Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 17, 1993 TAG: 9309170033
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANDREA KUHN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LEXINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Meacham, a former standout at Lord Botetourt High School, walked on to the Keydets team as a freshman and earned the starting position six games into the season. He rushed for 563 yards as a sophomore and 308 his junior season, despite spraining a knee and an ankle.
The senior is the only current member of the VMI backfield who has more than 1,000 yards rushing (1,156) in his career. Yet, Meacham feels he lacks something in the respect department.
"It enters my head a lot of times. I don't know if it's because of the walk-on status or what," he said. "But I always feel like I haven't gained the respect a lot of times that I've deserved."
Meacham said part of the problem last year was that he butted heads early in the season with his first-year position coach, Andre Powell, who has since taken a job at Rhode Island. Powell was replaced by Kevin Sherman, who played at Ferrum and was an assistant last year at Methodist (N.C.) College.
"This year, I've enjoyed it a lot more," Meacham said. "Last year, I started to hate it."
VMI coach Jim Shuck said another part of the problem last season was that Meacham didn't play up to his potential.
"I don't think Chris played extremely well, and he was injured," Shuck said. "In football, it doesn't matter what you've done the previous week. You have to go out and prove you deserve to be out there."
Sherman, who said he and Meacham have a great player-coach relationship, added, "Chris can reach another level. I will push him, but I'm not going to rant and rave so much that it breaks his confidence."
Shuck said the staff was impressed with Meacham's progress in spring practice and in VMI's opening game at Richmond, where he rushed for 42 yards on 13 carries in a 46-14 loss.
The Keydets have had to bend the limits of their traditional wishbone offense this year to account for the loss of their top two offensive performers, quarterback Tony Scales and halfback Marcus Mines. Meacham, who would like to end his collegiate career with a 1,000-yard rushing season, said the changes could give him the opportunity to showcase his abilities.
"It gives me more of a chance to run the ball in an open field. I can get some longer runs, a little more excitement," he said. "When I was a sophomore, once, I ran for 47 yards. That was my longest. I was pretty tired after that, too.
"That kind of became a problem when I got here. I became so used to the 10 yards or 5 yards that when I saw an opening, I didn't know what to do. That's one thing that's changed a lot this spring and this year."
Shuck said, "The offense is predicated more on adapting to what the defense does. But, yes, we are relying on him a lot. He's a quality player and he's a senior."
Meacham realizes this is his last chance to sock it to his doubters and earn the respect he feels he deserves. And even though he is only one game into his final season, nostalgia has started to set in.
"It's something you hear about all of your life, `It's going to come to an end,' " Meacham said. "Now I can see it coming. I'm going to be disappointed and sad to see it end.
"It would be nice to leave knowing I accomplished something. If you left the same as it ever was, it would still be sad, because it would be the end of your career. But it would be nice to know you accomplished something for the team and for yourself."
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
Memo: ***CORRECTION***