Coaches Beamer and Bustle both mentioned that the 1999 BC team reminds them a lot of Virginia Tech from 1998 -- a solid football team that came close.

BC this season is just a few plays away from being 10-0, but for an upset loss to Temple after jumping to a 14-0 early lead, and losing a 28-0 lead against Miami.

Beamer told a caller that beating BC is "not as good as done," with the Eagles coming off a Big win at Notre Dame, and possessing a good running game and good quarterback.

When another caller asked for Beamer's gut feeling about the game, he said he is "real concerned." If you listen to what people are saying and writing about the game, that's one thing, the coach said. "But that's not the deal. Once you start assuming, that's when it won't take place."

Beamer in fact called Friday's game the biggest ever in Blacksburg because of what is on the line: an undefeated regular season, an outright Big East championship and the opportunity to play for the national championship. If VT can beat BC and get win #11, all the other things happen. He called on fans to bring great support and provide the "electric atmosphere" that has spurred the team at home all season.

Bill Roth announced the breaking news that the Football Writers Association selected Corey Moore as first team defensive end for 1999. (A caller asked about retiring Corey's number. Beamer said that should be left to future discussion.)

Roth mentioned some of the other incredible national media coverage of VT that's unfolding. One biggie is the story by Dick Weiss in the New York Daily News with the headline "Hokies Deserve Crack At Crown," and which said VT is the best college football team this year.

The San Diego Union had a writer in Blacksburg and that paper produced a huge color spread on the Hokies. A Sports Illustrated writer is back in town for three days. Beamer completed a radio interview originating in Chicago just before going on the Hokie Hotline Tuesday.

"Let's enjoy it," Beamer said of all the attention, "but keep our minds on what we can control."

AD Jim Weaver is working hard to get a pre-season game for the Hokies next year, according to Beamer, who said that with VT's rise and the attention some VT players are getting, such a game "is becoming a more realistic possibility."

Discussion came up about playing Tennessee, but Beamer said he thinks UT prefers to play an intersectional game for network television purposes.

He said that a lot of teams that fans may name as desirable opponents don't want to play the VT program. "The better we've gotten, the less people are calling back wanting to play." Illinois has been talked to as a possible opponent. Beamer clipped off the names of Michigan, Ohio State, UCLA and said he'd "love to play them." But that was the end of the scheduling thread.

At Roth's urging, Rickey Bustle told an amusing story about how Michael Vick's 75-yard touchdown run materialized against Temple.

It seems that after warm-ups Vick forgot to wear his broad plastic QB wristband that detailed certain plays and formations to call. So he borrows a wristband from backup QB Grant Noel. The only problem is that Vick's has the plays described for a lefty QB and Noel's is for a right-hander. Bustle said everything is set up just the opposite on the listing of plays according to the QB's strong side. So the same play on Vick's might be L49, but it's R48 for Meyer or Noel. Anyway, in the second half their wristbands were still on the wrong guy by mistake. Vick calls the formation and it's the opposite of what Bustle called for.

"I'm thinking 'what the heck's he got called?'" Bustle said. The call was to fake left and bootleg right, but the opposite happened. And then Vick breaks it the "wrong" way for 75 yards.

Beamer obliged a caller's request to know who he regards as the best players he's coached against.

He said Donovan McNabb was the player he feared most playing on his home field. He listed other top opposing offensive players (in no particular order) as WVU QB Major Harris, Herman Moore and Thomas Jones of Virginia, Curtis Martin of Pitt, and Peyton Manning of Tennessee. (He said the Hokies got Manning's career going when they faced him in the 1994 Gator Bowl.) Also mentioned was Deion Sanders because of his kick return ability.

He took Miami's Warren Sapp as the top defensive player, saying he was a player who could take over a game. He said Corey Moore is the same type of player -- a game-changer.

The first seven minutes of the broadcast didn't air on the Galax station, and by the time I found another station, they were finishing up Bustle's injury report. I don't know what he said, but Beamer said that Engelberger, Stith and Ferguson practiced Tuesday and that Nathaniel Williams' knee is still banged up. He said all are expected to play Friday, and I took that to include Williams??

• A record 23 callers got on the air Tuesday night. The Hokie Hotline remains on Tuesday night the next two weeks. On Dec. 7, the show will originate from the Gobbler Town Tavern, which has its own radio studio.

• Basketball item: After a poor free throw shooting night against W&M, the Hokies focused on that aspect in practice Tuesday. And did they ever. Before any player could leave practice, they had to make 100 free throws each. Jermaine Kimbrough made 100 of 103!

• Beamer credited the senior leadership for keeping the team on an even keel in 1999. There wasn't a game where the Hokies "slopped it up." He said that while some may say that was the case against West Virginia, he still thinks WVU just played its best game that day.

• A former VT teammate of Beamer's called and said to get some VT engineers to work on the BCS formula. Said Beamer: "We need some country common sense in that thing."

• He called the Tech fan support at Temple "amazing," and louder than the home team's support.

• In recruiting, Bustle said VT has backed off some prospects because their positions have filled up from other commitments. The recruiting quality has changed for the better and VT is in on more top kids, he said.

• VT ranks 8th in the nation in rushing and averages 5 yards per carry. Boston College is second in the conference and 26th nationally in rushing.

• Coach Tom O'Brien was credited by Beamer with getting the BC program back on track. He digressed to talk about a Big East golf outing in which he played with O'Brien and Butch Davis. O'Brien doesn't play much, so he wasn't a factor, but Davis "got me on the last hole," Beamer said. Bill Roth: "You've got to let him win at something."

• Sounds like maroon jerseys and white pants for BC. Beamer told a caller that combination has worked all year and he doesn't want to change things up.

• The VT-BC game is now the top game on CBS Friday and will go to 80 percent of the country, Roth said.

• With the two previous home games and the College GameDay show effect, Beamer called on Tech fans to pace themselves leading up to the night games. Roth asked him about this week's game, and the coach said he doesn't want VT folks to get too bulky from Thanksgiving.

• Bustle acknowledged that there have been more distractions than ever this season because of the success, but he also mentioned "what a tremendous atmosphere this has been." Great competitors like the situations that Virginia Tech finds itself in this season, Beamer said. The best came out in Michael Vick at WVU in that regard. "With this team, it comes from within," from seniors who have kept the team's effort consistently good.

• As of Tuesday, the Hokies were at Day 53 in possession of the Commonwealth Cup.