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Thursday, October 10, 2002

By Shelly Anderson, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

Last year in Tallahassee, Florida State Coach Bobby Bowden and Miami Coach Larry Coker met on the field in pregame warmups. Bowden asked Coker, then a first-year head coach, how it felt to be undefeated.

Coker fumbled for an answer. Maybe he'll get another chance Saturday when the No. 9 Seminoles (5-1) play at top-ranked Miami (5-0).

"If he does ask me [again], I'll try to have a more clever answer," said Coker, whose team is still undefeated going into the rematch at the Orange Bowl.

"Bobby Bowden doesn't have to ask me questions," Coker said. "I'm not a fledgling in football, but I'm a fledgling as a head coach.

"For me to be out at midfield talking to Joe Paterno and Bobby Bowden, I get a little speechless."

Those are the two winningest coaches in college football, and Coker beat them both as a rookie head coach. The Hurricanes opened in 2001 with a 33-7 win at Penn State and later topped Florida State, 49-27, to move to 5-0 en route to a national championship.

Pressure on young kicker

If Virginia Tech's game tonight at Boston College (3-1, 0-1) is tight, Hokies Coach Frank Beamer's throat might be tighter.

The fourth-ranked Hokies (5-0, 0-0) have a lot on the line in their conference opener, and they will be relying on a freshman kicker.

Nic Schmitt, a left-footer, won the job after a three-man audition. He replaces junior Carter Warley, who is out indefinitely because of a troublesome back that got worse over the weekend. Virginia Tech was off last week.

"I was planning on redshirting this season and trying again next year," Schmitt said. "But now that my chance has come, I plan on making the best of it. I think I'm ready for it."

The Eagles are concerned about other aspects of Virginia Tech's kicking game.

The Hokies pride themselves on their special teams prowess . They have blocked four kicks and two punts this season.

"It's definitely, in terms of emphasis, the biggest challenge of the year," said Boston College punter Kevin McMyler.

Running challenge

It's been a rough year for Rutgers (1-4, 0-1), but the Scarlet Knights have improved their rush defense considerably.

Over the past three games, Rutgers has held Army to 116 yards rushing, Pitt to 110 yards and Tennessee to 94.

But consider the challenge ahead.

This week, the Scarlet Knights play host to West Virginia and Avon Cobourne, who leads the nation with an average of 152.2 yards rushing a game. Then it's on to Syracuse, which rushed for 354 yards against Rutgers last year.

Next is Miami, where Willis McGahee is seventh in the nation at 128 yards rushing a game. That's followed by Temple. The Owls' Tanardo Sharps has eclipsed 100 yards against the Scarlet Knights for three consecutive years.

"Just keep lining them up," Rutgers defensive coordinator Paul Ferraro said. "Any defense has got to love these challenges. We're looking forward to it."

Quick hits

All five games involving Big East teams this week are televised, three of them nationally. ... Four conference teams -- Boston College, Rutgers, Temple and Virginia Tech -- were off last week. Pitt is the only league team that has not had an open date yet. ... Virginia Tech and West Virginia are the only Big East teams that have not played a conference game. ... Virginia Tech is hoping to start 6-0 for the fourth season in a row. ... Miami's Ken Dorsey has 75 career touchdown passes and needs three more to surpass former Syracuse quarterback Donovan McNabb as the Big East's all-time leader. ... Despite being 1-4, 0-1, Syracuse has the league's highest scoring percentage inside its opponents' 20. The Orangemen have scored on 18 of 20 chances (90 percent) inside the red zone.

Game of the week

Miami won the first leg of the state sweepstakes when it trounced Florida, 41-16, Sept. 7. Now the Hurricanes will put their No. 1 ranking of 18 consecutive weeks and their 27-game winning streak on the line against Florida State.

Miami has a two-game winning streak in the series and leads overall, 25-20, but the two teams have split 28 games in Miami.

The teams have met every year since 1969.

"It's a great rivalry," Coker said.

Dorsey has started and led the way the past two years, completing 59.4 percent of his passes for 577 yards and five touchdowns in the two wins. This year, Miami has scored 234 points, the most through five games in school history.

Quote of the week

Brian St. Pierre, Boston College quarterback, on his team's game tonight against No. 4 Virginia Tech:

"Nobody wants us to win this game. Nobody. The BCS will be mad if we win this game. The Big East will be mad. And that's great."