Virginia Tech Shows the Look of a National Champion, 62-0

With the crystal national championship trophy on the sideline, No. 4-ranked Virginia Tech showed Saturday that it could be good enough to win it this season with a 62-0 victory over No. 16 Syracuse at Blacksburg, Va.

Virginia Tech, off to its best start since 1965 with a 6-0 record (2-0 in the Big East), got two touchdowns from its defense and held Syracuse (5-2, 2-1) to three first downs before reserves were put in the game in the fourth quarter. The Orangemen had 120 total yards.

Shyrone Stith had 120 yards rushing and two touchdowns for Virginia Tech, which had 411 total yards and scored touchdowns on its first three possessions.

The victory margin was Virginia Tech’s largest since a 73-0 victory over Catholic in 1922.

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Tim Hasselbeck, brought into the game after starter Brian St. Pierre was injured in the second half, threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Dedrick Dewalt with 1:48 left to lift Boston College (5-1, 2-1 in the Big East) to a 20-16 victory over Pittsburgh (3-3, 1-2). Hasselbeck came out of last Saturday’s 24-14 loss to Temple because of a separated shoulder. . . . Freshman Avon Cobourne rushed for 141 yards and two short touchdowns as West Virginia (2-4, 1-2 in the Big East) had its highest scoring game in 10 years, a 62-16 victory over Rutgers (0-6, 0-3) at Morgantown, W.Va. West Virginia’s highest previous point total was in a 69-3 victory over Cincinnati in 1989.

Randall Joseph rushed for 217 yards and three touchdowns for Colgate (6-1) in a 55-16 victory over Cornell (4-1) at Hamilton, N.Y. Colgate had 545 yards, while Cornell--averaging 426 yards a game, had only 198. . . . James Perry completed 28 of 50 passes for 299 yards and four touchdowns for Brown (4-1) in a 27-25 victory over Rhode Island (0-6) at Providence, R.I. Perry became the Ivy League’s all-time leader in touchdown passes (61) and completions (634).

MIDWEST

Travis Prentice had 43 carries for 149 yards and a touchdown, moving him within five touchdowns of two NCAA records held by Ricky Williams, as Miami of Ohio (5-2, 4-1 in the Mid-American Conference) was a 17-10 winner over Kent (1-6, 1-3). Prentice’s 67 career rushing touchdowns and 432 points are second to Williams’ 72 touchdowns and 452 yards. . . . Akron (5-2, 4-1) recorded its highest point total since joining the Mid-American Conference in 1992 in a 55-25 victory over visiting Bowling Green (2-5, 1-4). . . . Tim Lester threw for 407 yards and three touchdowns--giving him 23 for the season--in a 45-17 victory for Western Michigan (5-2, 4-0) over Buffalo (0-6, 0-5) at Kalamazoo, Mich.

SOUTH

Derrick Nix ran for two touchdowns and No. 25 Southern Mississippi (4-2, 3-0 in Conference USA) held Army (2-4, 1-3) to 202 total yards in a 24-0 victory at Hattiesburg, Miss. . . . Patrick Ramsey tied a school record with five touchdown passes for Tulane (3-3) in a 48-32 victory over Louisiana Lafayette (1-6) at New Orleans. Ramsey completed 37 of 52 passes for 396 yards--his fifth consecutive game with more than 300. . . . Tim Rattay completed 41 of 56 passes for 406 yards and four touchdowns for Louisiana Tech (3-2) in a 42-18 victory over Middle Tennessee (1-6) at Ruston, La. . . . Chris Redman completed 33 of 47 passes for 385 yards, including one for an 18-yard touchdown to Lavell Boyd with six seconds left, to lead Louisville (4-3, 1-1) to a 32-31 victory at Memphis (2-5, 1-1).

SOUTHWEST

Rice (4-3, 3-0 in the Western Athletic Conference) had 413 yards rushing in a school-record 81 carries in a 49-7 victory over San Jose State (3-4, 1-2) in a game played in unseasonable heat and humidity at Houston. The temperature on the field reached 90 degrees. . . . LaDainian Tomlinson, the nation’s leading rusher at 176 yards a game, had 178--including an 80-yard touchdown run--for Texas Christian (3-3, 2-1 in the Western Athletic Conference) in a 56-17 victory over Tulsa (1-5, 0-3) at Fort Worth, Texas.

WEST

Brigham Young (5-1, 2-0 in the Mountain West Conference) overcame a season-low 211 yards passing by Kevin Feterik and held New Mexico (2-4, 1-1) to minus-10 yards rushing in a 31-7 victory at Albuquerque, N.M. A lightning storm delayed the start of the second half for 43 minutes. Only 300 of the crowd of 25,000 stayed for the remainder of the game. . . . Wide receiver Steve Smith scored three touchdowns in the second half for Utah (5-1, 2-0) in a 21-15 victory over Air Force (4-2, 1-2). The game at Air Force Academy, Colo., was played in light snow, which obscured the yard lines, and with a 28-degree temperature at kickoff. . . . Damon Gourdine’s 40-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter was decisive for San Diego State (3-4, 1-2) in a 17-10 victory over Colorado State (3-3, 0-2) at Fort Collins, Colo. Snow fell throughout the first half and the temperature was as low as 33 degrees.

Mel Miller broke a 36-year-old school record by returning an interception 90 yards for a touchdown, and Marcus Brady passed for 333 yards and two touchdowns for Cal State Northridge (3-3, 2-2 in the Big Sky Conference) in a 36-14 victory over visiting Sacramento State (4-3, 2-3). . . . Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (2-4) got 127 yards in 35 carries from Craig Young, but Youngstown (Ohio) State (6-1) recovered his fumble at its nine-yard line in the fourth quarter of a 10-7 victory. . . . Visiting Chapman (2-3) scored a touchdown with two seconds left but quarterback Steve Villanueva was stopped on the two-point conversion, allowing La Verne (5-0) to win, 35-33.