E CAROLINA vs VIRGINIA TECH
When: 12:20 PM ET, Saturday, September 15, 2018
Where: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, Virginia

TV: 12:20 PM
LINE: -29
PREDICTION: VIRGINIA TECH , E CAROLINA

Oddsmakers currently have the VIRGINIA TECH listed as -29 point favorites versus the E CAROLINA, while the game’s total is sitting at 48.

CANCELED

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VIRGINIA TECH vs FLORIDA ST
When: 8:00 PM ET, Monday, September 3, 2018
Where: Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida

TV: 8:00 PM
LINE: -7.5
PREDICTION: FLORIDA ST , VIRGINIA TECH

Oddsmakers currently have the FLORIDA ST listed as -7.5 point favorites versus the VIRGINIA TECH, while the game’s total is sitting at 56.5.

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The No. 25 Hokies (5-2, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) can significantly enhance their chances Thursday night at Pittsburgh. The Panthers (5-2, 2-1) also share the loss-column lead, although they have played two fewer division games than No. 22 North Carolina (6-2, 4-1) and one fewer than the Hokies.

Virginia Tech holds the tiebreaker against the Tar Heels, having beaten them 34-3 on Oct. 8, but in their first season under coach Justin Fuente, the Hokies are disinclined to look any further than the game just ahead. They won’t even allow themselves to feel too good about reappearing in the AP Top 25.

”Of course we like being in the Top 25, but at the end of the day, we just want to win a football game, regardless of whether we’re in the Top 25 or if we’re not ranked at all,” rover Terrell Edmunds said Monday, before offering a mantra for this team. ”We just want to go out and play Virginia Tech football and go 1-0 each week.”

The Hokies’ last appearance in the Top 25 came two weeks ago, when consecutive routs of Boston College, East Carolina and North Carolina allowed them to rise to No. 17. But they were stunned 31-17 at Syracuse and fell out again before getting back to their dominant ways in a 37-16 victory against Miami last Thursday night.

The Panthers, though, present a significant challenge. They have won four in a row at Heinz Field against Virginia Tech, and are tied for 22nd nationally in scoring at 38.4 points per game.

Coach Pat Narduzzi, in his second season, said he was pretty frank with his team about what’s at stake in the game.

”I told our kids, it’s right there for you, the pursuit and what you want is right there for you,” he said Monday. ”It’s there for the taking. Everything you wanted to do at the beginning of the season is sitting right in front of you on this Thursday night.”

On defense, Pitt is fifth nationally at stopping the run, but 122nd against the pass.

Virginia Tech prefers to be a run-first team, but quarterback Jerod Evans has proven more than capable of getting things done through the air in his first season with the Hokies. He’s thrown for 19 touchdowns with just two interceptions.

”They’re a heavy run-stop team,” Evans said. ”They will force you to throw in man-to-man coverage.”

Evans is comfortable doing that because he’s got plenty of targets he trusts to come down with the ball. Isaiah Ford has 36 catches and five touchdowns. Bucky Hodges has 25 catches and five touchdowns. And five other receivers have at least one touchdown reception this year.

Defensive coordinator Bud Foster, a holdover from the teams that have struggled at Heinz Field, said it’s not the venue but the way the Panthers have played, and the way the Hokies have played, that produced the losses.

Now, with the Hokies angling for their first ACC title game berth since 2011, it’s time to end the skid.

”If we want to stay in the hunt, we need to win it,” Foster said. ”… It’s been a couple years since we’ve been in this position, but these games get more and more important as we move forward in the season.”

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Online: The AP’s college football page: http://collegefootball.ap.org

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Miami-FL Hurricanes vs. Virginia Tech Hokies
303 MIAMI -4 51
304 VIRGINIA TECH -6 51
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, October 20, 2016
Where: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, Virginia
TV: 7 p.m. ET, ESPN.
LINE: Virginia Tech -6
PREDICTION: Virginia Tech 24, Miami 20

With a Thursday night kickoff looming, Miami and Virginia Tech have little time to dwell on their Saturday losses in preparing for a key ACC Coastal Division meeting in Blacksburg, Va. With two conference losses in a row, the Hurricanes find themselves in a must-win situation if they want to stay in the division race while the Hokies are looking to solidify their title hopes after a surprising 31-17 road loss to Syracuse.

Miami’s young defense has been a pleasant surprise, ranking in the top 15 in the FBS in four different statistical and holding explosive Florida State and North Carolina to 20 points apiece but the Brad Kaaya-led offense has struggled (32 points in the losses) with the line shouldering much of the blame. “In every game in America the quarterback is going to be hit,” Miami coach Mark Richt told reporters after the Hurricanes’ final drive ended when Kaaya lost a fumble after being hit from the blind side. “Every time there is a sack you can’t say ‘Oh, my, gosh these guys aren’t doing a good job.’ But at the moment of truth, at the end of the game, it was a little disappointing we couldn’t hold our own.” Meanwhile, first-year coach Justin Fuente’s defense was ranked No. 3 nationally in yards allowed per game before Syracuse totaled 561 yards, ran 100 offensive plays and scored on its final two possessions. “We’ve got to get over this one real quick,” Hokies junior quarterback Jerod Evans, who threw for a career-high 307 yards but also had a costly interception, told reporters after the game. “It definitely left a bitter taste in our mouths. I hate losing. Hate it. So, five days to go back home and get ready to play Miami.”

