University of Virginia Library

Relief Pitching

A Thin Line
Between
Love & Hate

By John Markon

ONE OF THE FINEST LINES in the English language is the
one that distinguishes credit from blame. By the slimmest of
margins, a one-point 24-23 victory Maryland's Terrapins'
were able to turn what should have been a Virginia win into a
bitter defeat Saturday afternoon in the Wahoos' Homecoming
game. With the 'Hoos up by 23-3 early in the third quarter the
high-spirited crowd of 21,500 was reveling in thoughts of
victory and cheering loudly for the moment's heroes. When
the game ended the same 21,500 walked almost silently out of
the old stadium, many expressing considerable disgust with
their third-quarter idols. A win accents the positive, a loss the
negative. Credit and Blame.

Receiving much of the flak over the loss was quarterback
George Allen, an unfortunate fellow who suffered as poor a
second half as I've ever seen. After performing well enough in
the first 30 minutes, George just went out to lunch for the
third and fourth quarters. He threw eight second half passes,
completed one for seven yards, and had no less than five
intercepted. He led the Cavs to only 38 yards total offense. All
21 of Maryland's second half points resulted from good field
position given the Terps on interceptions. George's breakdown
was as complete as it was unfortunate.

IN THE FIRST HALF, though, it was a different story. It
was Maryland's Bob Avellini throwing the interceptions and
Virginia getting the choice field position. The Wahoos; scored
first on one of three Billy Maxwell field goals and stormed to a
20-3 intermission advantage. A Craig Critchley interception
early in the third period put Maxwell in a position to make his
third three-pointer, something Billy Max did easily to raise the
score to 23-3. After that, it seemed that the closer Maryland
got, the more ineffective Virginia became.

I think it's wrong to blame Allen entirely for the loss. It's
silly to believe that there was anyone out of the field, in a
white or blue jersey, who wanted to win the game more than
George Allen. Wahoo coach Don Lawrence admitted that at
times he thought of taking Allen out of the game but decided
against it for a variety of good reasons. I would have done the
same thing myself. Anyone who watched first-year man Scott
Gardner, Allen's likely replacement, play against Clemson last
week realizes that Scott, while still a prime future prospect,
lacks the experience to get the job done against the kind of
quality opposition Maryland was providing.

ALLEN, ALTHOUGH A BETTER BET than Gardner, still
remains a prisoner of his own limited capabilities. He just
doesn't have the strong accurate arm necessary to be a
topflight passer and his unnerving dependence on the
quarterback sneak on short yardage plays makes it possible to
call all "third and one's" from the press box. I said in an
earlier column that Virginia was fortunate to have a reserve
quarterback of Allen's caliber and I still feel that way. He had
a bad game against Maryland, but, if you look back over his
previous action, you can see that he hasn't done that badly. It
just wasn't George's afternoon.

There is a better QB on the squad than Allen, however. His
name is Harrison Davis and right now he can't play. "H"
reinjured his left shoulder during practice this week and may
not make it back for next weekend's Opening's tilt with
powerful N.C. State. Of all the Cavs absent due to injuries, he
is missed the most. Perhaps fans around here will start to
appreciate what this man means to the team. A Cavalier team
with H. Davis under the center can score from anywhere on
the field. I can still remember him coming back on the field,
trailing 14-0 and in obvious pain, and leading the charge that
whipped Virginia Tech. It was a memorable performance.
Switching him to wide receiver would be on a par with the
Redskins making a linebacker of Larry Brown.

It also seemed passing strange that when Allen entered the
game with four minutes left and Virginia down 24-23 th
George's appearance was greeted with stony silence despite his
four previous interceptions. I can only imagine the hail of boos
that would have greeted the fellow some spectators are so fond
of calling "Leroy." I'm not saying, of course, that Allen should
have been booed, only that the Scott Stadium crowd should
treat H. Davis. in the same understanding manner. It seems
only fair.

ASIDE FROM QUARTERBACKS, the Maryland game was
pretty much the same old story. The 'Hoos lost because our
defense just isn't the kind that can hold a team out of the end
zone forever when the offense is always giving up field
position with turnovers. The fault lies not with the defense but
with the turnovers. Our smallish defenders worked just fine
against the Terps when Maryland was in their own end, but
not so well when they had to re-enter the game two minutes
later with the ball thirty yards farther upfield. It's evident that
we just ask too much of them.

Safety Steve Sroba had the best game of any Wahoo on the
field, breaking a 75-yard punt return, playing good pass
defense and grabbing one of Avellini's four interceptions. Also
playing well were kicker Maxwell, with three FG's and a
touchdown-saving stab of a high center snap, and our three
excellent linebackers, Dan Blakley, Kevin Michaels and
Critchley. Injuries? We got another one as Kent Merritt hurt
his ankle in the first period and didn't return. Dave Sullivan
was also operating as less than peak efficiency.

WITH N. C. STATE VISITING this Openings weekend
a win seems crucial if the Cavs are to hold out any hope for a
winning season. The two remaining games are with North
Carolina and Wake Forest and, to go 6-5, Virginia must win
them all. As you can see, our chances could be better. Still, 5-6
looks better than 4-7 and beats 3-8 by a country mile. The
State game marks the Wahoos last Scott Stadium appearance
in this most frustrating of seasons.