Rushing game vital for Va. Tech to stop Miami

Posted: Thursday November 11, 1999 05:47 PM

By Jed Hurt
The Collegiate Times

Blacksburg, Virginia (U-WIRE) -- Since 1983 the Miami Hurricanes have been playing spoiler to national title contending teams.

In the last 14 years, Miami has knocked 11 teams out of contention for the national championship, starting with Nebraska in 1983 and ending with UCLA last season. While this is good company to be in, Virginia Tech looks to avoid joining this club with a win Saturday.

The Hokies will look to their running attack to lead them into the win column. Tech has a multiple number of backs, each with his own running style.

Leading the way for the Hokies will be the Big East's leading rusher Shyrone Stith, who is averaging 108.6 yards per game. Stith's ability to break tackles will be key in the game as will his number of carries.

Switching up the pace is Tech's other halfback Andre Kendrick. More of a quick runner, Kendrick has showed up big in games where the opposing defense has focused mainly on Stith. When the Pitt defense held Stith to a respectable 65 yards, Kendrick exploded for 172 yards on the ground on just 16 carries. Games like this have enabled Tech to have two top 10 rushing backs in the Big East.

Rounding out the rushing attack for the Hokies is quarterback Michael Vick. Vick is averaging 4.8 yards per rushing attempt. The number of negative yards lost on a sack by an opponent is included in that average.

Aiding this strong running attack is Tech's offensive line. Anchored by Keith Short and Dave Kadela, the line has only allowed 16 sacks this season which also gives Vick time to link up with his favorite receiver this year. Andre Davis is second in the Big East in receiving yards per game with 83.6.

Smacking heads with the line will be a Miami defense that comes into the matchup ranked 22nd in the nation against the run and second in the Big East.

"Their defense is getting real close to the way the old Miami defense played (with) their linebacking groups playing great and up front, they are more athletic," said head coach Frank Beamer.

In the past eight games, the 'Canes have held the opponents to 110 yards on the ground. Tech, on the other hand, is averaging 245 yards per game.

Miami has shown it has the ability to stop marquee running attacks, but it has also crumbled against them in the past.

Earlier this year the Hurricane defense held Penn State running back Eric McCoo to only 46 yards on 16 carries.

They gave up 145 yards to Seminole back Travis Minor on 25 carries against Florida State.

The key to Miami's run-stopping falls on the shoulders of its linebacking corps. Co-defensive Big East player of the week Nate Webster looks to improve on last week's game against Pitt in which he had 11 tackles and two interceptions in a 33-3 Hurricane win.

Playing beside Webster is Butkus Award semifinalist Dan Morgan who has 84 tackles along with 2.5 sacks.

Miami has a defense that has excelled in take-aways this year which could play a big factor in the outcome of the game Saturday. Through eight games the defense has forced 27 turnovers on defense (14 fumbles and 13 interceptions), which is second in the nation only to Kansas State.

This statistic becomes even more intimidating when the Miami offense has scored on 12 out of those 27 takeaways.

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