A Tough Task Faces Players Replacing All-Americans

MIAMI —  When Steve Walsh takes his first snap in the Orange Bowl, the stadium will be filled with 75,000 people wondering whether he can duplicate the heroics of his predecessor, Heisman Trophy winner Vinny Testaverde.

Across the nation are other young players in similar situations -- taking over positions manned in 1986 by the 17 All-Americans who are not returning this year.

Miami’s Walsh, a third-year sophomore from St. Paul, Minn., will have numerous thoughts racing through his mind but trying to match Testaverde’s accomplishments will not be among them.

What Walsh believes, as did Testaverde before him, is that the only way to take over for an All-American is to do what he does best and that the quickest way to fail is to try and imitate someone else.

“The questions are there every single day, so I just try to let it slide by and try to avoid the subject,” Walsh, 6-3, 195 pounds, said of comparisons to Testaverde. “It’s hard to avoid, but the biggest thing is I just have to go out and be myself. Play my game, play within myself, try not to force any plays that would cause mistakes.”

Walsh, who has thrown only two passes in his college career, is following three outstanding quarterbacks at Miami. Testaverde replaced Bernie Kosar, who led the Hurricanes to a national championship, and Kosar replaced Jim Kelly. Testaverde, Kosar and Kelly now are three of the highest-paid passers in the NFL.

Miami Coach Jimmy Johnson, with a stable of talented running backs, does not plan major changes in the wide-open Miami attack, but did say the team may run the ball a bit more in 1987. He stressed that was because of the talent at running back and no reflection on Walsh’s abilities.

“The thing Steve’s got to understand is that he doesn’t have to try to duplicate the performance of Vinny Testaverde or Bernie Kosar or Jim Kelly,” he said. “He has to play at his pace and develop at his pace.

At Oklahoma, soft-spoken senior Dante Jones will take over for the flamboyant Brian Bosworth at linebacker. Jones filled in for Bosworth when he was barred from playing in the Orange Bowl after testing positive for steroid use.

First-year USC coach Larry Smith said he has seen few players who try to imitate or match the efforts of the people they replace, mainly because players with so little confidence in their own abilities never make it that far. The Trojans lost two All-Americans, guard Jeff Bregel and defensive back Tim McDonald.

“I think there can be problems if the guy doesn’t try to be himself, if he tries to be the other guy,” Smith said. “Knowing that, the best way to approach it is for players to say, ‘I don’t want to be Jeff Bregel, I don’t want to be Tim McDonald,’ because you can’t be Jeff Bregel, you can’t be Tim McDonald.”

At running back, the choice often is to use several players with the hope one eventually will step forward.

At Auburn, Pat Dye must replace running back Brent Fullwood and center Ben Tamburello. While junior Jerry Helms appears to have the center spot locked up, the running back post is still open. The leading candidates are Curtis Stewart, James Joseph, and Stacy Danley.

“We feel like we have three or four good enough to play,” Dye said. “And who we end up playing will be up to them. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

But no matter how successful a player is, most fans will compare him to the All-American he replaced. Temple coach Bruce Arians, who lost tailback Paul Palmer, has cautioned Todd McNair and Ventres Stevenson that fans expect no drop-off in performance.

“There’s always pressure when you follow a great player,” Arians said. “The first time McNair takes the ball, they’ll compare him to Palmer. The first time Stevenson touches the ball, they’ll compare him to Palmer.

“It’s tough on them when you follow a great one. It’s tougher following a great one than a sorry one. Unless you gain 1,500 yards, you’re going to be worse.”