Virginia Tech’s 2022 schedule was made official by the ACC Monday night, headlined by six home games in new head coach Brent Pry’s first season back in Blacksburg.
New season tickets are still available for as little as $350 with flexible payment plan options.
While there is plenty of time until the Hokies’ season opener at Old Dominion on Labor Day weekend, some of the early storylines are worth keeping an eye on this fall.
Pry will meet a familiar foe in Week 1.
When Pry takes the field for his first game as head coach of the Hokies, he’ll see a familiar face across the field in Old Dominion head coach Ricky Rahne.
In his third year in Norfolk, Rahne was previously part of Penn State’s coaching staff alongside Pry from 2014-19. Pry was the defensive coordinator for the Nittany Lions, and Rahne served as Penn State’s quarterbacks coach, tight ends coach, and offensive coordinator during his last two seasons in State College. The duo combined to win 57 games over their six years on PSU’s staff together and remain close friends.
Tech’s home schedule is front-loaded for the second year in a row.
After playing six of their first seven games in Lane Stadium in 2021, the Hokies will play four of their first seven games in Blacksburg this fall, including three of their first four contests.
Hokie Nation will have to wait until Week 2 for Virginia Tech’s home opener, an ACC cross-division game against Boston College on Saturday, Sept. 10. Wofford visits Blacksburg in Week 3 before Tech takes on West Virginia Thursday night, Sept. 22, concluding its three-game home stand. Following a pair of road games, the Hokies will return to Lane Stadium to face Miami (Fla.) in Week 7 on Saturday, Oct. 15.
Tech will play just two home games over the final six weeks of the season, against Georgia Tech on Saturday, Nov. 5, and against Virginia on Saturday, Nov. 26.
Thursday night football is back in Blacksburg.
For the first time since 2018, Virginia Tech will host a Thursday game under the lights in Lane Stadium. Tech’s opponent for this season’s match-up is West Virginia as the Mountaineers will make their first trip to Blacksburg in 15 years.
The Hokies have a long history of playing games on Thursday nights, starting with its first-ever Thursday night contest back on Sept. 22, 1994. Their opponent then was none other than West Virginia, a game that Tech won 34-6. Virginia Tech is 2-0 against WVU on Thursday nights and owns a 12-6 mark on Thursday nights in Lane Stadium, having won three of its last four.
October will be a pivotal month.
The ACC Coastal Division race is always tightly contested, and the Hokies will have a chance to make their case for supremacy with a stretch of three straight division games in October.
Tech travels to North Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 1, before visiting the Steel City for a clash with Pitt, last year’s Coastal Division champion, on Saturday, Oct. 8. The Panthers will have to replace quarterback Kenny Pickett, who was the ACC Player of the Year and who finished third in the voting for the Heisman Trophy in 2021.
The Hokies return home the following weekend for a clash with Miami (Fla.) and new head coach Mario Cristobal on Saturday, Oct. 15.
Tech’s open week comes right after this three-game stretch, giving the Hokies a chance to get some much-needed rest ahead of their final few games. That may be mitigated to some degree since Virginia Tech’s next opponent, NC State, also has an open week prior to the meeting on Thursday, Oct. 27.
New faces highlight the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash.
This fall’s Commonwealth Clash presented by Smithfield will feature new head coaches on both sidelines, as Pry and Virginia’s Tony Elliott will lead their respective teams into the 2022 edition of this long-standing rivalry. In the series’ 128-year history, this fall will mark just the 12th time that both programs will have new head coaches at the helm.
Tech will look to keep the Commonwealth Cup in its possession for a third straight season.