Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 1, 1995 TAG: 9501030098
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: JACKSONVILLE, FLA. LENGTH: Long
Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer has been saying for a month that Tennessee is a top 10 team. The Vols, who finished 8-4 and were unranked at the Gator kickoff, truly are.
Their 45-23 ripping of Tech on Friday night in the highest-scoring Gator Bowl in history won't put them that high. It will, however, position the Hokies about where they belong - which would be about where they started the season.
Tech began this season at No.22 in The Associated Press poll after finishing 9-3 in 1993. Beamer has had back-to-back bowl bids and consecutive Top 25 teams. And if Tech is as good next season as some expect, the Hokies will truly be a Top 25 program.
The 1994 Hokies finished 8-4 and certainly weren't No.17, the perch from which they played the Gator Bowl. The way some of them walked away from the swamping in ``The Swamp,'' high-fiving and laughing on the walk to the locker room, one had to wonder whether they realized they'd been embarrassed.
Then, perhaps that's part of the attitude that separated - literally - these Hokies from those of last year. The confidence and playing smarts had ebbed.
Last year, the 9-3 Hokies accomplished something most good clubs do. They didn't have a ``bad'' loss, a setback to someone they should have beaten.
This season, Tech's first loss, 28-20 at Syracuse, fit into that category. Miami, Tennessee and Virginia were better teams with more talent than Tech. The only positions at which the Hokies were better than the Cavaliers this season were tailback and receivers.
The Hokies also caught Boston College and West Virginia early. Had those games been played later, after Tech's emotion had ebbed and its defense had grown weary and leaky, the scoreboards might have told a different story.
The Hokies got into the bowl coalition picture as the Big East's runner-up and No.2 bowl choice in a season of inconsistency in the league.
The Big East is 3-9 against ranked non-conference opponents, with conference champion Miami still to play Nebraska in tonight's Orange Bowl. The league had only two impressive wins, both at home. Miami beat Florida State and BC topped Notre Dame, which stumbled into the Fiesta Bowl by beating Air Force and Navy and tying Southern Cal.
Tennessee plays in the best football conference this side of the AFC. One Volunteer, after the Gator waltz, said that in ``the SEC, Virginia Tech is South Carolina, or Georgia without [star quarterback] Eric Zeier.''
That's about the middle of the 12-pack, but that's also Carquest Bowl territory, a game to which the Hokies could be headed to next season. Tennessee, considering its returning talent, could be playing for a national championship.
Tech's only significant loss on defense is middle linebacker Ken Brown, although more depth is needed at every position on that side of the ball. Offensively, Tech has more than enough talent returning to fill the few two-deep vacancies available.
Next season will be a lot like the '93 prospectus for the Hokies. Beamer's belief is that a team is only as good as its quarterback's ability and consistency.
When Maurice DeShazo prospered with experience last season, so did the Hokies. This season, he slipped - as did the Hokies, despite getting a better bowl bid.
DeShazo's backup, Jim Druckenmiller played well at the end of the Gator Bowl. His passing was accurate and he understands the offense. However, there's another notion that says freshman Al Clark will be the Hokies' starter behind center next season.
Clark is an option QB. This season, one coach said he had the best tools and capabilities among all the Hokie quarterbacks, including DeShazo. As for concerns about inexperience, Clark has had a year of prep school and a redshirt season. He'll be 20 before spring practice.
Would the Hokies want a guy taking his first college snaps in prime time on ESPN against Boston College in a season opener that will go a long way toward determining the Big East bowl order? Maybe.
Tech does have an easier schedule next season, although playing four of the final five games on the road won't make the bowl rush any easier. The Big East should be improved, too.
However, besides Virginia, the non-conference schedule is a waltz. Cincinnati, Navy and Akron were a combined 6-26-1 this season. The latter two will have new coaches. Seven wins should be no stretch for the '95 Hokies.
Despite the Gator loss, it should be a Happy New Year for Beamer's program. He has a new five-year contract. His program will be enhanced with a new football wing annex on the Jamerson Athletic Center.
Recruiting weekends this month will be more crucial than some stadium Saturdays were in the autumn of '94. Tech has been outrecruited early in its own state by conference foe BC, not to mention UVa, although Beamer contends the ``major battles are yet to be fought.''
Tech's Gator Bowl support, about 18,000 strong, has become a status symbol for the program, too. The question now is whether, after a thumping, some of those Hokies will jump off the bandwagon.
A few already were grousing to Tech's big kahunas Saturday morning. They should be reminded where they were two New Years ago, when the 8 in the record was a losing proposition.
by CNB