Cavs, Hokies settle on bowls
BY MIKE HARRIS AND JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITERS Dec 09, 2002

Frank Beamer is a country guy.

"There's not that many cities I really care to go back to," said Beamer, football coach at Virginia Tech.

San Francisco is an exception, Beamer said.

He told his wife Cheryl after a visit there for a coaches convention that he would like to return.

Yesterday, his chance to go back to the "city by the Bay" was made official. The Hokies, 9-4 after Saturday's 56-45 loss to top-ranked Miami, formally accepted an invitation to play in the inaugural San Francisco Bowl Dec. 31 at Pac Bell Park. The game will match Tech against Air Force (8-4) of the Mountain West Conference. Kickoff is 10:30 p.m. (EST). ESPN2 will provide television coverage.

This will mark the 10th straight season Tech has earned a bowl bid. The game will be Tech's first in California.

"I'm looking forward to getting back out there," Beamer said.

Virginia, meanwhile, yesterday accepted an invitation to play West Virginia in the inaugural Continental Tire Bowl at Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte, N.C. U.Va. (8-5), which tied for second in the ACC, and WVU (9-3), the Big East's second-place team, will meet Dec. 28 at 11 a.m. The game will be televised by ESPN2.

"To be able to get the second-place team from both the ACC and Big East is really a coup for the bowl and the city of Charlotte," said Ken Haines, the bowl's executive director.

Air Force is coached by Fisher DeBerry, whose first year there (1984) was capped by a 23-7 victory over Tech in the Independence Bowl. That's the only time the schools have met.

DeBerry is one of three Division I coaches who have been at the same job longer than Beamer. The other two are Florida State's Bobby Bowden and Penn State's Joe Paterno. DeBerry and Beamer serve together on a coaching association ethics committee.

"I really have a lot of respect for the guy," Beamer said. "I have a lot of respect for his program and what he's done over the years."

Like Tech, which dropped three in a row after winning its first eight, Air Force faded after a quick start. The Falcons won their first six then lost to Notre Dame, Wyoming and Colorado State. They also lost to San Diego State in their final game.

Air Force led the nation with an average of 314.5 rushing yards per game. Quarterback Chance Harridge is the rushing leader with 1,159 yards and 22 touchdowns. Air Force has seven players with at least 200 yards. The Falcons attempted only 135 passes.

"Playing a great institution and a national name like the Air Force Academy is certainly good for us," Beamer said. "No one runs [the option] better, they've run it for so many years."

Bowl director Gary Cavalli said he was "delighted" to get Virginia Tech. Air Force accepted an invitation last week.

"With Air Force versus Virginia Tech, we feel we have one of the best matchups in the entire 2002 bowl lineup," Cavalli said.

Pac Bell Park seats 37,000 for football. Cavalli said 24,000 tickets were sold, including 10,000 to each of the participating conferences. Tech athletic director Jim Weaver said yesterday he's confident "we'll take 5,000 people there. It wouldn't surprise me if we end up with between 7,500 and 10,000 fans at that ballgame. Fans will be able to celebrate Christmas at home and then make the trek across the country. What a great city to be in for New Year's Eve."

Tickets are available by calling (800) VATECH4 or by going to hokietickets.com. Price range is $40-$65.

Virginia's game gives the Cavaliers not only a chance to finish with nine wins for the first time since 1998, but an opportunity to dispel the widely held perception that its fans don't travel in large numbers to bowls in cities other than Atlanta.

"That's the thing that we're going to be emphasizing," Athletic Director Craig Littlepage said last night, "and that's as well the message we're hearing from our alums in particular."

Given Charlotte's proximity to much of U.Va.'s fan base, Littlepage said, this "is a game that makes all the sense in the world for the University of Virginia, from the standpoint of people coming to the game and showing support for the team. We're hoping this game indeed allows us to turn that perception around."

U.Va. is taking orders for tickets, which range in price from $25 to $65. Tickets may be purchased by calling (800) 542-8821 or (434) 924-8832. Virginia's athletic ticket office, located in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium, will be open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Virginia's Al Groh, the ACC coach of the year, was on the road recruiting yesterday and wasn't available for comment. But Littlepage said he spoke with Groh on Saturday night and that they "both agreed this is something that's very, very positive for the program."

The U.Va.-West Virginia series dates to 1898, but the teams haven't met since 1985. The Cavaliers have won two straight over the Mountaineers and lead the series 11-10-1.
 

