THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 27, 1994 TAG: 9410270626
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
League-leading Syracuse is off Saturday for the second time in three weeks and then faces Miami next week.
If the Hurricanes beat Virginia Tech Saturday, next week's game at the Carrier Dome probably is for the Big East title.
``We're very comfortable sitting this one out this week and letting Virginia Tech take a shot at them,'' Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni said.
Miami coach Dennis Erickson scoffed when asked how hard it would be to face a Syracuse team that has had two weeks to prepare.
``What do you mean two weeks?'' Erickson said. ``They had a week off before they played Temple, then they had Temple and they have this week off. They've had a month off.''
SHOWDOWN OF LOW-DOWNS: Perhaps Temple's best chance yet to win a Big East game comes Saturday at Pittsburgh. The Owls (2-5) are 0-21 against league teams since the Big East was formed in 1991, but in Pitt (1-7) they face a team that is . . . well, the pits.
Believe it or not, this game is the Big East Football Network TV game of the weak - whoops, make that week - and will be broadcast on WTKR vs. Colorado-Nebraska on WVEC.
The Owls have lost four in a row to ranked opponents. Last Saturday Temple played Syracuse to the wire before losing, 49-42. Syracuse had to recover an onside kick late to preserve the victory.
MASON MASTERY: Syracuse senior quarterback Kevin Mason sat on the bench for three years waiting for Marvin Graves to complete a storybook career. In his one shot as a starter, Mason is having a storybook season.
Mason is second in the nation in passing efficiency (166.16) and second in the Big East in completion percentage (60.7), third in total offense (226.9 yards per game) while throwing the fewest interceptions (4) of the league's starting quarterbacks.
So what could he have done with two or three seasons as a starter?
``We don't want to look back,'' Pasqualoni said. ``We're just very happy he's been able to stay healthy and that he's been able to make the progress he has in a short time. This is the culmination of a lot of hard work he's put in.''
BOSTON PATRIOT: Boston College coach Dan Henning made a couple references to feeling torn about playing the future defenders of our nation Saturday when BC travels to Army. Finally he was asked if he'd feel unpatriotic beating up on a service academy team.
``No, no,'' Henning said. ``I would look at it this way, that we were helping in the education of these future officers.''
Henning, a longtime NFL coach, was asked when was the last time he'd coached against a wishbone offense. The answer was 1973, when he was an assistant at Virginia Tech and Alabama rushed for what was then an NCAA record 748 yards against the Hokies.
QUICK HITS: Shawn Foreman, a freshman strong safety from Indian River, is traveling with West Virginia as an emergency backup but will probably redshirt. Foreman and teammate Tony Morrison, a Virginia Tech backup linebacker, were South Hampton Roads' only Division I-A recruits last season. nationally in total offense with 240.4 yards per game. That's more than the entire Owls offense averaged last year when they were last in the nation in total offense. . . . Miami had 17 penalties for 152 yards last week at West Virginia to take over last place in the league from Virginia Tech with 80.7 penalty yards per game. Tech is still the most-penalized team in the league with 69 in eight games. by CNB