Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9409210008
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESTNUT HILL, MASS. LENGTH: Long
Memory and perception were 18th-ranked Virginia Tech's unseen tools Saturday as the Hokies disassembled Boston College 12-7 in the first college football game at renovated Alumni Stadium.
The Hokies were 21/2-point underdogs, felt just about everybody thought they would lose and remained emotionally sore over BC's two-touchdown victory here last year.
So rover Torrian Gray scored the Hokies' only touchdown, on a 66-yard interception return in the third-quarter. And, Tech tore down an Eagles offense that had gained 503 yards against fourth-ranked Michigan on Sept.3, not to mention 617 against the same Hokies in November 1993.
The Eagles, who lost starting quarterback Mark Hartsell to a second-quarter hand injury, didn't venture past the Tech 29-yard line until less than a minute remained as the Hokies won a game with defense for the second consecutive week.
Tech is 3-0 for the first time since 1981 (1-0 in the Big East Football Conference), positioned for a bowl-coalition spot and wagging we-told-you-so fingers at a bunch of folks.
``We felt they didn't respect us coming into the game,'' said Gray, citing real or made-up midweek comments by BC players. ``It could've been from when [Eagles quarterback Glenn Foley] dominated us on defense last year. Their players probably were expecting they were going to come out and do it again, and we wanted to earn their respect.''
Gray's interception was one of four by Tech (two by cornerback William Yarborough); Hartsell, true freshman Scott Mutryn and Jeff Ryan combined for 30 incompletions; and the Eagles (0-2, 0-1) were held to 66 yards rushing as linebackers Ken Brown and George DelRicco totaled 18 tackles, four behind the line of scrimmage.
The Hokies' Atle Larsen made two of four field-goal attempts, connecting from 48 yards in the second quarter and 34 yards in the third - the latter giving Tech a 12-0 lead with 1 minute, 8 seconds left in the quarter.
Ryan's 12-yard pass to Pete Mitchell with six seconds left erased what would've been Tech's first shutout in 51 games.
Last year's shootout Hokies, whose games finished with scores such as 45-24, 48-34 and 49-42, have switched to heavy-handed defensive coercion to back up a suddenly wishy-washy offense.
``I thought our offense would put points on the board,'' said Brown. ``I thought our defense was going to hold 'em under 14 points.''
It did better, prompting Tech coach Frank Beamer to note the '93 team developed offense first, then defense.
``It's just reversed right now,'' Beamer said.
Quarterback Maurice DeShazo completed 13 of 27 passes for 145 yards, with no touchdowns and no interceptions in an unremarkable outing. BC sacked him five times (two by linebacker Stephen Boyd, who was credited with 19 tackles), and DeShazo threw away one option pitch and, twice in one series, missed Antonio Freeman for probable touchdowns.
On the Hokies' second drive, he overthrew Dwayne Thomas on a swing pass on third-and-goal from the BC 14.
``I think I'm getting nervous again,'' said DeShazo, who tried to force his play at times as a sophomore. ``[I need to] let the game come to me.''
Tech took a 3-0 lead on Larsen's 48-yarder with 13:27 left in the second quarter, but that drive featured consecutive gains of 12, 13, 10 and 12 yards before halting at the BC 32.
Meanwhile, the Eagles remained grounded by Tech's defense. BC, Hartsell said, took much of the first half adjusting to the Hokies' double-teaming of All-America tight end Mitchell.
``We were slow,'' Hartsell said. ``I was really confident we were going to come back. They doubled Pete and did a lot of funneling, so we've got to throw the ball outside. We made the adjustment ... and that's when I got hurt.''
Hartsell, who threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns against Michigan, said he thought his hand smacked a player's arm (possibly that of Tech's Jim Baron). He dislocated his right index finger and suffered a six-stitch cut on his right middle finger.
BC, which had two first downs and 88 total yards at halftime, opened the second half with Parade All-American Mutryn at quarterback, the highly recruited freshman's first action this year.
Mutryn's first pass, on the half's second play, appeared to stall in 20-mph winds and was intercepted by Yarborough. On the Eagles' third drive of the half, Mutryn's pass skidded off split end Greg Grice's hands and into Gray's arms at the Tech 34.
``I was just standing there, waiting for the ball,'' Gray said. ``When I caught it, I saw the sideline [open] to the right.''
Cornell Brown's downfield block was the only escort Gray needed to score the Hokies' fourth defensive touchdown in their past six games. A botched extra point left the score 9-0 with 6:52 left.
``That was a downer,'' said BC's Ryan, who re-entered the game on the Eagles' next series. ``But we had a ton of time left.''
It didn't matter. BC picked up two first downs on its next two series, then drove to the Tech 29 before a Ryan incompletion and a toss to split end Kenyatta Watson that lost a yard on fourth-and-eight gave the ball back to Tech.
BC got it back and spoiled the Hokies' shutout bid, but Jeff Beckley popped his onside kick out of bounds and to Tech, which left most in the crowd of 44,500 silent with its effort.
Last year, when the Eagles' victory denied the Hokies one of the Big East's spots in the bowl coalition and propelled BC into the Carquest Bowl, Eagles fans chanted ``overrated'' at the Hokies.
``We got that out of their system about the middle of the first quarter this year,'' Yarborough said.
Although Gray said Tech's defenders curtailed locker-room celebrating because they didn't get a shutout, Saturday's game may enable the Hokies to shed what Ken Brown called their '93 reputation as a ``first-half'' defense.
``This year, we're more complete,'' Brown said. ``We're playing defense four quarters. This game, we played 58 minutes.''
It was more than enough.
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB