THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 22, 1994 TAG: 9409220553
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
East Carolina plays the second of three Big East opponents Saturday in its home opener at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.
Last week the Pirates (1-1) beat lowly Temple, but now they meet the opposite end of the Big East spectrum with games against Syracuse (2-1) at 4 p.m. Saturday and Virginia Tech on Oct. 15.
``I have always used Syracuse as a measuring stick for our program,'' Pirates coach Steve Logan said. ``Syracuse is one of the elite programs in the country. We will find out how credible our defense and offense are against them.''
The last two seasons, the Pirates have found they weren't as credible as they would have liked. Because of scheduling vagaries caused by the formation of the Big East football conference, this will be Syracuse's third consecutive trip to Greenville, where the Orangemen have won, 42-21 and 41-22, the last two seasons.
Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni gushed this week about 5-foot-6 ECU tailback Junior Smith, who is averaging 117 yards per game and was sixth in the nation in rushing last year.
``He's short and powerful, and he's hard to see over their kids,'' Logan said. ``If I were an offensive lineman, I'd be excited to block for Junior Smith every time I came out of the huddle because that kid's got heart and speed and he knows how to do something with the ball.''
Temple coach Ron Dickerson, whose team lost to the Pirates, 31-14, last week, didn't exactly pay ECU a compliment when he said his players were upset after the game because ``they knew East Carolina was one of the very few teams on our schedule that will be equals to us.''
HOKIES VS. HUSKERS: West Virginia coach Don Nehlen said in preparing for tonight's game against Virginia Tech (8 p.m., ESPN), he noticed similarities between Tech quarterback Maurice DeShazo and Tommie Frazier of Nebraska, whom the Mountaineers faced in their season opener.
``They're very similar,'' Nehlen said. ``Their offenses are similar, they run option football, power football and they throw the ball. Preparing for Virginia Tech is similar to Nebraska, no doubt about it.''
OFFENSIVE WOES: Robert Walker had the best rushing season ever at West Virginia last year with 1,250 yards. After five games this season, he's averaging just 3.7 yards per carry and is on pace to finish with 834 rushing yards.
That's indicative of the Mountaineers' offensive woes. After finishing ninth nationally in rushing offense last year, West Virginia is 73rd this season and is 103rd of 107 teams in scoring offense with 10.3 points per game.
CAMERA-SHY: West Virginia may not be too thrilled to be back on national TV. They've lost their last two nationally televised games - to Florida in the Sugar Bowl and to Nebraska in the Kickoff Classic - by a combined score of 72-7.
FLORIDA DOMINANCE: The state of Florida once again is overpowering college football. Florida (No. 1), Florida State (No. 3) and Miami (No. 6) have outscored eight opponents, 426-79. The Associated Press national champion has come from Florida in four of the last seven seasons, with Miami claiming three of those titles.
SNEAK PREVIEW: Miami was idle last week, so coach Dennis Erickson spent part of his off day watching Virginia Tech at Boston College on television. But he said he didn't watch enough to evaluate the two teams regarded as Miami's biggest league challengers.
``We won't know much about either of those teams until we get ready to play them,'' Erickson said. ``We've got too many other things to worry about right now.''
Specifically, No. 17 Washington, which visits Miami on Saturday (3:30 p.m., WVEC).
``They could view that as a bowl game since they're not eligible for a bowl,'' Erickson said of the Huskies.
QUICK HITS: West Virginia punter Todd Sauerbrun leads the nation with a 51.2 average. . . . Miami is first nationally in scoring defense (5.0) and second in total defense (167.5), while Virginia Tech is third in total defense (187.7). . . . Pasqualoni said East Carolina quarterback Marcus Crandell reminds him of former Syracuse quarterback Marvin Graves. . . . Rutgers coach Doug Graber on Penn State, whom the the Knights face Saturday: ``Offensively, they're the best college football team I've seen - ever. I've never quite seen tapes like this before.'' by CNB