The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 51

College Football The Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday, October 9, 1994 C19I Temple is soundly beaten by Virginia Tech, 4143 his Owls were deceived by week against Penn State. Coach Ron Dickerson said the praise they earned last By Mike Jensen INQUIRER STAFF WRITER BLACKSBURG, Va. It had to be one of the shortest college football games ever played. Less than five minutes were gone when Virginia Tech swarmed Temple punter John Shay, practically took the ball off his foot and stormed right into the end zone. That was it.

Temple had to play perfectly to even stay close to the 20th-ranked Hokies, and here was an imperfect start to a decidedly imperfect day. Game over. "If it was left up to me, I wouldn't even watch the film," Owls coach Ron Dickerson said. Temple will learn nothing from yesterday's 41-13 squashing at Lane Stadium except that, despite last weekend's strong showing against Penn State, the Owls are a long way from keeping up with the big boys. Take away the blocked punt and the holding call that led to the second TD.

Skip past the dropped passes "We just physically got beat," Dickerson said. "They walked out here and you could see they had lived in the weight room the last two years. That's the way we're going to be in two years." Dickerson, whose team dropped to. 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the Big East, was not looking past all his team's errors. "We made our share," he said.

"Dumb, stupid, undisciplined mistakes. We reverted back to the way we played last year We got patted on the back so much after the Penn State game. Guys were getting it from fans and other students and faculty. They thought they were good. They're not good.

We're still a year-and-a-half away." Virginia Tech almost blocked a punt three plays into the game. Brian Spinner got so close, he ran into Shay a split second after the ball was away and he was called for roughing the kicker. The Owls kept the ball, but couldn't get another first down. Here came the Hokies again. Dickerson said the natural turf Temple was playing on for the first time this season affected the snapper, who 20-yard line.

But Temple was called for an illegal punt formation, had to kick again, and suddenly Virginia Tech was at the 42-yard line. That kind of stuff was killing Temple. Burris completed a 22-yard pass into Hokies territory. Bring it back. Holding on the Owls.

Virginia Tech got the ball in Temple territory and put it into the end zone. Again. Burris started out finding his receivers, who kept dropping the ball. But as the Hokies upped their pressure, Burris began putting the ball up for grabs. He was 16 of 37 for 138 yards, with two interceptions and a TD pass in the last two seconds of the game.

Dickerson said this was a step back for Burris. "They were blitzing from everywhere," Burris said. "You expect them from one place; they bring it from another." Temple's quarterback walked out of the interview room back onto the field. His mother, who had made the trip from Spiro, was out there. Burris' mother didn't say anything, just tapped at the bottom of her chin.

Burris was far from the only Owls didn't get the ball back to Shay cleanly-It was a short hop, but there were bigger problems than that. Larry Walding, who makes the calls for Temple's punt team and is a blocking back, said the Owls were in zone coverage on one side of the line and man-to-man on the other. One of the interior linemen on the man-to-man side must have thought he was on the zone side, because a Virginia Tech defender moved over and the Owls' lineman didn't move with him. "Even if he moves 20 feet, you're supposed to go with him," Walding said. Instead, Hokies senior William Fer-rell had a clean path to Shay's leg.

Ferrell knocked the ball to the turf and Stacy Henley, another senior, picked it up on the hop and went 25 yards for the score, just 4:29 into the game. The Owls were deflated before their defense was on the field. "It kills you, man," Shay said. "A blocked punt that early in the game. It kills you." The Owls never could get field position.

Late in the first quarter, a punt put the Hokies back inside their -Tim. mm i Boston College upsets the Irish in a 30-11 rout i. Notre Dame led only once in the game. The Eagles have beaten the Irish for the second straight year. a player hanging his head.

