University of Virginia Library

Duke Handed Game

Costly Errors Doom Wahoos, 28-0

By John Markon

In a perfect day for football in
Scott Stadium on Saturday two
relatively evenly-matched elevens
from Virginia and Duke met in a
key ACC game. 18,500 fans showed
up for Homecoming and watched
their Wahoos give the game away.

The only difference between the
two teams was the tragic tendency
towards error of the Cavalier
offensive unit. Fumbles ended two
promising drives just short of
pay dirt and an overzealous
defender roughed Duke's Dave
Wright after an unsuccessful field
goal try and opened the gates to
Duke's third, and for all purposes
clinching, touchdown.

Aside from the physical errors-the
fumbles (4), the interceptions
(2), and the penalties- there were
several plays of the 'bad break'
variety and a few of the 'near miss'
genre. Generally, the young
Cavaliers lacked poise in the tight
spots.

After Duke had taken the
opening kickoff and stomped down
the field for a score the Cavaliers
set the fans back on their heels by
following a 57-yard kickoff return
by Gerard Mullins with a sustained
drive to the Duke 2.

Here they stalled out as Virginia
quarterback Harrison Davis, off to
his best start of the season, lost
four yards with two runs by Kent
Merritt and on third down rolled
around his own left end, was hit
just short of the goal line, and
watched the first of his three
fumbles roll into the end zone
where Bill Davies of Duke pounced
on it for a touchback.

While generally holding Duke
for the remainder of the half the
Cavaliers muffed two soring
chances. Down on the two again,
Davis again relied on Merritt for the
first two unsuccessful carries and
was badgered into two poorly
thrown incompletions.

Late in the half Davis had
Merritt wide open on his only long
pass but he under threw his fleet
tailback and was intercepted by Bill
Hanenberg on the four yard line.

In the second half Duke scored
again on their first possession with
their ace runner. Steve Jones, who
grossed 140 yards on 23 carries,
scoring on a 31-yard romp. Davis
marched the team down to Duke's
15 but fumbled twice on
consecutive plays. Merritt recovered
the first one with the second going
to Duke's Randy Chambers.

A fumble by the still-injured
Gary Helman, who was not
expected to play but ran well,, led
Duke to their third score on a drive
that was resurrected when a
roughing the kicker penalty after an
unsuccessful field goal try gave the
Devils new life. Jones eventually
took it in from the two.

Larry Albert, fast becoming a
fans' favorite, took over the
controls and had indifferent
success. Hanenberg pilfered one of
his passes near midfield and, on
their first play from scrimmage
afterward, Duke scored on a
31-yard run by Bill Thompson.

And that made it 28-0 but the
Cavaliers mounted a late drive and
reached the Duke 9 where Albert
was replaced by Davis, who was
greeted with a chorus of boos. In
that pressure cooker Davis again
proved unequal, first throwing
incomplete and then being trapped
behind the line. Duke took over on
downs and ran out the clock.

There is, of course, a rationale
for the feeling of many at the game
who were encouraged by the
Cavaliers' showing and who are
assured that the mistakes that
plagued the Wahoos will, in time,
vanish. These are more or less the
same sort of people that like to
whistle as they walk past cemeteries
in the dark.