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| Thursday, September 7 Hokies must handle Vick-like Garrard By Bill Doherty Special to ESPN.com | |||
| All the magazine covers and preseason hype don't seem to have affected Virginia Tech
star quarterback Michael Vick one iota. Against Akron, Vick completed 7 of 11 passes for 186 yards for two scores and ran eight times for 102 yards for two more TDs in the season-opening 52-23 win.
"If he's not the greatest football player in college today, then I don't want to go against the guy who is," said Akron coach Lee Owens afterward.
When East Carolina hosts Virginia Tech this Thursday night on ESPN, Vick won't be the only strong-armed, mobile quarterback with an NFL future on the field. On the opposing sideline will be East Carolina's humongous man under center, 6-3, 237-pound junior David Garrard.
Garrard is quite a story on and off the field. With the type of season most are predicting for him (He's the preseason Conference USA Player of the Year), Garrard could become the all-time passing leader at ECU, whose quarterbacks under coach Steve Logan have been Jeff Blake, Marcus Crandell and Dan Gonzalez. After throwing for 2,091 yards as a freshman and 2,359 as a sophomore, Garrard needs 2,749 this season to pass Crandell (7,198) for the top spot on ECU's all-time yardage list.
But Garrard is a 21st century quarterback, which means he's mobile too. Because of Garrard's 4.7 in the 40 speed, Logan added the option for Garrard, who ran for 493 yards last season, 101 against N.C. State.
"David is a unique creature, and I'm relatively intelligent -- let's utilize this gift," Logan says. "We'll call the option. I'm not worried about David getting hurt. I'm worried about the people tackling him getting hurt."
Garrard's speed and size make him a candidate to switch positions in the NFL. Tight end? Linebacker? Garrard has been through it once before. Only East Carolina and Central Florida promised playing time at quarterback. Other schools, including Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina and N.C. State, wouldn't. Logan laughs off the idea of Garrard anywhere but quarterback at the next level.
"He's an NFL quarterback," Logan says. "The moment David Garrard is not a quarterback, all the personnel directors and coaches in the NFL ought to be lined up and shot."
Garrard himself knows that he would have had no shot at the NFL, if not for the
sacrifices made for him by his siblings. His brother Quincy, 26, and his wife soon will have a baby, a boy they'll name Donovan and bring home to the same apartment where David spends holidays on a sofa. Garrard's sister, Adrianne, 20, kept David in spending money over the years when his commitment to football at Southern Durham (N.C.) High, where he accounted for more than 9,000 yards and 100 touchdowns, cost him part-time jobs.
And then there's his oldest brother Anthony, 30. He put college on hold to watch out for his three younger siblings when their mother, Shirley, got sick with cancer in 1992. When Shirley died in 1994, Anthony covered the mortgage on the family's four-bedroom home, even if there wasn't enough left over to keep the place furnished.
Yes, many people have made many sacrifices for David Garrard. He plans on repaying them all. And soon.
"Quincy and his wife don't want to raise their family in an apartment," Garrard says. "Adrianne has (driven) nothing but lemons, and she should have a new car. And for Anthony I'd like to pay off the mortgage on the house so he doesn't have to worry about it. He could go back to college. He basically put his life on hold for the rest of us."
