THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 18, 1995 TAG: 9509180135
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 156 lines
Injuries have wrecked a many of potentially good football seasons.
The muscle pulls, sprains, tears, and fractures have made convenient excuses, too, for some teams that may have had difficulty fulfilling promises under any circumstance.
But, so far, Virginia has not permitted injuries to cripple its expectations and neither has it fallen back on them to explain some shortcomings.
Injuries, believes coach George Welsh, are part of the game. Everyone has 'em. But the show goes on, and so do teams that are blessed with solid programs.
Virginia did not accomplish all it wanted in preseason camp because of some nagging injuries. It did not have ace receiver Patrick Jeffers for the opener against Michigan.
Tight end Bobby Neely has not played since the opening game because of an ankle injury. Tailback Kevin Brooks has been slowed by an assortment of hurts since preseason, and starting center Dave Gathman has missed the last two games because of a knee injury.
The most potentially damaging injury, though, came in the N.C. State victory when linebacker Jamie Sharper hurt his knee and, like Gathman, underwent arthroscopic surgery.
Sharper, who could start for any team in the league, is tailback-fast and a quick thinker who makes everyone around him better.
That said, the Cavaliers played their most complete defensive game of the season without him in defeating Georgia Tech on Saturday.
Redshirt freshman Anthony Poindexter and true freshman Wali Ranier each played well in Sharper's absence, and veteran linebackers James Farrior and Skeet Jones were their usual effective selves.
Somewhere, of course, there is a limit to how many injury licks the Cavaliers can take and keep ticking. That is true for most teams, except possibly Florida State, with its bottomless supply of talent.
But the fact the Cavaliers have begun a difficult season successfully - 3-1 overall and 2-0 in the ACC - despite so many injuries is a compliment to both the team's heart and the program's strength.
And, in the the end, the experience that the backup players are getting will make the Cavaliers even stronger.
FRANK VEHORN Hokies hope to salvage sorry season vs. Miami
Polls and bowls are no longer a concern for Virginia Tech's football team.
The Hokies entered the season thinking big - possible Big East title, big bowl game, big time. It was to be a season in which they might make their mark.
The marks the Hokies are making are not what they imagined. Saturday was the first time they have been shut out at home since 1981 when Cincinnati - 2-8-1 a year ago and a two-touchdown underdog - blanked Tech, 16-0, in Blacksburg.
Only a shocking upset over the Miami Hurricanes this coming Saturday at Lane Stadium will prevent Tech's first 0-3 start since 1987, and the first time in 102 seasons Tech has ever opened with three consecutive home losses. Prior to the Cincinnati loss, Tech had never started with back-to-back home losses.
The Miami game is Virginia Tech's season. If the Hokies win, they can recover and possibly win seven or eight games and run their string of consecutive bowl appearances to three. If they lose, 1995 may be a repeat of 1991.
Tech had a ton of returning starters and high hopes that season. But the Hokies started poorly and finished 5-6. That was the last time Tech was shut out, when Virginia beat the Hokies, 38-0, in a season finale in which they were emotionally bankrupt.
Another loss at the start of this season could return the Hokies to an emotional abyss. They have faltered in five of their last six games, and seem to be going nowhere fast. After Miami, Tech is at Pittsburgh - the first of six road trips in the Hokies' final eight games.
Thousands of wet, disgusted and disappointed Virginia Tech fans poured out of Lane Stadium at halftime Saturday. Some of the Hokies played the second half as if they wished they could have left early.
Tech needs a lot right now: a running game; receivers that don't drop the ball; a confident quarterback; an offense with imagination that converts on scoring opportunities; a defense that makes big plays and forces turnovers; depth in the secondary; a kicker who can at least make chippies; intensity and focus.
The Hokies have a busy week of work ahead of them.
STEVE CARLSON NSU kickers, returners not so special thus far
If Norfolk State wants to make this a ``special'' season, the Spartans should turn their attention toward improving their special teams.
Beyond a blocked punt by Reggie Bureau and a kick return of 72 yards for a touchdown by Bureau in the first quarter of their season-opening loss to Virginia State, the Spartans must feel fortunate their lackluster kick and return games haven't prevented victories over Bowie State and Livingstone College.
While statistics show the Spartans averaging 15.5 yards per kickoff return to the opposition's 9.2-yard average, the numbers are misleading. The Spartans have opted to go with backup defensive back Christian Williams on kickoffs, who has squib-kicked the majority of the time.
Hence, Spartans opponents have average field position on the 32-yard line after kickoffs. Meanwhile, the Spartans, predictable in their habit of returning kickoffs up the left side, havebegun their drives at the 26 on average. That six-yard difference, if it continues, will catch up to the Spartans.
Norfolk State recruited kicker Nate Plattler, hoping he would be its answer to their kicking woes of a year ago. But Plattler began fall practice sessions with a sprained kicking ankle that has hindered his distance. He's converted 5 of 9 extra point attempts, has yet to attempt a field goal and hasn't kicked off since the opening kickoff.
Backup quarterback Robert Morris is holding down the punting chores for the Spartans, who are averaging 32.1 yards per punt, 3 1/2 less than opponents.
If there is one special teams statistic where the Spartans should excel, it is punt returns, where always dangerous All-American receiver James Roe is their designated return man. But Roe is averaging just six yards per return while less-talented opponents are averaging nearly two yards better.
Roe bobbled two punt receptions in Saturday's 42-28 victory over Livingstone, but pounced on the loose balls both times.
Such good fortune will run out unless improvements are made.
RICH RADFORD Hampton proves its depth is deep enough for Div. I
For the Hampton Pirates, the biggest question about their move to Division I-AA was not the quality of
their talent, but the quantity. As coach Joe Taylor pointed out, the major difference between a good Division II team and a I-AA squad is not in the first string, but in the second.
To compete at a higher level, Hampton was going to have to develop quality depth, Taylor preached.
If Saturday's 16-7 win over Grambling is an indication, the Pirates appear to be on their way to doing just that.
If ever there was a game that was going to test Hampton's depth, it was Saturday's. The Pirates, in just their third I-AA game, were playing away from home, against the nation's 12th-ranked team. And they were doing it without starting quarterback Matt Williams, who was out with a bruised shoulder. As if that wasn't enough, the Pirates lost leading rusher Lamonte Still to a knee injury late in the first quarter.
Not a problem. Sekou Wilson, a senior, was more than adequate in place of Williams. After a shaky first half - it was his first career start, in front of 61,000 people - Wilson completed 7 of 10 in the second half, and saved his best throws for a couple of drive-sustaining third-down tosses.
``It's good to see that we have two guys who can play quarterback,'' Taylor said.
Still's absence just meant more carries for senior Anthony Smith and sophomore Terry Ricks, the all-time leading rusher in South Hampton Roads high school history. Smith ran for 1,800 yards the past two seasons but lost his starting fullback job to Tyrone Mayer.
Even with Still out - he could be gone two to three weeks - Hampton managed 227 yards rushing. That, as Wilson pointed out, is depth.
``You take one guy out and another comes in and plays as good or better,'' Wilson said. ``That's how Division I schools do it.''
That's how Hampton is trying to do it.
ED MILLER by CNB