Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, September 17, 1994 TAG: 9409270070
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BOSTON LENGTH: Long
It's a one-game blotch for Virginia Tech, a 31-game stain for Virginia.
Neither has scrubbed clean from losses to Boston College and Clemson, respectively. Today at noon, the Hokies and Cavs break out the bleach, again.
Eighteenth-ranked Tech, which christens BC's expanded Alumni Stadium in the teams' 1994 Big East Football Conference opener (WSLS-Channel 10), has studied last season's 48-34 incineration in Chestnut Hill for months to make sure it doesn't happen again.
Virginia, 1-31-1 all-time against its ACC rival, resumes a series (WSET-Channel 13) that includes Clemson's 29-point rally for a 29-28 victory in Scott Stadium two years ago.
Tech and UVa lug those memories into afternoon encounters that, despite occurring in Week 3, could be pivotal to league races and the bowl coalition.
"What is the series now, 1-31-1?'' UVa running back Tiki Barber said. "How could you not know? It's everywhere you look.''
Tech isn't obsessed with Boston College - the teams have played just once - unless you count Hokies' defensive coordinator Phil Elmassian. Hokies' coach Frank Beamer said he made it a ``summer project'' for Elmassian and former NFL assistant Gary Tranquill to figure out Boston College's pro-style offense.
An Eagle head-coaching change simply switched one ex-pro coach (Tom Coughlin) with another (Dan Henning). Elmassian and Tranquill studied things like BC's pass protection and recognizing sets - something Elmassian said Tech didn't do last year when Glenn Foley passed for 448 yards and three touchdowns.
Nevertheless, Elmassian sticks to his run-first defensive philosophy. BC running back David Green had 85 yards and a touchdown last year against Tech.
``If we don't stop the run, we'll be in the Guiness Book of World Records [for yards allowed], not the NCAA record book,'' Elmassian said Thursday.
Tech and UVa are in similar spots, facing teams with new coaching staffs: Henning at BC and Tommy West at Clemson. Elmassian said Tech's only reliable resource has been film of BC's '94 opener against Michigan.
And hearsay from Henning's days under Joe Gibbs with the Washington Redskins.
``From what I've heard ... they changed everything [week-to-week],'' Elmassian said. ``You don't look for the same thing twice. That's what Gary said - the plays are the same, the formations are different.''
Virginia, meanwhile, fears Clemson might resurrect the wishbone. Other than starting 6 foot 4, 230-pound Patrick Sapp at quarterback, Tommy West's plans are a mystery in Charlottesville.
The Tigers have rushed for 200 or more yards in 15 of the past 16 games in the series; the only game they didn't, they lost, 20-7 in 1990.
Last year, Clemson ran for 361 yards using the wishbone and quarterback Dexter McLeon to beat UVa 23-14. McLeon is back at cornerback, but quarterback Louie Solomon probably will play too. Solomon had a 64-yard touchdown run against Virginia in the '92 comeback victory.
UVa defensive coordinator Rick Lantz frets that because the Cavaliers have defended 111 passes in two games, their ability to stop the run is unknown. It helps that 1993 ACC tackling leader Randy Neal returns from a sprained knee.
``I don't know if they're embarrassed or not, but they're ... irritated that they weren't able to run the ball better against N.C. State,'' Lantz said of Clemson's 21 rushing yards in a loss last week.
UVa center Bryan Heath called last week's Navy game a ``tune-up,'' but the Cavs did lose tight end Bobby Neely with a knee injury. Roanoke native Walt Derey, a sophomore from Northside High School, will make his first start.
Don't get Elmassian started talking about Mark Hartsell, BC's sophomore quarterback. Hartsell threw for 338 yards and three scores against Michigan. The Brockton, Mass. native had thrown two varsity passes before that game.
``The boy is careful,'' Elmassian said. ``He knows exactly what he's doing, and he's got a great arm. ... He's the best well-kept secret in college football right now.''
Not so for Tech's Maurice DeShazo, whom Henning likened to the NFL's Randall Cunningham. But Henning may be more concerned with Tech's veteran, stout defense, which has held its first two opponents to 160.5 yards and 10.5 points per game and has not allowed a scoring drive of longer than 11 yards.
Although quick defensive end Lawrence Lewis still is gimpy from a mid-week ankle sprain, Tech is sure to try to pressure Hartsell as well as load up against the run.
``They're doing what Frank [Beamer] believes in,'' Henning said. ``It might not be the wide-tackle six that he grew up playing [under] Jerry Claiborne, but they do similar things. They use their outside linebackers and strong safety in a lot of the ways you would in their old defense. They're more aggressive than most defenses, we see they play more man [-to-man coverage], and they seem to be more willing to gamble. They don't sit back and let the game come to them.''
Tech is a 21/2 point underdog, although BC is unranked. That prompts another dispatch from Elmassian's stark world: Anyone who voted BC ahead of Tech, he said, ``ought to be drug-tested.''
Tech and BC were picked 2-3 in the preseason Big East media poll. Whoever wins is in excellent position to finish second in the Big East and secure a major bowl bid.
If UVa, a 71/2-point favorite, wins today, it could be 3-1 in the ACC when it plays host to North Carolina on Oct. 22.
Beamer and Welsh have no illusions of easy afternoons. The Eagles, Beamer says, are better than their Carquest Bowl-winning team of '93 if Hartsell is on.
As for Clemson, all Welsh has to do is look at history.
``They've never played poorly against us,'' he said.
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB