University of Virginia Library

From The Sidelines

The
Spring
Game

By Tom Bell

THE LESS THAN IMPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE by the
Varsity football team in last Saturday's annual Spring Alumni
game has left many Cavalier supporters wondering about the new
era in Virginia football that supposedly started with the removal
of George Blackburn last fall and the subsequent appointment of
Don Lawrence.

There is a certain optimism which inevitably accompanies the
arrival of a new coaching staff, and many people went to
Saturday's game expecting to see a different type of Cavalier
football. Instead they were greeted with the same things they
have seen for years - a team which failed to put together
consistent performances on offense and defense for an entire
game.

A FEW THINGS SHOULD BE SAID in defense of the teams
less than impressive performance. The Alumni team was
undoubtedly the best in recent years. Frank Quayle looked his
old self, running for 125 yards behind the blocking of such
notables as pros Jim Copeland and Bob Kowalkowski and All-ACC
center Dan Ryczek. The Alumni defense was made up mostly of
performers from Mr. Lawrence's excellent defenses of the last
two years. Certainly the old boys were as impressive a unit as
Coach Rock Weir has put together in some time.

At least as important as the strength of the Alumni squad was
the fact that the Varsity has had only 15 practice days in which
to learn the new offensive and defensive designs of Mr. Lawrence
and get acquainted with the new staff.

MR. LAWRENCE SAID AFTER THE GAME that only about
one-third of the twenty or so offensive plays that he will use in
the fall had been learned completely by the squad prior to the
contest. The "Virginia I" and the "Virginia Moving Pocket", the
two innovations which will presumably be the keys to the attack
next season, were ineffective, but only time will tell if they will
be able to perk up an offense which has been ineffective since
Quayle's jersey was retired in 1968.

Another factor which slowed the progress of the Wahoos in
Spring practice was Mr. Lawrence's effort to give every player a
chance to win a starting slot. Even before the game, the new
coach, admitted that the progress had not been as fast as had
been hoped.

STILL, THE VARSITY PERFORMANCE was disappointing.
The start of the new era in Cavalier football looked frighteningly
like a continuation of the old.

There were some good performances, notably Kent Merritt's
114 yards on the ground and the six interceptions by the mostly
inexperienced secondary, and the Varsity did come away with a
win on the scoreboard. However, the fact that the Alumni led in
almost every statistical category and came so close to beating a
team which hopes to have a winning season against some first-rate
competition next year seems to outweigh the scattered good
performances.

THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE GAME for next season are
hard to interpret. Perhaps the game has little significance,
especially considering the extenuating circumstances brought on
by the new staff. Also, there seemed to be a new enthusiasm on
the bench, a departure from the low-key approach taken by Mr.
Blackburn which seemed to spark uninspired performances in
recent years.

Although some of the shine was taken off the newness of the
Lawrence program by the unimpressive performance, and the
game showed clearly that there is much work to be done between
now and next fall's proposed winning season, it would be a
mistake to write off the Lawrence program as another in the long
mediocre line. The optimism which ushered in the program has
not faded from the new staff's minds. They still have faith in the
players and have shown no signs of abandoning their prediction
of a winner next year. Cavalier followers will just have to do what
they've been doing for many, many years - just wait til next
year.