Once again Virginia Tech finds itself perched near the top of the college football world, ranked nationally in the top five for the fifth straight year. Elite recognition is now familiar territory for the Hokies, but it was all but unimaginable a decade ago. Students strutted around campus in their favorite team�s T-shirts, which were rarely maroon and orange, and home football games were nothing more than an opportunity to get loaded at noon on a crisp fall day.

So how did head coach Frank Beamer transform a lackluster team located in a tiny media market into a major player on the national scene? His first step was to revamp an aspect of the game everyone else was ignoring � special teams. Though it served as one-third of a football game, few coaches put anyone other than scout team players on the kick teams. But when Beamer took over as the special teams position coach, he inserted starters into the unit. The Hokies blocked kicks regularly, converting enough of them into touchdowns to win a few close games � most notably, Rutgers (49-42) and Virginia (20-17) in 1993. Without those two blocked kicks, Tech would have never been invited to the Independence Bowl and the course of Tech history would have been altered.

But extra-special teams weren�t enough. Though the Hokies blocked 30 kicks during Beamer�s first six years, they still ended up with 4 losing seasons over that time frame. The combined record for those six years was 24-40-2, and in 1992, after another dismal season, fans were screaming for Beamer�s head. It looked like his days were numbered.

But � as remarkable it seems in today�s win-or-walk world � the administration had faith. Beamer insisted he could turn the program around and they stuck with him. He brought in a new defensive coordinator to shake things up, which Phil Elmassian did immediately, junking the wide-tackle-six defense in favor of a new, attacking scheme.

Speed was more critical than size though. For this defense to work, it required faster players who could wreak havoc by blitzing from every possible angle. Defensive ends became tackles, defensive backs became linebackers, and everyone took up residence within a few feet of the line of scrimmage. Eight-in-the-box was the buzzword whenever talking heads commented on Tech�s new schemes. It gave offensive coordinators headaches, not to mention the numerous quarterbacks the Hokie D knocked out of games.

In 1995, VT finished the season with the #1 rushing defense in the nation. The Tech defense had become a national power, a measuring stick that other teams used for their own programs. Tech thrived and the new lunch pail attitude propelled the Hokies into the top 25, beginning a streak of bowl games that ranks among the best in the nation. Step two in Tech�s long journey was accomplished.

In 1996, after winning a second Big East Championship, the Hokies faced perennial powerhouse Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. The Hokies gave the Cornhuskers all they could handle for three quarters, but Nebraska�s superior depth wore Tech down in the final fifteen minutes. While the Blackshirts trooped in a new platoon of linemen every couple of downs, the Hokies relied on their starters. With less than a minute to go in the third quarter, the score differential was merely three points, but then the Hokies ran out of juice and the Huskers won by 20.

It was a tough lesson, but one that Beamer would not forget. From that point on, Tech would rotate the second and third string onto the field as often as possible, ensuring everyone had fresh legs for the whole 60 minutes. It was the third step in Beamer�s transformation of the team, and a major factor in the Hokies' journey to the national championship in 1999. That year, though Tech boasted two All-American caliber defensive ends in Corey Moore and John Engelberger, the two of them were rotated out regularly throughout the year. When they needed to excel at the end of tight games, they still had the energy to make an impact. In the Clemson game, Moore�s name was barely called out until the final few minutes, when he forced an interception and then a few plays later caused a fumble, which he returned for a touchdown.

This year, fans are clamoring for Kevin Jones to get more playing time. Mega yards, mucho points, and perhaps a Heisman Trophy. But holding him, and other starters, out of the game once the score becomes lopsided may be what propels the Hokies on to bigger things this season. By keeping him in, Jones can pad his stats. But losing him to injury would devastate the team. There�s no sense in risking that once a game is decided.

Last year showed how critical injuries can derail a team. The Hokies seemed bound for a BCS bowl until late season injuries turned one of the nation�s best defenses into Swiss cheese. Pittsburgh first exposed the weakness by rushing up the middle for 275 yards. Now, by rotating second and third stringers into the games, the Hokies are not only protecting their starters, but also building depth for years to come. It may not be popular, and it might skew the team�s stats, but it is the smart thing to do.

Every year, Tech has used what it�s learned from previous seasons to improve upon the next year�s team. And it looks like a final change is afoot; one that has been a long time coming. The emergence of a well-balanced offense.

