Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 13, 1993 TAG: 9309130021
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PITTSBURGH LENGTH: Medium
When Edwards wasn't throwing up on the sideline during Virginia Tech's 63-21 rout of Pittsburgh on Saturday at Pitt Stadium, he was taking the ultimate feel-good medicine: a spoonful of end zone.
"Nerves," Edwards said, shortly after Tech had given Pitt the four-quarter flu. "Every sporting event I've ever been in."
His queasiness usually subsides during the game, Edwards said, but "this time it stayed with me for a while. There was so much adrenaline going through me, I couldn't hold what I had down."
Pitt couldn't hold any Hokie on Saturday. Four runners - Dwayne Thomas, Ranall White, Brian Edmonds and Edwards - gained 50 or more yards, and Edwards' four touchdowns tied him with four others for the second-best single-game effort in Tech history. Tommy Francisco scored six times against VMI in 1966.
Edwards is weaving the same cloth he did at Radford High School, where he scored 32 touchdowns as a senior and 57 in two varsity seasons. The redshirt freshman, often the extra man in Tech's three-back goal-line offense, has five 1-yard touchdown runs and a 55-yard reception in two games.
"I had no idea it would be like this," Edwards said Saturday.
"We talked that I was going to be starting [on goal-line situations]. I didn't know I'd be getting the ball like I am."
Edwards was asked if he'd ever had more fun in a football game.
"This is pretty high on the list," he said.
Tech gained 500 rushing yards, a school record and the most ever against Pitt, surpassing Notre Dame's 464 yards in 1971. Tech's 675 total yards are the most Pitt has given up, bettering the 647 by the 1944 Army team led by Glenn Davis and Doc Blanchard.
In other Tech news:
\ INJURIES: Tech cornerback Tyronne Drakeford (sprained left shoulder) is probable for Saturday's 4 p.m. game at Miami. Free safety Antonio Banks (sprained right ankle) is questionable. Linebacker George DelRicco (sprained right shoulder) is doubtful. . . . Pitt played most of the game without linebacker Tom Tumulty, the Panthers' best defensive player, who aggravated an infected elbow. Others who left early were linebacker Gerald Simpson (sprained knee) and defensive linemen Zatiti Moody (sprained ankle) and Dell Seagraves (sprained knee). All but Seagraves are first-teamers.
\ BIG EAST RECORDS: Tech kicker Ryan Williams set conference records for point-after kicks attempted and made in a game with nine, surpassing the old mark of eight by Miami's Dane Prewitt. Williams has had seven PATs attempted and made in a game three times and occupies four of the top five spots on that Big East list. Although the Big East is in its first season of full round-robin play, records have been kept since the league was formed in 1991. . . . Edwards' four touchdowns tied him with three others for the Big East mark for TDs in a game and tied him with Syracuse's David Walker for the record for rushing touchdowns in a game. Walker, Rutgers' Chris Brantley (against Tech last year), Pitt's Curtis Martin and Edwards are the only Big East players to have scored 24 points in a game. . . . Thomas' 170 yards tied him with Martin for the fifth-highest single-game rushing total. . . . Thomas' 8.9 yards per carry is the sixth-best single-game mark. . . . Tech's 72 rushing plays is a conference record, beating Boston College's 71 against Northwestern in 1992. . . . The Hokies' 500 rushing yards bettered Syracuse's record of 421 set against East Carolina last year. . . . Tech's nine touchdowns and 63 points tied Miami's record set against San Diego State in '92. . . . The 675 total yards tied Syracuse's record set against Rutgers last year.
by CNB