ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 29, 1996 TAG: 9609300138
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: SYRACUSE, N.Y.
Goodbye 13-game winning streak. Sayonara unbeaten season. And so long to the national rankings - maybe.
Yes sir, Virginia Tech flushed 'em all down the toilet Saturday afternoon at its least favorite rest stop, Syracuse University's Carrier Dome.
Exposing themselves in front of a crowd of 49,069 and a national television audience, the Hokies shockingly were sent to the sewer 52-21 by Syracuse.
``I don't think anybody ever thought this would happen,'' said Frank Beamer, Tech's coach.
The loss, the Hokies' worst in terms of margin since a 38-0 drubbing by Virginia in 1991, put the skids on the Hokies' nation-high 13-game winning streak.
The fact No.18 Tech lost - after all, it was a one-point underdog - wasn't so much a story as how it lost.
The Hokies' vaunted defense, the key to Tech's 13-game run, couldn't handle Syracuse up front, couldn't tackle and had absolutely no stopper for Donovan McNabb.
McNabb, the slippery Orange quarterback, peeled off 127 yards rushing and threw for 123 more as Syracuse rolled to 461 yards of total offense.
Shockingly, 338 of those yards came on the ground against a Tech defense had yielded just 126 yards - No. 2 in the country - in its first three games. That's the most rushing yards Tech has yielded in a game since Navy ran for 345 in 1987, Beamer's first season.
``Our job is to stop the run and we didn't do it,'' said Waverly Jackson, a senior defensive tackle for the Hokies. ``I know, personally, I didn't do anything today. They rush for 300 yards, something's wrong. And it ain't the secondary. It's the linemen.
``Hey, our D-line didn't hold up. Their offensive linemen just kicked our'' butts.
Syracuse's 52 points, the most allowed by the Hokies since Tulane beat them 57-38 in 1987 (also indoors, at the Louisiana Superdome), wasn't solely the fault of the Tech defense.
The offense, especially quarterback Jim Druckenmiller, was a major contributor, too, committing four turnovers that led to 21 points for the Orangemen.
Doing exactly what he didn't do in Tech's run of success, a pressured Druckenmiller fumbled a snap that led to a Syracuse touchdown and threw two interceptions, the second leading to one of three touchdowns by the Orange in the final quarter.
``Ain't much to say,'' Druckenmiller said in a quiet Tech locker room. ``They came out and played ball and we didn't. Turnovers kill you and we found that out today.
``Give 'em credit. They outplayed us outplayed me. They outplayed me.''
As bad as the final numbers read, the Hokies actually had a chance in the fourth quarter. Tech (3-1 overall, 2-1 Big East), in its only impressive drive of the game, drove 67 yards in 10 play to closed to 24-21 with 7:55 left in the third quarter.
``We still felt good about things then,'' said Hokies tailback Ken Oxendine, who keyed the drive, running seven times for 42 yards and scoring on a 3-yard cutback. ``We [the offense] were hoping that [the defense] could hold 'em until we could get back into the groove so we could do the same thing the next time'' we got the ball.
Indeed, it appeared the Hokies' defense finally might put the squeeze on the Orange offense on its next possession.
Facing a third-and-17 from his own 44, McNabb reached into his bottomless bag of tricks and came up with the key play of the game. McNabb dropped back and found wideout Jim Turner behind Tech defender Loren Johnson. McNabb hit Turner with a perfect spiral that advanced the ball 48 yards to the Tech 8-yard line. Two plays later, on third-and-10, McNabb scrambled, floated right and found wide-open Quinton Spotwood in the back of the end zone as Syracuse made it 31-21.
``After we score to make it 24-21, and then we have them in third-and-long, I like my chances a lot,'' Beamer said. ``We've got one-on-one with the outside guy with our corner. They took advantage of it to hit that post route. That was the turning point of the game. Then McNabb scrambles and finds the guy in the back of the end zone.''
In the fourth quarter, Syracuse put the hammer down on its first victory in three games.
McNabb started a 21-point salvo by going 72 yards on an option keeper that set up Tebucky Jones' 6-yard touchdown run.
Down 38-21, the Hokies had no choice to but to throw every down. A Druckenmiller interception led to Terry Myers' 5-yard scoring run with 3:19 left that made it 45-21.
Beamer then brought in sophomore backup Al Clark for Druckenmiller. Clark promptly tossed an interception, which Keith Bullock took 20 yards for a touchdown to take Syracuse over the half-century mark.
The victory was sweet for Syracuse, which lost its first two games after being ranked No.10 in The Associated Press' preseason Top 25 poll. Syracuse, 1-0 in the league, got waxed 31-7 last year in Blacksburg.
``We learned how we could play today,'' said McNabb, whose performance had been disappointing in the Orange's two losses. ``Yeah, it feels good to have a win. Now we can smile around here again.''
There were no smiles in the Tech locker room.
``We just didn't play well,'' Beamer said. ``They made big plays and we didn't. And if we missed one tackle, we missed 30.
``We just couldn't stop 'em. And after that, it kind of just got crazy.''
It always does for Beamer and Tech at the Carrier Dome, their personal torture chamber. Tech is 0-4 under Beamer at the dome and has been outscored 143-50.
``There are places I'd rather visit,'' Beamer said, leaving his postgame news conference that, ironically, was held 10 feet from a urinal. ``I don't really care for this place all that much.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Long : 114 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM/Staff. 1. Virginia Tech quarterback Jimby CNBDruckenmiller (16) can't find the football after fumbling an
exchange from center in the second quarter of the Hokies' 52-21
loss. 2. Running back Ken Oxendine (28) dives into the end zone for
a Virginia Tech touchdown late in the first quarter. color. 3.
Cornelius White (4) of Virginia Tech blocks a punt by Sean Reali of
Syracuse and returns it 60 yards for a touchdown.