Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 19, 1994 TAG: 9410190047
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Eight body parts later, he stops, forgetting to mention why he's wearing a cast on his right hand. (He dislocated the index finger and broke a bone against Boston College Sept.17).
``It's been killing me for class. I've got a paper to write, and I can't type,'' Bianchin said.
The junior offensive tackle can play, though. He's started all seven games this year, the last four with that cast. His defensive soul mate is linebacker George DelRicco, who's wearing a light brace to protect his injured left thumb, the latest on a list of hurts.
Bianchin's medical history can make a bystander wince. He's had turf toe, a sprained ankle, tendinitis in both knees (unrelated to football), a strained back, sprained knees, a broken rib, a pulled neck muscle, a sore elbow and two injured shoulders in addition to this year's hand injury. One shoulder kept him out of the '92 season, but he's played all 18 games since, starting eight.
DelRicco, who said he tore ankle ligaments in a pickup basketball game the first day he reported to Tech, has been a bit more durable. The junior linebacker hasn't missed a game in three years, despite playing all of 1993 with a broken wrist and this season with the injured thumb.
He's had ankle, wrist, thumb, neck and shoulder injuries and says he can't remember being injury-free for a game since high school. Yet he was Tech's second-leading tackler last year and leads the Hokies with 83 this season.
``I don't know what it is,'' DelRicco said. ``It's a little bad luck, and going 100 percent each time I'm out there. I kind of forget I'm human out there sometimes.
``[But] if I'm going to cause further injury, I'm not going to go out and play. I had already hurt [my shoulder], and it wasn't going to get any worse.''
DelRicco knows worse. As a 5-year-old, he accidentally drove his bike into a parked car - on Mother's Day, no less.
``This lady took me to my house. I was knocked out,'' DelRicco said. ``I knocked my two front teeth back in my gums. I needed four stitches in my lip.''
Bianchin says his cast limits his blocking effectiveness, but he says he's supposed to get a smaller soft cast after the Pittsburgh game on Saturday. DelRicco just switched to a smaller cast and says he'll probably keep it for the rest of the season.
TECH-MIAMI MOVE: ABC has changed the starting time for the Oct. 29 Tech-Miami game to 3:30 p.m., a move that likely will trim the Hokies' exposure on their third major network appearance of the season.
The 17th-ranked Hokies originally were to play at noon against No. 7 Miami, with No. 2 Colorado-No. 3 Nebraska and No. 1 Penn State-Ohio State on ABC at 3:30. Instead, ABC will show Colorado-Nebraska to the nation at noon, and Tech-Miami will share exposure with Penn State-Ohio State, North Carolina State-North Carolina and Arizona-Oregon in the later time slot.
Colorado-Nebraska will be on WDBJ-Channel 7. The Tech-Miami game will be seen on WSET-Channel 13.
INJURIES: Pittsburgh has lost linebacker Tom Tumulty, a first-team all-Big East choice last year, with a sprained knee. Tumulty, the Big East's third-leading tackler last year, played only briefly against the Hokies in '93 after spending until Thursday of game week in a hospital because of an infected elbow. When he left the game, and when starter Gerald Simpson hurt his knee causing a Maurice DeShazo fumble, Pitt was left with a weak spot.
``That was one of the reasons [Tech] had big holes,'' Pitt defensive coordinator Chuck Driesbach said, referring to the Hokies' school-record 500 yards rushing.
Pitt tailback Curtis Martin, thought to be out for the season with a severe ankle injury, is listed as questionable for the Tech game. A decision on whether Martin will play this year or make a hardship appeal for an extra year of eligibility is expected this week.
WONDERLAND: Last year's Pitt game, a 63-21 Tech victory in the season's second game, remains vivid to many Hokies. Tech led 42-6 at halftime over the Panthers, who had beaten Southern Mississippi on the road the previous week and were playing their first home game after the return of John Majors as coach.
``We didn't know how good we were,'' said offensive tackle Mike Bianchin, a Pittsburgh native. ``[We thought] that game would show us how good we were. We went out there ready for a war. That made the season. I couldn't believe it. We're in the locker room [at halftime] and we couldn't understand what had happened.
``I think they [the Panthers] didn't know what to do. They were just in total shock.''
ETC: Tech offensive guard Damien McMahon (sprained foot) is doubtful for the Pitt game ... Tech special-teamer Chris Peduzzi, a Pittsburgh native, grew up in a Pitt family. His Dad and brother are Pitt grads, and his sister is a sophomore there now. The family still claims him, however. ``I hope I'm not blackballed,'' he said. ``I'm the one getting them tickets this week.'' ... The Pitt-Tech game last year produced seven season-worst defensive numbers for the Panthers, including rushing yards allowed (500) and total yards allowed (675) ... The Hokies have scored 30 points in each of their last 10 home games, averaging 41.5 points in those games.
by CNB