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ATLANTA (Dec. 6, 2009) – Today 233 miles separate Blacksburg, Va. from Knoxville, Tenn., but on New Year’s Eve, No. 11 Virginia Tech and Tennessee will be 12 inches apart – about the length of a football – when the two historic rivals clash in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl today officially extended invitations to the Hokies and Volunteers to represent the ACC and SEC in the 42nd annual edition of Atlanta’s bowl game Dec. 31 in the Georgia Dome. The invitations were accepted by Virginia Tech and Tennessee officials during conference calls this evening.

Virginia Tech and Tennessee have met seven times dating back to 1896 with the Volunteers holding a 5-2 advantage. The two regional rivals have not met since 1994.

“This really is a dream match-up,” said Gary Stokan, Chick-fil-A Bowl president and CEO. “To have the opportunity to host two nationally significant and traditional teams in Virginia Tech and Tennessee says a lot about the quality of this game. We feel like we’ve got one of the most compelling match-ups outside the BCS.”

Virginia Tech (9-3, 6-2 ACC) won four straight games to finish the season second in the ACC’s Coastal Division just a game behind conference champion and BCS representative Georgia Tech. The Hokies will bring the ACC’s top-rated scoring defense (15.8 ppg), passing defense (161.4 ypg) and the conference’s Rookie of the Year, RB Ryan Williams (1,538 rushing yards, 20 TDs). This will mark the Hokies third trip to Atlanta this season after beginning the year against Alabama in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game and facing Georgia Tech on Oct. 17.

“We feel fortunate to be going back to the Chick-fil-A Bowl,” said Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech head coach. “It is an extremely well-run bowl in which we’ll be facing a tradition-rich University of Tennessee football team. I know our fans will be excited and we look forward to traveling to Atlanta for the game.”

“Virginia Tech is very pleased and proud to have been selected to play in the 2009 Chick-fil-A Bowl,” said Jim Weaver, Virginia Tech Director of Athletics. “We had a wonderful experience there after the 2006 season and had another great experience when we played Alabama in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game this fall. Our fans love Atlanta and are looking forward to the game between the Hokies and the Volunteers of Tennessee.”

Virginia Tech has appeared in the Chick-fil-A Bowl three times (2006, 1986, 1980) and is 1-2.

Tennessee (7-5, 4-4 SEC) finished tied for second in the SEC East playing the 25th hardest schedule in the country.  UT will be making its 48th all-time bowl appearance (third-most among FBS teams) and comes into the game winners in four of its last five games. The Volunteers sport standout QB Jonathan Crompton (2nd in SEC with 26 TD passes), reigning SEC Defensive Player of the Year CB Eric Berry and fiery first-year coach Lane Kiffin.

Most significantly, the Vols won the head-to-head match-ups with three other teams the Chick-fil-A Bowl was considering including Georgia, Kentucky and South Carolina.

“We’re really excited to be going to Atlanta for a great bowl game, the Chick-fil-A Bowl,” said Lane Kiffin, Tennessee head coach. “Not only is this a great bowl game, but we have many players from the Atlanta area and the state of Georgia. It’s a great location for us to be this postseason. We look forward to playing in a first-class bowl game and first-class facility.”

“We’re excited about the opportunity to return to the Chick-fil-A Bowl and play a tremendous opponent in Virginia Tech,” said Mike Hamilton, Tennessee director of athletics. “Gary Stokan and his staff have always done a tremendous job of hosting teams, coaches, administrators and fans. We are looking forward to spending a wonderful week in Atlanta.”

This will mark the Volunteers’ fifth appearance in the Chick-fil-A Bowl. Tennessee has appeared in the Chick-fil-A Bowl in 1982, 1986, 2002 and 2003 and is 1-3.

The Chick-fil-A Bowl will be played at 7:30 p.m., Dec. 31 in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome and will be nationally televised by ESPN, running unopposed in its prime time slot.

About the Chick-fil-A Bowl:

The Chick-fil-A Bowl is the ninth-oldest bowl game in the country and hosts the longest-running rivalry series between the ACC and SEC. Now in its 42nd year, the Chick-fil-A Bowl has established itself as one of the nation’s elite bowl games with a string of 12 consecutive sellouts and has earned a reputation as one of the most competitive bowls in the nation. Ten of the last 17 games have been decided by a touchdown or less. The Chick-fil-A Bowl has disbursed more than $90 million in team payouts over its 41-year history and has increased team payout every year since 1996. The Bowl also leads all other bowl games in charitable and scholarship contributions, giving more than $1.2 million to organizations in need in 2008 alone. Other events under the Chick-fil-A Bowl brand include the Chick-fil-A Bowl Challenge head coach and celebrity golf event each April and the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game season-opening game over Labor Day weekend which hosted two top-10 teams, Alabama and Virginia Tech, to open the 2009 season.

