Big 10 cancels nonconference schedule which means no Penn State/Virginia Tech meeting

The Big Ten Conference made an announced on Thursday that all schools within the league would play only a conference schedule in the 2020 football season.

For the Virginia Tech Hokies, that means no home game with Penn State.

The Hokies were scheduled to host the Nittany Lions on Sept. 12 in a game Tech fans had circled for quite some time.

Now that the Big Ten has announced a conference-only schedule, the Pac-12 is reportedly set to do the same. Of course, the other Power Five conferences, the SEC, ACC and Big 12 will likely follow suit.

Due to the widespread COVID-19 outbreaks at different campuses around college football, with Ohio State and North Carolina being the most recent, this was expected.

Obviously, this is a disappointing blow for the Hokies.

The Penn State game was big for a variety of reasons. One, it was a chance for head coach Justin Fuente to get a signature win under his belt.

Also, the Hokies are expected to be good this fall. And a clash with an elite program such as Penn State, in Blacksburg, was a chance for Virginia Tech to show the nation it was ready to compete on the national stage.

Finally, there is the recruiting aspect of it all. This was a game where the Hokies were expected to host some of their top recruiting targets for both 2021 and 2022.

As we all know, the atmosphere in Lane Stadium for a big game is like no other. Unfortunately, the football team’s performance hasn’t always matched the pregame festivities.