Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 12, 1995 TAG: 9510120023
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Richmond, which has won its first five games in rising to No.12 in the NCAA Division I-A rankings, visits unbeaten Delaware this week in the first of three consecutive road games.
The Spiders play five of their last six games away from home, including trips to James Madison (5-1) and William and Mary (4-2). The lone home game is against New Hampshire, last year's Yankee Conference champion.
New Hampshire (2-3) has struggled this season, and the Spiders legitimately could be favored to beat Fordham and Villanova. Richmond hasn't won as many as eight games since 1985, when Dal Shealy was coach.
Reid clearly has benefited from his familiarity with Richmond, where he was defensive coordinator from 1992-93, but this Spiders team is much better defensively than the '93 Richmond team, which gave up 29 points or more in five games.
The Spiders gave up seven, 13 and six points in a three-game stretch before beating Northeastern 26-23 on Saturday in a double-overtime thriller. Richmond only gave up 276 yards against the Huskies, a big reason it was able to overcome five turnovers.
The Spiders, who have attempted barely 13 passes per game, have featured a ball-control offense led by tailback Minoso Rodgers, named after former major-league baseball player Minnie Minoso. Quarterback Jason Gabrels, not previously known for his running ability, has rushed for 385 yards after unseating 1994 starter Joe Elrod.
AROUND THE STATE: Hampton University running back Lamonte Still is out for the season with a knee injury suffered in the Pirates' third game. Still, who began his college career at Virginia, rushed for 1,174 yards last season and led the Pirates with 38 receptions.
IN THE ACC: Maryland does not play again until Oct.21, when it entertains Clemson, but coach Mark Duffner already has indicated Brian Cummings will start at quarterback against the Tigers.
The Terrapins averaged more than 33 points in the four games Cummings started while holdover Scott Milanovich was serving a four-game NCAA-imposed suspension for gambling. Maryland (5-1) has scored one touchdown in the two games Milanovich has started - with Cummings at the controls.
North Carolina athletic director John Swofford said he is convinced four Tar Heels players, whose names reportedly were on a recruiting list belonging to agent Robert Caron, have not been involved in any wrongdoing. The players are tailback Leon Johnson, wide receiver Marcus Wall and defensive backs Fuzzy Lee and Sean Boyd.
Carolina freshman Andre Barkley, who rushed for more than 5,000 yards in high school, has decided to transfer to a school closer to his home in Cincinnati. Barkley, who required shoulder surgery shortly after his arrival at Carolina, was being redshirted.
IN THE BIG EAST: West Virginia quarterback Chad Johnston, who has a sprained knee, remains questionable for the Mountaineers' game Saturday at Boston College. WVU (2-3) has won nine consecutive games at BC's Alumni Stadium.
``We're not going to put him in and [have him] limp around; we've got a lot of other games,'' said West Virginia coach Don Nehlen, whose team ends the season with six consecutive Big East games.
Pittsburgh coach Johnny Majors, whose Panthers had minus-11 yards rushing in a 17-0 loss to BC, said he might use two walk-ons at running back Saturday against Temple. ``I don't think I've ever had a game like that in my life,'' said Majors, who lost 1994 Big East rushing champion Billy West for the season with a broken leg in a 26-16 loss to Virginia Tech on Sept.30.
BASKETBALL RECRUITING: Richmond has received an oral commitment from 5-foot-10 guard Marseilles Brown of Kecoughtan High School in Hampton. One of Brown's brothers, Morocco, is a linebacker on the football team at N.C. State. Another brother played basketball at Howard.
Old Dominion's first recruit of the year is 6-1 Michael Williams from Thomas County Central High School in Thomasville, Ga., the alma mater of former Heisman Trophy winner and first-round NBA draft choice Charlie Ward.
Hampton, entering its first season of Division I basketball, has a commitment from 6-6 Doug Belton of Rochester, N.Y. ... Virginia Commonwealth has lost one of its 1994-95 signees, 6-8, 235-pound Todd Cox, who returned to his home in Harlan, Ky.
HURRYING HAW-THORNE: Cave Spring High School alumnus John Hawthorne, a senior on Virginia Tech's cross-country team, finished first in the nine-team Bobcat Invitational during the past weekend at Ohio University and narrowly missed the course record. Hawthorne has been the Hokies' top finisher in each of three fall meets.
TENNIS TURNOVER: Former Blacksburg High School coach Susan Cox has taken over as women's tennis coach at Radford University, where Tom Hondras to take a leave of absence because of poor health after 16 years as head coach.
Cox, one of the top women's players in the region, was named Timesland Coach of the Year in 1992 after guiding Blacksburg to the New River District title. Hondras, a former wrestling and football coach in Pennsylvania, has a 248-143 record at Radford.
Bud Skeens, a professor of history and international studies at Ferrum, has rejoined the Panthers' athletic staff as coach of the men's and women's tennis programs. Skeens, a retired Army colonel, had a 300-35 record in his first stint as Ferrum's coach from 1965-88.
by CNB