Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 24, 1993 TAG: 9310250321
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SCOTT BLANCHARD STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long
\ A misguided vulture circled Lane Stadium late Saturday afternoon, eyeing a game that wouldn't die, a team that wouldn't die and another - Virginia Tech - that discovered an October oasis for the first time in nine years.
After a first-half feast, the Hokies dehydrated and allowed Rutgers a five-touchdown second-half rally. But the Scarlet Knights fell one score short as Tech won 49-42 in the Big East Conference teams' second shootout in two years.
The Hokies led 35-7 at halftime and 49-21 with 3 minutes, 7 seconds left in the third quarter. But Tech lost two fumbles in the last nine minutes, leading to two of Rutgers' three touchdowns in that span.
The Hokies' heart rate returned to normal only when the Scarlet Knights' onside kick skidded out of bounds with 57 seconds left, effectively ending a 3-hour, 38-minute affair before 40,211 spectators.
A year ago, Rutgers overcame a 19-point second-half deficit and beat Tech 50-49 on a touchdown as time expired. Frank Beamer, the Hokies' coach, had watched a lot of offensive weapons during the game, but he was thinking about another kind of weapon this time.
"If that had happened [again], keep those policemen away from me because I would have grabbed one of their guns and shot myself," Beamer said.
Tech did take one bullet: All-Big East cornerback Tyronne Drakeford is out for the season after breaking his right ankle in the second quarter.
The temporary painkiller is this: Tech (5-2 overall, 3-2 Big East) likely will enter the USA Today/CNN Top 25 and kept itself in position for an upper-division finish in the conference. Third place or higher means a field pass to a New Year's Day bowl game.
The Hokies are 5-2 for the first time since 1984. They were 4-2-1 after seven games in 1986, and after the season accepted a forfeit victory over Temple in the seventh game.
Tech's last bid for a national ranking ended Oct. 2 in Morgantown, W.Va., where the Mountaineers won 14-13.
"That's been on our minds, as far as being ranked," said Maurice DeShazo, the Hokies' quarterback. "[But] if we win, things will take care of themselves."
Rutgers, playing with a patchwork defense because of injuries, suffered a deep wound to its bowl hopes. The Scarlet Knights are 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the league with AP Top 25 teams West Virginia, Miami and Syracuse remaining on their schedule.
The Hokies dressed like a confused leaf in autumn - half maroon (shirts) and half neon orange (pants) - but their defense didn't wither. Rutgers, the Big East's top scoring and rushing team - fourth and sixth in the nation, respectively - got seven points and 80 yards on the ground in the first 30 minutes.
Tech often met freshman running back Terrell Willis, the league's leading rusher, in his backfield and held him to 43 first-half yards.
After Willis ran 35 yards off left tackle to give Rutgers the lead with 11:12 left in the first quarter, the Scarlet Knights were held to 32 yards on their next seven drives.
"Their style of defense bothers everybody," said Doug Graber, Rutgers' coach. "[This] was a game where we really had to have a lot of patience, because you're going to get some minus plays. I thought in the first half we lost our patience a little bit."
Beamer doesn't mind ball-control, but sometimes his offense can't help itself. Tech gained 271 total yards in the first half, DeShazo threw for one touchdown and ran for another and the Hokies' four offensive touchdowns came on drives of 2:53, 2:01, 1:25 and 2:39.
Tech took a 28-7 lead when William Ferrell returned a blocked punt 7 yards for a touchdown with 6:07 left in the half.
Trailing 35-7, Rutgers sailed downfield and lined up on the Tech half-yard line with four seconds left. Fullback Bill Bailey met a Hokies blitz that kept him out of the end zone and brought Tech players dancing onto the field.
"We thought we took their heart out," said linebacker George DelRicco, one of those in the pile. "But they jumped back at us pretty good."
The second half had Beamer rummaging in his bag of mixed emotions.
"I've learned lessons and felt a lot worse," he said. "I thought we took some things for granted. I don't know what it is when we play this Rutgers crowd."
Quarterback Bryan Fortay has had something to do with it. He led last year's comeback and nearly did it again, throwing for 197 yards and two touchdowns in the second half - including an 8-yarder to Mario Henry on fourth-and-goal with 1:07 left in the game.
That drive began after Joe Swarm fumbled near the Rutgers' 40 and the Scarlet Knights' Shane Spells returned the ball to the Tech 36.
Rutgers, which failed to recover an onside kick after Willis' 38-yard touchdown run made it 49-35 with 3:11 left, tried again. This time, John Benestad hit a low line drive - on purpose - that went out of bounds. The ball was awarded to Tech.
"We were going to hit a hard onside kick right at somebody," Graber said. "They did a good job of not attempting to field the ball."
Graber was choked up over how hard his team played. Tech was just glad it didn't choke this year.
Asked if he thought the Hokies had won the game with the goal-line stand in the first half, linebacker Ken Brown said:
"Since I've been playing here at Virginia Tech, I'm never secure."
\ see microfilm for box score
Keywords:
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