SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Virginia Tech thinks it knows Syracuse kicker Collin Barber's secret formula for field goals: The stick of a lollipop.

According to the Syracuse Post-Standard, one Virginia Tech coach noted while watching film that the Orangemen plant a sucker stick-first into the ground on every kick. The coach, Hokie associate head coach Billy Hite, didn't say that Syracuse holder Jared Jones was putting the ball on the sucker -- and basically using it as a tee -- or that he was using it as a guide.

However, Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer had a prolonged discussion with the officials after one of Barber's two field goals in Syracuse's 22-14 upset win on Saturday.

"What I said is between me and the officials," Beamer told the paper, "but I will say Syracuse was clearly doing something illegal and we told them about it. That's all I will say."

Syracuse defensive coordinator Chris Rippon, who also coaches the kickers, laughed off the inference.

"Are you serious? Do you really want an official comment? Officially, the answer is no," he told the Post-Standard. "We don't coach that and to my knowledge Collin is not using anything to help spot the ball. It would be awfully hard to stick a lollipop into the Carrier Dome carpet."

Barber kicked a pair of field goals Saturday, including a career-long 45 yarder in the fourth quarter. That ball barely crawled over the crossbar, giving Syracuse a 13-point lead.