Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 20, 1990 TAG: 9003202366
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
His type of how-do-you-do is accompanied by the pop of a shoulder pad.
"We've got some good players . . . [who have] got to play real well and they've got to do it quickly," said Beamer, adding that he will keep his eye on several unknowns during Tech's spring drills, which begin today.
"It's an important spring practice because [we have] some real critical people [and] positions that have to get better this spring," said Beamer, who is coming off a 6-4-1 season and preparing for his fourth as Tech's coach. "If they do, we have a chance to have a decent football team. If they don't, we're going to struggle."
The Hokies will practice once a day each Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday and have a full scrimmage each Saturday. Beamer said he expects 112 players for the workouts, 40 of whom are walk-ons.
Spring practice ends April 21 with the annual spring game at 7 p.m. at Lane Stadium.
Beamer's scrutiny will center on the defensive tackles and linebackers - positions where Tech suffered the heaviest losses from last year's team. Beamer said the five-week, 20-session stretch will provide a sketch of next fall's team.
"We'll come out of it with who we feel like are the starters," Beamer said.
Four probable starters won't work out. Quarterback Will Furrer and tailback Jon Jeffries are undergoing rehabilitation after suffering season-ending knee injuries last season. Both reportedly are ahead of schedule in their recoveries, and Beamer said he hopes to have both back for the start of fall practice Aug. 11.
Offensive linemen Todd Meade and Jimmy Bryson had knee surgery after the season and Beamer said he hopes they will be back for fall practice.
Beamer said he plans to bolster the linebacking with Anthony "Wooster" Pack, a defensive end in his first two years at Tech, and with redshirt freshman P.J. Preston, who came to Tech as a wide receiver/defensive back. Melendez Byrd and Rusty Pendleton, both of whom played on special teams in 1989, also are candidates at linebacker.
Scott Hill, who made several postseason all-star teams as a senior, is gone at defensive tackle. Youthful reserves Jerome Preston and Stephan Holloway return, and Beamer said redshirt freshman Jeff Gallman (6 feet 5, 275 pounds) and Don Davis, a sophomore who was redshirted last year, will contend with them for one starting job alongside Bryan Campbell.
"You've got to be at least two deep in a position to make it through the year," Beamer said. "Right now, we've got some kids in two-deep that haven't played very much, if any, and we don't have a lot of flexibility, either."
Beamer has a list of others he will watch closely. Among them are redshirt freshman Dennis Spain at safety, walk-on redshirt freshmen Scott Jones and Chad King at cornerback and redshirt freshman Billy Jackson at fullback. Redshirt freshman Bernard Basham will get a long look at defensive end, and classmate Harold Banks will be tried at outside linebacker.
Rodd Wooten, who played the last six quarters of the 1989 season after Cam Young broke his arm, enters spring as the No. 1 quarterback. However, Tom Zban, who has been at Tech two years without throwing a regular-season pass, intrigues Beamer.
"He certainly got my attention," Beamer said, referring to a sizzling practice by Zban when Wooten missed a day with a hip pointer during the week of the North Carolina State game last year. "I'm eager to see Tommy Zban."
Beamer said he has moved Eros Sanchez, a redshirt sophomore from Brooklyn, N.Y., from wide receiver to quarterback, the position he played in high school.
Although Beamer said he wants to end spring practice with a starting lineup, he is not overlooking the Hokies' incoming freshmen who could dent the depth chart. Quarterback Maurice DeShazo, center Jim Pyne, tight end Sean Grayson and fullback Mike Hodges are among those who could fight for playing time as first-year players. Another prominent newcomer will be offensive lineman Calvert Jones, a transfer from Pittsburgh who needs to complete summer courses at a community college before enrolling at Tech.
"If they come in and they're better than what we have here, . . . they're going to play," Beamer said.
The Hokies also have several players planning to return in the fall after missing the 1989 season for various reasons. Tight end Ken Barefoot, a co-starter who suffered a season-ending knee injury early, is waiting to see if the NCAA allows him a medical redshirt year. Beamer said tailback Ralph Brown, who gained 514 yards in 1988 but was academically ineligible in '89, is planning to return, as are offensive lineman Glenn Watts and defensive back Scott Rice, who also sat out because of academic difficulties.
For the next five weeks, however, Beamer will analyze those at hand.
"This is an important time for these kids," he said. "They're really playing for playing time."
by CNB