The next time Georgia Tech football coach Chan Gailey comes through Christiansburg, he can bank on getting a complimentary dinner at Beamer's restaurant

Drinks ... appetizers ... dessert? No problem. Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer will pick up the tab.

"[Gailey] and several others can come and eat free!" a laughing Beamer said Monday.

That's the least Beamer can do for the guy. After all, it was Georgia Tech's stunning 14-10 upset at Miami on Saturday night that has given the fifth-ranked Hokies a great shot at winning a second straight ACC title and BCS bowl bid.

"Talk about Virginia Tech starting to get real tight with Georgia Tech," Beamer said. "We had our strength coach [Mike Gentry] walking around [Sunday] with a Georgia Tech hat on."

In another gesture of thanks to Georgia Tech, Beamer said he may fire off another note to Yellow Jackets quarterback Reggie Ball. While he didn't have a great game numbers-wise, Ball repeatedly found All-ACC wideout Calvin Johnson for key completions against Miami's No. 1-ranked pass defense.

"I just got around last week to writing Reggie Ball a note because I was real impressed for him to come back [from viral meningitis] and play as hard and as tough as he did in our game," said Beamer, referring to the Hokies' 51-7 rout of the Jackets on Sept. 24 in Blacksburg.

"I told my wife [Cheryl] how much I really respected that guy after that and she said, 'you ought to write him.' Well, I finally got around to writing him last week. I think I'm going to write him again this week. Wow!"

Beamer said he got to see a bit of the Georgia Tech-Miami game after his team returned from Charlottesville, where the Hokies lambasted bitter rival Virginia 52-14 earlier Saturday. Like all Tech fans, Beamer had to sweat out repeated trips by Miami deep into Georgia Tech territory in the game's final 10 minutes.

"I watched it nervously," Beamer said.

Miami's unexpected loss allowed Tech (9-1, 6-1 ACC) to regain control of its destiny in the ACC's Coastal Division race. The Hokies can clinch the division title by beating North Carolina (5-5, 4-3) on Saturday night in Lane Stadium, or with a loss by No. 10 Miami (8-2, 5-2) to Virginia (6-4, 3-4) on Saturday in the Orange Bowl.

Beamer said he and his team should feel blessed to get a second chance. The odds of such didn't look good after Miami hammered Tech 27-7 in Blacksburg on Nov. 5.

"Absolutely ... it's in our hands," Beamer said. "You do feel fortunate when something like this happens. I keep saying every week that you just don't know what's going to happen. Usually, there's one or two games and you say, 'how did that happen?' That's just the way it is."

After opening as a 21-point favorite Sunday night, the Hokies were listed as a 23¹₂-point chalk over UNC on Monday afternoon. Those numbers mean little to Beamer, who is fully aware that the Tar Heels need a victory to become bowl eligible.

"They need to win and we need to win," he said. "Both of us have got a lot riding on it."

The money game

Should Tech win the ACC title, Beamer is guaranteed to pocket enough extra bread to make up for any bill that Gailey could put on the tab at Beamer's. Under Beamer's current contract, he receives a $25,000 bonus if his team wins the league crown, plus another $12,500 in what's described as "shared money."

Plus, Beamer receives $200,000 and the equivalent of three months' salary for taking Tech to a non-national championship BCS bowl. Should Tech win its BCS bowl, he would be awarded another $15,000.

Additionally, if Beamer should be named ACC coach of the year for a second straight season he will rake in another $25,000 bonus.

Terms of the new contract that Beamer signed last month haven't been released yet, meaning those bonus numbers could be even higher.

Odds and ends

Senior Mike Imoh, who ran for a school-record 243 yards in Tech's 27-24 win at UNC last year, is expected to return from a sprained left ankle this week. Beamer said Imoh would work in a three-man tailback rotation with Cedric Humes and Branden Ore. ... The Tar Heels have some personnel issues. Receiver Wallace Wright, who is captain of UNC's special teams, fractured his left ankle in Saturday's 24-21 win over Duke and won't play. Defensive end Hilee Taylor (sprained foot) is listed as questionable for this week. Also, the status of defensive end Kentwan Balmer, who was ejected from the Duke game, has yet to be determined.