THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, October 2, 1995 TAG: 9510020143
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Long : 141 lines
Virginia is halfway through its season and coach George Welsh can only shrug his shoulders, shake his head, and paste a blank expression on his face when asked to evaluate his team.
``I don't know,'' he says.
Not many others don't know how to peg the Cavaliers, either, especially after Saturday's 35-17 victory over Wake Forest.
The bottom line continues to glisten, of course.
The Cavs are 5-1, have a high national ranking, lead the ACC with an unblemished 4-0 record, and the only loss was a 1-point, last-play shocker at Michigan.
It is enough to make some fans believe this is the best Virginia team ever.
But all that glitters is not necessarily gold.
The victories have come against teams that have a combined 4-12 record against Division I-A competition.
And no one has had to worry about Virginia running up the score to impress pollsters. Mainly, as Welsh says, because ``we've been fighting for our lives in the second half.''
The Cavs kept the score respectable against Wake Forest with fumbles, dropped passes, and numerous penalties - six for offsides.
Early in the fourth quarter, only seven points separated one of the best teams in the ACC from the worst team. The reason was not parity, but the Cavs' sloppy play.
Virginia would have lost if it had played the same way against a good team last Saturday.
A similar performance could mean defeat this week, too, even against a not-so-good North Carolina team.
FRANK VEHORN Hokies offense wakes up and more may be in store
PITTSBURGH - Virginia Tech's offense mustered 27 points through the first 14 quarters of the season. In the next two, it scored 26.
The Hokies finally busted out of a season-long scoring slump in the second half of Saturday's come-from-behind 26-16 victory at Pittsburgh. The Hokies raised their scoring average to 13.25 points per game, which should improve upon last week's 107th ranking nationally out of 108 teams.
Tech hasn't averaged fewer than three touchdowns a game since 1989. The Hokies averaged 27.6 points a year ago, 36.4 in 1993 and 24.5 in '92.
Tech (2-2, 2-1 Big East) put together its best offensive half this season after being held scoreless the first half by Pitt. Tech rushed for 16 yards and passed for 98 in the first half, but ran for 97 yards and passed for 214 in the second half.
Quarterback Jim Druckenmiller got better. He threw an interception and looked shaky in the first half. But he finished 15 for 27 for 312 yards with a 73-yard touchdown as well as an 85-yard pass play from his own 1 that set up a field goal. It could be enough to pull him out of last place among Big East quarterbacks in passing efficiency.
And kicker Atle Larsen got better. Larsen came into the game 2 for 8 on field goals. He made all four tries Saturday, from 34, 33, 26 and 36 yards.
Now Tech must get better at scoring when it reaches what is known as the ``red zone,'' or inside an opponent's 20. Four times Saturday Tech had first-and-10 within Pitt's 20, and another time had a first down at Pitt's 27. The Hokies got one touchdown on those five possessions and settled for field goals on the others.
Still, Tech's offense took a step in the right direction. With Navy (17 points allowed per game), Akron (44.8) and Rutgers (31.8) in the next three weeks, The Hokies have a chance to become more familiar with the end zone.
STEVE CARLSON Spartan defense held fast, but offense couldn't win it
In its first four games, Norfolk State's defense had allowed an average of 373 yards per game, the most by a CIAA team, and was allowing nearly 34 points per game.
So after giving up 20 first-half points and 272 yards Saturday
against Delaware State, the Spartans gave little indication that anything had changed.
In the second half, however, the tide definitely shifted.
In the game's final 30 minutes, the Spartans defense limited Delaware State to 71 total yards and shut out the Hornets. Surprisingly, the Spartans' offense came up empty in a 20-14 loss.
Nose guard John Green caused the Hornets all kinds of problems up front and linebackers Donald Broussard, Chris Hall, Robert Johnson and Sunnil Motley consistently came up with big tackles.
When the Hornets scratched inside the Spartans 20 midway through the fourth quarter, Norfolk State came up with a big turnover when Green hit Delaware State quarterback MacAdoo Harrison-Dixon as he looked to pitch out on an option play. Defensive back Jason Reeves won a wrestling match with Dennis Hill for the ball.
The Spartans defense gave the offensive unit a chance to win when it forced the Hornets to punt with 3:31 remaining. It appeared the Spartans would do just that when Aaron Sparrow began marching the team downfield. But a costly interception with 1:36 left foiled the comeback chances.
The offense might not have done it Saturday. But the defense did what it had to for a change.
RICH RADFORD Credit for ECU's success rests a lot with defense
GREENVILLE, N.C. - When Steve Logan was offensive coordinator at East Carolina, he liked to complain about the defense.
``I griped and griped when it wasn't my place,'' Logan said.
When he became head coach, in 1992, Logan decided to do something about it.
It has taken a few years, but the results are starting to show. The Pirates have come through arguably the toughest month in the school's history - playing at Tennessee, Syracuse and Illinois, and hosting West Virginia and Central Michigan - with a 3-2 record, and much of the credit goes to their defense.
``When I became head coach we started off at exactly 105 in the country in total defense,'' Logan said. There are 107 teams in Division 1-A. Now, he said, ``We're playing big-time defense.''
The Pirates limited Illinois to one score in a 7-0 loss last week, then stuffed West Virginia when it counted in a 23-20 win Saturday.
``It goes back to the emphasis put on by Steve,'' said defensive coordinator Paul Jette. ``The last two recruiting classes we've had a heavy, heavy emphasis on the defensive side of the ball. Because of that we've already got better players here than we've had in the past.''
East Carolina, formerly reliant on a big-play offense, is now counting on its defense to keep it in games. It's a welcome change, said linebacker Matt Libiano.
``We like it that way,'' he said. ``And right now the only thing the defense is going to do is get better and better.''
If Libiano's right, look for the Pirates to make a return trip to the Liberty Bowl. They fell to Illinois, 30-0, in last year's Liberty Bowl, a defeat that has many of this year's players wearing T-shirts that read: ``Unfinished business.''
``We want to get back to the Liberty Bowl and win it,'' receiver Larry Shannon said. ``That's what we need for this program to step up.''
ED MILLER ILLUSTRATION: U.Va.'s 5-1, but George Welsh says: `We've been fighting for our
lives in the 2nd half.''
Tech's Jim Druckenmiller threw a 73-yard TD pass and an 85-yarder
from his own 1.
by CNB