BLACKSBURG – Virginia Tech football is set to play in the 2021 New Era Pinstripe Bowl versus Maryland at 2:15 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Dec. 29 at Yankee Stadium. The game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
Tickets to the game, which are starting at $70 for the general public, can be found here.
The Hokies (6-6) and Terrapins (6-6) play for the first time since 2013, with Tech's last win over Maryland coming in the 2009 season. Before the Hokies' loss to the Terps at Lane Stadium in 2013, they had won five straight over their former ACC rival.
Team Notes to Watch:
- Tech is bowl eligible for the 29th straight season and will make its 34th bowl appearance when it debuts in the Pinstripe Bowl.
- The Hokies last played in a bowl in 2019 when they faced Kentucky in the Belk Bowl on New Year's Eve, losing a 38-31 contest on the final play of the game.
- Tech's last bowl victory came in the 2016 Belk Bowl versus Arkansas when the Razorbacks jumped out to a 24-0 halftime lead only for the Hokies to come roaring back in the second half and claim a 35-24 win.
- Maryland is playing in a bowl game for the first time since that 2016 season when they lost a 36-28 contest to Boston College in the Quick Lane Bowl.
- This is the first time Tech plays a squad from the Big Ten since winning 51-24 over Purdue on Sept. 19, 2015.
- Maryland's last game versus an ACC opponent also resulted in a win when the Terrapins took down No. 21 Syracuse, 63-20, on Sept. 7, 2019.
- Tech's rushing attack has exploded in the second half of the season and the Hokies will need it to produce at the Pinstripe Bowl. The Hokies have rushed for over 200 yards in five of their last six contests, including 320 rushing yards in the Commonwealth Clash victory over Virginia on Nov. 29.
- The Hokies' rushing offense ranks fourth in the ACC, averaging 189.8 yards per game. Maryland's rushing defense gave up an average of 157.5 yards per game, which is ranked 10th in the Big Ten in 2021.
- Defensively, Tech's defense is permitting 219.9 ypg through the air while Maryland allows 258.9 passing ypg.
Player Notes to Watch:
- Tech P Peter Moore, who recently earned All-ACC third-team honors as well as freshman All-American status from The Athletic, could make Hokie history at the Pinstripe Bowl. Moore currently holds a 45.1-yard punt average this season, which is tied for the second-highest mark for a Tech punter since at least 1951. It's also the highest-ever punting average for a Tech freshman punter.
- RB Raheem Blackshear has been on a roll the last month of the season as the redshirt junior earned ACC Running Back of the Week honors twice in the final three weeks. Blackshear rushed for over 100 yards versus Duke on Nov. 13 and at Virginia on Nov. 29. He recorded a rushing touchdown in each of those games.
- LB Dax Hollifield leads Tech's defense with 88 total tackles on the season and ranks ninth in the ACC with a 7.3 tackles-per-game average. He also leads the team with 8.5 TFL and 4.5 sacks.
- CBs Armani Chatman (seven PBUs) and Dorian Strong (six PBUs) have had a knack for knocking the ball down this year as they lead the team in pass breakups.
- Maryland has been led this season by QB Taulia Tagovailoa who has set three different program passing records this season (single-season completions, single-season passing yards and single-season 300-yard passing games).
- Terps' TE Chigoziem Okonkwo has hauled in 29 receptions over Maryland's last four games, marking the most receptions by a tight end in a four-game stretch in program history. It's also the most receptions in a four-game span by any Terrapins' receiver since D.J. Moore had 30 to start the 2017 season.
- Maryland DB Jakorian Bennett leads the Power Five in pass breakups with 16 on the year.