ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 1, 1997 TAG: 9701020062
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
DATELINE: MIAMI
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
MEMO: ***CORRECTION***
Published correction ran on January 3, 1997.
A Virginia Tech football assistant coach was indentified incorrectly
in a caption in Wednesday's editions. The assistant coach with an arm
around quarterback Jim Druckenmiller was Rickey Bustle, the Hokies'
offensive coordinator.
So much for Virginia Tech's second-half dominance.
Attempting to steer itself onto college football's super highway, Tech instead found itself as second-half roadkill in a 41-21 loss to Nebraska in the 63rd Orange Bowl on Tuesday night.
Getting points on all but one of their second-half possessions, the Cornhuskers outscored the Hokies 24-7 to kill Tech's upset hopes.
Tenth-ranked Tech, which trailed just 17-14 at halftime, finished with a 10-2 record for the second straight season. Sixth-ranked Nebraska, which won its third straight bowl game, wound up 11-2.
Although Nebraska ended up covering the 17-point spread, the game was far from a blowout.
Nebraska, which outgained Tech 415-407, led just 24-21 late in the third quarter.
But the bigger and stronger Huskers took over from that point and put the hammer to the Hokies.
"I thought we might be able to wear 'em down in the second half and we did,'' said Tom Osborne, Nebraska's coach.
The 'Huskers' late-game takeover had to be strange for a Tech club that had owned the opposition in the second half the past two seasons.
"I was looking forward to the second half,'' said Tech coach Frank Beamer. "I thought we had the game in pretty good shape.''
Tech was still within reach after Jim Druckenmiller's 33-yard touchdown pass to Cornelius White cut Nebraska's lead to 24-21 with 4:56 left in the third quarter.
But Nebraska took over from that point. Damon Benning, named Nebraska's MVP after running for 96 yards, scored on a 6-yard run with 20 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 31-21.
Nebraska made it a 13-point game with 11:39 left in the fourth quarter on Kris Brown's 37-yard field goal.
Scott Frost's 23-yard run with 3:24 left in the game supplied the final margin.
"We just didn't play well enough against a great football team,'' Beamer said. "Against a great team like this you have to take advantage of every opportunity.''
Tech got a great effort from junior tailback Ken Oxendine, who had 210 yards total offense. Oxendine ran for 150 yards on 20 carries and had 60 yards on pass receptions.
``You can say that you had a good game, but then you can't because you didn't come out on top. You can't be satisfied if you don't win,'' he said. ``No one likes to lose.
``I said before tonight that the only way we could win the game was to have an error-free game, and we didn't have one.''
Druckenmiller also played well, completing 16 of 33 passes for 214 yards and three touchdowns.
Despite holding the ball for nearly two-thirds of the first half and outgaining Nebraska 219-147, Tech trailed 17-14 at intermission.
Showing no sign of being intimidated by the bigger 'Huskers, Tech drove 72 yards in eight plays on its second possession of the game to go up 7-0 with 3:14 left in the first quarter.
Fullback Marcus Parker took care of the score, taking a flare pass from Druckenmiller and racing 19 yards to the end zone.
Nebraska, which ranked fourth in the nation in scoring at 42.7 points per game, then erupted for 17 points in a 7:47 span of the second quarter.
Chris Brown's 25-yard field goal with 13:25 left in the half put the Cornhuskers on the board.
After Tech stalled on its next possession, Nebraska, set up by Mike Fullman's 26-yard punt return to the Hokies' 45, needed only three plays to make it 10-7.
A 23-yard pass from Frost to Kenny Cheatham took the ball to the Tech 5, and Frost scored on an option left on the next play.
The Hokies, surprisingly running the ball at will against a defense that allowed only 83 rushing yards per game this season, drove right back to the Nebraska 39. But a sack and a holding penalty took Tech out of scoring position.
Then came one of the game's biggest plays. On third-and-37 from his own 33, Druckenmiller was hit by Nebraska's Mike Rucker as he was trying to pitch the ball to Oxendine. The ball popped loose and was picked up by 'Huskers tackle Jason Peter, who chugged 33 yards to the end zone.
``I saw it come loose and it bounced high enough for me to pick it up and run with it,'' said Peter. ``It was a great feeling.''
Down 17-7 with 3:36 left in the half, Tech didn't sit on the ball. Keyed by a 39-yard run by Oxendine, the Hokies quickly drove deep into Nebraska territory.
With 19 seconds on the clock, Druckenmiller and Shawn Scales got Tech back in the game. Druckenmiller lofted a floater into the left corner of the end zone. Defender Octavius McFarlin appeared to have his hands on the ball for an interception, but Scales stepped in and stole the ball for a touchdown.
VirginiaTech7770-21
Nebraska017140-41
First quarter
VT-Parker 19 pass from Druckenmiller (Graham kick), 11:46.
Second quarter
Neb-FG K.Brown 25, 1:35.
Neb-Frost 5 run (K.Brown kick), 5:46.
Neb-Peter 31 fumble recovery and return (Brown kick), 11:24.
VT-Scales 6 pass from Druckenmiller (Graham kick), 14:41.
Third quarter
Neb-Benning 33 run (K.Brown kick), 5:06.
VT-White 33 pass from Druckenmiller (Graham kick), 10:02.
Neb-Benning 6 run (Brown kick), 14:40.
Fourth quarter
Neb-FG K.Brown 37, 7:08.
Neb-Frost 22 run (K.Brown), 11:34.
A-51,212.
VTNeb
Firstdowns2225
Rushes-yards39-19349-279
Passing214112
Comp-Att-Int16-33-011-22-0
ReturnYards95147
Punts-Avg.5-34.22-44.5
Fumbles-Lost1-11-0
Penalties-Yards5-893-16
TimeofPossession31:0228:58
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING-Virginia Tech, Oxendine 20-150, Parker 8-22, Druckenmiller 9-18, Stith 2-3. Nebraska, Benning 15-95, Frost 9-62, Green 7-52, Sims 8-48, Makovicka 4-12, Turman 2-8, Schuster 4-2.
PASSING-Virginia Tech, Druckenmiller 16-33-0-214. Nebraska, Frost 11-22-0-136.
RECEIVING-Virginia Tech, Jennings 4-58, Oxendine 3-60, Parker 3-28, White 2-38, Stuewe 2-23, Scales 2-7. Nebraska, Wiggins 3-36, Lake 2-27, Cheatham 1-23, L.Brown 1-23, S.Jackson 1-11, V.Jackson 1-9, Holbein 1-5, Benning 1-2.
LENGTH: Long : 144 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. DON PETERSEN/Staff. Ken Oxendine bursts throughby CNBNebraska's defense to pick up some of his 150 rushing yards. 2. ERIC
BRADY/Staff. Virginia Tech's Marcus Parker runs for the end zone to
score Virginia Tech's first touchdown. 3. AP. Nebraska's Damon
Benning (21) crosses into the end zone for a third-quarter touchdown
in the Orange Bowl on Tuesday. color. 4. AP. Virginia Tech
quarterback Jim Druckenmiller walks off the field with assistant
coach Billy Hite after the Hokies lost to Nebraska 41-21 in the
Orange Bowl. Druckenmiller passed for 214 yards and three
touchdowns.