Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 29, 1994 TAG: 9412290106
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACKSONVILLE, Fla.
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Perhaps it should be the other way around.
Tennessee is the best offensive team the Hokies have faced this season. Miami is the best team Tech has played, but the Hurricanes won the Big East Football Conference and more with defense.
And it is the Hokies' defense that put coach Frank Beamer's program in position to have the first back-to-back bowl clubs in school history. The only consistency in Tech's offense has been its inconsistency.
Defense carried Tech to a 4-0 start. It gave the Hokies their most impressive victory, a September triumph at Boston College without an offensive touchdown. Also on the road, it stonewalled an underappreciated Southern Mississippi team that went 6-5, the losses to Tech, Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M and East Carolina.
It's very apparent that Tech will try to return somewhat to its 1993 self offensively Friday night with quarterback Maurice DeShazo running the option with very few one-back sets in the game plan. However, it is Tech's defense that has to remember the way it was if the Hokies are to have a chance to upset the Volunteers.
``We have to get back to the way we were playing at the beginning of the year,'' said Phil Elmassian, Tech's defensive coordinator. ``We need the kind of play we used to beat Southern Miss, BC and West Virginia.
``The rest of the season, in most games, we played hard enough and we played well enough to at least put ourselves in position to get here. Then, we just ran out of gas.
`` ... I think we peaked too early. We were so outstanding in those early games, I knew we couldn't keep it up at that level. I've been around a few years [21 as a college assistant coach] and I've never seen anything in a three-game stretch like the way we played early.''
Elmassian, known for not substituting much, doesn't pull punches, either. He knows Tennessee is going to try to run the Hokies off Florida Field. He knows the Vols will pull their superb linemen and try to mow down the smaller Hokies on the flanks, as Virginia did in its victory Nov.19 at Lane Stadium.
``Since that early part of the season, maybe we've played like that for a half a game or three quarters of a game, or like against Virginia, no quarters,'' Elmassian said. ``We understand what we have to do. We just have to do it. We did it before. Can we do it again?''
Good question. Elmassian said BC's offensive line probably ranks behind Tennessee's front in size and ability among Tech opponents. Asked to compare the Vols' front to another team, the Tech coordinator said, ``Well, maybe the Packers or the Raiders.''
What about Syracuse, which averaged 296 pounds per man up front and handed Tech its first loss, 28-20 on Oct.1 at the Carrier Dome?
``Not even close,'' Elmassian said. ``We made them look good. That was their season. They beat us and they'd used it up. They weren't the same after that.''
Neither was Tech's defense after the Orangemen rolled up 486 yards of carpet. In the Hokies' opening four victories, their opponents averaged 200.5 yards and 8.5 points.
In the final seven games, Tech yielded a 373.3-yard average, including 411 yards per game and 11 touchdowns in the final three games. The Hokies still finished 20th in NCAA Division I-A in total defense at 308.3 yards per game.
What happened?
Well, Tech doesn't yet have the defensive depth it needs to play consistently at the top 15 level. The Hokies lack height and weight, too. And against the Vols, among Tech's top five tacklers, All-Big East Conference linebacker Ken Brown won't play and whip linebacker Brandon Semones and transplanted cornerback Antonio Banks will play hurt.
Tennessee has piled up more than 400 yards total offense in seven of its 11 games. In those games, the Vols' average is 479.1 yards.
``We've won 17 games in two years, which is great,'' Elmassian said of a feat accomplished only once previously in Tech history (1983-84). ``We play hard, and that and coaching can bring you to a point.
``To get to the next point, it's recruiting. Now we have to go out and try to sustain what we've gained, what we've won. We have to fill the voids.''
Even before the season, Beamer and Elmassian agreed Tech was at least one lineman, one linebacker and one cornerback from being where it wanted to be defensively.
From its defense, Tech loses only one prominent senior in Brown. The Hokies sorely need size and speed on defense, but they not only need it before next season, they could use it before their next game.
by CNB