Around the Big East Boston College Tom O'Brien's rebuilding task on defense has gotten a whole lot harder due to injuries. On the first play of last Saturday's 34-14 loss to West Virginia, O'Brien's best defensive lineman (tackle Antonio Garay) suffered a knee injury. On BC's second defensive series, senior cornerback D.J. Sutton was taken off the field with a bum knee. Add those two knee injuries to those already suffered by linebackers Marco Williams and Jerome Ledbetter and O'Brien has his work cut out. "I was happy with the mental makeup of our defense against West Virginia, considering that we had a rebuilt front seven and then lost two of our best linebackers to knee injuries prior to the game and then our best defensive player (Garay) on the game's first play," said O'Brien. ... The news on Garay's knee was better than expected. He has suffered a sprained knee and will probably only miss this week's game at Army. The Eagles have a bye the following week before battling Navy September 23. With Garay out for two weeks, O'Brien hopes that junior defensive end Derric Rossey (pulled hamstring) is able to return, so that he can start at end and O'Brien can move starting junior end Kevin Crain into Garay's tackle spot vs. Army. ... Keep an eye on junior outside linebacker Scott Bradley in obvious third down pass situations. When O'Brien goes to his nickel defense package, Bradley will move from outside linebacker to rush end to give BC's unit more speed off the edge. ... BC is a bit behind the eight-ball in its preparation for Army, which didn't open its season until Labor Day afternoon against Cincinnati. Normally when both teams play on Saturday, game tapes are traditionally sent overnight to the next opponent, so that they can be broken down Sunday and the team can start its preparations on Monday. So his team wouldn't lose any valuable practice time, O'Brien and his staff broken down tapes of I-AA Illinois State, where Army's first-year coach Todd Berry was the head man last season. O'Brien and Co. couldn't afford to waste any time because Berry has totally overhauled the Cadets -- changing from the wishbone to a spread offense and installing an eight-man front, attack-style defense. Miami After pushing around McNeese State in what amounted to a 61-14 scrimmage last Thursday night, Miami will be put to the test when it travels to Seattle to face Washington Saturday. "It's a huge transition," said coach Butch Davis. "They're going to have a lot more depth. They're going to have a lot more talent in a lot of positions. They are going to be bigger, more physical. And the speed of the game is going to be faster." ... While the big win over McNeese produced 628 yards and plenty of smiles, Davis was disappointed over the way his vaunted defense allowed the Cowboys to gain 409 yards, including 212 passing. "We could have cut the yardage completely in half just by making good tackles," he said. Now the Hurricanes have to prepare for Washington quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo, whom Davis compared to former Syracuse QB Donovan McNabb. "This guy's a lethal quarterback from the standpoint that designed plays he executes very well and the undesigned plays sometimes turn out as good if not better," said Davis. ... Despite being on completely different sides of the United States, Washington and Miami share a lot in common. First, both were NCAA football co-national champs back in 1991. Both have since overcome probation in the mid-1990s (Washington: 1993-94; Miami 1995-97) and appear poised to make runs at their respective league titles. This matchup of reborn heavyweights will leave true football fans sleepless in Seattle in the days leading up to the game. The reason? The winner of this intersectional game will have a chance for even bigger things. That's because this game is Miami's biggest road test (toughies Florida State and Virginia Tech visit the Orange Bowl). For Washington, this is the first of a tough two-game stretch as the Huskies play at Colorado next week (which will mark Huskies coach Rick Neusheisel's return to Boulder where he used to be the head coach). Pittsburgh Pittsburgh coach Walt Harris continued to vacillate on a quarterback after starting John Turman but also playing David Priestley. After a 30-7 victory over Kent, neither had won the job outright. "I'd like to go with one guy, but I see inconsistency," Harris said. "I see talent, but we have to have consistency in terms of executing our scheme." ... Pittsburgh's game vs. Kent featured two lightning delays. ... Junior place kicker Nick Lotz won Big East Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance in the opener vs. Kent. Lotz made all three of his field goal tries and was perfect on all three extra points. But Lotz was only part of the good news that Harris received in Week 1 from his special teams. Pitt's Ryan Smith blocked Kent's only field goal attempt. The Golden Flashes had just one punt return, for 4 yards, and averaged 15 yards on six kickoff