October 2, 2026
Lane Stadium (Capacity: 65,632)
Blacksburg, VA
Virginia Tech Hokies vs Pitt Panthers
Final Score: 33 – 35
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My brother joined me for this memorable trip down to Southwest Virginia and through the mountains to reach Blacksburg. Despite a high elevation of 2,000 feet, this college town lies within the New River Valley between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains. Dominating the scene is Virginia Polytechnic Institute, better known as Virginia Tech. There is a lot going on here as 38,000 students not only can look to complete one of 280 degree programs, but they can also partake in the Corps of Cadets ROTC program. This public school is one of only six total in the country designated as a senior military college. Sports are big as well, especially football. I always viewed Hokie football as one of the top brands in the sports because I was born in 1983. However that success only began when Frank Beamer took over and VT moved to the Big East in 1991. From there, the Hokies would go on to have thirteen 10-win seasons and a National Championship appearance during the ’99 campaign. Even while moving to the ACC, Beamer Ball featured 25 straight years without a losing season. Recent times though have been rough as the program languished under his multiple successors. The season that I visited, they moved to James Franklin to see if he can turn things around. Games are played at Lane Stadium, a place that opened in 1965 and is most known for its noise and atmosphere. They absolutely delivered in what was a memorable sporting experience.
Prestige Ranking: 5 out of 5
Location
The valley location doesn’t necessarily allow Blacksburg to take full advantage of the beautiful hills not too far away. Nevertheless, it’s still a pretty town during Fall. On campus, many of the buildings are made of a type of limestone known as Hokie Stone. This gray design feature gives Va Tech a defining look. Campus spots to see include the Duck Pond and Drillfield, an expansive lawn in the center of the school that is too expansive. Around it, you’ll find a couple of poignant memorials and the most dominating example of Hokie Stone: Burruss Hall. Drillfield is a relatively short walk to Blacksburg’s Main Street and College Ave, where a classy line of buildings includes plenty of restaurants and hangouts. To the south by a 15-20 minute walk are the Hokie sporting venues, including Lane Stadium. There’s enough parking lots to lead to a decent tailgating scene, plus there is Hokie Village on the practice field just west of the stadium entrance. They had games like cornhole, inflatables, food and music. As for things to do besides the game, there isn’t much as Blacksburg offers little else for tourists, except maybe a visit to the Smithfield Plantation (not open on Football Gamedays).
Location Ranking: 6 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Parking was time-consuming in my pre-trip research. With a couple dozen parking lots reserved for donors, that left only 4 public lots/garages available on campus. These were both far from the stadium and just as expensive ($50). City parking didn’t seem any more available or cheaper, so I went deep into the Reddit rabbit hole and found the Harding Ave Elementary School. This was a loooong walk to the stadium (30 minutes), but it was $15 and a good pre-game spot as it was on the way for our sightseeing of town and campus. Plus, getting out after the game was easy as there was no traffic taking the back way to US-460 (Harding Ave to Patrick Henry Drive). Another option is finding parking at a neighborhood house that offers their lot as there are plenty that do it in the Miller-Southside Historic District. In terms of getting to the area, it may seem remote given the location in far Southwest Virginia. However, I-81 isn’t too far away and that runs down the spine of the Appalachians. From there, it’s a 10-minute ride on a highway (US-460) into the city. Driving 81 is a royal pain through Virginia as it often is filled with Tractor-Trailers and Left Lane Lovers. It leads to plenty of frustrations and slow-downs. If you are flying in, the little Blacksburg air field won’t cut it as you’ll need to fly to Roanoke 40 minutes away. This is also where we got a hotel as everything in town was booked for the game.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 5.5 out of 8
Exterior
Some of that Hokie Stone is incorporated into the exterior design, helping to add variety to the beige concrete used otherwise. Four separate stands make up the exterior with the North and East ones not that visible. Uniquely, those side East ones are next to an old-growth forest which contains over 250 very large trees (the immediate walkway near it is blocked off during the game). The west stands feature the primary look and there isn’t anything special to the curved building.
Exterior Ranking: 5.5 out of 10
Concourse
The ground-level concourse circles the stadium in traditional fashion. Space is an issue and it’s a shame that they don’t do more with the open corners. These outdoor gaps allow only a little more room to roam and they lack sitting / hangout spaces. I generally bemoan those, but with a college football event being so long, you could conceivably be in the stadium for 6 hours. Otherwise, it’s a lot of congestion (especially the West side) within the walkways underneath each seating stand. Abundant concrete is at least spruced up with maroon/orange signage, plus gameday pictures. Bathrooms were surprisingly accessible and not as crowded as I feared. The east side of the stadium thankfully features a basic upper concourse, accessed via ramps, helping to avoid heart-attack inducing climbs from the bottom of the seating bowl.
