THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 11, 1994 TAG: 9409110197
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: HATTIESBURG, MISS. LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
A glimpse at the stats sheet makes it appear that Virginia Tech's football team dominated Saturday. The Hokies almost detonated.
For the second consecutive week, Tech was underwhelming on offense and overwhelming on defense as it defeated Southern Mississippi, 24-14, before 17,391 at Roberts Stadium. Tech, 2-0 and ranked 21st nationally, trailed by 14 points in the first quarter and needed 10 fourth-quarter points to pull out the victory.
``I think our football team did just about everything you could do to get beat in a place like this,'' Hokies coach Frank Beamer said.
Things like fumbling six times and losing four. Yielding two interceptions. A muffed snap on a field goal. Seventy-four yards' worth of penalties.
The mistakes negated Tech's big statistical advantages: 437 yards of total offense to the Golden Eagles' 144; 27 first downs to eight; 90 offensive plays to 65; 36:16 time of possession to 23:44.
``The only good thing I can say about the offense is we made the plays when we had to,'' Hokies offensive coordinator Gary Tranquill said. ``Other than that. . . .''
Tech's defense was another story. Five times, Hokies miscues gave Southern Miss possession deep in Tech territory, but the Hokies surrendered scores only on the first two. On the other three, Southern Miss managed just one first down.
``We couldn't do anything with it,'' Southern Miss quarterback Tommy Waters said. ``They're one of the most physical teams I've played against.''
Said Beamer: ``I think it was one of the greatest efforts I've ever seen. The first thing we did in the locker room was give the defense a standing ovation.''
But there wre times when Tech's offensive sputterings left the outcome in doubt.
Tech finally took control in the fourth quarter. DeShazo (17-for-28 for 230 yards and a touchdown) was scrambling to his right when he found flanker Bryan Still with a step on cornerback Derrick Hervey. Still pulled in the 41-yard touchdown pass with 10:35 to play.
Atle Larsen added the extra point to give Tech a 21-14 lead and then kicked a 43-yard field goal on the Hokies' next possession for a 24-14 edge with 2:49 remaining.
The Hokies were fortunate to be tied, 14-14, at halftime.
On the first play from scrimmage, Southern Mississippi's Robert Brown blew across the line and blindsided DeShazo, whose fumble was recovered by Steve Latson at the Hokies' 3. The Golden Eagles scored a touchdown two plays later.
Tech's second mistake came on the ensuing drive, when Ryan Williams set up to attempt a 41-yard field goal. The snap squirted out of holder Jon Shield's hands, and Williams picked it up and threw an incompletion. The senior from Suffolk suffered a separated shoulder on the play and will be out two to three weeks.
It wouldn't be the last special-teams gaffe for Tech. Punter Robbie Colley committed an ugly pair of his own. Twice he caught a snap from center, took one step and dropped the ball. The Golden Eagles took over after one of those at the Tech 2, and their score gave them a 14-0 lead with 5:01 remaining in the first quarter after three possessions in which they made just one first down and put together scoring drives of 2 and 3 yards.
But the Hokies had a little help from Southern Miss. Their first scoring drive was kept alive by a roughing-the-passer call on Latson, nullifying an interception in the end zone by LT Gully. Two plays later, Dwayne Thomas (28 carries for 123 yards) scored on a 4-yard run to cut the deficit to 14-7 with 1:31 remaining in the first quarter. by CNB