returns. The only room for a lot of improvement was in the punting game. Redshirt sophomore Jay Junko, who won the job in training camp and was making his debut as a punter, averaged 32.8 yards on five punts. ... Freshman cornerback Shawntae Spencer enjoyed quite a debut for the Panthers with five tackles and one pass deflection. ... Senior receiver Latef Grim's 85 receiving yards gave him 2,097 for his career, moving him into sixth place all-time in the Big East. He passed West Virginia's Shawn Foreman (2,048 yards) and has topped 80 yards in 15 of his 22 games at Pitt. ... Next up for Pittsburgh is another Mid-American Conference foe in Bowling Green (0-1), who opened the season with a loss to Michigan. Pittsburgh is 15-0 all-time vs. MAC teams. ... Six Pitt players, three of them starters, were suspended prior to game for undisclosed disciplinary reasons. It's believed that all six, a group that includes starting wide receiver Antonio Bryant and star FS Ramon Walker, were punished for unauthorized phone card use last year. All but Walker will be reinstated for the Panthers' game at Bowling Green on Saturday. Rutgers Rutgers opened the 2000 campaign with a 34-21 win over I-AA Villanova. They'll be looking to go 2-0 vs. hapless Buffalo, which has yet to win a I-A football game. A 2-0 start would be Rutgers' first since 1994. ... Coach Terry Shea wasn't pleased with RU's special teams' performance against Villanova. "We had a punt snap go over the head of our punter and that led to a Villanova touchdown and we had a field goal blocked," said Shea. "We need to tighten up that phase of the game." ... Rutgers and Temple (a 17-6 winner over Navy) won on the same day for just the seventh time in the league's 10-year history. ... Rutgers defense came up with two interceptions against Villanova, as safety Shahib White and cornerback DeWayne Thompson each picked off a pass. The Scarlet Knights are halfway to matching their total of four in all of 1999. ... The 13-point victory in the season opener over Villanova is the largest margin of victory in Terry Shea's five seasons at Rutgers. Previously, Shea's greatest margin was 12, with the 27-15 win over Army on Sept. 26, 1998. ... Fifth-year senior Walter King grabbed five passes for 104 yards (20.2 yards per catch), the third time in his career that King has surpassed the 100-yard mark in his career. King's career high came last year when he caught four passes for 115 yards. He also had two catches for 112 yards on Sept. 20, 1997 against Boston College. ... Quarterback Mike McMahon tied a school record (also held by Rich Policastro in 1969) with five TD passes vs. Villanova. In all, McMahon connected with nine different receivers vs. Villanova, marking the first time that many receivers caught passes since the Army game on Oct. 18, 1997. That was Mike McMahon's first start as a Scarlet Knight as a true freshman. Syracuse Fresh off their 63-7 whipping of Buffalo, the Orangemen take a step up in class when they play Cincinnati (1-0) this Saturday. Because Cincinnati didn't play its first game of the 2000 season until Labor Day against Army, Paul Pasqualoni will be forced to play catch-up for the first time this season. The reason? Syracuse was 48 hours behind in its preparation for Cincinnati. Normally when both teams play on Saturday, game tapes are traditionally sent overnight to the next opponent, so that they can be broken down Sunday and the team can start its preparations on Monday. ... Syracuse suffered a major blow vs. Buffalo when starting fullback Kyle Johnson was lost for at least six weeks -- and possibly the season -- with a fracture-dislocation of his left ankle. Johnson, a senior co-captain, fractured his fibula and dislocated his ankle after a Buffalo player fell on his leg just as Johnson crossed the goal line during his touchdown run. X-rays taken at the Carrier Dome revealed the fracture, but it wasn't until surgery Sunday that the more serious aspects of the injury were revealed. The dislocation caused Johnson to tear ligaments on both sides of his left ankle. "I don't want to comment on how long, but it'll be longer than the four to six weeks we predicted at the game," Pasqualoni said. "He'll be fine. The surgery went very well. It's not a career-ending thing by any stretch of the imagination. But the reality is, he could be out for the regular season." ... Without Johnson, Pasqualoni will more be forced to rely on young players such as sophomores Chris Davis and George Scott as well as redshirt freshman Lenny Cusumano at fullback. He also might put tailbacks James Mungro and Dee Brown on the field at the same time. "Losing Kyle Johnson is a severe blow to this football team, but we'll have to work hard to get these young guys ready to go," said Pasqualoni. Temple How big was Temple's season-opening 17-6 road win over Navy? It was huge, considering that the Owls were 1-19 in their previous 20 nonconference games and hadn't won a season opener since August 31, 1996 vs. Eastern Michigan "There's no