Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, January 1, 1994 TAG: 9401010088
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: SHREVEPORT, LA. LENGTH: Medium
The Hokies turned the 18th annual game into a chainsaw massacre.
A sign hanging in front of the Hokies' cheering section Friday afternoon at Independence Stadium surely described the second bowl victory in Tech history:
"We came, we saw, we gobbled."
With an Independence Bowl scoring record, the Hokies mashed Indiana with more than points in their first game against a Big Ten club. In a 45-20 victory, coach Frank Beamer's team scored on offense, defense and with the special teams of what has to be one of the most special teams in Hokie history.
How convincing was Tech's triumph? It wasn't only political correctness that had Virginia Gov.-elect George Allen - a former UVa quarterback - wearing a Hokie tie and cap and standing on a locker room podium loudly praising the winners.
Allen had to realize he was a Wahoo hopelessly marooned.
While Tech's ninth victory - one that certainly will push the Hokies into the top 20 of the final poll Sunday - may have seemed to an anxious Beamer like it would never end, it actually was over at halftime.
That was after Tech tied an Independence record with a 21-point quarter, to build a 28-13 lead. It wasn't the deficit that frustrated the Hoosiers as much as how the Hokies built the lead.
The final four minutes of a one-hour second quarter included a fumbled lateral recovery, an end-zone pass interception, a fumble recovered and run back for a touchdown and something the Hokies hadn't done previously in their 100 years of football.
Antonio Banks' 80-yard return to end the first half was the first blocked field goal run back for a touchdown in Tech history. And Indiana only had itself to blame.
When Hoosiers receiver Eddie Baety caught a pass near the sideline and failed to get out of bounds at the Tech 33, the clock ticked off the last seconds of the half.
The Hokies headed for the locker room. The Hoosiers screamed that they had called a timeout. The ACC-assigned officiating crew put one second back on the clock, and Hoosiers coach Bill Mallory send Bill Manolopolous onto the field for a 51-yard field goal try.
"We were frustrated we had to come back out," said Tech safety Torrian Gray. "Coach Beamer got us together and said, `OK, let's block it.'
"I'm thinking to myself, `Yeah, right.' "
Beamer was. Lineman Jeff Holland blocked the kick - the 36th kick block in Beamer's seven seasons on his alma mater's sideline. Centerfielder Antonio Banks made the catch. Down the left sideline Banks went, with one Hoosier angling to finally end the half.
It was holder Chris Dyer. Gray's last block turned Dyer into a weed eater. Then, the Hokies not only didn't leave the field, they charged onto it - apparently showing their frenzied fans how to do the same a half later.
"I was wanting to get out of the half," Beamer said. "I didn't think Indiana called a timeout, and I was trying to encourage the officials that this half was over. They said, `No, it's not.'
"After the play I said, `Nice call.' "
With two unusual, game-breaking touchdowns in 23 seconds - defensive end Lawrence Lewis had just returned an IU fumble for a score - the Hokies had reason to celebrate. For that, they were were penalized halfway back to their Blacksburg campus to start the second half. It didn't matter.
Against Tech's young but matured defense, the Hoosiers couldn't run like coordinator Phil Elmassian feared they might. The pass didn't worry the Hokies. In an 8-3 season, the Hoosiers ranked 11th through the air in the Big Ten.
Against the nation's 10th-ranked defense, Tech controlled the clock for 18 minutes in the first half, then added 17 points in the fourth quarter. In six games of a 9-3 season, the Hokies scored at least 45 points.
Tech's highest ranking in a final Associated Press poll was No. 16, in 1954. A leap from 22nd in the final regular-season poll to that might be asking a bit much.
However, it is the jump from last year's 2-8-1 finish that had Beamer rightfully beaming Friday. It isn't only the calendar that says it's a Happy New Year in his program today.
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB