Adams: ACC can crow if Hokies beat Vols in Atlanta

ATLANTA - Clemson players demonstrated their conference pride in winning the Music City Bowl on Sunday night. They chanted "A-C-C" with such enthusiasm, you would have thought a basketball game was ending.

Instead, the Tigers had just beaten an SEC basketball school in football. So cut loose the balloons, ignite the fireworks and start the parade.

That's as good as it gets for ACC football.

Never mind that Kentucky is the fifth best team in the SEC East and Clemson actually played for the ACC championship. And forget the betting line, which listed the Tigers as a seven-point favorite.

Almost anytime an ACC team beats an SEC team in football, it's a big deal.

One exception: It beats the SEC's token academic school (I won't mention any names).

Another exception: It beats Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

UT performed so dreadfully in its last two Chick-fil-A bowls, it's a wonder SEC commissioner Mike Slive didn't declare the Georgia Dome a disaster area.

In back-to-back losses to ACC teams, the Vols managed 45 yards rushing against Maryland and 38 against Clemson while averaging a whopping 1.6-yard per carry. You should be able to get more than that running Chick-fil-A cows off tackle.

The Vols' misadventures occurred following the 2002 and 2003 seasons, so it's not as though these players or coaching staff bear any blame. But even as underdogs in Thursday night's game, they need to know: The SEC is supposed to beat the ACC in football.

Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer has been around long enough to understand that. So what if his team is favored by almost a touchdown? He knows the history.

"Growing up in southwest Virginia, I always liked Virginia Tech," Beamer said Monday. "That was my school.

"But Tennessee always seemed bigger. And it was in a lot of ways."

"Then, when we played them in the Gator Bowl, I'm not sure we were on the level with Tennessee. This time, I'm hoping that we are."

Does that sound like a favorite talking?

Actually, that's experience talking.

In Beamer's 23 seasons as Virginia Tech's coach, he's 3-10-1 against teams currently in the SEC. That includes a 45-23 loss to UT in the 1994 Gator Bowl.

The Hokies' woes against the SEC go back a lot farther. In the 1970s, Virginia Tech lost five games to Alabama by a margin of 246-44. Overall, the Hokies are 26-50-3 - and are in the midst of a four-game losing streak - against teams currently in the SEC.

Another streak might be just as relevant. The Hokies will enter the bowl game on a four-game winning streak during which their opponents have scored only 34 points combined.

And tough competition is nothing new to these guys. They went 9-3 against a regular-season schedule that included eight bowl teams and four teams in the top 20. Their three losses were by a total of 18 points, including a 10-point loss to No. 1-ranked Alabama in the season opener.

Beamer doesn't have to play SEC schools to appreciate the challenge. A father, son chitchat will do.

"No one has to convince me of the caliber of play in the Southeastern Conference," Beamer said. "My son (Shane) has coached at three different schools, including Tennessee, in the Southeastern Conference.

"They're very tough, competitive, large fan-base programs. But we're proud of what we've done at Virginia Tech and we understand it's going to take a great, great effort to beat a Southeastern Conference opponent."

In case you forgot, that's the favorite talking.

Sports editor John Adams may be reached at 865-342-6284 or adamsj@knoxnews.com.