OCR Text |
Show ITTM il II laf tfi Itf U ' UlaH CL'lr AT-- f I I I ,M - r f V. 1 in All he has to do is 'make something happen' never in the history of college Perhaps has one team been blessed succession of quarterbacks like Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar and Vinny Testa-verdExcitement at Miami has been building for a decade. And after Kosar led the Hurricanes to a national championship three years ago, Miami became one of the teams in football. Last year the Hurricanes were ranked at the top of the polls almost all season and favored in their titantic championship matchup against Penn State. They lost. Testaverde left school. Miami's players and fans fell back to earth. Steve Walsh was waiting for them. Walsh is a bright young man National Honor Society and a Academic from St. Paul, Minn. and he knows what people expect from him: "to go out and win games." But he insists that filling Testaverde's slot is not agonizing. "Replacing Vinny is not really putting more pressure on myself than I would normally," Walsh says. "I don't really think about it too much." Besides, he says, "I don't think they are going to heap all the criticism on me if we lose or all the praise on me if we win." UM coach Jimmy Johnson agrees that comparison is irrelevant. "I think it's really not fair to compare anyone to Vinny Testaverde," says Johnson about his Heis-maTrophy-winninformer quarterback. Walsh does not possess the natural tools of Testaverde the size and strength, and the throwing arm. But fans say Testaverde's absence makes another important and positive difference. "It isn't Testaverde's show now," says junior business major Neal Bumgarner, "it's the Miami Hurricanes' show." Teresa Mallea, a UM freshman who watched 'Canes games as a Miami f 1 senior last fall, expresses a sim. I i I ' ilar view. "Because of all the attention paid to Testaverde," Mallea says, "it seemed like he wasn't a student anymore." Walsh, a sophomore in eligibilstudent), ity (he is a third-yea- r is still no celebrity and less likely to be than Testaverde. He calls his own leadership style KENT POST UNIV. MIAMI "not outspoken, but more quimuster: Steve Walsh at practice Passing et" than Testaverde's. Lost stars: Walsh actually faces a tougher job than Testaverde had squad, including three who were National d last year when the 'Canes fielded a team of Football League draft choices, battle-teste- d veterans (some would suggest Testaverde, tackle Jerome Brown and fullback Alonzo Highsmith. Testaverde was, of war veterans after a series of brushes with the law). The two seacourse, the first selection in the draft. Now sons under Testaverde were in a sense disat Tampa Bay, he joins in the NFL his two lost in Miami star Miami predecessors, Kelly of Buffalo successive appointing: years bowl games that, had they won them, and Kosar of Cleveland. Because Miami was stripped of so much would have meant a national championship. A host of stars is gone from the 1986 talent, less was expected of this year's team, not just by fellow students but by the rabid boosters of the city who are harder to please. Walsh had to make his debut as a starter in a nationally televised game against bitter rival Florida. The untested Miami quarterback outpassed his heralded Florida rival, Kerwin Bell, and d led the 'Canes to a stunningly sold-o31-before a Orange Bowl victory crowd of 77,224. Afterward, coach Johnson underlined the obvious in noting that Walsh had gained the confidence of the team. Now, all he has to do is put in three years pleasing the fans. What does Bumgarner expect of Walsh? "When it's third down and eight, he's got to make DAN BROWNS CLEVELAND ROBKRTL. SMITH something happen." to the NFL: Buffalo's Kelly, Cleveland's Kosar, Tampa Bay's Testaverde Patrick McCreery in Miami e. most-watche- d high-scho- high-scho- ol ol first-roun- well-publiciz- n g one-side- 4 On OCTOBER 1987 ut NEWSWEEK ON CAMPUS 13 I |