Thanks to Tennessee's less-than-impressive win over Memphis last weekend, the Hokies have risen in the rankings to #7 in the Coach's poll, but Tech still resides at #8 in the AP Poll.

UT had to score a last-minute TD to beat Memphis 17-16, so I expected the Vols to lose some votes. The problem was that there was a large gap in last week's poll between #8 Tech and #7 Tennessee, so the Hokies were not able to overcome them in both polls. Still, it's nice to be able to move up when no one in front of you loses.

Miami dropped to #18 in the AP and #20 in the Coach's (more on their loss to ECU later), while Syracuse and Virginia both cracked the rankings, SU at #19 and #22, and Virginia at #24 in both polls. For a Tech team looking for some strength-of-schedule help, Syracuse and Virginia's entry into the polls is a good thing.

Meanwhile, Tech has held on to its #1 team defense ranking. That's no mean feat, considering the type of offense that Clemson puts on the field. Here are all of Tech's offensive and defensive rankings, with thanks to Cactus Jack for compiling the info:

If Corey can have a dominating performance like that against a team that releases the ball within three seconds, what can he do against a more traditional passing team like UVa, where the QB stands in the pocket a little longer? There's a number of things you have to consider when trying to answer that question:

• UVa's offensive line is bigger and more experienced than Clemson's line. But the good news for Tech is that UVa's offensive tackles, who will be charged with stopping Corey Moore, are relatively inexperienced when compared with the rest of their line.

• UVa has a running game - Clemson didn't. Corey had the luxury of bull-rushing Brandon Streeter, knowing full well that Clemson was not going to run the ball. Not so with UVa, who features a great tailback in Thomas Jones and will try to run the ball.

• UVa QB Dan Ellis is not mobile. Aaron Brooks did a good job of avoiding the Tech rush in the past, but Ellis won't be able to get away like Brooks did. If Corey gets through, Ellis is going down.

• UVa does a great job protecting the passer against Tech's rush. It's hard to say if "new" offensive coordinator Gary Tranquil will employ as effective a blocking scheme as former OC Sparky Woods did against Tech, but in the past few years, UVa did a good job of keeping their running backs in to pick up Tech's blitzes and provide extra protection.

• Ellis is tough. But then again, so was Streeter, and it didn't do him a lot of good. Corey hit him and hit him and hit him, until he finally cracked and pitched an ill-advised pass in desperation that Ike Charlton returned for a TD to blow the game against Clemson open.

Given all that, it's hard to say if Corey will have another standout game like he did against Clemson. I know one thing: games like that don't come very often, so to expect him to dominate against UVa like he did against Clemson is probably unrealistic (although I sure would love to see it, heh-heh).

I would like to see him get at least two sacks, though. Why two? Well, Corey has 6 sacks through 3 games, which is two per game. The Virginia Tech record for sacks in a season is 22 by the legendary Bruce Smith in 1983, and if you do the math, that's …two sacks per game.

I used to think that Bruce's 1983 record was unbreakable, since it was compiled by a future NFL Hall of Famer against a schedule that featured lightweights Duke, Louisville, William and Mary, and Richmond. But in the early going, Corey is on the same pace.

Perhaps it's silly to put that kind of pressure on a player this early in the year. It's a similar poison to talking about going undefeated only three games into the season. But Corey brought the attention on himself with his unbelievable game against the Clemson Tigers, so now the "Corey Watch" begins, not just among Hokie fans, but nationwide. He has stolen the spotlight in a year that was supposed to be all about Michael Vick.

Geez, what the heck is going on around the Big East? Miami lost to ECU over the weekend, coughing up a 20-0 lead and surrendering a 27-23 loss to the Pirates. In case you didn't hear, due to flooding from Hurricane Floyd in Greenville, the ECU home game with the Canes was played at N.C. State's stadium in Raleigh - an interesting twist, since the N.C. State / ECU rivalry has been characterized by some pretty bad blood over the years.

Despite the catastrophe visited upon them by Hurricane Floyd, the Pirates took their show on the road and did the unthinkable, beating the Canes. I mean, we're talking about kids whose apartments were destroyed, and still they found a way to prepare themselves and knock off a Top 25 team.

