Hokie ClubHere are some sound bitesfrom head coach Frank Beamer’s weekly news conference leading up to Saturday’sgame at UVa:
Q: How dangerous is Virginiaconsidering the season they’ve had and the possibility their coach may berelieved of his duties after the season?
FB: “I just know how it is when you play Virginia. Theyare tough and big, and you only have to turn on the film from last year [a17-14 Tech victory] to see what type of game you’ve got. Regardless of all theother circumstances, you can throw them out and it’s Virginia and VirginiaTech. It’s two good programs in the state and both do it the right way. It’stwo programs that respect each other and are going to play hard against eachother on Saturday.â€
Q: Do you worry about yourteam being overconfident considering that you guys have won nine of the past 10meetings?
FB: “We talked about that in our team meeting. You can’tassume anything. We know a lot of their players and we respect a lot of theirplayers. They’ve had some injuries that have set them back a bit, but they’rerelentless. They went to Carolina and won. They went to Clemson last weekendand played them a great game. I think this is a relentless football team.â€
Q: How much does the resultof this game resonate with the fan base? This is still a big game no matterwhat the records say, right?
FB: “I told our team yesterday, if you go out and ask thequestion our fans if you could win one game this year, what game would it be?About 96 percent of them would say Virginia. I feel I’m accurate on that. Idon’t think there’s any question this is an important game for us and forVirginia.â€
Q: When you first started atTech, did you hear a lot from the fan base about not beating Virginia?
FB: “I think I got the message that we needed to beatVirginia. If you had ears, you heard that.â€
Q: Has this rivalry lost abit of its intensity since the 1990s?
FB: “I think it’s every bit as intense. Every time youplay in one of these games, they’re hard fought, they’re tough and they’rerugged. We’ve been fortunate here for a few years, but those things can go incycles, too. You have two programs that do it the right way and I think thestate of Virginia can be proud of both of them. It’s going to be a hard-foughtbattle on Saturday. That’s the way it was last year and that’s the way it willbe this year. We better play like heck.â€