The Status Of Virginia Tech Football
Hokies losing ground? Big East trend has team headed down
BY MIKE HARRIS
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Dec 09, 2002

MIAMI Virginia Tech cornerback DeAngelo Hall gave "props" to Miami Saturday.

"They are champions," Hall said.

Indeed. With a 56-45 victory over the Hokies at the Orange Bowl, Miami wrapped up its second straight unbeaten regular season and third straight unbeaten season in Big East play. The Hurricanes have a chance to win a second straight national title when they play Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl Jan. 3.

Hall also gave "props" to the Hokies.

"We're champions, too," Hall said.

Of what exactly is a little harder to define.

Tech could end up as champion of the inaugural San Francisco Bowl. The Hokies accepted an invitation yesterday to play Air Force there on Dec. 31.

But the Hokies are slipping further away from Big East supremacy.

Saturday's loss left Tech with a 9-4 overall record and a 3-4 record in league play. It's the first time since the Big East went to round-robin play in 1993 that Tech has had a losing league mark.

Tech won the league at a perfect 7-0 in 1999 and played for a national championship of its own. It has finished lower in the standings each of the next three years. It was runner-up to Miami in 2000, tied for third with Boston College and Pittsburgh last season and tied for fourth with BC this year.

That begs some questions: Is Tech running in place while others go past or are the Hokies slipping? Will they be able to contend for a championship in the near future?

The answers don't come easily.

Tech probably wasn't as good as it looked at times earlier in the season or as bad as it looked at times later in the year.

If you had told Tech coach Frank Beamer in August that he would finish 9-4 against the toughest schedule the team had seen in years, he would have signed up right then.

He dropped some hints Saturday that he wasn't quite thrilled with the overall shape of the program. He said he needed to go recruiting to find some players on defense who could shed blocks a little quicker. Tech gave up at least 50 points in a game twice in a season for the first time in Beamer's 16 years. The porous defense at the end of the season bore scant resemblance to the stout defense at the beginning of the season. Miami was the fifth straight team to have a 100-yard rusher against Tech. It didn't happen once in the first eight games.

But amid the gloom and doom that comes with losing four of the final five games, there is some hope.

Tech appears to be on the way to another strong recruiting year, at least based on commitments thus far (they aren't binding).

The Hokies need some help on the offensive line and they appear to be getting some.

Most of the Hokies return. Saturday's starting lineup included seven seniors and only three were listed with the second team. Among the returnees is vastly improved quarterback Bryan Randall, whose Achilles' heel is a turnover count that has risen as the season has progressed. He had two more Saturday. He'll be pushed hard to hold his job against competition from freshman Marcus Vick.

Back, too, is tailback Kevin Jones, who was on pace for a 1,000-yard season until a hamstring injury slowed him. He picked up just a yard on four carries against Miami and needs 164 in the bowl game to hit 1,000.

Also back - receiver Ernest Wilford, who went from an enigma to a pro prospect with an excellent junior season.

 

Cavs set for Continental Tire Bowl
By Dave Johnson
Daily Press

Published December 9, 2002

After an agonizing week of sifting through rumors and relying on outside help, the University of Virginia finally nailed down a Continental Tire Bowl bid Sunday.

With Washington State's victory over UCLA causing a trickle-down effect that touched 17 bowls, the Continental Tire officially extended invitations to the Cavaliers and West Virginia, the Big East Conference's runner-up. The first meeting between the schools since 1985 will take place at 73,367-seat Ericsson Stadium at 11 a.m. on Dec. 28 and will be televised by ESPN2.

"The Cavaliers are excited about the challenges and opportunities presented by this invitation to participate in the Continental Tire Bowl," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "West Virginia is one of the hottest teams in the country and will be a formidable opponent."

Instead of facing a 6,000-mile round trip to the Seattle Bowl, most of Virginia's fan base can drive to Charlotte within six hours. It will be the shortest trip the Cavaliers have ever taken in the postseason.

"With the interest generated by our team's success this year and the geographic proximity of the ballgame to our fan base," Virginia athletic director Craig Littlepage said, "this is not only a good opportunity for our football team but a great opportunity for the fans to demonstrate their support."

Sunday culminated an eventful, twisted and frustrating couple of weeks for Virginia. The Cavaliers (8-5, 6-2) finished tied for second in the ACC, which figured to result in a spot in either the Gator or Peach Bowl. Instead, the Gator took N.C. State, which finished fourth, and the Peach selected Maryland, which Virginia had just defeated by five touchdowns.

