BLACKSBURG, Va. – The biggest storyline coming out of Virginia Tech since their regular season ended was the significant number of players opting out of their bowl game or entering the transfer portal. Interim Head Coach J.C. Price said those decisions are tough, and while he respects it, he doesn’t agree with it.
“My finest memory as a player was playing in the Independence Bowl and the Sugar Bowl,” Price said. “We played in the Sugar Bowl my senior year and I was a third-round draft pick and never did it cross my mind to sit out the game. Things are a little bit different now, the emphasis they put on the playoff has devalued the bowl system a little bit.”
But the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium is something to be excited about, and Price has put in the time to educate his team on why the Yankees’ relationship with the Hokies has been timeless since the 2007 tragedy.
“I thought Coach Price did a good job explaining the history about Virginia Tech and the Yankees,” redshirt junior Brock Hoffman said. “There has been history between us, and it’s cool to go up there and play on their field.”
“For George Steinberger and those guys, not just the money that they donated, but for them to donate their time,” Price said. “Take time from their schedule where they could have been anywhere else but Blacksburg Virginia to play a baseball game. That’s what makes our feelings for the Yankees very special.”
Virginia Tech will travel to New York this weekend and will face Maryland in the Pinstripe Bowl on Wednesday.