ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 3, 1996 TAG: 9611050020
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
Now that it's officially been cut off from the cupcake line, Virginia Tech's football team finally can proceed to the meat portion of its schedule.
Enjoying one final 1996 pastry, Tech picked at Southwestern Louisiana for 2 1/2 quarters, then devoured the Ragin' Cajuns 47-16 in front of 35,643 chilled fans Saturday afternoon at Lane Stadium.
After getting fat off a string of cream puffs named Akron, Boston College, Rutgers, Temple, Pittsburgh and Southwestern Louisiana, the 6-1 Hokies' stretch-drive plate is left with butcher-shop orders East Carolina, Miami, West Virginia and Virginia.
``We're coming up to the big boys now,'' said Ken Oxendine, a Tech tailback. ``Pretty much everyone we play now is in the polls or has beaten some of the top teams.
``So there's nothing easy from here on in. We'll find out what we're made of now. I think we'll step things up a notch.''
Tech will have to. Against the remaining quartet, the Hokies won't be able to play patty-cake for a while, toy around, then turn up the burners late and expect to win.
As against Pitt, Rutgers and Akron, that was the Tech script Saturday. The three-touchdown-underdog Ragin' Cajuns were down just 23-16 with 6:48 left in the third quarter.
Then, as if looking in their rearview mirror and noticing a pursuer closing, the Hokies mashed the pedal and sped away.
Eighty-four seconds later, after a drive set up by Shawn Scales' 61-yard kickoff return, freshman Shayne Graham's fourth field goal of the game made it 26-16.
USL (4-5) fumbled on its next possession, with Tech's Torrian Gray recovering at the Cajuns' 13. Helped by a questionable pass interference penalty on USL's Damon Mason, Oxendine scored on a 2-yard run to make it 33-16.
Jake Delhomme, USL's throwing machine who beat Tech's defense for a season-high 255 passing yards, drove his team to the Tech 8. But Loren Johnson's end-zone interception killed the drive and USL's upset hopes.
Tech, after relying primarily on a ground game that produced 328 yards, then got 65 of its 114 passing yards in one play. Michael Stuewe took a short pass from Jim Druckenmiller, wriggled out of Garrett Johnson's grasp, and sped 65 yards untouched to make it 40-16 with 10:52 left.
The Hokies, scoring on a sixth straight possession, iced their highest-scoring output of the season on Oxendine's 1-yard run with 5:45 left.
While the scoreboard numbers looked good when the clock read all zeros, the Hokies realized this Tastykake should have gone down a little easier.
Despite living in USL territory long enough to pay taxes in the first half, the Hokies mustered only one touchdown and two field goals in five trips inside the visitors' 20.
Tech's inability to finish drives left what could have been a blowout 20-9 at halftime.
``I don't think I've ever had such good position with a good offense and not score as many points,'' Tech coach Frank Beamer said. ``We had great field position, we just didn't score enough.''
USL, which led 6-3 after Delhomme found Donald Richard past Loren Johnson for a 65-yard touchdown pass, was in a giving mood, also.
The Ragin Cajuns' special teams were anything but, having two punts blocked and another one where punter Mike Jones went down on one knee to receive a low snap and was whistled down by the officials. That miscue was especially damaging for it came on a fake punt and Jones had found Dave Dickerson for what appeared to be a possible touchdown.
Tech got seven on the next play, as Scales took a flare from Druckenmiller and raced 21 yards to make it 10-6.
``We felt that was at least a 10-point swing right there,'' said USL coach Nelson Stokley.
After having their next two drives end inside the USL 20 on a botched field-goal attempt and fumble by Brian Edmonds, Tech went up 17-9 after Keion Carpenter's blocked punt set the Hokies up at the USL 11.
Two plays later, Marcus Parker scored on a 1-yard run.
Graham's 19-yard field goal with six seconds left made it an 11-point game at halftime.
Not enough for a team that held the ball for all but 8:24 of the first half.
`` Yeah, it was frustrating,'' Druckenmiller said. ``We had a ton of chances, but we couldn't come up with a big catch or a big throw. We should be scoring touchdowns in those kinds of situations.''
For the third straight game, the running game carried Tech's offense. Oxendine led the way with 140 yards on 22 carries. It was the junior's third straight 100-yard game, the first time a Hokie has done that since 1979 when Kenny Lewis opened the season with three consecutive triple-figure games.
``It wasn't a great game again, but yet we won,'' Beamer said. ``We're going to have to play better down the stretch. That stretch of four games is going to get real serious. We're eligible for a bowl now, and that's big. But we want to finish strong.''
Tech, which is a virtual lock to claim one of the four Big East bowl spots, will find out something about itself the next 27 days, said senior Billy Conaty.
``We'll find out if we're really a good team or not.''
LENGTH: Long : 101 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM\Staff. 1. Michael Stuewe (right) of Virginiaby CNBTech blocks a punt by Mike Jones (3) in the second quarter. color.
2. Virginia Tech defender Antonio Banks (right) pulls down Darren
Strother by the face mask in the first quarter.