Thursday, August 19, 2004
First, the old news
Randy King
Randy King's Tech Insider is exclusive to roanoke.com and is posted by 5 p.m. Thursdays in season.
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Ding ... ding ... ding! News bulletin! Former Virginia Tech place-kicker Shayne Graham of Pulaski County has just signed a new multiyear $1 million-plus deal with the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals!
Opps, wait a second here. That's no scoop. That story has been reported in this space now every freakin' day for the past five months as one caller informed me last week.
Of course, you outsiders didn't know that I cut a deal with Graham, did you? He told me he'd pay me every day his story remained as the lead on the Web site. Let's see, at a penny a day, I'm guessing that the red-head owes me somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.50 now. Since, though, I've heard from a couple of Graham's old buddies that the dude is tighter than bark on a tree. Great. There goes my cut of the deal.
That said, I've got to go back to work. I've got to make some extra money. Bills are piling up here. Let's see, the daughter is going off to college Friday. The family van is in the shop with an engine disease that the wrench hounds at the friendly neighborhood garage have yet to fully diagnose. Translation: The damage could be any number. If the bill includes a comma, we might as well just give the garage the keys, tell 'em to keep the danged thing and somehow think of a way to write it off on next April's taxes as some sort of charitible contribution.
Speaking of vehicles, I've got some more bad news for the class. The Chevy Lumina, the burgundy 1991 model officially endorsed by John Engelberger that visitors to this site have come to love and adore through the years, is back on the disabled list. Since a right-front tire blew in April, the Lumina been riding the doughnut ... you know, one of those little Frances Pomeroys spares they stuck in the trunk of cars in the early '90s (they may still do the same for newer models, but I wouldn't know).
As I've desperately searched for regulation-sized used rubber, the Lumina has been all out of whack on that doughnut. The vehicle has been favoring and leaning towards the left front so long that the transmission fluid continues to leak like the Exxon Valdez spill. As Frank would say, talk about somebody flying 'round. Sure glad I don't have to drive that thing to check out that dangerous Rutgers crowd this fall.
Now that we've covered all that important information, I guess I should talk a little football here. Confessing that I'm not in full game shape yet, here are some huffs and puffs as I sprint into my 10th season on the Tech football beat.
>> Southern Cal is currently a 17.5-point favorite over Tech in next week's BCA Classic. Am I shocked at the number? Not for one breath. Those who charge there are never any scoops here, I beg to disagree. Hey, I called that spread number here 5 1/2 months ago. So take that all you besmirching bums who continue to assasinate my character and accuse me of lying drunk in a ditch somewhere.
At the ACC Football Kickoff in Greensboro, N.C., four weeks ago, ESPN's Ron Franklin, who I personally think is one of the best in the business, prefaced a question to Bryan Randall by saying he couldn't ever recall a Frank Beamer team being such a sizable underdog.
Well, do your homework, guy. Only two years ago, Tech was an identical 17.5-point 'dog at No. 1-ranked Miami. En route from the pressbox to the field late in the game, I'll never forget hearing a couple Hurricanes backers cursing the Hokies' "backdoor" cover in the 56-45 Miami win.
The USC game will mark only the seventh time Tech has been an underdog in 64 games over the past five years. The Hokies haven't won a game outside of Lane Stadium in which they were a 'dog since the 1998 club turned the trick in consecutive games at Clemson and Miami.
>> Is there any other player In Division I-A college football -- or at any level for that part -- who possibly could mean more to their team this season than Randall?
Certainly, a strong argument could be made in Randall's case. Thanks to the misbehavior of Marcus Vick, Tech went from arguably possessing the best 1-2 QB punch in the country to Randall and a couple of freshmen who never have taken a college snap.
Certainly, the situation adds a mountain of heat to Tech's offensive line and blocking backs, whose one solemn duty this season must be keeping defenders from reaching and cuffing Randall around.
"Yeah, there's going to be a lot of pressure on us," said Jimmy Martin, who as Tech's left tackle will be covering Randall's blind side. "We've actually talked about it a lot ... just about keeping him healthy. We're really going to have to watch out and and keep him safe."
When asked if that means taking a 15-yard holding flag if a defender appears to be on the verge of beating you and possibly teeing off on No. 3, right tackle Jon Dunn pondered the question for a couple of seconds before responding.
"Hey, I do whatever I've got to do," Dunn said. "That's my job. My job is to protect the quarterback and that's what I'm going to do by any means necessary."
Somehow, especially in circumstances where a defender may be have a straight, unintruded path to Randall, I don't think guys called for offensive holding this season will quite face the same wrath from coaches as in past years.
Fully knowing the hot scolding that holding penalties ignite in Monday's film room, Dunn shook his head and grinned when I offered my theory in regards to the big-picture circumstances.
"All I know is that Randall is our main guy and we realize that we have to fight our ass off on the offensive line this year," Dunn said. "It's motivation for us, that's for sure."
What about the backs who must stay in and pick up red-doggers? The thought of such must make Beamer and running backs coach Billy Hite even more concerned about all the youth and inexperience that will be lined up behind their lifeline.
>> From the just-in news department, I hear that Beamer wasn't real enamored with some comments made by cornerback Jimmy Williams in a story I wrote for today's Roanoke Times. The fun-loving, good-natured Williams candidly said in the story that he hoped that currently ineligible USC star receiver Mike Williams will be permitted by the NCAA to play against Tech.
"He ain't faced nobody like me before," Williams told me in a one-on-one interview on Tech's Media Day on Aug. 7. "I want him to play. That way, I don't want no excuses. Yeah, I don't want no excuses when we shock the world."
My take on this is why get upset at Jimmy Williams because he wants to go head-up against the best receiver in the college game? To play the best. I flat guarantee you that's one of the prime reasons why a talented recruit like Williams -- a guy who will play in the NFL one day, mark it down -- came to Blacksburg in the first place.
Dittos for all the other blue-chippers who have come Tech's way. Big-time players who sign with what they have been told or personally perceive as a big-time program want to face the best. Shoot, three or four players already have told me they were disappointed that Florida State wasn't included on the Hokies' first ACC menu.
Undoubtedly, the coaches would much prefer be drawing up a opening-game play for an Arkansas State or a James Madison this week. Not the players, though. They hate those kind of mail-in games. So line up and play the best. And if you can't handle the heat in the kitchen, please don't tell me anything more about bringing a national title to Blacksburg.
Plus, why should anyone be upset about a guy stating publicly that he is confident his team has the ability to overcome long odds and knock off the team that's advertised as the country's best? While I confess Williams could have chosen his words a little more carefully, I respect him for being open enough to say exactly what he thought.
Plus, he's dead right. If Tech wins, it will shock the world. It would only be the biggest win in the program's history.
And if Tech loses to USC, no big deal. Hey, everybody expected it. The Hokies will be 0-6 instead of 0-for-5 vs. No. 1-ranked teams under Beamer. So what.
