The show opened as it has in recent weeks, with Jim Weaver as the first guest. Andre Davis is the Big East special teams player of the week, while Ben Taylor shares the defensive honor with another player. Bill Roth focused the discussion on several questions that the show had received via e-mail.

The first question was regarding the large number of away games with ECU appearing on recent schedules. Jim said that Tech is finishing up an 8-game series with ECU that both teams mutually agreed to reduce to 6 when they joined conferences. There are three games left to play after this season's matchup, and two of them will be in Greenville as well. The alternating home and away games were shuffled as Jim worked to strengthen the out-of-conference schedule, and the AD at ECU was very cooperative in that regard.

The BCA refund policy is in the hands of the lawyers of the two schools and the Gazelle Group at this time. Progress was slowed by the mid-week game last week, but an announcement is expected in a day or two. The schools have opposed a "handling fee" that the Gazelle Group proposed to charge those requesting refunds.

There was a brief discussion of Bobby Knight and the fact that Knight and his AD had not communicated for several months. Weaver said he was fortunate to have worked with the quality types of people he had encountered at VT, UNLV, and elsewhere.

"Was this a bad week for the Big East," Roth asked? Weaver pointed out that the Big 10 had a couple of off weeks as well, with losses by PSU to Toledo, by Minnesota to Ohio University, and by Iowa to Western Michigan.

Ricky Bustle was the next guest, and the discussion naturally turned to the offense first. Roth was impressed with Lee Suggs burst on the long touchdown run against ECU. Bustle said he also ran well inside the tackles against a tough, slanting ECU defensive line. Bustle mentioned that he was pleased with all four of his tailbacks. The coaches are excited about the quick improvement of all of the younger players.

Roth asked whether Vick perhaps threw a couple of times when he should have run on Thursday, and Bustle agreed, but did not seem to think it was an ongoing concern. In response to another query from Bill, Bustle said he decided to go deep on the first play sometime during the day Thursday. There is no set time when he makes those decisions. Last year against Rutgers, he made the decision during pre-game warmups.

In response to calls and e-mails, Bustle somewhat concurred that it hard to establish an offensive rhythm when there are so many big plays that limit the offense's time on the field. The defense was on the field a lot, but that's just the way the game goes sometimes. He'd like to be able to guarantee a long drive followed by a score every time, but they'll score when they can. The two joked about the new "secret weapon" Bustle is using involving throwing to the Tight End on a deep post pattern. A caller agreed that even he had become tired of the weekly "why don't we throw to the Tight End more" Hokie Hotline question of previous years.

Roth tried to get Bustle to discuss the dirty play that the ECU players had been accused of by the ESPN announcers, comparing the game to last year's Miami affair. Bustle agreed that they had seen some things on the tape that reminded them of last year's Miami game, but clearly wanted to move off the line of questioning. He simply expressed some disappointment in some of the younger VT players who chose to retaliate.

A caller asked who gets the yards on an option pitch play. Surprisingly, Bustle thought that the QB was credited for the yards until he pitched it. Roth quickly corrected him, noting that all yards on a running play are credited to the last person who ends up with the ball. This is a clear sign that the VT coaches are NOT concerned at all with individual statistics. Coach Beamer was the guest for the last half of the show. He expressed pride in the young team's response to adverse conditions on Thursday (hostile crowd, late game on the road, etc.). He said he thought the defense looked like a "blur" at times on Thursday, and gave credit to a veteran staff for the team's confidence. Roth said at time it looked like "Beamer Incorporated versus Chaos on the other sideline."

The "punt safe" team was on the field for the long punt return, which means that the normal defensive players were in the game except for Andre Davis back deep. Beamer attributed the success on that play to Bud Foster's coaching and practicing for good downfield blocking on fumble and interception returns. Houseright and Taylor were singled out for their good blocking on the play. Cobb came very close to blocking below the waist, and needs to be better in that area, but he exhibited good effort.

Carter Warley was praised for a big kick against the wind to start the scoring for Tech.

In response to a caller's questions about Bobby Knight, Beamer said that it was just a shame that a great coach had to go out that way, but that one should show respect for others at all times.

