Can Va Tech Beat Bobby?
Florida State finished off what Virginia Tech couldn’t, giving Hokies fans more reason to wonder if their team can finally beat coach Bobby Bowden’s Seminoles.
A week after Florida State knocked off the No. 2 team in the nation and two weeks after No. 11 Virginia Tech blew a chance to do so, these teams square off for the first time in the regular season as ACC opponents on Saturday in Blacksburg, Va.
Oddsmakers from Bodog have made Virginia Tech -6.5 point spread favorites (View College Football odds) for Saturday’s game (Game Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 64% of bets for this game have been placed on Virginia Tech -6.5 (View College Football bet percentages).
The Seminoles went on the road and upset previously unbeaten Boston College 27-17 last Saturday, one week after the Hokies blew a late 10-point lead to the second-ranked Eagles and lost 14-10 at home.
The last meeting between these teams came in the inaugural ACC championship game in 2005, won 27-22 by Florida State.
That was the Seminoles’ 12th straight win over the Hokies, with their last loss coming in 1975, the year before Bowden took over the program. Bowden also was 3-0 against the Hokies while coaching West Virginia.
Virginia Tech bounced back from the loss to BC with a 27-3 win over Georgia Tech last Saturday, but in the comforts of Lane Stadium, it’s unlikely the Hokies (7-2, 4-1 ACC) will see a repeat of that game’s bizarre display. Quarterback Sean Glennon and three of his teammates wore Georgia Tech road jerseys with their names written on the back in magic marker after their own uniforms were lost before Thursday’s game in Atlanta.
It didn’t seem to affect Glennon, who threw for 296 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another score.
Glennon started the first two games of the season before losing the job to true freshman Tyrod Taylor, but has filled in nicely in three games since Taylor sprained his ankle, throwing for 703 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. It’s unclear if Taylor will be ready to play this week, or even if he is, which quarterback Hokies coach Frank Beamer will choose to start.
"I think I’ve been playing well," said Glennon, a redshirt junior. "But the coaches will go with the option they think they will win with."
So far, though, Virginia Tech has been winning ACC games thanks mainly to its defense. With a league-low 14.3 points allowed per game, the Hokies are tied in the loss column with rival Virginia atop the league’s Coastal Division. The Hokies play at Virginia in the final regular-season game Nov. 24.
First, Virginia Tech must end its lengthy losing streak to Florida State (6-3, 3-3 ACC), which finally managed to finish off a game to beat BC after disappointing second-half performances against Wake Forest and Miami. In both of those games, Florida State led at halftime but lost, turning the ball over a combined nine times with quarterback Xavier Lee at the helm.
"This is the fourth game that we’ve been ahead at the half and we’ve lost two of them," said Bowden, whose team is already bowl eligible for the 26th straight year. "I thought we were going to make enough mistakes to lose it at the end."
Redshirt junior quarterback Drew Weatherford has to be closer to gaining his coach’s confidence, especially after throwing for 354 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions to outduel Heisman Trophy hopeful Matt Ryan of BC. Weatherford, who earned the ACC’s offensive back of week award, won his job back from the now-suspended Lee after being benched earlier this season and has thrown only one interception in 192 pass attempts.
A victory would give Florida State road wins over ranked teams in consecutive games for the first time since 1992.
by: Staff Writers – Email Us
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