Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 23, 1995 TAG: 9511240022
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: HOLIDAY
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
It wasn't the biggest comeback in school history, at least from a statistical standpoint. That occurred in 1982, when the Hokies rallied from a 21-point deficit to beat Duke 22-21 on a two-point conversion with 33 seconds left.
However, it apparently was the biggest comeback of the nine-year Frank Beamer coaching era and, as far as anyone can tell, Tech previously had not won a game in which it trailed by as many as 15 points in the fourth quarter.
Tech trailed 29-14 to start the fourth period and was down 29-23 before Jim Druckenmiller tossed a 32-yard touchdown pass to Jermaine Holmes with 47 seconds remaining.
Beamer had seen the Hokies preserve victories with a late fumble recovery against West Virginia and a blocked extra-point attempt at East Carolina, but never during his tenure had Tech come from behind to win in the final minute.
The last time that happened was in 1986, during Bill Dooley's last season as Tech coach, when Chris Kinzer kicked field goals with one second remaining to beat Kentucky 17-15 and with no time remaining to overcome North Carolina State 25-24 in the Peach Bowl.
As for the Tech-UVa series, Saturday's game marked the first time since 1964 the lead changed hands in the final minute. In that game, Virginia scored with 19 seconds left to beat the Hokies 20-17 in Charlottesville.
In 1976, Roscoe Coles scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 1:08 remaining as the Hokies came from behind to win 14-10 at Scott Stadium. That was the scene of another Tech comeback in 1979, when the Hokies trailed 17-0 and got as close as 20-18 before UVa foiled a two-point pass.
BRAWL WITHDRAWAL: West Virginia officials are expecting a crowd in the 35,000-40,000 range Friday when Pittsburgh visits for the annual ``Backyard Brawl.'' That would be the smallest crowd of the season and the tiniest crowd for a WVU-Pitt game since the 1980 opening of Mountaineer Field, which now seats 63,500.
Obviously, the records of the team - WVU is 4-6, Pitt is 2-8 - will have something to do will the turnout. So will the timing of the game, which comes with school out of session. The state's deer-hunting season began this week, another significant factor.
IN THE BIG EAST: West Virginia senior Robert Walker, who entered the season needing 536 yards to break the school rushing record, remains 64 yards shy of the mark of 2,584 set by Artie Owens from 1972-75. Walker had one rushing attempt for 4 yards Saturday at Miami.
Miami junior Danyell Ferguson needs to rush for 94 yards Saturday to become only the second Hurricane player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season and the first since Ottis Anderson in 1978. Miami won national championships between 1983-91 without a single rusher gaining as many as 750 yards.
Syracuse will visit Miami without leading tackler Antwaune Pounds, who suffered a broken leg two weeks ago, and may not have cornerback Kevin Abrams, the Big East interceptions leader, who injured an arm in a 58-29 romp over Boston College on Saturday.
Boston College coach Dan Henning said the Eagles lost two players to Syracuse chop blocks - not illegal, in his opinion, but questionable because of their potential to cause injuries. ``We had an unwritten rule [in the NFL] that you wouldn't teach it,'' said Henning, a former head coach with Atlanta and San Diego.
Virginia Tech is one of nine NCAA Division I-A programs that are unbeaten on the road this season. The others are Clemson, Northwestern, Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, Oregon, Utah and Ohio State, which visits Michigan this week.
ARIZONA OUT? Virginia football coach George Welsh said on his radio show Monday night that a scheduled two-game series with Arizona in 1997 and '98 could be in jeopardy. Arizona wants to move the games to a point in the schedule that is not agreeable to UVa. Welsh added the Cavaliers have reached tentative agreement on games with Boston College and Penn State.
MAROONS TO FERRUM: Roanoke College will visit Ferrum for the first time in men's basketball Sunday in a game that will benefit the St.James Community Center. Admission for the 4 p.m. tip-off is free with the donation of a canned foot item.
HOOPS UPDATE: Sophomore guard Jerry Braswell, who started 21 games for Wake Forest last season, has been declared academically ineligible. The Deacons will need Rusty LaRue, who played six minutes in a preseason game Saturday night - hours after he passed for an ACC-record 545 yards for Wake's football team in a 52-23 loss to North Carolina State.
MARSH TO UNC: North Carolina has announced the signing of Brian Marsh, a senior at Patrick Henry High School, to a swimming scholarship. Marsh, whose specialties are the middle distances, has trained recently with former U.S. Olympic coach Ray Bussard.
NON-REVENUE: UVa lacrosse signees include the sons of former NFL linebacker Mike Curtis and former UVa president Robert O'Neil. Defenseman Ryan Curtis from Potomac, Md., and goalie Ben O'Neil from Charlottesville were two of four UVa recruits who were named to the U.S. under-19 national team.
Virginia Tech's first class of softball recruits includes pitcher Michelle Johnson and highly recruited catcher Jennifer McKibben from Tallahassee (Fla.) Community College. Johnson is a native of Surrey, British Columbia. Tech's other signees are pitcher Allison Weist from Rutherford, N.J., and infielder Michelle Meadows from Monacan. West had a 20-0 summer record.
Michelle Graham, a senior from Radford, was named most valuable player after leading South Carolina-Spartanburg to the championship of the Peach Belt Athletic Conference volleyball tournament.
by CNB