College Football

Canes Head to Virginia Tech for First ACC Road Test

Canes Head to Virginia Tech for First ACC Road Test

CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Will Mallory still remembers how charged the environment was.

He remembers the energy from the frenzied, sold-out crowd. He remembers Virginia Tech’s, earth-shaking, memorable entrance into Lane Stadium on a chilly, Virginia afternoon.

And he remembers how ultimately, he and his teammates handled it all.

Now, with Miami preparing for its first ACC road test of the year – a showdown against the longtime rival Hokies in Blacksburg – Mallory and the Hurricanes will have to find ways to replicate the success they’ve had of late at one of the conference’s most intimidating venues.

“I played there my freshman year and I saw exactly how electric it can get and how that crowd is and how big of an advantage that is for them,” said Mallory, a fifth-year tight end. “We’ve got to prepare for it. We’ve got to prepare to get up there and be in front of a sold-out crowd. We already know how it’s going to be, especially when ‘Enter Sandman’ comes on. It’s going to be crazy. We just have to use that to fuel us and focus on us. That’s the most important thing. Just do what we’ve got to do and execute.”

Mallory is one of just a few Hurricanes that have experienced a sold-out crowd at Lane Stadium.

Covid restrictions limited the number of fans in attendance in 2020, when Miami last traveled to Blacksburg. With those restrictions now gone, every expectation is the Hurricanes will find themselves playing in front of a capacity crowd eager to give the Hokies (2-4, 1-2 ACC) an edge.

The Hurricanes (2-3, 0-1), of course, are doing their best to prepare for that.

Noise has been pumped into Miami’s practices. There’s been a heavy focus on attention to detail and communication. And the Hurricanes say they believe the experience they gained playing in front of more than 107,000 fans at Texas A&M last month will be invaluable.

“The experience versus A&M is going to help. It was loud there. Really loud,” Miami quarterback Tyler Van Dyke said. “But we handled it well. I think we only had one false start, which is very good, considering it was their third-best crowd in history there. We’re ready.”

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