INDEPENDENCE BOWL : Neither Weather Nor TCU Can Stop Victorious Virginia

It was raining and muddy. And that was fine with Virginia--its string of four consecutive bowl losses finally put to rest.

“It’s great to finally get that bowl losing streak off our backs,” said Virginia Coach George Welsh.

With Mike Groh burning Texas Christian with a 37-yard scoring pass to Tyrone Davis in the third quarter, the No. 18 Cavaliers (9-3) beat the Horned Frogs, 20-10, Wednesday night in the rain-soaked Independence Bowl.

“When we hit for that touchdown, we knew we could relax,” said Davis. “We knew we could score on them any time we wanted.”

The Horned Frogs wound up 7-5 for the year, and two players confessed they may have partied a little too hard in the flashy riverboat casinos that decorate the banks of the Red River.

Asked what he would do differently, TCU quarterback Max Knake snapped: “I’d probably stay out of the casinos before having to get up at 8:30 the next morning. . . . The truth of it is, I played terrible.”

Added defensive tackle Royal West: “We did a little too much seeing the town.”

Groh’s pivotal pass play gave Virginia a 17-3 lead with 9:08 left in the third period, and the Cavaliers overpowered TCU with the running of Charles Way and Kevin Brooks.

Brooks, who rushed for 114 yards, set up one touchdown with a 52-yard run and Way bulled in from the six-yard-line for the other in the first meeting between the Cavaliers of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the Southwest Conference co-champion Horned Frogs.

Although playing without premier cornerback Ronde Barber, Virginia’s powerful defense held the Frogs’ explosive, balanced attack to a total of 195 yards.