Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 17, 1993 TAG: 9310170119
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Steve Sanders did the Twist. Dwayne Thomas did the Twirl. Antonio Freeman took his partners for a spin, then ditched them.
All three did at least one jig in the end zone, contributing to Tech's 55-7 rout of Temple in a Big East Conference game before a crowd of 40,634 at Lane Stadium.
The Hokies' offense went from gun-shy to shotgun as Maurice DeShazo tied his and Don Strock's school record with four touchdown passes. Thomas gained 152 yards rushing, including a career-long 73-yard touchdown, the longest Tech run in 16 years.
Only the Hokies' defense was bashful, allowing Temple a season-high 335 yards total offense, 13 plays of 10 yards or more, seven third-down conversions and a fourth-down conversion for the Owls' only touchdown.
"Overall, we're not going to be as happy as the score was," said Frank Beamer, Tech's head coach.
Temple (1-5 overall, 0-3 in the Big East) had 213 yards rushing, part of the reason the Owls were almost happy afterward. Ralphiel Mack led the way with 150 yards, the most by a Temple player this season.
"We played a little harder today," Mack said. "We stuck with the running game, and it worked out for all of us. Not too well, but better than usual."
Beamer knows the Hokies (4-2, 2-2) could have played better, even though they scored more than 50 points for the third time this year - the first time that's happened since 1917.
"I thought we had some great individual performances," said Beamer, who is 4-2 for the first time in his six-plus years at Tech. "I thought overall we were a little bit ragged."
The Hokies cut a rug on offense, though, high-stepping against a defense that was giving up an average of 54 points and 490 yards per game.
Tech threw 31 passes, the first time it has attempted more than 24 this year.
"Anybody in their right mind is going to pass on our secondary," said Ron Dickerson, Temple's first-year head coach.
Freeman consistently beat the Owls' freshman-laden secondary and caught scoring passes of 10, 63 and 52 yards from DeShazo. He finished with eight catches for 194 yards, the most receiving yardage ever at Lane Stadium (Virginia's Herman Moore had 180 in 1990).
Sanders swiveled his hips and shoulders to slide through two defenders after a slant-pattern catch in the third quarter, turning it into a 52-yard touchdown play.
And Thomas decorated his long touchdown run with a midfield whirl through two defenders.
"I've used that same spin move since high school," he said. "It's built-in to me."
Temple couldn't keep up with Tech, but showed more offensive grace than usual. Quarterback Phil Lang was sacked four times, but he eluded at least that many more potential losses. He scored on a 4-yard run when he cut back to his left after rolling right. The conversion kick made it 21-7 Tech with 7 minutes, 40 seconds left in the first half.
The Hokies tackled as though at a chaperoned dance: no bodily contact. Tech defenders said a week off may have hurt their timing.
"They came in without a tight end," said defensive end Hank Coleman. "That kind of threw us off-balance."
Dickerson enjoyed it - except for the scoring part.
"They played their guts out," he said of his Owls. "We were just physically outmatched."
Tech countered Temple's score with 2:56 left in the first half, when DeShazo and Freeman connected for a 63-yard touchdown pass. The point-after kick made it 28-7. The Hokies' defense held the Owls, and Freeman added six points on a 52-yard bomb from DeShazo with 19 seconds left in the half.
"It's good to see our offense can still execute well when we don't perform at our best," Freeman said. \
see microfilm for box score
by CNB