Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 10, 1993 TAG: 9311100132
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
Independence Bowl chairman Mike McCarthy said Tuesday his bowl "absolutely" wants the Hokies (with seven victories) in Shreveport, La., on Dec. 31. However, there's not much he can do Saturday night if Tech wins; bowl coalition bylaws require Tech to be cleared by the coalition (in this case the New Year's Day Carquest Bowl) before accepting a non-coalition bid.
Boston College is considered the front-runner for the Big East's slot in the Carquest, but that bowl likes Tech, too, and could nab the Hokies if, for example, Boston College bombs against Pittsburgh, No. 2 Notre Dame and/or No. 9 West Virginia. That's why, bowl sources said Tuesday, the Carquest is unlikely to decide this weekend whether to release Tech to the Independence.
Mike Ballweg, assistant executive director of the Carquest, said it's not out of the question that his bowl could choose Tech even if the Hokies finish fourth in the Big East, or if they finished 7-4 instead of 8-3. The play of Boston College and Syracuse in the next couple of weeks will play a role in Tech's future.
The Peach Bowl (Dec. 31 in Atlanta) remains a Tech possibility, too. Executive director Robert Dale Morgan didn't deny that Tech is the Peach's No. 1 alternate if the Southeastern Conference does not have a fourth team with at least six Division I-A victories to go against a third ACC team. Only three SEC schools (not including Auburn, which is on NCAA probation) have six or more victories.
Asked where Tech would stand if the ACC's Peach representative is Virginia - which could drop into a third-place tie with Clemson if the Tigers beat UVa on Saturday - Morgan said:
"We haven't crossed that bridge yet. That could be a real great question on Monday."
Tech and UVa meet Nov. 20 in Charlottesville, so a rematch in Atlanta on Dec. 31 would be highly unlikely.
The Carquest, Peach and Independence will scout the Tech-Syracuse game. The Hokies' game is the only non-ACC, non-SEC game where the Peach Bowl will be represented this week, Morgan said.
Asked if Tech wants to accept an Independence bid instead of waiting another week to see what happens with the Carquest or Peach (and to see whether Tech beats Virginia), Hokies athletic director Dave Braine appeared to lean toward grabbing a solid offer.
"The last thing we want to do is end up being 8-3 or 7-4 and not have a place to go," he said. "There will be a great deal of positioning if we win Saturday, on everybody's part - the bowls and Virginia Tech. But we have to win.
"At one time this week I felt like if we won, we would know something [Saturday night]. Now I don't."
As for the Independence, Tech would do well to beat Syracuse.
"We think the Syracuse win is very important," McCarthy said, adding that the Independence wants Tech to have seven victories as soon as possible.
\ KICKING: Tech coach Frank Beamer says he's serious about spending a scholarship on a kicker or kicker/punter in this year's recruiting, but not necessarily with the idea of replacing Ryan Williams, whose missed field-goal attempts Saturday against Boston College helped fell the Hokies.
"I do want better competition," Beamer said.
Tech's other kicker is first-year football player Sal Colangelo, a walk-on who plays baseball for Tech and who isn't ready to bump Williams. Beamer said the best he has seen Williams kick is when he won the job from Mickey Thomas before the 1991 season. That kind of pressure approximates game pressure, Beamer said.
Since missing a potential game-winning field goal against West Virginia on Oct. 2, Williams had worked on keeping his head down when he kicks. He lifted it on a key fourth-quarter try against BC. Still, Beamer will stick with Williams.
"It's just like making a putt," Beamer said. "You want to see if it goes in. We talked about really moving through the ball on a straight line and getting through the football and keeping your head down. Anything else you do is a distraction. I don't think he needs to adjust. What he does is plenty good enough.
"I have confidence in Ryan Williams."
Williams is 3-for-7 this year and 19-for-32 in his career. He is 16-for-22 from inside 40 yards, and has made 104 of 112 extra-point attempts.
\ FREEMAN OUT? Beamer labeled receiver Antonio Freeman doubtful for the Syracuse game with a sprained ankle. Freeman, who leads the Big East with nine touchdown catches, said Tuesday he felt much better than Monday and seemed somewhat optimistic that the ankle would heal by Saturday. He said the coaches may give him until Friday to see if he can practice; if he can work out by Friday, Freeman said, he'll play.
\ ELMASSIAN FACTOR: Phil Elmassian left Syracuse after last season to become Tech's defensive coordinator. That begs the question: Does Tech have an edge in preparing for the Orangemen?
"We're going to have to [change terminology] because they know all the signals and cadences and snap counts," said Paul Pasqualoni, the Syracuse coach. "We've got to be very, very careful in that area."
Beamer doesn't think it will be that big a deal. He's coached against former staff members before - such as Murray State aide Mike O'Cain, who went on to become a North Carolina State assistant coach and now is the Wolfpack's head coach.
"I don't think the terminology is so important unless you get hooked into their phone lines," Beamer said Tuesday at his weekly news conference. "Checks [audibles] is when you really get into it. I think habits, philosophies, what you're trying to do offensively . . . those things are probably more important."
by CNB