THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 8, 1995 TAG: 9510080148
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JIM DUCIBELLA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 105 lines
Go-Go knows winning.
When Keith Goganious played at Green Run High School, the Stallions were a perennial Beach power and Goganious was an honorable mention All-American. At Penn State, Goganious was a defensive fixture for Nittany Lions teams that always were among the nation's best. In three seasons with the Buffalo Bills, Goganious appeared in two Super Bowls.
So when Goganious - or Go-Go, as he's called - got off the airplane last Sunday night after his fledgling Jacksonville Jaguars returned home from a 17-16 victory over Houston, he wasn't sure how he'd react to being part of the franchise's first official victory.
Then he saw the crowd.
``That one felt pretty special,'' Goganious admitted the other day. ``We've been going through a lot of different things here. It's been rough, the practicing and all that, but the people here have been wonderful. If it looks good, they love it. This is a great place to play. I just hope we can keep giving them victories and they'll keep supporting us.
``It's more college (atmosphere) than most other areas I've played in. They're having fun. They're enjoying themselves. Florida is a football heaven anyway. They come out on Sundays to enjoy themselves and enjoy the game. If you give them a great effort, they love it. But we're trying to win, and they were so happy we finally got that first win in franchise history that they went totally bananas. I wish it would have happened at home, to be honest.''
Goganious played a huge role in making it happen. Shifting between middle linebacker and weak-side linebacker, Goganious led the Jags with a game- and career-high 14 tackles. That performance gave him the team lead in tackles with 43, or more than eight per game.
He leads the team in tackles behind the line of scrimmage, is second to former Virginia star Jeff Lageman in quarterback pressures and is third in passes defensed.
And he calls the defensive signals. After three seasons in Buffalo, where he was overshadowed by Bruce Smith, Cornelius Bennett, Darryl Talley and a host of other defensive stars, that role alone stamps him a team leader.
``I have more to say to the guys to try and keep them fired up, keep them in the game,'' he said. ``They're going to look towards me because I'm the guy in front, making the calls, making the line checks. By my having those responsibilities, they're naturally going to check me to see how I'm carrying myself. I just try to remind them that we're playing for each other, that it's important that we come together, to keep the life in the game.
``I have fun doing it, but I'm not a rah-rah guy by nature. I'm more of a thinker, but it's come to the point now where the older guys have to have something to say - especially at the beginning, with the offense struggling. We knew that the defense was going to have to be out there a lot and we were going to have to get something done if we were going to win.''
Jacksonville's defense averages 65 plays a game. It is on the field nine minutes more per game than the offense. Yet, the Jags allow just over 20 points per game.
``Most teams win with defense and our defense is really good,'' he said. ``Yeah, the offense is struggling and people want to get on them. We're not going to do that because we've told ourselves we're in this together.''
Goganious played all four linebacking positions with the Bills, but came to Jacksonville in the expansion draft figuring to play only the middle. That didn't last long. The Jags, already thin at linebacker, lost starter James Williams to an injury in Week 2. Goganious has been switching between the two positions - nicknamed ``Mike'' and ``Will'' - since.
``He has a tremendous amount of pressure on him,'' Jags linebacker coach Steve Szabo said. ``In the heat of a play he's like, `Am I playing `Mike' or am I playing `Will?' We've been asking him to do an awful lot of things and he's responded well.''
Despite his 14 tackles last week, after the game Goganious insisted on talking about a play he blew, a pass coverage on which Houston running back Rodney Thomas caught a touchdown pass.
``I'm man enough to admit my mistakes,'' he said.
And man enough to admit that maybe, just maybe, things will work out better in Jacksonville than he anticipated. Goganious and the Jags got off to a rocky start. Goganious asked for a three-year contract, but was turned down. He then sought a one-year deal worth $600,000, but was rebuffed again.
In June, he left the team for a day in protest. When he returned, he signed a one-year deal worth a reported $328,000, plus incentives that could boost that amount by another $100,000. He'll be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
But he likes Jacksonville. He's become accustomed to grueling daily practices in 85-degree temperatures. He says the team's weight-training program is so good that he'll carry 244 pounds into today's game against Pittsburgh, the most he's ever weighed this far into a season. His strength and speed are better than they've ever been. He likes defensive coordinator Dick Jauron and his philosophy. The defensive line of Lageman, Kelvin Pritchett, Joel Smeenge and Don Davey is far better than he hoped for, important because they keep him free to make tackles.
And although the Jaguars are the longest of longshots to make the AFC playoffs, Goganious sees great improvement and a chance to have a much better season than the experts predicted.
``Our first game we played on emotion,'' he explained. ``Going into last week, we knew we could beat them if we executed well. As a defense, we seem to be getting better. We're just waiting for the offense to come along and put a good, solid game together.
``Our defense is playing well together and playing for each other. We're playing for the fun of it, something I think had died after our first home game. We tried to put the fun back in it the last two weeks, and it's working.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Linebacker Keith Goganious had a career-high 14 tackles last week.
by CNB