With myriad factors stacked against it yesterday, Virginia turned to a pair of grizzled but relatively anonymous senior leaders. And on a miserable day when the ball was often slippery, the Cavaliers were in good hands with Nate Collins and Rashawn Jackson.

Collins made the pivotal play in Virginia's 20-9 victory over Maryland, intercepting a tipped pass and lumbering 32 yards for the go-ahead third-quarter touchdown. After that, the Cavaliers stuck the ball in Jackson's gut almost exclusively, and he churned out 90 rugged yards and an insurance score.

"Rashawn was magnificent," coach Al Groh said. Asked subsequently about Collins, Groh grinned. "Nate was pretty good, too," he said.

Surprisingly, the same could be said for the Cavaliers. Essentially left for dead after a lifeless 0-3 start, they've reached .500 and are the only team that's unbeaten in Atlantic Coast Conference play at 2-0--albeit with most of their tougher games ahead.

"We've found ourselves," Collins said. "We've found our identity. We're not going to crack."

Still, it didn't look as if the Cavaliers were going to move much in the Byrd Stadium muck yesterday. In a cold, steady drizzle, both offenses spun their wheels, and the equally inept Terrapins were clinging to a 9-6 lead (all on field goals) late in the third period.

That's when Virginia linebacker Darren Childs blitzed through a gap in Maryland's protection and tipped Chris Turner's pass. The ball floated through the raindrops toward the 6-foot-2, 290-pound Collins, who played quarterback, tailback and receiver in high school in West Chester, N.Y.

On a day when Maryland fumbled four times, Collins' huge hands enveloped the ball and didn't relinquish it until he had outrun a host of Terps into the end zone.

"I just wasn't going to give it up," Collins said with a wry smile. "That's a D-lineman's dream, just to have it fall in my lap. There was no way I could live with myself if I let go or fumbled it."