University of Virginia Library

THE FIFTH QUARTER

by John Marshall

AN OPPONENT IS a game on Saturday. A rival is
bumper stickers, a Thursday pep rally, and getting to the
game in time to watch the teams warm up.

There are certain schools on the Virginia schedule
who by their nature-or by the stereotypes we apply to
them here-are natural rivals, and not simply opponents.
VPI is such a school. There is some unwritten law somewhere
that says a guy who drives a tractor, carries a steel
comb in his shirt pocket, and rolls up a cigarette pack
in his T-shirt sleeve should not be able to play better
football than a guy who wears a Brooks Brothers suit
and has a bourbon named in his honor (Virginia Gentleman).

MARYLAND IS ANOTHER rival. One always gets the
idea that the term "state U-ism" was coined by a University
student returning from an away game in College
Park. And North Carolina is a natural rival, too, because
that school is too much like Virginia to be allowed to get
away with it.

All this, of course, leads up to Army. Short hair cuts
and gray uniforms with black trim. Wear that around the
Grounds for a couple of weeks. After all, what was the
unkindest satiric cut on the Beatles Lovely Rita-sure,
she looked "a little like a military man." Why even the
team nicknames clash-a Cavalier just wouldn't be caught
dead having a Black Knight as a friend. And how bout
having an ass for a mascot? They, clearly, must be the
bad guys.

BUT HOW THOSE BAD GUYS play football! Sports
Illustrated says they're the twentieth best team in the
country. So does Playboy. The Washington Post postulates,
"At the very least, Army is one of the best three
teams in the East." The New York Times sees Army's
prospects as "the best in years," and adds "Tom Cahill,
who won 1966 coach-of-the-year honors in his first term,
may produce a better team than he did then when
Army won eight games and lost two."

Everyone knows the tale of the 1966 Cinderella Army
team. At the Point, they had one of those years when
every player who might have been a George Plimpton
turned out instead to be a Steve Spurrier. There were
few injuries. The team was out to prove a point.

TEN OF THE ELEVEN offensive starters from that
team will be in Michie Stadium tomorrow afternoon including
the entire backfield. The Cavalier defense, which
has earned praise for its pre-season performance, will
not be allowed much time to learn-and survive-with
its mistakes.

Army's defense is somewhat suspect. It is chiefly vulnerable
through the air. Unfortunately, the passing attack
appears to be the weakest aspect of the Virginia offense.

THERE REMAINS THE immeasurable. Spirit. Unlike
Georgia Tech last year, Army will be up for the Virginia
game. But it is almost impossible to imagine a team more
mentally-ready than the Cavaliers. The Army sports editor,
however, may be writing the same thing. Except his team
was 8-2 last year.