At today’s press conference, Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer briefly mentioned one of the Hokies’ goals for every game. When asked a follow-up question about other goals, Beamer said he didn’t have the list in front of him, but reporters were welcome to see the goals for themselves, in Tech’s team room at the Merryman Center.

So a couple of us took Beamer up on his offer. The room has rows of seats and large projection screens in front, so Beamer can post the goals after every game and note how many the Hokies accomplished. The goals themselves are posted on the back wall of the room, on boards labeled OFFENSE, DEFENSE and SPECIAL TEAMS. The goals are listed down the left side of the board, and Tech’s games are listed in a row across the top, forming a grid.

I’ll list the goals below, so when you’re watching a game, you can know if the Hokies are doing what they hope to do.

I changed the wording of some of these goals to help explain them and add context. And here they are ...

OFFENSE
1. Score enough to win.
2. 100 percent in red zone.
3. Control the ball.
4. Convert 50 percent of third downs.
5. Have one turnover or fewer.
6. Have three penalties or fewer.

DEFENSE
1. Win.—(This also stands for coordinator Bud Foster’s favorite acronym: What’s Important Now.)
2. Hold opponents to 1X points or less.—(There was a 1, then another digit that had gotten chipped off the board, so i’m not exactly sure about the points. But I’d imagine it is 10 or 14.)
3. Score or give offense possession at midfield or better two times.
4. No more than one play longer than 25 yards.
5. Stop opponents on third down 93 percent of the time; stop them on third and long (plus-4) 80 percent of the time.
6. Allow no touchdowns after Tech’s offense turns the ball over.
7. Allow three yards or less per rushing attempt.
8. Force three-and-out 50 percent of the time.
9. Eight tackles for a loss. 

SPECIAL TEAMS
1. Allow no more than six yards per return.
2. Down punt inside 10-yard line.
3. Opponent’s average starting position inside its 20.
4. Average 10 yards per punt return.
5. Block punt, field goal or extra point, or force a bad kick.
6. Start 66 percent of Tech offensive drives at 28-yard line or better.
7. Make every extra point.
8. Make two of every three field goals.
9. No critical penalties.
10. Hidden yardage plus-20 yards.—(I think this means Tech wants to be 20 yards better than its opponents in total special teams yardage, but I’m not sure.)

What the Hokies want to accomplish every game on offense, defense and special teams.