ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 2, 1996 TAG: 9601020178
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B5 EDITION: METRO
Jim Hodges, Los Angeles Times: ``Frank Beamer wants Virginia Tech to be more like Texas? Glamorous, he called it.
Carrying tradition, notoriety, rankings. A catch for any bowl.
That's Texas, he said, and `that's where we want to be.'
He's aiming a little low. The Hokies hardly were glamorous Sunday in their 28-10 victory over Texas in the Sugar Bowl, but they were prettier than the Longhorns. Virginia Tech could claim OK late in the third quarter when Marcus Parker ran 2 yards untouched for a touchdown and a 14-10 lead. And maybe even attractive when Jim Druckenmiller completed a 54-yard pass to Bryan Still for the game's final points.
But glamorous?
Nobody that plays defense and special teams like Virginia Tech is glamorous. A winner, sure. A coach's delight, maybe, but not something you'd hang in an art gallery.''
Tony Brackens, Texas defensive end: ``We went out the Southwest Conference champion. We'll always be known for that.''
From Jonathan Feigen, Houston Chronicle: ``When Texas finally felt unbeatable again, it collapsed. When it looked good, things went bad. When it got its quarterback back to relatively good health, he had his most painful experience.
And just when it seemed a Southwest Conference champion was ready to win a bowl, it was exposed as an imposter.
Though it would be too much to say Texas' season was rendered as much a fraud as its reserve cornerback formerly known as Ron McKelvey, the Longhorns were undressed Sunday in the Nokia Sugar Bowl.
The Longhorns became the eighth consecutive - and last - SWC champ to lose its bowl. And like most of the SWC champs of recent vintage, the Longhorns did not come close, losing 28-10 to a Virginia Tech team bent on proving itself the real thing.''
Peter Finney, New Orleans Times-Picayune: ``So just what is a Hokie?
Ask a Longhorn today, any Longhorn, and the answer would be: tough turkey.
For a school that began playing football in 1892, it has taken Virginia Tech more than a century to score its biggest victory.
But, obviously, the wait was worth it.''
Frank Beamer, Tech head coach: ``Sure, I think this is the greatest win in Tech history, but maybe we have some more coming up.''
Top sports page headline, in war-type, in The Times-Picayune of New Orleans: ``HOKIES HOOK 'EM.''
Skip Miller, Newport News Daily Press: ``Texas was a quality opponent. The victory was impressive. The country was watching. Will college football's pollsters respond by voting Virginia Tech into the coveted Top 10?
``They should. This team is that special. It wasn't always, but it is now.''
Frank Beamer, Tech head coach, on a ticker-tape parade for the Hokies: ``It wouldn't last long. Blacksburg is about as long as it to the back of this room.''
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: DON PETERSEN/Staff Tech's Cornell Brown sacks Texasby CNBquarterback James Brown in the fourth quarter of the Sugar Bowl on
Sunday in New Orleans. color KEYWORDS: FOOTBALL