The Charlotte Observer from Charlotte, North Carolina • 77

THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER Sunday September 13 1992 9C 4 COLLEGE FOOTBALL improvises to beat Virginia Tech i''S 4 i I 1 5 ir So OLI IT I TOM SORENSEN By RICK BONNELL Staff Writer GREENVILLE NC With 42 seconds left and East Carolina trailing by five tight end Carlester Crump ler played rebel He ignored the called play broke off the pass pattern he'd been assigned and improvised in the middle of the field Just don't expect Crump ler to be benched for the decision Not after quarterback Michael Anderson found Crump ler wide open for the winning touchdown in East Carolina's heart-stopping 30-27 victory over Virginia Tech at Fick len Stadium Crump ler was supposed to run an I I-yard "fly" pattern that normally carries him right out of the play The tight end is at best the third option on that play for the Pirates As Crumpler said afterward "I've never gotten that pass thrown to me in practice" Maybe it's time for Pirates coach Steve Logan to redraw the play Crumpler caught the ball in the flat and ran untouched into the end zone for the winning 2I-yard touchdown This victory was strikingly similar to the comebacks against NC State and Pittsburgh that marked the Pirates' I 1-game So when Virginia Tech cornerback Stacy Henley picked off Anderson in the fourth quarter returning the ball to the Pirates' 6 Logan didn't lose the faith "The only thing I was thinking" Logan said afterward "was if we hold them to a field goal we will win the game" The Pirates stiffened on defense and Virginia Tech settled for Ryan Williams' 22-yard field goal with 3:46 left That's when Anderson really went to work From the East Carolina 28-yard line Please see ECUpage 12C winning streak last season Syracuse broke that win streak a week ago when no Pirates quarterback picked up where now-New York Jet Jeff Blake left off last season Saturday Anderson played like a worthy successor to Blake throwing for 349 yards and three touchdowns Anderson a sophomore did not start the game But he relieved senior starter Sean McConnell in the second quarter What impressed Logan most about Anderson's performance was that Anderson came back from each of three interceptions with a touchdown pass on the following drive Volunteers find a leader in thriller elk stAres dsvvnl itilfro)dt 11) 'lit'i' f1 1''' i Iti 1- i'''': 4 5Zie: 'i7''- 41 i'': i is' -'1 1 4 1 ''I i ili'! r7 00 1 ik 7s1P 4'-'-' 4004f 1': tif-: 1 r'7' if titft t) TE if I 115 Atii N'''' 41' I )'3 1 ''-'s'' 's co'" I 1 to! 1-: '1 11 'Pi: y' tf I ti' '4 :1 4- 'i 44- i--: i 4 -ii ii 1 "'1: '''''N t'll I I 'I'e ::1 'tf: 1 i 'it14 ''''1 4 i 1: it 'i-''' '7' 1 ''4 -'i' li k'i) ''g' 14't i' ii 1 1:" ''ii ''Pf'is'4 'It' i 's''s 1''''''''''''' i'1' -4-1' 'i' 1 'I' '''''-si 1 1' '1: 'Hi 's fe1'" s' 'IS 1 I': li ll'ic''''': '1 i' '10tfa I' ii: 1 4' Og k- Ii 4 i''i' 1--' -'-lt r--- i10 'i' -iL 41' 11 ggef "ii)07 it'''' iii' ir 1 Reid preserves NC State win By CHARLES CHANDLER Stall Writer COLLEGE PARK Md Five seconds and 17 yards to go One play decides who wins NC State or Maryland Terps have the ball down by four To the left of quarterback John Kaleo Wolfpack defensive back Mike Reid stares into the eyes of Maryland receiver Richie Harris They're one-on-one Ninety seconds earlier Reid intercepted a Kaleo-toHarris pass at the 1 Reid dares them to try again Kaleo does lofting a pass toward the left corner of the end zone He thinks it's a touchdown Then Reid appears bats the ball away and saves the game for the Wolfpack Final score: NC State 14 Maryland 10 "It was like he came from nowhere" Kaleo said "It was like I planned it" said Reid So concluded a game 19th-ranked NC State had to gut out to the end against a gutsy Maryland team playing its first home game under new coach Mark Duffner Wolfpack coach Dick Sheridan all smiles said he was happy it was over All day his team ducked Maryland's missiles The Terrapins' 105 plays were the most in ACC history and their 57 passes were a school record The win was only NC State's second at Maryland since 1969 The Wolfpack now moves on unbeaten (3-0 1-0) into next week's megagame in Raleigh against Florida State Duffner's voice quivered Nearly in tears he vowed to fight on "I've never been prouder of a group of coaches and players" he said "They played their hearts out for 60 minutes and I love every one of them for it We didn't get it but we're going to get it I promise you that We are not going to stop until we do" Maryland almost got The Big One on Saturday The Terrapins (0-2 0-2) unveiled a new bronze turtle a replica of their mascot Testudo It has long been considered lucky to rub the nose of the original located in front of the campus library The miniature sat on a brick platform between the Maryland fieldhouse and the east end zone The Terps rubbed it when they