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WVU, Tech meet for first time since 2005

Virginia Tech and West Virginia players join for a moment of prayer following Tech's 34-17 win in an NCAA college football game in Morgantown, W.Va. The celebration was quiet following the end of a 33-year series between the two schools. The teams meet today for the first time since that game at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. AP Photo.

MORGANTOWN — While there are a myriad of items veteran West Virginia University head football coach Dana Holgorsen and his staff will have to review before the No. 22 Mountaineers take the field at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, against No. 21 Virginia Tech.

One of them won’t be the rivalry between the two border state schools.

“I don’t think I’m going to have to do that (explain the rivalry),” Holgorsen explained. “I think that’s a forgone conclusion that everybody knows.”

Tonight’s 7:30 p.m. showdown on ABC will mark the 52nd time the two programs have met on the gridiron, but the first since 2005. WVU holds a 28-22-1 edge in the series which began in 1912, however, the Hokies have won the last two, including a 34-17 decision at Milan Puskar Stadium which proved to be the final meeting between the two schools.

“As far as Virginia Tech goes, things that stand out to me, I have a lot of respect for Justin Fuente; I watched him play growing up as a great quarterback at Tulsa Union and we’ve talked about that,” added Holgorsen. “But in addition to that, his two stops at TCU and Memphis, to me, were incredibly impressive. He did a great job of getting TCU’s offense going; Andy Dalton is a pretty good football player and he tutored him.

“Then, he went to Memphis and turned that thing around when they were kind of in shambles. He took it over and three or four years later, he’s one of the hottest coaches in the country. So, it’s not surprising that he was the ACC Coach of the Year last year and got those guys to 10 wins and won a bowl game. He had a chance in the last couple minutes of the ACC (Championship) Game; they were a drive away from going down and beating Clemson. So, it’s impressive. He’s a great offensive mind that does a lot of good things on offense. Much like we did, they lost some guys on offense but everybody loses guys year in and year out. It’s going to be interesting to see what they do offensively with a new quarterback and all that, but that’s just first game stuff.”

West Virginia enters its season opener with a strong running attack, a veteran quarterback that hasn’t played in nearly two years, and a defense which returns junior defensive back Dravon Askew-Henry, but replaced its entire front line as well as eight total starters from a unit which helped the Old Gold and Blue post a 10-3 mark in 2016.

Fuente’s second season in Blacksburg (Va.) goes into his team’s first game of the year without a quarterback who has taken a snap in a live college football game, a running game relying on redshirt junior Travon McMillian and a defense ranked among the nation’s best in 2016.

“You can’t think of Virginia Tech without thinking of Bud Foster as well. It’s his 30th year. Back when I was a young coach and hadn’t done anything in this profession, you would still follow Bud Foster as far as what he did. Their defense is good; they have everybody coming back. I know they’ve been rumored that this may be his best unit from what I understand. If you watch them, they have all their guys coming back and they were an incredibly good defense last year. So, it’ll be a challenge.”

Foster’s unit will be tested early and often by a Mountaineer running game featuring preseason All-Big 12 first team selection Justin Crawford and solid backups Martell Pettaway and Kennedy McKoy.

And, if those three were not enough, true freshman Tevin Bush made such an impression during the spring that the Louisiana native earned a spot on the team’s depth chart.

“Yeah, I think so because if you look at those (stats), he (Crawford) did that in about half the games. He was out three or four games. I think the offseason was really good for him; he’s never had one. So, being able to be in the offseason for six months and get a little bigger, faster, stronger, get in better shape, I think that’s going to be good for him. You may not see it in Game One or Game Two, but hopefully you see it in Game Five or Game Six to be able to be that guy for the whole year. If he’s the guy that played against Baylor and does that for 13 games or so, then that’s pretty good.”

If WVU is able to control the game with its running game, first-year starter Will Grier will be able to choose when he wants to put the ball in the air.

A combination which could go a long way in helping the Old Gold and Blue return the Black Diamond Trophy back to Morgantown.

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