THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 1, 1995 TAG: 9510010167
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: PITTSBURGH LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
The NCAA limits college football teams to four hours of practice a day, which wasn't enough for Pittsburgh to prepare for Virginia Tech's punt-block unit.
``I'd a been out there until dark working on it if we had time,'' Pitt coach Johnny Majors said.
Hokies true freshman Angelo Harrison blocked a pair of second-half Panther punts, altering the momentum of a game Pitt controlled in the first half. The blocks set up 10 Virginia Tech points in a 26-16 victory at Pitt Stadium after the Hokies had trailed 9-0 following a listless first half.
Harrison's blocks were the 45th and 46th blocked kicks for Tech in 94 games under coach Frank Beamer.
Harrison came from the left side and almost took the ball off the foot of Pitt punter Nate Cochran on the Panthers' first possession of the second half. Tech took over on Pitt's 30, and tailback Dwayne Thomas ran three times to reach the end zone. The score came on a 15-yard burst when he started inside but popped outside, followed a block and dove into the front corner of the end zone with 10:14 remaining in the third quarter.
Kicker Atle Larsen added the extra point, and Tech trailed 9-7 and suddenly had a pulse.
``It gave our team a spark,'' said Harrison, who also blocked a punt last week against Miami. ``The spark got the fire started, and once the fire started there was no stopping us.''
Tech (2-2, 2-1 Big East) was fortunate it didn't get burned in the first half. The Panthers could have been up by much more than three field goals at the break had drives not stalled at Tech's 18-, 23- and 7-yard lines. The Hokies, meanwhile, never ventured past Pitt's 35.
One week after running for 300 yards in upsetting Miami, Tech managed just 16 yards rushing on 13 first-half carries. And Pitt rolled up 118 first-half rushing yards on Tech, which was second in the nation coming in, allowing just 66.3 per game.
The performance prompted choice words at halftime.
``You guys can't write it,'' Beamer said when asked to share his remarks. ``I didn't have to tell them a lot. It was an emotional halftime.''
``As soon as we got in here,'' offensive tackle Mike Bianchin said, ``coach Beamer went off. He talked about, where's the team from last week? We weren't the same players. Coach used profanity a little bit.''
Majors was cursing his punt protection team shortly thereafter.
Although Harrison's first blocked punt changed the intensity level a bit, Pitt (2-3, 0-1) countered the Tech touchdown with an 80-yard drive to go on top 16-7 with 3:45 left in the third quarter.
But the drive came with a price. On consecutive downs the Panthers lost star tailback Billy West (broken fibula) and career receiving leader Dietrich Jells (sprained ankle). A few plays later, backup tailback Demetrius Harris limped off (turf toe).
``Those are the three people that have the best chance to make big gainers for us,'' Majors said.
``With West out of there, that made it a little easier because he'd been running the rock pretty good,'' Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster said.
West finished with 113 yards rushing on 23 carries. He may be finished for the season.
On its final five possessions after the spate of injuries, Pitt was held to minus-4 yards rushing and 65 total yards.
All the remaining big plays were Virginia Tech's.
A Larsen field goal cut the lead to 16-10, and then Harrison blocked another punt that gave the Hokies the ball at Pitt's 20 with 14:44 to play. Tech only got another field goal out of it to trail 16-13, but the Panthers clearly were shaken.
On its next possession, Pitt quick-kicked on third down. Three plays later, the Hokies had their first lead when quarterback Jim Druckenmiller (15 for 27, career-high 312 yards) hit Jermaine Holmes in stride for a 73-yard touchdown pass and 20-16 lead with 10:42 to play.
If that didn't leave the Panthers emotionally spent, what happened on Tech's next series did. On third-and-10 from his own 1, Druckenmiller lofted a bomb to Bryan Still, who outraced cornerback Anthony Dorsett.
``I was surprised,'' Still said. ``As long as I've been here, we've never run a play like that.''
The 85-yard play - the fourth-longest pass in Tech history - set up the third of Larsen's four field goals for a 23-16 lead with 6:19 remaining.
``We feel real fortunate to get out of here with a win,'' Beamer said. ``Pitt had us on our heels.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Virginia Tech's Loren Johnson uses some in-your-face defense to
bring down Pitt's Demetrius Harris. The Panthers ran for 154 yards
against a Hokies defense that had been second in the nation vs. the
rush.
by CNB