(During Spring ball, I had gone to Coach Welsh to inquire about a scholarship since I had kicked off the majority of the season with very good success. He told me that he would wait until after "2 A Days" and see where I stood on the depth chart.)
As we went through practices, it was apparent that I would not be losing my job as the starting kickoff specialist. After about 2 weeks of training camp, as we were breaking camp to move into our housing for the year, Coach Welsh asked that another player, Ricky Peete, and myself stay behind.
I wasn't sure what he wanted, but felt like this was finally the moment when I would be put on scholarship...Coach Welsh, not one for long speeches, pulled us aside and said, "Hmm. You guys had a solid training camp, we're putting both of you grant in aid." He quickly turned and walked away. Ricky and I looked at each other and asked, "Are we on scholarship now?" Our guess was yes. UVA called its scholarships, Grant in Aid. I didn't care what they called it, I was just eager to call my parents to tell them not to send the tuition check for this semester or any other semesters, again.
Our season was one to remember. We started out fast, winning several games and putting up a ton of points. Five out of our first seven games, we put up the following points:
- 59
- 56
- 59
- 63
- 49
We started out 7-0 and by week seven, we had reached the #1 ranking in the country. The first (and only) for UVA. It was pretty cool to be playing on a team that was the top ranked team in the country...
Then we had a huge match against Georgia Tech. They were ranked as well. It was a back and forth game, with both teams having prolific offenses. We had a chance late in the game to score a touchdown and take the lead. However, we had an illegal procedure penalty which ultimately forced us to kick a game tying field goal.
Ga Tech drove down the field where their kicker, Scott Sisson, kicked a field goal on the last play of the game to give them a 41-38 victory...Bugger.
We ended up losing two more games that season to Maryland and Va Tech. However, we ended up getting a bowl bid to the Sugar Bowl.
The Sugar Bowl is a top tiered New Year's Day game in New Orleans. Can you say the French Quarter? Hurricane drinks? Party! Party! Party! They provided us with a nice stipend for the week. There were several parties that we attended, but for the most part we were left on our own to go out and have fun. We just had to be back by curfew.
During one of our first meetings, once we arrived, the New Orleans Police came and gave us the 411 on the French Quarter. You only had to be 18 to drink there, but there were a lot of traps, so they warned us to be careful. The told us to be cautious of one trap in particular.
While walking on Bourbon Street, sometimes, a young kid would come up to you and say to you, "Mister, I bet you $20 that I know where you got your shoes." Most people, thinking that, "There is no way that a total stranger would know where I got my shoes," would take the bet. So, the kid would then say, "You have your shoes on your feet on Bourbon Street." The kid was right...However, most people would "shoo" away the kid and be like whatever. Well, the kid would go around the corner where his older brother, cousin and uncle would be waiting. He would tell them what happened and then they would confront the person with the facts that the kid was correct with his guess. Therefore, you three choices. You could pay up, hope that you could win a fight, or hope that you could out run them and get away...
One item that they did provide us was a "Get out of Jail for Free" card. That was very cool and I thought that I would never have to use it...
We ended up playing Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl. We went up early and were ahead at halftime, but they found a way to climb back into the game and ended up winning 23-22. I can tell you one thing, to this day, I despise their school's song, "Good Ole Rocky Top." In the fourth quarter alone, with them mounting their comeback, I heard that song too many times.
Over all, I had another very productive season kicking off. I recorded over 60% touch backs and even kicked a couple of PATs during the season.
Now, the starting field goal job was mine to lose and I wasn't going to let that happen.
