Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 11, 1994 TAG: 9409190014
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-9 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HATTIESBURG, MISS. LENGTH: Medium
Holder Jon Shields, way down the depth chart at flanker, caught a pass improperly during pregame drills. He hurt the ring finger of his left hand, he said, and had to have it taped.
Then he went out and, in the first quarter, bobbled a snap on a field-goal attempt that wound up in the hands of kicker Ryan Williams, who threw the ball incomplete as he was being hit (and, it turned out, suffering a separated shoulder that will keep him out of action for two to three weeks).
Did the finger matter on the field-goal snap?
``I don't know,'' said Shields, a senior from Newtown, Pa. ``It was so wet. The ball was wet, my hands were wet. The ball was soggy, and it was raining at the time.''
Could or should Tech have used its backup holder? Well, Shields pointed out, that would have been freshman kicker/punter John Thomas - and using him would have canceled Tech's plan to redshirt Thomas.
Shields said his finger will be X-rayed Monday.
``There might be a chip in it,'' Shields said of the finger. ``It might be broken.''
Shields' adventure was one of several for Tech's special teams, which were good Sept.3 against Arkansas State but on Saturday, coach Frank Beamer said, found ``odd things happening.''
Those included senior punter Robbie Colley dropping his first two snaps and putting Tech's defense in tough spots.
``I had trouble gripping the ball,'' said Colley, from Tazewell. ``It was a bad day.
``It hurts. It hurts. But that's life. That's football.''
Colley did get off one punt, he said, by ``bearing down and concentrating. It's good to have your teammates behind you.''
A GOOD LICK: Late in the second quarter, Southern Miss' Chris Buckhalter took a pitch to the left and Tech safety Antonio Banks popped him head-on for a resounding hit. Banks jumped up, celebrated, then went to the turf, apparently injured. Turns out he broke his nose, he said, because his helmet crunched down when he made the hit. He returned to action a few plays later, but was dabbing blood from his nose with a towel during interviews after the game.
ON THE RUN: Tech tailback Dwayne Thomas' 123 yards gave him 1,563 for his career, moving him past Mickey Fitzgerald and Tommy Francisco into 14th place on the Hokies' all-time list.
``Their defensive ends were way out, their linebackers moved out of the middle,'' Thomas said. ``All we had to do was get through the line of scrimmage and into the secondary.''
STATS: Despite Tech's offensive inconsistency, it has had the ball for 69 minutes, 5 seconds of the Hokies' 120 minutes of play this season. Defensively, the longest drive against Tech this year is a nine-play, 58-yarder by Arkansas State. Southern Miss' longest drive was seven plays - on its last possession of the game.
Sixteen of 22 possessions against the Hokies this year have lasted three plays or fewer.
IMPROV: Tech quarterback Maurice DeShazo ignored coach Frank Beamer on one play Saturday, for the Hokies' good.
On second-and-six from the Southern Miss 41 in the third quarter with the score tied, DeShazo rolled right.
``I'm screaming for Maurice to run for the first down, and he pulls up and throws it to [Bryan] Still for a touchdown,'' Beamer said of the Hokies' go-ahead score. ``I'm glad Maurice is with us. He's got that gambling way about him.''
ETC: Southern Miss is 0-3 against ranked teams at home, losing 61-17 to No.6 Florida State in 1976 and 48-20 to No.16 East Carolina in 1991. ... Of 45 Division I-A games listed with betting lines Friday, 71/2-point favorite Tech was one of 13 road teams favored, one of eight favored by a touchdown or more. ... The teams entered the game with nearly identical records in the 1990s: Tech is 24-22-1; Southern Miss 22-24-1. ... Tech is one of four 1993 bowl teams on the Golden Eagles' schedule this year (Alabama, Texas A&M, Florida). ... Tommy Waters is believed to be the only Southern Miss quarterback to have started all four season-opening games during his career.
by CNB