THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 8, 1994 TAG: 9410080412
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 95 lines
Ken Oxendine doesn't expect to be nervous today when he gets his first college start. The same can't be said of his position coach.
The last true freshman to start at tailback for the Hokies was Vaughn Hebron against Clemson in 1989.
``In my younger days, it never bothered me,'' Hokies running backs coach and assistant head coach Billy Hite said. ``Over the years, I've seen what happens to a guy from a confidence standpoint who isn't quite ready.''
The Hokies will find out if Oxendine is ready when Tech plays Temple at 1 p.m. at Lane Stadium. Hite said Oxendine is the Hokies' best freshman tailback he's seen in 17 years of coaching at Virginia Tech.
Oxendine will become the Hokies' third starting tailback in three weeks. Dwayne Thomas is out with an ankle sprain, and Oxendine has beaten out sophomore Tommy Edwards. Oxendine has 147 yards in nine carries (16.3 average) with touchdown runs of 53 yards against West Virginia and 62 against Syracuse. He ran for 78 yards on five carries at the Carrier Dome.
``He ran with real intensity,'' Beamer said. ``He broke some tackles. He made some things happen when there wasn't a lot there. He's really a quality back.
``The thing that he's made good strides on here lately are the other parts of his game - the pass pickups, his blocking protection, formations and motion and so forth. There's a lot more to it than just running the football.''
Oxendine has demonstrated a thirst to understand the other aspects of the game.
Hite recalled a practice the week of the West Virginia game when Oxendine missed a block on a blitz. By the time Hite showered and got back to the coaches offices after practice, Oxendine and fellow freshman Marcus Parker were already there, looking at tapes from practice to verify blitz assignments.
``I hate to not know everything about how our offense works,'' Oxendine said. ``When I find myself not knowing something, I want to figure it out right then and there, so I make sure I take care of it.''
Oxendine also knows how to prove a point.
The week of the West Virginia game, Hite promised he would work Oxendine into the lineup early in the season's fourth game. But the game wore on and Oxendine remained on the sidelines, until finally in the fourth quarter he got in during Tech's blowout victory.
On his first rushing attempt, Oxendine burst up the middle for a 53-yard touchdown run on just his second collegiate carry.
``He came back to the sideline and I said to him, `Congratulations, I bet you think I'm the dumbest coach in America,' '' Hite said. ``All he did was smile at me, he wouldn't say yes or no.''
The Hokies were all smiles last winter when they landed Oxendine, who ranks with quarterback Maurice DeShazo and former All-American center Jim Pyne as the premier recruits during Beamer's eight seasons. Oxendine was the Virginia player of the year by The Associated Press, USA Today and Gatorade last season at Thomas Dale High School in Chester, Va., between Richmond and Petersburg. He was first-team all-state as a linebacker, second team as a running back.
It hasn't taken him long to make an impression on campus. He is the first true-freshman Hokie to run for two touchdowns of more than 50 yards since freshmen became eligible in 1972.
``I was able at the right point in time to produce and do what I could to help the team,'' Oxendine said.
Oxendine isn't a burner - his 4.6 speed in the 40 is adequate, not eye-popping - but he's a big back at 6-foot-1, 220 pounds who has good moves.
``When he comes out of that backfield at the line of scrimmage or when he's out there on the corner, he really has a burst,'' Beamer said. ``I think that kind of sets him apart.''
Beamer said the two long touchdown runs illustrate that, as did a play in practice the other day when Oxendine blew out of a pack. ``He was there, and all of a sudden, he wasn't there,'' Beamer said.
``He's got excellent running skills,'' Hite said. ``For a guy his size, he can really change direction. He's not a straight-line runner at all. He's a big back who has moves - and they're not God-given moves like a lot of guys, those are things he's worked on.''
Oxendine moved Edwards out of the starting lineup after one game, and Edwards isn't a bad back. In 16 regular-season college games, Edwards has 12 touchdowns. But on 60 attempts this year he's averaging 3 yards a carry.
``Tommy is a good back, but Kenny has better production at that position right now,'' Beamer said.
So what happens when Thomas, a 1,000-yard rusher last year as a sophomore, returns from his ankle injury?
Beamer is non-committal, saying Thomas clearly figures in their plans but the coaches will evaluate that when it happens. Hite's policy is a starter doesn't lose his position because of injury.
``But obviously if Oxendine is doing well and they're competing,'' Hite said, ``I don't know what will happen from there.'' ILLUSTRATION: LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
Ken Oxendine has 147 yards in nine carries with touchdown runs of 53
yards against West Virginia and 62 against Syracuse.
by CNB