Another caller asked about Beamer's views on running up the score. Beamer said that especially in a non-conference game, the focus should be on winning the game and getting experience. He noted that only the first two scores by ECU were against his top players.

A question was asked about the level of individual attention and planning given to players in the VT strength program. Beamer said most of the decision were left to coach Gentry, but that each player did have a program tailored to their needs. Nathaniel Adibi and Jim Davis, for instance, are likely to gain 30 or more pounds of muscle before they leave VT. Later, Beamer said the best of Adibi is yet to come, as he gets more experience and gets even stronger.

There was some technical difficulties again, and when the show returned they took the time to thank several sponsors who were key players at keeping the weekly TV show on the air, especially in the Tidewater area of Virginia.

Big Al in Radford called in to express pride in local product Ken Kiester. Frank said that the ECU snapper that struggled on Thursday was in his third year in that job, while Kiester had been flawless so far in his first season. Roth noted that both Rutgers snappers this coming weekend will be freshmen.

Another caller wondered whether ECU's Garrard was able to move the team in the second half because of VT lapses or adjustments by the ECU staff. Beamer attributed their success to some of both.

Accolades were given to the special teams, especially Wayne Ward, who blocked a punt, had numerous tackles on kickoffs and punts, and a very good block on a kickoff return. Beamer added that he is a heck of a good tailback who "hurts people" on defense as well, and has a good attitude about his current third-team role.

Coaches Pearman, Cavanaugh, and Ward had all run the punt protection scheme that ECU is using for the first time this season, so they had developed some good strategies for getting the block.

On at least two occasions, Beamer singled out the quarterback McMahon as a player to watch for Rutgers. He also mentioned an outside linebacker named Wesley Robertson. Roth pointed out that just like the Hokies, Rutgers has won 3 of their last 4 games, dating back to their upset of Syracuse last season. Beamer said that to stay sharp for Rutgers the team is focusing on what VT needs to do to get better in their next game, and not necessarily that the next opponent is Rutgers.

In response to a caller, Beamer once again said that Vick has said in all of their discussions that he plans to be at Tech for "three more years." When another asked whether they were trying to turn Michael into a pocket passer he replied "no, not really."

Reserve safety McCadam worked Monday "in blue," which one would assume means a blue Jersey indicating limited contact. They hope to get him in some Saturday.

Beamer did not think that teams were necessarily picking on Larry Austin. Larry plays the short side of the field, while Ronyell Whitaker has the wide side. Sometimes teams tend to throw their sideline patterns to the short side because it is an easier throw. Beamer said that Hardee was playing well at corner as well, and that freshmen Garnell Wilds and Eric Green were very promising. Wilds had an interception Thursday.

Jeff in Knoxville asked about a young player from his part of the world, true freshman quarterback Jason Davis. Beamer said that Jason is the scout team QB and is doing some punting. He has had a much better fall practice than he had in the spring.

Beamer said that he preferred the schedule of a noon game because the team could relax in the evening and perhaps watch another game before they started work again Sunday morning. However, he thought that the atmosphere in Lane Stadium had been better for night games, but he hoped we'd have a lively crowd this coming Saturday for the first conference game.

Gary in Danville asked Beamer if he was a voter in the coaches poll, and of so, how kind was he to Georgia after their upset loss to South Carolina this past weekend. Beamer said he was indeed a voter, but that he never discusses how he voted. He said he was playing golf with Georgia coach Donnan this past summer, and that Donnan had been very excited about his team.

Steve in Richmond said he loved the book "Turn up the Wick" and not just because his brother helped write it. Roth said he was looking forward to the next book, "How I beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl." Beamer quipped that he bet that one would sell.

In response to the last caller, Frank said he thought the young defense had shown "good improvement" so far, and that their best play lay ahead. In summary, he said the team had done "all you can ask" up to this point.

Next week's guest in addition to Frank Beamer and Jim Weaver will be defensive coordinator Bud Foster.

-- Wandering Hokie

Hokie Hotline Note Archives