MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – This Thursday night, West Virginia will be making its first trip to Lane Stadium since 2004, a year after Virginia Tech departed the Big East for the Atlantic Coast Conference.
 
The two schools were also conference rivals in the late 1950s when both were in the old Southern Conference and played annually from 1957 until 1968, and then, following a five-year pause, met each year from 1973 until 2005.
 
A 12-year hiatus in the series ended in 2017 when the two faced each other in Landover, Maryland, and last year, the current two-year series resumed in Morgantown prior to this year's clash in Blacksburg.
 
West Virginia (1-2, 0-1) is seeking to build off last Saturday's 65-7 victory over Towson following a disappointing 0-2 start to the season, while Virginia Tech (2-1, 1-0) has recovered from its stunning opening-season loss at Old Dominion to win against ACC rival Boston College and Wofford.
 
The Hokies used a stout defensive effort to defeat the Eagles 27-10 in their home opener on Sept. 10, limiting BC to 11 first downs and 155 yards of total offense, with only 4 of that coming on the ground on 26 rushing attempts.
 
Last week, Wofford wasn't much better, generating just 38 yards rushing on 24 attempts and 199 yards of total offense in a 27-7 loss to the Hokies.
 
Through three games, Virginia Tech ranks third in rushing defense (42.0 ypg.), fifth in total defense (201.0 ypg.) and 15^thin pass defense (159.0 ypg.). 
 
"They play physical, and they're not missing tackles," West Virginia coach Neal Brown said. "They want to put a lot of pressure on you, and they will blitz us more than anybody we've played so far, and they do a good job of mixing up their coverages."
 
Tech's strong defensive performance has helped compensate for a Hokie offense that ranks 102^nd nationally in scoring (23.7 ppg.), tied for 102^nd in turnover margin (-0.67), 104^th in interceptions (4) and 110^th in fourth-down conversion rate (25.0%).
 
Overall, Virginia Tech is also one of the most heavily penalized teams in the country with 25 infractions through the first three games of the season.
 
First-year coach Brent Pry spent the last six years as Penn State's defensive coordinator before being hired to replace Justin Fuente last November. Pry has Virginia Tech ties working as its graduate assistant from 1995-97 under former Hokie defensive coordinator Bud Foster, and his career path also includes stops at Western Carolina, Louisiana-Lafayette, Memphis, Georgia Southern and Vanderbilt.
 
The Altoona, Pennsylvania, native hired Jacksonville tight ends coach Tyler Bowen as his offensive coordinator after the two spent time together at Penn State. He also lured respected offensive line coach Joe Rudolph from Wisconsin and retained J.C. Price to coach the defensive line.
 
Linebackers coach Chris Marve serves as Pry's defensive coordinator.
 
"Coach Pry and his staff have come in and you can tell his guys have bought in," Brown said. "They're playing extremely hard. They're playing extremely physical; they've won their last two games, and I know they have this one circled on their calendar just like we do."
 
During his Monday morning news conference, Brown singled out middle linebacker Dax Hollifield (6-foot-1, 245 pounds), boundary safety Nasir Peoples (6-foot, 205 pounds) and Tech's front four consisting of defensive end TyJuan Garbutt (6-foot-1, 255 pounds), defensive tackle Norell Pollard (6-foot, 285 pounds), defensive tackle Mario Kendricks (6-foot, 290 pounds) and defensive end Jaylen Griffin (6-foot-1, 256 pounds).
 
Sophomore C.J. McCray (6-foot-3, 237 pounds) got the start at defensive end last Saturday in place of Garbutt, one of three injured players held out of last Saturday's game. The others were backup defensive tackle Josh Fuga (6-foot-2, 302 pounds) and running back Keshawn King (5-foot-11, 180 pounds), who broke loose for a 65-yard touchdown run against Boston College and shows a team-best 178 yards rushing and 7.6-yards-per-carry average.
 
Pry said after the Wofford game that he is hopeful all three will be ready for Thursday night's game.
 
