THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 12, 1996 TAG: 9609120536
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: 85 lines
Shyrone Stith has been addressed this week by teammates and friends with a moniker that makes him cringe: Superstar.
Hold off on that stuff, Stith replies.
``That was just one game against what was supposed to be a weak team,'' Stith said. ``Just wait. I'm a ways from being a good player.''
He was plenty good Saturday. When Tech starting tailback Ken Oxendine separated his right shoulder in the first quarter of the Hokies' opener, Tech turned to true freshman Stith, ready or not.
Stith, who did his running for Chesapeake's Western Branch High a year ago, was ready.
He rushed for 119 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries, becoming the first true freshman to rush for more than 100 yards in a season-opening game at Tech since freshman eligibility was restored in 1972. The last Tech player - in any class - to gain 100 or more yards rushing in a season opener was Otis Copeland in 1983. Copeland also was from Chesapeake.
Suddenly, Stith no longer is just another anonymous freshman on campus.
``I never thought I'd have a game like that, not in the opening game of my career anyway,'' Stith said.
Now the 5-foot-7, 190-pound Stith is feeling the weight of expectations as he goes into Saturday's game at Boston College (12:30 p.m., ESPN) listed as the starting tailback. He said there is so much to know about the offense, he totes his play book to study hall along with his textbooks.
``I've gotta back it up now at Boston College,'' Stith said. ``There's a lot of pressure. I'm not quite comfortable with it, it's a whole different scenery for me.''
And Stith knows the scenery could change quickly.
Marcus Parker is expected to be back soon, possibly this week, from a suspension stemming from a shoplifting incident. Oxendine is out from two to four weeks. After Stith's splash in the rain at Akron, he could be back to third team in a matter of weeks.
But Tech coaches are impressed with him so far.
``He's physically very talented,'' coach Frank Beamer said. ``He can run the football. The other parts - pass protection and getting out in pass routes and blocking - that's the things he's got to really concentrate on.''
The injury to Oxendine, a junior, is a huge blow for the Hokies despite Stith's presence. Not only is Oxendine an explosive runner with experience, but Beamer said he's big enough to block people in pass protection pickup, knows where to be on passing routes and is a team leader.
Oxendine gained 65 yards on 11 carries in the first quarter before getting injured on a sweep when an Akron defender drilled him in the shoulder. Oxendine didn't think it was serious at first.
``I just thought it was something like a stinger,'' Oxendine said.
As he sat in a stairwell in Tech's Jamerson Athletic Center with his arm in a sling, Oxendine smiled freely despite the disappointment of being sidelined. This was to be the season when he was Tech's backfield superstar.
But it's off to a rocky start - again. Oxendine had been named the starter last preseason over senior Dwayne Thomas. But he broke a bone in his hand during preseason practice, missed the first two games and spent the season as Thomas' backup.
``I'm dealing with it OK,'' Oxendine said of his misfortune. ``Everything happens for its own reason. You hope stuff like this doesn't happen, but it happens. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise.''
Asked what that blessing might be, Oxendine thought a minute, then said softly, ``I don't know.''
If not a blessing, it is at least an opportunity for Stith, who received helpful pointers on the sideline from Oxendine. Stith expected to be redshirted this year.
But with Parker suspended and Oxendine hurt, Stith was thrown into action in the second quarter of the first game. With starting fullback Brian Edmonds also serving a one-game suspension and once Oxendine got hurt, the Hokies had no one to carry the ball who had played in a college game.
Tech quarterback Jim Druckenmiller said Stith has played well in practice, but it's always hard to tell how that first game experience will affect a youngster.
``The lights were on and he stepped up to the show,'' Druckenmiller said.
Just like a superstar should. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by GENE DALTON, Landmark News Service
Shyrone Stith, who played last season at Western Branch, rushed for
119 yards and two touchdowns in his first game at Virginia Tech last
Saturday.
ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
As Shyrone Stith kept his balance against Akron, so he is in ths
week's glow of new attention. ``I'm a ways from being a good
player,'' he says. by CNB