BLACKSBURG -- Virginia Tech football coach Frank Beamer said Monday that he's not second-guessing the coaching staff's decision to burn freshman tailback Kenny Lewis' redshirt year this season.

Prompted by then-backup tailback George Bell's injured knees, Beamer & Co. promoted Lewis from the scout team to third-team tailback six days before Tech's Sept. 16 contest with Duke. Lewis made his college debut against the Blue Devils, carrying the ball six times for 18 yards and a late-game touchdown in the Hokies' 36-0 rout.

Lewis didn't see the field in Tech's next two games against Cincinnati (Sept. 23) and Georgia Tech (Sept. 30). The former GW-Danville High School star did participate in two games -- a pair of JV contests -- last week, running for a combined 191 yards on 40 carries.

"I don't think you can look back in this business," Beamer said. "That's why I wish we would make this five years [to play] five years. It would be a lot fairer to the kids and make a lot more sense for college football."

Count Beamer among those Division I-A coaches helping promote such a change in NCAA eligibility rules. Currently, athletes have five years for four seasons of eligibility.

"There's been a movement here for about three years, and, hopefully, it's a topic out there again," Beamer said. "There are no negatives to it. You're in a situation where you play a kid and then, when you're making decisions a lot of times, you're expecting this kid to continue at a certain rate so he gets playing time down the road, and there's just a lot of unknowns. So I'm hoping we do what's right for college football ... and what's right for the kids, too."

Trainer's table

Redshirt freshman tailback Jahre Cheeseman will undergo surgery today on his left foot injured in Tech's JV game seven days ago. He is expected to miss the rest of the season.

Redshirt freshman free safety Cam Martin, who suffered a sprained left foot in the same game, won't make No. 22 Tech's trip north for Thursday night's game at Boston College.

Tech tidbits

Georgia Tech's 38 points were the most scored against Tech since the track meet at the 2003 Insight Bowl in which California outpointed the Hokies, 52-49. Tech had allowed more than 24 points only twice -- 27 to Miami and Florida State last year -- in its previous 30 games. ... The Hokies have been installed as a 2 ¹₂-point favorite to beat Boston College for a sixth consecutive time at 44,500-seat Alumni Stadium. ... The ACC announced that the Southern Mississippi-Tech game on Oct. 21 will start at 7 p.m. The sold-out game at Lane Stadium will be televised by ESPNU.