The Cavaliers then were bypassed by the Tangerine, which selected fifth-place Clemson. Littlepage on Dec. 1 declared a bid from the Continental Tire "imminent," but the game chose to wait a week to see if there was a chance of getting local favorite Virginia Tech.

But Washington State's win Saturday kept Notre Dame out of the BCS and in the Gator, bumping West Virginia to Charlotte.

Wake Forest will go to the Seattle Bowl, which is played on Dec. 30, to face Oregon of the Pac-10.

West Virginia (9-3, 6-1) has enjoyed its best season since 1993. The 15th-ranked Mountaineers finished 3-8 in 2001, Rich Rodriguez's first season as coach, but their six-win turnaround matches California and Ohio State as the best in the nation. A large reason: The emergence of tailback Avon Cobourne, who has rushed for 1,593 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Since a 31-point home loss to Maryland on Oct. 5, WVU has won six of seven games, the lone loss coming to top-ranked Miami. The Mountaineers upset 12th-ranked Virginia Tech 21-18 on Nov. 20 and No. 18 Pittsburgh 24-17 10 days later to wrap up second place in the conference.

"To be able to get the second-place teams in the Big East and ACC," Continental Tire executive director Ken Haines said, "is a big coup for our bowl and the city of Charlotte."

Now that Virginia has secured a bowl bid, it looks to win in the postseason for the first time since the 1995 Peach Bowl. The Cavaliers have lost in four straight bowl appearances, the last two by a combined margin of 100-35.
 

Hokies to San Francisco Bowl; Cavs to Continental Tire
By Angela Watts and Jim Reedy
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, December 9, 2002; Page D04

After two weeks of speculation and criticism regarding the selection process, Virginia Tech and Virginia accepted bowl invitations yesterday.

No. 21 Virginia Tech will play Air Force on Dec. 31 in the San Francisco Bowl at Pacific Bell Park (10:30 p.m., ESPN2).

Virginia will play No. 15 West Virginia on Dec. 28 in the Continental Tire Bowl in Charlotte (11 a.m., ESPN2).

Virginia Tech Coach Frank Beamer did not head back with the team Saturday night following its season-ending loss to No. 1 Miami, instead choosing to stay in Florida with assistant coaches on a recruiting trip. He did, however, accept the Hokies' 10th consecutive bowl bid -- a streak only Florida, Florida State, Kansas State, Michigan, Nebraska and Tennessee can share.

"Only six other teams have gone to 10 straight, so we're in the company we want to be in, that's for sure," Beamer said.

Virginia Coach Al Groh had harsh words in recent weeks for a bowl system that would allow the ACC's second-place Cavaliers (8-5, 6-2) to drop to a fifth-place bowl game after his team was bypassed by the Gator, Peach and Tangerine bowls. But he added that he is happy to see his players rewarded for their surprising achievements in a season that began with low expectations and a host of inexperienced players.

"Just to be in the postseason is a significant accomplish for these players," Groh said last week. "I'm ready to celebrate that accomplishment with them wherever it is, against whomever it is. I think that's the way our team feels."

West Virginia (9-3, 6-1 Big East), which also finished second in its conference, was available because the Gator Bowl selected Notre Dame, which took the conference's second-place spot and pushed the other Big East teams back. Accordingly, second-place West Virginia was pushed to the Continental Tire Bowl, third-place Pittsburgh accepted a bid to the Insight Bowl in Phoenix and fifth-place Boston College took an at-large spot in the Motor City Bowl in Detroit. The San Francisco Bowl is slotted for the fifth-place Big East team.

The Mountaineers beat No. 24 Pittsburgh and No. 21 Virginia Tech. Their losses came against No. 1 Miami, No. 20 Maryland and Wisconsin.

"With our selection spots in the conferences, to be able to get the second-place team from both the ACC and Big East is really a coup for the bowl and the city of Charlotte," Continental Tire Bowl Executive Director Ken Haines said in a news release.

Virginia Tech was not exactly eyeing a trip to San Francisco a month ago when the Hokies stood 8-0 and ranked third in the country. But after dropping four of their last five games, Beamer says he thinks this is a good fit.

"There was certainly a time when we thought we were going other places, but I think that this is going to work out well for us," Beamer said.

"Going to a new location, I think, will be fun for both our fans and our players. I know it's going to be very tough for some of our fans to travel out there, but I hope as many as possible will make the trip so we can keep up our reputation as a team that travels well for bowl games. That certainly helps us."