THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, September 22, 1994 TAG: 9409220567
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Long : 117 lines
He strolled merrily around Virginia Tech's football practice field in the late-afternoon sunshine Tuesday, dressed in a button-down shirt and tie while wearing a white baseball cap embossed with the school's name and trademark Hokie bird.
``I've got to go talk to the faculty tonight about potential budget cuts,'' Virginia Tech president Paul Torgersen said. ``It's a lot more fun being out here.''
Virginia Tech's football program is creating fun for lot of people these days. When the Hokies host West Virginia tonight (8 p.m., ESPN) in their first regular-season appearance on national television in four years, the game also will be witnessed by the largest media contingent ever at Lane Stadium.
It's a coming-out party for Virginia Tech.
The Hokies do not command the national presence of Texas, UCLA, Southern Cal, Ohio State, Oklahoma or Tennessee. But this week, Tech (3-0) is ranked ahead of them all.
The ESPN date before a near-sellout crowd (about 2,000 tickets remain) couldn't come at a better time for Tech. The program is churning toward uncharted waters.
Virginia Tech's No. 12 ranking in the USA Today/CNN coaches' poll is the highest in school history, and its No. 14 ranking in The Associated Press media poll ties the previous high, which came in 1954.
Tech students camped outside the ticket office for three nights last week to guarantee they'd get West Virginia tickets, creating a tent city that stretched more than a quarter-mile. One day, the camping faithful gobbled 60 pizzas, delivered by coach Frank Beamer.
Just a year ago, Beamer was on the verge of having the equivalent of 30 minutes or less to deliver a winner. After six inauspicious seasons, he came through with a 9-3 season topped by an Independence Bowl victory over Indiana.
It's a new season, but the Hokies are still feasting on the same good fortune. They won at Boston College on Saturday to go to 3-0 for the first time in 13 years, and on Monday,
ABC announced that it would broadcast the Oct. 1 game at Syracuse regionally at 3:30 p.m. It will be Tech's first appearance on an over-the-air network since 1983 and, piggy-backed with the West Virginia game, marks Tech's first-ever consecutive network games. Each network TV appearance puts $360,000 in the athletic department's pocket.
Dave Braine, Tech's athletic director since January 1988, called Monday ``the best day we've ever had in our athletic department.''
``The Boston College game was the biggest win since Frank's been here, and then ABC picks up the Syracuse game,'' Braine said. ``We were told before the game that was not going to take place. I don't think anybody thought we'd beat Boston College, and when we did, it opened up a lot of eyes.''
And, suddenly, the Hokies can turn their eyes to bigger things.
One is the proposed new football complex Beamer has been angling for - a facility in the south end zone with skyboxes overlooking the field, as well as football offices, locker rooms and weight rooms. When college teams get increased exposure and climb in the polls, alumni climb on the bandwagon and become looser with their checkbooks.
``We should be able to raise more money now and build the facility that Frank needs,'' Braine said. ``You couldn't even think that way even a year ago, but now you can.''
Tech picked the right time to become attractive to TV types. The Big East does not begin revenue-sharing until next year.
The Big East? Oh yeah, that was the big sack of the year, the one that temporarily took Tech's program out of scoring range.
Everything turned bleak in Blacksburg in March when Big East presidents denied Virginia Tech full membership in the league, maintaining the Hokies' stepsister status. If Monday was the best day ever for Tech athletics, that day was the worst.
``I still say it's only going to take them one year - if we keep going the way we're going - to realize we can be a player in the Big East,'' Braine said.
As a football-only member, the Hokies are a big player.
Tonight they will will attempt to put on their best face. Braine issued a memo this week to athletic department personnel to wear school colors and be affable to dignitaries from ESPN and the Big East this week. One of the dignitaries is Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese, who will see his first game at Lane Stadium.
One other nugget: A couple weeks ago, Time magazine took the AP top 25 and ranked the teams based on football players' graduation rates. Tech was sixth at 68 percent behind only Penn State, UCLA, Michigan, Stanford and Notre Dame.
``The whole atmosphere right now is positive,'' Braine said. ``All that adds up.''
Sometimes, it adds up to unexpected change. Like Tuesday, when Braine walked into Beamer's press luncheon and couldn't find a seat.
``We've got too many people - all sitting at our table,'' Braine said.
The nine pro scouts attending tonight's game won't be able to find their customary seats, either. They will be in the stands instead of the press box. In all, Tech issued 294 passes to media and scouts.
Tight end Kevin Martin said it's still somewhat difficult to grasp how the national media is beginning to embrace the Hokies.
``This is really something pretty new to us,'' Martin said. ``When we turn on SportsCenter or CNN, we never expect to see us.''
Beamer, a frequent guest on radio shows nationwide in recent weeks, surveys the landscape at Tech and smiles. He has only seven seniors on his 48-man two-deep sheet.
Beamer said the enthusiasm the program is generating is contagious. It's a great selling point for prospective recruits who see Tech on TV.
The better the players you recruit, the better the team and the fan interest - and the more TV wants you.
It's a cycle that's hard to get into, but it's like manna from heaven once you become entrenched in it.
``I do believe we're heading in different directions than we've ever been,'' Beamer said. ``And we can go to different places than we've ever been before because of our association with the Big East and the caliber of players we're able to recruit right now.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
Virginia Tech students camped outside the ticket office for three
nights last week to guarantee their West Virginia tickets.
by CNB