University of Virginia Library

Relief Pitching

Smokin' 'Em
In
Cigarette City

By John Markon

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.– Virginia (3-7) met Wake
Forest (2-7) here Saturday in the Atlantic Coast Conference's
first annual "Dirt Bowl" game and the Cavaliers came out on
top, 15-12. ACC fans knew what was to be expected before the
kickoff and they weren't disappointed as the Wahoos fumbled
five times and the Demon Deacons failed to complete a
forward pass, unless you count QB Kit Basler's two
interceptions. Mediocrity was the order of the day.

Standing with their heads above the crowd, however, were
two players of decidedly non-mediocre abilities. One was
Deacon fullback Frank Harsh, a 230-lb, freshman who rushed
23 times for 168 yards. Harsh, who has exceptional speed and
running ability for a big man, is the kind of player that
whoever takes over the Wake coaching post next year will need
to rebuild the sagging Deacon program. Tom Harper, the
unfortunate gent now handling the Deacon reins, was
pink-slipped two weeks ago.

COACH HARPER, WHO SEEMS TO DEAL only in
superlatives, was ecstatic in his praise of Harsh after the game,
calling him "more advanced at this stage than Don McCauley."
McCauley was the North Carolina running back who, in a
career ending two years ago, rewrote all the conference rushing
records. "God only knows how good he's going to be," said
Harper, who also had good words for Basler, his
completion-less quarterback. "He's going to make people
forget all about Larry Russell," ventured Harper, who could be
right on this one. There was nothing that went on in Groves
Stadium Saturday to make anyone remember Russell's
ACC-champ Wake squad. The Deacon program is in bad shape.
How they beat Duke last week is still anyone's guess.

Harrison Davis, the Wahoo quarterback in the game, was the
other standout. All he did was step into the game in the
second quarter, play quarterback for the first time since the
Vanderbilt game and lead the team to a win. He mixed his
plays (most of which he called himself) beautifully and
combined strong running from himself (61 yards), and
tailbacks. John "Raindrop" Rainey (87 yards) and Raymond
Keys (58 yards) with 93 yards passing and no interceptions to
win the game. He replaced Scott Gardner after Gardner's
second interception had killed another Virginia drive and
immediately got the Cavs moving and kept them moving. Only
once did they fail to make at least a first down when given the
ball.

CAVALIER COACH DON LAWRENCE said he replaced
Gardner because of a slight thumb injury and a pulled
hamstring muscle. The severity of these hurts became rather a
moot point when, late in the first half, Scott was able to
re-enter the game for Davis, who suffered still another injury.
This time it's Harrison's foot that is effected and he was
slowed by the foot throughout the game.

If it's true, as H. Davis told one of our staff members this
week, that he's been ready to play for the last three games and
hasn't been used, I think Mr. Lawrence has been cheating
football fans around Charlottesville by not playing him. When
you combine his rushing, passing and knowledge of
defenses you an see that, right now, he's light years better
than Gardner, George Allen, Joe Schaeffer, Jim Pruner, Mike
Smeraski or anyone else.

THE NEXT QUESTION IS "SO WHAT?" After all, the
season is over. The Wahoos finished 4-7 and 1-5 in the ACC.
These aren't exactly sterling statistics. There's been a lot of
loose talk lately about Mr. Lawrence losing his coaching
position and I'd like to forget the Wake Forest game and
address myself to that subject.

Frankly, Mr. Lawrence does a lot of things that I, with my
basic high-school knowledge of football, don't agree with. I've
oft thought his play-calling for Allen and Gardner was
repetitious and have always deplored the fact that his play
selection seems to follow no logical pattern. Virginia under
Lawrence never seems to use one play to set up another,
something I've always thought was pretty important. By this I
mean using off-tackle plays (and vice versa) and other stuff
like that. Virginia's plays have always seemed to be selected
one-by-one on the spur of the moment.

OFF THE FOOTBALL FIELD, the only things I can say are
that I wish Mr. Lawrence would recruit more in Virginia and I
don't think that I'll ever forgive him for not playing Davis, if,
indeed, Harrison was available. I think that all the things I've
mentioned hurt the Cavs but I'm not sure that we would have
won many more games with our injury-riddled ball club if
they'd been carried out. The fact remains that we just weren't
that good. If we want to compete with the North Carolinas
and N.C. States we have to put forward the efforts and monies
toward football that they do. I'm really not sure this is a great
idea as there seem to be better ways to spend that kind of
dough around here. Even so, Virginia should be able to pick up
an occasional Frank Harsh (or a Larry Russell) and win a title
once in a while. Mr. Lawrence hasn't picked up his Frank
Harshes yet.