Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, September 28, 1995 TAG: 9509280027
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
J.C. Price recalls his first semester as a freshman at Virginia Tech with much amusement.
``Oh, man, that was something,'' Price said, chuckling. "I majored in Sega and that's about it.''
Four years later, Price still is playing video games. The audience is a little bigger, that's all.
In front of 51,206 fans last Saturday at Lane Stadium, the senior defensive tackle starred in his own version of "Mortal Kombat.'' The 6-foot-3, 280-pound Price was a veritable one-man demolition crew in Tech's 13-7 upset of 17th-ranked Miami, recording career highs in tackles (11) and quarterback sacks (four).
``It was definitely my best game ever,'' said Price, whose four sacks was one more than he had all last season.
``It was just a big game and I love playing big games. I don't like playing against JMU [James Madison], VMI or I-AA teams. I'd much rather play against the big dogs.''
Price went after Miami with the fervor of a big dog come dinner time. The Dunkirk, Md., native was all over the field, chasing quarterbacks one second, then running down a receiver 30 yards down field the next.
Price 'Caned Miami so thoroughly that a caller on Tech coach Frank Beamer's Monday radio show ``wondered if somebody hadn't slipped Bruce Smith [former Tech great in attendance] into No.59's uniform the way that fella was playing.''
``If Bruce had wanted to play, I'd given him my pads,'' Price said. "I just knew what an important game it was. Absolutely everything was on the line for this team.''
Price's final big play - a 10-yard sack of Miami's Ryan Clement - with 29 seconds left helped seal Tech's first win ever over Miami. Price's vicious head-on hit on Clement could be heard in Section Triple M, claimed one Beamer caller.
``Yeah, I dropped the hammer on that one,'' a snickering Price acknowledged.
Tech freshman cornerback Loren Johnson, a big-play man himself against Miami, was left in awe of Price's performance.
``Man, J.C. took it to another level out there,'' said Johnson, his eyes widening. "The guy was a wild man.''
Used to be, that same line could have documented Price's behavior off the field, too. Price certainly was no angel when he arrived in Blacksburg in 1991, choosing Tech over Maryland and West Virginia.
The rambunctious Price, with his trademark goatee - "I've had it since the 10th grade'' - spent most of his first semester on campus ``being stupid.''
``Let's see,'' Price said, ``my day would go like this: I'd wake up about noon, eat lunch, play Sega before practice, go to practice, come home from practice, play Sega, drink beer, stay up until about 6 o'clock in the morning, go to sleep and go back to practice.
``I never went to class, never did any homework, nothing. I didn't know what a book was.''
Price's party parade as a redshirt freshman didn't march for long, however.
``Got to tip my hat to Phil Elmassian [former Tech assistant] for that,'' Price said. "He put a foot up my butt, so to speak. He let me know if things didn't get better with the books that I wouldn't be playing.''
Price, with assists from position coach Todd Grantham and longtime roommate, offensive tackle Mike Bianchin, eventually toned down his off-the-field act.
``Don't get me wrong,'' said Price, ``I still like to have a few [beers]. But I try to stay away from trouble. I sit over in the corner and mind my own business now. I don't go out on that dance floor because I'm too old to be dancing and causing a ruckus.''
Price has been a stellar blue-collar worker at Tech, playing in all but three games since 1992. The wild child of '91 has grown up and now rates as one of the Hokies' true leaders.
``Boy, that's one guy who really has matured,'' Beamer said of Price. "He's a different person from the one who came to Virginia Tech. He hates to lose, too, and I sort of like having those guys around.''
The guy known simply as ``J.C.'' - ``I just don't look like a Joey,'' he said - has been known to go ballistic in the locker room on game days. Price is ready to play on Saturdays and he expects everybody else to be, too.
``I get emotional because I think it's my job,'' Price said. "Like the Cincinnati game, I screamed and hollered. But I guess it didn't work. We were totally dead. Well, I guess the message finally got delivered against Miami.''
Price also has tackled his problems with the books. In what would have a been a bigger upset than Tech beating Miami, Price fell just short of the required 3.0 grade-point average required to make the school's Dean's List last semester.
``I had a 2.9 [grade-point average] and that's Dean's List for me,'' Price said. ``Mom and Pops loved it. I'll never forget them framing my first Tech report card - 3 Fs and a D - and putting it on the TV at Christmas time so everybody in the family could see it. That was sort of embarrassing and it had a lot to do with me getting my grades up.''
Price said he did it with hard work, something he learned from his father, Theodore.
``My father is a blue-collar construction guy and I can't ever remember him missing a day of work in my 22 years,'' Price said. ``He's been going a lot longer longer than Cal Ripken.''
Theodore Price probably never played a video game. But there is a video of one game that will forever reside in the family's tape bin.
``I think we'll keep that Miami tape for a while,'' J.C. Price said. ``That's one I'll show the kids one day. I can hear myself telling my kid now, `Yeah, that's the way I played every game, so you'd better get to it, buddy.'''
by CNB