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Thursday, September 28, 2000

Virginia Tech visits Boston College Saturday, which means Eagles Coach Tom O'Brien must find an answer to a question that seems unanswerable: How do you stop Hokies quarterback Michael Vick?

Vick, a strong-armed, lightning-quick human highlight film, is considered the most dangerous player in college football and a top contender for the Heisman Trophy.

So, Tom O'Brien, how do you stop him?

"Well, there's a lot of things, and everybody's got a lot of great ideas, but I don't know exactly what you do because he's so unpredictable. You can't put him in a box. I think the best thing we can do, being a Catholic school, is to ask our alumni to pray for a miracle."

Divine intervention aside, one other way to stop Vick is to keep him off the field as Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer did in 1998 when the Hokies last visited Alumni Stadium.

That season, Vick's freshman year, Virginia Tech went to Boston College with both of its quarterbacks injured. Beamer, who had promised Vick's high school coach he would redshirt Vick, moved safety Nick Sorenson to quarterback. Sorenson did not play particularly well, but the Hokies beat the Eagles, 17-0.

Beamer was asked whether he had considered using Vick in that game. He had not.

"I had given my word, and my word is good. Redshirting him was the absolute right thing to do because we felt Michael needed a year to get adjusted to things."

As an aside, Sorenson returned to strong safety last season and started all 12 games. This year, he is starting at weakside linebacker.

Orange start slow ... again

If there is one team that knows how to overcome early losses, it is Syracuse under Coach Paul Pasqualoni. In fact, losing a few games early seems to put Pasqualoni's teams into some sort of strange comfort zone.

Since 1996, the Orangemen have been 2-2 or worse after four games in three of the four seasons, but in all three, they rebounded to finish with a winning record and a bowl bid.

So it should come as no surprise that Pasqualoni, whose team is 1-2, is again trying to sell the positives rather than dwelling on the two losses.

"It comes down to execution," Pasqualoni said. "We've been through slow starts before and sometimes it just takes a few weeks for things to come together. I talked to our players about maintaining a positive attitude and continuing to work hard. All it takes is one big win and we are right back on track. That's how it has been in the past."

Pasqualoni said he uses his 1997 team as an example of how to overcome a slow start. That year, the Orangemen beat Wisconsin in the Kickoff Classic, 34-0, but then lost three consecutive games to fall to 1-3. Rather than pack it in, the team dug in and won eight consecutive games to win the Big East championship and a trip to the Fiesta Bowl.

"I think the kids are confident that we have a good team and just need to go out and execute," Pasqualoni said. "There is no reason to panic; we haven't played a conference game yet."

Pasqualoni also said Butler native Troy Nunes will start at quarterback Saturday against BYU. He added that redshirt freshman Robin Anderson would see some time as well.

Hurricane warning

Just when people were ready to write off the Miami Hurricanes, they go to Morgantown to face undefeated West Virginia and blow away the Mountaineers, 47-10, and jump back into The Associated Press top 10.

And given the fact that the Hurricanes still play No. 1 Florida State and No. 4 Virginia Tech, both at home, there is no reason to believe they can't get to the Orange Bowl should they win out.

But, they will need better production from preseason All America wide receiver Santana Moss. Moss, a 5-foot-10 senior, was mostly a nonfactor against the Mountaineers, catching just six passes for 65 yards and fumbling twice. Moss had just one reception for 7 yards in the team's 34-29 loss Sept. 9 at Washington.

Moss's teammate, Reggie Wayne, who was named the Big East's offensive player of the week, has taken over as the team's top receiver. Last weekend against West Virginia, he became the school's all-time leader in receptions with 146.

Miami Coach Butch Davis told Miami radio station WQAM that Moss has been "subpar," but then defended him.

"For a guy who relies on speed and the ability to stop on a dime and cut, [his ankle tendinitis] hurt him against Washington," Davis said. "And against West Virginia, he may have been pressing. All good athletes who make a mistake want to do something to atone for it. He's no different from anybody else."