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Play the Pete Dye River Course!

With one visit to Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech it is obvious why Golf Magazine recently selected it as one of the best new public access courses in the United States. From elevated tees, the course wraps along 2 1/2 miles of the majestic New River.

We also offer a complete practice facility with a driving range, large putting green, chipping green, sand bunkers, a fully stocked Professional Golf Shop and a complete teaching center. Private lessons or group clinics for all ages and playing abilities are available.

Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech is a daily fee public facility. Individual and Family Memberships are available and provide a variety of benefits for members. All golfers are invited and encouraged to come experience "The River". Special corporate and group outings are welcome and can be specifically tailored to meet your needs.

The golf shop and driving range are open daily and an excellent selection of clothing and other items, bearing the new Pete Dye River Course of Virginia Tech logo, is available. To experience all that "The River" has to offer, please call 1-888-PETE-DYE. We look forward to serving you soon.

Plenty of tee times available for the Florida State weekend, Nov. 9th-11th.

Picking 'Em Off
by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com

Last night's five interceptions against Georgia Tech sent us scrambling for the media guides to find out the last time Virginia Tech picked off as many as five passes in a game. The answer? Against Rutgers on November 21st, 1998, a span of nine years and 113 games ago.

That day back in 1998, the Hokies creamed the Scarlet Knights 47-7 in Lane Stadium behind six interceptions. That Rutgers game is largely forgotten in VT football lore, because number one, it was Rutgers, and number two, it came between two of the more infamous games in Virginia Tech football history: Tech's 28-26 last-second loss to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome the week before, and the Hokies 36-32 home loss to Virginia the week after, in a game the Hokies led 29-7 at half time.

The Rutgers game was also surrounded by coaching concerns. No, not bad offense or blown play calls, but concern over whether Frank Beamer was going to leave for Clemson, where the Tigers had just fired Tommy West the week before.

Remember those days? Frank Beamer used to dilly-dally with other schools so often, earning himself and his assistants raises every time, that many people coined a phrase for it: Beamering, as in "Beamering your employer for more money." Beamer was pursued by Boston College and Alabama back in the day, and in 1998, the week before the Rutgers win, Beamer's name surfaced in contact with the open Auburn and Clemson jobs.

Auburn never contacted VT about Beamer, but Clemson most certainly did. Clemson asked permission to speak to Beamer the week of the Rutgers game, and Jim Weaver said yes, on the condition that Clemson wait until the end of the regular season. Concern was high, because Clemson president Deno Curtis was the president at Murray State when Beamer coached there in 1981.

After the Rutgers game, Beamer's comments about the Clemson job were typically evasive, as was his tactic back in the late 90s and early 2000s, when he flirted with other jobs.

"I'm committed to this week, this football team," he said. "They've [Clemson] asked permission to speak. I don't know if we're going to speak. We'll determine that later. But I'm not going to talk about any other program. We've got too much riding on this program for me to think about anything else other than the [upcoming game against] the University of Virginia."

Nowhere in that quote did he say "no," though he eventually did. Good thing, because the Hokies had a great season the next year, and Beamer's legendary status was cemented.

But back to the game. The Hokies picked off six passes: Michael Hawkes had two picks, Ike Charlton returned one for a 26-yard score, Jamel Smith took one 98 yards to the house, Keion Carpenter had one pick, and Loren Johnson had one.

That tied the school record, set against Florida State in 1968 and matched against Rutgers in 1992 and 1998.

Since then, the Hokies have picked off four passes eight times, but not until last night did they get over four again.

How about those Scarlet Knights? They're generous, aren't they? (Never mind that in 1992, the Hokies picked off six Rutgers passes and LOST, 50-49.)

If you're like me, you want to check out the other years the Hokies played Rutgers, and see what the totals were. The Hokies played Rutgers every year from 1992-2003, and after the 1992 debacle, beat them 11 straight times. Here's the damage.

Sorry, please excuse me for that tangent.

Overall, the Hokies have 15 interceptions on the season, vaulting them from 42nd in the nation into a tie for 6th as I write this. The Hokies' record for interceptions in a season is 27, which is probably out of reach for this team. Over the last few years, here are the Hokies' interception totals and their national rank. In every instance, the Hokies were tied with at least one other team at that rank.