University of Virginia Library

THE FIFTH
QUARTER

by John Marshall

IT WAS HALF AN HOUR after the stands had emptied
and junior tackle Chuck Hammer was walking slowly
arm-in-arm with his date out the main entrance to Scott
Stadium. A group of young boys who hawk souvenirs
and programs were getting paid by their supervisor and
helping put away their displays into the back of a Ford
station wagon. Chuck walked up to one of the boys and
asked him if he could have a Virginia pennant for his
date.

"Sure-for a dollar," replied the boy.

Chuck countered, "But I just finished playing in the
game."

"YOU played in the game?"

"Yes."

THE BOY'S RESPONSE WAS instantaneous, as if he
had been just waiting for someone to ask him what he
thought of the game. "Boy, you guys really blew that
one. You had'em in the first half and then you let'em
win. I was sure it was your game."

A rather feeble "I did too" trailed behind Chuck as he
turned his back to the young expert and walked away.
The boy and the lineman were not alone in feeling that
the Cavaliers had finally beaten Duke, for the first time
in nine years, in last Saturday's Homecoming contest.
But at the gun, the scoreboard showed Guests 13, Home
6 and the Wahoos will now travel to Columbia with a
creditable 2-2 record instead of an outstanding 3-1.

IF SOMEONE HAD TOLD YOU before the game
that the Cavaliers would hold Duke's vaunted Jay Calabrese
to 38 yards rushing and limit fine quarterbacks
Al Woodall and Larry Davis to six completions-which,
in actuality, they did-you would have bet on the Cavaliers
to win the game. In the last five years, the Virginia
offense has always been good for a couple of touchdowns;
the defense has always been suspect.

This season Coach Don Lawrence and Captain Mal
MacGregor have transformed the defense into the strongest
aspect of the Virginia game. They have contributed a
truly outstanding showing all year; the offense, however,
has been letting them down Against Army, the offense
was unable to get past the fifty for most of the game.
The offense almost fumbled the Cavaliers to oblivion
against Buffalo, and the defense was directly responsible
for setting up the winning touchdown against Wake
Forest.

SATURDAY'S ENCOUNTER WITH DUKE followed
the same pattern. In the first half, the defensive unit
contained Duke beautifully, but the offense could push
only one score across. To be sure, the Devil offense was
more successful in the second half. But on three separate
occasions after the score was tied 6-6, the Cavalier defenders
stopped Duke on four plays and handed the ball to the
offense. In each case, the impotent Virginia offense faltered.