09/28/96 - 9:37PM ET - Click reload often for latest version
NCAAF FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD 4TH TOTAL --- --- --- --- ----- VIRGINIA TECH (18) 14 0 7 0 21 SYRACUSE 7 17 7 21 52 FINAL
SCORING SUMMARY
1ST QTR: SYR - TD, DEON MADDOX 4 YD PASS FROM DONOVAN MCNABB (NATHAN TROUT KICK), 8:27 VTCH - TD, CORNELIUS WHITE 60 YD RETURN OF BLOCKED PUNT (SHAYNE GRAHAM KICK), 11:51 VTCH - TD, KEN OXENDINE 1 YD RUN (SHAYNE GRAHAM KICK), 13:24 2ND QTR: SYR - FG, NATHAN TROUT 23 YD, 6:38 SYR - TD, PHIL NASH 4 YD RETURN OF BLOCKED PUNT (NATHAN TROUT KICK), 7:23 SYR - TD, TEBUCKY JONES 23 YD RUN (NATHAN TROUT KICK), 9:07 3RD QTR: VTCH - TD, KEN OXENDINE 3 YD RUN (SHAYNE GRAHAM KICK), 7:05 SYR - TD, QUENTIN SPOTWOOD 10 YD PASS FROM DONOVAN MCNABB (NATHAN TROUT KICK), 11:16 4TH QTR: SYR - TD, TEBUCKY JONES 6 YD RUN (NATHAN TROUT KICK), 4:46 SYR - TD, TERRY MORRIS 5 YD RUN (NATHAN TROUT KICK), 11:41 SYR - TD, KEITH BULLUCK 20 YD INTERCEPTION RETURN (NATHAN TROUT KICK), 11:52
ATT: 49,069
NCAAF 1 2 3 4 F - - - - -- Virginia Tech (18) 14 0 7 0 21 Syracuse 7 17 7 21 52 FINAL
Syracuse-Maddox 4 pass from Mcnabb (Trout kick) Virginia Tech-C White 60 blocked punt return (Graham kick) Virginia Tech-Oxendine 1 run (Graham kick) Syracuse-FG Trout 23 Syracuse-Nash 4 blocked punt return (Trout kick) Syracuse-Jones 23 run (Trout kick) Virginia Tech-Oxendine 3 run (Graham kick) Syracuse-Spotwood 10 pass from Mcnabb (Trout kick) Syracuse-Jones 6 run (Trout kick) Syracuse-Morris 5 run (Trout kick) Syracuse-Bulluck 20 interception return (Trout kick)
Virginia Tech Syracuse First downs 12 20 Rushed-yards 36-109 62-336 Passing yards 157 123 Sacked-yards lost 2-9 3-19 Return yards 68 56 Passes 11-25-3 8-12-0 Punts 6-31.6 4-38.7 Fumbles-lost 3-1 4-3 Penalties-yards 1-10 5-35 Time of possession 25:48 34:12
Individual Statistics RUSHING: Virginia Tech-Oxendine 15-50, Stith 4-21, Clark 3-14, Flowers 0-14, Druckenmiller 12-11, B Edmonds 2-minus 1. Syracuse-Mcnabb 15-125, Jones 13-73, Konrad 14-52, Thomas 8-49, Mcintosh 10-29, Morris 2-8.
PASSING: Virginia Tech-Druckenmiller 11-23-2-157, Clark 0-2-1-0. Syracuse-Mcnabb 8-12-0-123.
RECEIVING: Virginia Tech-Scales 4-37, Oxendine 2-58, Stuewe 2-24, Harrison 1-15, Jennings 1-12, B Edmonds 1-11. Syracuse-Maddox 3-20, Turner 2-70, Sinceno 2-23, Spotwood 1-10.
Att: 49,069
GAME RECAPQuarterback Donovan McNabb passed for two touchdowns and led a potent rushing attack with 127 yards as Syracuse rebounded from a pair of season-opening losses to end 18th-ranked Virginia Tech's 13-game winning streak with a 52-21 romp.
McNabb completed 8-of-12 passes for 123 yards, including scoring strikes of four yards to Deon Maddox in the first quarter and 10 yards to Quentin Spotwood in the third. McNabb also ran the ball 15 times and had a 72-yard run to set up a touchdown in Syracuse's 21-point fourth quarter.
"People started to get down on this team and on Donovan McNabb. But McNabb just came into this game with determination that we were going to get this turned around. He's just a very tough guy," said Syracuse guard Shelton Prescott.
Tebucky Jones scored two touchdowns for the Orangemen, who amassed 336 yards on the ground against a Virginia Tech team that was second in the nation in rushing defense. The Hokies (3-1 overall, 2-1 Big East) had allowed a total of only 126 yards in its first three games.
"Our players showed great character. They did a great, great job," said Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni. "It's one thing to play ... it's another to play when the atmosphere around our team had changed. Now it's changed going the other way. I have to give them a lot of credit to play through the adversity."
The Orangemen improved to 1-2, 1-0.
This marked the second straight week the nation's longest winning streak was broken. Last Saturday, Arizona State blanked Nebraska, 19-0, snapping the Cornhuskers' 37-game regular-season winning streak.
"Syracuse played awfully well. Anytime you give away as many turnovers as we did and have breakdowns in the kicking game, you can't expect to beat a good team and Syracuse is a good team," said Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer. "They took it to us."
Cornelius White returned a blocked punt 60 yards for a touchdown with 3:09 left in the first quarter to lift Virginia Tech into a 7-7 tie and the Hokies recovered a fumble on the next play from scrimmage to set up Ken Oxendine's one-yard scoring run.
Syracuse responded with 17 unanswered points in the second quarter. Nathan Trout's 23-yard field goal capped a 61-yard drive and lifted the Orangemen within 14-10. Kevin Abrams blocked a punt less than a minute later and Phil Nash returned it five yards for a touchdown that put Syracuse ahead to stay, 17-14.
On Virginia Tech's second play from scrimmage, quarterback Jim Druckenmiller fumbled a snap and Anthony Walker recovered at the Hokies 24. Two plays later, Jones took a pitch and ran 23 yards for a score as the Orangemen built a 24-14 halftime lead.
A Syracuse fumble ended the first possession of the second half and Virginia Tech marched 67 yards with Oxendine running three yards for his second touchdown, cutting the margin to seven points. But it was all Orangemen the rest of the way.
"After the touchdown they scored to make it 24-21, we just told ourselves that this is a 60-minute game and that we just needed to regroup," Abrams said.
McNabb hit Spotwood to cap a 78-yard drive, then dashed 72 yards early in the fourth quarter to set up Jones' second touchdown, a six-yard run with 10:14 remaining.
"After we score to make it 24-21, and then we have them in 3rd-and-long, I like my chances," Beamer said. "They threw that nice post route and it was a turning point in the game, along with McNabb's scramble to find the guy in the back of the end zone. McNabb is a great player."
Walker intercepted Druckenmiller and returned it to the Hokies 18 with just over five minutes left. Four plays later, Terry Morris ran it in from five yards out to make it 45-21. On the next play from scrimmage, Keith Bulluck returned an interception 20 yards to close the scoring.
"We came together as a team, we stepped up," Spotwood said. "I'm not surprised we beat them. We just wanted to get in a win and show everybody we're a contender in the Big East."
Druckenmiller was 11-for-23 for 157 yards with two interceptions as Virginia Tech's eight-game Big East winning streak ended. He moved past Erik Chapman into sixth place on the school's all-time passing yardage list with 3,061.