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Virginia Tech Cancels Future Road Games Against East Carolina, Schedules Marshall Series

Whit Babcock 1
After a growing dispute between Virginia Tech and East Carolina surrounding the cancellation by ECU of their game against the Hokies in Lane Stadium this fall, Virginia Tech announced today that they have cancelled all future road games against East Carolina. https://twitter.com/VT_Football/status/1076470185958215681 With this announcement, Virginia Tech has openings in their 2019, 2023, and 2025 schedules. Virginia Tech's home games against East Carolina in 2020, 2022, and 2024 remain on the schedule for now. With today's cancellation announcement, VT now intends to add a seventh home game next season likely against a FCS opponent according to Whit Babcock. Babcock added during a morning conference call that VT offered ECU the opportunity to move the 2019 game to Charlotte, but they were unable to reach an agreement regarding that possibility. Meanwhile, the status of the games in Blacksburg between Virginia Tech and East Carolina are unknown though Whit Babcock has no intent to cancel those games based on his comments this morning. https://twitter.com/RTD_MikeBarber/status/1076477760158265344 We have reached out to East Carolina for comment and given the recency and timing of the news, they unsurprisingly do not have a comment yet, but will likely make a statement in the near future. In addition, the Hokies have announced that the Marshall home-and-home series will take place in 2023 and 2024. An official date hasn't been set for either game and It's unclear when the 2024 game would take place since VT currently has a full schedule during that season.

Update: ECU AD Jon Gilbert's Statement

East Carolina AD Jon Gilbert had this to say about Virginia Tech cancelling their road games at East Carolina.

“We received communication from Virginia Tech late Friday afternoon concerning the future of our football series and were notified, contrary to our existing contracts, it would not play ECU in Greenville during the 2019, 2023 and 2025 seasons.

“While this is disappointing, especially from a regional interest standpoint and given our long-standing partnership, ECU's decision not to travel to Blacksburg last September was based on imminent safety concerns related to Hurricane Florence, which tragically claimed multiple fatalities and devastated many North Carolina communities that are still in the recovery process today. Ultimately, the decision was made for the safety and welfare of our student-athletes, coaches, staff and their families and that will always be our top priority.”

Photo Credit: Jake Roth

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