| (none) |
|
(none) |
| ||
NCAAF VIRGINIA TECH AT TEMPLE NOTE: FINAL RE-SENT TO CORRECT YARDAGE ON FIRST VIRGINIA TECH FIELD GOAL AND YARDAGE ON VIRGINIA TECH INTERCEPTION RETURN.
Extended BoxNCAAF 1 2 3 4 F - - - - -- Virginia Tech (2) 10 17 21 14 62 Temple 7 0 0 0 7 FINAL
Temple-Godfrey 2 run (Poklemba kick) Virginia Tech-Vick 53 run (Graham kick) Virginia Tech-FG Graham 28 Virginia Tech-Austin 31 interception return (Graham kick) Virginia Tech-And Davis 65 pass from Vick (Graham kick) Virginia Tech-FG Graham 34 Virginia Tech-Vick 75 run (Graham kick) Virginia Tech-And Davis 30 pass from Vick (Graham kick) Virginia Tech-Kendrick 20 run (Graham kick) Virginia Tech-Kendrick 3 run (Graham kick) Virginia Tech-Suggs 2 run (Graham kick)
Virginia Tech Temple First downs 20 10 Rushed-yards 53-315 28-M2 Passing yards 196 226 Sacked-yards lost 4-45 3-23 Return yards 57 0 Passes 9-12-2 19-37-2 Punts 1-19.0 9-36.7 Fumbles-lost 0-0 3-1 Penalties-yards 5-35 10-91 Time of possession 30:06 29:54
Individual Statistics RUSHING: Virginia Tech-Vick 12-134, Stith 17-75, Kendrick 9-50, Suggs 9-34, Burnell 4-12, C Hawkins 1-6, Ferguson 1-4. Temple-Godfrey 11-30, Mckie 6-17, Jackson 1-0, Sharps 3-minus 4, Ringwelski 1-minus 12, D Scott 5-minus 16, Devito 1-minus 17.
PASSING: Virginia Tech-Vick 7-10-2-171, Meyer 2-2-0-25. Temple-D Scott 12-23-1-152, Devito 7-13-1-74, K Harvey 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING: Virginia Tech-And Davis 4-121, Hall 1-26, Slowikowski 1-24, Carter 1-17, Johnson 1-7, Suggs 1-1. Temple-Khamis 5-61, C Johnson 4-47, Wallace 2-66, Dillard 2-22, Godfrey 2-8, Stubbs 1-12, Muckerson 1-9, Leftwich 1-1, Sharps 1-0.
Att: 25,822
Game StoryPHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Second-ranked Virginia Tech used the first quarter as a warmup and left Temple no chance for another upset.
Freshman Michael Vick completed 7-of-10 passes for 171 yards and two touchdowns and carried 12 times for 134 yards and two long scores as the Hokies clinched the Big East Conference title with a 62-7 demolition of Temple.
The win kept alive Virginia Tech's hopes for a shot at the national championship. The Hokies likely will earn a berth in the January 4 Sugar Bowl, this year's national title game, with a win over Boston College next weekend.
"I'm proud of our football team," Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said. "To be a Big East champion, at least share it, is special. I was really concerned coming in here and just feel fortunate to win the game the way we did.
"Well, I'm not sure we can (control our own destiny)," he said. "Have you checked those computers lately? All I know is we just need to go play. We're not worried about the BCS (Bowl Championship Series)."
Last season, Virginia Tech was unbeaten and ranked 10th in the country when it allowed the Owls to march into Lane Stadium and pull off a stunning 28-24 upset.
Temple drew first blood, jumping to a 7-0 lead 3:10 into the game on Marcus Godfrey's two-yard touchdown run, but allowed the next 62 points.
The Hokies put up 511 yards of total offense and limited Temple to 224, including minus-2 on the ground. Virginia Tech had 315 yards rushing.
"I'm not sure overall we played quite as consistently in the first half as we've been playing," Beamer said. "But I think we made a lot of big plays today. That's kind of what got the game out of whack a little bit."
Once Virginia Tech (10-0, 6-0 Big East) got the ball for the first time, Vick carried for two yards, then broke off a 53-yard scoring burst on the next play the tie the game.
"We had to come out and put points on the board," Vick said. "We know we can put a lot of points on the board so we didn't really worry about that. The thing about this team is they don't get down when the other team scores a touchdown or we're down 10 points. We don't get discouraged. We stay in there and fight.
"Sometimes I like to get down (on the scoreboard) because it motivates me and the rest of the team."
On their next possession, the Hokies drove to the Temple 6-yard line, but Andre Kendrick was stuffed on 4th-and-1. The defense limited Temple to a three-and-out, leading to Shayne Graham's 28-yard field goal with 38 seconds left in the first quarter.
On the first play of the second quarter, Devin Scott was intercepted by cornerback Larry Austin, who raced 28 yards down the left sideline and into the end zone, diving over a pair of Owls for a 17-7 lead.
Kevin Harvey intercepted Vick on the Temple 3 to thwart the Hokies' next turn and again picked him off on Virginia Tech's following possession, this time in the end zone.
But it just delayed the inevitable.
One play after a punt, Vick tossed a 65-yard scoring pass to Andre Davis for a 24-7 lead with 2:25 left before halftime. Davis caught four passes for 121 yards.
Linebacker Michael Hawkes intercepted Mac DeVito at the Temple 23, and Graham converted a 34-yard field goal for a 27-7 lead with six seconds left in the half.
Scott was 12-of-23 for 152 yards and DeVito was 7-of-13 for 74. Joe Khamis had five catches for 61 yards and Carlos Johnson four for 47 for the Owls (2-8, 2-4), who are 3-10 all-time against Virginia Tech, losing seven of the last eight meetings.
"Our kids have never quit since I've been here," Temple coach Bobby Wallace said. "I have a hard time believing that they did. I know at times it looked like it. but I think Virginia Tech has just got a great team."
Cullen Hawkins returned the second-half kickoff 58 yards to the Temple 26, but Vick was sacked by Dan Klecko on 3rd-and-11, forcing a punt. Temple drove to the Virginia Tech 38 and punted out of the end zone, but Vick exploded for a 75-yard touchdown run one play later to make it 34-7.
"We blitzed him and had him for a sack," Wallace explained. "Any other quarterback gets sacked. He runs (75) yards for a touchdown. He's a great player. What can you say?"
A couple of penalties for 25 yards helped Virginia Tech on its next drive, an eight-play, 82-yard march that concluded with Vick's 30-yard scoring strike to Davis, pushing the lead to 41-7 with 4:43 left in the third quarter.
"We got some talented performers," Beamer said. "You see Michael Vick make some of those runs -- that's talent. You see Andre Davis catch a ball, break a tackle and no one's gonna catch him -- that's talent."
With the ball on the Temple 37 on 3rd-and-6, Vick threw a 17-yard pass to tight end Derek Carter, then handed to Kendrick, who ran 20 yards for a touchdown 2:05 before the end of the third.
On the Owls' next possession, punter Garvin Ringwelski fumbled the snap and gave the Hokies the ball at the 7, setting up Kendrick's three-yard TD run 12 seconds into the fourth quarter. Lee Suggs added a two-yard scoring run later in the fourth the make the final margin.
 © Copyright 2001 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
| |