As you might have guessed, Coach Beamer had little to say about Virginia Tech's rise back to #2 in the BCS rankings on Monday. He repeated his theme of talking about the game at hand and saying there's a lot of football left to be played.

When Bill Roth asked Beamer about the BCS stats he had in hand, the coach joked that "I didn't bring my glasses."

It's partly a matter of which teams can handle the pressure during the stretch drive, Beamer said, in noting that three Top 10 teams lost last weekend.

Beamer and defensive coordinator Bud Foster both used the word "poise" in talking about VT bouncing back from a 10-0 deficit against Miami.

Foster said he told the defense at that point that VT had plenty of playmakers, too, and that the defense had to keep its poise and not let up. He told the team at halftime that the Hokies had taken Miami's best shot and still led.

Beamer said he was proud of Tech's poise, leadership and coaching staff in dealing with falling behind 10-0.

A number of callers had comments about the cheap shots by Miami that were obvious from the game tape. Roth said one of the state writers even reported that Miami players were knocking the ball off of Kibble's kicking tee during pre-game warm-ups.

And the Canes were intentionally going for Shyrone Stith's eyes with what he described as "Three Stooges pokes," which led Stith to having a plastic insert placed in his helmet to protect his eyes.

Film of the incidents was sent to the Big East office, Foster said, but there was no indication that anything would come of it.

Roth said it seems like the Hokies hit another gear when they play at Lane Stadium at night. He asked Foster what he would have thought if he told him in pre-season that VT would beat Miami and Syracuse by a combined 105-10. Foster: "I'd wonder what you were drinking or smoking."

The two coaches praised the play of Anthony Midget. He was described as being like another coach on the field, recognizes pass routes, smart and experienced for the safety role. He'll play at corner and safety this week.

Beamer said that Lambo and Lehr had very good games at OL. Foster said Whitaker is capable of playing corner, safety or rover in the VT scheme and that he'd like to have six more just like him.

On the Miami touchdown pass, Foster said he was guessing sort kind of bootleg play from Kelly, but UM overloaded one side with receivers. VT checked to a different defense, but not everyone got the switch.

Beamer thought Miami played its best game of the year. He described the game as rugged, ragged and "violent."

All of the injured should be available for the Temple game.

Engelberger was hurt early on a sweep play when a UM player made a chop block and fell on the back of Engelberger's legs and rolled his ankle. He tried to play but was unable to push off and get any speed. He did hang in there and play on the punt protection team.

Nathaniel Williams tried to play a couple of snaps and just wasn't able. Foster hopes he'll be close to full strength this week.

Coach Beamer said WVU's Don Nehlen told him a week ago that Temple has improved a lot. The Owls lost at Morgantown by 3 on a last second field goal and also defeated BC 24-14.

Temple averaged 3.8 points in its first four games, then jumped to an average of about 22 in its next six games.

Devon Scott returns at QB, and Foster said the offense is similar to Kentucky's, with a lot of four wideout and one back situations to spread the field.

Temple is more capable of beating the Hokies this year than last, Beamer said, and has talent similar to Pittsburgh's in ability.

The Temple program has been saying it wanted VT to beat Miami in order to set up the ESPN2 game between the Owls and VT, Beamer said. It will be Temple's first nationally televised game at lest since joining the Big East in 1991, Roth said. The Owls had an off week to prepare.

• Beamer acknowledged a caller's comment that Kibble struggled somewhat at punting in the UM game. He credited him with not kicking any low line drives that Santana Moss could return, and in fact Moss had just 6 return yards. Kibble studied video Monday of his punting and footwork technique, and Beamer said he's a competitor who always bounces back.

• Midget was named the co-defensive player of the week in the Big East. He tied a Rutgers linebacker who had 23 tackles, 15 unassisted. Ricky Hall was the co-special teams player. VT ranks ninth nationally in punt return yards.

• The 1999 Hokies already rank as the third highest scoring team in Tech history, with three games still to go.

• Tech had its largest crowd of news media ever in the pressbox for the Miami game. Included was Ivan Maisel of Sports Illustrated. Beamer said he's talked to more national writers in recent weeks than ever before -- Los Angeles, Seattle, NY, Miami, etc. He said requests are coming in from all over the country and take time, and are being coordinated by Sports Information Director Dave Smith.

• The Hokie Hotline will be on Tuesday nights the next two weeks due to men's basketball broadcasts on Mondays. Tech opens its season Nov. 22 at William & Mary.

• As of Monday, the Hokies were at Day 45 in possession of the Commonwealth Cup.