THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 6, 1994 TAG: 9410060594
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C8 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER ACC NOTES
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
OK, if this is the week that Florida State and Miami play football, where is the hype?
Florida State coach Bobby Bowden says Saturday night's game is as big as ever for him. But he acknowledges it is not attracting the national interest it has in previous years.
``The fact Miami already has lost (to Washington) does take a little luster off our game,'' Bowden said Wednesday, ``but that has nothing to do with how great this game is going to be.''
The loss to Washington ended Miami's 58-game home winning streak and dropped the Hurricanes 13th in the AP poll.
Meanwhile, No. 3 Florida State enters the game unbeaten, and largely untested.
All four victories have been against ACC teams.
``It remains to be seen where we are, and we won't find the answers until we play someone like Miami,'' Bowden said.
``Miami, Florida, and Notre Dame are on a different level than the other teams we play.''
Guess Bobby was just blowing smoke when he said all those things about North Carolina a couple weeks ago.
THE BOO CREW: The ACC officiating crew that blew some big calls in the Arizona-Georgia Tech and North Carolina-Florida State games has done it again.
With two minutes to play, Georgia Tech was driving for a touchdown that could have given it a tie against North Carolina State last Saturday when an official ruled receiver Cedric Zachery out of the end zone on a reception from Tommy Luginbill.
Film and N.C. State players later confirmed that Zachery was ``clearly'' in bounds, by as much as 18 inches, when he caught the ball.
On the next play, a Luginbill pass was intercepted.
This same crew is scheduled to work the Florida State-Miami game Saturday night.
SCHEDULE UPGRADE: ACC assistant commissioner Tom Mickle says Virginia dropping Division I-AA schools after next season is part of a conferencewide movement to upgrade schedules.
Mickle told the Atlanta Journal that Clemson is seeking games against Nebraska, Texas A&M, and Ohio State and North Carolina is negotiating with Michigan and Stanford.
Virginia begins a two-game series with Texas and North Carolina State opens a series against Alabama next year.
Virginia was unsuccessful in trying to arrange a series with Penn State.
COMPUTER ERROR: N.C. State coach Mike O'Cain calls his team's No. 4 standing in The New York Times computer rankings ``a joke.''
``It doesn't take a brain surgeon to know that we are not the fourth-best team in the nation by any stretch of the imagination,'' O'Cain said.
The Wolfpack is 4-0 and ranked 18th in the AP poll.
But O'Cain concedes that N.C. State eventually may prove the computer right.
``We could go 11-0 if everyone stays healthy,'' he said.
The bad news is that star defensive tackle Carl Reeves is nursing a sore knee and could miss Saturday's game at Louisville.
STORY LINE: It will be an interesting story if Virginia kicker Rafael Garcia wins Saturday's game against Wake Forest with a field goal, as he did earlier this season against Clemson.
Garcia, of Danville, Va., says he was headed for Wake Forest until the Deacons withdrew a scholarship offer.
Wake Forest coach Jim Caldwell said there apparently were some ``miscommunications'' between Garcia and the Deacons.
``Maybe he did not understand our situation,'' Caldwell said. ``But things have worked out well for him. He is kicking for Virginia and doing a fine job.''
Garcia, a leftfooted sophomore, tops ACC kickers, having made all seven of his field-goal attempts.
TRASH-TALKER: Wake Forest linebacker Kevin Giles, an admitted trash-talker, knows how to play a good game, too.
The former Hampton High star had 12 unassisted tackles and recovered a fumble to set up the Deacons' go-ahead touchdown in last week's 33-27 victory over Army.
With 51 tackles in five games, the 6-foot-1, 225-pound senior now ranks seventh on the school's career tackle list.
ODDITY: Wake Forest has played as many true freshmen (12) as seniors this season.
KIND WORDS: North Carolina coach Mack Brown showed his class during Wednesday's ACC media conference by giving Georgia Tech coach Bill Lewis some timely compliments.
Lewis is catching heat in Atlanta with the Yellow Jackets off to a 1-3 start, with the lone victory coming against Division I-AA Western Carolina.
Brown called Lewis ``a tremendous coach'' and praised the jobs Lewis did at Wyoming and East Carolina before going to Georgia Tech in 1992.
Georgia Tech is at North Carolina on Saturday, and Brown is warning his players not to take the Yellow Jackets lightly.
Except for crucial turnovers, the Jackets could be 4-0. ILLUSTRATION: Florida State coach Bobby Bowden says Miami is ``on a different
level'' from teams in the ACC.
by CNB