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If you’ve ever watched Pardon the Interruption with Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon, you are probably familiar with the segment titled “Five Good Minutes.” Today, I got to spend 10 good minutes talking with Denver Broncos wide receiver and return man Eddie Royal, who is also a former Virginia Tech Hokie standout (2004-2007).

I asked you, the Hokie fans, what questions you would ask Eddie if given the opportunity and actually got a couple of good ones that I added to the mix. Keep in mind that I literally got 10 minutes with Eddie on the phone, so I only got to ask a select number of questions. But Eddie was great and very accommodating.

Read the entire Q&A with Eddie Royal…

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Blacksburg, VA — He won the Rookie of the Week award seven times this season, so it came as no surprise that Virginia Tech redshirt freshman running back Ryan Williams was named the ACC’s Rookie of the Year today.

Williams broke the ACC and Tech freshman rushing records with 1,358 yards in his first season. He also set new ACC and Tech single-season records for touchdowns with 20 (19 rushing, 1 receiving). It is also the 4th-best single-season rushing total in ACC history.

The former Stonewall Jackson High School standout received 34 votes from 40 voting members. Boston College linebacker Luke Kuechly finished second with 29 votes.

Williams was also was named ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year while Kuechly took home the Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

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Blacksburg, VA — The No. 11 ranked Virginia Tech Hokies (6-2, 9-3) finished their 2009 regular season with a 42-13 mauling of in-state rival, the Virginia Cavaliers (2-6, 3-9) in which redshirt freshman running back Ryan Williams rushed for a career-high 183 yards and four touchdowns.

Today, the ACC recognized Williams’ dominating performance by named him Rookie of the Week for the seventh time this season. In addition to running roughshod over the Cavaliers, Williams broke the ACC’s freshman single-season rushing and touchdown records.

Williams has 1,358 yards this season, which sets a new Virginia Tech and ACC freshman record and ranks second on Tech’s list of best single-season rushing performances. The phenom from Stonewall Jackson High School in Manassas, Va., needs only 110 yards to break the program’s record, set in 2003 by Kevin Jones, who rushed for 1,647 yards.

The rushing record isn’t the only record that fell to the humble, no-frills freshman. He now owns the ACC’s freshman TD scoring record with 20, breaking N.C. State’s T.A. McLendon’s 2002 record of 18.

See a complete list of the ACC’s weekly awards.

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According to knoxnews.com, there are two finalists to replace Tommy West as the head coach of the Memphis Tigers’ football team and Bud Foster, Virginia Tech’s defensive coordinator, is not one of them.

The report lists Washington Redskins defensive assistant Jerry Gray and LSU assistant head coach Larry Porter as the two finalists. Porter, 37, is a Rivals.com two-time national recruiter of the year and played running back for Memphis. He appears to be the front-runner at this point. A decision could come early next week.

Read more about the Memphis coaching search at knoxnews.com.

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Blacksburg, VA — Much has been made about the massive mitts of Virginia Tech wide receiver Jarrett Boykin. How big are his hands, you ask?

In a Roanoke Times article by Randy King(Oct. 7, 2009), King wrote that Boykin’s fingers “routinely rip through the seams of his size XXXL receiver’s gloves, the largest size manufactured by Nike.” The same Nike that makes gloves for the NFL, where the real big boys play.

Throw in that he’s 6-2, 215 pounds and it’s no surprise that he’s emerged as quarterbackTyrod Taylor’s favorite favorite target. Boykin is not the fastest receiver on the team, clocking a reported 4.54 in the 40-yard dash, but can out-jump and out-muscle most defensive backs and if Taylor can get the ball anywhere close to Boykin, chances are pretty good that those big hands are going to reel in the catch.

Boykin is quietly having one of the best seasons by a Tech wide receiver in recent memory. He already has 715 yards on only 36 receptions with two games to play. The 715 yards is the most by a Hokie receiver since 2003 when Ernest Wilford set a Tech record for receptions in a season (55) for 886 yards.

The Hokies have been playing football for more than 100 years and not once have they had a receiver rack up more than 1,000 yards in a season. Granted, the forward pass used to be illegal, so that explains the early years. The closest anyone came was Andre Davis in 1999 when he had 962 yards.

Boykin is a long shot to break that record this season. He would need 248 yards in the next two games. It’s not impossible – that’s only 124 yards a game and he can easily get that in two plays..

What’s more intriguing is what Boykin will do next season as a junior and the unquestioned go-to guy from the start of the season. This year, it was a jumble at the wide receiver spot until Boykin broke out in the Duke game with a career-high 144 yards and a touchdown.

