Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, September 27, 1993 TAG: 9309270145
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: From Associated Press and staff reports
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I ran out because I saw he had his helmet off," Basham said. "I just tried to grab Jeff. As I was grabbing Jeff, one of the coaches tried to grab me. I kind of pushed him off.
"If that's what it takes to [help a teammate], that's what I'm going to do. . . . [Jeff] told me after the fight that some [Maryland] players just ripped [his helmet] off, and he got hit several times."
Maryland offensive tackle Steve Ingram said the fight was "just something that occurred" when players tried to separate Tech's Tyronne Drakeford and Maryland's Sharrod Mack, who were struggling for possession of a blocked field goal.
The fight, one of at least four in college football on Saturday, lasted about three minutes. Play was stopped for seven minutes.
\ PRESTON'S BACK: Senior P.J. Preston is returning to the team after having overcome the mystery illness that forced him to quit before the season.
The Martinsville native will practice this week and is expected to be available for action against West Virginia.
Preston has overcome a gagging sensation brought on by physical exertion by using a visualization technique.
In other college football:
\ MOUNTAINEERS MAKE TOP 25: West Virginia broke into the Top 25, while Stanford dropped out of The Associated Press college football poll after losing for the second time.
West Virginia rose to No. 25 after beating Missouri 35-3 and improving its record to 3-0.
Stanford, 17th last week, fell out of the poll after losing to UCLA 28-25.
Florida State, which has been No. 1 since the start of the season, remained on top of the media poll with 58 first-place votes and 1,545 points.
The rest of the Top 10 also stayed the same.
Virginia moved up one spot to 21st this week after beating Duke 35-0.
by CNB