Richmond Times-Dispatch from Richmond, Virginia • 39

ywnrMMnrtiTOTTtymtwnyvvrrrymrrm TOtmt My SUNDAY PUNCH D4 COLLEGE FOOTBALL D6-10 SCOREBOARD D16 ftidjmonft Siiucfl-Uispalcj SECTION D' SUNDAY NOVEMBER 12 2000 Sports Bobby Labonte's Fife is Kkdy to change Ini big way D17 Editor Jack Bcmlnger (804)649-6445 IbemjnfBtCtinMsdispitcliMnt hand 190 pan wunnm Six turnovers six sacks trump UCF Football ticker Hokies in a Florida landslide OK LAND ORLANDO Fla ant to know about Virginia Tech's Hokies and the uncertainty of Sunshine margin over Central Florida Give this bunch another tabula- tion or two and have Bobby Bowden practicing concession 11 speeches Tech even need Warren '1 Christopher or James Baker as mouthpiece or Michael Vick as catalyst Mr Excitement sat out this 44-21 romp to nurse his ten-der right ankle and turned the as- signment over to Dave Meyer Lee Suggs and the Hokies' defen- rive ball hawks That trifecta was more than SEE UPPER PAGE D8 State beauty contests? TVo words: butterfly ballots A week ago the Hokies ventured into Jeb Bush territory and were punched out by 20 at the Miami precinct Came last recount and they owned a 23-point a 44-21 victory over UCF A school-record crowd of 50220 watched at the Citrus Bowl as the Golden Knights registered 346 passing yards and three touchdowns from freshman quarterback Ryan Schneider Tyson Hinriiaw was on the receiving end of 10 passes But a pair of sixes in the statistical column stood tall The Hokles collected six turnovers They intercepted Schneider four times and recovered a SEE PAGE 08 BY MIKE HARRIS Tim-Dispatch Star Write orlando FIs The state of Florida this week has shown numbers can be difficult to ded- TCpu 14 pher That the case with Vir- UCF 21 ginia Tech's foot- hall game la at INSIDE Tectl night against Cen- rotes Page D8 tral Florida The smaller number definitely was bigger Tech ranked eighth rolled to Details Paget D6-10 RICHMOND 21 JAMES MADISON 2 UR treat Sooners quiet Aggies Interception puts icing on victory TTb Associated Press WVW MORLEWIMESbanmCH LF UkchoHtov and VCU -wav too much for Kodki Richard (40) and Vbshia Union downing tfim Pan- thora 9449 in an mddU-i tion at the Siegel Center (Petrib Page D14) A Crash remembered "i Thirty years ago a plane 1 1 carrying the Marshall University football team crashed in West Virginia killing all 75 people aboard The effects of that crash still "'linger Details Page D2 MkBothian wins Despite an injury to its top njnner the Midlothian boys country team captures the state Group AAA cross country championship Details Page D3 i 'i -r Gades triumph i A weary Richmond Renegades team received two goals from Richard Pitirrl and defeated the Wheeling Nailers 5-4 in an East Coast Hockey League contest 1 Details Page D5 NBA New Jersey 126 Seattle 91 Indiana 94 Detroit 84 COLLEGE STATION Tmm Not even the largest and perhaps kxuk eat crowd to watch a football game in the state of Texas could deter No 1 Oklahoma Torrance Marshall kept the national championship drive alive when he ZJ OKLAHOMA 35 Spiders make Dukes pay for putdown JOHN Umes-Dispatch State Write You had to look to find them but small containers of pudding were scattered around the University of Richmond's locker room late yesterday afternoon A 21-2 Spiders win over James Madison in this At- lantic 10 Confer- Columnist ence game sent John Markon two messages: notes a key aUR (6-1 8-2) picked in presea-son to finish sev-enth in a 10-team "Wiliam and league is almost certainly headed to "'rconw the Division I-AA playoffs 48-41 Page Chris Morant may want to choose his words more carefully Morant JMUs standout defensive end acknowledged during an interview last Wednesday with the Harrisonburg Daily News-Record that the llth-ranked Spiders present a physical challenge Then he added this ringer: when you get physical back with them they start to turn to soft pudding I Loud dear and quickly those 17 words made it to campus After game Spiders coach Jim Reid tried to downplay the unintended lift Morant supplied But Richmond tailback Ty-Ronne Turner (88 rushing yards) said Td be lying if I mid it a great motivator for us" Richmond like a hungry python pinned three touchdowns on the Dukes while slowly strangling them with defense before 13750 at UR Stadium "Defense truly leads this said UR tailback JR Purnell who caught a 30-yard TD pass from Sean