ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, November 30, 1996 TAG: 9612020101
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
When it was over, Jim Druckenmiller departed Worsham Field for the last time the same way the goalposts did, on the shoulders of celebrating Virginia Tech football faithful.
It was for his part in the Hokies' 26-9 vanquishing of Virginia on a chilly Friday evening that Druckenmiller was held aloft by the frenzied Tech fans who had poured like lemmings down the concrete steps of Lane Stadium and scurried over hedges behind the West end zone.
``This is the best I've ever felt in my life,'' Druckenmiller said later. ``There's nothing better than that, to get carried off the field after your last game.''
The fans probably would've carried the senior quarterback all the way to Florida, where the Hokies almost surely will be playing in a bowl game. On a record-setting day after Thanksgiving, Druckenmiller carved up Virginia with two touchdown passes to steal the spotlight from Roanoker and former Cave Spring High School star Tiki Barber, who rushed for 162 yards to become Virginia's all-time leading rusher.
Seventeenth-ranked Tech (10-1) didn't need a seventh straight victory to earn its fourth consecutive bowl bid - it already was known that the Hokies would go to no less than the Gator Bowl, regardless of Friday's outcome.
Still, this became the first Tech team ever to win 10 games in a regular season and it beat its in-state rival on its home turf for the first time since 1990. That year, Tech was celebrating merely having a winning record of 6-5 and beating a Sugar Bowl-bound Cavaliers squad. This year, it capped a stretch of four straight victories over ranked opponents.
``The last four games, I turned up my game a notch,'' said Druckenmiller. ``The whole team did. I didn't want to leave anything on that field.''
In the end, fans were throwing oranges onto the field, knowing that it will take a Miami victory over Big East Conference-leading Syracuse today for the Hokies to even have a sniff of going into the Bowl Alliance and earning a possible trip to the Orange Bowl.
It's a good thing local pet shops don't sell alligators or fans might have been littering the field with reptiles. As it was, Virginia (7-4) was up to its armpits in alligators all afternoon, especially in the second half when the 20th-ranked Cavaliers were shut out.
Statistically, the game was close, with the Hokies outgaining the Cavaliers just 413-407. Even Druckenmiller's numbers weren't remarkable, but he was an efficient 15-for-22 for 197 yards and two touchdowns.
``I promise you this,'' said Tech coach Frank Beamer, ``if you're going into battle, you feel pretty good with a guy like this. He reacts to the competition. He likes it.''
Perhaps most notably, he was not intercepted, ending Virginia's streak of 39 games with at least one interception, an NCAA record.
``We broke so many streaks, it's hard to believe,'' said Druckenmiller.
Tech became the first team to win at home in this series since the Cavaliers beat the Hokies 38-0 in Charlottesville in 1991. They did so with better offensive execution and a defense that stuck it to Virginia whenever the Cavaliers threatened.
Virginia had seven possessions inside Tech's 30-yard line and came away with only three Rafael Garcia field goals, all in the first half.
Even after Barber ran 80 yards on Virginia's first play from scrimmage, the Cavaliers couldn't punch it in. Tech safety Torrian Gray may not have realized it at the time, but he may have made one of the game's biggest plays when he caught Barber and yanked him down at the Tech 10. Virginia got only to the 2 and Garcia booted a 19-yarder to make it 3-0 with 11 minutes showing.
``We were kind of glad to get out of there with just a field goal,'' said Beamer. ``Especially after what had taken place [on Barber's run]. Really, it was almost like momentum for us.''
Virginia got to the Tech 12-yard line in the second quarter, but again settled for a Garcia 29-yarder to make it 6-0. On the next possession, the Hokies moved 64 yards in seven plays - including a career-long 33-yard Druckenmiller scamper - and scored when Druckenmiller floated a screen pass to Brian Edmonds, who weaved behind three blockers to complete a 16-yard score. Jimmy Kibble's kick made it 7-6 with 8:41 left in the half.
Garcia's third field goal of the day was a 36-yarder just before halftime that made it 9-7. It was the 21st 3-pointer this season for the Danville kicker, breaking his record of 20 last season. It also was the last time Virginia would score.
``We scored no touchdowns,'' said UVa coach George Welsh, ``and that killed us.''
Virginia's inability to cross the goal line hurt worse after the Hokies went 42 yards on seven plays and scored when receiver Michael Stuewe got behind linebacker Jamie Sharper and caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from Druckenmiller with 10:09 left in the third. A two-point conversion pass was incomplete and the Hokies led 13-9.
Shortly thereafter, the game's most pivotal sequence occurred. On its next series, Virginia had a fourth-and-one on Tech's 22. Rather than go for it, Welsh opted for a 38-yard field-goal attempt, which Garcia pushed right.
``I think the staff wanted me to go for it,'' Welsh said. ``It doesn't mean you're going to score a touchdown either, if you make it. I'd kick again. I thought he'd make it. Somewhere down there, you need to score a touchdown, [but] three points is three points.''
Tech took over at its 22 and proceeded to put away the Cavaliers when Druckenmiller hit Cornelius White with a 72-yard bomb with cornerback Sam McKiver defending that put the Hokies on the Virginia 9-yard line. Marcus Parker bolted up the middle for a touchdown on the next play and Kibble's kick made it 20-9 with 5:42 left in the third.
``Their defensive backs squat on almost everything,'' said White, whose reception was the longest for Tech this season. ``They get down and don't try to give you a jam 10 or 12 yards out. They sit right there. We figure we can run right by them.''
The Hokies had left the Cavaliers behind at the point. Virginia's biggest highlight had come when Barber ran 9 yards on a third-quarter play to break Terry Kirby's all-time UVa rushing record. Barber has 3,390 yards in four seasons, 1,360 this year.
Virginia had to bring in backup quarterback Aaron Brooks after starter Tim Sherman sustained a concussion in the second quarter.
``Mostly he was knocked silly,'' Welsh said of Sherman, who was 2-of-8 for 36 yards. ``He was still woozy at the half.''
Brooks was 10-for-24 for 140 yards, but was intercepted by Gray in the fourth quarter with the Cavaliers trailing 20-9.
Tech put it away with a little razzle-dazzle after that, as Parker took a handoff and then gave the ball on a reverse to Scales, who ran it in from 17 yards out.
All that was left was to dodge the hail of oranges and to carry the brand new Commonwealth Cup away to its new home in Jamerson Athletic Center. Tech players held it high on the journey, as if it were the Holy Grail.
LENGTH: Long : 135 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Don Petersen. 1. Virginia's Tiki Barber (left) is pushedby CNBback by Virginia Tech defensive tackle Danny Wheel (90), defensive
end Cornell Brown (58) and linebacker Myron Newsome (55). The Hokies
held back Barber and the Cavaliers 26-9 Friday at Lane Stadium. 2.
Virginia Tech fullback Brian Edmonds (left) hauls in a 16-yard pass
from Jim Druckenmiller to give the Hokies their first lead at 7-6 in
the second quarter. 3. Virginia quarterback Tim Sherman (right) has
a rough time as Tech's Antonio Banks (9) and Steve Tate (49) apply
the hit. Sherman left the game after suffering a concussion in the
second quarter. color. 4. ALAN KIM\Staff. Tech quarterback Jim
Druckenmiller (right), under pressure from UVa defender Jamie
Sharper, gets a pass off just in time to Brian Edmonds for a 16-yard
touchdown in the second quarter Friday at Lane Stadium in
Blacksburg.