeastern Conference because of family ties.
``You couldn't live in Texas and not hear about the Longhorns all the time,'' Jeffers said. ``I enjoyed watching the great players who played there.
``It was a big-time program, and you were always going to root for them, whether you were a Texas fan or not, because of home-state pride. The atmosphere is a lot like you see at Florida State.''
Jeffers would be wearing a Texas uniform today, too, if the Longhorns had offered him a scholarship when he graduated from Ft. Worth Country Day School, where he was the punter, placekicker, free safety and cornerback.
But Texas, and several other schools including Auburn, wanted Jeffers only if he were willing to walk on, without a scholarship promise.
``I love Austin, but the size of the school kind of turned me off,'' Jeffers said. ``Still, it is a good school and if they had offered me a scholarship I probably would have gone there.''
They didn't, and Jeffers headed east for Virginia, where he has become one of the top receivers in school history.
The 6-foot-4, 219-pound senior leads the Cavaliers this year in receptions (27), receiving yardage (439) and receiving touchdowns (three).
He is fourth on the all-time list in touchdown catches (15) and receiving yards (1,698), and is seventh in receptions (101).
But the Cavaliers can't boast of having discovered Jeffers. Fact is, they weren't any smarter than the schools who only offered him the chance to walk on. That's all he was promised in Charlottesville, too, but he found Virginia more appealing.
His sister, Allison, was enrolled at Virginia. Not only did she enjoy the university, but she was dating a football player, Derek Dooley, who had been a walk-on.
``Virginia had the balance in athletics and academics that I was looking for,'' said Jeffers, whose second choice was Princeton. ``I felt I could come here and play, although I didn't know how much.''
Jeffers immediately caught the attention of the Virginia coaches.
``He was big, he could run and he could catch the ball,'' coach George Welsh said. ``We could see that when he played on the scout team against the varsity.''
While Welsh has had other walk-on players earn scholarships, he says he's never had one so talented as Jeffers.
Jeffers believes he was overlooked by college scouts because he played at a small private school and did not have an experienced quarterback to get him the ball his senior year.
But what he still doesn't understand is why some recruiters claimed he was too slow to play major-college ball. He did not lose a race on the track team in high school, and set 200- and 400-meter records.
``Stopwatches are the same no matter what size school you attend,'' he said. ``I was running against public-school kids who were saying they ran a 4.5 (in the 40-yard-dash), and I was beating them every time.''
News of Jeffers' emergence as a star began creeping back to his home state last year when the Cavaliers played Texas Christian in the Independence Bowl. He had several calls from the Texas media this week.
``I caught a lot of people by surprise, I guess,'' Jeffers said. ``It has really been fun, too. No one here knew who I was, and most people back home didn't know I was playing football at Virginia.''
Jeffers says he never imagined he would become a pro prospect until the scouts began appearing on campus recently to watch him on the practice field and on film.
The home-state folks get a chance today to see what they let walk away from them, and amid the ``Hook 'em 'Horns!'' there will be some cheers for Jeffers: He has a list of 65 relatives and friends who requested tickets.
``My dad flies to most of our games, so this will be like a trip around the block for him,'' Jeffers said.'' ILLUSTRATION: File photo by LAWRENCE JACKSON, The Virginian Pilot
Patrick Jeffers, a Ft. Worth, Texas, native, leads the Cavaliers
this year in receptions and receiving yardage.
by CNB