ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, November 11, 1996 TAG: 9611120043
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG
SOURCE: RANDY KING STAFF WRITER
To think, some were actually concerned about how Virginia Tech's football team would respond to adversity.
Three days after being floored by the suspension of All-American Cornell Brown and six other players, the unfazed Hokies got up off the deck and knocked out a respectable foe, leveling East Carolina 35-14 on the frozen tundra of Lane Stadium on Saturday night.
``I think the fans were looking for the suspensions to cause us a lot of problems, but that happened Wednesday,'' said Jay Hagood, a Tech senior offensive tackle.
``We can't worry about off-the-field things we can't control. We can control what goes on inside Lane Stadium. We controlled the offensive front, we controlled the defensive front and we won the ballgame.''
Tech may have competed with a short deck, but it held enough high cards to consistently trump an ECU club that played without its ace, injured star quarterback Marcus Crandell.
On a night when the wind chill dipped into the low teens, the Hokies' offense served up more hot stuff than the Lane concessionaires. Tech rolled up 591 yards total offense - the sixth-highest total in school history - on an ECU defense that had yielded 300 yards only once its first seven games.
Hokies quarterback Jim Druckenmiller was magnificent considering the conditions, completing 15 of 23 passes for 268 yards and three touchdowns.
Tech, whipping ECU in the trenches, tacked on another 323 yards on the ground. Ex-Salem High School standout Marcus Parker rambled for a career-high 117 yards on 18 carries, while Ken Oxendine had 99 yards on 15 attempts.
``We just kept pounding right at 'em, dishing out punishment,'' Oxendine said. ``We knew eventually that they'd lay down in a sense.''
Considering its situation, Tech could have laid down. But the Hokies refused to let all their off-the-field woes bury a chance to show people they can beat a reputable opponent.
``I think good teams overcome adversity and I think that's something we've done all year,'' Druckenmiller said.
``With everything that went down,'' said Oxendine, ``I think everyone took this [as] an opportunity to prove themselves as being a playmaker. We had a lot of guys step up and take care of the challenge.''
Guys such as: backup sophomore receiver James Crawford, who had three catches for 59 yards in suspended Angelo Harrison's role; sophomore defensive end Jason Berish, who had a sack and tackle for loss in Brown's spot; and true freshman Anthony Midget, who came on for injured cornerback Antonio Banks and came up with a key fourth-quarter interception.
``I think all the adversity brought us all together,'' Druckenmiller said. ``We were on a mission out there and we took care of business.''
In winning for the 17th time in 18 games, Tech (7-1) wasn't all perfect. The Hokies fumbled on three straight second-half possessions, allowing ECU (5-3) to stay in the game.
Oxendine, who finished one yard short of his fourth straight 100-yard rushing game, lost the ball twice, while Parker gave it up the other time. ``It ain't like us to lay the ball on the ground like that,'' said Tech coach Frank Beamer.
Said Oxendine: ``Their defense was holding us up and getting some shots at us. They do a lot of gang-tackling. There were times when I was trying to get to the ground and couldn't.''
The Tech defense, despite the loss of Brown, wouldn't let the Pirates take advantage of the miscues.
Danny Gonzalez, making his first college start in relief of Crandell (strained left knee ligament), completed 17 of 35 passes for 258 yards, including a 74-yard strike to Larry Shannon that made it 14-7 Tech at halftime.
The Pirates' ground game was limited to 47 yards on 24 attempts. Sophomore Scott Harley, who had 990 yards rushing entering the game, managed 54 tough yards on 19 carries. Critical penalties and an inability to finish drives - Tech picked off two Gonzalez passes - helped thwart ECU's offense.
``We came together as a team and we molded and we joined and we played a great game,'' said Tech cornerback Loren Johnson, whose interception set up the Hokies' first score.
After the Hokies, leading 21-14, stopped ECU on a fourth-and-15 at the Tech 38 with 10:29 to play, they put the game away on Druckenmiller's 15-yard shovel pass to Brian Edmonds with 8:33 left. Parker supplied the final margin four minutes later on a 14-yard touchdown gallop.
``When we let down,'' Oxendine said of the offense, ``the defense really took up the slack.
``I think right now, offensively and defensively, we're clicking. It's full steam ahead and now we're just looking forward to the challenges coming up ahead in the next three games.''
Tech faces Miami on Saturday in a crucial Big East game, then closes with West Virginia and Virginia.
``We've got to keep proving things,'' Druckenmiller said. ``The skeptics out there are kind of hard to please. But as long as we keep winning, there's not much they can say bad about us.''
LENGTH: Medium: 93 linesby CNB