In case you missed the extravaganza on the ACC Network, the 2023 Virginia Tech football schedule was released this week. In the studio show, the entire conference slate was revealed. This came amidst much anticipation, as last June the league announced they were scrapping the Atlantic and Coastal divisions in favor of a new 3-5-5 scheduling model.
In that new model, Virginia Tech will play three teams annually (Pittsburgh, Virginia, and Wake Forest), alternating home and away each year. They will then play five of the remaining ten ACC teams to round out the season, and they will rotate home-and-home games with those ten teams over a four-year span. What is good about this new model is that football players will now have the opportunity to play in every ACC team’s stadium over a four-year career. And Hokie fans will finally get to see Florida State, Clemson, North Carolina State, and Louisville come to Lane stadium once every four years instead of once every fourteen!
Tech fans will delight in the long-lost helmets that will finally come to Blacksburg, as well as those that the Hokies will visit for the first time in what seems to be generations. Only Pitt and Virginia are former Coastal division foes on this year’s slate. So Tech fans should be happy that they will finally see some “new” ACC teams come to town.
What is New with the Virginia Tech Football Schedule?
After 18 years of scheduling travesty, the Hokies go to Tallahassee for only the third time since joining the ACC in 2004. Tech and Florida State used to play annually in the old independent/Metro conference days, so it is great to see the Hokies go back to Doak Campbell Stadium.
In another scheduling anomaly, the Hokies have only been to Louisville’s home, formerly known as Papa John’s Stadium, once since 1992. Granted, the Cardinals have only been in the ACC since 2014, but they are a regional team and Virginia Tech has only played them twice since 1992. The Hokies and Cardinals are another pair of former independent/Metro conference foes, and they are set to square off at the start of November.
Coming off of a 3-8 season with an historically bad offense, it is hard to point to Tech’s 2023 schedule and say there are any guaranteed wins. The Hokies’ two “bye-games” are Old Dominion, who we all know beat Tech in last year’s opener, and Marshall, who won at Notre Dame last September. As Hokie Nation painfully witnessed last season, Virginia Tech has to show up and execute at both of these games if they expect to win.
The other non-conference games fall on consecutive weekends against Big Ten teams, and even though one is Rutgers, the Scarlet Knights do play good defense and have solid special teams, which is bad for a Tech team that struggled on offense last year. This trip to the birthplace of college football could be as offensively ancient as that very first game on the banks of the old Raritan. It could be even worse if it is a repeat of the 20-punt, 13-10 overtime Hokie victory in the 2012 Russell Athletic Bowl, which is the last time these two teams played.
There isn’t a conference game that any rational fan can say is a gimme. So, much like I said in last year’s schedule preview, this slate can end anywhere. Tech can finish 8-4…or 4-8. David Cunningham of Techsideline.com wrote a great summary of all games on the schedule, so there is no need to analyze each matchup. Instead, let’s take a look at the biggest of those eleven wonderful Saturdays – and one Thursday – in the fall.
Some games are important because of who Tech plays. Some are important because of when or where the game is played. And some are important because of the storylines around them. But any way you slice it, these are the biggest games on the Virginia Tech football schedule for 2023…
Purdue – September 9
In the second game of their season, Virginia Tech will host the defending Big Ten West champion Purdue Boilermakers. Although they are breaking in a new head coach and a transfer portal quarterback, they are still a quality Big Ten opponent. No, they are not ready to push Ohio State, Michigan, or even Penn State for league bragging rights, but they are knocking on the door, as their appearance in the Big Ten championship proves.
This is a program that compares well to Virginia Tech. Purdue is usually a middle of the pack team, and every now and then they win their division. And they are often bowl-eligible. That sounds like Virginia Tech since 2011. So it is important for the Hokies to win this game and try to get back to that level, from which we all know they tumbled recently.
Another storyline that many might not know is the current streak of the Hokies versus non-conference Power 5 teams. They have lost eight straight games against those non-ACC P5 foes. Virginia Tech has not won a game against a non-conference Power 5 team since beating West Virginia to open the 2017 season! If they lose to Purdue, then follow that with a loss at Rutgers the next week, the streak will be up to ten and will likely carry into 2024’s opener at Vanderbilt. So this is a BIG game!
Pittsburgh – September 30
After a two-week road trip, Virginia Tech returns to Lane Stadium to open ACC play against its nemesis Pitt. Since these two teams first met in a Big East game in 1993, they have evenly split all 22 games, with each school winning eleven. However, Pitt has had the upper hand recently, winning four of the last five meetings. The combined score in those four Pitt wins? 172-78. That is an average of 34-15 per game.
Lately, Pitt has just manhandled Virginia Tech recently. If the Hokies want to get back to competing for ACC championships, it starts with this opponent. Tech has to win its games against Pitt.
Thankfully, Israel Abanikanda will be gone, as will several key players from that Pitt defense. However, you can expect a Pat Narduzzi team to be physical and competitive when they step on the field. The Panthers added former Boston College quarterback Phil Jurkovec from the transfer portal, and he is familiar with Virginia Tech. However, he hasn’t exactly had much success in Lane Stadium, so Hokie Nation has to be hoping that trend continues.
Regardless of who is under center and what players are coming back on defense, the Hokies MUST beat Pitt if they expect to reclaim their spot as a conference championship contender.
