MATT GENTRY The Roanoke Times

Tyrod Taylor and Virginia Tech will be trying to avenge their October loss to Boston College.

TAMPA, Fla. -- The road here for Virginia Tech's football team was filled with all kinds of speed bumps and potholes.

The Hokies' ride to today's ACC championship game against Boston College has been anything but a smooth trip -- couple of blown tires, a few unscheduled pit stops and a fire or two along the way.

But, hey, they've made it here, and now it's time to go after what they want -- a third title in five years in the league.

It will be there inside a half-full Raymond James Stadium. So take it and run, Tech coach Frank Beamer declared.

"Just go get it," he said Tuesday. "That's been a good run, but we've got to go get this one. I've talked so much about getting to the championship game. I told our team [Monday] that we've got to go get this thing.

"We've put great effort into it and not just be satisfied getting there. Not every year you're going to have a chance to play for the championship. We're fortunate to be there, and you've got to go get it."

To get it, Tech (8-4) will have to snuff out a BC bunch that's beaten it three times in the past four meetings. Of course, the Hokies did take the one that counted most, pounding the Eagles 30-16 in last year's ACC title game in Jacksonville, Fla.

This early afternoon fight figures to go the distance. Both sides are loaded on defense. Both sides are challenged on offense. A coin-flip game, basically. Ask Vegas. The contest was still rated Friday afternoon as "pick 'em" at most Sin City books.

Eighteenth-ranked BC (9-3) enters the ring as the hot team. A preseason choice to finish fourth in the Atlantic Division, the Eagles have flown higher than expected in the post-Matt Ryan days. Jeff Jagodzinski's club finished the season with four consecutive victories, including three straight ACC victories to take the division.

The Eagles, who downed the visiting Hokies 28-23 on Oct. 18, desperately want the season sweep, and punch the program's first ticket to a BCS Bowl game -- the Jan. 1 FedEx Orange Bowl in Miami -- most likely against Big East champion Cincinnati. Today's loser, especially if it's Tech, figures to be headed to the Dec. 31 Music City Bowl.

"There's huge motivation," BC senior safety Paul Anderson said. "A chance to redeem ourselves from last year. We definitely don't want to lose to them again, especially in a game like this. We want that ring this year."

So do the Hokies. While they were a heavy preseason choice to capture the Coastal Division, the Hokies have had to fight every inch of the way to get here.

This hasn't been anything close to a vintage season for Tech. The Hokies lost their season opener to East Carolina on a late-game blocked punt, they were forced to ditch plans to redshirt quarterback Tyrod Taylor, then they lost three out of four league games to start the second half of the season.

Thanks primarily to a defense that has been playing like a pack of hungry dogs going after some spilled hamburger, Tech hung in and won the Coastal Division on a tiebreaker with the team that most consider as the ACC's best, Georgia Tech.

"Yeah, it has been most stressful season I've been here," Tech senior defensive end Orion Martin said. "But I think it has brought us together. We've always been a tight group, but I think the ups and downs of this season have made us even closer."

Certainly, the Hokies and Eagles are close. This will be their fourth meeting in a span of 14 months. Neither side has too many secrets.

Especially in the trenches, where this game will likely be decided. In order to win, Tech must be able to somehow get BC's disruptive tackles -- all-league seniors B.J. Raji and Ron Brace -- blocked at least some of the time and run the football, plus pass protect. The pair of space-eaters inside pack a total of 647 pounds and free up linebackers -- ACC defensive player of the year, Mark Herzlich, and Mike McLaughlin -- to make all kinds of plays.

Tech has averaged 2.8 yards per rush in its past four games against BC. Take away Taylor's 110 scrambling yards in the first meeting, and the Hokies got 40 yards on 23 carries from tailbacks Darren Evans and Josh Oglesby.

"They're good players, two NFL players, so it's always a challenge," Hokies senior center Ryan Shuman said of Raji and Brace. "It's two big bodies. They make plays, they stuff it up.

"If you get two hats on this guy, you're not getting to the Mike linebacker [McLaughlin], who's a good player, or you're not getting to the Sam linebacker [Herzlich], who I know is a great player. We've got to recognize what they're doing, what they're moving, blitzes that are coming, and just take care of business."

On the flip side, BC's big offensive line has a similar goal. The Eagles must find create some running space for freshmen tailbacks Montel Harris and Josh Haden against a stout Tech defense that has been on fire, rising to No. 6 in the country in yards allowed.

In a league dominated by defense and sputtering offenses most of the year, this has all the makings of another low-scoring fist fight. Nothing figures to come easy for either side.

The Hokies have become immune to that fact, obviously.

"It hasn't gone the way we wanted it," Shuman said of the season to date. "But we reached the ultimate goal and have a chance to make a splash in the BCS, pull off the win [today]."

Despite all the pitfalls and rough spots along the road, Martin said the trip here has been "exciting."

"We had a young team and we had so many injuries, and we had so many setbacks during the year," he said. "And just finally through all that and have a chance to play for a championship, it makes the ride more enjoyable."

Especially, if they can go get it today.