Virginia Tech defensive end Dadi Nicolas has been suspended for the first half of the UVA game for making contact with official Ron Cherry during Saturday's loss to North Carolina.
Nicolas, who knocked down the left arm of Cherry as he was being called for an offsides penalty, is being disciplined by Frank Beamer, not the ACC.
"I'm convinced having talked with Dadi that it was not intentional," Beamer said. "But he did hit the referee...and that can't happen."
After further questioning, Beamer remained adamant that the incident was unintentional.
"He did not mean to hit Ron," Beamer said.
Nevertheless, Nicolas miss the first half of the game against UVA. Either Seth Dooley (r-So.) or Vinny Mihota (r-Fr.) will take his place in the starting lineup.