Virginia Tech’s Entrance vs. Clemson Sets Noise Record
BLACKSBURG, Va., Oct. 20, 2016 – Starting With A Bang: Virginia Tech fans cheer as the Hokies football team runs out to fireworks for their Thursday night game against the Miami Hurricanes. Virginia Tech won the game 37-16. Photo: Drew Davis.
Many have heard that the Hokies run out to “Enter Sandman” is a "deafening" experience, but now there is a stat to back that up.
Virginia Tech’s entrance against Clemson is now the fifth loudest college football moment ever recorded at 126.2 decibels, as Virginia Tech’s football twitter broke the news.
“I was on the field working, and it was the loudest thing I have ever heard,” Virginia Tech student Jordan Long said. “It was simply deafening.”
But what exactly led to this extra energy in Lane Stadium against the Tigers? Grant Duncan, the Assistant Athletics Director of Marketing and Promotions at Virginia Tech shared what he thought added to the record-breaking noise.
“You have to also look at the spectacle that was created with a top-15 match-up in prime time national television—and the addition of College GameDay,” Duncan stated.
While happy with the early loud noise, the assistant athletic director thinks the game could have gotten even louder.
“The optimist in me thinks that it could always be louder and would have been if the game was closer late in the fourth quarter. Hopefully as the team continues to play at a high-level…the atmosphere we had that night becomes the norm.”
That atmosphere was just 0.8 decibels fewer then the fourth loudest moment that happened and 7.4 lower than the loudest overall. Virginia Tech did this with the second lowest amount of spectators watching out of the top five moments.
This is not due to the a problem with fans showing up, but rather the way Lane Stadium was built, which at maximum capacity holds approximately 66,233 people.
“Our fans our truly the best in the country,” Duncan said. "Our fans our smart too, they know the impact they can have on the game. So sometimes it's not about having more people as it is about knowing the game, having more pride, and being up for the challenge of creating the best atmosphere in all of college football.”
Virginia Tech will have the chance to be just as loud as the team returns home against North Carolina Saturday, October 21, 2017.