ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 15, 1996 TAG: 9609170030
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: CHESTNUT HILL, MASS.
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
Shyrone Stith isn't perfect after all.
One week after he literally burst onto Virginia Tech's football landscape, he began his first Big East game with a mistake.
On the Hokies' first offensive play Saturday, Stith went the wrong way and collided with fullback Brian Edmonds, who was supposed to get the handoff from quarterback Jim Druckenmiller.
The busted play became a 25-yard pass completion to Cornelius White, starting the kind of day it would be at Alumni Stadium, where the Hokies could do little wrong in an impressive 45-7 pounding of Boston College.
``I've never seen a kid as scared before a game as Shyrone was,'' said Tech running backs coach Billy Hite. ``I told him after that first series when he came to the sideline, `There are 21 other guys on the field. It's not all on you.'''
The short, but strong, freshman would be forgiven for thinking otherwise. He's really supposed to be a third-stringer. He doesn't play like one.
Ken Oxendine was hurting at home with a separated right shoulder, but watching Stith run with the ball - and the No.1 tailback job - may have pained the veteran more.
Backup Marcus Parker is suspended after a shoplifting charge, and Stith may have stolen his opportunity, although there is no indication when coach Frank Beamer will reinstate Parker.
Stith, who began his career with a 119-yard rushing performance and two touchdowns at Akron after Oxendine was hurt, stutter-stepped his way to 80 yards on 20 carries and two more scores against the Eagles, who seem destined to the Big East's second division again.
With Parker's future status uncertain and Oxendine - if he continues to mend as quickly as he did last week - hoping to be back for a Sept.28 visit to Syracuse, Stith will be the guy.
``That's one thing that's different about him,'' said Hite, who has coached Tech's running backs for 19 seasons. ``I've never had a back before with that much pressure on him this early in his career.
``I've always played freshmen in the past, but I've spotted them and tried to bring them along slowly. We can't do that now. Shyrone is just doing an outstanding job. I thought he could be special when I recruited him off a film during his junior year in high school.''
That season at Western Branch High in Chesapeake, Va., included the last time Stith fumbled in a game. He's spent only a month on Tech's campus, where he began preseason workouts as the No.4 tailback.
Hite always has liked his backs somewhat squatty, and the 5-foot-7, 190-pound Stith is just that. However, he is more of a pinball-style runner than a bowling ball.
Unlike many freshmen, he knows what to do when he's handed the ball. He runs north-south instead of trying to squirm his way around tacklers toward the sideline.
``He can cut on a dime,'' said Hite. ``I'm not so sure he's not the best we've had at that.''
Stith also prospers because in Edmonds, he has a veteran in the backfield blocking to spring him. Beamer and offensive coordinator Rickey Bustle aren't shy about using Shyrone, either.
How many other freshmen are trusted with carrying the ball on first down from their team's 2-yard line?
``It wasn't as difficult going into this game,'' Stith said after he continued to give Beamer's team good reason to give him the pigskin. ``I knew what to expect going into it. I knew I was going to start.
``I know I've got a lot to learn. A lot. The blocking techniques. College is different from high school. In high school, on offense, you didn't have to learn much about defense. At this level, you have to learn every pass play, where to go, who to block.''
Stith unquestionably is the Hokies' best rookie running back since true freshman Vaughn Hebron went for 584 yards on 134 carries in 1989. His emergence will give Tech uncommon depth at the position when and should Oxendine and Parker return.
Tech has been strong at running back in the Beamer and Bill Dooley years, but this year's tailbacks, combined with Edmonds, probably would give the Hokies their most depth behind QB since 1983.
Those were the original ``Stallions.'' Hite had Otis Copeland, Maurice Williams, Eddie Hunter, Desmar Becton and Ricky Bailey combine for 2,143 yards at tailback. The fullbacks were senior and NFL-to-be bull Tony Paige and Nigel Bowe. Besides blocking, they added another 597 ground yards.
This season, Tech opponents figure to learn a little more about Stith each game, but Hite would like his fast track to slow down. BC seemed befuddled by Stith at times, and maybe for good reason. On the flip-card roster distributed in the press box, Stith was listed as a 5-7 tight end.
So far, besides learning what do do when he doesn't have the ball, Stith's only problem when he gets the handoff is picking out the hole behind the Hokies' massive offensive line, which averages 305 pounds.
``It's not easy seeing around those guys,'' Stith joked. ``Usually, I have to try and see through their legs.''
LENGTH: Medium: 93 linesby CNB