Home Is No Protection for Perfection : Virginia: No. 1 Cavaliers see national title hopes destroyed by late Georgia Tech field goal, 41-38.

Ashen-faced Citrus Bowl scouts filed quietly out of Scott Stadium Saturday, their visions of a national championship game gone the moment Scott Sisson’s field goal sailed through the uprights, giving Georgia Tech a 41-38 victory over No. 1 Virginia.

The 37-yard kick made it official: Wahoo fever is no more. Those media pilgrimages to tiny Charlottesville? Not to worry. Those plane reservations to Orlando? Don’t bother.

The Cavaliers needed to defeat the 16th-ranked Yellow Jackets, slip past less dangerous North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia Tech in the coming weeks, and a guaranteed shot at the national title would have been theirs for the taking. In fact, a threesome of Citrus Bowl officials were here to tell them that very thing.

Problem was, Georgia Tech (7-0-1) didn’t share that vision. Virginia had the ranking, but it didn’t have the respect.

“I never thought Virginia was the No. 1 team in the nation because they hadn’t been tested,” Georgia Tech safety Ken Swilling said. “This was their biggest test.”

Said Virginia center Trevor Ryals: “We had the whole season in our hands and we let it slip away.”

In an afternoon’s time, the Cavaliers (7-1) lost a game, an Atlantic Coast Conference championship--probably, a top-five ranking, a chance to play for a national title and maybe as much as a $1 million in bowl money. No doubt the Rose and Orange Bowl people are thrilled, as are the undefeated and probation-scarred Houston Cougars--all of whom stand to benefit from the wide-open race for No. 1. But to most of the 49,700 who crammed into Scott Stadium, Saturday’s game will revolve around a single what-if.

What if Virginia Coach George Welsh would have thrown caution to the winds or, at the very least, had quarterback Shawn Moore throw the ball to wide receiver Herman Moore on fourth-and-goal from the Georgia Tech six-yard line? At the time, the Cavaliers trailed, 38-35, with 2:34 to play. A touchdown would put them ahead by four points and force Georgia Tech to score a touchdown with only one timeout at its disposal. And if the Virginia try failed, the Cavaliers, with all three timeouts available, could make the Yellow Jackets start their drive at the six.

Instead, Welsh had Jake McInerney kick a 23-yard field goal. The tie accomplished, Welsh then watched in disbelief as Georgia Tech started at its 24, drove to the Virginia 20 and kicked the winning field goal with 12 seconds to play.

“I still don’t think you go for the touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the six,” Welsh said. “My God, what’s your chances of that? I would think 99% of the coaches would (kick the field goal).”

In retrospect, Welsh should have been spared the decision. The Cavaliers had six chances to score from the six-yard line, but were stopped--or stopped themselves--each time. An illegal procedure penalty nullified a touchdown pass from Shawn Moore to tight end Aaron Mundy. Another illegal procedure call pushed the ball back from the one-yard line to the six.

Despite the mistakes, Herman Moore was disappointed when Welsh pulled the offense on fourth down.

“I definitely wanted to go for it,” he said. “I say keep them down deep and force them to kick again. But it wasn’t up to me.”

Moore has a point. He had caught nine passes for 234 yards and one touchdown and one two-point conversion. The cornerback guarding him, Curley Day, is 5-foot-9. Moore is 6-5 and the ACC high jump champion.

Meanwhile, Shawn Moore had passed for a school-record 344 yards, rushed for three touchdowns and thrown for another.

“I knew in the back of their heads, they wanted to (go for it),” said Tech linebacker Calvin Tiggle, who knocked down the third-down pass that preceded the tying field goal. “I’m glad (they didn’t). It was a relief, a big relief.”

Equally happy with the decision was Swilling, the All-ACC safety who had practiced twice in the last three weeks because of an ankle injury. Swilling missed tackle after tackle Saturday and was burned by Herman Moore on a 36-yard touchdown. Rather than have to defend Moore again, Swilling could retire to the bench and watch Shawn Jones, Georgia Tech’s sophomore quarterback.

Asked whom a defender should fear more--Shawn Moore, the Heisman candidate, or Jones--Swilling didn’t hesitate.

“Probably Shawn Jones,” he said. “He has a great ability to turn busted plays into something big. That’s the ability that really scares me about him.”

Said Tech Coach Bobby Ross: “Hey, our Shawn is a great quarterback, too.”

Virginia knows. The Cavaliers watched Jones lead the Yellow Jackets to scores in four of their five second-half possessions. He outrushed the more celebrated Shawn, and threw for two touchdowns and 257 yards.

On the final drive, Jones was three for three for 51 yards.

“(Sisson) said, ‘Just get it inside the 35 and we’ll take it from there,’ ” Jones said.

Jones did better than that. He moved the Yellow Jackets to inside the 25-yard line. He then used Georgia Tech’s final timeout, allowing Sisson the luxury of an unhurried kick. Virginia countered with several timeouts of its own, all designed to make Sisson nervous.

“I didn’t want to stay on the field and let them freeze me, so I tried to go over and talk to the guys in the huddle,” Sisson said. “Then I went over and talked to Coach Ross.”

That done, Sisson jogged back onto the field and with the swing of his right leg, pushed Virginia out of the national championship equation. Afterward, Ross gave the game ball to his father. Then he gave his team a day off. It earned it.

* NOTRE DAME: The second-ranked Irish make their case for No. 1 with a 52-31 rout of Navy. C4

* AUBURN: The Tigers tumble from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 48-7 loss at Florida. C10