Note from Will Stewart of HokieCentral.com: in the 1993 Independence Bowl, HokieCentral.com columnist Jeff Holland played a key role in Tech football bowl game history. He contributed a key block of a field goal attempt by the Indiana Hoosiers that Antonio Banks returned for a touchdown to end the first half. It was part of a two-touchdown outburst in the last minute of the half that put the Hokies up 28-13 and placed them well on the way to victory.

Certainly, Virginia Tech football has experienced greater achievements since that win, but for Hokie fans who lived through it, the 1993 Independence Bowl occupies a special place and time in our hearts. Here are Jeff's recollections of that critical span of time at the end of that half.

"…Virginia Tech helped make up for six years of bad memories in just 35 seconds."
-- Chris Colston, former editor of The Hokie Huddler

We arrived in Shreveport, Louisiana on Monday, December 27, 1993, five days before the big game.  We wanted to treat this week like any other normal week, but this was our (the players) first bowl experience.  How could we treat this week like the others?

We stayed at the Sheraton Pierremont and practiced at Caddo Parrish Stadium.  We had different types of functions each night including: dinner with the entire Indiana team at the same restaurant (not an entirely great idea); a night out at one of the biggest bars I have ever seen – Cowboys; the pep rally the night before the game; and the Minuteman Luncheon which included speakers Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and former NFL quarterback Terry Bradshaw.

First & Second Quarter…

The first quarter was pretty much even.  On their third possession of the game, Indiana quarterback John Paci threw a 75 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Thomas Lewis.  On the next drive, we drove down and Maurice DeShazo threw a 13 yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Thomas to even the score at 7-7.  In the second quarter, Joe Swarm scored on a 6 yard run.  Indiana kicked two field goals (26, 40) to bring the score to 14-13.  I came very close of blocking the second field goal.  I pushed the offensive lineman at least 3-4 yards back and almost drove him into the kick.

1:14 left in the first half…

…Indiana had the ball on their own 34 after a Robbie Colley punt with 1:03 left in the first half…

…1st down and 10…quarterback John Paci scrambled for 7 yards to the Indiana 41 yard line…

…41 seconds left…2nd down and 3…Paci completed a pass to Eric Matthews for 9 yards to the 50 yard line…

…35 seconds left…1st down and 10…George Del Ricco and Dwayne Knight blitzed…Knight rushed past Paci, forcing him to step up in the pocket…Del Ricco hit Paci…Knight finished the sack and forced Paci to fumble…J.C. Price tried to pick up the fumble, but had trouble picking up the ball…Price conveniently knocked the ball towards the end zone…Lawrence Lewis came out of nowhere and caught the ball at the 20 yard line in full stride and ran in for a touchdown…Virginia Tech 21, Indiana 13…

…23 seconds left…Ryan Williams kicked off and Indiana running back, Kenyatta Williams returned it to the Virginia Tech 42 yard line…

…12 seconds left…1st down and 10…Paci completed a pass to Eddie Baety to the Virginia Tech 34 yard line…Baety didn’t get out of bounds…the referee motioned for time to stop after time had expired…apparently, Indiana called timeout before time had expired…Coach Beamer told the referees that they blew the call…We thought the half was over and were already beginning to go into the locker room…

Holland bursts through the middle for the block

The Block…

…Coach Beamer said to the field goal block team, "Let’s make them pay for it!"…I think you could have heard everyone say, "Yah, right Coach," to themselves…as everyone knows, Virginia Tech puts great emphasis on special teams…we practiced blocking kicks during practice…we also practiced how and when to return block kicks for touchdowns…today would be the day it paid off…

…Indiana kicker Bill Manolopolous was getting ready for a 51 yard field goal…I knew we had a good chance of blocking it, because Waverly Jackson and I could get a good push in the middle of the Indiana offensive line, and we had 6’6" Bernard Basham behind us.  Plus, the kicker had to kick the ball low in order to get more distance since it was a 51 yard field goal attempt…

…the ball was snapped…I got a very good push…I put my hand up…the ball deflected off a couple of my fingers…I thought the play was over, so I started to strut off the field…All of sudden, I heard this roar from the crowd…I looked up and saw everyone running towards the sideline…I didn’t even know that Antonio Banks had caught the ball…as we are taught in practice, whoever doesn’t have the ball needs to block…I tried to block the field goal holder, but alas, 300 pound defensive lineman don’t have the swiftest of feet…

Antonio Banks takes off on his 80-yard TD return

…I missed the block, but I figured I should run down the field anyway…Antonio Banks was running down the sideline…he had a wall of blockers set up for him very nicely…Torrian Gray had a great block…Steve Sanders actually clipped an Indiana player (he was the guy that got hurt and lay on the field for several minutes afterwards)…Thank God, no referee called that penalty…that missed call ranks up there with Cornell Brown’s "tackle" of a Miami player during Keion Carpenter’s 100 yard interception return versus Miami in 1996…

…we got two 15 yard penalties on that play…one for excessive celebration (who could blame us?), and the other for a player who "jumped" over (not intentionally) the injured Indiana player…

…Coach Beamer was right!…we made them pay for it!…what a great way to end the half…"Virginia Tech helped make up for six years of bad memories in just 35 seconds (C. Colston)"…

…my favorite part of watching the game tape is when they show Coach Beamer’s reaction to the block, and they show Indiana coach, Bill Mallory’s reaction…

Years later…

For this article, I watched my copy of the ESPN tape of the game.  This was the first time in a very long time that I had watched it.  It brought back such good memories, back when most of the defensive players were freshman and sophomores.  This play is a good example of celebration and emotion at its purest.  Seeing all the coaches and players celebrate in the end zone still gives me "goose bumps".  Seeing John Ballein and former Virginia Tech coach Rod Sharpless jump up and down still makes me laugh.  Especially when Coach Sharpless tackled linebacker Ken Brown.  Those of you who have the 1993 Virginia Tech highlight tape know what I mean.

One of my favorite/prized Virginia Tech possessions, other than my 1995 Sugar Bowl/Big East Championship ring and my Most Improved Defensive Player – Spring 1993 award, is a 8"x 10" black and white photo of me hugging Antonio Banks in the end zone with Torrian Gray, Scott Jones, Dwayne Knight and Tyronne Drakeford also in the picture.

Many years down the road, maybe this play will remain a memorable play in the history of Virginia Tech football….right up there with "the Kick" in the 1986 Peach Bowl by Chris Kinzer…a Bruce Smith sack…Corey Moore’s performance versus Clemson in 1999…Shayne Graham’s field goal to beat West Virginia 22-20 in 1999…a DeShazo to Freeman touchdown pass or a Vick to Davis touchdown pass…the Druckenmiller to Holmes touchdown versus Virginia in 1995…a Michael Vick scramble (too many to name)…Keion Carpenter’s 100 yard interception return for a touchdown versus Miami in 1996…Corey Moore’s "crazy" eyes…Cornell Brown’s performance versus West Virginia in 1994,1995,1996 and Syracuse 1995…a Dwayne Thomas spin move…J.C. Price’s sack of Ryan Clement versus Miami in 1995…or Bryan Still’s punt return for a touchdown in the 1995 Sugar Bowl…I’m proud of what I accomplished at Virginia Tech in terms of football and academics.  I left with two degrees, many life long friends, and a ton of great memories.

Jeff Holland was a defensive tackle for the Hokie football team from 1991-1995.  He played a key role in the rise of the Virginia Tech defense and on the Hokie bowl teams from 1993-1995. Jeff graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.A. in Urban Affairs and Planning and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning.  He is currently the Town Planner in Smithfield, VA.

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