THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 13, 1994 TAG: 9411130225
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CHARLIE DENN, CORRESPONDENT
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
Fittingly, big plays were the order of the day in the Military Classic of the South on Saturday.
The Citadel, which leads the nation in rushing offense, had most of the long-distance success and pounded Virginia Military Institute, 58-14, in the annual Oyster Bowl game at Foreman Field.
Before a crowd of 15,520, the Bulldogs (5-5) had six scoring plays of 41 yards or more, including a school-record, 96-yard touchdown run on their first play from scrimmage.
In addition, strong safety Anquan Gist returned an interception 73 yards for one score and quarterback C.J. Haynes hooked up with Chauncey Chappelle on a 43-yard TD play.
It was the first time all year The Citadel had gotten any points from its defense. And the touchdown pass was only the fourth score through the air for the Bulldogs, who average 34.8 points a game.
Mostly, though, the Bulldogs were content to run the wishbone offense and let it do the work. They finished with a season-high 506 yards rushing.
``We didn't have as much consistency offensively as I would have liked,'' said coach Charlie Taaffe. ``But we did have an awful lot of big plays. We got some big runs off the option and that was pretty much the story of the game.
``Normally the wishbone is a possession offense,'' Taaffe added. ``But it does have the big-play potential and we have more team speed this year than we've ever had.''
VMI had no solution for the Bulldogs' speed. The Keydets dropped to 0-10 and have lost 15 games in a row over the last two seasons.
``I see now why The Citadel leads the country in rushing,'' VMI coach Bill Stewart said.
VMI couldn't match The Citadel's offensive efficiency, although tailback Thomas Haskins tried to be a one-man gang. Haskins rushed 32 times for 250 yards to earn the game's most outstanding player award.
He also had VMI's longest play of the day, a 78-yard TD run late in the first quarter.
Haskins set the Keydets' single-season rushing record with his big day. He now has 1,284 yards with one game to play. The old record was 1,276 yards set by Floyd Allen in 1980.
The Citadel set the pace for the afternoon when fullback Travis Jervey bolted 96 yards for a touchdown on the Bulldogs' first play. That was key because The Citadel had just stopped VMI on fourth-and-one after the Keydets had driven 63 yards.
``It wasn't anything fancy,'' explained Taaffe. ``It was just a triple option and they didn't close down the fullback. He got around the end and he was gone.''
Jervey finished with 224 yards on 10 carries. He also scored on a 65-yard run.
``It was pretty weird,'' said Jervey of his first scoring run. ``You come out and you're not sure of what the defense will show you. Then you break a long one.
``So you're happy to be up 7-0, but it's almost like you have to start over next time you have the ball, because you still want to see what the defense is going to do.''
Whatever the VMI defense showed the Bulldogs, however, didn't seem to matter. The wishbone worked all day against anything it saw. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
LAWRENCE JACKSON/Staff
VMI's Billy Thomas (71) tries to stop The Citadel's Terrance Rivers
in Saturday's Oyster Bowl.
by CNB