2006-07 Hokie Hotline Notes for 12/26/06

The Hokie Hotline (football and basketball season)

When: Every Monday from 7:00-9:00 during football season, 7:00-8:00 during basketball season.

Where: Click here for a list of radio stations, and to find the link for listening to the show on the Internet (look to the right on the hokiesports.com page that loads when you click the link). You can also watch the archive on hokietv.com.


Frank Beamer

  • The week has gone very well. This is a great bowl. Gary Stokan and the rest
    of the Chick-fil-A Bowl people do a great job. Everything is very well
    coordinated.
  • The Georgia Dome is a different setting. It’s a dome, but the seats are
    much closer to the field than the Super Dome in New Orleans, and it’s much
    bigger than the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. It’s going to be very loud on
    Saturday night.
  • Beamer got a field pass for the Atlanta Falcons-Carolina Panthers game last
    Saturday. He got to see quite a number of former Tech players before the game.
    Jeff King scored a touchdown and he played quite a bit.
  • Branden Ore has looked okay this week. He isn’t completely 100%, but he
    could be by Saturday. Kenny Lewis, Jr. has been practicing really hard and is
    looking impressive.
  • Cory Holt has assumed the backup quarterback duties. He picked it up well
    mentally, and he’ll be ready to go if the Hokies need him on Saturday.
  • Beamer hasn’t decided who will kickoff on Saturday night. Brandon Pace and
    Jud Dunlevy are battling it out. They have both kicked off at times this year,
    and they’ll continue to battle it out this week.
  • Tech has had a very good recruiting class so far. They need to hold on to all
    of their commitments, but Beamer is confident that they will. All the recruits
    are high-character guys.
  • Beamer talked about Frank Loria. He was a great guy and a great player. He
    was on his way to being a great coach. He was very smart. Rick Tolley, another
    Tech grad, was the head coach at Marshall at the time of the crash.
  • Beamer and Bud Foster watched the 1986 Peach Bowl from the Red Lion Inn in
    Blacksburg. It was Tech’s first bowl victory, and the last game for Coach Bill
    Dooley.
  • Sean Glennon has “done very well.” He continues to get better. He
    made a couple of great plays in the UVa game that kept drives going. The
    offensive line has also improved as the year progressed, and that helped Glennon
    out as well. Beamer has been “very, very pleased” with the way he has
    played and the way he has run the team.
  • This will be a fourth quarter football game. Georgia is playing their best
    football right now. Mark Richt is excited about how they can finish up. These
    are two very similar football teams. Whoever plays the best in the fourth
    quarter is going to win.
  • Georgia true freshman quarterback Matthew Stafford is very talented. He
    stopped throwing it to the other team over the last two games, which Georgia
    won. He has a great future. Backup Joe Tereshinski is a fifth year senior, and
    he’ll be fine if he has to play.
  • The Tech offensive line has continued to get better. But they will have their
    hands full on Saturday night. Brandon Frye should be completely healthy for the
    first time since the beginning of the season, and Ryan Shuman will be back as
    well.
  • Beamer decided to practice outside at Georgia Tech rather inside at the
    Georgia Dome. The original plan was for both teams to practice in the Georgia
    Dome, and to alternate morning and afternoon practices. But Beamer would rather
    keep his team on the same practice schedule each day. He also worried about the
    players wearing down practicing on artificial turf each day.
  • Kenny Lewis, Jr. is going to keep getting better. He has tremendous speed and
    great work habits. He really practices hard and he has a good future.
  • Georgia has been practicing very hard for the game, treating it as another
    spring practice. Beamer is completely focused on winning the game. He is
    treating it like a normal game week. He’ll worry about spring practice in
    March.
  • This was a very good season for Tech. Beamer wasn’t sure they could get by
    with the lack of experience on the offense this year. But this was a special
    season, especially after the back-to-back losses to Georgia Tech and Boston
    College.
  • Beating an SEC team like Georgia would give the Hokies a lot of momentum
    heading into offseason. It would help the claim that Tech is a top 10 program,
    and the team will feel good about themselves in the offseason.
  • Beamer is hoping that Tech will step up and play the way they have been
    playing. The defense needs to play great, and the offense needs to score when
    they have opportunities.

Tuesday was Day 759 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup.