How to watch Virginia Tech-Western Michigan: Game time, TV schedule, and open thread

Virginia Tech tries to get off the schneid against P.J. Fleck and Western Michigan. The action gets underway at 12:30 p.m. ET on the ACC Network. Here's a complete list of ACC Network subscribers. If you can't get to a TV, the game will be available live streaming online at ESPN3 for eligible internet subscribers.

Virginia Tech Game Notes:

The series

• Saturday's game will be the fourth football meeting between Virginia Tech and Western Michigan University. Tech defeated the Broncos, 31-0, in Blacksburg during the 2001 season and handed WMU a 30-0 loss at Waldo Stadium in 2002. The last meeting between the two schools came in 2004 when the Hokies again blanked the Broncos, winning 63-0 at Lane Stadium.
• The Hokies have outscored Western Michigan 124-0 in the three games played.
• Virginia Tech has played five games against teams from Michigan, posting a 4-1 mark. The Hokies are 3-0 against Western Michigan, 1-0 against Central Michigan and 0-1 against Michigan.
• Western Michigan and Central Michigan (2010) are the only teams from the state of Michigan to play football in Blacksburg.

Tech at home

• Virginia Tech has posted a 206-74-6 overall record inside Lane Stadium/Worsham Field, which is now in its 50th season. Tech is 132-37-1 at home under the direction of Frank Beamer. The Hokies have a 56-9-1 record versus non- conference teams at Lane Stadium since 1991. Tech football teams are 366-105-13 in Blacksburg, but have lost four of their last five at home dating back to last season.

Throughout the season, the athletic department is honoring the great moments and players who have made Lane Stadium special over the past 50 years.

Homecoming

• Homecoming football games have been an official function at Virginia Tech since the beginning of the 1952 season, although there were designated games for many years, starting in 1926. Virginia Tech's overall record on Homecoming is 62-19-4.
• Tech has a 40-7-2 mark in Homecoming games played at Lane Stadium. Tech's last loss in a Homecoming game was during the 1998 season when Temple handed Tech a 28-24 loss. Tech has a 23-4 record in Homecoming games during Frank Beamer's tenure as head coach.

Youth versus experience

• Western Michigan head coach P.J. Fleck is the youngest FBS head coach at 33 years old while Tech head coach Frank Beamer is the fifth-oldest FBS head coach at 67 years old. Fleck's final year of playing at Northern Illinois came in 2003, when Beamer was in his 17th year at the helm of the Hokies.

Western Michigan Game Notes:

WMU Football notes of interest

• This will be the fourth ever meeting between Western Michigan and Virginia Tech, and the third to be played at Lane Stadium
• The Broncos and Hokies last met on Sept. 11, 2004, a lopsided 63-0 win for the Hokies in Blacksburg
• WMU's victory over Murray State on Sept. 20 represented the first home win for head coach P.J. Fleck
• Through three games, WMU owns a perfect 100 percent red zone efficiency in 2014
• The Broncos feature the highest-scoring offensive in the Mid-American Conference with an average of 41.3 ppg • Corey Davis had seven catches for 99 yards and a score against Murray State; he has scored a receiving touch- down in all three games to start the season
• Jarvion Franklin was named MAC West Offensive Player of the Week for the second time this year after posting 168 rushing yards and three touchdowns against Murray State, the third straight game he has rushed for at least 166 yards and three scores
• Franklin is the first Bronco running back to top 100 yards rushing in three straight games since the 2000 season • Franklin currently leads the MAC in rushing yards per game (180.7 ypg), scoring (18.0 ppg), and all-purpose yardage per game (192.3 ypg)
• Franklin has recorded nine rushing touchdowns through three games this year; the Broncos totaled just 10 rush- ing touchdowns as a team last year, and the leader (Brian Fields) had only six
• WMU allowed just 14 points to the explosive Murray State offense on Saturday, the lowest points-allowed total in the P.J. Fleck era
• Getting significant carries for one of the first times this season, Dareyon Chance had 90 yards on 14 carries against Murray State on Saturday
• Daniel Braverman ranks third in the MAC in receiving yards/game (104.3 ypg) and second in receptions/game (7.3 rpc)
• The Broncos have now won nine of their last 11 home openers
• Junior walk-on Grant DePalma leads the Broncos and ranks seventh in the MAC with an average of 9.7 tackles per game, and has already recorded 4.5 tackles for loss this year
• WMU recorded 387 rushing yards against Murray State; the last 300-yard rushing game for the Broncos was on Oct. 8th, 2011 vs. Bowling Green.

Season stories

• Western Michigan's recruiting class was ranked 58th in the nation by Rivals.com, making it the high- est-ranked recruiting class in Mid-American Conference history
• Once again, Western Michigan will have transfers from the Big Ten playing key roles in their success in 2014; defensive back Brian Williams (Indiana) and defensive tackle Richard Ash (Michigan) are listed on the two-deep at their respective positions
• This season marks the first year of a historic 13-year extension between the MAC and ESPN which gives the network exclusive television and digital distribution rights for all MAC sporting events, guaranteeing coverage of every MAC football game through 2026-27.
• Corey Davis was named to the Biletnikoff Award Preseason Watch List, and is one of only five sophomores on the list Center Jon Hoffing was named to the Rimington Award Preseason Watch List, given annually to the top collegiate center
• Donald Celiscar was one of just 34 defensive backs across the nation to be named to the Jim Thorpe Award Preseason Watch List
• A pair of WMU specialists - kicker Andrew Haldeman and punter J. Schroeder - were named to their respective College Football Performance Awards preseason watch lists

(Courtesy of Virginia Tech and Western Michigan athletics respectively)