The Hokies will be hosting Boston College this Thursday, and the Hokies Football X page just announced that Sports Center will be in attendance. This will be the first time this season that ESPN will be making its way down to Blacksburg. The last time ESPN came down was in February of this year for College Gameday, right before March Madness started for the men’s and women’s basketball teams.

This matchup will be a highly anticipated one as the Hokies and Boston College are long-standing ACC rivals. The all-time matchup series record is 20-11 with the Hokies winning and the rivalry dates back to 1993 when both teams were members of the Big East Conference. When the teams moved to the Atlantic Coast Conference, they ended up being cross-divisional rivals.

Here is some of what Head Coach Brent Pry had to say about the game this Thursday:

“Good to see everybody; it’s been a little bit. I’m excited to be back in Lane Stadium. It’s been nearly a month, I believe. Thursday night, a sold-out crowd, ESPN national television, Orange Effect—there’s a lot to be excited about. Great opponent in BC, highly regarded head coach, a lot to be excited about for Thursday. You know, ESPN Thursday Night Football and Virginia Tech go hand in hand. Back when I was a young coach, watching the Hokies on Thursday night was one of my favorite things to do. Our guys are excited, our coaches are excited. I’m appreciative of our fan base; we’ve sold out every home game this season, which I don’t think has been done in quite some time. Everybody’s fired up. It’s been a good week of practice. Again, a little bit of a different week as far as scheduling and things like that, but our 37th appearance on ESPN Thursday Night Football speaks volumes. This series is tied three to three on Thursday night against Boston College, so it’s a rubber match. We want to get on top of this thing.”

The Hokies have also announced that this game will be an Orange Effect game where students and fans will wear Orange colored team gear. You can catch Sports Center live from campus, in front of Dietrick Hall on Oct.17, 2-3 PM, and the live game Thursday at 7:30 PM on ESPN.