Temple Virginia Tech 0 0 0 13-13 7 14 14 641 1 VaT Henley 25 run alter blocked punt (Williams kick) VaT Martin 5 pass from DeShazo (Williams kick) VaT DeShazo 4 run (Williams kick) VaT Edmonds 7 run (Williams kick) VaT Freeman 29 pass from DeShazo (Williams kick) Tern Gaddy 9 run (Maston kick) VaT FG Williams 30 VAT FG Williams 39 Tern Atwater 5 pass from Burris (kick failed) A 44,204 T.m VaTech First downs 12 22 Rushes-yards 36- 78 52-245 Passing 138 116 Return Yards 96 44 Comp-Att-Int 16-37-2 13-23-0 Punts 9-34 4-43 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-3 Penalties-Yards 7-69 8-68 Time of Possession 29:08 30:52 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing: Temple, Gaddy 18-41, Atwater 3-24, D.Davis 6-13, Morse 4-10, Burris 5-(minus 10). Virginia Tech, Oxendine 16-71, Edmonds 5-46, Edwards 11-43, Parker 7-45, White 5-27, Druck-enmiller 1-15, DeShazo 6-1, Whipple 1-(minus 3). Patting: Temple, Burris 16-37-2-138. Virginia Tech, DeShazo 11-18-0-115, Druckenmiller 2-5-0-1. Receiving: Temple.

Baxter 2-29, Morse 4-25, Gaddy 1-21, Canzatar 1-21, Cock 2-14, D.Davis 3-13, V.Johnson 1-8, Atwater 1-5, Kersey 1-2. Virginia Tech, Oxendine 5-21, Freeman 4-67, Holmes 3-23, Martin 1-5. Rutgers edges Army The Scarlet Knights rallied for a 16-14 win. The team mascot almost spoiled the victory. El By Tom Canavan ASSOCIATED PRESS EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.

Rutgers, the most penalized team in the country, almost lost yesterday because of one of the weirdest flags in college football. The Scarlet Knights rallied from an 11-point deficit and led Army, 1(J 14, in the fourth quarter after RoberJ Higgins' 32-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Funderburk. But Rutgers was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct after a knight on a horse a team mascot rode onto the field. 1 "They should send that horse to' the glue factory," Rutgers tailback Terrell Willis said. The missed extra point left Rutgers with a two-point lead with 8:59 to play, and that almost wasn't enough when Army's Dondra Jolly returned the ensuing kickoff to the Scarlet Knights' 31.

After losing 2 yards in three plays, 1 the Cadets' Kurt Heiss missed what would have been a game-winning 50-yard field goal attempt with 6:33 to' play. 5 The Scarlet Knights (3-3) ran off5 all but 11 seconds of the clock and' sent Army (1-4) to its worst start in 20 years with the 16-14 final score. "We even have a dumb mascot," said Rutgers coach Doug Graber, who has come under fire recently after some; sloppy and penalty-marred play in( losses to No. 21 Syracuse, No. 4 Penn! State and No.

13 Miami. Referee Al Hynes said the flag was thrown because the ball had been put in play for the extra point when the horse and rider, David Graham, rode onto the field. "It's funny when you put it on theT foul sheet, and for the player's num-i ber you put Hynes said. "I went up to Doug, and he tried to tell me it was the Meadowlands horse. It I was the rider's fault." I The horse is owned by a local restaurant that uses a medieval times, theme.

Graham works at the restau- rant, and he has ridden at Rutgers games for two years. But Rutgers didn't blow it. Higgins rallied the team from a 14-3 deficit, and the Scarlet Knights' defense lim- ited Army to 78 yards and five first downs after intermission. Higgins, who started because Ray Lucas is sidelined with a dislocated shoulder, also hit Steven Harper! with a 24-yard scoring pass late in the first half and got the Scarlet Knights within 14-10. That touchdown came less than a minute after the Cadets' Abel Young had his sec-' ond short TD run.

Army 7 7 0 014' Rutgera 3 7 0 616 Rut FG Duborg 22 1 Army Young 1 run (Heiss kick) Army Young 2 run (Heiss kick) Rut Harper 24 pass trom Higgins (Duborg kick) Rut Funderburk 32 pass trom Higgins (kick failed) A 20,511 Army Rut First downs 19 21 i Rushes-yards 61-241 41-212 Passing 2 139 Return Yards 0 31 Conip-Att-Int 1-6-0 12-19-0: Sacked-Yards Lost 0-0 0-0 Punts 3-37 2-27 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0 1 Penalties-Yards 1-15 2-20 Time ot Possesion 34 06 25 54 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rntkinf: Army. Vaughn 18 82. Ross 18 53. i McAda 6-36, Young 9 27. Brae 2-14.

