When the Virginia Tech football team went to Nashville last Labor Day Weekend to play Vanderbilt in the season-opening non-conference game against the Commodores, you had a feeling that the stadium was going to have more Hokies fans than Vandy fans.
It would have made sense if Virginia Tech fans had a takeover in Nashville as Tech fans travel very well wherever their team goes and let's be honest, Vanderbilt hasn't been good on the gridiron and fans are not exactly flocking to games at home or on the road. Plenty of good seats are genrally available on game days in Nashville.
The trip from Blacksburg was supposed to be one that was the first step in what was supposed to be the year that Brent Pry turned things around at Virginia Tech in Year 3 with the rebuild. A lot of retention and some Transfer Portal additions had the Hokies and their fans with visions of playing in the ACC Championship Game and possibly being a dark horse for the new 12-team College Football Playoff field. All of that came crashing down in Week 1 at Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt linebacker Randon Fontenette starts trash talk season with dig at Hokies fans
Bulletin Board material and yapping season in college football has begun with Media Days kicking off last week with the Big 12 and continuing this week with the SEC. When it comes to trachs talking and the SEC, it's always good for some bulletin board material. Vanderbilt spoke at SEC Media Day on Monday, and linebacker Randon Fontenette explained what it was like upsetting Virginia Tech last season, 34-27, in overtime in Week 1.
“We walked out, and the whole stadium was full of Hokies,'' said Fontenette. "Afterward, seeing the sadness on their faces, ruining their whole weekend — they thought they were going to come to Nashville, win the game, go downtown to Broadway and have an amazing time — and seeing their faces like, ‘Dang, we just lost to Vanderbilt,’ that was pretty fun.”
Again, Virginia Tech traveling and showing out on Labor Day Weekend in Nashville was a no-brainer. He's not wrong about the sadness on their faces, but to be fair, it wasn't a game that not many people thought would go the way it did. The good news for Virginia Tech is that they won't have to wait long to try and get payback when Vanderbilt comes to Blacksburg on Sept. 6, in Week 2, and plays under the lights of Lane Stadium at 7:30, one week after opening the season against South Carolina on Labor Day Weekend in Atlanta.
I'm sure the Lane Stadium crowd with give Fontenette and Vanderbilt the proper welcome, and looking to get a big win over an SEC foe in Vanderbilt early in what is a pivotal season for many in Blacksburg.