Report: Hokies to Play Boise State at FedExField in 2010

WTVR-6
out of Richmond reported Tuesday night that Virginia Tech will open the 2010
football season against Boise State at FedExField in Landover, MD. The Broncos
replace Syracuse on the 2010 schedule, and the Hokies will have to fill another
slot vacated by the Orange in 2011.

Sources informed TechSideline.com Monday that the change was coming, and the
report from WTVR-6 adds more momentum to what is, for the time being, a report
unverified by the Virginia Tech athletic department. The Hokies were originally
scheduled to play at Syracuse on September 25, 2010, and to host the Orange on
September 17, 2011. Syracuse has reportedly asked out of the deal — the Orange
have a new coach, Doug Marrone, who is tasked with rebuilding a Syracuse
football program that has gone 10-37 in the last four seasons.

With the change, the Hokies swap a road game with a revenue-producing neutral
site game. Tech will now have seven home games, one neutral site payout game,
and four true road games in 2010. VT already has six road games in 2011, so
barring other changes, look for the Hokies to replace the 2011 Syracuse home
game with another home game.

If the WTVR-6 report is accurate with regards to the Boise State game being a
season opener, then VT must not only replace Syracuse with BSU, but Tech will
also need to move other games around. The Hokies were supposed to open with
Central Michigan on September 4th and play the Orange on September 25th.

The Hokies opened the 2004 season against #1 USC at FedExField. The Hokies
lost 24-13 in a game attended by over 91,000 people.


E.L. Smiling Reportedly Commits to VT

In recruiting news, Rivals.com and the Newport News Daily Press are reporting that wide receiver E.L.
Smiling
has committed to Virginia Tech. Smiling is a 6-4, 185-pound wideout
who 24 caught passes for 391 yards and five touchdowns last year as a junior at
Brooke Point High School in Stafford, VA.

TSL will work on verifying the commitment. If true, Smiling is the 16th
verbal in Tech’s 2010 recruiting class, the 10th in-state commitment, and the
first wide receiver.