Miami-FL lost its last outing, a 20-13 result against Tar Heels on October 15. Miami-FL failed to cover in that game as a -6-point favorite, while the 33 combined points took the game UNDER the total.

ABOUT MIAMI (4-2, 1-2 ACC): Running backs Mark Walton (5.6 yards per carry, eight touchdowns) and Joe Yearby (6.8, six) have been slowed down in the two losses with the Hurricanes being limited to 201 yards rushing and 3.1 yards per carry. Kaaya, (10 TD passes, 228.8 yards per game) has big-play wide receivers in senior Stacy Coley (24 catches, six touchdowns) and freshman Ahmmon Richards (17 catches, 21.1 yards per reception), but neither had a first-half catch against the Tar Heels as Miami fell behind 20-3. The defense, ranked 14th in yards allowed and led by the all-freshman starting linebacker trio of Shaquille Quarterman, Michael Pinckney and Zach McCloud, bounced back from being dominated in the first half to hold the Tar Heels scoreless in the second.

Team record: 4-2 SU,4-2 ATS
Miami-FL is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games
Miami-FL is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
Miami-FL is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games on the road

Last time out for Virginia Tech, they were a 31-17 loser as they battled Orange on the road. Virginia Tech failed to cover in the match as a -23-point favorite, while 48 combined points moved the game UNDER for totals bettors.

ABOUT VIRGINIA TECH (4-2, 2-1): Evans (ACC-best 170.7 QB rating, 17 touchdown passes, 319 yards rushing) is the third straight quarterback Miami faces who is as dangerous as a runner as he is passer, with the previous two having success both ways against the Hurricanes. Evans is the team’s second-leading rusher behind Travon McMillian (327 yards, 4.4 yards per carry) and the receiving corps is led by wide receivers Isaiah Ford (32 catches, five TDs), Cam Phillips (20, two) and tight end Bucky Hodges (18, three). The defense, still ranked No. 7 in yards allowed despite its Carrier Dome meltdown, is anchored by defensive end Ken Ekanem (four sacks), linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka (57 tackles) and cornerback Greg Stroman (three interceptions), who is also a dangerous kick and punt return threat.

Team record: 4-2 SU,3-3 ATS
Virginia Tech is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games
The total has gone UNDER in 10 of Virginia Tech’s last 15 games
Virginia Tech is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home

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Beamer announced Friday that he’s hired former Auburn offensive coordinator Scot Loeffler to lead Virginia Tech’s offense, former Stanford wide receivers coach Aaron Moorehead to take over the Hokies’ wideouts, and another Auburn assistant, Jeff Grimes, to coach the offensive line. Grimes was Auburn’s O-line coach.

The Hokies finished 7-6, in large part because of their inability to run the ball consistently and a regressing passing game. Virginia Tech’s streak of eight consecutive 10-win seasons ended, and the Hokies had to win their last two regular-season games just to qualify for the Russell Athletic Bowl — where they beat Rutgers 13-10 in overtime.

The moves mark the second major overhaul of Beamer’s offensive staff in seven years, and the departures of three staffers brought on during the last one. Quarterbacks coach Mike O’Cain was fired, receivers coach Kevin Sherman left for the same position at Purdue and Curt Newsome left the program, reportedly to head back to James Madison, although the school has not said if he was fired or resigned.

Bryan Stinespring, the offensive coordinator since 2001 and a 20-year member of Beamer’s staff, has been moved to recruiting coordinator. Considered the Hokies’ best recruiter, he also will continue to coach tight ends.

The new coaches will be introduced next Friday.

While Stinespring had the coordinator’s title, O’Cain has called the plays for the past two seasons.

The Stinespring-O’Cain combination directed a record-setting season in 2011, largely on the legs of NFL first-round draft choice David Wilson at tailback and the arm of emerging quarterback Logan Thomas. Wilson ran for a school-record 1,709 yards, and Thomas had a school-record 3,482 total yards.

But 2012 marked a return to the inconsistency that often prompted Hokies fans to call for change. Virginia Tech finished 81st nationally in both total offense (376.7 ypg) and scoring (25.08 ppg). Thomas had 3,500 yards of total offense, but completed just 51.3 percent of his throws and had 16 interceptions.

Beamer, who is intensely loyal to his staff and often cites the absence of significant turnover for allowing the Hokies to climb the ranks into college football’s elite, decided change was in order. He is thought to have interviewed several candidates for the coordinator’s job during the past few weeks.

Loeffler, 38, has coached for 15 seasons in the NFL and in college. He was the offensive coordinator at Temple in 2011 when the Owls finished 9-4 and ranked seventh in the nation with an average of 256.5 rushing yards. He moved to Auburn last season, and the inexperienced Tigers struggled mightily. They averaged just 305 yards, 115th out of 120 teams at the FBS level, and were 112th in scoring (18.67).

He has also coached six quarterbacks who went on to play in the NFL, including New England’s Tom Brady and Florida’s Tim Tebow, who left the Gators with five NCAA and 14 Southeastern Conference records.

Grimes, 44, spent five seasons at Auburn, including the national championship year in 2010, and worked with Loeffler last season.

Moorehead, 32, has been an assistant at Stanford for the past three years.

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