Thursday night game offers no rest for Hokies

By Nate Crossman  |   Wednesday, October 25, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

Virginia Tech Hokies
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The Virginia Tech Hokies' record in Thursday night ESPN games has been well-publicized. Their Oct. 12 loss to the Boston College Eagles was only their second in 14 tries, with their other also coming to the Eagles in 1995. So what makes this week's Thursday night tilt with the 10th-ranked Clemson Tigers different from the others? All you need to do is look at the calendar.

Of the 14 Thursday night games that the Hokies have played, all but three of them have come after seven or more days of rest. That is significant because Thursday's game against the Tigers comes after only five days rest, although the Hokies didn't exactly overexert themselves in downing Southern Mississippi 36-6 last Saturday.

Seven times the Hokies have had 12 days, once they had 11; in 2005 they played back-to-back Thursday night games, and in 1995 they opened up the season on Thursday night. Only two other times have they played on Thursday night after five days rest, although the short layoff didn't appear to affect them in those instances. In September 1994, the Hokies went on the road to beat the Eagles, then downed the West Virginia Mountaineers at Lane Stadium. In October 2000, they blew out the Temple Owls and Mountaineers in back-to-back home games.

If head coach Frank Beamer had the final say in all scheduling matters, he'd prefer to stay away from games coming off of only five days rest. But here's why this week's is a good thing.

Absolutely nothing went right for the Hokies for the two weeks leading up to Saturday's win over Southern Miss. They lost two games, players got in trouble on and off the field and a quarterback controversy bubbled up. Then against the Golden Eagles everything went right. Running back Branden Ore looked unstoppable, the offensive line played its best game of the season and the defense was its old dominant self. The Hokies felt good. So why would you want that good feeling to subside?

On five days rest, there's a chance that the players will still be riding that euphoria from the win over Southern Miss. Combine that with the fact that the Hokies obviously play well in Thursday ESPN games, and this one with the Coastal Division-leading Tigers is the biggest game of the season, and it might work in their favor.

Also, with a short turnaround, players and coaches will not have to answer any negative questions from the media, simply because the media doesn't have any time.

They might have some time after Thursday, but for now playing on five days rest probably isn't as bad as it sounds.

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