University of Virginia Library

By Tim Walthall

In The Wake Of Wake

Colloquium

Considering we were supposed
to win, many people are puzzled by
the way Wake Forest walloped us,
27-7. Notwithstanding Dave
Marshall's verdict of "no spirit,"
The Cavaliers did not lose because
they didn't want to win. This is the
great myth that has been the tried
and true scapegoat of poor coaches.
This is not to say that "spirit"
doesn't count. But team spirit is in
the coach's domain. In this respect,
nothing can be added to the morale
of a team whose coach tells grown
men how long to wear their hair or
that they must go to church. These
matters have no bearing on the
team's record. If anything, these
directives may damage team
morale. Witness the lacrosse team
that wins with long hair and the
football team that loses with short.

Saturday, the defense that was
on the field all day did not give up
scores because it was
"disheartened" and "let down."
Virginia's defense gave up points
because the Wake offense was not a
disorganized sandlot crew. Their
plays were made to go for
touchdowns. The percentages
dictated that, given enough plays,
some were bound to gain yardage.
And finally, Wake's chances of
scoring were in no way lessened
when the yardage to our goal line
was vastly reduced by our fumbling
and interceptions.

Thus, the burden passes to a
decisively unimaginative offence.
From the sidelines it appeared that
coach Blackburn violated some of
the most elementary rules
football strategy. The first case in
point is his use of the wide side of
the field. On only two occasions
did his sweeps roll to the wide side.
One basic tenet of a successful
sweep is to get running room. Thus
a wide sweep to the short side is
antithetical. The only justification
could be to catch the defense
over-shifted to the wide side. Yet
Blackburn started and continued
running them to the short side
throughout the game.

Coach Blackburn's philosophy
seems to have been plucked from
the pre-World War II formula that
prescribed the run as a cure-all. The
team that couldn't run, couldn't
win. The forward pass was only
used sparingly on third down and
long. Only recently have coaches
discovered the full potential of the
pass. It now occupies an equal place
beside the run. An offense without
a passer is an engine running on two
cylinders. The pass is now used on
short and intermediate yard-age
downs. The pass works with the
to take pressure off one and the
other.

The implications for the team
whose running attack is weak are
obvious. Yet Coach Blackburn
seemed afraid to throw the pass
until it was too late. The first four
occasions that Virginia got the
ball looked like four consecutive
instant replays: two dives or
counters into the line, a third down
pass and the inevitable punt. Even
the most niggardly defense could
pick up that pattern. The most
dangerous and effective play in
football, the short pass, was not
gainfully employed until the second
half. When the linebacker and
counters failed, Coach Blackburn
should have gone to the pass which
might have loosened up the Wake
Forest middle.

There are other factors which
can't be overlooked to explain the
upset. Larry Albert's shoulder
separation, numerous "bad breaks"
early in the game and the lack of
any "outstanding" talent (whose
fault is that?) are three theories
forwarded. But the mistakes
pointed to here were simple and
avoidable - the kind that separate
good teams from bad ones, winning
coaches from losing ones.