A credible passing attack is something that�s been missing from the Hokie offense for a long time. Intentionally. Through experience, Beamer learned that a solid rushing attack will wear down most opponents. Couple that with the fact that only three things can happen when you throw the ball � and two of them are bad � and you end up with the offensive game plan that carried Tech through the dark times and lifted them up to a new level.

In 1995, when Jim Druckenmiller took over as the Hokies quarterback, he threw 42 passes in the opener against Boston College. The running backs only rushed 34 times, and VT lost. In the next game, the play calling was split evenly between rushing and passing with 40 apiece, but Cincinnati still topped the Hokies. From that point on, the bulk of the offense shifted to running plays (63% of the time) and the Hokies won the remainder of their games, earning a berth in an Alliance Bowl for the first time in history. The next year culminated with Tech�s second berth in one of the top bowls where Nebraska showcased how a powerful running offense could dominate a game. Beamer took heed. In the years that followed, the VT run/pass ratio shifted as follows:

The formula has worked well for Tech, and the Hokies have earned some of the top national rankings in rushing for much of the past decade. That has helped interest the nation�s best running back recruits in the VT program.

Unfortunately, a one-dimensional offense, no matter how powerful, can be held in check by a team that knows what�s coming. Teams that have played VT numerous times have learned how to stop the Hokies on the ground, resulting in a 7-7 conference record over the past two years. And out-of-conference opponents are picking up on the strategy as well. When Tech played Western Michigan last year, they took a page out of Elmassian�s book and stacked the box with eight players � more sometimes � and kept Tech�s "Untouchables," Kevin Jones and Lee Suggs, under 100 yards combined. If a MAC team can negate 70% of the Hokies� offensive game plan, imagine what a top ten team could do. Well, there�s no need to imagine. In the Beamer era, Tech is 2-21 against teams ranked in the AP top ten, with the win over Texas in the �95 Sugar Bowl being the last one.

Tech fielded perhaps its best team ever in 1999 and wound up in the national championship against Florida State. In that game the Hokies accomplished what other teams try to do against them � they shut down the Seminoles� running backs, allowing them a scant 30 yards for the game. But FSU showed what was possible with a diversified attack, going to the air and torching the Tech secondary for 329 yards. The Noles knew the importance of a well-balanced offense, as has every championship team since then. During their championship seasons, FSU rushed 48% of the time; Okalahoma, 48% of the time; Miami, 55% of the time; and Ohio State, 60% of the time.

Now, Hokie fans are witnessing another step forward in VT�s journey. In the season opener, when Central Florida stacked up against the run, Bryan Randall and Marcus Vick threw for 380 yards. Compare that to the 152 yards gained on the ground and it�s easy to see that something is truly different in Blacksburg. This past weekend, the Hokies passed 28 times (47%) against Rutgers and ran the ball 31 times (53%), resulting in the most evenly balanced offense the Hokies have shown since the beginning of the �95 season.

Opponents can no longer concentrate their forces on one area of the game and hope to win. Stack the box, and Randall will toss it up to 6-4 Ernest Wilford. When Rutgers blanketed Wilford with double coverage, Tech threw to the other side of the field, getting two touchdowns apiece to Chris Shreve and Mike Imoh. After the game, Imoh said, "We�ve got a lot of people who can step up and make a play. And on any given day, you don�t know who it�s going to be."

This year, fifteen different receivers have caught the ball, with every one of them catching at least one completion over 10 yards. Defenses now have no idea where the ball is going, which is a good thing for the Hokies as they head into the meat of this year�s schedule. Tech�s next four opponents beat the Hokies last year, and only a well-balanced attack will alter the outcome this year. To win, the Hokies must take whatever is given to them on the ground or through the air, which they�ve now shown they can do.

But the scariest thing for VT�s future opponents is that they expect themselves to only get better. "I think there�s still questions about us, because we haven�t played a complete ballgame yet," linebacker Vegas Robinson said. But it�s coming, he promises. And when it does, the journey will be complete.

BILL GLOSE is a graduate of Virginia Tech, a former paratrooper with the 82d Airborne Division, and a Gulf War veteran. He's written over 150 short stories and articles and in 2001 he won the F. Scott Fitzgerald Short Story Award. One of his novelettes is included in an upcoming anthology with Black Death Books (http//khpindustries.com/blackestdeath.html). The editor called him a "Master of horror and suspense," and Glose is ignoring reports that he's dyslexic and really meant that his suspense was horrible. Ouch!

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