Different goals in clash of rivals

Hokies chase bowl eligibility as Cavaliers seek to stay over .500

J.C Price doesn’t want his second game as Virginia Tech’s interim football coach to be his last.

The Hokies (5-6, 3-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) play at Virginia this afternoon and need a victory to become bowl eligible. That’s just one of the many reasons the game takes on great importance, the former Hokies defensive lineman said.

“We still have a chance to extend our season and we understand that coincides with a victory,” Price said this week. his second as head coach after the school and Justin Fuente parted last week and Price was named the interim coach.

“This game is important within our state not just football-wise, it’s important in recruiting. It’s important to a lot of people, as it should be. It’s a rivalry game. Every state has a rivalry game, and this one is ours and it’s important,” he said.

The Cavaliers (6-5, 4-3) have been bowl-eligible since an Oct. 23 victory against Georgia Tech, but they come into the game having lost three in a row, all against Top 25 teams. They’ve beaten the Hokies just once in the last 17 meetings.

Their most recent loss, 48-38 at Pittsburgh a week ago, was a mustwin to be Coastal Division champions, but coach Bronco Mendenhall said having the Hokies up next has made refocusing easier.

“When you invest as much as our program has to win the Coastal Division, the thought that now, OK, you just move on, yeah, that’s not realistic,” he said this week. “But knowing here comes the next really meaningful game that has just so much meaning to our program, certainly it will help.”

Some other things to watch when Virginia Tech visits Virginia:

Two QBs

The Hokies used both Braxton Burmeister and Connor Blumrick in their 38-26 loss at Miami in Price’s first game, with Blumrick getting more playing time than he has all season, and producing. He threw two touchdown passes to rally the Hokies from a 31-13 third-quarter deficit and ran for 132 yards.