Jolly 2-11. iwy o-. I nomas 1-4. Hutgers. fresiey Willis 13-62, Funderburk 1-22.

Higgins 1-mmul 1 Pasting: Army, McAda 1-6-0-2; Rutgers, Higginj Rocohring: Army, Thomas 1-2. Rutgers. Funderburk 4-b2. Harpor 2-30, Battaglia 2-17. Wiila 1- 13.

Bndips 16. Presley 16, Gbbs 1-5 Mltto4 hkj goals: Aimy, Heiss 50. Pagers, CkitxnQ and the other dumb penalties and the costly interceptions. The Owls still were beaten. Badly.

Quarterback Henry Burris was running for his life, and Owls backs were running into walls of Hokies before they even reached the line of scrimmage. The Owls had two plays to go two inches late in the first half and they went backward. Temple's defense held together through the first half. Virginia Tech was up, 21-0, at the half, but the special teams had the first score and the Hokies only had to go 47 yards and 55 yards to score the next two. In the third quarter, Virginia Tech (5-1 overall, 3-1 Big East) showed off before retiring for the afternoon.

The Hokies ripped off yardage at 10-yard clips, running straight down the field to go ahead by 28-0. They got the ball right back on an interception and, on the first play, quarterback Maurice DeShazo pump-faked and found split end Antonio Freeman very lonely in the end zone for a 29-yard TD and a 35-0 lead. junior strong safety Terence Wiggins, a former Bishop McDevitt star. "That was a blue-collar effort by our team," said BC coach Dan Hen-ning, a former NFL head coach with the Atlanta Falcons (1983-86) and San Diego Chargers (1989-91). "I have had some great wins, twice winning Super Bowls as an assistant coach with the Washington Redskins.

But in terms of wins as a head coach, this ranks among the best." Things didn't start well for the Eagles. On the first series of the game, BC running back Omari Walker fumbled the ball into the arms of Notre Dame defensive end Brian Hamilton at the BC 41. However, the Eagles' defense set the tone for the entire day by holding the Irish to just a 27-yard field goal by Stefan Schroffner, which gave the Irish a 3-0 lead. It would be the Irish's only advantage of the afternoon. In the final minute of the first quarter, Notre Dame tailback Robert Farmer fumbled at the Notre Dame 25, and BC linebacker Matt Haff recovered and returned the ball to the Fighting Irish 20.

Unlike Notre Dame (4-2), Boston College capitalized on the Irish mis-cue when running back David Green bulled into the end zone from 8 yards out to give the Eagles a 7-3 lead with 14 minutes, 27 seconds left before halftime. Green's touchdown was set up by a gutsy call by Henning, who elected to try a fake field goal on a fourth and 6 at the Notre Dame 16. The gamble paid off as holder Matt stumbles emotion, no come-from-behind spark, and most of all, no concentration. How else do you explain the four turnovers and eight fumbles one fumble short of the school record? "It doesn't make any sense," said redshirt junior quarterback Tom Marchese, who fumbled three times. "I can't figure it out.

Maybe it's playing four games at home. Maybe it was the long bus ride here." The six fumbles in the first half two of which-Connecticut recovered were the most damaging. One play late in the second quarter more or less summed up the game for Villanova. With a third and 2 at the Connecticut 8, Marchese spied a clear path to the end zone and made a dash for it without the ball. Marchese's right arm banged his right hip and the ball dropped dead while he kept going forward.

That cost the Cats a touchdown as they were trailing, 9-0. "I was just careless," Marchese said. Next play, Mark Kiefcr attempted a 28-yard field goal and had it blocked. Were it not tor Frank Venezias 40-yard line-drive field goal that actually traveled 60 yards, clear out of the back end of the stadium, the Cats would have been shut out in the half. gfby-fmt2-nlf By Bill Doherty INQUIRER CORRESPONDENT CHESTNUT HILL, Mass.

