Florida State vs Virginia Tech Preview and Prediction – treadmillhorse

It was great to see Virginia Tech get back to playing what resembled Virginia Tech football. What has been holding the team back this season is the inability to run and stop the run. On Saturday, they were able to do both and get a big win at home. To push for a bowl game this season, they will need to replicate that success in the coming weeks. They did it against a good Pitt defense but upcoming weeks may provide a tougher challenge.

SP+ Rankings

Virginia Tech

Overall: 72nd
Offense: 92nd
Defense: 42nd
Special Teams: 46th

Florida State

Overall: 18th
Offense: 15th
Defense: 25th
Special Teams: 15th

Florida State has a good but not great offense. The key to their offense is Jordan Travis and the passing game. This is actually a decent matchup for VT who has been good against the pass this season. Look for Florida State to try to take advantage of Virginia Tech’s leaky run game. If Tech can hold their own against FSU’s run game, it is going to be much tougher for the ‘Noles to move the ball in this game. Tech needs to key-in on Keon Coleman in the pass game and Trey Benson in the run game.

Florida State is not as good as you would expect defensively. Statistically, Virginia Tech has a better defense. FSU has played stronger competition to this point but if I were a Florida State fan, I’d worry about their ability to stop the pass. While Virginia Tech does not have a strong passing attack, Kyron Drones has shown enough now to be dangerous. Especially if Jaylin Lane is back to 100% healthy and Quan Felton can be a consistent deep threat. The challenge that Tech will have will be keeping the ground game going long enough to keep FSU honest on defense.

I like this game on paper a lot more than I thought I would. Florida State’s strengths actually matchup pretty well against Virginia Tech’s. It’s not as horrible a matchup as I thought it would be. The Hokies have the schedule helping them a bit in this one too. While Florida State is coming off a bye and should be healthy, it’s easy to let your guard down when it’s your first home game in a month. Not to mention, I don’t like byes this early in the season. Rust becomes a factor for teams who rely on the passing game. I could be wrong but this seems like it could be a competitive game. Florida State definitely has more talent but Tech has enough going for them right now to give them a game. FSU’s talent advantage will eventually wear down the Hokies but this game looks more like the ‘Noles game with BC where it came down to the 4th quarter.

Prediction: Florida State 35, Virginia Tech 20