Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, September 8, 1993 TAG: 9309080134
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
While it is generally acknowledged that Virginia defensive end Matt Mikeska does not have all the skills of predecessor Chris Slade, let's see Slade try to play the violin.
Mikeska refers to Slade as a "one-in-a-million athlete," but, as college football players go, Mikeska is unusual himself: a German-born violin-playing Texan with plans for a career in land and wildlife management.
Although football and studies occupy most of his time during the season, Mikeska picks up his violin once or twice a week during the rest of the year and looks forward to practicing for two or three hours.
"I had to play for a couple of [teammates] once," Mikeska said. "They kept hounding me. My grandmother plays the violin and she taught me. I stuck with it all throughout junior high and high school. She insisted I keep playing; you can't let your grandmother down."
Mikeska was "second chair" in the orchestra at Longview (Texas) High School, with first chair considered concert quality. He was sixth chair when he transferred to Robinson High School in Fairfax, where some of the orchestra members received college music scholarships.
Mikeska distinguished himself in other areas - particularly academically, with a 3.9 grade-point average and a score of 1,220 on the Scholastic Aptitude Test - but it was football that paid his way to college.
As a senior, Mikeska made first-team All-Group AAA on offense and defense for a Robinson team that won 13 straight games before losing in the state final to Hampton High and future UVa teammates Aaron Mundy and Brian Gerczak.
"You've got to understand, my whole life was the Southwest Conference," Mikeska said. "I didn't know a whole lot about the [colleges] in this area. I wanted to go to the school with the best academic reputation, so I visited Duke and Brown."
Mikeska received what he considered an offer from Duke until, one week before the signing date in February, it was rescinded by then-coach Steve Spurrier.
The Virginia staff, under the impression Mikeska was headed to Duke, learned of his availability from Robinson High teacher Roberta Henry, whose husband was an administrative assistant to UVa coach George Welsh.
"I didn't come here [to visit] until the last minute," Mikeska said. "I was very, very stupid in my recruiting. I had no idea what was going on. And, nobody was helping me. I wish I had visited more schools and checked out more of my options."
The reason Mikeska was not recruited more extensively - and played sparingly early in his UVa career - was his size. He was 6-feet-3 and 205 pounds as a senior in high school and no one was certain of his position in college.
Indeed, the only college game Mikeska had started before Saturday was two years ago, when he was one of two tight ends UVa employed on the first series of downs against Kansas.
"They just tossed me a blue shirt and said, `You're a tight end this week,' " Mikeska said. "I came in about 220 pounds and it's taken me four years to weigh this much [245]. You take a guy like Mike Frederick and he can gain 20 pounds in a day. I'm sure, after I stop playing, that I'll immediately drop to 215 or 220."
An inability to gain and keep weight is one trait Mikeska shares with Slade, a consensus All-American who set an ACC record with 40 career sacks. Mikeska, a defensive end exclusively for only the past year, has one sack in his career.
"[Slade] excelled against the pass," Mikeska said, "but I play an entirely different game. I prefer running plays more. I like it when somebody is coming right at me. I'm known as an `assignment' kind of player, but when it's my turn to make the big plays, I feel I can."
Welsh said he was disappointed with UVa's pass rush Saturday, when the Cavaliers had one sack in a 43-29 victory over Maryland, but he said that was more a result of UVa's scheme than a reflection on the players' performance.
"Our defensive game plan was [to have] a controlled rush, watch the shovel pass and watch the screen," Mikeska said. "I guess our rush could have been better, but they didn't throw a shovel pass and I can only remember two screens."
The only disappointment for Mikeska, who was on the field for a career-high 60 plays, was that his father, Lt. Colonel Marvin Mikeska, was summoned to Egypt by his reserve unit.
"It works out that he'll be in Atlanta for debriefing when we play Georgia Tech," Matt said. "I wish he could have been there Saturday but I wouldn't mind seeing the Sphynx if I could."
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB