Virginia Tech vs. Virginia Scheduled for 7:30 PM on ABC

Reggie Floyd Virginia Tech
The last time Virginia ventured into Lane Stadium, the Hokies captured a thrilling 34-31 overtime victory. (Ivan Morozov)

The Atlantic Coast Conference announced this morning that the Virginia Tech-Virginia game next Saturday, September 19 will be played at 7:30 PM. The game will be televised nationally on ABC.

It was previously announced that the game would be on ABC at 3:30 or 7:30. The main competition for the night time slot was Miami at Louisville. Following the ‘Canes 31-14 victory over UAB last night, ABC/ESPN chose to air Virginia Tech-Virginia at 7:30 on ABC, preceded by Miami-Louisville at 3:30 on ABC. Both games are national broadcasts.

This is a bit of a surprise, as the Louisville-Miami matchup was thought to have a few advantages over Virginia Tech-Virginia:

  • Louisville is allowing 18,000 fans to attend games, whereas Lane Stadium will only have 1,000 fans for the foreseeable future (taken up mostly by players’ and coaches’ families, top level staffers, etc. — Virginia Tech has not sold any tickets).
  • ESPN has been hyping up Miami transfer QB D’Eriq King while providing little publicity for Virginia Tech or Virginia.
  • The Cardinals-‘Canes matchup is a game between teams picked to finish No. 4 and No. 6 in the conference, while Virginia Tech-Virginia is a No. 5 vs. No. 9 matchup.

Nonetheless, the Hokies and Cavaliers will have the more visible 7:30 ABC time slot. Other games in that time slot on Saturday September 19 are:

  • SMU at North Texas, 6:00, CBSSN
  • Louisiana Tech at Southern Mississippi, 7:30, ESPN2
  • Texas State at UL-Monroe, 7:30, ESPNU
  • Wake Forest at NC State, 8:00 ACC Network

Virginia Tech holds a 58-38-5 advantage in the rivalry with Virginia.  The Hokies have won 19 of the last 21 meetings, and Tech won the first 15 after entering the ACC in 2004. Virginia finally broke Virginia Tech’s stranglehold on the Commonwealth Cup last season with a 39-30 win in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers have not won in Blacksburg since 1998, when they came back from a 29-7 half time deficit to beat Tech 36-32.

We have updated our schedules with the 7:30 time.

39 Responses You are logged in as Test

  1. Fuente….did he blow it again; Did we fail to prepare and get the big victory again?
    I was hoping the Farley report “we were like 100-deep in our indoor facility, no masks” was over reaction but has the coaches and the program failed to protect players, implement discipline, and institute the world-class standards & precautions to keep players safe and get them to what could have been one of the greatest season openers in school history despite the world circumstances.

    I hope this isn’t a prelude of what’s to come.

    1. Did not get a chance to show their super tacky TO Chain!! And they were all set to sanitize it every time it was pulled out!!

  2. Cool news, Will.

    Big night game at Lane….what could have been.

    Time to right things. Bully ball.

    1. It needs to be the shortest. Its a shame trophy had to leave Blacksburg even for 1 month much less 10 months. Hate we sent Bud out that way ……he deserved better.

  3. Would the statement, “the more reasonable Governor of Kentucky is allowing 18k fans in the stands, in stark contrast to the moronic leadership of the Governor of Virginia, which is only allowing 1k fans”, be more appropriate??

    Or is this really a school decision? Asking for a friend.

    1. Do not let emotion trump logic. No need to allow 18,000 people to gather at this stage of the pandemic for a game.

      1. We could easily let 10k in the stands. Wear a mask, space the seats apart, etc. Only allowing 1k makes no rational sense.

        People standing in line at Walmart, Target, TJMaxx, etc. are a lot closer to each other than 10k in the stadium would be. Not even going to mention restaurants now.

        The irrational hypocrisy of some of these decisions are maddening.

        1. I don’t disagree but fans don’t need to be at stadium as much as Walmart. I’ll give you the restaurants if they are allowed to be full. UM was allowing 13,000 but it looked more like 1,300. Let’s see if UL actually has 18,000 since UM is not a good measuring stick. A low turnout would show that most folks are willing to sit out this season.

          1. I mean no disrespect but I have a problem when someone tells me what i “need”. As far as that goes no one needs to go to Walmart when you can get everything you need on line or you can wait in your car and have it brought to you. See how that works.

        2. So you don’t care about the safety of our football players/staff? I think these regulations are more for their protection as it should be.

        3. Unless the 18,000 fans take a vow of silence , the biggest risk is the airborne respiratory droplets spewing from every fan’s mouth as they cheer, yell, curse, etc..You don’t experience that most of the time at Walmart, except perhaps on black Friday, so I’ve heard
          Masks will help, assuming that everyone would wear them properly for the duration of the game, as will the outdoor location, with hopefully a decent breeze to disperse droplets, but still not worth the risk at this point
          Wonder if Lindsey Marr has thoughts on this

      2. Part of the problem with allowing thousands of fans (i.e. 10K, 15K, 18K, etc.) is not the spacing of the fans during the game. It’s getting the fans into and out of the stadium safely and the distancing in the concession lines and restroom lines. We all know how crowded it is in Lane getting food or going to the restroom at halftime. I think it would still be an issue even at 1/4 – 1/3 capacity.

        1. You guys are a bunch of wusses …. COVID-19 is the SARS-2 pandemic. The SARS-1 pandemic was from late 68 to late 69. In the middle of all this is Woodstock in August. Over 100,000 people sitting shoulder to shoulder. No panic, no fear, no masks, no social distancing yet my generation survived.

          1. This has nothing to do with being a wuss. The virus doesn’t care. The Sars-1 pandemic in 1968 – 1969 killed a total of roughly 100K people in the US…primarily people over 65.
            COVID-19 has already killed over 200K people in the US in 7 months and we are nowhere near finished. I think this virus is different and is obviously more deadly. I’m pretty sure the average age of the people attending Tech football games is substantially higher than the average age of those attending Woodstock in 1969. While I would love to be in the stands to see the Hokies play, safety of everyone should be the priority.

    2. Considering Montgomery county is numbers 46 on the hotspot listing for the nation it really does not make any sense to let 18,000 people come to a hotspot. Along with Bradford being number 6.

      1. Number 46 in the nation where did you get that statistic? Last I looked just like the rest of western Virginia numbers are way down. According to a quick google search they report 1,211 cases and 4 deaths. I see not how that could be 46 in the country.

        1. New York times list. And the hotspot is based on the huge numbers of new cases from week to week.

    3. I believe there were around 17,000 fans at the Chiefs game last night (in KC). I drove by Arrowhead during the game and they looked to be pretty spaced out. It was still a loud crowd.

    4. The fact that the Hoos tie for the smallest allowable ACC crowds at 1K is a strong indicator of what power hungry governor is pulling those strings!!

  4. IMHO I think we destroy them. We have better players, better coaches, motivation and we are at home…and they don’t have Perkins who played a GREAT game and carried that team.

  5. I think I have only attended two UVA vs VT games and both were in Blacksburg. Of course the first one I attended was the 1998 game. The other game I attended was Vick’s last home game I think the 2000 game.

    1. I had not missed a VT/Hoo game home or away in decades until last year. I had tix, but it was the weekend before my back surgery, and I knew I would not be able to make that long walk between Snott Stadium and the car.

Comments are closed.