THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609150172
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHESTNUT HILL, MASS. LENGTH: 75 lines
Akron figured to be easy, Boston College looked like a challenge.
Somehow, Virginia Tech got that flip-flopped.
A week after struggling with the Zips, the Hokies came into Alumni Stadium Saturday and made Big East foe Boston College look like a Mid-American Conference patsy. Tech's 45-7 victory was its most lopsided Big East road win since a 63-21 rout at Pittsburgh in 1993, and was BC's worst league loss in the Big East's six-year existence.
``I think we did make a statement this week,'' said Tech quarterback Jim Druckenmiller (13 of 24, 214 yards and two touchdowns to tight end Bryan Jennings). ``It was a rough week last week a little bit. We came out with our guns loaded, we had something to prove. Everyone doubted us a little bit.''
The 19th-ranked Hokies (2-0, 1-0 Big East) won their 12th-consecutive game, a school record and the second-longest streak in the nation behind Nebraska. Still, they felt stung by critics following a lackluster opener at Akron.
``We had a lot to prove this week,'' defensive end Cornell Brown said. ``We dropped in the polls after last week and a lot of people were losing respect for us, I think.''
Once again, Virginia Tech true freshman Shyrone Stith from Chesapeake's Western Branch proved he belongs in major college football. The only one who still seems to question that is Stith himself.
He said he slept fitfully Friday night, knowing his first college start would be against a quality team and would be beamed across the nation on ESPN. This was more daunting than coming off the bench to relieve injured Ken Oxendine at Akron.
``I'm not used to playing these big-name colleges,'' Stith said. ``I used to be at home watching on TV and saying `I want to do that someday.' ''
Stith said teammates and coaches calmed his nerves Saturday morning, ``But then we got to the stadium and it was a whole different story,'' Stith said.
Stith was an integral part of the story of another Tech victory.
He rushed for 80 yards on 20 carries, including touchdowns runs of 9 and 10 yards, and for the second consecutive week did not fumble. Both scoring runs were highlight-film material. On the first, he followed a crushing block by fullback Brian Edmonds and dove into the end zone, and on the second he began to sweep outside and made a right-angle cut upfield to find the goal line.
``He's a steady guy,'' Tech coach Frank Beamer said. ``I don't know how many freshmen could come in and play on national TV and play this type of competition and perform like that.''
The Hokies also got a boost from the return of Edmonds, a senior fullback who was suspended for the opener. Edmonds ripped off touchdown runs of 21 and 19 yards as the Hokies outrushed the Eagles 215 yards to 55 and rattled off 441 yards of total offense compared to BC's 276.
``We see that defense every day in practice, and no one runs it better than we do,'' Druckenmiller said.
Phil Elmassian, BC's defensive coordinator, held the same position at Tech two years ago.
``Yeah, it feels good to beat him,'' center Billy Conaty said. ``When he was here, he never talked to the offensive players. I don't know if he didn't respect us or what. I know how mad he gets after a loss.''
Tech gave Elmassian plenty to stew about early when it jumped on top 21-7 as the first five possessions of the game produced four touchdowns. The Hokies' second touchdown was set up by Keion Carpenter's blocked punt.
In the second quarter, BC (1-1, 0-1) returned the favor by blocking John Thomas' punt. The Eagles, trailing by two touchdowns, took over at Tech's 8.
A first-down rush took the ball to the 1, then BC tried a pass that missed its mark. A third-down run was stuffed by Tech defensive end John Engelberger, and on fourth down BC threw a dump-off pass to Frank Chamberlin, who was tackled in the open field at the 2 by Tech free safety Torrian Gray.
``That was a huge series for the defense,'' Gray said. ``If they score on that series, they're down seven and have the momentum going into halftime.
``This is a great win for us to gauge ourselves by. We knew we were a lot better team than we showed last week.''
Tech dominated the second half. The defense - which had seven sacks for 70 yards in losses - held BC scoreless while the offense kept adding to the cushion.
``In the second half I thought the whole defense died,'' BC noseguard Nick Gianacakos said. ``I don't want to say we quit, but we died.'' by CNB