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Thursday, September 19, 2002

By Shelly Anderson, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

When Virginia Tech lost tailback Lee Suggs to a season-ending knee injury in the 2001 season opener, it seemed like a huge blow -- until Kevin Jones emerged as the Big East rookie of the year.

Now the No. 7 Hokies have perhaps the top tailback tandem in the nation. Each has numbers that any team would like from a single featured back.

Suggs, a senior, is third in the Big East with an average of 110.3 rushing yards a game. He is averaging 6.2 yards a carry and has scored five touchdowns.

Jones, a sophomore, is fifth in the conference at 90.7 yards per game. He is averaging 6.5 yards a carry and also has scored five touchdowns.

"It's hard to get one back like these guys," Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer said. "When you get two, it's just unbelievable. When one gets tired, we put the other one in. It doesn't matter what the situation is."

In the Hokies' 47-21 dismantling of Marshall last Thursday, Suggs (153 yards) and Jones (171) combined for 324 yards rushing and five touchdowns.

The two are similar in size -- Suggs is 6 feet, 201 pounds, Jones 6-0, 211 -- but have different styles.

"I think Suggs is a great short-yardage runner, goal-line runner, but he also has the strength to hit the tackle and go," Beamer said. "I would say Kevin's a little more flashy runner. He can stop on a dime and go the other way. In their own way, they're both great backs."

This week will be a test for them. The Hokies (3-0) play at No. 19 Texas A&M (2-0), which has the top rush defense in the country.

"This game is a different game," Beamer said. "To just try and run against Texas A&M all day, I don't think that would be smart."

Holtz fan

Temple's Bobby Wallace has been coaching a little too long to become starry-eyed, but that doesn't mean he's immune to the fame surrounding South Carolina's Lou Holtz, a former Notre Dame coach.

The Owls (1-2, 0-1) play Saturday night at South Carolina (1-2).

"I'm thrilled to be able to go coach against Coach Holtz -- and just to meet him," Wallace said. "I've never met him. I've been a college coach 26 years and our paths have never crossed."

Looking at Holtz's success over the years, Wallace would have preferred to encounter Holtz at, say, a banquet in June instead of on the same field in September.

"I'd rather not be playing him, but at the same time it's an honor to meet him," Wallace said.

New back starts at BC

Boston College has settled on a successor to tailback William Green, who was a first-round draft choice by the Cleveland Browns last spring.

Derrick Knight, a 5-9, 205-pound junior, came off the bench to rush for 105 and 106 yards in the Eagles' first two games, both wins, and will supplant junior Horace Dodd as the starter Saturday night when Boston College opens its league play at No. 1 Miami (3-0, 1-0).

"He waited for his opportunity and made the most of his opportunity and he did a good job in the first two games, so I think he deserves to be the starter," said Eagles Coach Tom O'Brien.

Game of the week

Remember the bounce?

Questions about that freaky play last year are abundant this week at Miami and Boston College as they get set for a rematch in an ESPN game Saturday at the Orange Bowl.

The Eagles were driving for the winning touchdown and had just converted a fourth down and reached the Miami 9 with 35 seconds left when quarterback Brian St. Pierre's pass bounced off of Hurricanes cornerback Mike Rumph's left knee and right to Miami tackle Matt Walters.

Safety Ed Reed grabbed the ball from Walters and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown to seal an 18-7 victory.

"I was thinking, 'Fall down, fall down, fall down,'" Miami Coach Larry Coker said. "Had he done that, the game would have been over. As it turned out, it was a crazy play that was replayed a thousand times. It went from almost despair to jubilation in the matter of a moment."

Boston College's O'Brien tries not to think about it.

"It was a crazy bounce," he said. "Generally when I get to that point [on the game tape], I just don't watch. I'm not going to beat myself up about it."

Quote of the week

Larry Coker, who succeeded Butch Davis and took Miami to a national title last year and is on track to do it again this year:

"Jobs like this normally don't come open. It's usually jobs that are down and the team's bad, and they're out of players and the coach gets fired or leaves. I feel like this is the best college job in the country. Sometimes I do think this is almost too good to be true."