ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, October 29, 1996 TAG: 9610290059
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DON NEHLEN refutes critics of the punt that led to the Mountaineers' 10-7 loss to Miami on Saturday.
Since West Virginia's stunning 10-7 loss to Miami on Saturday night, Mountaineers coach Don Nehlen has discovered that college football's armchair quarterback club has a sizable membership.
On Monday's Big East Conference coaches teleconference, Nehlen ripped into second-guessers questioning his decision to punt rather than try to take an intentional safety from his own 30-yard line with 29 seconds to play and WVU leading 7-3.
West Virginia lost the game when Tremain Mack blocked punter Brian West's kick, and Nate Brooks, after a lateral from Jack Hallmon, ran the ball into the end zone.
Nehlen said he never considered taking a safety, which would have left WVU up by two points, but facing the prospect of giving the ball back to Miami on a free kick from the Mountaineers' 20.
``It's not like we were ahead by 10 or 12 points,'' said Nehlen, whose club had punted successfully eight times against the Hurricanes. ``If we take a safety, we have to kick off from the 20 and they're going to get the ball at their 40 or close to midfield. Then, a pass or two and they're in range to win the game on a field goal. There was still time for a couple of plays.
``If we'd been on our own 5- or 10-yard line, I'd have thought about it, but not on our own 30. You don't run into the end zone for a safety from there. I'm not sure [West] could have caught the snap and ran into the end zone before they caught him.''
Following the nationally televised game, ESPN analyst Lee Corso called for Nehlen's scalp, much like he did Wisconsin's Barry Alvarez a week earlier when the Badgers fumbled away a game against Northwestern.
``I think that's why Lee Corso is on the air,'' Nehlen said of the former Indiana coach. ``He lost his job because he couldn't win games. For him to say that is baloney.''
One writer asked Nehlen, whose club has seen five of its punts blocked this season, why he simply didn't try to pick up a first down. WVU was facing fourth-and-long.
``Are you kidding?'' Nehlen asked. ``Had I done that and didn't make it, I'd really be in for it.
``You guys are on wacky tobacky or something. When I quit this job, I've got to get a job writing.''
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes must have wondered what kind of mood-altering substance the WVU fans were on Saturday night.
Miami officials said an ambulance carrying injured Hurricanes tailback Danyell Ferguson was rocked and almost tipped over by WVU backers before it could leave for the hospital.
Nehlen refuted those reports Monday.
``I heard about that this morning and I checked into it,'' Nehlen said. ``The driver of the ambulance said that's not true.''
Hurricanes coach Butch Davis said Monday he received a conflicting report from Miami officials on hand.
``If it is untrue, I truly regret that it has been spread,'' Davis said. ``But our people who were there, the people who were inside the ambulance, claimed it did happen.''
In a separate incident following the final gun, Miami linebackers coach Randy Shannon was struck on the head by a 55-gallon plastic trash can hurled onto the field from the upper deck of Mountaineer Field. Luckily, Shannon sustained only a bruise.
David Hardesty, WVU's president, told the Associated Press on Monday he was embarrassed by the fan behavior and was planning on extending a formal apology to Miami officials.
LENGTH: Medium: 71 linesby CNB