Concourse Ranking: 2.5 out of 5
Food
The most variety and quality came around the South End, where I started my wondering around. The stands here feature BBQ (including a sandwich with Jackfruit), Cheesesteaks, Tacos and Loaded Waffle Fries. For the signature item though, it’s gotta be “The Lane Leg”. These side carts offer a meaty Turkey Leg that fits the former “Fighting Gobblers” quite well. I opted to try a Gobbler of a different kind as the Hethwood Market tent featured decent sandwiches including that one. It wasn’t quite the promised “Oven-roasted turkey with pepper jack cheese, bacon, local honey-garlic butter on toasted panini bread”…but it was tasty and surprisingly filling. Alcohol was nothing fancy as the extent was beer and canned mixed drinks. No specialty bars or unique concoctions that have become popular now-a-days. Nothing local from the beer front either.
Food Ranking: 5.5 out of 8
Interior
I’ve always noticed the zig-zagging stepped up approach of the stands from field-level while watching countless game broadcasts. Weird design features like that stick out for me. They do have some Hokie Stone on that last square wall gap on the end. Anyway, the west and east sideline stands are similar in design. Both have a concave shape that works well with sightlines. There are no obstructions and row height is impressive, further helping the view. The bad part is that the seats are so incredibly squished. Spacing is abysmal and by attaching seatbacks to the bleachers, it makes it worse. I had a hard time fitting my legs and when someone needed to walk by, it was a difficult balancing act. Thankfully almost everyone stood for the whole game. At least the seat backs look good (mesh, maroon and with the VT logo). Rows seemingly go up forever on the east side as nothing breaks them up. On the west side, they are stopped by a multi-level press box that includes enclosed suites and clubs. Corners have trees and shrubs to fill open space before reaching the end seating. It’s simple bleachers for the student section and band. Meanwhile, the south end is more elaborate as a two deck structure includes a middle club that is neatly tucked away.
Interior Ranking: 6.5 out of 14
Scoreboard
I was looking for one thing all night: What was the score of the Penn State – Northwestern game as the Wildcats opened their new stadium? Wifi on the phone was too slow, so I looked to the small corner of the scoreboard for out-of-town updates. I got: Tulsa-North Texas and WKU-NMSU from the night before and Liberty-Delaware, the other live game. Was that purposely done given James Franklin ties to PSU? Is he that petty? I don’t know, but it was aggravating. Outside of that minor grievance, the video board was fine. It’s above the student stands and while the size isn’t huge, clarity is excellent. They split off game info from the video with a static set-up on the side, which is ok. The other end features a ribbon board for game information.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3 out of 4
Displays
The Frank Beamer statue is in a little corner plaza. I saw it from the outside of the stadium, but couldn’t figure out how to get to it inside. Concourses feature a little bit of art work and pictures on concrete beams, both of which help to spruce up the area. Missing is any program history or memorabilia. They could also do something with all that space on the press façade walls, instead it remains plain. Years of conference championships are on the lower wall and player retired numbers are on stadium flag banners.
Displays Ranking: 2 out of 6
Cost
Following the rest of the country’s inflation, prices have done the same at Virginia Tech. It wasn’t too long ago that parking was $25, now it’s up to $50. If you’re not hosting a tailgate and don’t mind a walk, it makes that Elementary School lot ($15) more enticing. For tickets, most games are $80 – $180 (with FCS opponents ~30% cheaper). If the team is good or there is any sort of chance that they will be, expect a big markup on the secondary market. We were thankful to snag some of the last remaining seats when they were released by the team to the public. Those were $80 and by game-day, the get-in price on the secondary market skyrocketed to $170. In terms of concessions, a Hot Dog is $5 and so is soda. Beer is $12 – $13.
