THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 28, 1994 TAG: 9410280725
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
Virginia Tech offensive guard Chris Malone knows what he's getting into Saturday when he lines up across from Miami defensive tackle Warren Sapp.
Hokies offensive line coach J.B. Grimes spelled it out.
``My coach told me, `Sometimes you're going to get your ass kicked, the key is to get up and try not to get it kicked on the next play,' '' Malone said.
There's no dishonor in getting kicked around by Sapp.
He is possibly the best player in college football and certainly a front runner for the Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award, which are given to college football's outstanding lineman. His combination of speed, tenacity and raw strength puts Sapp in the elite class of former Miami defensive linemen Russell Maryland, Cortez Kennedy and Jerome Brown.
Sapp, a 6-foot-3, 284-pound junior, picked up a fumble last Saturday and started running in Miami's game against West Virginia. Suddenly, Mountaineers coach Don Nehlen wondered which Hurricane unit was on the field.
``I said to myself, `Who is that?' '' Nehlen said. ``He looked like a tailback running with the ball.''
Sapp laughed at the comment.
``I don't think I look like a tailback - I'm too big for that,'' Sapp said. ``I wish I could get the ball 20 times like a tailback.''
Tailbacks usually look out for Sapp. So do quarterbacks. So do linemen. So do offensive coordinators.
Saturday, Virginia Tech will be looking out for him when the 13th-ranked Hokies play the No. 6 Hurricanes at the Orange Bowl (3:30 p.m., WVEC).
``He's what every defensive player wants to be,'' said Tech sophomore defensive end Cornell Brown, who is having an all-conference season himself. ``He causes so much havoc. Every team makes a game plan against him. Just to stop him, you've got to take two men.''
According to a story last week in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Sapp could be the No. 1 man come NFL draft day. He is on the Carolina Panthers' short list of players they are considering for the top pick, assuming Sapp forgoes his senior season.
Florida State coach Bobby Bowden called Sapp ``practically unblockable.'' ESPN's Lee Corso called him the best defensive lineman in the country.
All of which means Malone has an unenviable task Saturday. Malone played against Sapp last year, but said Sapp is ``playing for the money - Sundays,'' this year and has improved dramatically.
``I just want to keep him from making too many great plays,'' Malone said. ``The key with him is to try to think as quick as he moves.''
That's quick thinking.
Sapp runs a 40 in 4.69, which would be decent for a running back. It's smoking for a defensive lineman.
``With Warren Sapp being all over the place, you can't run away from him all day,'' Tech quarterback Maurice DeShazo said.
Malone likely won't try to handle him alone. Sapp has drawn double- and triple-teams all season.
``If you was coaching, what would you do?'' Sapp said of the attention he receives from opposing offenses. ``You can't double everybody.''
True, and that means the extra attention benefits Sapp's mates along the line, and the Hurricane linebackers. Sapp said he sees some form of a double-team on just about every play this season.
``I've grown accustomed to that, it doesn't bother me,'' he said.
And it doesn't always stop him.
Sapp, who grew up on a dirt road in a tiny Central Florida community, was everywhere when Miami beat Florida State. He had seven tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, three quarterback pressures and batted down two passes.
``I don't know that I've ever had a player control a game like Warren Sapp controlled that football game,'' Miami coach Dennis Erickson said. ``He has to be one of the most dominant football players I've seen.'' ILLUSTRATION: THE MIAMI HERALD
Miami Warren Sapp
Virginia Tech offensive guard Chris Malone's job is to try to
contain Miami's Warren Sapp.
VIRGINIA TECH-MIAMI
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