Frank Beamer Discusses Tech's Highly Anticipated Season Opener Against Ohio State

Frank Beamer has his fair share of wins against college football's finest — Texas, LSU, Nebraska, and Ohio State, just to name a few. But one task remains noticeably unchecked on Beamer's coaching bucket list, taking down No. 1.

"The one thing that we've never had is beaten a number one team in the country," said Beamer. "We've had our chances...but haven't got it done. So certainly there's a challenge. And I don't know if there's ever been a number one team in the country that is as far number one as this crowd."

Beamer, unsurprisingly, expects the game to come down to execution and big plays.

"It's two good programs, two good coaching staffs," said Beamer. "There's going to be some adjustment. It still gets back to execution. Can they hit the long play and can we stop the long play?"

Despite a monumental challenge facing his squad, Beamer takes comfort in the fact that his signal-caller now has a full year of experience learning the complexities of Scot Loeffler's offense.

"I don't worry about Michael (Brewer), I worry about the people around Michael," said Beamer. "If those people uphold their end of the deal, Michael will be just fine. He knows what he's doing. He's smart. He's going to get you in the right play or get you out a bad play. Get the ball to the right guy, quickly...Getting it to a guy and giving him the ability to run. It's two things, get it to him on time and get it to him in the right location. I think he's much better at that."

If the Hokies hope to pull off another upset over the Buckeyes, they'll need to slow down Ohio State star running back Ezekiel Elliott. Elliott only managed 32 yards on 8 carries in the 2014 matchup, but Beamer knows containing the Heisman hopeful the second time around will be a tall task.

"He's very, very good," said Beamer. "Big, tough, good. Coming down the stretch, he was really instrumental for those guys during that championship run... And you expect him to carry it right over. We got to tackle that old boy, that's the only thing I know. Swarm him and tackle him."

On Sunday, the Hokies unveiled metallic orange helmets that they'll don in the season opener featuring a touching tribute to Adam Ward and Alison Parker, the two WDBJ-7 employees killed during a live broadcast at Smith Mountain Lake last week. Beamer addressed the tragedy publicly for the first time Monday.

"Adam, one of our guys at Virginia Tech, and Alison from James Madison...it breaks your heart to hear these things," said Beamer. "To be right here around us and be so senseless, just really doesn't make good sense. Those families are the ones it really doesn't make any sense to and we want those people to know how much we're thinking about them. They're not going to be forgotten."

Beamer also named the Hokies' four captains for the season opener. Ryan Malleck, Sam Rogers, Luther Maddy, and Chuck Clark got the nod for game one.

Lastly, after the media circus that followed Bud Foster's comments regarding potentially fining players for off-the-field missteps, it was inevitable that Beamer (and the players made available to the media) would be asked to discuss the origins and execution of the fining system. However, Beamer, Michael Brewer, Luther Maddy, and Ryan Malleck all chose to defer to athletic director Whit Babcock and declined further comment.

Additional Quotes

Frank Beamer

ON SAM ROGERS:

"Never seen him go half speed. Never seen him go three-quarters speed. Never seen him go seven-eighths speed. He's full speed all the way."

ON TYROD TAYLOR EARNING THE BILLS STARTING JOB:

"He's perfect. Tyrod's the guy now. He's very accurate, when I saw him last night I thought he was really accurate throwing. I think he's really worked to get better at that. He's smart as far as when to put it down and go. He's a threat...That's the kind of quarterback I like to play with."

ON DRESSING 71 PLAYERS FOR OHIO STATE:

"I found out a long time ago that if you dress guys just to dress them...by the 3rd quarter those guys have found their girlfriend up in the stands and are waving to them. Because they're not going to get in the ballgame...it just works better to only dress people that are going to get in the ballgame. I think everyone's mind is exactly where it needs to be. We've all got one purpose there on the sideline."

ON HIS SUCCESS AT VIRGINIA TECH:

"I've been fortunate. You look at my story, the administration that (after) 2-(8)-1 (in 1992), they kept you around. That's a minor miracle right there. I understand people. To me, it's a people business. I know it's about football and X's and O's and I understand that part of it. I've got good coaches that teach a lot of that side of it. I deal with people a lot and I think that as in most successful businesses and operations, I think it's a people business. How those people respect and care and like each other goes a long ways to have success at the end."

ON CHANCES OF ANOTHER COACH BEING ABLE TO REPLICATE HIS CAREER:

"Of course, I didn't run in to this because they don't pay me very much here (laughs). My salary is not an issue. I think the payscale has gotten way too high. Not that it's wrong. Trust me, the open market there and what you're worth is what you should get. But when people pay you a lot, they expect results very quickly and they probably wouldn't go through a 2-8-1 season after (year 6). I think it'd be hard to do it again. I'm not saying that it can't be done, but I think it'd be hard."

ON THE EXCITEMENT LEADING INTO OHIO STATE:

"How often do you have the number one team in the country, by far, unanimous, coming to your place on national TV? The only game on. How many times does that happen? It's not very often. I think our fans understand that 'hey, if you want to be a part of it you better jump on in there because it may not come around for a while'...But we'll make sure too that it's not the end all. It wasn't the end all for both of us last year. There's a lot more football to be played. ACC games are important to us. But there's just not too many opportunities that come around like Virginia Tech is going to have Monday night."