THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 1, 1997 TAG: 9701010462
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: MIAMI LENGTH: 97 lines
It wasn't played in the Orange Bowl. It wasn't played on New Year's Day. It wasn't played before a capacity crowd - not even close - or with the electricity of national title implications.
Much of what has defined the Orange Bowl over the years was absent Tuesday. But that was still Nebraska and its vaunted running game on the field against Virginia Tech.
The Cornhuskers chewed up yardage like that Cabbage Patch doll chews hair. Nebraska munch, munch munched its way to a 41-21 victory over Virginia Tech before 51,212 fans and almost 24,000 empty seats at Pro Player Stadium.
The 10th-ranked Hokies (10-2) were in the game through three quarters, but the sixth-ranked Huskers owned the fourth.
Nebraska led 17-14 at halftime, and the teams came out in the second half trading blows like heavyweights. Touchdown Nebraska. Touchdown Tech. Touchdown Nebraska.
That pattern finally broke early in the fourth quarter when Tech was unable to answer after Nebraska scored to take a 31-21 lead with 20 seconds left in the third on a 61-yard, 11-play drive.
The Cornhuskers never looked back. They scored on their first four possessions of the second half, and the game clock ran out on their fifth. It was the kind of pounding from the Huskers' running game the Hokies had been wary of.
``Against a great team like this, every time you get a chance, you have to come up with a play, and that's not what happened to us tonight,'' Tech coach Frank Beamer said. ``I was looking forward to the second half. I thought we had the game in pretty good shape.''
The Hokies outscored opponents 190-73 this season in the second half, but Nebraska beat them 24-7 in the final two periods. The Huskers (11-2) pounded the Hokies on the ground, gaining 198 of their 279 rushing yards in the second half.
``Our deal was to play physical football and use the added depth we felt we had to wear people down,'' Nebraska coach Tom Osborne said.
That depth was no more evident than at Nebraska's I-back position. Starter Ahman Green played sparingly, and backup DeAngelo Evans did not play because of injuries. All third-teamer Damon Benning did was to rush for 95 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries to be named Nebraska's most valuable player.
``The most annoying thing all week was everyone was asking if we were going to come to play or how we could get motivated for the game,'' Benning said. ``I thought it was ridiculous. Any time you come from a program like we do and have the kind of coach we do, we're always going to come prepared to play.
``Just because it wasn't for the national championship didn't mean it wasn't a big game. It was big for our program because people were anxious to see how we would respond.''
Statistically, the Hokies were not beaten as badly as they were on the scoreboard.
The Hokies gained 407 total yards to Nebraska's 415, and their 193 yards rushing were the most this year against the Huskers, the nation's fifth-ranked rushing defense.
``Defensively it wasn't what we wanted, but it was still a `W,' '' Nebraska All-American defensive end Jared Tomich said.
Tech MVP Ken Oxendine gained 150 yards on 20 carries, and quarterback Jim Druckenmiller was 16 of 33 for 214 yards and three touchdowns.
But Druckenmiller also had the ball batted away from him by Mike Rucker in the second quarter on an option play, and Nebraska's Jason Peter picked the ball up at the 31 and went in for a touchdown with 3:36 left in the half for a 17-7 Cornhuskers lead.
The Hokies, however, came right back with an 80-yard drive. Druckenmiller hit tight end Bryan Jennings for 20 yards, and then Oxendine busted up the gut for 39.
With 19 seconds remaining in the half, Druckenmiller released the ball as a defender was bearing down on him, and Tech's Shawn Scales ripped the ball out of the hands of Nebraska defender Octavious McFarlin in the end zone.
But the start of the second half did not bode well for the Hokies. They got one first down and had to punt on their opening drive, then Nebraska's offense just stuffed Tech, going 74 yards in nine plays, including a conversion on fourth-and-1 at Tech's 36. On the next play, Benning busted up the gut through a huge hole for a 33-yard score and 24-14 Husker lead with 9:54 left in the third quarter.
Nebraska just kept rolling, and the Hokies couldn't keep pace. Tech, coming off a stretch of 20 wins in its last 21 games, fell short in its bid to win a school-record 11 games.
``I told our players we had to get some turnovers, and they didn't come close to making a turnover,'' Beamer said. ``We'll be back, you haven't seen the last of us yet.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by HUY NGUYEN, The Virginian-Pilot
Nebraska lineman Jeff Ogard, left, celebrates and Virginia Tech
quarterback Jim Druckenmiller picks himself up slowly from the turf
after Jason Peter's 31-yard touchdown run with a Druckenmiller
fumble. The score, with 3:36 left in the first half, put Nebraska
ahead 17-7.
Photo by LAWRENCE JACKSON, The Virginian-Pilot
Tech QB Jim Druckenmiller, pressured here by Nebraska's Grant
Wistrom, right, was 16 of 33 for 214 yards and three touchdowns.
Photo by HUY NGUYEN, The Virginian-Pilot
Virginia Tech's Ken Oxendine is brought down in the second quarter
after picking up a chunk of his 150 yards.