question that things have changed around here," said Temple coach Bobby Wallace. "We're tired of people saying that we have nice athletes here at Temple. That's a nice way of saying we have athletes, but we're not disciplined." ... The star of Temple's season-opening win over Navy was sophomore tailback Tanardo Sharps, who rushed for a career-high 180 yards on 31 carries in the win. Making his performance even sweeter was the fact that Sharps grew up 15 miles for Annapolis, where the game was played. "Tanardo is going to be a real player for us," said Wallace. "He has speed and quickness and really good vision." ... Juniors Devin Scott and Mike Frost split time at quarterback for the Owls. They'll do the same this Saturday vs. Maryland. Scott graded out higher with a better completion percentage and more passing yards, but Frost got the team into the end zone. ... Wallace said that the ground game was emphasized this offseason after the Owls were dead-last nationally in rushing a year ago. "We were definitely concerned with being more physical this season," said Wallace. "Our offensive guards are more athletic than last year, which allows us to run more counters and power sweeps out of the I-formation." ... Another key to the victory was the play of Temple's run defense, which held Navy's vaunted ground attack to just 73 rushing yards. The unit will be tested again this Saturday by Maryland's longshot Heisman candidate LaMont Jordan. ... The Owls will be looking to go 2-0 for the first time since 1981 (wins over William & Mary and Syracuse). The scary part? With an upset win over Maryland, a 4-0 start for the Owls isn't out of realm of possibility with MAC teams Bowling Green and Eastern Michigan next on the docket. Virginia Tech The Hokies will have their work cut out this Thursday night against East Carolina, which didn't allow Duke past the 40-yard line in its season-opening 38-0 whitewashing of the Blue Devils. "Steve Logan has done a great job at East Carolina and this is his best team ever down there," said Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer. "They have 20 of their top 22 guys back on offense and six starters back on defense. It'll be a tough game for us against an experienced team in a packed house." ... At least Virginia Tech (1-0) heads into the ESPN televised tilt with East Carolina almost completely healthy. Junior safety Kevin McCadam is the only guy on Tech's two-deep not expected to be ready for the game. ... How young is Tech? Thirty one players were on the field for the first time in Tech uniforms against Akron. "We're really young," said Beamer. "I'd sure feel a lot better going down to East Carolina with John Engelberger and Corey Moore, but we'll go down there and give it our best effort." West Virginia In its 34-14 whipping of Boston College in the season opener, West Virginia held BC's stellar tailback Cedric Washington to just 31 yards on 13 carries and returned two fourth-quarter interceptions for scores against the Eagles. Not bad for a rebuilt unit in which seven different players were making their first college starts. ... Avon Cobourne rushed 29 times for 132 yards and one TD against Boston College. He did most of his damage behind the right side of WVU's o-line, anchored by senior tackle Tanner Russell and senior guard Rick Gilliam. The 6-8, 310-pound Russell is quite a comeback story after offseason shoulder surgery. The surgery weakened him to the point that he could barely lift a 25-pound bar. A bit embarrassed by that fact, Russell scheduled private time with WVU's strength coaches and eventually registered a team-best 525-pound bench press. "Nothing that Tanner does surprises me anymore," said Nehlen. "He's special in the way that he handles his academic work and anything we ask of him on the football field. He's a tenacious competitor." ... Junior safety Shawn Hackett won Big East Defensive Player of the Week honors after his stellar performance vs. BC. Hackett had eight tackles, two pass breakups and returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown. ... West Virginia is idle this weekend. They'll travel to the University of Maryland next weekend for a noon game on ESPN2. WVU coach Don Nehlen, who first was cranky about his opening game being against a league foe, now isn't happy about the early-season bye week. "We have a little momentum," Nehlen said. "It would be good to play another game because you should improve quite a bit from your first to second game. The mistakes we're working on, I'm not sure we'll have the intensity to work on them." Yo Don, you've been in Morgantown for 20 years, are meaning to tell us that you have nothing to do with scheduling? Stop complaining. Bill Doherty covers Big East football for ESPN.com. | ALSO SEE Conference USA notebook Big 12 notebook MAC notebook WAC notebook AUDIO/VIDEO   Michael Vick storms 63 yards for the TD against Akron.avi: 1204 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | ||
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