Hokies ready for rivalry

BLUEFIELD — It’s a rivalry in that it pits the only two Division I football teams in Virginia against each other.

Yet, Virginia Tech has dominated Virginia on the gridiron, winning nine of the last 10 meetings in the series. The Hokies have no intention of letting that success end soon.

“It’s huge, the last game of the season, I would say that is the biggest motivation,” Virginia Tech linebacker Cody Grimm said. “We’ve got to come out and we’ve got to win, we’ve been playing good football, we’ve just got to keep doing what we’re doing.”

Virginia Tech, which has lost to Virginia just once since 1998, will travel Saturday to play the Cavaliers at Scott Stadium in Charlottesville. Kickoff is slated for 3:30 p.m.

“I think they’re going to put a lot into the game just like we are going to put a lot into the game,” Virginia Tech quarterback Tyrod Taylor said. “It’s a big game for us, we want to finish off our regular season with a “W” and they want to do the same thing so that is just going to make the competition better.”

Win or lose, Virginia Tech (8-3, 5-2) will play again in a bowl game. Virginia (3-8, 2-5) will see its season come to an end. It could also spell the end of Al Groh’s tenure as the embattled coach of the Cavaliers.

Virginia Tech’s knows that will be a big motivator for Virginia.

“I’m sure it could light a lot of sparks in the players on UVa,” Virginia Tech running back Ryan Williams said. “I know it is going to be an emotional game, a very intense game.

“I’m sure all those guys love coach Groh and they’re going to play their hearts out for that game and we’ve just got to come out there and execute like we have been doing and hopefully the game will result in our favor.”

Virginia Tech is 9-1 since ‘98 against the Cavaliers, and have an overall edge of 48-38-5. Virginia used to dominate the series, and were 8-4 against Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer until the current streak began in 11 years ago.

“We have been on a good run with some good players. That is the way it is in sports, I think,” Beamer said. “They do things right at Virginia. I have a lot of respect for their program, and a lot of respect for Al and their coaching staff.

“We have been fortunate that we have been on a good run. But I don't think that has anything to do with this Saturday. It is a different year, with different teams and different personalities. We had better get ready to play.”

Since Groh arrived in Charlottesville in 2001, the ‘Hoos have won just once against Virginia Tech, that being in 2003, a game dominated for Virginia by former Honaker star and current Steelers’ tight end Heath Miller.

When asked about his lack of success against the Hokies, Groh had little to say about the subject during a Tuesday press conference.

“Good team, close games,” said Groh, whose Cavaliers are 1-7 against Beamer in those games with a margin of 15.7 points a contest. The closest game — and the only defeat in single digits — was last year’s 17-14 loss in Blacksburg, a game in which crowd favorite Vic Hall was finally unleashed at quarterback and put a scare in the Hokies, at least early in the game.

Another mark against Groh is that the Cavaliers will see their season end for the third time in the last four seasons against Virginia Tech, meaning no bowl game in an era when its difficult not to qualify for a postseason berth.

Groh has also struggled in recruiting against the Hokies. All four players at Tech’s Tuesday press conference — Williams, Taylor, Grimm and Nekos Brown — admitted to looking at the Cavaliers, but choosing the Hokies.

“Right now, we put a high priority on recruiting the state of Virginia, trying to get the best players out of the state,” Beamer said. “You have to be able to do that. Since we joined the ACC we have recruited in a six-hour radius.

“I like it when the moms and dads can come on the visit, and I like it when they can come and watch them play. I think that is the way to do it, and I think that you can be successful if can get the best players within a six-hour radius.”

Virginia Tech needs a win against Virginia and a bowl game victory to secure its sixth straight 10-win season. That’s a motivator enough for the Hokies, who won’t be going to the ACC title game for the first time in three years.

“To finish the season off with 10 wins we have to get this number nine one first and that is what coach has been preaching toward all week,” Taylor said. “I think it is still just as important as the previous year, even though we’re not going to the ACC championship, but just for pride and bragging rights, it’s still a big game in our head.”

One of those players who nearly chose Virginia was Brown. Yet, he’s now all about Tech and it’s a big game to him, no matter what the records.

“It’s big, they haven’t beaten us in a long time, but we don’t take them lightly,” Brown said. “We respect them like every other team, they recruited me heavily before I came here, they were the only offer I had really until Tech offered me.

“It’s a big rivalry, and we take pride in it.”

—Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com

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