After beginning the season 4-0 in his first season as head coach at Virginia Tech, James Franklin and the Hokies are facing an early-season showdown at home at Lane Stadium on Friday night against 4--0 Pittsburgh.
Both teams have taken a different path to the game in their first four games, with the Panthers beating Miami of Ohio, Central Florida, Syracuse, and Bucknell, while the Hokies have home wins over VMI and Old Dominion, and road wins at Maryland and Boston College. The difference between the two teams is that Pitt's games have all happened at home, and this will be their first true road game. Speaking with the media this week, Franklin didn't want to go down the road of this being the biggest home game for Virginia Tech in years.
"I get that for the media, and I get that for the fans and everybody," said Franklin. "But we've got to find a way to be 1-0 this week. Each week, it's been critical, and we've got to find ways to get wins. Our approach should be consistent every single week. As a program, we should be getting better every single week. We should be getting into a rhythm."
James Franklin doesn't want his club looking past Pittsburgh
That is classic coach speak if there ever has been any. I'm not sure what anyone else would expect for an answer. There was no way he wasn't going down that road other than 1-0.
You have to think that Frankli understands how big a game this is for his new fanbase. Virginia Tech fans have been waiting for years- almost a decade- for a game like this in Blacksburg. A massive weeknight game in Lane Stadium in October is something that has been a long time coming for a fanbase that has supported the program through the painful seasons of the last few years.
This is the biggest game in a long time in Blacksburg on the football field and if James Franklin won't acknowledge it, Hokies' fans will.
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