Jim Weaver's Segment

Athletic Director Jim Weaver (JW) was the first guest. He began by naming the bowls represented at the Boston College game. Included were the Orange, Fiesta, Sugar, Gator and Continental Tire Bowl from Charlotte. JW also mentioned the possibility that once in the next four years, the Cotton and Gator could swap picks. A SEC team could be switched for either ND or a BE team. I didn’t get all of this discussion but it has something to do with the starting time of the Cotton.

This Saturday is homecoming and Rayna Dubose and her family will be on campus for the first time since last fall. She and her family, and Coach Bonnie Henrickson will be introduced on the field between the 1^st and 2^nd quarter. Also, at the game Saturday there will be a collection to help defray some of the huge bills that have been incurred by the Dubose family while treating Rayna. Hopefully a large amount of money can be collected. [If everyone just pitched in one dollar, we could collect over $65,000.]

Through the efforts of the Corp of Cadets, there will be a flyover by two F16 jets, piloted by VT grads. The Temple game will feature a flyover by a B2 Stealth Bomber. JW mentioned this so everyone would know what to expect and so they could be in their seats when it happened.

Jane from Pulaski asked about the Orange Out Saturday. JW said he didn’t know anything about it. After a break, Bill Roth relayed some information. The SGA is pushing for Orange Effect 2002 and encouraging all students to wear an orange tee shirt at the Rutgers game. JW noted that he was never included, nor copied on any of the planning by the SGA. He’s not sure why maroon wasn’t chosen. Down at TAMU, it made sense to wear orange. Mike from Roanoke said Coach Beamer would go crazy if he saw lots of orange in Lane.

Jeff of Newport News emailed two questions. Was an announcement pending concerning a one for one with a team from the Big Ten? JW said no announcement is pending, but he is still working on a couple of teams from the Big Ten. Those games will not happen until sometime next decade though. Jeff said a lot of schools take their band to a lot of games. JW answered saying VT tries to take the band on one trip per year. We are hampered sometimes by need to fly to the game location. Also, we only get a limited number of tickets to away games and the band will use between 400 and 450 tickets. These are tickets that cannot be sold to fans.

An E-mail question asked whether a game tape of the Rutgers and Temple game could be sold since the games will not be televised. JW deferred to Bill Roth who said it would be a money-losing proposition. JW did say they had considered putting the Temple game on PPV. The production costs are very high. Ultimately, the deal couldn’t be worked out.

Richard from Roanoke had two questions concerning Notre Dame. The first, which ended up not being answered, was about the preseason game Notre Dame played that was changed to a nonexempt game. The second question concerned how to either get Notre Dame into the Big East for all sports or out for all sports. JW would love to have Notre Dame in the Big East for all sports. It would really help in football since there would be nine teams. There would always be four Big East home games and four away each year, leaving only three OOC game to worry with. Notre Dame’s NBC contract runs out one year after the BCS television contract does (after the 2005 season?). He said that some things could change at that time concerning the BCS that may force Notre Dame to join a conference. In fact, even now work is being done to figure out some methodology to get Notre Dame into a conference. Of course, JW is hoping Notre Dame would join the Big East since Notre Dame likes its basketball and Olympic teams competing in the Big East.

Jeff from Christiansburg wondered if any thought has been given to showing the Miami game on the big screen in Lane and charging admission? JW said some thought was given to that for a past game. Ultimately the administration decided, maybe incorrectly, that most people would rather watch a nationally televised game in the comfort of their home. That way the refrigerator is close and they can kick off their shoes.

Jeff from Knoxville said he was upset that in his travels as a salesman he could never see any Tech goods until he got near Wytheville. He wondered if there was some kind of control put on Tech apparel by Tech. JW said there were no controls. The good news is that Tech goods can be found in many more places across the country now. If there are no Tech products in the stores, then the owners just do not want to sell them. He also said the store owners may be Vols and only want to support the Volunteers.

Jim from LI, NY wondered about the taunting he heard on the radio. He thought the students were tainting Bill and Mike. JW jumped in saying they were taunting anyone associated with Virginia Tech. Jim was then asked if he had tried to schedule Notre Dame since they were playing almost everyone else in the Big East. JW tried as recently as this past spring to get a series with them. The AD at Notre Dame said no thank you.

Dennis from Christiansburg called and suggested that when the MV’s play the Tech fight song the lyrics be displayed on the video board at the same time. JW said it would have to be coordinated with ISP who has to show the ads they have sold, but JW really liked the idea.

