Too bad Virginia Tech has to move to the ACC after this season. Its annual Big East game against Syracuse was on its way to becoming one of the nation’s best college football rivalries.

After SU bounced the Hokies out of the top 10 in each of the past two seasons – the Orangemen won, 22-14, in Blacksburg, Va., in 2001, and last season SU, carrying a 3-7 record into the Carrier Dome, beat then-No. 8 Tech, 50-42 in triple overtime – the teams built a strong dislike.

‘I guess it’s a rivalry,’ SU head coach Paul Pasqualoni said. ‘It’s just worked out where we’ve had some very close games, some very hard-fought games. It has evolved into being a great college football game.’

The annual contest will be played for the last time Saturday after 11 years, when SU plays No. 4 Tech in Blacksburg. Ever since the Hokies joined the Big East in 1992, most of those meetings turned into classics.

In 2000, eventual First Team All-American Dwight Freeney held a coming-out party, sacking VT quarterback Michael Vick 4.5 times as SU built a 14-0 lead. The Hokies battled back, though, and won, 22-14.

Perhaps the greatest game Tech and SU played came in 1998, when Donovan McNabb threw a touchdown pass in the game’s final seconds for a touchdown in a 28-26 Syracuse win.

Despite Tech’s recent ascension to college football’s elite, SU has owned the burgeoning rivalry lately – something that could make for a hostile crowd Saturday.

‘There isn’t a better atmosphere than going to Virginia Tech,’ senior tight end Joe Donnelly said. ‘They hate you. They hate us more than ever right now because two years in a row, they’ve been a top-10 team and we’ve taken their ranking from them.’

‘I expected to get things thrown at me when I was down there,’ SU senior linebacker Rich Scanlon said. ‘And that’s what I kind of expect this time around. I prepare for the most hostile, loudest place you can think of. Just crazy. I like it when it’s like that. That’s what football’s all about.’

Recovery week

Donnelly will return Saturday and outside linebacker Jameel Dumas could, Pasqualoni said.

‘We’re going to see how Jameel does this week,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘I’m more optimistic about Donnelly than Dumas. We’re going to have to see how he does this week. It may be too early for him. We’ll see.’

Donnelly injured his left shoulder in the preseason and hasn’t dressed for any games. Dumas injured his left knee late in SU’s opener at North Carolina and hasn’t seen the field since.

Though Dumas might not even play, Donnelly could start.

‘It’s too early to tell,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘We’ll see how he does (Monday). We’ll see how he does Tuesday and Wednesday and then we’ll have a better idea.’

During SU’s bye week, Johnnie Morant and Damien Rhodes each felt improvement on ailing ankles.

‘They came along pretty good,’ Pasqualoni said. ‘We’re optimistic that they’ll start today and they’ll be fine.’

Anyone could care less

Though it’s been a pre-occupation for most college football followers since the summer, Syracuse players aren’t concerned with Virginia Tech’s role in the ACC/Big East controversy.

‘We’ve talked about this a lot,’ Scanlon said. ‘It’s going to have no bearing on how we play this week. Bottom line is, the season is measured in wins and losses, not what conference you play for. This is just a regular Big East game for us.’

‘I wasn’t really thinking about it,’ SU quarterback R.J. Anderson said. ‘Virginia Tech always feels that they’re above people sometimes. Let them feel they’re above. Let them move on.’

This and that

Syracuse again received three votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll this week, good for No. 41 in the nation, unofficially, along with Boston College. … When he spoke about trying to stop Tech running back Kevin Jones, Pasqualoni could come up with just one sure solution: ‘You can only play with 11,’ he said. ‘This isn’t Canada. If we only had that 12th guy, we’d be all set. I’d have a lot of answers if we could add that one defender.’ … Anderson and select skill position players have formed a clique known as the Playmakers. … Anderson when asked about the matchup between Jones and Walter Reyes, the nation’s leading rusher: ‘I’m not starting that up this week. That’s how I’m going to get in trouble. I’m biased. Walt’s my roommate.’ … Saturday’s game will be nationally televised on ESPN at noon.

Published on October 6, 2003 at 12:00 pm