Virginia Tech Humbles Texas In Sugar Bowl
Virginia Tech, a Sugar Bowl participant by default, blitzed Texas into submission Sunday night.
Tech, which got the bowl berth when Miami was dropped because of NCAA sanctions, took over in the second half by unleashing an array of blitzes on Texas quarterback James Brown.
The Hokies sacked him five times, forced three interceptions and used two long touchdowns by Bryan Still to earn a 28-10 victory.
“Ever since I heard we were coming to the Sugar Bowl, I had dreams about making big plays - and they came true,” Still said.
It was the 10th straight victory for No. 13 Virginia Tech (10-2), co-champion of the Big East with the Miami Hurricanes.
“We’ve been working in this program to move up to the top of the college football world,” Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said. “That’s another step for us.”
It was the third straight bowl appearance for Virginia Tech, but the first major bowl.
No. 9 Texas, which came in 21-0-1 while leading at halftime during the John Mackovic era, led 10-7 at intermission this time. But the Hokies were in complete control throughout the second half.
“We couldn’t get anything going against them,” Mackovic said. “They waited for us to make a mistake and then they capitalized on it. They were on James quickly and we couldn’t get focused.”
The momentum changed dramatically when Still returned a punt 60 yards with 2:34 left in the first half, and in the second half it was more of the same. With Virginia Tech leading 14-10 late in the third period, he caught a 54-yard touchdown pass from Jim Druckenmiller, and the Hokies were never threatened.
“The punt return was a key play because it gave them a real shot of adrenalin and really got them in the game,” Mackovic said. “We knew they were good, more talented than anyone we played.”
Virginia Tech trailed at the half despite limiting Texas to 126 yards. The Hokies, 10th in the nation in total defense, No. 5 in scoring defense and No. 1 against the rush nationally, wound up holding the Longhorns (10-2-1) to 226 yards. Tech has allowed just more than 77 yards rushing per game, and held Texas to 78. The Hokies have allowed just 2 yards per rush, and the Longhorns averaged 2.4 on Sunday.
Shon Mitchell, who had 1,099 yards for Texas this season, rushed for 57 yards on 11 carries. Ricky Williams, who gained 990 this year, had 62 yards on 12 carries.
Virginia Tech scored its final touchdown with 5:06 left when Cornell Brown picked up his second sack of the game, causing a fumble by Brown that Jim Baron returned 20 yards. Brown later added another sack, giving Virginia 49 for the season.
Baron’s touchdown was the seventh defensive score in the last six games for the Hokies.
Virginia Tech took its first lead with 2:32 left in the third quarter when Marcus Parker capped a 67-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Druckenmiller, who completed 18 of 34 for 266 yards, one touchdown and one interception, had 27-yard passes to Bryan Jennings and Still on the drive.
Texas scored first, taking a 7-0 lead with 4:32 left in the first quarter. After gaining just one first down on its first two possessions, Texas went 72 yards.
The drive was fueled by 28 yards on the ground by Mitchell, 20 yards in penalties and two big passes from Brown - a 27-yarder to Adams and a 4-yard touchdown to Pat Fitzgerald thrown despite pressure.
Brown completed 14 of 35 for 148 yards and a touchdown.
On the second play of the second quarter, Jason Reeves intercepted Druckenmiller and returned it 35 yards to set up a 52-yard field goal by Phil Dawson, making it 10-7 Texas.
xxxx Virginia Tech 28, Texas 10 Virginia Tech 0 7 7 14 - 28 Texas 7 3 0 0 - 10 Tex-Fitzgerald 4 pass from Brown (Dawson kick). Tex-FG Dawson 52. VT-Still 60 punt return (Larsen kick). VT-Parker 2 run (Larsen kick). VT-Still 54 pass from Druckenmiller (Larsen kick). VT-Baron 20 fumble return (Larsen kick). A-70,283. VT Texas First downs 20 15 Rushes-yards 32-96 33-78 Passing 266 148 Return Yards 122 77 Comp-Att-Int 18-34-1 14-37-3 Punts 8-37 9-40 Fumbles-Lost 5-2 2-1 Penalties-Yards 11-99 9-91 Time of Possession 30:25 29:35 Individual statistics RUSHINGVirginia Tech, D.Thomas 15-62, Oxendime 8-22, Edmonds 3-10, Parker 2-4, Druckenmiller 3-1, Whipple 1-(minus 3). Texas, Williams 12-62, Mitchell 15-59, Brown 6-(minus 43). PASSINGVirginia Tech, Druckenmiller 18-34-1-266, Whipple 0-0-0-0. Texas, Brown 14-36-3-148, McLemore 0-1-0-0. RECEIVINGVirginia Tech, Still 6-119, Jennings 6-77, Edmonds 2-16, Holmes 2-30, White 1-16, Parker 1-8. Texas, M.Adams 6-92, Fitzgerald 3-21, Davis 2-27, Williams 1-6, McGarity 1-1, Mitchell 1-1.