Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 9, 1995 TAG: 9511090039
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
``I was telling [the Seminoles' assistant] coaches the other day, `How many times have I warned our kids?''' Bowden said Wednesday. ``How many times have I warned our kids, `If we don't play our best, we can get beat?'
``You say that for 29 straight ballgames and nobody believes you. So, finally, you saw that it can happen. I think our kids saw that, by golly, if you don't play your best in the ACC, like anywhere else, you can get whipped.''
Much of the conversation leading to the game concerned Florida State's domination of the ACC and its harmful effect - from an image standpoint - on the other eight programs.
``Let me say this: Number one, you hate to ever lose,'' Bowden said. ``I don't like to be a sacrificial lamb, but we needed it to happen because we've been lambasted so much about how bad this conference was.
``We didn't play that bad, now. Virginia beat us in the ballgame. And, Virginia's had some tough scraps with Wake Forest. Virginia's had some tough scraps with North Carolina. I hate to say it, but I think this dadgum conference got some respectability out of it.''
Of course, the other coaches have been claiming they were respectable all season.
``The main thing for me, as a head coach, is that I won't have to answer that question anymore,'' said Tommy West, Clemson's coach, referring to the likelihood of an ACC team ever beating the Seminoles.
``It may have surprised some people, [but] I don't think any of the coaches were shocked. We all knew that Virginia was a pretty solid team, not that anybody is about to predict Florida State's downfall.''
IN THE ACC: The first casualty of Florida State's loss to Virginia was 280-pound fullback Clarence ``Pooh Bear'' Williams, who had led the ACC in scoring for most of the season but was virtually ignored in Charlottesville, where he had five carries for 15 yards.
``I was amazed by Pooh Bear's blocking the first three games,'' said Bowden, who would like to see Williams weighing closer to 260. ``Since the third game, it's become more meek. They say [in the Bible] that the meek shall inherit the earth. In Pooh Bear's case, the meek shall inherit the bench.''
The NFL's Carolina Panthers, playing their home games at Clemson while their new stadium in Charlotte, N.C., is under construction, have averaged 53,059 spectators for four home dates. That's more than 21,000 fans per game fewer than Clemson has averaged in five games at Memorial Stadium.
IN THE BIG EAST: Matt Lytle, a freshman who was practicing at tight end until the past three weeks, might start at quarterback Saturday for Pittsburgh at Syracuse. Sophomore Pete Gonzalez, who had been starting, suffered a season-ending knee injury in a 42-24 loss to Rutgers on Oct.28.
Coach Johnny Majors said he will start either Lytle or John Ryan, who threw a Big East-high 15 interceptions while a starter in seven of the Panthers' first nine games. Ryan is one of two former starters in the program, along with junior college transfer Sean Fitzgerald, who has not played this season.
West Virginia coach Don Nehlen, whose Mountaineers are one of a dwindling number of college football programs to play on artificial turf, said the lack of available real estate for grass practice fields in Morgantown, W.Va., is the biggest hold-up to a conversion at Mountaineer Field.
WVU linebacker J.T. Thomas, carried from the field on a stretcher during the Mountaineers' 59-26 victory over Rutgers on Saturday, suffered some nerve damage in his neck but could be available when the Mountaineers visit Miami on Nov. 18 following an open date.
KEYDETS GET GAME: VMI athletic director Davis Babb, who had spent the past eight months looking for an NCAA Division I-A football opponent for the 1996 season, has reached a tentative agreement with Mississippi.
``A game of this magnitude is hard to get,'' said Babb, who learned in February that Maryland wanted out of its contract with the Keydets. ``If you're aware of the challenges we face here, you know this game is a must.''
VMI, which was to have received a $200,000 guarantee from Maryland, is expected to have a similar agreement when the final contract is signed with Mississippi. The game is tentatively scheduled for Sept.7 in either Oxford, Miss., or Jackson, Miss.
EDWARDS UPDATE: Former Radford High School standout Tommy Edwards could return to the lineup this week for Boise State after missing three games with neck and shoulder problems.
Edwards, a transfer from Virginia Tech, carried 91 times for a team-high 424 yards and four touchdowns in the first six games for the Broncos. Boise (6-3) has moved up to No.23 in the Division I-AA poll after winning four consecutive games.
SPINNER, TOO: Baron Spinner, who was in the same 1993 Tech recruiting class as Edwards, is starting at cornerback and returning punts for Delaware State. Spinner suffered a sprained ankle in the opening game that kept him out of action for the next seven weeks.
Spinner, who started at cornerback for the Hokies last year in the Gator Bowl, transferred at least partly out of a desire to play on offense. He was the Timesland Offensive Player of the Year after the 1992 season, when he rushed for 1,750 yards and 30 touchdowns at Jefferson Forest High School.
LOCAL UPDATE: Former Laurel Park High School standout Odell Hodge, returning from reconstructive knee surgery, had 23 points and 12 rebounds in Old Dominion's annual Blue and White exhibition basketball game. ... Brian Manning, a junior from Pulaski County High School, is one of the co-captains of the men's swimming team at James Madison, where Manning holds school records for 1,000 yards and a mile. Manning will concentrate on sprints this year. ...
Christiansburg High School graduate Brian Eigel, a senior at William and Mary, was named All-Colonial Athletic Association in cross country after finishing eighth in the conference meet. Seven runners from William and Mary finished in the top 10. ... The Ferrum men's golf team is ranked No.23 among Division III teams in the first Golf Coaches' Association of America poll of the season. Virginia is 17th in Division I, the seventh top 20 ranking for a UVa team this fall.
by CNB