ran on the field the start of a new tradition NC State scored in six plays on its first possession and seemed headed for another touchdown on its next drive until Maryland's Mike Jarmolowich intercepted Terry Jordan at the Terps' 32 The fight began there The Wolipack led 7-3 at halftime but fell behind 10-7 when Maryland opened the second half with a 14-play 78-yard scoring drive ending with Doug Burnett's 1-yard touchdown run NC State ran three plays and punted on its only two drives of the third quarter Its offense seemed dormant With 11 minutes 31 seconds left NC State finally got the play it needed Jordan dropped back to pass eluded the rush of Mark Sturdivant and threw deep for Eddie Goines who outjumped Maryland's Mike Lacy for the ball in the back of the end zone Goines was open early on the play and had to wait on Jordan's throw He barely came down "I'd like to tell you I was thinking where my feet were but I kind of forgot" Goines said "Basically it was luck" ATHENS Ga The victory was as sudden as it was thrilling and Tennessee was entitled to whoop with joy As the Volunteers ran through the hedges after beating Georgia Saturday they screamed at each other slapped hands with their fans and even snuck in a few "We're No Is" But the player who accomplished the most in the 34-31 victory celebrated the least Sophomore quarterback Heath Shuler formerly the pride of Bryson City and now the pride of Tennessee didn't even allow himself a smile until he was almost behind closed doors "I had a pretty decent game" Shuler admitted "I still made some mistakes" When a TV man don't you hate them sometimes? corrected him by saying "YOU DIDN'T MAKE ANY MISTAKES TODAY HEATH!" Shuler said "Yes I did I threw an interception" Shuler also threw for 152 yards and rushed for 81 and led the Volunteers on two 80-yard drives And he scored a touchdown after each of them There were 85434 fans at Sanford Stadium and most of them were screaming at Shuler when with six minutes remaining the final drive began His team trailed 31-27 only a touchdown would do Although it took more than five minutes Shuler got one Only 50 seconds remained when the journey ended and Tennessee led 34-31 Quarterbacks are supposed to lead of course But it's a lot to ask of any man especially one who is 20 years old and probably but not definitely shaves Shuler might have been the man Saturday but two years ago he was playing for Swain County High which is up in the mountains in pretty Bryson City Shuler was an all-state defensive back high-jumped 6-9 to win an NC state championship hit 390 for the baseball team and at 6-3 played center in basketball But what he did best was lead Swain County won three straight state championships with Shuler at quarterback He was considered the country's best high school quarterback by some behind Georgia's sensational Eric Zeier by others "The ACC went after me early in high school" Shuler said Did you consider attending an ACC school? "Chapel Hill" he said Why'd you pick Tennessee? "The SEC" he said "The SEC is great" To be fair had Shuler just led North Carolina to a thrilling win against Furman Saturday well not Furman but somebody the Tar Heels' own size he probably would have said the ACC is great Young people can be impressionable and a game in Athens leaves an impression Georgia fans yelled as loudly as they could and then they screamed louder Tennessee fans were just as wild when their band played "Rocky Top" The game was excellent as each offense overpowered the defenders who tried to stop it Georgia drove 56 55 60 67 and 75 yards the five times it had the ball in the first half The Volunteers were not as flashy but they are steadier and can even be spectacular The highlight of the first 80- yard Tennessee touchdown drive was a 44-yard run by Shuler He said he didn't call the play but saw room over the middle and had permission to try it "I'll know when I see the film if I did the right thing" he said The winning drive lasted 14 plays and Shuler either passed or ran on I I of them including the last six It almost ended 40 yards short of the end zone It was fourth down and the Volunteers needed 14 yards fora first down Shuler dropped back and calmly so calmly with everybody screaming so loudly and hit wingback Ronald Davis for 22 yards Davis ran right broke to the middle was open by a step and that was all Shuler needed TELL US ABOUT THE PASS HEATH! "The receivers just ran their tails off" Shuler said After the pass Shuler ran for 5 yards completed a pass and now the Volunteers were on the Georgia 3 On first down Shuler dropped back spun and jumped through a little opening for the winning touchdown Asked to sum up the play the drive and the game Shuler thougnr a moment because he wanted to be accurate and said: "The line did t)Pekirva job" Associated Press Cheers before the tears: Maryland coach