THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 3, 1996 TAG: 9611030178
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: 80 lines
Like a boxer padding his record with cream puffs, Virginia Tech's football team has built a glitzy record.
The time has come for the main event.
``We're coming up to the big boys now,'' tailback Ken Oxendine said after the Hokies delivered a 47-16 knockout blow to Southwestern Louisiana Saturday at Lane Stadium. ``Pretty much everyone we're up against from now on are up in the polls or they've beaten top caliber teams.''
The Hokies start facing heavy hitters next week with East Carolina, followed by Miami, West Virginia and Virginia. Miami is the only one Tech must play on the road.
``This is it,'' center Billy Conaty said. ``Everything else for the most part don't matter. That's why you play football, for these big ones. We're going to see how good of a team we are.''
Tech (6-1) was good enough to run away from the Ragin' Cajuns in the second half Saturday before a crowd of 35,643. It was the Hokies' 16th victory in their last 17 outings, and was punctuated by a stretch from the second quarter until late in the fourth quarter in which Tech scored on six consecutive possessions.
Nonetheless, Tech coach Frank Beamer was lukewarm about his team's performance on a cold, blustery day.
``We had great field position, we just didn't score enough,'' Beamer said after the Hokies posted their highest point total of the season.
Thanks to superior Tech special teams play - including two blocked punts - and three Southwestern Louisiana turnovers, the Hokies seemed to be camped all day deep in Cajun territory. Tech began drives at the USL 21, 25, 11, 25, 45, 44, 19 and 13 yard lines. But only three of those eight drives produced touchdowns, while three others resulted in field goals.
``Hell yeah, that was quite frustrating at times,'' said Tech quarterback Jim Druckenmiller (7 of 18, 114 yards, two touchdowns and 43 yards rushing).
Tech's inability at times to take advantage of that field position - combined with the Cajuns' potent passing game - kept the game tight until the third quarter. USL quarterback Jake Delhomme threw for 255 yards, the most against Tech this season. Tech held the Cajuns (4-5) to just 81 yards rushing while churning out 328 itself.
``We tried to make a game of it at times, but we just self-destructed,'' Southwestern Louisiana coach Nelson Stokley said. ``We seemed to be our own worst enemies. Up unto a certain point, I thought we hung in there pretty well.''
That point was late in the third quarter. Heading into a 15 to 25 mph wind, the Cajuns drove 79 yards and scored on a 10-yard run by Kenyon Cotton with 6:48 left in the period. The point-after drew Southwestern Louisiana within 23-16.
``We're kicking off and we're within seven points, what more could you ask for?'' Stokley said. ``But from that point on, we went downhill. It's hard to believe from that point on you can play that poorly, but we did.''
Tech's Shawn Scales returned the ensuing kickoff 61 yards to the Southwestern Louisiana 19, setting up a field goal. Then on second down for the Cajuns on the next series, Tech defensive end Cornell Brown forced a fumble and Torrian Gray recovered, giving the Hokies the ball at Southwestern Louisiana's 13. Five plays later, Tech's Oxendine scored from the 1 and the Hokies had a 33-16 lead with 2:20 left in the third.
The Hokies kept pouring it on, scoring fourth-quarter touchdowns on a 65-yard pass play from Druckenmiller to Michael Stuewe on a little flat pass, and then on another 1-yard Oxendine run to cap a 66-yard drive. Oxendine finished with 140 yards on 22 carries. He's gone over 100 yards in three consecutive outings, the first Hokie to do so since Eddie Hunter in 1986.
Tech scored on its final possession of the first half and its first five possessions of the second half, and was deep in Southwestern Louisiana territory on the sixth when time expired.
With the victory, Tech qualified for a bowl game. The meat of the Hokies' schedule will determine which it will be. Syracuse's victory over West Virginia Saturday made an Alliance Bowl bid unlikely for the Hokies, so Tech is probably playing for either a Gator, Carquest or Liberty bowl spot.
``We've won six ballgames,'' Beamer said. ``You can say whatever you want about the competition. These next ballgames will determine how we're thought of, no question about it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Virginia Tech's Antonio Banks, right, brings down Darren Strother of
Southwest Louisiana from behind. by CNB