ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 24, 1996 TAG: 9611260034
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
Certainly, Canute Curtis couldn't have expected to come into Cornell Brown's house and have a one-man sack party Saturday.
It was Brown who was doing the dancing after recording three sacks and intercepting a lateral as 17th-ranked Virginia Tech defeated No. 23 West Virginia 31-14.
``With all due respect to Canute Curtis, I really think we saw the best defensive player in the Big East today - without question,'' Tech coach Frank Beamer said. ``That's not anything against Curtis, but Cornell Brown he's special.''
Curtis, who came into the game with 14 1/2 sacks, barely laid a hand on Tech quarterback Jim Druckenmiller and the Hokies gained 365 yards - the season high against a WVU team that was ranked No. 1 in Division I-A in total defense.
It was the sixth straight victory for Tech, which clinched at least a Gator Bowl bid and kept alive its hopes for a spot in the Bowl Alliance. The Hokies (9-1 overall, 6-1 Big East) finish the regular season Friday against visiting Virginia.
If the Hokies beat Virginia and Miami wins at Syracuse, it would create a three-way tie for first in the Big East, with the highest-rated team going to the Alliance. Meanwhile, West Virginia appears headed to the Liberty Bowl.
``At least we know what bowl we're going to and I hope to heck the media in West Virginia don't go, `Well, we got to go to the Liberty Bowl,''' coach Don Nehlen said. ``I know one thing: Last year we would have given our ass to go to the Liberty Bowl. You got it?'''
The Mountaineers (8-3, 4-3) got as high as 12th in the country after a 7-0 start, but that was before they ran into Miami, Syracuse and Tech. It took a blocked punt for the Hurricanes to win in Morgantown, W.Va., but there was nothing fluky about Tech's win.
``It says something about our football team,'' said Beamer, whose Hokies were coming off their first victory at Miami. ``Most people expected us to have a severe letdown after that emotional and tough football game last week. It says something more than we've just got good players.''
West Virginia, which had an extra week to prepare for the Hokies, picked up a first down on its first offensive play and didn't have another until less than 12 minutes remained before halftime. By that time, Tech led 10-0.
It appeared the Mountaineers were back in the game when Chad Johnston tossed a 1-yard touchdown pass to David Saunders with 1:35 remaining. But Tech worked its two-minute offense to perfection, going ahead 17-7 following Druckenmiller's second touchdown pass to Cornelius White with 24 seconds left.
``We had our timeouts,'' Beamer said, ``but, we had a penalty on the kickoff and we weren't sure we wanted to go two-minute or not. It goes back to the quarterback. You've got to have a good quarterback if you're going to do stuff like that and we've got us a good one.''
The Hokies had something left to prove, however. After rushing for 24 yards in the first half, they returned from halftime determined to move the ball on the ground against a West Virginia defense that had challenged their livelihood.
West Virginia defensive coordinator Steve Dunlap, in an early-week interview broadcast across a statewide radio network, said he had never seen a team commit as many flagrant, uncalled holding penalties as the Hokies.
``The [West Virginia] players were saying it even before we got started,'' Tech lineman Jay Hagood said. ``It was an insult. I think it was degrading to our coach because [assistant J.B.] Grimes is one of the best in the country.''
Hagood, the Hokies' left offensive tackle, estimated that he was lined up against Curtis for at least 75 percent of the game. The Mountaineers did have two sacks, increasing their Big East-leading total to 54, but both were by tackle John Thornton.
``I think Canute Curtis is a great football player,'' Hagood said. ``The o-line had to step it up a little bit, but I go against the best in the country, Cornell. It's just like practicing against Cornell, but at a slower pace.''
Tech never ran the ball better Saturday than in a six-play, 71-yard drive that made it 24-3 to start the second half. The touchdown came on a 39-yard jaunt by junior tailback Ken Oxendine that was the longest run against WVU this season.
The Mountaineers moved the ball on occasion; however, they showed a tendency to self-destruct, never more dramatically than when Johnston attempted to lateral the ball to Rahsaan Vanterpool late in the third quarter.
The Mountaineers seemingly had some momentum, having picked up a first down at the Tech 25, when Brown intercepted Johnston's lateral. He returned it to the 41, then engaged in a mini-celebration that required the officials' intervention.
Brown, as has been his habit of late, declined an invitation to meet with the media. Between injuries and legal problems, he has not had the senior year he might have desired, entering Saturday's game with five sacks.
``Canute Curtis has had this great season and Cornell has had his ups and downs,'' Oxendine said. ``You know, maybe he felt he had something to prove out there today.''
The Hokies, as a team, have little to prove after consecutive victories over East Carolina, Miami and West Virginia. Yet, a representative from the Fiesta Bowl was in the press box Saturday and Tech can always hope.
``If we beat four Top 25 teams at the end of the year - if we some way find a way to beat Virginia - I think we'd be in everybody's top 10,'' Beamer said. ``And, the crowd we'd take to a bowl, I think there'd be a lot of people who would want us.''
LENGTH: Long : 112 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ALAN KIM\Staff. 1. Virginia Tech defensive end Cornellby CNBBrown (58) sacks West Virginia quarterback Chad Johnston near the
end of the first half of Saturday's Big East game in Blacksburg. 2.
Tech running back Ken Oxendine lunges for extra yardage after a
short gain in the second quarter Saturday at Lane Stadium. Oxendine
had 104 yards and two touchdowns. color. 3. Cornelius White cradles
Virginia Tech's first touchdown, a 35-yard pass from Jim
Druckenmiller in the second quarter. KEYWORDS: 2DA