Mark Duffner Saturday's game against NC State Duffner was near celebrates a touchdown with tackle Steve Ingram during tears after the game which the Wolfpack won 14-10 st 117 0 1 i I 1 i I et: Std 11 i It 1 li 4 il li 1 41- A 4 4 i 14 1 ti tt i Im 11 ACC standings mance of his defensive line clearly was troubled by the sputtering offensive show "We can't turn the ball over the first two possessions of the first half and the first two possessions of the second" Brown said "That's three turnovers last week and four turnovers tonight That's something we need to quit doing in order to win the games in the league which we're getting ready to play in" The game opened with Furman quarterback Hugh Swilling being dropped for an 8-yard loss It was an omen of insults to come Furman crossed into North Carolina territory just once in the first half Swilling sprained his left ankle midway through the possession bringing in backup quarterback Phi Ily Jones who coach Jimmy Satterfield had hoped to redshirt this season Jones finished the night completing 10 of 20 passes for 91 yards North Carolina struggled too The Tar Heels' sole first-half points came from Tripp Pignetti a junior kicker from Charlotte Country Day High who had never scored a field goal in his college career Pignetti succeeded on attempts from 26 and 33 yards Thomas was the Tar Heels' sole bright spot early on completing eight of 14 passes for 82 yards and one interception Thomas also smacked a 65-yard punt that hung in the cool night air for nearly five seconds Stanicek stepped in halfway through the second quarter but opened the second half with two interceptions While Stanicek struggled through the air he Please see Carolinapage 12C By LIZ CLARKE Staff Writer CHAPEL HILL North Carolina's Mike Thomas got starting honors and a chance to show off his steady arm and potent punting leg against Furman Saturday night But it was Jason Stanicek the other half of North Carolina's quarterback duet who got the job done rushing for 104 yards to lead the Tar Heels to a 28-0 defeat of Furman The shutout boosts North Carolina's record to 2-0 Still it wasn't exactly the kind of game that will make Mack Brown's team tougher The real question was why wasn't the score more lopsided? The answer was a ragged lackluster North Carolina offense that turned the ball over four times against its Division I-AA opponent Brown while reveling in the solid perfor Conf All WL I WL I Florida St 2 0 0 2 0 0 North Carolina 1 0 0 2 0 0 NC State 1 0 0 200 Virginia 100 200 Clemson 0 1 0 1 1 0 Duke 010 020 Wake Forest 0 1 0 1 1 0 Maryland 020 0 2 0 Georgia Tech 0 0 0 1 0 0 Wake rallies past Appalachian Arkansas hogs the show in drubbing Gamecocks You've seen Rocky or Rambo Down-and-out hero gets knocked down almost out but fights back and wins at the end That was Wake Forest (1-1) Saturday The Deacons couldn't seem to do anything right offensively There were more penalties 70 yards worth than Wake coach Bill Dooley wanted to think about and when the Deacons weren't being penalized Wake quarterbacks were getting to know the Groves Stadium turf The Mountaineers had seven sacks And on top of all of that Appalachian courtesy of an third-quarter 81-yard punt return from Anthony Smith was leading 7-3 "To say the least we're proud of the guys" Dooley said "We found so much adversity and we Please see DeaconsPage 12C cocks after Arkansas' second touchdown late in the first quarter And when the Razorbacks made it 24-0 midway through the second period a significant number of the 63100 fans began heading for the parking lot the earliest such exodus in memory By halftime with that 31-0 score staring bleakly down at them from the stadium scoreboards South Carolina fans took out their frustration on Gamecocks athletic direc By LANGSTON WERTZ Jr Stall Writer W1NSTON-SALEM All Wake Forest tight end John Henry Mills had to do was catch the football It was fourth down at the Appalachian State 4 with one minute 1 I seconds remaining and Wake was down by four points The difference between frustration and fulfillment for the Deacons was simply a matter of Mills holding onto the ball "It seemed like it was coming in slow motion" Mills said "Like in one of those scenes from the movies" Mills who didn't have a defender near him caught the ball His catch put the perfect ending onto Wake's come-from-behind 10-7 win over Appalachian at Groves Stadium And it was like one of those scenes from the MlieS By STAN OLSON Staff Wnter COLUMBIA A week ago Arkansas scored just three points in losing to The Citadel an NCAA Division I-AA member Saturday night Arkansas scored 31 points in the first half on the way to a stunning 45-7 victory over fellow SEC newcomer South Carolina in a rapidly emptying Williams-Brice Stadium Excuse me? It was so bad that the boos began raining down on the Game 1 Please see Carolinapage 12C.