Marshall transfer and Charleston native Grant Wells (6-foot-2, 208 pounds) was named the Hokies' starting quarterback in August and following a four-interception performance in the opening-season loss at Old Dominion, has done a much better job protecting the football the last two weeks.
 
He completed 64% of his 25 pass attempts for 140 yards and a touchdown against Boston College, and last week, connected on 74.3% of his 35 throws versus Wofford for a season-high 314 yards and two touchdowns.
 
While at Marshall, Wells passed for 5,623 yards and 34 touchdowns but also threw 23 picks, including five in one game. According to TruMedia, last year Wells ranked 110^th in interception rate out of 160 quarterbacks with a minimum of 100 attempts, with nine of his picks coming when he wasn't pressured.
 
However, his last 63 pass attempts have been clean.
 
Last Saturday, Chance Black (6-foot-1, 191 pounds) got the starting nod at running back in place of King and ran 15 times for 45. Backup Jalen Holston (5-foot-11, 210 pounds) contributed a team-best 66 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries.
 
Tight end Nick Gallo (6-foot-4, 240 pounds) was Wells' top target last week, the senior catching five passes for 52 yards in Tech's two-tight end lineup that also includes senior Connor Blumrick (6-foot-5, 222 pounds).
 
"They're playing a lot of 12-personnel, two tight ends, their quarterback is mobile, and he's been really accurate the last two weeks, but they're going to line up and try and run the ball, be physical first and foremost, and then take some shots down the field," Brown predicted. 
 
Temple transfer Jaden Blue (6-foot, 192 pounds) caught four passes for 61 yards and a touchdown last week, and teams with senior Kaleb Smith (6-foot-2, 222 pounds) on the outside. Smith is second to Gallo on the team in receptions with eight for 131 yards and a touchdown. He's averaging a team-best 16.4 yards per catch.
 
A retooled offensive line features all 300-pounders, including mammoth left tackle Silas Dzansi (6-foot-5, 335 pounds). All five offensive line starters were listed on the two-deep roster for last year's West Virginia game in Morgantown.
 
"We're going to have to play," Brown said. "They're going to change the picture for us, shift and move those tight ends around and try and create edges on us, but their offensive line is physical, and they played well the last two weeks."
 
Last year, the Mountaineers led 24-7 at halftime and 27-7 in the third quarter before the Hokies rallied with a pair of scores to close the margin to 27-21. An intercepted screen pass deep in WVU territory late in the fourth quarter gave Virginia Tech a great opportunity to score the go-ahead touchdown, but the Mountaineers came up with a goal line stand when Tech was unable to reach paydirt from the 3.
 
Last year's victory snapped Tech's three-game winning streak in the series and improved the Mountaineers' record to 29-23-1 against the Hokies. WVU's last win in Blacksburg came on Nov. 20, 2002, when the Mountaineers upset 13^th-ranked Tech 21-18.
 
All-time, West Virginia is 7-12-1 in games played in Blacksburg.
 
Tech has a 13-5 record in ESPN Thursday night games, including a 34-6 triumph over WVU in the first ESPN Thursday night game ever played in Blacksburg in 1994.
 
The two teams will be playing for the right to keep the Black Diamond Trophy, which is sponsored by Rich Equipment Company, headquartered in Bluefield, West Virginia. It was introduced in 1997 and is meant to symbolize the Appalachian region's rich coal heritage. The Hokies have kept possession of the Black Diamond Trophy in seven of the 11 years it has been contested.
 
Thursday night's game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN (Matt Barrie, Louis Riddick and Harry Lyles Jr.).
 
"We've got to embrace this," Brown said. "This is our second shot here in prime time on a Thursday night, played well but not well enough to win the first time, and now we've got another opportunity, and we've got to go and make the most of it."
 
Mountaineer Sports Network from Learfield radio coverage begins at 4:30 p.m. on stations throughout West Virginia and online via WVUsports.com and the popular apps WVU Gameday and the Varsity Network.
 
Regular network coverage with Tony Caridi, Dwight Wallace and Jed Drenning begins at 6:30 p.m. The team is scheduled to charter to Roanoke, Virginia, on Wednesday afternoon.