Nancy from Poquoson asked if the kick off time for the Tech-Miami game had been set. They wanted to support the basketball team that is playing William and Mary at 7:30pm but didn’t want to miss the football game. Kickoff is scheduled for 1pm. It’s been set in concrete since the beginning of the season.

JW said he was told the Rutgers game Saturday would be a full house.

After being introduced, Coach Frank Beamer (FB) said there were going to be some great prospects at the game Saturday. He wanted everyone to be ready to make some noise. Bill asked if he really expected this type of year, this year. FB said there were a number of things that turned out right. A lot of youngsters have stepped up. Also, Bryan Randall really stepped up when he went in. A lot of credit goes to the assistants who, FB says, are the finest in America. They have gotten the players ready both physically and mentally.

Maybe Bill has been looking at TSL, but he asked FB about how some fans are wondering about the lack of passing even though we are sitting at 6-0. FB says he understands. At BC, we had some early sacks and were involved in a very tight game. As a coach you wonder if you can protect. FB wondered how those people who questioned the lack of passing in the BC game would react if their paycheck depended on the outcome. FB went on to say the team is continuing to work on the passing game. The passing game includes passing, catching and protecting. He wants to throw as well as he runs, but he also wants to be smart about it. When involved in a game, you do what is necessary to win that game and then move on to the next one.

Looking forward just a little, "Yes," FB answered when asked if he was surprised FSU was able to run on Miami as much as they did.

FB said, depending on which game film you watched, there was a lot to be concerned about with Rutgers. He has watched the first half of the UT game. Rutgers played very, very well. They also played pretty well against Pitt. Against WVU, they would look good on one play and not so good on the next play. Rutgers has some good players, and does a lot of things differently than other teams. We must prepare for them. We must fix what we’ve done wrong. What Virginia Tech has to do is play Virginia Tech football.

Robbie from Roanoke wondered if we could throw some screens to the RB’s. FB said the offensive staff has been talking about that already. If those screens are set up right and run right, they can result in a big play.

Hunter of Farmville said Knute Rockne couldn’t tie FB’s shoes. FB laughed and told Hunter he needs to be given one and a half hours of airtime. Hunter asked about the three-man rush and the lack of success. FB answered that it’s a new defense. It takes time for everyone to get used to it and to react to it. In time the guys in coverage will start filling the current holes. Also, he thinks the three men up front will be able to put pressure on the QB after getting comfortable with the scheme. We have to be able to mix up the defense, FB said. FB added that late in a game if pressure is brought and the offense makes a long play or scores, people will ask why you weren’t in a prevent style of defense.

Jake in Guam called. It was 10 AM Tuesday morning over there. He asked about the penalties. It seemed to him that after a bye there were more of them. Was it because of rust? FB said he didn’t think so. Thursday was just several strange things happening. Jake Grove was flagged for several things he doesn’t normally do, such as jerking his head when calling the snap count in a shotgun formation. Wilford had a block in the back that he just shouldn’t have done. Same thing goes for Wilds when he threw the ball in the air after recovering the fumble in the end zone. Then there were the multiple fouls at the scrum in the end zone. As far as the facemask penalties, sometimes they just happen when a tackle is being made.

In response to the stat that Rutgers averages 26 yards per KO, FB went back to the BC game. On both of the long BC KO returns, there were clips that weren’t called. FB went out of his way to say the BE officials are the best he has seen. On the first long KO return, there were two very definite clips that resulted in the kick returner to make a long gain. The second one was a little less definite, but FB was sure a clip happened and it helped the kick returner to another long gain. FB said the punt return for a TD was just bad coverage on VT’s part.

Jennifer called in and asked about issuing stickers to the players as a reward for a good play. She got the idea from watching the Ohio State game this past weekend. FB said he did that sort of thing while at Murray State. He stopped doing it when he got to Tech. Later Gregg from Orlando called and said he didn’t want stickers. He said Tech is a team and will get rewarded as a team.

To several callers who were looking ahead to games later in the season, FB reiterated that at Tech we are always just playing the next game on the schedule. Bill said the players have really bought into the "next game is the most important game of the year" idea. When in the locker room, they refuse to discuss games down the road. They will only talk about the next game.

Les from Roanoke asked about playing Marcus in the next few games to get him ready. FB said while he’d like to let Marcus get some experience, he is still determined to keep the redshirt on him, if at all possible.

FB was asked if Carter Warley heals and returns will he take the kicking job back. It depends on how the kicking is going when he comes back. If the kicking game is doing well at that point, the answer is no.

• Monday was Day 1,109 of Virginia Tech’s continuous possession of the Commonwealth Cup and Day 1,455 in possession of the Black Diamond Trophy.

-- Atlee Hokie

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