THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, November 5, 1996 TAG: 9611050494
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Tom Robinson
LENGTH: 66 lines
Using the pinned-back ears approach, Norfolk State's defense has produced eight touchdowns in nine games this season.
``We just go out and attack,'' says Sunnil Motley, a senior linebacker who has returned an interception and a blocked punt for touchdowns. ``How much studying do you have to do to do that?''
Well, as last Saturday's 42-14 loss to Division I-AA Howard would suggest, the Division II Spartans might need to diversify a bit more defensively when they move up to Division I-AA next season.
``They found the loopholes,'' Motley says sheepishly of Howard's rally from a 14-6 halftime deficit, ``and they attacked them. A whole lot.''
The spanking by one of the better teams in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, the Spartans' presumed new league, can be seen as a yardstick for Norfolk State's readiness to take the leap.
It says, of course, that there is plenty of work ahead. But that isn't anything coach Darnell Moore didn't know.
Moore knows he is working with a squad on the young side, which is good for his future. He knows he has a team that has beaten two MEAC clubs and has a final chance Nov. 16 when it plays at Hampton University.
And despite Saturday's result, Moore is firm in his faith that Norfolk State, if not Howard's equal, is at least in Howard's league.
``Even with the kids we have right now,'' Moore says.
The thing about Moore's kids is they're going to have to get a lot bigger, particularly along the defensive line. The woods are full of offensive lines that average 300 pounds these days, even in I-AA.
Getting bigger to get better is no revelation, but it's easier said than done. It helps that Moore refuses to back down from Division I schools in recruiting wars.
Moore refuses to concede a lot of things, among them that the Spartans might have a rough adjustment period in I-AA. You have to like that in a leader who, even in what is obviously a retooling year, has never lowered his sights.
``When people talk about rebuilding, it's usually synonymous with losing,'' says Moore, leaving the fact that the Spartans are assured a winning season to speak for itself.
Actually, it baffles Moore, who is always thinking 11-0, to hear other coaches admit in the preseason that a 7-4 or 6-5 season, for example, would be considered successful for them.
``That's telling the players that five times, they have an excuse. That it's all right to fall short,'' Moore says.
``If I can't get the players to believe they can win, they won't play like it. Somebody said, `If you think you can't, you won't. If you think you've lost, you have.' ''
Not surprisingly, attitude has become a Spartan strength under Moore, who is 20-9 so far in three seasons. The proper frame of mind, however, hasn't meant much against Hampton lately.
The across-the-water rival looms following Saturday night's game at Winston-Salem State, in which the Spartans can lock up at least a share of the CIAA championship. And Moore has never beaten Hampton; in fact, the Pirates last lost to Norfolk State in 1991.
Think that means the Spartans will be anything but their same blitzing selves when they visit Hampton to finish their season and close their tenure in Division II?
You don't have to do much studying to know that answer.
``We've got to beat them. We're going to beat them,'' Motley says. ``If we can play like we did in the first half against Howard for four quarters, there's no way they can beat us.'' by CNB