Many University students will leave behind family and Thanksgiving leftovers a couple days early for one simple reason -- football.
They are coming back to cheer on the Cavaliers as they take on Virginia Tech at 1 p.m. this Saturday.
Second-year College student Maria Meriwether said she is definitely coming back for the game.
"I didn't go last year because it was too far and too cold," Meriwether said, referring to the game which took place last Thanksgiving weekend at Virginia Tech.
"It's warmer and more convenient this year," she said. "I'm more excited."
A resident of Northern Virginia, Meriwether said she is driving three first years home for Thanksgiving, but she doesn't know whether she will be driving them back for the game.
"It's good to have company," she said. "But I'm coming back one way or another. They can join me if they want."
She said she plans to attend the game with a big group of University students from NoVa who will all be returning to Charlottesville early.
Included in this group of friends is a University student who is an avid fan of Virginia Tech.
"I have no idea where she's going to sit," Meriwether said of her friend, who roots for the University when the Cavaliers are playing teams other than Virginia Tech.
Many other NoVa students said they hope to return for the game.
First-year Engineering student Stephanie Holcombe said she plans to go to the game if she gets a ride, which she expects to be able to do given the number of other students coming from the area.
Holcombe said many of her friends will be coming to the game, including three students from Virginia Tech.
Second-year College student Krystal Minor said her friends from Virginia Tech probably won't come to the game, but she plans to attend.
"Now that it's at 1 [p.m.], I think I am," said Minor, a Richmond resident. "If it was later, I didn't know what I was going to do."
She said, however, that many of her friends from the University will not be going, so she'll be attending with non-University students.
Fourth-year College student Will Oliver said he may come back for the game despite beginning his break later than most other students.
"I'm in no big rush," Oliver said. "Tuesday is $2 pints at South Street."
Coming from about an hour away, in Lexington, he said the decision to come home for the game is not too important to decide in advance.
"If there's nothing going on at home, I'll probably come back" for the game, he said.
Most students from outside Virginia said they do not plan to attend the game.
Third-year College student Marta Bechliwanis said she would be more inclined to come back for the game if she thought the University would win, but she it pretty sure this is not the case.
A seven-hour drive to Syracuse to spend Thanksgiving with her boyfriend makes coming back for the game inconvenient.
Bechliwanis said she thinks having the Virginia versus Virginia Tech game on Thanksgiving every year is not a good idea.
"It's kind of bad because a lot of people want to see it and don't want to come home earlier," she said.
Second-year College student Steven Rhyne said he agreed.
Rhyne said a four-and-a-half hour drive home to Charlotte, N.C. is keeping him from coming back for the game.
Other out-of-state students, however, expressed little interest in coming to the game.
Second-year College student Weiwen Chen, an exchange student from the University of Bath in the UK, said she plans to go to Philadelphia and Atlantic City during the break with other international students.
Originally from Singapore, Weiwen said she has never been in the United States during Thanksgiving, and she does not intend to celebrate the holiday.
Although she will get back from her road trip before the game, she said she will be using the weekend to catch up on her studying, so she will be skipping the game. She said although she likes the spirit of University football games, she prefers watching soccer.
Students' certainty about their Thanksgiving plans stands in strong contrast to their certainty regarding the outcome of the game.
Oliver expressed doubt about the University winning the game although he was somewhat hopeful.
"Tech got beat their last game, so they're going to want to beat whoever they play this week really badly," he said. "But, we did well against Georgia Tech. We could pull it off."
Meriwether said she was unsure about the outcome of the game or what she would do afterwards.
"I'm afraid to make any bets. I can't predict anymore," she said. "What I do after depends on how we do -- I might feel like locking myself in my room."
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