ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, November 25, 1996 TAG: 9611260046
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Monday Morning Quarterback
SOURCE: FROM STAFF REPORTS
VMI football coach Bill Stewart worried about how to handle Thomas Haskins' approach to the Division I-AA career rushing record. When he and his team returned to Lexington on Saturday night, record in hand, Stewart had to worry about how to keep seven of his players warm at night. They were the only students left on post because of Thanksgiving break, and they were left without heat or water in the barracks.
After a church service and a trip to Shoney's on Sunday morning, Stewart finally got a chance to think about what Haskins accomplished in VMI's 26-14 loss at Appalachian State.
``We were as happy as we could get with a loss,'' Stewart said. ``You would have thought we had made the playoffs when I told 'em.''
Immediately after the game, VMI sports information director Wade Branner told Stewart that Haskins had broken Frank Hawkins' 16-year-old record of 5,333 yards. Stewart had instructed everyone in the Keydets' traveling party he didn't want any updates on Haskins' statistics during the game. When Branner told him Haskins had 241 on 39 carries, besting Hawkins by 16 yards, Stewart said, ``Is this for real?''
The yards also were legitimate. Haskins scored on a 58-yard run and broke the record on a 48-yarder.
Some speculated the Keydets, 3-7 coming into the game, should hand the ball to Haskins on every play to make sure he got the record. Stewart was first told Thursday night on his radio show that Haskins was 225 yards away from the record. He intentionally forgot to mention it to his team and kept his assistant coaches in the dark while they were working on the game plan.
``I wanted it so bad, but I've always said I'd never sacrifice a team victory for individual goals,'' he said. ``It was the toughest two days I've had as a coach here.''
No holds barred
Dan Wooldridge, supervisor of Big East football officials, indicated that the crew for the Virginia Tech-West Virginia game was under no special orders to look for holding.
That's because Wooldridge confers with his officials only about games that have been played and tries not to influence a crew by issuing pre-game warnings.
Wooldridge would not comment specifically on charges made by West Virginia defensive coordinator Steve Dunlap, who said blatant Virginia Tech holding had gone unpunished, but he admitted that holding is an ongoing issue.
``Offensive people say you call it too much; defensive people say you don't call it enough,'' said Wooldridge from Roanoke. ``I've been in it 41 years and that's been the case in every league I've been in.
``I would equate it to the block-charge in basketball. I think holding is the most difficult call because you could call it on almost every play, according to the letter of the rule. What we go by is what affects the play.''
There were only two holding calls in Saturday's game, one against both teams, although Tech's offensive line was not the offending party. The holding call on the Hokies was on a kickoff late in the second quarter.
Cheering
While Virginia Tech will be rooting for Miami to upset Syracuse on Saturday at the Carrier Dome to vault the Hokies into a likely Bowl Alliance spot, the Gator Bowl will be pulling for the home team to clinch the Big East title.
That's because the Jan.1 game in Jacksonville, Fla., not only prefers the Hokies among the top three Big East options, but the Gator needs Tech (9-1) to sell tickets.
Clemson's loss Saturday evening to South Carolina eliminated the Tigers (7-4) as a Gator possibility, because their record is two games worse than North Carolina's 9-2. The Gator can drop below the second choice in its ACC and Big East picks only if there's a one-game difference in records.
Since UNC is projected to sell only about half the tickets Clemson would, the Gator wants Tech, which sold about 18,000 two years ago for a Tennessee date that was played in Gainesville, Fla., because of renovations at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium.
Each Gator team must purchase a minimum of 11,500 seats, according to contracts with the ACC and Big East. Tech athletic director Dave Braine said Sunday he projects the Hokies could sell at least a similar number to 1994, if not more, because of the attractive regional pairing with the Tar Heels.
If that happens, it would be the first meeting of the schools since 1946, a 14-14 tie. Tech and UNC have played 26 times, with the Hokies leading the series 12-8-6. The Hokies have tied the Heels more than any other school in Tech history, although with overtime, that's an impossibility now.
Kudos to Holland
Virginia is likely to be extended its second Carquest Bowl berth in four years within a few days, and one of the reasons is the work of UVa athletic director Terry Holland.
Before leaving the Lane Stadium press box Saturday, Carquest scout and former chairman Keyna Cory praised Holland's regular contact with the bowl in recent weeks. A lack of lobbying was one of the knocks on Holland's predecessor in the UVa AD's chair, Jim Copeland.
The Carquest contract for the ACC's fourth bowl choice requires a ticket purchase of 10,000 by Virginia for the Dec.27 date at Pro Player - formerly Joe Robbie - Stadium. The foe will be the loser of Saturday's Miami-Syracuse game.
ACC-idents
Considering what befell most of the rest of the ACC on Saturday, it was a good day for Virginia to have an open date.
* Against Maryland, Florida State quarterback Thad Busby suffered a knee injury that makes his participation iffy in Saturday's Nos.1-2 date with Florida.
* Carolina lost star quarterback Chris Keldorf for the Gator Bowl, to a dislocated left ankle in a victory over Duke, which became the first ACC team to finish a season 0-11. The Blue Devils are the only winless team in Division I-A.
* Clemson blew its Gator chance to the Gamecocks, and Georgia Tech (5-5) fell from Carquest thoughts with a home loss to Navy.
* Maryland coach Mark Duffner likely coached his last game on the Terps' sideline, a 48-10 loss to FSU. Duffner's 20-35 record in five seasons, including one winning year, was vi rtually the same as that compiled by the fired Joe Krivak (20-34-2) in the previous five years.
*Something had to give in the N.C. State-Wake Forest game, and it was the Demon Deacons, who lost.
Sailing away
Just how pivotal was Navy's victory at Georgia Tech for UVa?
Well, the Carquest's Cory said that if Virginia were to lose Friday at Virginia Tech and the Yellow Jackets would have beaten Navy and Georgia, Georgia Tech would have gotten the bowl berth ahead of the Cavaliers.
Both teams would have been 7-4, but Tech beat UVa, and Cory also said the Yellow Jackets' desire for their first bowl since a 1991 Aloha date would have made a difference. It also didn't hurt Tech that Carquest telecaster, Turner Broadcasting's TBS, shares Atlanta as a hometown with Tech.
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