Virginia Tech's 93-Game Sellout Streak Comes to an End

BLACKSBURG | A fourth-quarter announcement that the attendance was only 61,355 for Virginia Tech's home opener against Western Carolina officially ended the third-longest active sellout streak in the country.

That's more than 4,000 less than capacity at the 65,632-seat Lane Stadium. The Hokies had sold out 93 straight home games, dating to the 1998 Virginia game.

"I really thank the ones that were here," Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer said. "That thing was pretty well full. I know there were a few seats up there, but there's a lot of good Hokies here."

Virginia Tech's crowd was still bigger than the 58,502 that showed up for Virginia's game against No. 2 Oregon in Charlottesville, something Hokies running backs coach Shane Beamer couldn't pass up, offering thanks to Tech fans and taking a dig at rival U.Va. on Twitter.

"It wasn't a sellout, but we still had the largest crowd in the state of VA today," he tweeted. "By far."

some fun with new toy

Virginia Tech unveiled its new videoboard Saturday. The 4,275-square-foot monitor is the 11th-largest on-campus board in the country.

The Hokies had more involved graphics throughout the day, particularly during the pre-game starting lineup announcements, with each Tech player having pre-recorded a brief animated intro.

It wasn't all just for looks.

"I was watching it the whole time," linebacker Jack Tyler said. "It's nice for us, because we're not the NFL, we don't have iPads on the sideline, so if we ever have a problem, sometimes we can just go look up at the scoreboard. It's a lot easier now."

freshman te steps in

Freshman tight end Kalvin Cline became the 10th true freshman to play this year for the Hokies, the most the school has had under Beamer. The previous high was nine in 2002.

Cline, an under-the-radar prospect from Florida, didn't travel for the Alabama game and assumed he'd redshirt. But with Ryan Malleck out for the year with a shoulder injury, Tech used Kline quite a bit Saturday.

Kline caught four balls for 46 yards, though he dropped what would have been a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.

cb kids are alL right

Both freshman cornerbacks continued to make plays for the Hokies.

Brandon Facyson notched his first career interception on the second play of the game, going low to snag a fluttering pass from Western Carolina's Eddie Sullivan.

Later in the quarter, Kendall Fuller tipped the pass that Detrick Bonner intercepted and returned for a touchdown.

- Andy Bitter