ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, August 13, 1996 TAG: 9608130069
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
The football team that ate a bowl full of Sugar as a New Year's treat reports back to campus today.
Virginia Tech's veterans can only hope to be as ready for the season as their head coach, who impressively ran his own 40-yard dash on Monday.
Through the raindrops, Frank Beamer sprinted from his car's distant parking space to the dining hall for lunch - in shower slippers.
An observer figured Beamer hasn't displayed similar speed and darting moves through obstacles since he played in Tech's defensive backfield twentysomething years ago.
Beamer didn't disagree with that observation, and that's the same agreeable way Beamer begins his 10th season on the sideline for his alma mater. Like all coaches, he's cautiously optimistic, but seemingly less so than in the past.
That's less cautious, not less optimistic. When your team is defending a conference championship, has a 10-game winning streak and is ranked 16th in the preseason poll, it's hard to act as whiny as Lou Holtz.
Beamer is trying to temper the delirium about Tech's recent success, however. He still preaches that the program must prove it can be a consistent title contender.
This year, the best way to do that might be with a history lesson, and a not so distant one.
The Hokies began the 1994 season off an Independence Bowl victory in which they went through Indiana like a weedeater. They were 7-1 going to Miami, but crash-landed in the Gator Bowl to finish the season 8-4.
To a school that never had been to bowls in back-to-back seasons, that year was rightfully considered a success. It could have been better, however.
A lack of player leadership, a divisive clique within the team and a dropoff in the incentive department hurt the Hokies.
Last year, using its '94 finishing skid and an 0-2 start as motivation, veteran players like J.C. Price, William Yarborough, George DelRicco, Bryan Still and Chris Malone made sure the team's only trip south was for the Sugar Bowl.
So, who might be the Hokies' biggest foe this year? Syracuse, picked to win the Big East? Miami, stung by probation and perennial trips to the police station? State rival Virginia?
No, the Hokies' biggest foe might be the one in the mirror.
You can look at a depth chart and be fooled. It conceals as much as it reveals. It lists experience, or lack of it. It doesn't show incentive or individualism that could turn a team around one way or the other.
"What you actually have,'' Beamer said, when asked about those oft-hidden qualities, "may not be what it looks like you've got.''
The Hokies have a veteran team, but, "it changes every year,'' Beamer said. "The leadership you get depends on whether those guys accept that role, where their main concern lies; if it's pro ball, if they're in that situation, or if it's what happens at Virginia Tech.
"That determines a lot on how things go. We've seen that. Do we have what we had last year, I think so, but it's one of those questions that remains to be answered.''
Cornell Brown, the All-America defensive end from Lynchburg, might be difficult for opponents to find this season, but he'll need to be up front for the Hokies.
Brown, who disdains dealing with the media, won't lead his own campaign for the Outland Trophy. In the offseason, Tech's defensive coaches have spent more than a few hours cooking up schemes to launch Brown from various angles, including linebacker, to free his pass rushing ability.
Beamer said Brown is a player who plays best "on the edge.'' The coach meant in a defensive scheme, but he also could have been describing Brown's reluctance to talk about the game.
The Tech coach has no problem with that, because he says Brown, for his individualism in some areas, "cares most about his friends, the football team, and playing football. He just enjoys playing the game.
"Those are the things that really matter to Cornell. That's what really matters to me also. There are some areas where I might advise them one way or another, but that's their personal choice.''
Brown's example will be huge on a defensive line that's talented, but rebuilding. His play could be spectacular, but Beamer doesn't want a solo act from him or anyone else.
As for incentive, the Hokies never have won back-to-back conference championships. They're shooting for four bowls in as many years. It took 19 seasons (1968-86) for the previous four postseason trips.
Tech doesn't have to read between the lines to find incentive, either. The Big East has provided plenty.
Last December, when Miami was placed on NCAA probation, the Big East declared Tech the league's football champion. The Hokies and Hurricanes were both 6-1 in the league, and Tech won their September meeting.
Then, in the preseason Big East guide and media releases, the league, based in Rhode Island, refers to Miami and Tech as co-champions. Oops.
Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese recently wrote a letter to league schools reaffirming that, no matter what the new material said, Tech is the defending champ, outright.
Who needs a coach who can sprint in shower slippers when you're presented that kind of incentive on a platter from Providence?
LENGTH: Medium: 96 linesby CNB