Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 13, 1994 TAG: 9411230016
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Frank Beamer and Doug Graber assured listeners last week that Saturday's Virginia Tech-Rutgers football game wouldn't be like the point-counterpoint meetings of the past two years.
What do coaches know?
In a Big East Football Conference series that has exploded more scoreboards than Bill Veeck, the Hokies outlasted Rutgers 41-34 at Lane Stadium.
Two years ago, the Scarlet Knights won 50-49. Last year, the Hokies survived 49-42. At this rate, they'll finally play a 10-3 game in the year 2525, if man is still alive.
Beamer said he ``didn't quite understand'' why his Hokies and the Knights are so offensive to each other. Graber said he was ``mystified.''
In this series, even the quotes are close. Rutgers had 474 yards, 4 more than Tech, which has played in four of the six highest-scoring conference games in Big East history.
In the three games they've played since the Big East starting kicking the ball around, Tech and Rutgers have combined for 37 touchdowns - 13 of those on plays covering at least 34 yards - 3,106 yards of total offense, 147 first downs and no fewer than 10 points in any quarter.
Appropriately, Tech's offense was good enough to win Saturday, something the Hokies haven't been able to say in most of their dates during an 8-2 regular season that finishes here Nov.19 against Virginia.
Gary Tranquill, Tech's offensive coordinator, admitted the Hokies probably played too conservatively on second-half possessions, but there was no denying the continued improvement of quarterback Maurice DeShazo.
After a struggling start to his senior season, DeShazo again is approaching the kind of play he produced in guiding Tech to a 9-3 finish and an Independence Bowl victory last season.
Since throwing an interception in the fourth quarter of an Oct.1 loss at Syracuse, the former Bassett High School star is 70-of-124 passing for 847 yards and six touchdowns. Most importantly, he's thrown only one interception - in the loss at Miami - after seeing seven of his passes picked off in the first five games.
He entered the game rated eighth and last among starting Big East quarterbacks in passing efficiency. He finished a 12-for-15 day with two scoring tosses and a touchdown run and was only 3 yards from Don Strock's school record of 5,871 in career total offense.
``I've tried to relax,'' said DeShazo, who is doing more by trying to do less. He began the season by putting pressure on himself, playing like he was trying to carry his team and the Heisman Trophy, an honor he had no legitimate shot at winning.
In recent games, Tech's offense has been diluted and adapted to DeShazo's strengths. He is trying to run fewer options, but still running the option. He also has learned that even when he is down, the high-powered Hokies aren't necessarily out.
That's because one of the best plays DeShazo can make is the one he tried about 40 times Saturday - a handoff or pitch, particularly to tailback Dwayne Thomas.
Tech will be seeking its ninth consecutive non-conference victory and 12th consecutive Lane Stadium triumph at high noon against Virginia (7-2). Each team knows it has a bowl bid, but neither knows where.
The Hokies know they're the favorite - ahead of Boston College and Syracuse - for the Big East's third selection in the Carquest Bowl against a fifth selection from the Southeastern Conference, perhaps South Carolina or Georgia.
The Peach, which gets the ACC's third choice, likes UVa against a fourth SEC team. However, next week's game could be for a Gator Bowl berth in the second tier of the coalition. The ACC's fourth team goes to the Hall of Fame Bowl. The Big East likely will close a deal within a few days to send its No.4 to the Aloha or Liberty.
However, if the coalition doesn't take Tech, the Carquest will for a Jan.2 date at Joe Robbie Stadium. The Hokies figure they can take 15,000 fans to suburban Miami.
The victory over Rutgers left Tech with a bowlful of possibilities. And on a day when Beamer's attorney, Craig Kelly, also made a formal contract presentation for the coach to Dave Braine, Tech's athletic director, how's this for an intriguing irony of possibility?
Have the Hokies realized they could be playing Georgia in the Carquest Bowl with Beamer on the opposite sideline?
That's a rumor, just like good defense in a Tech-Rutgers game.
by CNB