Virginia Tech’s Week 6 trip to California now has a kickoff time, and the Hokies will be on the road in Berkeley on Saturday, Oct. 10 at 3:30 p.m. ET, 12:30 p.m. PT.
The game against the Golden Bears will air on either ESPN2 or the ACC Network. Virginia Tech will head into that matchup with its record still to be determined by Friday night’s meeting with Pitt on Oct. 2, when the Hokies host the Panthers at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
The Hokies and Cal have only met twice before, with Virginia Tech holding a 1-1 record in the series. Cal took the first meeting, 52-49, in the 2003 season, while Virginia Tech answered with a 42-34 double-overtime win on Oct.
24, 2025. This will be the first time the two programs have played in California; the 2003 game was in Phoenix, Ariz., and the 2025 meeting was in Blacksburg, Va.
Virginia Tech enters the stretch run of its nonconference and early ACC slate unbeaten at 4-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play, and it has opened with four straight wins for the first time since the 2017 season. The start has been fueled by a barrage of points, beginning with a 73-3 win over VMI - the Hokies’ highest scoring output since putting up 77 against Akron in 1995.
They followed that with a 44-21 win over Old Dominion, a result that came almost exactly a year after the Monarchs beat Tech 45-26 in 2025, a loss that led to the firing of then-head coach Brent Pry a day later.
Virginia Tech’s first road test of the year came on Sept. 19 at Maryland, where the Hokies won 35-26 in College Park. That victory snapped a 15-game losing streak against Power Four non-conference opponents and was Tech’s first such win since beating West Virginia in the 2017 season opener.
Last Saturday in Chestnut Hill, Mass., the Hokies rallied past Boston College 21-14. Sophomore running back Jeffrey Overton Jr. delivered the biggest punch, running for a career-high 209 yards and piling up 140 of them in the final quarter alone, capped by a 76-yard touchdown that put Virginia Tech in front.
Overton has been the engine on the ground through four games, with 409 net rushing yards, an average of 102.3 per game, and four scores.
Quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer has been just as sharp in his first four games with the Hokies, completing 101 of 136 passes for a 74.3% rate, 1,012 yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions. Tight end Luke Reynolds, a junior transfer from Penn State, leads the team with 30 catches for 280 yards and four touchdowns, while Que'Sean Brown has added 224 receiving yards and a touchdown. Brown has also been a factor in the return game, taking eight punts back for 204 yards.
If Virginia Tech can beat Pitt on Saturday, it will mark the first time the Hokies have started 5-0 since 2005.
In Other News...
Grunkemeyer Sees One Clear Issue Even After Virginia Techs Gritty Win
Virginia Techs trip to Boston College came with all the discomfort a late-season road game can throw at a team, with rain and wind making everything feel a little harder than it should. Even after the Hokies got back to campus, quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer was still dealing with the aftereffects of the weather, saying some of the things in his bag had not dried by the time the team returned. It was the kind of night that tested more than just execution.
The game itself also served as another reminder of how much grit Virginia Tech had to bring to keep moving through tough conditions. Weather like that tends to strip a game down to its essentials, and the Hokies had to lean on resilience just to get through it. Grunkemeyers postgame comment captured the broader feel of the trip, with one practical problem standing out even after the bigger football questions had been settled. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech Faces A Real Depth Test Ahead Of Pitt
Virginia Techs unbeaten start is about to meet a little uncertainty. The ACC released its first player availability report ahead of the Hokies Oct. 2 matchup with Pitt, and Virginia Tech showed up with a long list of 13 players carrying designations ranging from out to questionable to probable. For a team that has ridden a 4-0 start into the national spotlight, the report adds a layer of intrigue before a game that will air live on ESPN.
The Hokies have earned the right to feel good about where they stand, but the availability list is a reminder that depth can get tested quickly once conference play tightens up. Pitt brings a fresh challenge, and Virginia Tech will be watching closely to see which of those sidelined or limited players are available when kickoff arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Tech Faces Its First Real ACC Test Against Pitt
Virginia Techs unbeaten start gets a different kind of test this week, one that should tell the Hokies a lot more about where they really stand in the ACC race. Pitt arrives just as hot, with both teams sitting at 4-0 and 1-0 in league play, and the matchup brings together one of the conferences most productive offenses and one of its stingiest defenses. For Virginia Tech, the usual headliners are in the spotlight again, with Raheem Blackshear, Ethan Grunkemeyer and Caleb Harris each expected to have a major hand in how this one unfolds.
The contrast makes this more than just another early-season game. Virginia Tech has been piling up points at a 43.3-per-game clip, while Pitt has kept opponents in check at just 8.5 points per game, so something has to give when the two teams finally meet. For the Hokies, it is the first real chance to see whether their fast start can travel against a defense built to make life uncomfortable, and the result should say plenty about how sustainable this opening run really is. [Read more 🡒]