Food & Football: Hurricanes’ Guide to Tailgating Virginia Tech

The Miami Hurricanes closed the month of October with another win that came down to the last drive against the lowly North Carolina Tar Heels. It’s now the last month of the college football regular season, the Canes are undefeated and the biggest game (this late in the season) over the past decade is about to take place at Hard Rock Stadium this Saturday. This should be a November to remember and I don’t care how we got here. At 8PM ET, the #13 Virginia Tech Hokies travel to Miami in a game that carries monumental importance to the ACC Coastal Division. With a win, the #10 Canes will essentially book their ticket to their first ever trip to the ACC Championship Game. What better game to accomplish such a feat than a nationally televised game, under the Miami lights on Homecoming as a 2.5 point underdog. I’m so hyped for this game and I fully expect this “blackout” Saturday to be crazy from the 3PM ET tailgate start to the games’ last whistle! But, before we get into the Game Meal, let’s learn a little bit about Va Tech.

The now, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) was founded in 1872 through the Morrill Act of 1862 as a land grant college. This act allowed states to sell federally owned land that had been granted to them. The profits gained from the sale financed colleges that specialized in “agriculture and the mechanic arts” like Virginia Tech. Twenty years after the school was founded, the first football season officially kicked off when the school was known as VAMC (Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College). Following the 4th season, in 1896, everything changed for the University. First, the “A & M” was dropped and Polytechnic was added. The school also changed their colors from black and grey to Chicago maroon and burnt orange. These colors were chosen solely because of their uniqueness at the time. Lastly, the “Old Hokie” yell was adopted as the school chant following a student wide contest with a top prize of $5 won by O.M. Stull. The word “Hokie” was so popular among fans that it became the team’s nickname and the foundation of the Hokie Bird mascot, the turkey like creature that we know today was laid.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Food: The motivation behind this week’s Game Meal is solely based on Virginia Tech’s mascot, the Hokie Bird. I know Thanksgiving is only three weeks away, but serving a few turkey legs at this week’s tailgate will sweep your guests off their feet (pun intended). Since turkey legs take a while to cook, get started early and pour yourself a cold one…which leads me to the next part of the Game Meal, the drink.

Donovan Hutchins

Drink: Trying to find motivation for this week’s game drink was a little challenging since Virginia doesn’t have a designated State Fruit. I was going to suggest a drink that reminded me of my homecoming days at UM (shout out to the Class of 2010), but keg stands and shots are already pretty standard. So, with help from the state of Virginia’s nickname, “Mother of Presidents” I suggest a classic cocktail in the “El Presidente”.

Donovan Hutchins

Be safe Canes Family and drink responsibly! For full recipes of this game and previous ones, see “2017 Hurricanes’ Cooking Guide”

Let me know your food and drink choices for this game!