Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, November 23, 1993 TAG: 9311230198
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The 8-3 Hoosiers, ranked 21st in The Associated Press Top 25 poll, are the Independence Bowl's pick to oppose No. 22 Tech Dec. 31 in Shreveport, La., bowl chairman Mike McCarthy said Monday.
Indiana coach Bill Mallory was not available for comment Monday night, but Tech coach Frank Beamer likes the matchup.
"Playing a ranked team really helps the situation," Beamer said. "If you could win the football game, you'd move up. That gives you something to shoot for."
Tech has finished the season ranked in the AP poll twice: No. 16 in 1954 and No. 20 in 1986. A Tech victory in Shreveport would give the Hokies an outside chance at their highest-ever final ranking.
The Indiana-Tech matchup gives the Independence Bowl two ranked teams for the first time in its 18-year history. The Independence also considered 6-5 Iowa and 7-4 North Carolina State, which was rumored to have accepted a bid to the Hall of Fame Bowl on Monday.
"We pressed real hard to see if we could put together two nationally ranked teams, and we did," McCarthy said.
Indiana, which finished 5-6 in 1992, won seven of its first eight games this season before losing to Penn State and Ohio State on back-to-back weeks. The Hoosiers, who beat Purdue last Saturday, currently are fifth in the Big Ten with a 5-3 mark.
Indiana won eight games for the first time since 1988.
The Hokies posted their biggest turnaround ever, going from 2-8-1 last year to 8-3, the first time since 1986 (10-1-1) that Tech has won more than six games.
Tech and Indiana lost only to the top three teams in their respective leagues: West Virginia, Miami and Boston College in the Big East and Ohio State, Wisconsin and Penn State in the Big Ten. Those six teams are a combined 51-8-2.
"It's good we're playing a Big Ten team," Beamer said. "It kind of adds to the event. And Indiana is a quality program."
Indiana's defense ranked seventh in the nation in points allowed (13.8 per game) and 11th in total defense (303.3 yards per game). The Hoosiers held opponents to 139.3 rushing yards per game while creating 24 turnovers to only 15 giveaways.
However, Indiana allowed an average of 400.3 yards per game in its last three games, against the Nittany Lions, Buckeyes and Boilermakers.
Hoosier quarterback John Paci, who missed the Ohio State game Nov. 13 with a shoulder injury, returned against Purdue and threw a short touchdown pass. In 10 games, he was 123-for-236 passing for 1,625 yards, six touchdowns and seven interceptions.
Indiana's leading rusher, Jermaine Chaney, is one of four players to have started at tailback and gained 682 yards on 175 carries (3.9 yards per rush). The Hoosiers averaged just 149.3 rushing yards per game and were 85th among 106 Division I teams in total offense (320.2 yards per game).
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB