University of Virginia Library

From The Sidelines

The Big
D

By Davis Marshall

Virginia Tech's Gobblers laid an egg in Blacksburg Saturday as
the last of the great white Wahoos blanked the Hokies 7-0, the
second time Tech has been blanked in the last 74 games. How did
Virginia do it? What missing ingredient wasn't missing? Simple,
defense.

Half of last year's league leading, tenth in the nation defensive
contingent had graduated. Only a semi-experienced defensive
secondary remained from what had been the nation's seventh
ranked pass defense. The line is stronger with three starters
returning. But still, is not this supposed to be the year of the
Gobbler? Doesn't Jerry Claiborne have his strongest offense ever,
strong enough to run roughshod over puny Atlantic Coast
Conference competition and, especially, any team in the state?

Apparently not. Or else it would seem the '70 defense is even
more offensive than the '69 version because the big, bad Techmen
only managed 202 yards against a team picked seventh in the
horridly weak ACC (ask anybody from Blacksburg if you don't
believe it). Maybe the defense is that good. After all, didn't
nationally renowned PLAYBOY (wah-hoo-wah) pick us to go
6-5 with a decent shot at the crown? Maybe when Hugh Hefner
and company said we returned our "defense intact" he meant that
this season's defenders were just as good as last year's. Or even
better, for it appears that this year the Cavaliers will not only
have a good pass rush, but will have some very capable pass
defenders.

Look at Robbie Gustafson. Starting his first game in
Hokieburg, the junior Texan broke up three passes and was in on
six tackles-and that ain't bad for a safety. The rest of the
secondary was tuned in on Tech's Bob German too, for the senior
signal-caller was hounded into two interceptions (Russ Bauda and
Minton) by Virginia's normally swarming linebackers. Co-Captain
Paul Reid led the linebackers by being in on 15 tackles while he
tied with fellow linebacker Charlie Blandford for the team lead
with nine individual tackles. Dave Turner, the other linebacker,
didn't do badly with 7 tackles and 4 assists.

Remember Wills Williams, the rough 'n ready linebacker for
the frosh last year who was thrown out of a game one time
because he was too rough 'n ready? He started Saturday at
defensive end and, despite a few normal sophomoric tendencies,
turned in a fine performance with seven tackles and two assists.
But Andy Selfridge was the proverbial thorn in Jerry Claiborn's
side, for Tech "didn't block him all day," even after "talking"
about it during halftime. Selfridge was in on eight tackles,
including three unassisted. End Ed Kihm added his five tackles to
the total which limited the Gobblers to an average of 1.9 yards a
try. The final member of Virginia's golden eleven is All-American
candidate Randy Lestyk, who was somewhat hampered by Tech
All-American candidate Butch Hall, "...one of the greatest lineman
I have ever played against." But Lestyk still managed to get in on
seven tackles to help the team garner the number one defensive
ranking in the conference.

Lestyk also said, "We played their game-'hit football'-and
won" which reminds us of similar sentiments expressed after last
year's upset 10-0 win over Duke. All it took to dispel those
visions of glory and a 3-1 ledger were a losing tradition and a solid
team just that much better than we had believed as the Cavaliers
were blown out of Albemarle County 31-0 by N.C. State. With
hope building, the situation, is similar, except for the fact that we
may be put out of our misery sooner. The Cavaliers will need as
much "hit football" as they can muster when they invade
Clemson to test Hooie Ingram's Tigers and running back Ray
Yager. Having never beaten Clemson, it would be nice to win.
The rushing unit is intact with Jim Lacey and Gary Helman above
average, and the Albert-Bischoff/Sullivan aerial attack seems to
have survived and succeeded the year of the bounce pass (Tech's
secondary is so solidly experienced it is known as "the
establishment" around Blacksburg). Clemson destroyed Southern
Conference co-favorite The Citadel 24-0 in its opening game so
the task is not easy. But the 14 point underdog Cavaliers did
defeat Tech, and Tech was rated above Clemson, wasn't it?