DATE: Tuesday, October 7, 1997              TAG: 9710070462

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: Steve Carlson 

                                            LENGTH:   72 lines

BIG EAST REPORT

Va. Tech line coach

Grimes to undergo

heart bypass surgery

Virginia Tech offensive line coach J.B. Grimes, who was taken to the hospital during the first quarter of Saturday's 24-17 loss to Miami of Ohio at Lane Stadium, will undergo heart bypass surgery this week and will be out of work at least six weeks, and possibly the rest of the season.

Grimes, 42, complained of chest and arm pains Saturday morning. The pain worsened during the first quarter and Grimes was taken by ambulance to Montgomery Regional Hospital in Christiansburg. Grimes underwent an EKG on Saturday and a stress test on Sunday, and then was transferred to Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

After a coronary angiogram was performed Monday, it was determined bypass surgery was necessary. It will be done either today or Wednesday.

Coach Frank Beamer said tight ends coach Bryan Stinespring will pick up the additional duties of coaching the offensive line as Tech prepares to host Boston College Saturday.

``It makes it a little tougher,'' Beamer said of preparing without one of his assistants.

Bad week for weak league

Big East football's already suspect reputation took another big hit Saturday.

Tech, No. 14 last week,plummeted nine spots to No. 23 after last week's loss - which still makes it the conference's highest-ranked team, because it's the only ranked team.

``I'd say it was a slap in the face, but you've got to realize this: Miami of Ohio is a good football team,'' Beamer said of the Mid-American Conference's Miami.

That's more than can be said of the Big East's Miami, the preseason favorite that was once rated as high as 13th. The Hurricanes - winners of four national titles in the 1980s and '90s - dropped to 1-4 with a 47-0 wipeout at Florida State. It was the Hurricanes' worst loss since 1944 and they have dropped four in a row for the first time since 1977.

``Probably the poorest game we have played since I've been here in three years,'' Hurricanes' coach Butch Davis said.

Boston College also got trounced by Georgia Tech, while Syracuse turned in the lone non-conference win with a blowout of East Carolina. The league is 9-13 in non-conference play, with the only impressive win Syracuse's opener over then-ranked Wisconsin.

``It happens from time to time,'' Beamer said of the league's tailspin. ``I think we're going through a little cycle right here. I believe when it's all said and done the Big East will hold it's own.''

Whether or not the Big East will be able to hold onto its four bowl slots this season is questionable. There may not be four able to win the necessary six Division I-A games.

Quick hits . . .

Beamer said flanker Shawn Scales, Tech's best receiver, is questionable for Saturday with a sprained left ankle. . . . BC coach Tom O'Brien said he won't know until later in the week if quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, sidelined last week with a bruised hip and a sore thumb, will be able to return Saturday. Hasselbeck leads the Big East with 210.8 passing yards per game. BC does expect to have tailback Mike Cloud, the Big East's second-leading rusher at 115.5 yards per game, back after torn cartilage in his rib cage sidelined him last week. . . . Pitt was off to a surprising 3-1 start before losing at Temple Saturday, which coach Walt Harris called ``a huge step backwards.'' He said his players had 16 days between their upset win over Miami and the Temple game, and heard during that time how good they were. ``I think they bit into it,'' Harris said.

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