THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 2, 1995 TAG: 9511020499
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Hampton and Liberty, which meet for the first time in 15 years Saturday, have much more in common than their 6-2 records.
Both were spurned in their attempts to join the Yankee Conference, which is home to three of the state's other four Division I-AA programs: James Madison, Richmond and William and Mary.
Without a conference to call home, and with few opportunities to tee it up against Virginia's other Division I-AA teams, both find themselves on the fringes of the state's I-AA fraternity. Liberty is the only state I-AA team Hampton will face this season. Hampton is one of two state I-AA teams on Liberty's schedule. The Flames lost to VMI 50-31 on Sept. 9.
And finally, both teams are looking to crack the I-AA top 25. Each believes a win over the other could propel them into the poll.
``This is probably the weekend to do it,'' Hampton coach Joe Taylor said. ``Both teams are in that category called `others receiving votes.' The winner could climb into the top 25.''
Hampton, in its first year in Division I-AA, will become a full-fledged member of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference next season. The Pirates joined the MEAC last spring, somewhat late and somewhat reluctantly, only after checking out the Yankee and Southern conferences.
``There was a lot of deliberation and talking back and forth,'' Taylor said. ``We investigated the Yankee for a long while and it's still a possibility.''
Meanwhile, Hampton is trying to develop state rivalries that will increase its exposure outside the realm of historically black colleges. The Pirates will host Liberty next year, and have scheduled William and Mary for 1997.
``Hampton is certainly as good if not better than some of those (Yankee conference schools) already,'' Taylor said. ``We feel like we can match up with those programs.''
YANKEE UPDATE: The Yankee's three Virginia schools - JMU, Richmond and William and Mary - had until Wednesday to notify the Southern Conference of whether they are leaving the Yankee for the Southern.
``We haven't heard a word,'' Southern conference commissioner Wright Waters said Wednesday afternoon. ``Our presidents just got through with their winter meeting, and we kind of had to know before then. It would be hard to call them ball back for a special session.''
Talks between the Southern conference and the Virginia schools were prompted by fears about the future of the Yankee Conference. Three Yankee schools - Boston University, Rhode Island and Maine - have discussed downgrading to non-scholarship football. Three others - Villanova, Connecticut and Massachusetts - have discussed moving to Division I-A. The Virginia schools are committed to staying in I-AA.
Yankee Conference athletic directors met in Boston last week. The Virginia schools were expected to make an announcement late this week, but had not done so by Wednesday. Attempts to reach the athletic directors at Richmond, JMU and William and Mary were unsuccessful.
Waters said he expects that the Virginia schools will remain in the Yankee, at least for the short term.
``If they're looking for a stable conference, we're it,'' Waters said. ``If they're looking for academics equal to the Yankee Conference, we've got 'em. Maybe they're not sure what they're looking for.''
BLUE HENS BY THE NUMBERS: William and Mary, which kept its playoff hopes alive with an 18-15 win over Villanova, travels to Delaware Saturday to take on a Blue Hens team that is shaping up as one of the best in the 30-year tenure of coach Harold ``Tubby'' Raymond.
Delaware, ranked fourth in the nation, is 8-0 and has won 14 straight games, the longest streak in Division I-AA. More impressive is the way the Blue Hens have been winning. Last Saturday, Delaware beat Maine 61-0 and set a Yankee record for total offense with 714 yards. The Blue Hens also beat James Madison 48-19 and perennial I-AA power Youngstown State 34-13.
The Blue Hens are averaging 499.8 yards of total offense per game, including a national-best 334.9 yards on the ground. Delaware has done it by committee, and has no player ranked in the top 10 in rushing in the Yankee Conference.
The Blue Hens do have the conference's highest-rated quarterback, however. Leo Hamlett, a junior, has thrown for 1,250 yards and nine touchdowns and rushed for 597 yards and eight TDs. by CNB