Boykin is well on his way to having one of the best careers by a wide receiver at Virginia Tech. He is averaging 19.9 yards per catch this season, which is the highest average by a Hokie in the last 10 years. He has five touchdown catches so far this season, which is tied for the most since Wilford caught seven in 2002.

And then there’s the career list. Wilford owns the career yardage record with 2,052. Boykin is already at 1,156 through not quite two full seasons (he led the team with 441 yards last year, even though the media guide says it was Danny Coale). He only need 897 yards to break Wilford’s career mark.

Assuming Boykin remains healthy and plays the remaining two games this season and all of next season (a minimum of 15 games) and gets his 65 yards per game average, he will break the record. It would stand to reason, though, that Boykin will increase that average and therefor demolish the career receiving record.

And let’s not forget that he’s the first receiver since Davis in 2001 to have three 100-yard games in a season.

Jarrett Boykin, and his massive mitts, are poised for greatness at Virginia Tech … just sit back and watch.

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Blacksburg, VA — I fully expected Virginia Tech’s freshman running back Ryan Williams to earn his seventh ACC Rookie of the Week award today. I was so convinced that his 120 yards rushing and four touchdowns, along with breaking the ACC’s freshman rushing record and tying the ACC freshman TD record was more than enough to lock up the award. I even had an article written last night and ready to go as soon as the announcement was released. I was wrong. Sort of.

I also figured that Cody Grimm would get his third Defensive Player of the Week award after tying an NCAA record with three forced fumbles in a game, so I got that right. But I missed on Williams getting another ROTW award.

Boston College freshman outside linebacker Luke Kuechly received that honor this afternoon when the weekly press release went out. Kuechly registered an ACC season-high 19 tackles, including eight solo and 2.5 tackles for loss, in the Eagles 31-13 loss to North Carolina.

I am not here to disparage or take away from Mr. Kuechly’s accomplishment because 19 tackles in a game is incredible, especially for a freshman. Plus, he did it against a pretty good rushing offense that was limited to 96 yards. I was just surprised, that’s all. I am merely surprised.

Perhaps Ryan Williams has set his bar so high that a paultry 120 yards and four rushing touchdowns in a game — which tied a Virginia Tech freshman record — and breaking the ACC’s freshman rushing record just aren’t enough considering what he’s done week in and week out this season.

Williams has become so dominant that he’s literally running over defenders and dragging them effortlessly into the end zone. He’s en route to becoming the most prolific running backs in Virginia Tech’s history. He already:

• owns the ACC and Tech freshman rushing records (1,355 with two games to play);
• obliterated Tech’s freshman scoring record and tied the ACC’s;
• crushed Tech’s freshman record for most 100-yard games in a season and has a shot at breaking the overall school record;
• has been named ACC Rookie of the Week six times;
• ranks seventh in the nation in rushing;
• named a Doak Walker Award semifinalist; and
• has been mentioned as a dark-horse Heisman candidate.

So, when you look accomplishments like those, 120 yards and four touchdowns doesn’t seem like a big deal.

I am not upset or outraged that Williams didn’t get his seventh ACC Rookie of the Week honor — Kuechly is more than deserving — I am just surprised that such a stellar performance did not warrant either Offensive Player of the Week or at least Rookie of the Week. 

I guess the ACC coaches figured that Williams has already made his mark and that another equally deserving performance, like that of Kuechly, should be recognized.

Regardless, it is an individual award that means more to media types like me than it does to the players. I guarantee that Williams, and even Kuechly, would gladly give up all six of his weekly awards for a win or two on the field.

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Blacksburg, VA – Cody Grimm, a redshirt senior linebacker for the 14th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies, earned his third ACC Defensive Back of the Week award after leading the Hokies’ defense in shutting down N.C. State’s high-powered offense. Tech won its final home game of the 2009 season, 38-10.Grimm tied an NCAA record with three forced fumbles in the first four N.C. State offensive plays.

On the offensive side of the ball, Sergio Render was named the Offensive Lineman of the Week. The senior from from Newnan, Ga., graded out at 82 percent and recorded a season-high 10 knockdown blocks in the Hokies’ 38-10 win over the Wolfpack. Render helped the Hokie offensive line lead the way for a Virginia Tech offense that piled up 397 yards of total offense, including 200 yards on the ground and 120 yards and four rushing touchdowns from the ACC’s leading rusher Ryan Williams.

The Hokies (5-2, 8-3) play at Virginia (2-5, 3-8) on Saturday, Nov. 28, at 1 p.m.

Complete list of weekly ACC awards.

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