Tomorrow evening in Winston-Salem, the Virginia football team will find itself in a must-win situation.
Falling to 2-2 (1-1 ACC) with a sound defeat last week at the hands of then-No. 11 Clemson, the Cavaliers need a win to remain in position for a bowl game. Virginia must win four of its last seven in order to be eligible for a post-season game. With the heart of the ACC schedule and Virginia Tech looming ahead, the Cavs must take advantage of every opportunity.
Fortunately for the Cavaliers, Wake Forest (0-3, 0-2) seems to be the perfect starting point for a Virginia winning streak. Having won 16 consecutive meetings with the Demon Deacons, the Cavs plan to continue the trend against a struggling Wake Forest opponent.
The Deacons began the season with a loss to I-AA Appalachian State and then went on to lose their next two games to North Carolina and Clemson by a combined score of 90-21. Furthermore, Wake Forest ranks 100th or worse in seven of the eight NCAA team statistical categories.
This year's Wake Forest team can be described in two words: injured and young. Already loaded with early season injuries, the Deacons experienced their most costly casualty when heralded sophomore quarterback C.J. Leak went down for the year with a dislocated left knee against Clemson. Converted wide receiver Anthony Young will start in Leak's place, the first true freshman to start under center for Wake Forest since 1978.
The Deacs profess faith in Young, who led them to their only touchdown in the 55-7 loss at Clemson.
"The kid's an athlete," Deacon center Vince Azzolina said. "He's fast, real fast. He's got a lot of moves in the open field that no one has really seen yet."
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Wake Forest "would have to change a lot to do what Clemson does," Welsh said. "It would be very difficult for them to put in Clemson's offense, with some of that stuff that Dantzler does. I can't imagine Wake can take a freshman quarterback and do that."
Wake Forest returned only five starters from last year's team - fewer than any other Division I-A team - and has one of the youngest squads in the country. Wake starts sophomores at tailback, fullback, tight end and wideout and now a freshman quarterback.
Each remaining game for Virginia not only has bowl implications but also affects the Cavs' chances of winning seven games for the 14th straight season. Welsh understands the importance of tomorrow's contest.
"This is a crossroads game," Welsh said. "It's a crucial game for this team, no question about it."
Four games into the season, some Cavalier fans are already grumbling about this year's team. Wednesday, TheSabre.com posted a letter from Virginia athletics director Terry Holland in which he urged the fans to support Welsh and pledged to provide by the end of the season a "public transition timetable" for whenever Welsh leaves the Cavs.
Welsh was not available to comment on Holland's letter, but at Monday's press conference he acknowledged that the current squad does not rank with the best in program history. Yet he maintained it is far too early to judge the 2000 Cavs.
"Most programs go through a period where there's a dip," Welsh said. "It's hard to stay on top all the time. We've only played four weeks"
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