Gustus Gustua threw only five times two resulted in touchdowns SEE SPIDERS PACE D6 Cleveland 88 Washington 73 New York 81 Charlotte 67 Philadelphia 85 Boston 83 Minnesota 103 Mitoauhae92 ception return TEXAS 31 in the fourth quarter to rally inside: Kansas State Oklahoma to a upsets No 4 Nebraska 35-31 victory hguM over No 23 Texas yesterday After cruising through their first eight games the Sooners took note of the ear-throbbing din erf 87188 fans mostly maroon-dad Aggies waving their white 12th man towels Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops warned the Sooners about the outcome told our players last week there was a good chance we were going to go down to the final aeries in this game so just be Stoops said think good to be in these types of games You grow and learn from it "You just hang in there to the end and find a way to make a play It shows how much character and poise this team Marshall's first career interception came with 7:18 left in the game completing a comeback from a lfrpoint fourth-quarter defidt that allowed the Sooners (W) Big 12 90) to remain the only mqjor team with a perfect record was just running until somebody tackled Marshall said really was just trying to hold onto the ball and not let somebody strip me what it was it was Sooner Sooners quarterback Josh Heupel finally got tire Sooners going in the Toronto 98 Chicago 75 San Antonio 91 Vancouver 78 Phoenix 84 Miami 82 Houston at Portland late Roundup Page D14 Not a quitter When Richmond native Bobby Ross resigned as coach of the Detroit lions last week many called him a quitter and a failure Those who know him best say neither label is true Jennings Culles column Details Page D12 Conung Thursday A special section previewing the college basketball season kV' -V ALEXA WELCH EDLUMyTIMES-OtSPATCH James Derick Pack (left) and Ulrick Edmonds (right) try to stop JR Purnell in the 21-2 victory at UR Stadium SEE SOONERS PAGE D9 VMI ends drought Win stops 32-game losing string in league VUU bid falls short Key measurements go against Panthers Citadel (1-7 2-9) here Nov 16 1996 during which VMI needed two overtimes to prevail "Sometimes it doesn't make any difference how many lost in a row' said cornerback Richard Holland who returned an interception 62 yards for a touchdown you win your last game in front of a big crowd against a big rival with all that energy and love on the field it makes it all worthwhile" The scoring was the highest by VMI in an SC game since the Keydets beat The Citadel 47-30 in Charleston SC in 1986 By winning two of their past four games the Keydets finished the season Those were two crucial Panthers coach Willard Bailey said "Each situation I'm thinking got a mark that was Those situations came after' VUU mighty mite Andre Braxton (32 carries 168 yards) scored on a 22-yard scamper to dose the lead to 31-28 With 6:29 remaining and facing fourth and 10 from the Salem 30 VUU quarterback Jasun Thompson scrambled toward the sideline and cut upfield Officials indicated Thompson stepped out of bounds and the ensuing measurement left Union about 4 inches shy of a first down thought I had said Thompson BY JOHN PACKET! Tmes-Dbpatch State Write Lexington Thank goodness for The CitadeL Capitalizing on a pair of turnovers and a blocked punt Virginia yui A1 Military Institute built a 28-7 half- THE CITADEL 21 time lead and coasted a highly unusual scenario for the Keydets to a 41-21 triumph over the Bulldogs yesterday before a crowd of 9411 the fourth largest in the history of Alumni Memorial Field The victory snapped a 32-game losing streak against Southern Conference teams dating to a 34-27 win over The BY SEAN RYAN Times-Dispatch Correspondent DURHAM NC One foot When all was said and done yesterday at O'Kelley-Riddick Stadium on the campus of North Cardins Central that was all that C1AA FINAL separated the Central In- tercollegiate Athletic As- W'SSU 31 sedation's top two VUU 28 teams One more foot and Virginia Union may have walked away with its first league title since 1986 Instead Winston-Salem State defended its crown by holding the Panthers inches short on two fourth-down plays in a 31-28 thriller before 8146 fans ClEVt'NT BAUT'TIVLS DISPATCH VMi's Darian Laffarty sacks quarterback Joa Call of The Citadel In the 41-21 win in Lexington SEE KEYDETS PAGE D7 SEE VUU PACE D6 mBSmSBBKSSST M'U-waw 3E 55S 3.