Cost Ranking: 4.5 out of 8
Fan Support
I never truly realized the passion and overall numbers that this fan base has until this season. With this being a Friday Night game against a pair of 4-0 teams, I expected a full house and got just that. Before that though, Hokie fans took over Maryland’s stadium for a non-conference matchup. Go back two weeks against Old Dominion and you would be hard-pressed to find an empty seat in Lane Stadium. Even in their recent down years, the team still drew well. A night game as a 2-5 team vs random Cal featured the place at 85% visual capacity. Back to the game we saw, I was also impressed that the vast majority of fans stayed the whole time, even the gigantic student body that came to this one. I didn’t see that at West Virginia, a program that before researching I thought was at a similar Fan Support level. There just aren’t many that can match the fervor and fandom at Virginia Tech and throughout the Commonwealth, this is by far the more popular team (not UVA). Even better was that after they lost a heartbreaker on a short missed field goal, these fans lightly clapped the team off and did not boo. Getting out after the game, there were no shenanigans, no idiots, no stupid/violent things. Tip of the cap to them as the very slow exit through the crowded aisles, concourse and walkways stayed peaceful.
Fan Support Ranking: 8 out of 8
Atmosphere
Enter Sandman. It absolutely lived up to the hype. Before we get there, let’s start at the beginning. I made sure to be seated 30 minutes prior so that I could see the Marching Virginians come out and start things off with the Hokey Pokey. This was followed by the Highty-Tighties performing and then the entire Corps of Cadets coming on to the field for the National Anthem. Seeing them sprint all over to their seats after or lineup for the players meant something was coming. Despite the rain coming down at the most inopportune time, my heart was pumping for that first chord from Metallica. When it hit, I let out an audible “Wow” as the roar was deafening and the place was literally shaking as people started jumping up and down. I know there was a little extra umph in this one being a Primetime ESPN game with VT 4-0, but it is close to this every time. At the end, they stop the music and everyone yells “Exit Light…Enter Night”. Goosebumps.
Getting into the game, the noise is frequently in the 100 – 110db range. It is so loud and you feel it in your ears. Only the Detroit Lions have been comparable from a noise perspective in my sporting experience. Most fans stay on their feet through the game and there’s only a slight let-up after the first few defensive positions when they are at their peak. The band will play on occasion and there will be a H-O-K-I-E-S cheer every once in awhile. That pales in comparison to the “Let’s Go….” “Hokies…” chant that gets the whole stadium going. Most of the music is from the P.A. as the band isn’t as involved as it is at other places. When Virginia Tech scores a touchdown, they fire “Skipper”, a replica Civil War cannon that goes back to 1963 and is a nod to the military presence at the school. I couldn’t quite hear it during our game, likely because of the fireworks that also went off. Back to the game, the crowd/atmosphere does have influences over the proceedings as evidenced by penalties and occasional opponent offensive mistakes. I wish I could have seen them after a walk-off win, but even without that, the noise was sensational.
Atmosphere Ranking: 14 out of 14
Other Stuff
I always thought a Hokie was some sort of Turkey. In actuality, the term “Hokie” came from a fight song as a sort of derivative of happy. The Gobbler / turkey-like mascot for Virginia Tech predates the Hokie nickname…..Virginia Tech’s primary rival is the University of Virginia as they have played over 100 times and annually meet in the last game of the season. This is not as heated of a rivalry and what animosity was there between the ‘mountain hicks’ and the ‘uppity UVA snobs’ cooled significantly after horrific shooting tragedies at each school during the 2000s…..The stadium is named after Edward Lane, a VT booster. Worsham Field does the same for another donor…..The halftime show featured twirler Jaylyn Resh who performed with fire at the end of each baton. Wow!
Game
The high energy from the pre-game theatrics carried to the start of the game as Virginia Tech blitzed the Panthers at the start. They scored 2 touchdowns right away and made Pitt go 3-and-out in successive positions (with multiple batted balls) as the Hokies jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Pitt settled down however and they started moving the ball, scoring along the way. They were aided by sloppy play from VT which included a middle of the game drive chart that ended like this: INT…End of Half…Fumble…Punt…Fumble…INT. Pitt made their comeback despite losing starting quarterback Mason Heintschel to an ACL injury and they took a 35-24 lead early in the 4th quarter. This game was not over though as a Hokie safety followed by a Davion Brown long TD reception got them within two points. With 3:54 left, VT took over at their own 20, looking a game-winning drive. Luke Reynolds caught a long pass on 4th and 5 and the Hokies got into field goal range. With 2 seconds on the clock, John Love lined up a short 36-yard FG for the win. We had a poor angle on the view, but the student reaction behind the end zone had us and our section think he made the kick as everyone went crazy. But then we saw the Pitt sideline reaction as they went wild running around the field. He indeed barely missed it and the Panthers left town with a win. Ethan Grunkemeyer finished with 434 yards passing for the Hokies.
