Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 12, 1993 TAG: 9309140240
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PITTSBURGH LENGTH: Long
Tech battered feeble Pittsburgh, winning its first true Big East Conference game 63-21 Saturday night before a crowd of 33,839 at Pitt Stadium.
The Hokies doused the festivities surrounding Pitt coach Johnny Majors' first home game in his second stint at the school, which he guided to the 1976 national championship.
Tech was the celebrant Saturday, gaining a school-record 675 yards total offense, including a school-record 500 yards on the ground.
"They just whipped us up front, plain and simple, physically," Majors said. "If we had executed perfectly, I think we'd have lost the ballgame tonight."
Tech tailback Dwayne Thomas had a career-high 170 yards rushing, tying the eighth-best output in Hokies history. Former Radford High School star Tommy Edwards scored four touchdowns, one on a 55-yard reception.
Tech, which tied a school record with seven rushing touchdowns, is 2-0 (1-0 in the Big East) for the first time since 1981. Pitt, which had 89 total yards in the first half while falling behind 42-6, is 1-1 and 0-1.
"It's a good start to some things we're trying to get to at Virginia Tech," said Frank Beamer, the Hokies' coach. "I certainly didn't think the game would go quite like that. But our kids were ready to play."
The remodeled Hokies equaled last year's victory total on a cool night in Pittsburgh, where by the second half their biggest worries were injuries to defensive backs Tyronne Drakeford and Antonio Banks.
Drakeford, an All-Big East choice last season at cornerback, left the game in the third quarter with an injured left shoulder and did not return. Banks twisted his left ankle in the third quarter and also did not return.
Pitt partied once in the third quarter, after Curtis Martin's 51-yard touchdown run made it 49-21 Tech with 5 minutes, 56 seconds left.
But the Hokies responded with a characteristically methodical drive, going 80 yards in 11 plays over 5:11. Thomas had two runs of 13 yards and Steve Sanders made a stretching grab of a Maurice DeShazo pass for a 34-yard gain for first-and-goal at the 1.
Edwards stepped over the line for his fourth touchdown of the night and sixth of the season. That's as many touchdowns as any Hokie had last year.
After turning over the ball on its first possession and falling behind 3-0, Tech scored touchdowns on seven consecutive possessions - six in the first half and its first third-quarter drive.
Two drives were of 10 plays or more; five covered 58 or more yards. Tech's speed showed on offense as well as defense.
"I was surprised; they play on turf," Hokies offensive lineman Billy Conaty said of Pitt's lack of speed. "I was running out to get the linebackers, and it seemed like they were hesitant. They're a pretty good team, I guess, but everything went well."
So much so that the Hokies slung superlatives after the game like they gobbled yards during it. DeShazo rushed for 40 yards and set up Tech tailbacks for several big gains on option plays, prompting Beamer to call him "the greatest option quarterback in the country."
"It's what he did in high school, and he's come along and improved his passing to where I feel like we can attack people both running and passing."
Defensive tackle J.C. Price, exulting over two first-half defensive stands, called Phil Elmassian "one of the top defensive coordinators in America."
Price carried the flag on one defensive series. With the Hokies ahead 21-3, Pitt had first-and-goal at the Tech 3 after a 45-yard John Ryan-to-Dietrich Jells pass. On third down from just beyond the 1, Price squeezed Ryan and fullback Maurice Washington together, dragging down Washington at the 5. Steve Kalmanides' 22-yard field goal made it 21-6 with 12:56 left in the first half.
"I guessed the snap count," Price said. "I just wound up in the backfield."
Edwards' 1-yard run with 4:44 to go and the ensuing conversion made it 28-6 Tech, and DeShazo's tackle-breaking 6-yard option run put the Hokies up 35-6 with 3:12 left. Sixty-four seconds later, DeShazo hit wide-open Kevin Martin at the Pitt 5, and Martin strolled in for six to numb an already chilly crowd at Pitt Stadium.
The last time Tech frolicked like that was against Rutgers last year, when the Hokies led 28-7 and 42-23 but lost 50-49 on the last play of the game.
"Once we got to 21-3 . . . look at Rutgers last year," Conaty said, "You can't screw around with that [stuff]."
Tech squashed the thought early. The Hokies lost a fumble on their first offensive series for the second game in a row, and Pitt's first play was a 24-yard slant pass to receiver Billy Davis that put the ball at the Tech 19.
But linebacker George DelRicco grabbed Pitt's Martin for a 3-yard loss on second-and-seven. On third down, freshman Cornell Brown cartwheeled across a Pitt lineman and bumped Ryan, whose pass was broken up by Tech's Stacy Henley as the touchdown threat evaporated.
The Panthers had minus-1 yard rushing after the first quarter and 17 yards at halftime. The Hokies had two first-half sacks - one in the second quarter on first down, when Brown outran Ryan on a rollout and dropped the Pitt quarterback for a 5-yard loss.
Tech entered the game having gained 400 or more yards in three consecutive games, and the Hokies had 379 at halftime - including 252 on the ground.
"A little dose of reality," Pitt safety Doug Whaley said. "We might have gotten a little complacent."
The Hokies, whom Pittsburgh media had picked as Pitt's second victim, had an attitude quite unlike that of last year's 2-8-1 group.
"They tried to disrespect our team," DeShazo said. "Actions speak louder than words."
See microfilm for statistics.
\ SOME NOTABLE NUMBERS\ RECORD-SETTING OFFENSE IN TECH VICTORY OVER PITT\ \ Points: Most Tech points in a road game since 73 at Catholic U. in 1922.\ \ TDs: Tied school record for rushing touchdowns (7), vs. VMI in 1976.\ \ Rushing: Set school record for rushing yards with 500 (was 469 vs. Duke in 1969).\ \ Offense Set school record for total offense, 675 yards (was 617 vs. William and Mary in 1983).\ \ First downs: Tech's 31 first downs ranks second in school history (34 vs. Akron in 1991 is the record).
by CNB