New gunner will keep Ducks in the hunt

Sporting News, The, July 15, 2002 by Matt Hayes

QB A.J. Suggs, Georgia Tech. He lost out to Casey Clausen at Tennessee and left for Tech because of his ties to the school's former coaching staff. The Yellow Jackets have dynamic threats at wideout (Kerry Watkins, Will Glover) and need Suggs to play within new coach Chan Gailey's ball-control offense to lessen the impact of the loss of quarterback George Godsey. Suggs held off redshirt freshman Damarius Bilbo in the spring but will be pushed again in the fall.

M@IL BONDING

MATT HAYES ANSWERS YOUR QUESTIONS

I think everyone is overlooking Virginia Tech. We've got the best backfield in the nation, and our defense is always tough. We should have beaten Miami last season. What are the odds we can go down to Miami and beat the Hurricanes this season and get back to the national championship game, where we belong?

Terry Simon, Roanoke, Va.

Terry: Let me introduce you to my two friends, Slim and None. The problem with Tech is basic: very little imagination in an offense run by marginally skilled quarterback Grant Noel, who has a knee injury and may not be ready for fall camp. In fact, that could be the best thing to happen to the Hokies. It would force coach Frank Beamer to get freshman Marcus Vick ready sooner than he'd like. There are some who believe Marcus is an even more dynamic player than his brother, Michael. If that's the case--and that's a super-sized if--why waste a redshirt season on Vick? Get him on the field now and get as much out of him as possible before he leaves early for the NFL.

INSIDE DISH

By MATT HAYES

Officials at California say they were blindsided when the NCAA handed down harsh sanctions--a one-year bowl ban and the loss of nine scholarships--for various rules violations. New coach Jeff Tedford says he knew there were NCAA issues lingering but didn't imagine they would be this damaging. Don't be surprised if Cal athletic director Steve Gladstone extends Tedford's contract by one season as a gesture of good faith and to give Tedford another season to turn around the mess left by former coach Tom Holmoe.... Wisconsin star WR Lee Evans, who tore the ACL in his left knee in the spring game, could be ready to return by the August 23 season opener against Fresno State. A relatively normal recovery time of six months would put Evans' return well into September. Evans, though, has been a terror in rehab. The Badgers will have to rely on unproven targets Darrin Charles, Jonathon Orr and Travann Hayes in Evans' absence.... Expect Mike Slive, the SEC's new commissioner (read: sheriff) and chairman of the NCAA's Infraction Appeals Committee, to recuse himself from appeals proceedings later this summer in the Alabama and Kentucky cases. His recent history with the committee nevertheless should help the SEC schools in those appeals; Slive is very popular among committee members. But don't think Slive will go easy in the future on rule-breaking programs in the SEC. "The SEC presidents are sick and tired of being embarrassed by all the violations and have given explicit orders to the new commissioner to fix this," one person in the know says.... Southeastern Louisiana president Randy Moffett calls new coach Hal Mumme a man of character and principle. He says nothing of the wake of NCAA sanctions Mumme left at Kentucky when discussing his choice to restart the SLU football program, which will begin play as a Division I-AA independent in 2003. And that's the problem. Want to deter cheating in college football? Forbid coaches caught in scandals--UK committed more than three dozen violations under Mumme from 1997-2000--from coaching again until their previous employer finishes probation. As it is, Mumme walked away from Kentucky with a $1.2 million severance package. Now he has a new job and, according to Moffett, character and principle.... Speaking of Mumme, it looks as though something has rubbed off on his protege, Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, who coached with Mumme at Kentucky, Valdosta State and Iowa Wesleyan. Tech's football program was $400,000 over budget in the past fiscal year. Leach has hired an attorney to help him during a planned meeting with university officials, and red ink in the budget isn't the only issue. There also is bad karma within the administration stemming from Leach's pay raises the last two years.