Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 29, 1993 TAG: 9308310022
SECTION: COLLEGE FOOTBALL PAGE: FB14 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
\ Virginia Tech's football program needs more losses like the Mississippi River needs more rain.
Winning to save the coach's job, however, might not be on everybody's mind - which is probably just how Frank Beamer wants it.
"We hear it a lot," all-star cornerback Tyronne Drakeford said of the "must-win" tag hung on Beamer by some alumni and media. "I don't really pay that much attention to it. I'm going out to win because that's what I like to do. I hate losing."
Tech fans, at the very least, are tired of it. The Hokies went 2-8-1 last year and didn't win after Sept. 19. Beamer is 24-40-2 in six years, and he is three losses away from losing more games than any Tech boss. He is the only Hokies coach since 1951 who has spent at least six years in Blacksburg without a winning percentage of at least .560.
The mitigating factors are familiar: NCAA probation, stiffer NCAA academic standards, stricter observance of Tech's academic criteria and tougher schedules. Tech has stood by Beamer, however, and appears ready to do so again given some evidence - not necessarily an increase in the number of victories - that the Hokies have checked their 1992 free fall.
The players, naturally, claim two things: fading memories and big dreams.
"We don't want to go 5-6 and call that a success," all-star center Jim Pyne said.
That might, however, accomplish two things: Keep Beamer as coach and take the shroud off Tech's program, which in 1989 and '90 went 12-9-1 and appeared to have been rebuilt under Beamer. The coach is in the third year of a five-year contract he received after the 1990 season, when he was offered the head coach's job at Boston College.
"Our fans deserve better than two wins," Beamer said. "I've never been given a number. People here feel I'm the right person for the job."
Dave Braine, Tech's athletic director, certainly does. Braine, who was not at Tech when Beamer was hired '87, said in November that he feels he hired Beamer by not firing him after the '92 season. Braine, however, won't discuss Beamer's status now.
"I'm not going to comment on anything until the end of the season, period," he said. "I've made all my comments [last year]. They don't need any more pressure put on them."
The Hokies enter their first full Big East Conference schedule with games at Miami, Boston College, West Virginia and Pittsburgh. The latter is the home opener for Johnny Majors, who returned to Pitt this year after winning the national title there during the 1976 season.
Tech is not picked to contend in the Big East. But the round-robin schedule gives each team a chance at one of the three automatic New Year's Day bowl bids for the league's top three finishers.
Tech will chase a smaller goal first. Beginning with Bowling Green on Sept. 4 at Lane Stadium, the Hokies will try to snap the school's longest non-winning streak since an 11-game stretch in 1949-50 that included an 0-10 season in '50.
Four new assistant coaches are on board, and Beamer has committed to fielding a team with more "discipline," which he believes will carry over to wins and losses. The Hokies suffered some academic losses during the summer - notably defensive tackles Chris Breheny and Eugene Mays - but have in place what may be the most talented recruiting class in Beamer's tenure.
The Hokies' most stable commodity is their offense. Tech scored 24.6 points per game in '92, 43rd in the country, and should be effective again. New Scouting report, roster and game-by-game schedule. FB12 offensive coordinator Rickey Bustle, who as quarterbacks coach has nurtured junior Maurice DeShazo since the former Bassett High School star arrived in 1990, promises DeShazo will be better-prepared this year.
That's good news for Tech, because receivers Antonio Freeman and Steve Sanders return, as does a big and capable offensive line. DeShazo struggled early but was better at the end of the season, completing 49 percent of his passes in the last four games and throwing half of his 12 touchdown passes in that span.
"There were times last year we were calling plays in fear [of failing]," Beamer said. "We became a team as we went along where it didn't bother us."
Dwayne Thomas, Tommy Edwards and Ranall White promise production at tailback. Tech averaged 205 rushing yards per game last year, which was 54 percent of its total offense.
"Offensively, we need to be good early," Beamer said.
That's because the defense is so young. Several rookies - Cornell Brown, Larry Green, Willie Wilkins and Korey Irby among them - could play significant roles this year.
It's no coincidence all are defensive players who fit the 4-3 scheme of coordinator Phil Elmassian, whose manic style has enlivened Tech practices. The players are feeding on Elmassian's adrenaline, like it or not.
"We put the whole [defense] in in three days in shorts. To get it taught," Elmassian said of the first few August practices. "We were way behind from the spring, so far behind in the spring. I've never done that before. We threw as much at them as you can."
But, said Elmassian, "We're getting there."
That certainly would help.
Tech's defense was an easy mark most of last year, although Elmassian often says it had nothing to with the wide-tackle six scheme that has been scrapped. The '93 defense emphasizes speed, athleticism and aggressiveness - the "seven linebacker" concept - and Elmassian appears comfortable with most of his personnel, if not its experience.
What the Hokies need in '93 is a quick start to take some pressure off the coaches and the young players and to prevent psychological ghosts of '92 from capering through Lane Stadium.
The Hokies have at least one advantage, Beamer said. Tech has its quarterback and an experienced offensive line returning. The Hokies' first four opponents - Bowling Green, Pitt, Miami and Maryland - will have first-year quarterbacks.
"You take a team that's got a lot of inexperience, particularly on defense - to be successful in the first game is important," Beamer said. "Your second game, a Big East opponent, Johnny Majors, a big deal up there, and that's your first Big East game. We need to get started out good."
by CNB