Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 24, 1995 TAG: 9509250097
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
They shed tacklers. They bent. They just refused to break, or even fold.
On what began as a dark Saturday and became an afternoon that produced a glow from a source other than the Lane Stadium light towers, that describes the goalposts - shaken but still standing.
That also describes Virginia Tech's football team, which literally ran back into national consciousness.
Grappling with an 0-2 start and an 0-for-history swoon over Miami, the Hokies managed what they never had done, what no unranked team had pulled off in more than a decade.
Tech won 13-7 and it didn't have to be that close, but it was. The Hurricanes drove to the Hokies' 24-yard line with 17 seconds left.
``I was concerned then,'' said Tech coach Frank Beamer, ``that we had missed some opportunities to put it out of sight, and now a great player was going to win it for them.''
Beamer's 42nd coaching victory at his alma mater was one of the biggest in school history. And, in one way, it was a throwback to another time.
With '80s All-American alumnus Bruce Smith back on campus, Tech's offensive attack was right out of former coach Bill Dooley's playbook.
Hi, diddle, diddle, let's run it up the middle.
In an electric atmosphere before a sellout crowd, Tech certainly was well-grounded. After the Hokies had thrown 83 passes in losses to Boston College and Cincinnati, they decided to be more down to earth.
Tech rushed into the Hurricanes for 300 yards. Sure, Miami no longer has a Warren Sapp on the defensive front, but the Hurricanes don't have a bunch of other saps up there, either.
The Hokies ran on 49 of their 65 plays from scrimmage, after passing on 53 percent of their plays in the two losses. How far is 300 yards?
Well, it's the most rushing yards against the Hurricanes since 1979, when Syracuse went for 376 against Howard Schnellenberger's first Miami club.
In three previous meetings with the 'Canes since Big East football kicked off, Tech managed only a total of 229 yards in 110 carries, including minus-14 last year at the Orange Bowl. And those efforts were by some of the best offensive teams in Hokie history.
``We didn't think Miami was quite as talented up front as they had been,'' Beamer said. ``Their linebackers are great, and their secondary is very good.
``We knew we needed better balance on offense. Some people were saying [quarterback Jim] Druckenmiller had to play better, but what it was is we were putting him under too much pressure.
``We had four of five guys blocking. We didn't hit the holes. It was like Druck had to make perfect throws. That's a lot of pressure on him.''
Tech ran on its first nine plays and 25 of 33 by halftime. And the Hokies had an average of 7-plus yards on first-down plays.
The Hokies kept the ball for almost 33 minutes, and that was just enough to make them the first unranked team to beat Miami since Maryland in 1984.
The Tech defense? It was no question mark, either. It limited Miami to the fewest points in its past 117 regular-season games. The Hurricanes, whose only other loss in 21 Big East games was 17-14 at West Virginia in 1993, haven't been 1-2 since '78.
``It's really big, if we take it from here,'' Beamer said.
He also hoped the way in which the Hokies won was a lesson learned. They could have been up 17-0 after the first play of the second quarter, when wide-open Bryan Still dropped a long Druckenmiller pass that would have been a touchdown.
It wasn't the first time this season a Tech receiver played a pass like his hands were made of the same Hokie Stone that dominates the campus architecture. And although the Hokies can't kick about winning, Atle Larsen made a field-goal attempt one of the team's most dangerous plays.
When the season began, the Hokies were coming off back-to-back bowl appearances for the first time in school history. Their fans were asking when Tech was going to finally beat Miami.
Now, they have the answer. By kickoff Saturday, of course, that was no longer the question. The Hokies had fallen as fast as the California Angels, and were facing the most talented team in the Big East and six of its final eight games away from home.
The Hokies also were disgruntled about home-crowd booing. A frustrated Beamer even made comments early last week about the Tech band not playing enough.
Tech knew it was wasting a great opportunity for a great year in a weakened Big East race. With a loss to the Hurricanes, Tech's battle cry for the rest of the season could have paraphrased Patrick Henry:
``Give me the Liberty Bowl, or give me death.''
So, how did the Hokies manage to get off the ground? By staying there.
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB