MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – According to Neal Brown's calculations, Virginia Tech has been in possession of the Black Diamond Trophy for more than 6,000 days.
 
The Black Diamond Trophy, of course, is the reward for winning the West Virginia-Virginia Tech football game, which was once played annually when the two schools were members of the Big East Conference in the 1990s.
 
West Virginia and Virginia Tech were also once together in the Southern Conference in the 1950s and 1960s after the league lost anchor schools North Carolina, Duke, Clemson and Maryland.
 
In fact, both schools applied for membership in the ACC along with Virginia in 1954, but only the Cavaliers managed to get into the kingdom.
 
A half century later, Virginia Tech leveraged its Old Dominion political connections to receive an invitation into the ACC in the mid-2000s (at Syracuse's expense) while West Virginia currently competes in the Big 12 Conference, which is why students from both schools probably need a little history refresher.
 
"I know our fanbase is excited about this game and we're educating our players this week about the rivalry," Brown noted. "For me, it's been very interesting learning about it. It's a trophy game and anytime you play for a trophy it's one of those games that matters."
 
The two schools played annually from 1973 until 2005 - the games usually resembling closed-fisted, slug-it-out affairs. Twelve times since 1973 the games were decided by seven points or less, including a couple of one-point Virginia Tech losses as a result of missed field goals in 1974 and 1993.
 
Wayne Latimer, one of Virginia Tech's all-time scoring leaders who once booted a 61-yard field goal against Florida State, did his best impression of Roy Munson when he flubbed his game-winning try from the West Virginia 6 in 1974. Coach Bobby Bowden believed Latimer's miss probably saved his job at West Virginia.
 
WVU benefited from another missed field goal here in Morgantown in 1993, the year Frank Beamer saved his job by taking the Hokies to the Weed Eater Bowl. Ryan Williams' 44-yard game-winning attempt with 1:10 remaining sailed wide right of the goal post, enabling the Mountaineers to keep their undefeated season intact.
 
But from that moment on, Virginia Tech has dominated series play by winning 10 of the last 13 meetings to create a near-permanent space for the Black Diamond Trophy in its football complex.
 
This year, the 15^th-ranked Hokies have early-season wins over North Carolina and Middle Tennessee State at home. Against the Tar Heels, West Virginia middle linebacker Josh Chandler-Semedo said Tech used "big boy football" to take down UNC.
 
During last Saturday's 35-14 win over Middle Tennessee, however, Chandler-Semedo said the Hokies' tried to tempo the Blue Raiders.
Which will be it be this Saturday?
 
"Big boy football," Chandler said, smiling.
 
Tech's fastest player also happens to be its quarterback, former Oregon transfer Braxton Burmeister. GPS tracking technology clocked Burmeister at 22.53 mph during the summer, and he is a threat to take it the distance each time he has the ball in his hands.

However, despite playing four seasons of college football, the redshirt junior but doesn't have extensive experience throwing the football. 
 
In 20 career games with Virginia Tech and Oregon, he has attempted just 214 passes (an average of about 11 per game), completing 57.5% of them for 1,371 yards and six touchdowns with eight interceptions.
 
Burmeister connected on 12 of his 19 attempts against North Carolina for 169 yards and a touchdown. In last Saturday's Middle Tennessee State win, he was 14-of-24 for 142 yards and one touchdown.
 
The La Jolla, California, resident leads the Hokies with 81 rushing yards, including a long gain of 18 yards.
 
"They want to run the ball, and I don't think they're trying to hide that," Brown said.
 
Virginia Tech's longest run from scrimmage is 33 yards by backup quarterback Connor Blumrick against Middle Tennessee State, and its longest pass play was Burmeister's 47-yard hookup to Tre Turner against the Blue Raiders.
 
The Hokies have rushed for more than 250 yards in a game 14 times under coach Justin Fuente, but the Mountaineers have yet to give up more than 250 on the ground during Neal Brown's 24-game tenure in Morgantown.
 
One of Tech's biggest offensive weapons, tight end James Mitchell, suffered a season-ending knee injury last Saturday. The 6-foot-3, 255-pounder was a preseason All-ACC Second Team choice who has played a big role in the Hokies' offensive attack the last two seasons. He had a touchdown catch in Virginia Tech's big season opening win over North Carolina.
 
