THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 2, 1994 TAG: 9410020205
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY HARRY MINIUM, STAFF WRITER TECH NOTES
DATELINE: SYRACUSE, N.Y. LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
If you recognized the Big East officiating crew Frank Beamer spent much of Saturday screaming at, you probably watched Florida State eke out a controversial victory in the Orange Bowl against Nebraska last season.
The same crew that blew so many calls in the national championship game whistled Virginia Tech for 12 penalties in its 28-20 regionally televised loss to Syracuse.
It was the most penalties for the Hokies since 1983.
Beamer, the Tech coach, ran onto the field several times to confront the crew, led by referee John Soffey.
Beamer then skirted Big East rules against criticizing game officials in postgame remarks.
``I don't think the officials beat us,'' he said. ``But one of us is doing it wrong. Either we're doing it wrong, or they're doing it wrong.
``I assume we're making the mistakes, but we'll see. We've got the tape and we'll look at it.''
Tech offensive tackle Jay Hagood saw enough without seeing the tape. Tech's offensive line was called for holding or illegal blocks eight times. Syracuse, the most penalized team in the league coming into Saturday, was penalized five times total.
``The refs were really on us,'' he said. ``The only way not to get a holding call was to keep your hands outside (the defenders) and we kept getting our hands inside.''
Added senior tight end Kevin Martin: ``I can't ever remember that many holding penalties. Not ever. It was unreal. The penalties killed us.''
FRESH OX: Freshman tailback Ken Oxendine, Virginia's Group AAA Player of the Year last season at Thomas Dale High School, continues to push for playing time. The 18-year-old from suburban Richmond ran five times for 81 yards to lead the Hokies in rushing, including a 62-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that gave Tech an 18-14 lead.
Oxendine made defenders with a clear shot at him miss twice with open field fakes on the touchdown jaunt. He also ran 53 yards for a touchdown against West Virginia in his second carry as a Hokie.
He's averaging nearly 17 yards per carry, and says he's just getting warmped up.
``The more I play, the more comfortable I feel and the better I play,'' he said. ``I was nervous the first few games. Today, I wasn't nervous at all.''
Oxendine played Saturday only because starting tailback Dwayne Thomas was out with an ankle injury. Sophomore Tommy Edwards (64 yards on 18 carries) started and Oxendine spelled him on three possessions.
``It's for the coaches to decide how much I play,'' Oxendine said when asked if he thought he'd move up the depth chart. ``And I trust their judgment.''
RYAN BOOTS FOUR: Tech placekicker Ryan Williams was at times so erratic last season that the Hokies awarded a scholarship in the offseason to placekicker Atle Larsen and gave him a shot at beating out Williams.
Williams responded well in practice and in Tech's early games, and Saturday he responded even better. The senior from Suffolk booted a career high four field goals - from 37, 27, 25 and 21 yards.
``I kicked well,'' said Williams, who also booted an extra point.
``It helped having competition. Even though I've always worked hard in the offseason, just having competition during summer practice, knowing the job wasn't necessarily mine, helped me mentally. It pushed me.''
Williams, who missed the West Virginia game with a separated shoulder, is 8-for-9 in field goal attempts. He has scored 209 career points and needs 25 more to supplant Chris Kinzer as the school's career scoring leader.
EARLY RISER: Beamer rose at 6 a.m., as he usually does on game day, to check out the weather.
``It helps to know if it's raining or windy or both,'' he said.
It was both Saturday, as a cold wind from Canada brought early-morning temperatures in the 40s and sheets of rain. Beamer was momentarily concerned when he stepped outside.
``Then I thought to myself, we're playing in a dome today. What the hell am I doing?''
Good question. by CNB