If you actually watched the game, it wasn't all that unthinkable. ECU, now 4-0 and ranked, is talented. The Canes' tackling was atrocious, giving the ECU runners and receivers multiple second and third chances as they stormed back late in the game. And Miami QB Kenny Kelly was at his absolute worst, completing just 15 of 37 for 159 yards, and as usual, gifted Miami receivers Reggie Wayne and Santana Moss covered for Kelly multiple times by making great plays on poorly thrown balls.

Late in the game, when the Canes needed him to come through, Kelly had almost no composure and had great difficulty making any positive plays. If he doesn't improve drastically between now and November 13^th, the Hokies will win one for the thumb when Miami visits.

The Canes, who will visit Florida State next week, are staring 2-3 in the face, and if FSU knocks them off, Miami may fall completely out of the Top 25.

One last thing: I know this loss is a big blow for the Big East, but I have always liked ECU, and as I watched the game, even though my head was telling me to root for Miami, my heart was screaming, "Go Pirates!!" Just like Hokie Jake, there are some things I'll never be able to do.

Meanwhile, it's getting ugly in Morgantown. The Mountaineers absorbed their second straight whipping, 30-7 to Syracuse. That means that in the last three minutes of the Clemson game, Virginia Tech's defense scored more points (14) than the WVU offense has scored in the last two games (7). I can't even think about going over to the WVU message board to see the carnage there. A visit to Miami's board Saturday night was bad enough.

So the Hokies find themselves in the position of having to carry the banner for the Big East, over the cries of Commissioner Mike Tranghese, who should stay away from microphones these days, lest he anger Tech fans mightily by once again publicly bemoaning the fall of his beloved Hurricanes. Luckily for Mike, the Canes are still in the Big East hunt, having suffered no in-conference losses.

This is similar to 1997, when it appeared that the Hokies were poised to be the conference's power team. Tech was coming off of two straight Alliance Bowl appearances, and Miami was in the midst of falling to a 5-6 year. The Hokies were not quite ready for prime time that year, as injuries and the loss of too many stars from the '95 and '96 teams did them in. Perhaps this is the year that Tech can carry their high ranking through without floundering.

And don't discount Syracuse. The Orangemen are quietly putting together a nice season at 3-1, and have cracked the Top 25. They return a good defense, and teams often respond to the loss of a star player like McNabb by pulling together and playing better as a unit.

But for now, the ball is in Tech's court.

I don't hear a whole lot about the issue any more, unless I ask my sources, and to be honest, what I do hear, I ignore. I was told last July that Virginia Tech was going to be invited into the ACC by multiple very good sources, but it didn't happen, so I've decided not to pay attention to all of the conference expansion garbage anymore.

That little sequence of events also taught me a lesson about spreading rumors. Even though I had some of my best sources doing the jig over "Tech's impending invitation to the ACC," I sat on the news, and my caution was rewarded when the July ACC Athletic Directors meetings came and went without any announcement.

So if you think I'm going to pass on what anybody says to me about conference expansion, that's not going to happen. I give Jim Weaver a wide berth on this one and let him handle it. If I were to discuss the subject regularly here and pass on the rumor of the day, I'm sure he'd bite my head off in short order.

I'm serious.  I'm not just saying this so I won't get those five emails a day.  I really am ignoring the ACC expansion issue right now.  It could drag on for another five to ten years, and there's no way I'm going to let it occupy my mind that long, because I can't control it.

Whatever happens, happens, and if you walk around on pins and needles responding to every person who mentions "Miami, Boston College, and Syracuse" under their breath, it will drive you absolutely crazy. So my advice is, just switch it off. Ignore it until something substantial comes along and we all hear about it.

There's a football season going on, and HokiefromWV is posting links to about ten million articles a day in the VT Hokie News section of HC, so pop a few Valium and enjoy the season. That's what I'm doing (except for the Valium part), and it does wonders for your sanity.

The Hokie faithful are doing everything they can. Jim Weaver is working it full-time, we're all donating money to improve facilities, stadium expansion is in the near future, and Frank Beamer and his team are winning every game they play. That's all we can do.

I don't know where all this is going, but it's like the weather, meaning that if you don't like what you hear about conference expansion, then just wait fifteen minutes. It'll change. Unfortunately, that's also true if you do like what you hear about conference expansion.

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