Only one bowl game is on the schedule tomorrow night: the Chick-fil-A, which ESPN will televise nationally.  The head coaches of the teams that will meet in Atlanta—Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer and Georgia’s Mark Richt—know that a strong performance in a prime-time game can pay dividends in recruiting.

    “I think it’s big,“ Beamer said this morning at a press conference at the Georgia Dome.  “That’s why I love Thursday night games.  It’s kind of like Monday Night Football in the NFL. 

    “Any time you can get on national TV and be unopposed, if you play well, it’s a plus.  If you stink up the joint, it’s not too good.  But I think it’s an opportunity for both us to [impress] those recruits back home watching, make them feel important.“

    Seated next to Beamer was Richt.  As was the case most of the morning, the Bulldog agreed with the Hokie.

    Both programs are nearly through recruiting for 2007, so “you hope play good enough to where they don’t decommit on you, I guess, at this point,“ Richt said with a smile.  “But there are some top juniors out there, and sophomores, and freshmen.“

    Richt, who played quarterback at the University of Miami, still remembers the first bowl game he ever watched: Florida State vs. Texas Tech.
 
    “They miked Coach [Bobby] Bowden for that game, and that was just the most exciting game I ever saw,“ Richt said.  “I didn’t sign with Florida State—I should have—but that made a big impression on me.  I think I was probably in the eighth or ninth grade.  So who knows what sixth-, seventh-, eighth-, ninth-graders are out there that might be impressed with what happens in the game?“