ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, October 9, 1996 TAG: 9610090035
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: TECH NOTES
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
With his biggest gun on the shelf, Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer decided it was time to pull out an unused 1996 weapon.
Beamer said Tuesday he hopes the Hokies, stung 52-21 at Syracuse on Sept.28 and without All-America defensive end Cornell Brown for the next two games, will get a much-needed lift from the return of tailback Marcus Parker.
Beamer announced Monday he had rescinded the indefinite suspension he levied against Parker on Aug.14 for a July shoplifting incident. The former Salem High School standout will make his '96 debut Saturday at Lane Stadium against Temple.
``I think we need Marcus Parker in the lineup,'' Beamer said.
Beamer said Parker had met regularly with a professional counselor, a condition of his reinstatement.
``I think Marcus has got everything straightened out now and is ready to play some football,'' Beamer said.
It had been strongly hinted Parker would elect to take a redshirt season because he already had missed the Hokies' first four games.
Beamer said Tuesday he and his staff never asked Parker to take a redshirt year, which would have left him with two seasons of eligibility.
``There was some talk about it among the staff,'' Beamer said, ``but we never asked him. That would have been his call.''
Parker, who was running neck-and-neck with Ken Oxendine for the starting tailback job before his suspension, will be the No.2 tailback Saturday. Beamer promised the Roanoker would get his carries.
``Like Cornell, myself, I think Marcus Parker has got a future [in football] after Virginia Tech,'' Beamer said. ``He's a very capable guy, both at the tailback and fullback positions.
``I think there will be three backs there who'll share the spotlight - Oxendine, Parker and [Brian] Edmonds.
``All I know is [Parker] is a heck of a runner, he can block well and he can catch it. He does all those things those guys do well on Sunday'' in the NFL.
Parker was unavailable for comment Tuesday on his reinstatement.
BROWN UPDATE: Beamer said Brown was ``doing well'' after undergoing arthroscopic surgery Monday to trim cartilage in his left knee.
While Beamer said Brown could have played the rest of the season without the surgery, he noted his star defender wouldn't have been playing at full speed.
The knee ``wasn't totally 100 percent,'' Beamer said, ``and I think anybody that knows Cornell knows when he plays football he plays 100 percent. And something that's keeping him from being quite 100 percent, it bothers him.
``Of course, Cornell has a future after Virginia Tech football. And I think what's best for Cornell and his future is without question what needs to be done.''
Brown is expected to be sidelined at least until Tech's Nov. 2 home date with Southwestern Louisiana.
PUNTING PERSONNEL: Two blocked punts by the opposition in the first four games have forced the Hokies to overhaul their special teams.
Beamer has gone to some bigger bodies to help block for oft-harried punter John Thomas.
``I think maybe we'd gotten a little too small and it's made the corners a little short'' from tackle to tackle, Beamer said. ``We've gotten some bigger people in there, plus we've worked on not letting people get a jump on our snap. I think Tim [Wade, the deep-snapper] had been hunching a little bit [before hiking the ball] and people were getting a good jump on us.
``Hopefully, our protection will be better. I think it will be. It looked better'' Monday during practice.
Tech is last in the Big East and ranks near the bottom of NCAA Division I-A schools in net punting average (30.2 yards).
TRAINER'S TABLE: Despite an off week following the Syracuse game, the Hokies are hurting for the Owls' invasion.
As if losing Brown wasn't enough, Beamer said two more defensive starters - tackle Waverly Jackson (back) and linebacker Tony Morrison (foot) - are questionable for Saturday's game. Two other starters - linebacker Brandon Semones (back) and offensive tackle Jay Hagood (foot) - are listed as probable.
``I don't know if I've ever had an open date and came back as banged up as we are now,'' Beamer said.
TECH TIDBITS: If Jackson doesn't play, three of Tech's top five defensive linemen Saturday will be former walk-ons - Danny Wheel, John Engelberger and Kerwin Hairston. Redshirt freshman Nat Williams would start in Jackson's hole. Beamer said highly touted freshman Carl Bradley, from Lynchburg, could see his first action Saturday as a second backup at defensive tackle. Tech officials are expecting a crowd of approximately 45,000 for Saturday's homecoming game.
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: File/1995 Hokies running back Marcus Parker, back fromby CNBa four-game suspension, ``has got everything straightened out now
and is ready to play some football,'' coach Frank Beamer said.
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