University of Virginia Library

Freshmen Face
Tar Babies Next

By Bill Patterson

Pictured Above Is The Entire Varsity Football Team Which Finally "Put It All Together" To Defeat Army Last Saturday

Another outstanding team effort
gave the Cavayearlings their third
straight victory as they mauled the
VMI rats 40-15 in Lexington
Saturday night.

Scoring with 30 seconds elapsed,
the Cavayearlings proved they were
out for blood as the defensive unit
forced a VMI fumble to set up the
initial score. Explosive action
proved to be the order of the day,
as Harrison Davis connected on
three consecutive aerials for
another Virginia touchdown just as
the gun sounded to end the half.

Davis, who has become more
impressive with every game,
completed ten of 17 passes for 190
yards through the air. Keeping the
VMI defense confused, Davis was
able to scramble for 74 yards for a
touchdown and pass for three other
TD's.

Once again the potent Virginia
offensive machine was up for the
occasion as it amassed 528 yards
total offense. Kent Merritt proved
to be the outstanding rusher of the
game as the speedy first yearman
ran for 135 yards on 17 carries and
grabbed several key passes. All the
Cavayearling backs looked sharp as
they battered and then devastated
the Rat defense with long gains on
power sweeps.

Defensively the Cavayearlings
looked their best to date as the
secondary broke up several key
VMI pass plays. Even with
Virginia's marked improvement on
defense, Rat quarterback Dallas
Norman accumulated 131 yards
through the air.

Two of VMI's scores came as a
result of alert defensive play on the
'Rats' behalf as they recovered a
Kent Merritt fumble of a kickoff
and blocked a Billy Maxwell punt.
Even so there were never enough
Virginia mistakes to put the game's
outcome in jeopardy.

Virginia could well have amassed
more points but were held three
times in the final period alone. The
last Cavayearling drive ended on the
VMI one yard line as the gun
sounded to end the game.

Cavayearling coach AI Groh is
very pleased with the overall team
effort he has received this season
and feels his first yearmen should
be well prepared to join the varsity
this spring.

This week's game places the
Cavayearlings against the Baby
Tarheels of North Carolina in an
ACC confrontation. It is a crucial
game if Virginia hopes to keep its
number one ranking in ACC
competition. Coach Groh lists the
Tar Babies as the strongest
opponent the Cavayearlings have
faced since they defeated the Baby
Terrapins in another hotly
contested ACC battle. Even so the
Cavayearlings should be solid
favorites to defeat the Tar Babies in
Chapel Hill on Friday.

Because of their steady
improvement and superb
conditioning the Cavayearlings
must be rated one of the top
freshman powers in the cast.