ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 1, 1997 TAG: 9701020061
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
COLUMN: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: MIAMI
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
When it's respect you're seeking, winning isn't everything.
Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer talked a good game before the FedEx Orange Bowl, and then his football team absolutely, positively had to play - Tuesday night.
In a 41-21 loss to sixth-ranked Nebraska, the Hokies couldn't reprise their boisterous New Year's Eve of 365 days earlier, when they soundly beat Texas in the Sugar Bowl.
Nebraska covered the 17-point spread and ended Tech's streak of seven straight victories over ranked foes, but what the smallest Orange Bowl crowd in a half-century really saw wasn't the blowout on the scoreboard.
Tech, respectful before it was respectable, got some of what it hoped for against the Cornhuskers (11-2). One of Beamer's favorite phrases is how his program wants to get to ``the next level,'' and the Hokies weren't going to get there by getting leveled.
Not only did Ken Oxendine repeatedly run through one of the nation's best defenses, but quarterback Jim Druckenmiller continued to show that although he's graduating, he's going to the next level to play.
At Pro Player Stadium, Druckenmiller performed appropriately, capping a stellar two-year stint as Tech's starter by throwing only one interception and 16 touchdowns in his last eight games.
The 10th-ranked Hokies (10-2) were outmanned only in that the Cornhuskers dressed 45 more players and had too many I-backs. Once Tech scored a huge touchdown with 19 seconds left in the first half to trim the Nebraska lead to 17-14, it was obvious the Big East's Bowl Alliance representative was in a no-lose situation.
Beamer spent the first days after his beachcombing arrival cracking wise about the wagering line, which was wider than the girth of some of the Hokies' offensive linemen, who paved Oxendine's way through the Big Red.
He had said Nebraska was the best team he had coached against in 10 seasons on his alma mater's sideline. Beamer really wasn't being disingenuous or coaching-cliche respectful in that regard.
He knew, however, after watching tape, that these really weren't quite the Cornhuskers of 25 straight wins and national titles in 1994 and '95.
The offense was run by a dependable, but pedestrian, quarterback. It was the system, in which the ever-changing I-backs are the stars, that was productive. The defense also had slipped after the drunken-driving suspension of Terrell Farley, an outside linebacker who could make plays no other 'Husker could.
By the game's eve, Beamer was digging deep into his bended-knee material on the Cornhuskers' 62-24 national championship victory over Florida in last year's Fiesta Bowl.
In his Monday news conference, Beamer's praise of the 'Huskers reached such a crescendo that some listeners thought the Tech coach was giving the Big 12 runner-up too much credit, and while not intentionally, perhaps selling his own team short.
Those remarks really weren't about the two-time defending national champs, however. They were about making the Hokies look good, just in case.
Beamer was playing to win, but he was talking not to lose. If Tech was able to stay in the game with the 'Huskers, it would preserve not only national respect for the Hokies, but also somewhat protect their ranking and keep them climbing the steps toward college football's penthouse, where Nebraska has had a room for several decades.
Two years ago, when Tech unraveled early in a Gator Bowl pounding by Tennessee, the Hokies spent one long night taking two steps backward after two seasons of going three steps forward.
Nebraska is a program of such tradition and prominence that three years ago Tech couldn't have realistically dreamed of being on the same field with the 'Huskers.
Well, not only did the Hokies reach their second straight big bowl date. They were in the game, too.
The Hokies had their opportunities, but were foiled because besides Nebraska having more talent, Tech's wideouts couldn't catch the ball.
Beamer and offensive coordinator Rickey Bustle were correct in figuring the Hokies' wideouts would have to beat Nebraska's secondary, which was the weakness of coach Tom Osborne's 16th straight team to play a traditional New Year's bowl.
Well, Druckenmiller was on target and the Hokies got behind the 'Huskers, but that's where the plan bounced awry. Tight end Bryan Jennings, a rare target during the regular season, was Tech's only reliable pass-catcher.
It was one of those games in which everyone was waiting to see how each team would respond.
With no title on the line as the Big 12 runner-up, would the 'Huskers play hard? Could Tech live up its great expectations?
It became a dickens of an Orange Bowl.
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ERIC BRADY/Staff. Virginia Tech quarterback Jimby CNBDruckenmiller looks for an open receiver as Nebraska defender Grant
Wistrom (left) reaches in vain. Druckenmiller passed for three
touchdowns in the Orange Bowl, which Nebraska won 41-21.