THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 1, 1997 TAG: 9701010459
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TOM ROBINSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MIAMI LENGTH: 59 lines
The defense rested for nine minutes while Virginia Tech's offense yielded a fumble return for a touchdown, but then marched to within three points of Nebraska before halftime of Tuesday's Orange Bowl.
It rested in the locker room during the extra-long half-hour break. Then it rested a couple minutes more as the Hokies tried, but failed, to close their 17-14 gap with the first possession of the second half.
Finally, presumably fresh and itching to hit somebody, sorely needed to come out strong against the Cornhuskers' potent ground game, the Hokies defenders returned to the field with 12:55 left in the third period.
And they flopped.
Leading with its All-American duo of left guard Aaron Taylor and left tackle Chris Dishman, moving by quarterback Scott Frost's error-free ball handling and running back Damon Benning's straight ahead bursts, Nebraska scored both times it had the ball in the third quarter.
First came a nine-play drive of 74 yards that put the Huskers up 24-14. Tech answered with a superb scoring drive of its own, the marvelous quarterback Jim Druckenmiller driving, and Tech's defense had another chance to stoke the momentum.
Nothing. No gas. No spark. Only compliance. Nebraska rumbled and Tech crumbled - 41-21 by the time the wheels were finished falling off.
Tech's vaunted end Cornell Brown was practically invisible - not only on the two third-quarter drives but the entire game. On the second drive, cornerback Loren Johnson was flagged for blatant pass interference that set up Nebraska on the 8.
Two plays later, Benning - only Nebraska's third-best runner in the regular season - was in the end zone on a 6-yard carry, Nebraska was up 34-21 and Tech could all but sign its concession speech.
``They're kind of a small defense,'' Benning said. ``They were really aggressive and they hit extremely hard, but we knew they were bound to wear down. We just kept shuttling people in and out and wore them down after a while.''
In that killer third quarter, Tech backed the Cornhuskers into four third-down plays. They converted on three, and the one time they didn't, they clicked on 4th-and-1 to extend their parade.
``We just needed to make more plays both offensively and defensively,'' Tech coach Frank Beamer said. ``It probably goes back to Nebraska, they're the reason we weren't making some plays. ... We missed some tackles, but again, it kind of gets back to who you're tackling.''
Brown, especially, was conspicuous in his absence of influence. Brown made only one tackle and assisted on just three others, ending his Tech career with a fizzle.
Pared down to the most important man-to-man moments, Nebraska was simply better each and every time. It exhausted Tech's fresh legs. It sapped its spirit. Mostly, it exposed the distance the Hokies still must travel to fulfill its truly big-time goals. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by HUY NGUYEN, The Virginian-Pilot
Virginia Tech defensive end Cornell Brown, right, enjoys a rare
celebration with Kerwin Hairston. Brown was just about invisible,
making only one tackle and assisting on just three others.