Associated Press

New Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini has the Cornhuskers 3-0 this season.

Forget about possibly going south. The Virginia Tech football team will head full speed west this week.

Coming off an improbable victory in a game in which a loss could have potentially sent them limping south for the season, the Hokies have commenced mapping plans for a long trip west to face Nebraska on Saturday night.

The contest marks Tech's longest trip west for a regular-season game since it traveled to Oklahoma in 1991. The journey edges Tech's 2002 trip to Texas A&M by a scant margin on the world's longitude map.

Tech coach Frank Beamer couldn't care less. Besides, he's never been to Lincoln, Neb., before. The same likely goes for all his players.

"Myself and a lot of these kids haven't been there, so we look forward to coming and seeing the atmosphere," Beamer said of Nebraska's 81,067-seat Memorial Stadium, which will host its NCAA-record 293rd consecutive sellout Saturday.

"When the stadium is excited and loud, and people are interested, I think that's the way you want to play. I think one of the great things about college football is going to places you haven't been and seeing what it's like. You're playing one of the great all-time programs. Growing up, and I still feel this way, when you say, 'Nebraska,' you think college football. That's big time.

"Plus, I know they've got to be excited out there. They're undefeated."

Nebraska is off to 3-0 start under first-year coach Bo Pelini. Their three victims -- Western Michigan, San Jose State and New Mexico State -- in no way resemble murderer's row, however.

Nebraska, which has a 255-37 record in its home sellout streak that dates back to 1962, was listed as a 7-point favorite Monday.

For Tech (3-1), which is coming off a rousing second-half comeback victory at North Carolina last Saturday, the contest marks the first of back-to-back nonconference games. The Hokies will face Western Kentucky in Lane Stadium a week from Saturday before finishing the regular season with six ACC games. Consecutive 20-17 victories over Georgia Tech and UNC the past two weeks have the Hokies at 2-0 in the ACC and in early control of the league's Coastal Division.

While a victory this week would be huge for the program, winning the ACC title remains the biggest item on the Hokies' 2008 plate. The break from the ACC gives the inexperienced Hokies a chance to get better the next two weeks, Beamer said following the UNC victory.

"This gives us a chance to nail some things down, then get ready for a tough stretch," Beamer said following the win at UNC. "To be 2-0 in this conference right now and be as young as we are, I feel pretty good about that."

Touchy subject

Pelini was the defensive coordinator last season for national champion LSU, which pummeled Tech 48-7. When asked if he planned on looking at that game film for possible defensive tendencies, Beamer seemed a bit hesitant.

"Well, we can go back and look at that," Beamer said. "Coach Pelini should have good memories. We're trying to forget LSU from last year. We don't even bring that up around here."

The non-verbal factor

Figuring the noise level could be at ultra-high decibels Saturday, Beamer said he will likely take his offense inside Rector Field House on Thursday. Some giant speakers will be rolled into the field house to simulate crowd noise.

"Grind up some noise in there so you've got to communicate without being able to hear each other sometimes," said Beamer, recognizing the unit will likely be forced into operating at times through hand signals.

Extra-week edge

Nebraska was idle last week, giving them an extra week to prepare for Tech.

"I think it's certainly an advantage," Beamer said. "I think early in the season it's big, trying to get some things cleaned up with your own team and having time to study the other team."