THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 13, 1994 TAG: 9411130226
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer has spent much of the season out on the field, going after officials.
Saturday, he went on the field to go after one of his own players.
Late in the first half of the Hokies' victory over Rutgers, Tech's Michael Williams was called for a personal foul on a kickoff return when he pushed a Rutgers player in the face after the whistle. Beamer, whose team has been the most penalized in the Big East and one of the most penalized in the nation much of the season, went bonkers.
He came out on the field about 10 yards and jumped up and down, stomping his feet. He grabbed Williams by the jersey right around the collar and yanked him toward the sidelines, screaming at the player while jostling him.
Assistant coach Billy Hite tried to calm Beamer, but the head coach followed Williams down the sideline, venting. A moment later, with Rutgers driving toward a potential score, Beamer yanked Williams off the bench and made him stand alongside him on the sidelines.
``He said, `You come here and stand next to me so you can see what they're about to do because of your stupidity,' '' Hite said.
Williams, a redshirt junior, said he'd never seen Beamer so incensed. As for his reaction to Beamer coming toward him as he came off the field:
``I was scared, actually,'' Williams said with a smile. ``I didn't know what he had in store for me. My heart rate went up a little bit.''
Beamer's comment about the incident was that the Hokies should be past the kind of costly mental error Williams made.
Williams, however, got a chance to redeem himself. Rutgers attempted a 27-yard field goal on the final play of the half.
Williams blocked it.
``I had a lot of adrenalin flowing,'' Williams said.
CONTRACT UPDATE: Beamer's attorney, Craig Kelly of South Carolina, presented Tech athletic director Dave Braine with about a 25-page document Saturday outlining his client's contract requests.
Beamer agreed to a five-year contract extension before the season began, with the understanding the terms would be ironed out later.
``He feels he's gotten the program in the top 20,'' Kelly said. ``Now, what does he need to do to maintain that top 20 status, and will there be a commitment from the university to maintain that?''
The document requests upgraded facilities - specifically a new building with a better locker room, a big weight room, meeting rooms and office space; increased salaries for assistant coaches and support staff; a larger football budget and, of course, improved salary and benefit considerations for Beamer.
Neither Kelly nor Braine would go into specifics.
``It'll be after the Virginia game,'' Braine said when asked about a timetable for working out the deal.
There doesn't appear to be any acrimony on either side, as there has been at times since Beamer first asked for an extension in January. It would appear Beamer will remain with the Hokies, whom he will lead to the school's first-ever back-to-back bowl bids this season.
But neither Beamer nor Kelly has been shy about hinting that they would have to listen to other offers if a satisfactory deal cannot be reached. Both said they have had unofficial inquiries about jobs that have come open or may come open.
``If (Virginia Tech) doesn't agree with many of these things, logic would dictate that he's better off looking at other options,'' Kelly said. ``We're giving Virginia Tech the opportunity to come to the table and take him out of the market.''
BROKEN RECORDS: Tech quarterback Maurice DeShazo now has 45 career touchdown passes, two more than Will Furrer's old Hokies record of 43. . . . DeShazo is 3 yards shy of the school's total-offense record of 5,871 yards held by Don Strock. . . . Antonio Freeman became the Hokies' career receptions leader Saturday with 115. He had tied Ricky Scales' mark of 113 in Tech's last game.
QUICK HITS: Tech linebacker Ken Brown suffered a strained right hamstring and is questionable for the Virginia game, while offensive tackle Jay Hagood suffered a strained Achilles' tendon and is probably out. . . . The Hokies have won 11 in a row at Lane Stadium and have scored more than 30 points in their last 12 home games, the longest such streak in the nation. . . . If Tech wins nine games this season, it will be the first time the program has won nine in back-to-back seasons. The only other consecutive seasons in which the Hokies won eight were 1983 and 1984. ILLUSTRATION: Photos
KEITH GREENE/Landmark News Service
Michael Williams atoned for an earlier penalty by blocking a Rutgers
field-goal attempt on the last play of the first half.
GENE DALTON/Landmark News Service
Brian Edmonds tumbles into the end zone for a second-quarter TD. The
Hokies led in the game by as much as 28 points.
by CNB