Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 28, 1994 TAG: 9408260024
SECTION: COLLEGE FOOTBALL PAGE: FB2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Tech and eighth-year coach Frank Beamer have faced ``must-win'' seasons before, but never like this.
``We've had our moments,'' Beamer said on a recent sweltering day at Lane Stadium. ``The thing we haven't done a great job of is being a consistently good football team. If you're going to be good, you've got to be consistent.''
Tech's 9-3 record produced a No.22 final ranking in last year's Associated Press Top 25, and it is believed the Hokies never had been ranked in the preseason before they came in at No.22 this year. Fourteen starters return from the Poulan/Weed Eater Independence Bowl champions, including offensive most valuable player Maurice DeShazo at quarterback and defensive MVP Antonio Banks at safety, making Tech is a preseason pick to finish second in the Big East Football Conference.
Two seasons removed from a 2-8-1 record that included a season-ending, seven-game non-winning streak, the Hokies enter '94 with a three-game winning streak and a realistic chance for back-to-back nine-victory seasons for the first time in school history.
These Hokies, unlike Beamer's two six-victory Tech teams, won't be labeled overachievers (unless they beat Miami). The Hokies' talent, after several touted recruiting classes, is taken seriously and is expected to put Tech in a bowl game (possibly a New Year's Day game) for an unprecedented second consecutive year.
``If I've heard it once, I've heard it a thousand times,'' Beamer said of nervous alumni who don't want Tech ranked high in the preseason. ``I'm exactly the opposite. Now, I think we've got to be able to handle it.''
The best offense in school history (444.1 yards and 36.4 points per game) shouldn't slip much under new coordinator Gary Tranquill, a former college head coach and NFL assistant regarded as an offensive whiz. Tranquill has two- and three-deep talent at running back and receiver, though All-America center Jim Pyne is one of five departed starters.
``I doubt whether we can be that prolific,'' Tranquill said of the '93 numbers. ``We lost three or four key players off that offensive unit. Sometimes it takes a little while to get that [chemistry] back. We have to develop that and we have to develop that fairly early.''
Coordinator Phil Elmassian's defense was shredded at times last season, but produced at year's end and is expected to reduce its 388 yards and 22.7 yards per game. Veteran players such as Banks, linebackers Ken Brown and George DelRicco and end Cornell Brown epitomize a quick, aggressive unit.
The only questions are solidifying the offensive line, tight end and cornerback, and finding depth at those spots and at linebacker.
Oh, and there's the question about fat heads. Do the Hokies have 'em?
Beamer tried to avoid cranial expansion by encouraging players to stay in Blacksburg during the summer, whether they needed summer school or not. Forty-three attended the second summer session, he said, and there were ``fewer here for academic reasons than in years past.''
Beamer is familiar with sustaining success, having kept Murray State in the final Division I-AA Top 20 from 1984-86.Tech's players, however, are new at this.
``I'm going to enjoy it while I have it,'' split end Antonio Freeman said during the Big East's media day in early August. ``I'm going to flaunt it until practice starts. [But] there's a time when it has to stop.''
The Hokies bring back a tiny galaxy of stars, most of whom have personal records within reach. Freeman needs two touchdown catches, 651 receiving yards and 30 catches to set career marks in those categories; tailback Dwayne Thomas could become Tech's first back-to-back 1,000-yard rusher since Cyrus Lawrence in 1980-81; Ken Brown could be a first-team All-Big East pick; and DeShazo could finish as Tech's most efficient passer.
Fine, DeShazo says. But remember 1991, when a team that produced five NFL draft picks went 5-6, then blamed the season in part on too much individuality?
``I want to win. I don't want to lose with the team we've got,'' DeShazo said.
``I'm going to give a speech on the first day: `We've been here before. Don't go back to where we were. Know each other for who we are, not what the papers say.'''
Tech may lack name recognition on a national level, but the following names will have something to do with whether the Hokies match their preseason hype:
Former tackle Billy Conaty moves to his natural position, replacing Pyne at center. The 6-foot-3, 294-pound sophomore is not a worry to the coaches.
Injury-prone junior Mike Bianchin (6-4, 288) and athletic sophomore Jay Hagood (6-4, 282) are the new offensive tackles. Beamer wants 6-4, 294-pound sophomore T.J. Washington to complete a three-man rotation.
William Yarborough and Larry Green, both of whom started at times last year, should open the season at cornerback, where NFL draft pick Tyronne Drakeford used to alter offenses. Behind them, however, is a collection of first-year players (Baron Spinner, Aaron Layne and Quinton Waller) and returning reserve Okesa Smith.
Beamer wants better play from reserves Andy Miller and Vernon Dozier at inside linebacker. With Elmassian's play-the-starters style, Brown and DelRicco may never come off the field.
As in '93, when the Hokies were 6-0 at Lane Stadium, Tech has six home games, beginning with Saturday's 4 p.m. opener against Arkansas State.
Tech's season may hinge on Games 2-4 - a visit to expanded Alumni Stadium to play Boston College on Sept.17, followed five days later by a Thursday night ESPN game at home against West Virginia and an Oct.1 date at Syracuse.
Winning those two league road games - Tech was 1-3 as a Big East visitor last year - and a nationally televised victory over conference (and pre-conference) rival WVU could set up a Big East title battle in Miami on Oct.29.
``We're tasting bigger things, bigger bowls, finishing higher than fourth in the Big East,'' Freeman said. ``We're going to have to go out and do it.''
by CNB