Florida State – October 7
This will be the middle contest of a brutal three-game stretch that starts with Pitt and includes three ACC teams that combined for 27 wins last season. It will be Tech’s first ACC road game, and it just might be the toughest game on the entire schedule.
This is a resurgent Florida State program. They won ten games in 2022, including victories over LSU and Oklahoma. They scored 35 points or more in their final six games. And they did not rest on those laurels in the off season. They signed the second highest rated transfer class in the country. They are going to be a formidable foe and should challenge Clemson for the ACC championship.
Florida State had some down years, but unlike “The U,” the Seminoles really are “back.” Clemson might be the current face of the league, but FSU is going to compete for that title and try to restore the power to the team who owned the ACC when it first joined (and won at least a share of the title for eleven of its first twelve years in the league). Virginia Tech is not likely to win this one, but if they do, it will be an NCAA upset-of-the-year kind of win. For now, Hokies fans should be content if they are at least competitive in the game.
Syracuse – Thursday Night, October 26
This is simple. This is a must-win game for Virginia Tech. It is important not so much for the opponent but for the venue. It will be a Thursday night in Lane Stadium. The place will be rocking. “Enter Sandman” will be amazing. The crowd will be electric – to start the game at least.
Unfortunately, The Hokies have lost their ESPN night game luster. Last season, they dropped both Thursday night contests, including a home game against rival West Virginia that wasn’t nearly as close as the scoreboard indicated after three quarters. Tech is 4-6 in their last ten Thursday night home games, and they have not been victorious in one of these games since winning on consecutive Thursdays against Miami and at Pitt in 2016.
It’s time to get it back. It’s time for the Terrordome to return.
Virginia – November 25
When is this not a big game for Tech? Even when the two programs were headed in different directions for much of that 15-year Tech winning streak, this was always an important game. For bragging rights. For recruiting. And just because Tech just does not like to lose to UVa. Especially in football.
In any other year, this is probably where I would crack a snarky joke about tweed, ties, or Zima. But not now. After the tragic events at the University of Virginia last year and the subsequent cancellation of their final two games of the season, I sense that this year’s game won’t have the same vibe as matchups in the recent past. And that is ok.
So even though it might take a few seasons for the tension to build back up, this still is an important game – for the players, the second-year head coaches, the students, and the fans. It is still a football game against Tech’s biggest in-state rival, and it could very well have bowl implications for one or both teams.
Final Thoughts
- Why isn’t the ODU opener on this list above? Seriously, what Tech fan in their right mind would list that as one of the “biggest games” on their schedule? Yes, Virginia Tech lost to ODU last year. And yes, VT lost in its last two trips to Norfolk. But there is nothing big in playing Old Dominion except when Tech loses. So no, the home opener against an in-state Group of Five school is not a big game – unless the Hokies lose. Then it is a national embarrassment.
- Didn’t Virginia Tech leave the Big East? This year’s schedule features matchups against former Big East members Rutgers, Pitt, Syracuse, and Boston College. Why don’t we just add Miami and jump in a time machine back to 1994! Break out that flannel, pump up the Pearl Jam, and head over to the tailgate with your Bud Ice!
- Or some might argue that this is more like an old independent schedule when Tech was part of the Metro Conference. Florida State, Louisville, North Carolina State, Virginia….I feel like I am going back in time to my freshman year in 1989!
- The Hokies have three home games in September, and five of their first eight are at home. That’s great, but think about the flip side of that coin. There is only one home game in November. The Hokies need to win early, because wins on the road in October and November will be difficult.
- For the second straight year, the Hokies only have six home games. There is a lot of saltiness from Hokie Nation about this, and rightfully so, as many other big time programs play seven home games (and some Big Ten teams play EIGHT!). That is the result of Tech’s non-conference scheduling. The ACC schedule will always provide four home games and four road games. Thus, it is up to Tech’s athletic director to try to schedule three of those four non-conference games at home. I have bad news for you, Hokie fans…next year only has six home games as well. It is not until the 2025 season that Tech will have seven home games.
- The Virginia Tech football schedule only consists of two old Coastal foes in Pitt and UVa, but most Tech fans are not happy to see Boston College on the schedule again. Even worse, the game is in Chestnut Hill, where Tech never seems to play well. Hokie Nation has hated this matchup for years. It is a no-win situation…win the game, and, well, what Hokie fan doesn’t already think that Tech should always win this game? And if the Hokies lose? That is just adding insult to injury. Dropping Boston College as the perennial crossover was probably the BEST part of the new 3-5-5 model. But Lady Luck is rubbing Hokie Nation’s nose in the dirt with another trip to Chestnut Hill this year. Sighhhhh.
- In late November, the Hokies host North Carolina State. Many are probably thinking “revenge” after last year’s painful loss to the Wolfpack. More than that, though, Hokie Nation is probably thinking how weird it will be to face Brennan Armstrong in a red uniform! The former UVa quarterback is 0-2 against Virginia Tech and will no doubt want to end his college career with that elusive victory over the Hokies, and he will look to do it in his first visit to a full Lane Stadium crowd (his last visit was during the 2020 COVID season). The sub-plot of this game just thickened!
- To see the full Virginia Tech football schedule, click here.
To read more of my articles on Virginia Tech football, click here.
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