With 17 seconds left in yesterday's 30-11 upset of Notre Dame, an unsanctioned fall running of the Boston Marathon broke loose on the field of Boston College's Alumni Stadium. Students with painted faces poured on to the field. Others slithered up the goal posts. Boston College public address announcer Tom Burke tried to plead with the students to stop the mayhem: "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, please get off the field, and please leave the goal posts standing. This game is not over yet." Actually, unlike last year's down-to-the-wire 41-39 Boston College win over the Fighting Irish, which cost Lou Holtz's team a national championship, this game had been over for quite a while.

In fact, Boston College manhandled the Fighting Irish on both sides of the ball from the second quarter on. The victory, in Notre Dame's first-ever visit to Alumni Stadium (a fact that drove scalpers' asking prices up to $450 a ticket), marked BC's second straight victory over Notre Dame. For the game, the Eagles (2-2) out-gained the Fighting Irish, 350 yards to 210. Doing much of the damage on offense for BC was backup tailback Justice Smith, who rushed for 144 yards and two second-half touchdowns on 27 carries. The Eagles' defense was just as impressive, sacking Notre Dame's Ron Powlus four times and intercepting him twice, both by Villanova Eagles' upset of eighth-ranked Notre bring down the goal posts before the today.

This was the most physically we've been manhandled in a long, long time." Notra Dame Boston Col. 3 0 0 8-11 0 7 14 9-30 ND FG Schroffner 27 BC Green 8 run (Gordon kick) BC Walker 2 run (Gordon kick) BC Smith 7 run (Gordon kick) BC FG Gordon 37 ND Kinder 15 run (Mayes pass from Powlus) BC Smith 6 run (pass failed) A 44,500 ND BC First downs 16 19 Rushes-yards 35-160 61-244 loss to Connecticut It was a game marked by 'Nova turnovers. The Cats fumbled 6 times. And that was just the first half. Associated Press STEPHAN SAVOIA Dame at Alumni Stadium in official end of the game.

Passing 50 106 Return Yards 16 6 Comp-Att-Int 5-21-2 12-20-0 Punts 5-34 5-45 Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-1 Penalties-Yards 3-41 6-67 Time of Possession 21:36 38:24 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing: Notre Dame. Kinder 22-143, Edwards 4-34, Farmer 1-5, Powlus 8-(minus 22). Boston Smith 27-144, Green 17-61. Hartsell 8-11. Walker 7-11, Gnce 1-9, Hasselbeck 1-8.

Passing: Notre Dame, Powlus 5-21-2-50. Boston Hartsell 11-19-0-83, Cannon 1-1-0-23. Racaiving: Notre Dame, Mayes 2-29, Miller 1-9, Sollman 1-8. Edwards 1-4. Boston Gnce 4-58, Watson 2-16, Smith 2-10.

Laro 1-8, Cannon 1-7, Mitchell 1-4, Green 1-3. Mike Walker for a touchdown that iced the game. For the record, Marchese completed 22 of 40 passes for 277 yards and one interception. The running game, which rolled up 277 yards against Richmond, reverted to squalor with 106 yards led by Shepard (58 yards on 13 carries). "We're just not mature enough to get to that next level," Talley said.

With three losses in four games, that next level seems light years away, too. Villanova Connecticut 0 10 710 6 3 0 17-26 Conn Reid 33 pass trom Bailey (kick blocked). Conn FG DeArmas 32. Vill FG Venezia 46. Conn FG DeArmas 47.

Vill Cowsette 2 run (Keifer kick). Conn Edwards 5 run (DeArmas kick). Conn M. Walker 11 blocked punt return (DeArmas kick). A 14,371.

