Down The Road - WVU-VT

[wvjohn]

Down The Road
By BlueGoldNews.com
Posted Jul 3, 2013


It will take more than eight years to get West Virginia and Virginia Tech back on the same football field, but the bitter border battle will recommence in the fall of 2021 with the first game of a two-game series.

It has already been eight years since the game was last played in 2005, so the scheduled date means that 16 years will have gone by when the meeting is renewed on Sept. 18, 2021 in Morgantown, W.Va. WVU will return the trip a year later with a Sept. 24, 2022 visit to Blacksburg, Va.

A number of issues, including game venues and Virginia Tech's departure from the Big East conference, were publicly cited as reasons for the long break in the series

Discussions over potential game locations including a "neutral" site in Washington, D.C., never gained much traction, especially on the West Virginia side. However, WVU Director of Athletics Oliver Luck was generous in his praise of Tech staffers and coaches in getting the series rebooted.

“This game is great for college football. We all know that the two schools have extraordinary fan bases, and both schools will be counting down the days until the Hokies and the Mountaineers meet again," Luck said in a prepared statement. “I want to thank Virginia Tech Athletic Director Jim Weaver and Coach Frank Beamer for their efforts in helping to get the two teams back on the football field. It will be a great day for all involved when the rivalry is renewed.”

The games, distant though they are, will renew the battle for the Black Diamond Trophy, which was created in 1997 and awarded to the winner of the game. The series began long before that introduction, however, beginning in 1912 and covering 51 contests.

West Virginia leads the overall series 28-22-1, and hold a 16-9 record in games played in Morgantown and 5-1 in games played at neutral sites. Virginia Tech has a 12-7-1 edge in games played in Blacksburg, Va.

I can't wait for this it is a good battle on the field every time these two meet, hopefully it will continue.

[billybud]

Should be a good game..but 2021 seems a long way off. By then Beamer could be gone, Holgorsen bald and in middle age, and neither team in the same conference.

[wvjohn]

yeah, it really is hard to say what kind of shape either team will be in or who will be there, it's 8 more years down the road.
but still can't wait...

[Spence]

yeah, it really is hard to say what kind of shape either team will be in or who will be there, it's 8 more years down the road.
but still can't wait...

No matter how good either team is then, they will both be ready for that game.

[Eric]

This is one of those games that should have never ended. Their last matchup seems like an eon ago and I remember those games being entertaining. I was hoping they could meet up in a bowl game, since the ACC and Big East met up in one or two bowls per postseason over the last decade.

[billybud]

A bowl game is a possibility.

The WVU-VT rivalry probably needed a time out. It had started to get ugly.