THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9409180183
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESTNUT HILL, MASS. LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines
Virginia Tech took a big step Saturday toward contending for Big East Conference title in a game only a defensive coordinator could love.
Appropriately, Tech's defense provided its lone touchdown in a 12-7 victory over Boston College. The 18th-ranked Hokies opened a season 3-0 (1-0 in the conference) for the first time since 1981 despite their offensive performance.
Hokies rover Torrian Gray intercepted a tipped ball and returned it 66 yards for a third-quarter touchdown that was sandwiched by a pair of field goals for Tech's only scoring. The extra point following Gray's touchdown was botched by a bad snap.
While Tech's offense sputtered, the defense sparkled. The Hokies came within six seconds of becoming the first team to shut out Boston College since 1980. The Eagles (0-2, 0-1) scored on their final play from scrimmage to complete a 70-yard drive.
``It really hurt us that they scored,'' said Gray, whose interception was one of four by Tech. ``12-7, it looks like they were in the game a long time when we dominated.''
Trust him, Tech did.
Until the Eagles' second-to-last possession, beginning with 6:47 to play, they had managed just five first downs and were unable to put two together in one drive. They had not ventured beyond Tech's 46-yard line once and had totaled just 135 yards of offense. At one point, a sportswriter from a Boston paper was dutifully tracking whether the Eagles would finish with more punts than first downs. BC ended up with 244 yards, including just 66 rushing on 29 attempts, 11 first downs and nine punts.
This from an offense that rolled up 503 yards and scored 26 points two weeks ago against No. 4 Michigan.
``Let's give Virginia Tech some credit,'' Hokies coach Frank Beamer said. ``I think Michigan probably has a pretty good defense, but they didn't do to them what we did today.''
Give Tech's coaches credit, too, for creating the perception in their players' minds that BC didn't respect their defense. Several Hokies said they detected an arrogance on the part of the Eagles in comments made about Virginia Tech, and they remembered chants of ``Overrated! Overrated!'' directed at Tech from the Alumni Stadium fans in last season's loss.
``Maybe it was just to psych us up or something, but from what the coaches said, their players had said they've played Michigan and Notre Dame, so we were just another team,'' Gray said.
Certainly the Hokies were a different team defensively than a year ago, when BC lit them up for 48 points and 617 yards of total offense.
``Last year they didn't respect us, but I was determined they were going to respect us,'' said Hokies defensive end Hank Coleman.
Eagles quarterback Mark Hartsell, who threw for 338 yards and three touchdowns against Michigan, was 3-for-11 for 18 yards before he suffered a lacerated finger and a dislocated finger and had to leave the game in the second quarter. Backups Jeff Ryan and Scott Mutryn were equally ineffective.
BC tight end Pete Mitchell, a consensus preseason All-American who was held to four catches for 34 yards, said the Eagles' quarterback change wasn't to blame for the putrid offense.
``Even when Mark was in there, we seemed to be in disarray,'' Mitchell said.
Tech had another source of motivation as well. Hokie quarterback Maurice DeShazo said fullback Brian Edmonds took a piece of newspaper out of his helmet and threw it on the playing field in the fourth quarter. It was a predictions column from the Roanoke Times & World News, which circulates in Blacksburg, in which five staff writers and a guest picker all chose BC - a two-point favorite - to beat Tech.
``Everyone picked us to lose this game,'' DeShazo said. ``It was great.''
Tech's offense, however, was not.
The Hokies finished with just 233 total yards and got inside Boston College's 30 five times - including twice inside the 10 - but came away with a total of six points. Atle Larsen kicked field goals of 48 and 34 yards, and missed from 31 and 45.
DeShazo finished 13-for-27 with 145 yards, and leading rusher Dwayne Thomas gained just 62 yards on 19 carries.
``I don't think there's any doubt in your mind about our defense,'' Beamer said to reporters. ``Offensively we're very close, I think we're closer than what it looks like. I think we're very fortunate to win here when we looked so ragged.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Hokies' Hank Coleman, top, and Cornell Brown, right, put the
squeeze on BC running back David Green.
by CNB