Vill Conn First downs 18 16 Rushes-yards 35-106 44-135 Passing 277 173 Return Yards 00 00 Comp-Att-Int 22 40-1 12-22 0 Punts 6-28 6-43 Fumbles-Lost 8-2 2-1 Penalties-Yards 9-86 6-50 Time ot Possession 28 28 31:32 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rnshlnc Vill, Shepard 13-58, Sifford 6-23, Dennis 2-14, Cowsette 3 4, Hunt 1-3, Marchese 1-3 Connecticut, Bailey 13-47, Nook 8-35, Long Edwards 10 17, Tun 3 6. KuJe 1-1. Fasting: Villanova, Marchese 22-40-1-277. Connecticut, Bailey 12-21-0-173, Rodgers 0-1-0-0 RtcaMnf: Villanova. Dolbm 7-105.

Shepard 5-59. Cowsptte 4-31, Hunt Pefillo 2-14. Bri, Fmneran 1 39, Carter 1-7. Connecticut. Reid 4-65.

Nowrten 4 57. Nook 2 28, Walker 2 23 Wfmi Boston College fans celebrate the Chestnut Hill. They were trying to Hasselbeck ran 8 yards to the Irish 8-yard line to set up Green's score. The second half was all Boston College. The Eagles scored on their first three possessions after intermission on touchdown runs by Walker and Smith, followed by a 37-yard field goal by David Gordon.

Gordon's kick, with 14:11 left in the game, made it 24-3, and put the game out of reach. "I want to congratulate Boston College," said a disappointed Holtz. "We got beat in every facet of the game to a 26-10 Associated Press RICHARD MEI Villanova's Josh Dolbin leaps for a pass in the first half as Connecticut safety Kendall Madison 12) moves in to cover. Hy game's end, tailback Steve Shcp-ard and running back Curtis Sifford had coughed it up twice, while return man Pete Petrillo fumbled once. "I don't know what to tell you, why we couldn't hold onto the ball," Talley said.

"I cun't put a finger on it. I mm just don't know." In the second half, the Cats had a first down deep in Connecticut territory denied because of 12 men on the field. A series later, A.J. Burawski's 20-yard interception return for a touchdown was nullified because Mark Baker was offsides. Villanova was trailing, 9-3, too.

"A crazy game," Holtz observed. "I'm sure glad that guy jumped offsides on that interception. I'll take the 'W: As bad as the Cats played, they still outgained the Huskies in yardage, 383 to 308; outpassed them, 277-173; and had more first downs (18 to 16) and more offensive plays (75 to 66). Villanova could have won it, too. When Anthony Cowsette bulled over for a 2-yard scoring run early in the final quarter, it cut the Cats' deficit to 12-10.

But the next series offered the best evidence of why this Villanova squad still has some growing up to do. Connecticut marched 72 yards in 12 plays for a 5-yard TD run by Jerome Edwards to make it 19-10. That one drive was a microcosm of the entire game, as Villanova failed to tackle the ball carrier on five separate occasions, including Edwards' soiling run in which Curtis Dunaway could have dropped him for no gain. One series later, Vcnczia had his punt blocked in the end zone by By Tim Panaccio NU.UIKER STAFF WRITER STORRS, Conn. It doesn't get any uglier than this.

Eight fumbles, a blocked field goal, a blocked punt for a touchdown, a fake punt denied by a 12th man on the field, and an interception touchdown called back for offsides. All of that and more befell Villanova yesterday as the second-best team in turnover margin (plus-6) in the Yankee Conference got clobbered by the worst team in turnover margin (minus-8). In the end, Connecticut upset the heavily favored Wildcats, 26-10, as rookie head coach Skip Holtz garnered his biggest prize this season for the Huskies (2-4, 2-1). "In 10 years here, I don't remember a game where we had so many mistakes in critical situations," said Villanova coach Andy Talley, who saw his team's record slip to 3-3 and 1-3 in the conference. "Well, this is a good win for Holtz.

A name win against Villanova. Maybe it takes some heat off him." Or throws some heat on Talley. This was a game Viliaiiuva should have won, and needed to win if it aspires to a 74 record this season. Instead, for the second time in three weeks, the Cats flat-lined. No A..