But with the No. 2 Hokies just a victory away from a perfect regular season and a possible berth in the national championship game against Florida State, Beamer's job is getting tougher.

		An old football adage goes something like, "Find the ones who can and will.  Leave the others on the bench."  Boston College, playing this pivotal season with 68.8 percent freshmen and sophomores, guided by the steady hand of Tom O'Brien, has found the ones who can and will. Pounding toward the finish line in one of the most stirring stretch runs in school history, the Eagles have beaten Syracuse at the Carrier Dome, nemesis West Virginia at home, and Notre Dame in South Bend in successive weeks.  Hmmm...the experts might nod, acknowledge the fine progress, point out that this same team lost to Temple, and assign B.C. the role of "woodshed victims" at Virginia Tech on Friday. Careful...it is not that simple.  Neither is analysis of this tilt as simple as statistical matchups, all of which favor Virginia Tech. While no team in recent memory has dominated national and Big East statistics like this Hokie team, there are three factors that should set off alarms in their minds. First, these Boston guys are tough kids.  The upperclassmen lived through a horrific gambling scandal, perservered, and have a gritty component to them that is evident in their persona as well as their play.  They are the leaders, and men like Pedro Cirino, Tim Hasselbeck, and Frank Chamberlain will not be intimidated by big noise from the fans, big hits from Corey Moore, or big plays from Michael Vick.  They just keep playing.  Second, games like this are fought out in the trenches.  I watched West Virginia take it to Virginia Tech, winning the battle up front, in a game the Mountaineers should have won.  A week later, the same West Virginia team was dominated by the big guys for Boston College.  Comparative scores mean very little, comparative combat in the war zone means a great deal.  I am not at all certain the Hokies' linemen are better than those of the Eagles.  Finally, and this is big, all the pressure is on Tech, all the pressure.  This is it, Armageddon on a Friday afternoon, all the marbles, holy grail, all the stuff our culture heaps on.  Teenaged males do funny things under that kind of pressure. Watch out Hokies, the Eagles can...and just might.

    While all but acknowledging as much Tuesday, Beamer also tried to turn the attention back on Friday's game against No. 22 Boston College by spelling out its immense importance.

"There is no question that this is absolutely, without question, the biggest week ever at Virginia Tech," said the 13-year head coach and former Tech defensive back and captain. "This is the biggest game we've ever played."

The Eagles, 8-2 with three straight victories, won't be a pushover with multitalented quarterback Tim Hasselbeck. But Nebraska also is breathing down the Hokies' necks in the Bowl Championship Series standings.

"We've got to come out like we've done all season long prepared to play the game of our life," defensive end Corey Moore said. "We win that game and we're playing for the national championship. I firmly believe that. I think it would be just an absolute tragedy if we don't get a chance to play for the national championship."

The Hokies have tried to dismiss the BCS standings, where they once fell behind Tennessee even though the Vols had a loss, and where Nebraska seems poised to pass them if the Cornhuskers can beat unranked Colorado and No. 5 Texas.

On Tuesday, the significance of their possible BCS fate seemed to have become real to some Hokies, and some tones changed from defiance to uncertainty.

"I think the two best teams in the country, if you're undefeated, should play," quarterback Michael Vick said.

"Everybody else has a loss. That's their fault. If two teams are 11-0, then they should play for the national championship. I only think that's right. No more, no less than that. The two best teams should get a shot."

Before the BCS came into play, the Hokies would be a lock to play the top-ranked Seminoles in the designated championship game. The teams are 1-2 in the AP and USA Today/ESPN both polls and have been for weeks.

But the BCS standings also incorporate eight computer rankings and strength of schedule into the mix, and that's where the Hokies are coming up short.

Nebraska has the 21st-hardest schedule, Virginia Tech the 66th-hardest. The Hokies' computer ranking average is 2.14, and the Cornhuskers' is 2.57.

In the end, the Hokies hope they can beat the Eagles, join the 1918 team (7-0) and the 1954 team (8-0-1) as the only Tech teams to finish a season unbeaten, and that the zero in the loss column will ultimately be the number that matters most.

"This system, I don't see how it could be wrong," Beamer said. "When it's all said and done, the two best teams have just got to play. They've just got to."

Boston College is a couple of near misses away from being unbeaten as well. The Eagles dropped a 24-14 decision to Temple and blew a four-touchdown lead in a 31-28 loss to Miami.

Since the Miami game, B.C. has beaten Syracuse, West Virginia and Notre Dame in succession. At Notre Dame, the Eagles got a taste of playing in front of a hostile crowd on a grass field on national television, three factors that will be the same against the Hokies.

Michael Vick ranks third in the nation in passing efficiency, completing 79-of-140 passes (56.4 percent) for 1,550 yards and nine touchdowns with five interceptions. He is third on the Hokies with 504 yards rushing and has seven touchdowns.

Shyrone Stith leads Virginia Tech with 1,022 yards on the ground and Andre Kendrick has contributed 617, with the pair teaming up for 19 scores. The Hokies are eighth in the country in rushing, 10th in total offense and first in scoring.

The opportunistic Virginia Tech defense is the fourth-rated unit in the country and is second in points allowed, a hair behind one of the two other unbeaten Division I-A teams, Marshall. Their 12 fumble recoveries and 10 interceptions easily have masked mistakes by an offense that has given away the ball 18 times.

BOSTON COLLEGE Season schedule and results	VIRGINIA TECH Season schedule and results
Sep. 4 Baylor W 30-29 Sep. 18 @Navy W 14-10 Sep. 25 @Rutgers W 27-7 Oct. 2 Northeastern W 33-22 Oct. 9 @Temple L 14-24 Oct. 16 Pittsburgh W 20-16 Oct. 23 Miami (Fla.) L 28-31 Oct. 30 @Syracuse W 24-23 Nov. 13 West Virginia W 34-17 Nov. 20 @Notre Dame W 31-29 Nov. 26 @Virginia Tech 2:30pm ET	Sep. 4 James Madison W 47-0 Sep. 11 Alabama Birmingham W 31-10 Sep. 23 Clemson W 31-11 Oct. 2 @Virginia W 31-7 Oct. 9 @Rutgers W 58-20 Oct. 16 Syracuse W 62-0 Oct. 30 @Pittsburgh W 30-17 Nov. 6 @West Virginia W 22-20 Nov. 13 Miami (Fla.) W 43-10 Nov. 20 @Temple W 62-7 Nov. 26 Boston College 2:30pm ET