Big East Conference

Sporting News, The, August 21, 1995 by Lenn Robbins

Balance and power are on the rise

As Big East football enters its fifth season, parity is the buzzword; mediocrity is not. Six of the eight teams could find themselves battling for at least four bowl berths as the season heads down the stretch.

Although Miami, which will emphasize a two-back offense under first-year Coach Butch Davis, remains the most talented team, conference opponents no longer consider the Hurricanes invincible.

West Virginia, with its quarterback situation settled, should be one of the surprise teams in the nation this season. The defense will be led by Aaron Beasley, who led the nation last season with 10 interceptions at cornerback.

Virginia Tech has won 17 games over the last two seasons. Quarterback Maurice DeShazo played a big role in that success and he's gone, but 10 of 11 starters are back from a strong defensive unit. And the Hokies have dangerous running backs in senior Dwayne Thomas and sophomore Ken Oxendine, who averaged 7.8 yards per carry last season as a true freshman.

For the first time since the Doug Flutie era, Boston College has re-established itself as a Top 20 program. This season, junior Mark Hartsell is poised to emerge as one of the nation's best quarterbacks.

Even lowly Temple, which has yet to win a conference game, may get on the board with a league victory this season.

From top to bottom, the conference is the strongest and most balanced it has ever been. Two key factors have contributed to the emergence of the Big East: Penn State's move to the Big Ten, which opened some recruiting doors in the East, and the league's national-television contracts with CBS and ESPN, which will go into effect next season and open even more doors.

"Every kid in the East wanted to go to Penn State," says Temple Coach Ron Dickerson, who was a Penn State assistant coach for six seasons. "Now, even Temple can get some quality athletes who wouldn't have even looked at us a few years ago. The same with B.C. and Rutgers and Syracuse. And once the TV package kicks in, you'll see players from around the country interested in Big East schools. It's a premier conference, and it's only going to get better."

Lenn Robbins

Assembly line

Miami has a reputation for churning out one great quarterback after another. But the school would be better served with the moniker Defensive Lineman U. Jerome Brown, Russell Maryland, Cortez Kennedy and Jimmie Jones have made their marks in the NFL, and recent first-round draft pick Warren Sapp should emerge as a force.

This season, the Hurricanes have another potential superstar on their defensive front. Kenard Lang, a 6-foot-4, 251-pound end, was chosen the Big East's 1994 Rookie of the Year, becoming the first defensive lineman to receive that honor. Lang started for the first time in the fourth game yet posted eight sacks.

Higher octane

Rutgers has piled up more than 4,000 yards in total offense each of the last three seasons. This year, the Scarlet Knights could hit the 5,000-yard mark and shatter the school single-season record of 4,479 total yards set in 1992.

Coach Doug Graber plans on using Terrell (Lightning) Willis and Bruce (Thunder) Presley together in the backfield. The past two seasons, Graber has alternated the tailbacks, seldom using them together.

Presley, the Big East Rookie of the Year in 1992, rushed for 546 yards last season. He has the compact build (5 feet 10, 215 pounds) and smashmouth attitude to play fullback. Willis, the speedster, posted his second consecutive 1,000-yard season.

If teams try to key on Willis and Presley, Rutgers also has the top two returning receivers in the conference in tight end Marco Battaglia (58 catches for 779 yards) and receiver Reggie Funderburk (55 for 751). If only this team could play defense.

Time to win

One of the most improved football teams in the nation over the last two seasons has been Temple. Don't laugh. Yes, the Owls are 3-19 under third-year Coach Ron Dickerson and have never won a conference game, but consider: Two years ago, Temple scored 56 points in seven league games. Last season, they scored 154. Two years ago the Owls' defense gave up more than 50 points in six games. Last season it happened once.

And guess who led the conference in turnover margin last season? That's right, the Owls, at plus-9.

"We will win a Big East game this season," Dickerson says. "No ifs, ands or buts about it. We have the talent to compete with half the teams in the league."

RELATED ARTICLE: ORDER OF FINISH

1 MIAMI: Like previous coach Dennis Erickson, first-year Coach Butch Davis will try to implement a two-back set. Erickson scrapped it midway through his first season. Davis has to make it work because the Hurricanes don't have a top-flight quarterback. They do have a set of great backs with Al Shipman, Trent Jones and Danyell Ferguson.

2 WEST VIRGINIA: Miami has to worry about the Mountaineers as well as Florida State and Florida for in-state talent. West Virginia has 18 Floridians on its roster, many of whom have chips on their shoulders because they weren't recruited by the state's Big 3. A made-to-order schedule should pave the way to nine victories.