University of Virginia Library

Relief Pitching

The Last
Light
Goes Out

By John Markon

CHAPEL HILL, N.C.–Virginia football, or (I should insist)
at least the 1972 version, is dead. It passed away Saturday
afternoon here as the Cavaliers stubbornly resisted every effort
of a fumbling bunch of North Carolina Tar Heels to give away
the game and emerged as 23-3 losers. Dying along with the
football season were the dreams of glory everyone was having
after we beat Virginia Tech, the chances of Virginia finishing
anywhere other than the ACC basement and Coach Don
Lawrence's "Big Play" offense. In every case death was
expected, each had spent the last eight weeks on the critical
list.

In the Carolina game, the strategy most conspicuous by its
absence was that same "Big Play" offense. This year's Wahoos
have turned into a very dull football team. There's no better
case in point than the Cav passing attack against North
Carolina. Scott Gardner was again the quarterback and the
first-year man from Sarasota, Fla. gunned the ball up 48 times,
was able to complete 18 passes and accounted for 189 passing
yards. With pass protection a problem, the hard-charging Tar
Heel defense dumped Gardner twice for 34 yards in losses,
decked him 20 times after he got his passes away and
intercepted four of those that he did get to throw.

IF YOU COUNT THE SACKS this yields a total of 50
passing plays that netted 155 yards. You don't have to be a
math major to figure out this averages to 3.1 yards per play, an
extremely meager total. Gardner can't be blamed for the small
average, however, since most of the plays sent in by Mr.
Lawrence were of the short, sideline variety. Virginia's average
gain per completion was only 10 yards and would have been
much lower had Gardner not thrown so many of these
"high-percentage" passes into the Keenan Stadium grass and the
Tar Heel and Cavalier benches.

Gardner was helped out by his receivers as Dave Sullivan
and Chuch Belic both had banner games. Sullivan made some
semi-believable catches on high and low passes as he grabbed
seven tosses for 82 yards and broke Bill Davis' record for most
receptions in a season. Belic, who caught most of his passes on
or near the line of scrimmage, contributed some very tough
running to gain 37 yards on his six receptions.

HO-HUM FOOTBALL, THEN, is now "in" in
Charlottesville. The biggest "Big Play" tried by a Cavalier unit
in Chapel Hill was the one the collective staffs of the CD and
WUVA tried to make on the comely UNC press box hostess.
In my three years at the University I can't remember a Virginia
team so constricted on offense. Cavalier play-calling is even
predictable as the Wahoos stick to run-run-pass when the game
is close and switch to run-pass-pass or pass-pass-pass when they
fall behind.

The daring and originality we employed on offense in the
early games is gone. This not only makes the game less
enjoyable for spectators but also gives the opposing defense a
better idea of our next play. It's an offense that works fine for
a powerhouse team, a team like Southern Cal with truckloads
of talent and size that can just challenge a defense, but it's an
offense that I can't see working for the small, quick Cavaliers.

SINCE THE PRESS BOX OFFENSIVE was honestly
deemed a failure, it was up to the Tar Heel offensive unit to
provide all the fireworks. Provide them they did as
quarterback Nick Vidnovic threw infrequently but effectively
completing four of ten for 137 yards. North Carolina uses the
pass to complement a strong running game and when Sammy
Johnson (94 yards) and Ike Oglesby (91 yards) weren't busting
between the tackles for big yardage Vidnovic would ease the
pressure on them by looking for Jimmy Jerome (three
receptions, 130 yards) and Earl Bethea (two for 67 yards).
What makes this even more amazing is, that, excepting
wingback Jerome, the UNC receivers seemed far inferior to
their Cavalier counterparts. Vidnovic could have a fine time
with Sullivan and Belic, good catchers who seldom drop what's
thrown to them.

North Carolina had a devil of a time holding on to the ball.
Vidnovic had three passes dropped by receivers and Carolina
backs fumbled five times, losing two of them. UNC also
fumbled away three Virginia punts and lost all of those. The
Tar Heels tried in every way to hand Virginia the game, or at
least a couple touchdowns, but the Wahoos just weren't able
to capitalize. It was a sloppy, frustrating, rotten game. I hope I
never see another one like it.

WAKE FOREST'S UPSET OF DUKE also made it a
title-clinching game for the Tar Heels. UNC is now the ACC
champ regardless of the outcome of their Saturday contest
with the Blue Devils. This seems only fair since any team bad
enough to lose to Wake Forest (now 2-7) does not deserve to
play for any sort of title. Virginia clinched a tie for the
basement at the same time as the 'Hoos are now the only
winless team in the league. A win this weekend against Wake is
now a necessity to avoid sole possession of last. More about the
game tomorrow.