On Monday, Virginia Tech athletics announced its football game vs. Virginia, originally scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 26, has been canceled. With that, the Hokies' season (3-8) is over.
After the tragedy in Charlottesville on Nov. 13, where three UVa football players - D’Sean Perry, Lavel Davis Jr. and Devin Chandler - were murdered, the Hokies embraced the Cavaliers. Head coach Brent Pry and the Tech players were understanding and thoughtful with their comments, even though the Battle for the Commonwealth Cup was up in the air.
"With UVa losing a couple of their players, we’re praying for those guys," running back Jalen Holston said after Saturday's game vs. Liberty. "We just know it’s bigger than football."
The decision was made late on Monday evening, and for the first time since 1969 (53 years), the Hokies and Cavaliers will not meet on the football field. Virginia Tech (3-8, 1-6 ACC) ended its season with a 23-22 win over Liberty in Lynchburg, which snapped a seven-game losing streak. In light of recent events, Virginia (3-7, 1-6 ACC) did not play its scheduled game vs. Coastal Carolina on Nov. 19.
Speaking with the media before Liberty, Tech linebacker Alan Tisdale said some of his teammates pitched the idea of traveling to UVa to pay their respects. Pry reached out to Virginia head coach Tony Elliott, too, just to tell him he loved him.
https://twitter.com/HokiesFB/status/1592577187219378176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1592577187219378176%7Ctwgr%5Ea46e4844a577f13eb9c6aaa8323b6cd000ab7c3f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fvirginiatech.sportswar.com%2Farticle%2F2022%2F11%2F15%2Fvirginia-tech-brent-pry-embrace-uva-football-after-tragedy%2F
"If we don’t [play], we’ll want to go down to Charlottesville, some of the players, and just show our respect," Tisdale said. "It’s football, but at the end of the day, it’s bigger than ball. So just show some respect and some camaraderie with the team. Just go down there."
Virginia Tech athletics said additional details for those with tickets to the Virginia game will be shared in the coming days.