Gobbler Country, a Virginia Tech Hokies community

"I’ve always admired the job Frank Beamer has done in Blacksburg, both on the field and away from it," said Penn State coach Joe Paterno, the award’s namesake. "I’ve been especially impressed by his work in the community. He stands for all that’s good in college sports, a great choice for this year’s winner."

"Virginia Tech running backs coach Billy Hite said tonight that he expects to play sophomore Ryan Williams for a series or two – 10 to 12 plays – in Saturday’s home game against Duke."

"Tech was louder," Carroll said, "but maybe I can't hear as good now."

"I’ve hosted an event called The Willie Pile X’s and O’s Life Skills and Football Camp, for the past three years in my home area of Northern Virginia. At my camp, we stress the fundamentals of football and speed and agility training, while educating the campers on goal setting. The theory behind the camp is that the techniques we teach will transfer over to any league, including the CFL."

Virginia Tech: Yes, the Hokies have to go to Georgia Tech on Oct. 17 and anything could happen there. But if QB Tyrod Taylor stays healthy and RB Darren Evans (who set an ACC record with 1,265 rushing yards as a freshman) has another big year, it’s hard to pick against Virginia Tech. We’ll know how good the Hokies are on Sept. 5 when they play Alabama at the Georgia Dome.

One last thing I forgot to mention in the Farewell to Brian post. I'll be doing a series on the 1999 Hokies team this summer to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the undefeated regular season. I'd like to include stories from Hokie fans from that season. So, if you were a student who followed the team to every game or someone living well away from Blacksburg during that magical season (that would be me) please E-mail me at gobblercountry-at-gmail.com. I'd love to hear from you.

ESPN has chosen to make the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game its prime time ABC national broadcast on the opening weekend of the 2009 college football season Chick-fil-A Bowl and ESPN officials announced today.

The Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game, a Chick-fil-A Bowl event, will match projected preseason top-10-ranked powers Alabama and Virginia Tech on Sept. 5 at 8 p.m. (EDT) in the Georgia Dome.