Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 31, 1993 TAG: 9310310144
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Frank Beamer will remember the last Saturday of this October as a lovely day in his neighborhood. His football team clinched a winning season.
The last time Virginia Tech managed that before the clocks were turned back was 1986. Beamer was in his last season at Murray State then, before returning to his alma mater.
This could have been Beamer's final season with the Hokies, too. Tech was expected to improve on last year's two-victory washout, but perhaps even the Hokies' coach - who secured his future weeks ago - didn't expect to have six victories before November.
So, after the Hokies' 31-12 pasting of East Carolina at Lane Stadium, Beamer was asked just how satisfying Tech's 6-2 start has been.
"Very," he said.
Beamer wasn't quite that short at halftime with his team. ECU had rallied to trail only 14-12, and Beamer wasn't alone in thinking about previous second-half slippage by the Hokies.
"That was it, right there, the season," Beamer said. "You can't play cautious. You have to go after it and not look back.
"Sometimes the collar can get tight. But we answered it this time."
The Hokies scored 17 points on their first three possessions of the second half, and allowed the Pirates only 68 yards in the final 30 minutes. The special teams lived up to their adjective, too.
Where that leaves Tech is one victory from a bowl bid, with visits to Boston College and Virginia sandwiched around a Lane finale against Syracuse. In this season, when some conferences likely will not fill bowl commitments, a 7-4 record will be plenty good.
"I'm very pleased with what's taken place so far," Beamer said. "Now, we have to be good down the stretch. We're right in there, in the thick of it. It's up to us."
Two Peach Bowl committee members watched Saturday's game, scouting the Hokies as a fill-in. The Atlanta game is supposed to match the ACC's No. 3 team (Virginia, North Carolina or N.C. State) against the Southeastern Conference's No. 4 team - except the SEC will struggle to provide more than Alabama, Florida and Tennessee with the required six victories.
That's not to say the Peach - which the Hokies won in their last bowl trip with Chris Kinzer's kick on New Year's Eve 1986 - is the only game high on the Hokies.
"This is the first time I've had bowls call me without me calling them first," said Dave Braine, Tech's athletic director. "It's different now."
That's not only a function of the bowl coalition and the numerous conference tie-ins below the top tier, but also of Tech's membership in the Big East Conference and the Hokies' super-unleaded offense.
Five bowls called Braine during the week. The Big East office is pitching its teams to the postseason players, too. Again this week, the league's bowl hopefuls will discuss the focusing bowl daze with Commissioner Mike Tranghese.
Tech, Miami, West Virginia, BC and Syracuse could get bids. The Big East has two coalition spots and will send a third team - not necessarily the third-place team - to the Carquest Bowl (formerly the Blockbuster) at Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami.
Don't be surprised if the Big East locks up a bowl deal for a fourth team as early as this week or next week. Braine wouldn't name the bowls that phoned, but very good guesses are Peach, Carquest, Alamo, Gator and Independence.
If the Hokies win at BC - and Beamer said it won't happen "if your offense doesn't move the ball, score points, keep things loose and not let them key on us" - then Tech should have one of the top three Big East slots.
Another coalition bowl is possible for the Hokies and Big East, too. The John Hancock Bowl is supposed to get the last two - 10th and 11th - coalition picks, including one from the Southwest Conference.
If Baylor is the SWC runner-up, the Hancock wants someone else, because Baylor didn't exactly fill the seats last year in El Paso, Texas. So, the Alamo, which is supposed to get the No. 3 SWC team, could take Baylor, leaving the Hancock for a fourth Big East team.
Tech's potential bowl bid also could hinge on Syracuse, and not just because the Orangemen visit Tech on Nov. 13. If the Carquest has a choice between Syracuse and Tech, it's going to take the latter.
Syracuse was hammered by Miami 49-0 in South Florida on Oct. 23, so the Orangemen would be a tough sell, particularly when the Carquest also may have to secure a foe to replace a fifth SEC team.
Tech plays two basketball games in South Florida a couple of days before the Carquest, a fact that isn't lost on the bowl's executives, either.
At BC, the Hokies will be seeking something Beamer's never had in his seven seasons on his alma mater's sideline - a four-game winning streak.
"It's a big game," Beamer said, "a big, big game."
The Hokies shouldn't try to remember the Alamo or Carquest or Hancock. It's no time to be bowled over by all the possibilities.
It's a fine mess they've gotten themselves into.
by CNB