Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 1, 1995 TAG: 9501030103
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: JACKSONVILLE, FLA. LENGTH: Medium
After being stuck in the woods en route to Gainesville's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Friday afternoon, the Hokies couldn't escape Tennessee's big timber in the 50th Gator Bowl game.
The Volunteers (8-4) sawed through the Hokies like they were hot butter in a 45-23 roll-job before 62,200 fans.
Running through a Tech defense that often resembled an open cornfield, the smooth Tennessee attack ripped off one big-yardage play after another against the Hokies' gasping defenders.
Of Tennessee's school-bowl-record 495 total offense yards, 255 came on seven plays. Big play No.8 - Shawn Summers' 49-yard punt return late in the third quarter - set up a game-clinching score that made it 42-16 and killed any Tech hopes.
``Too many long plays defensively, just too many long plays,'' Tech coach Frank Beamer confessed. ``And early on we did what we couldn't afford to do - turn the ball over. It's tough to overcome that.''
An omen of Tech's swamping inside ``The Swamp'' was provided long before the Hokies arrived. The four buses carrying the Hokies on the 63-mile hike from Jacksonville to Gainesville got mired in a pregame traffic snarl, forcing police escorts to lead the Tech convoy on a series of one-lane backwoods roads.
``It was unbelievable,'' said Billy Hite, Tech's assistant head coach. ``It was like going through Ironto [Va.] or something.
``The buses could barely fit the roads. The cars we met had to be pulled off the side of the road to get the buses through.''
The Hokies arrived at Florida Field only 15 minutes behind schedule.
As it turned out, Tech would have been better off not showing at all. The Big East Hokies simply were out of their league against the SEC Vols.
Although Tech fought back in the second half, and actually could have made things interesting if flanker Bryan Still hadn't dropped a sure 61-yard touchdown pass that would have made it 35-23 with a quarter left, this one was over early.
Possibly as early as the second play of the game, when Tech's scattergun-throwing quarterback, Maurice DeShazo, was intercepted by Vols linebacker Tyrone Hines.
Tennessee tailback James ``Little Man'' Stewart, scored the first of his three touchdowns 4 minutes, 4 seconds later.
Things would only get worse. With Tech throwing seven and eight men on the line of scrimmage to stop the Vols' vaunted running game, Tennessee's smooth freshman quarterback Peyton Manning elected to throw.
After finding wideout Joey Kent - the Hokies never found the guy all night - for a critical 13-yard gain on third-and-eight from the Vols' 22, Manning hit Kent on a 42-yard fly to the Tech 36. On the next play, Manning collaborated with Marcus Nash on a 36-yard touchdown pass that made it 14-0.
``I think we made them respect our passing game,'' said Manning, who hit 12 of 19 throws for 189 of the Vols' 250 air yards.
``They bunched it up on us, I put it up and our guys made some great catches.''
The Vols led 21-0 and 35-7 before the Hokies, trying to save face, scored 10 straight points to make it 35-16 midway into the third quarter.
After finally stopping Tennessee's offense, Tech had one last gasp. But that slipped away when DeShazo's perfectly thrown bomb slithered through the normally secure hands of Still with 31 seconds left in the third quarter.
``We simply made too many mistakes to beat a hot team,'' Beamer said. ``Tennessee is a great team. They have great talent.''
It was talent Tech found unstoppable. Besides Manning, Stewart and Kent were the Vols' big weapons.
Stewart, the game's MVP, had 87 yards rushing and accounted for a fourth score on an 18-yard tailback option pass to Kendrick Jones that made it 35-7.
Kent, showing no ill effects after spraining an ankle in practice Wednesday, got lost in the Tech secondary, making six catches for 189 yards.
On the Tech side, DeShazo, who had declared to be the ``Old Maurice'' again, didn't come up with the big game the Hokies so sorely needed.
DeShazo accounted for all three Tech turnovers (two interceptions and one fumble) and was pulled from his final college game with 9 minutes left in favor of junior backup Jim Druckenmiller.
``I hate to go out this way,'' DeShazo said. ``It's hard to believe that's it for me and the boys.''
Beamer, who hopefully found a Saturday golfing round at TPC at Sawgrass easier than Tennessee, vowed the Hokies will see the Gator again someday.
``We're going to be back and we're going to be better,'' Beamer said. ``Yes sir, we're going to be back, believe me.''
by CNB