Virginia Tech football has ties that bind them with Yankees

Virginia Tech’s trip to New York City later this month to play in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium will have an extra special meaning for the Hokies.

The Yankees organization honored those who died in a mass shooting on the campus of Virginia Tech in 2007 by playing an exhibition game against the Hokies in Blacksburg, Virginia, in 2008. George Steinbrenner, then owner of the Yankees, offered to play the exhibition game at Virginia Tech and donated $1 million to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund.

"It’s very big for Virginia Tech," Hokies interim head coach J.C. Price said during Tuesday’s Pinstripe Bowl news conference. "Me and my wife are both Virginia Tech graduates and the way the Yankee organization stepped up and embraced the Virginia Tech community after the tragic events of ’07, we have a special place in our hearts for the Yankee organization."

Virginia Tech of the ACC will play Maryland of the Big Ten in this year’s game, scheduled for Dec. 29 at 2:15 p.m.

Both teams will be making their first appearances in the Pinstripe Bowl and first appearances in old or new Yankee Stadium.

Virginia Tech finished the regular season 6-6 overall and 4-4 in the ACC’s Coastal Division. The Hokies fired head coach Justin Fuente last month and Price, the defensive line coach, has been serving as the interim head coach. Virginia Tech is 1-1 since Price took over, including a win at archrival Virginia on Nov. 27. Fuente was 43-31 overall in six seasons.

Penn State defensive coordinator Brent Pry was hired as Virginia Tech’s new head coach last week. Pry has Virginia Tech ties, serving as a graduate assistant under legendary head coach Frank Beamer and defensive coordinator Bud Foster in the 1990s.

Maryland started the season 4-0, but then lost six of seven games, including losses to Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan State and Michigan. Michigan finished No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings and will play Georgia in the semifinals, while Ohio State and Michigan State landed in New Year’s Six bowls. The Terrapins finished 6-6 overall and 3-6 in the Big Ten, needing to beat Rutgers in the final game of the regular season to become bowl eligible.

It will be Maryland’s first bowl appearance under Michael Locksley, who was hired in December 2018.

"We look at this as the start of our ’22 season and we couldn’t be more excited to be able to play in an iconic stadium like Yankee Stadium up in New York for the holiday season against a great opponent," Locksley said.

The teams have played each other 31 times, with the last game coming in 2013, a 27-24 overtime win for Maryland.

With Erik Boland