THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 16, 1994 TAG: 9410160198
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENVILLE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 54 lines
Frank Beamer explained it to Tommy Edwards in terms similar to the way the sophomore tailback runs - straight on, no dancing around.
``I told him he's a heck of a back, but the last couple of weeks he's not been as good as he had been in the past,'' Beamer said.
That was late in the week when Beamer laid it on the line to Edwards. Saturday, Edwards harked back to his old self, running for 96 yards on 29 carries with one touchdown and also making two catches for 34 yards in Tech's 27-20 victory at East Carolina.
Edwards came on late in the first quarter for freshman starter Ken Oxendine, who fumbled for the third time in two games and never made it back on the field. Oxendine had a back injury, but could have returned.
``For my own safety, I guess, they held me out,'' Oxendine said.
That wasn't exactly it.
``He could have played in the second half, but Tommy Edwards was the hot one and that's who I'm going to go with,'' running backs coach Billy Hite said.
Edwards scored in the second quarter on a 7-yard option pitch right, his 13th touchdown in 18 regular season college games.
The only glaring unproductive moment of his game came in the third quarter when he got the call four consecutive times from ECU's 4 and in, and couldn't punch it in. At least not in the eyes of the officials.
On one carry he stretched the ball across the goal line, but it was ruled his knee was down. On another he got in on second effort after ECU defenders stood him up, but the officials ruled his forward progress had been stopped.
``I thought I'd scored twice,'' Edwards said. The Hokies had to settle for a field goal.
But in the fourth quarter, Edwards ran for 40 yards on 11 carries as the Hokies chewed up the clock to protect their lead.
``When we needed tough yards like that at the end, he was there,'' Beamer said.
Hite said if Dwayne Thomas can return from an ankle injury, he'll start next week against Pitt. If not, the starting spot is up for grabs.
BIG DAY: Hokies defensive end Cornell Brown, who came into the game as the Big East's sack leader, added 2 1/2 to his total. He also batted down one pass, forced a fumble and had another tackle for loss.
``Between this game and the West Virginia game, this is probably one of my best games,'' Brown said. ``I had some key plays, not just sacks.''
QUICK HITS: Virginia Tech has won eight consecutive games against foes from outside the Big East. ... Ryan Williams kicked two field goals and an extra point to move into second on Tech's career scoring list, eight points behind career leader Chris Kinzer's 234 points. by CNB