"He's what you want in a tight end," Brown said. "I hate it for the kid because he can run, he's good on the edge, he's good in the box and he's good after the catch, which you don't see a whole lot at the tight end position. Any time you lose a player of that caliber I think it would hurt you, but they do have depth at that position."
 
Virginia Tech's offensive line features 6-foot-9, 322-pound left tackle Luke Tenuta from North Brunswick, New Jersey. He has the size to consume outside pass rushers or block out the sun.
 
Defensively, the Hokies are allowing just 12 points per game, which ranks No. 18 nationally this week. Tech gave up 354 total yards in the opener to North Carolina and allowed 349 last Saturday to Middle Tennessee State.
 
Where Virginia Tech has made its hay is pressuring the quarterback. The Hokies sacked North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell six times in their 17-10 win. Tech had three more sacks last Saturday against Middle Tennessee State and has 18 negative yardage plays through two games.
 
Neal Brown said all four interior defensive line are difference makers – 6-foot, 290-pound Mario Kendricks, 6-foot-2, 308-pound Josh Fuga, 6-foot-5, 285-pound Jordan Williams and 6-foot, 281-pound Norell Pollard, and he's also impressed with Hokie corner Jermaine Waller and nickel back Chamarri Conner.
 
"It starts up front, and they've got several NFL players there, and they've got length to the boundary," Brown said.
 
The Virginia Tech secondary has an impressive 10 pass breakups through its first two games.
 
"Defensively, they are playing at a high level," Brown said. "Waller may be playing as good as any corner in the country right now."
 
Special teams have continued to be a carryover from the Frank Beamer era with the Hokies under special teams coordinator James Shibest. They continue to rank among college football's five best since 2017, according to SportSource Analytics.
 
Through two games, the Hokies rank No. 9 nationally in punt returns, No. 11 in kickoff returns and 24^th in net punting.
 
"I think coach Shibest does a great job teaching techniques, and it's very important to them," Brown said. "They've got a history of blocking punts."
 
West Virginia rebounded from its disappointing 30-24 loss at Maryland to defeat overmatched Long Island University 66-0 last Saturday.
 
Just about everyone with a uniform got into last Saturday's game, including backup quarterback Garrett Greene, who passed for 57 yards and led the Mountaineers with 98 yards rushing and two touchdowns.
 
His appearance against Long Island will require Virginia Tech to spend some time this week in practice preparing to face quarterback run, regardless of whether or not he plays on Saturday.
 
Starting quarterback Jarret Doege rebounded from his two-interception performance in the opener against Maryland by completing 14-of-22 passes for 259 yards and three touchdowns.
 
Senior running back Leddie Brown has crossed the goal line five times so far this year, including four on the ground, and has accounted for 161 total yards from scrimmage.
 
Junior Winston Wright Jr. has been West Virginia's top receiving target with nine catches for 101 yards and he is also college football's top kick returner, averaging 51.2 yards on his six kickoff returns. The junior returned the game's opening kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown against Long Island, and he had a 98-yard return in the season opener against Maryland.
 
Defensively, Chandler-Semedo is the team's top tackler with 15 total stops. The Mountaineer defense has generated 21 tackles for loss, including four sacks by Akheem Mesidor, Taijh Alston, Dante Stills and Darel Middleton.
 
Tuesday Brown recognized the play of junior cornerback Jackie Matthews Jr., who has generated six total tackles and a couple of TFLs in the early going.
 
The Hokies are making their first appearance in Morgantown since 2005 when they defeated West Virginia 34-17. The last meeting was at FedExField in 2017 when Tech held on to defeat West Virginia 31-24.
 
Despite its recent three-game winning streak, Virginia Tech still trails West Virginia 28-23-1 in all-time series play. WVU seven straight games during one stretch from 1915 until 1958, and also won five straight from 1981 to 1985.
 
Saturday's game will kick off at noon and will be televised nationally by FS1 (Cory Provus and Devin Gardner). Mountaineer Sports Network coverage starts at 8:30 a.m. with the Mountaineer Tailgate Show leading into regular game coverage at 11 a.m. with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular mobile app WVU Gameday.
 
Fans are encouraged to wear gold on game day as part of "Gold Rush." A capacity crowd is expected. Prior to the game, athletics will be inducting its 2020 class of honorees into the WVU Sports Hall of Fame. 
 
Induction ceremonies for that class were canceled last year because of COVID-19.
 
"It's a sellout crowd on Saturday, and we're excited about it," Brown said. "I think it's going to be a tremendous atmosphere."