Notre Dame football: Ranking the best road trips of the 2021 schedule
Notre Dame football: Ranking the best road trips of the 2021 schedule
5. Virginia Tech-Lane Stadium. Blacksburg, VA
Virginia Tech has one great thing going for it in 2021, the stadium atmosphere. Unfortunately, that’s about all the Hokies have going for them lately. Consistently, under head coach Justin Fuente, they’ve underperformed and as the calls for his firing grow louder there is little to no reason to expect anything to change in Blacksburg.
So, this is a game Notre Dame should win handily.
Still, the tradition and atmosphere at Virginia Tech are great. Hokies fans love to say they have the best entrance in football, as they take the field to Enter Sandman. It’s certainly impressive, though best entrance in college football is definitely a stretch.
The best entrance in the ACC is a stretch, even.
The crowd is crazy, going up the impossibly steep stadium walls, especially at night, which could make this a great road trip if the Hokies improve on the field. There’s just no reason to expect that.
As for Blacksburg itself, well it’s not a bad college town but there’s not much to it besides Virginia Tech. If you get a dud of a game, you might also get a dud of a trip in its entirety.
Notre Dame football: Ranking the best road trips of the 2021 schedule
4. Virginia-Scott Stadium. Charlottesville, VA
Most people might kneejerk this game to fifth on the list, behind Virginia Tech. Normally, as far as football is concerned, that would be the case. And, as far as atmosphere is concerned, it still is the case. However, there are two key reasons why Virginia is ahead of Virginia Tech on this list of 2021 road trips.
The first is Charlottesville itself. You could easily make the argument that Charlottesville is the nicest city or town the Irish will be playing at next season. There are great restaurants and breweries in this beautiful Virginia town, which has access to great vineyards.
For history buffs, Monticello is right there to visit too.
Secondly, on the field, Virginia has been better than Virginia Tech lately. In 2019, they went to the Orange Bowl. Last season was a bit bumpier, but they played Clemson and Miami close and beat North Carolina. As a program, they’re rapidly improving under Bronco Mendenhall and they should take a step forward next season.
This looks to be a great game, in a great community, even if the ‘Hoos don’t offer a traditionally great atmosphere.