ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 31, 1995 TAG: 9601020070
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
Virginia Tech's football program not only reaches a different stratosphere in tonight's Sugar Bowl.
There's a different atmosphere to deal with, too.
The Big East champion Hokies seek a 10-win season for the first time in their century-plus football history - and it's a field with no grass.
Against ninth-ranked Texas (10-1-1) in the noise and glare of the Louisiana Superdome, Tech (9-2) plays the 963rd - and most glamourous - game in its history in a 7 p.m. kickoff.
On paper and under a microscope, the 62nd Sugar Bowl figures to be one of the most competitive bowl games. Of course, it's played on something made by Monsanto, under a roof.
The 13th-ranked Hokies are 2 1/2-point underdogs in what figures to be a defensive struggle, probably one of the lowest-scoring bowl games this year.
Maybe. Possibly. Not for certain.
The Virginia Tech-Virginia game last month figured to be shy of points, too, and it produced a 36-29 Hokies victory, matching the second-highest scoring game in the 77-game history of that series.
``I wouldn't be surprised if it's like the Tech-UVa game,'' said Tech coach Frank Beamer on the Sugary eve. ``Then, I'm surprised, too, at how many points teams are scoring in bowls.''
Beamer and Texas coach John Mackovic discussed that subject Saturday, and they also agreed there's something in the first meeting of their schools that could keep a lid on Sugar scoring.
It's the lid.
The Superdome is the largest enclosed stadium in the world. The roof has no skylights. The ground level of the building encloses 13 acres.
``This place,'' said Tech offensive coordinator Rickey Bustle, standing on the dome's turf Friday at practice, ``is something else.''
Bustle, an assistant coach at Northeast Louisiana in the mid-80s before moving to Tech, recruited New Orleans for NLU. One day he went to a New Orleans Saints game, and when quarterback Bobby Hebert didn't perform as the fans expected, some of them threw tennis balls at the field.
``Some of those suckers bounced as high as the top of the goal posts,'' Bustle said.
In more ways than one, the Superdome is a hard place to play. The artificial turf is new, just finishing its first football season. Still, it's laid on a concrete floor.
The lights also come at players from a different angle. Where outdoor stadium lights are on the sides, the Superdome lights shine down, from the ceiling. Beamer said he wouldn't be surprised if fielding punts and kickoffs becomes an adventuresome activity tonight.
``The other day at practice,'' Beamer said, ``one of our receivers ran a route, looked up for a pass and the ball hit him in the head. I asked him why he didn't catch it. He told me, `Coach, I didn't see it.'''
This is what the Longhorns and Hokies must contend with, besides each other, and the game could give new meaning to the term ``pressure points.''
East Carolina's 19-13 Liberty Bowl triumph over Stanford has been the lowest-scoring 1995 bowl, entering Saturday night's games.
The Tech-Texas matchup should produce similar numbers, at best. The over-under wager on the game is 45 points. Of the bowls played so far, that's the third-lowest number.
``I think the dome helps the defense,'' Beamer said. ``It's tougher to communicate with the noise, and although you do communicate on defense, it's more crucial for the offense.
``The defense reacts to what the offense does, and the conditions for the offense are different. I don't know if a dome helps the defense, but I do think it hurts the offense a little bit.''
Because both coaches are expecting a low-scoring game, don't expect Beamer and Mackovic to wait until they reach the casinos to gamble. Tech loves to try and block punts. No one should be surprised if both teams unveil new offensive wrinkles, either.
In the first seven bowls this postseason, the average score was 44-27. Mackovic said he not only is shocked at the number of points scored, but also at ``the explosions, the 21 points in two minutes.''
``I thought I knew what kind of game to expect. Usually, when defenses, good defenses, come to play, in a game like this they usually crank it up a step. So, you wouldn't expect many points. Then, look at the bowls so far.''
Beamer's opinion is that the bowlsful of scoreboard numbers elsewhere are products of unfamiliar opponents matching wits, talent and philosophies.
``There are just so many unknowns when you play someone from another part of the country,'' he said. ``If you played a team before, you kind of feel like you know what's in store for you. In games like this, you don't.''
So much for film study.
``A bowl also is the first game you've played in awhile,'' Beamer said. ``You would think the long layoff hurts the offense and the timing more than the defense, but it hasn't hurt the offenses in most of the other games.''
That isn't to say Tech and Texas will produce the lowest-scoring Sugar Bowl, however. In the rain and mud at Tulane Stadium 54 years ago, Fordham wallowed past Missouri 2-0 on a blocked punt that went out of the end zone.
The Hokies and Longhorns may even have 20-20 vision going to overtime, but if it's something offensive you're seeking on New Year's Eve in New Orleans, head for Bourbon Street.
LENGTH: Medium: 97 linesby CNB