THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 27, 1996 TAG: 9610270212
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TALLAHASSEE, FLA. LENGTH: 121 lines
Go ahead. Criticize Virginia coach George Welsh all you want for that failed fake punt call that allowed Florida State to put away a 31-24 victory over the Cavaliers Saturday.
In a bright, warm afternoon of big plays, if this wasn't the biggest play, it certainly was the most controversial as the No. 3 Seminoles (6-0, 5-0 ACC) virtually locked up another ACC title and kept alive hopes for a national championship.
The 14th-ranked Cavaliers dropped to 5-2, 4-2 ACC, after leading 17-14 at halftime.
Virginia was still in the game with plenty of time left, too, until it tried to steal it on the fake punt and got burned.
It was a bad call, and Welsh knew it before anyone.
ABC cameras caught him twisting and shouting in the face of special teams coach Bob Petchel after fullback Darrell Medley came up short and the Seminoles came back to score what proved to be the decisive touchdown.
So, no matter what you say, you can't be any harder than Welsh was on himself and his staff.
``We shouldn't have called that play,'' Welsh said. ``We hadn't coached him (Medley) well enough. We shouldn't have put him under that pressure.''
Here was the situation:
With eight minutes remaining and the Seminoles leading 24-17, the Cavaliers were facing fourth and 5 at the Florida State 48.
Welsh and Petchel decided to use the fake punt play that they had worked on the previous week in practice.
Medley had the option to call off the fake if he saw that FSU was in the wrong defense for it.
He said it looked good to him.
``I could have called it off if I thought it wasn't going to work,'' the senior said.
``I felt I could get the 5 yards. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This time it didn't.''
Welsh said he knew it wasn't going to work even before the ball was snapped.
``I saw their linebacker moving up toward the line. It was too late for me to call it off. If I yelled, no one would have heard me.''
So he watched Medley get the direct snap. Watched him take off toward a hole that quickly was closed. Saw him miss the first down by 4 yards.
Then Welsh saw Florida State take over and go 53 yards in four plays - the big one being a 42-yard sprint to the end zone by Rock Preston for a 31-17 lead.
Welsh said he was more upset with himself than Petchel.
``I wasn't chewing him out,'' Welsh insisted. ``I was upset about a lot of things. We shouldn't have done it. We haven't done it in 20 years.''
The Cavaliers made the decision look even worse when they came back to score with 2:58 left on a 23-yard pass from Tim Sherman to wide receiver Germane Crowell.
Then they punched the wrong button again, calling on Whitney Magers for an on-sides kick that never had a chance.
FSU took over on Virginia's 47 and, forced to punt three downs later from the 39, was able to pin the Cavs down back on their own 10 with only 1:37 left.
Sherman missed on his first three passes and his fourth was picked off by James Colzie, giving the Seminoles the opportunity to run out the clock.
Welsh wasn't as certain about the on-sides call being wrong as he had been about the fake punt.
``I was afraid that they would punt and we couldn't go 80 yards against them,'' Welsh said.
``Magers usually does a good job on the onsides kick. This time he didn't get the hop on it.''
Overall, though, Welsh and the Cavaliers were not anguished by their performance.
They kept a homecoming crowd of 80,237 fans uneasy most of the day, and they gave the 'Noles their toughest ACC home game in five years.
Despite having a weak passing game, the 24 points were the most an ACC team has scored against the 'Noles in Doak Campbell Stadium since they joined the conference five years ago.
And FSU's defense, which had not given up a run longer than 14 yards and were yielding an average of only 44 yards per game, couldn't shut down Virginia tailback Tiki Barber.
He rushed for 151 yards, making it 6 for 6 in games this year and 3 for 3 against the Seminoles in his career that he has exceeded the century mark.
Barber and FSU's tailback Warrick Dunn exchanged exciting touchdown runs in the opening period.
Dunn broke loose first, dashing 65 yards to put the Seminoles on the board.
Twenty five seconds later, Barber replied with a 48-yard touchdown run.
After giving up a 48-yard touchdown pass from Thad Busby to Wayne Messam, the Cavaliers moved into the lead by intermission.
Virginia's defense set up a touchdown when defensive end Travis Griffith hit Busby, forcing a fumble that was recovered by tackle Todd White at FSU's 6.
Barber picked up 5 yards and backup quarterback Aaron Brooks plunged across the goal line for the score on the following play.
Rafael Garcia kicked a 38-yard field goal 24 seconds before intermission to give Virginia a 17-14 lead.
``We were confident in the locker room at the half,'' Barber said, ``but they just outplayed us the final half.''
He said the Seminoles paid more attention to him the second half and were content to let the Cavs beat them with their passing if they could.
And they couldn't.
``The passing game is our Achilles' heel,'' Barber said.
Sherman missed his first 11 passes before finally completing one with about a minute left in the first half.
``They have the best pass rush I've seen, and their coverage was great, too,'' Sherman said.
``It is a great defense. That is all you can say. I hope they go on from here and win the national championship.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot
Florida State defenders celebrate James Colzie's interception with
just over a minute to play Saturday. The pick clinched the
Seminoles' 31-24 win over Virginia.
PHOTOS BY HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot
Seminoles defensive back Samari Rolle breaks up a first-half pass
intended for U.Va.'s Shawn Jones Saturday.
Florida State's James Colzie brings down Virginia running back Tiki
Barber in the first quarter. by CNB