ShareThisBy JOHN BRASIER
Friday, November 03, 2006
Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer spent the previous five days talking as if Clemson running backs James Davis and C.J. Spiller were unstoppable.
"You'll be lunging at air on both of those guys," Beamer told reporters earlier in the week.
But Beamer's defense proved otherwise in the Hokies 24-7 victory over the 11th-ranked Tigers Thursday night at Lane Stadium.
Clemson managed only 80 yards on 28 rushing attempts. The Tigers passed for only 86 yards. And 77 of the Tigers total yards came on their one touchdown drive in the first quarter.
Clemson sophomore James Davis, who entered the game with 961 yards in seven games, including a 216-yard performance Saturday night against Georgia Tech, was held by the Hokies to 30 yards on 12 carries.
Clemson freshman speedster C.J. Spiller, who scored on two 50-yard plays against the Yellow Jackets, was held to 41 yards on 10 carries.
The Hokies defense, which "stacked the box" bringing as many as nine players near the nine of scrimmage, managed to clog the middle while stringing out outside plays.
(Virginia Tech defensive coordinator) Bud (Foster) and the boys did a great job," Beamer said. Virginia Tech also blitzed and stunted effectively to stop Davis and Spiller before they could find openings.
"They were flying to the ball," said Spiller, whose top gain was 13 yards. "They made it hard for us. Their defense played phenomenal to do this to us."
Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said the Hokies had bigger players and used a different scheme than Georgia Tech did five days earlier.
Davis said the Hokies did nothing to fool the Tigers, but outplayed them.
"They did nothing different than we practiced against all week," he said. "They did it better.''
With Tech taking away the run, quarterback Will Proctor failed to compensate with the passing game after completing four passes on the Tigers' TD drive.
Proctor completed only 11 of 28 passes for 86 yards with one interception and a fumble that spoiled a scoring chance.
"We didn't execute the forward pass," said Bowden, who noted that the Tigers hadn't been forced to throw much in their previous two games.
