Virginia Tech vs. Florida State Prediction
The Week 1 finale in college football will take place Monday night at 8:00 p.m. ET when Florida State hosts Virginia Tech. Will the Seminoles cover as a touchdown-sized favorite over the Hokies or will VA Tech hang with its ACC rivals?
Game Snapshot
219 Virginia Tech Hokies vs. 220 Florida State Seminoles
8:00 p.m. ET, Monday, September 3, 2018
Doak Campbell Stadium, Tallahassee, Florida
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Seminoles are 7-point favorites to beat the Hokies. The total, meanwhile, sits at 55 points. As of this writing, 56% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Seminoles.
Virginia Tech Hokies
Virginia Tech redshirt sophomore QB Joshua Jackson has been named the starting quarterback. Virginia Tech HC Justin Fuente said, “Josh, barring any unforeseen circumstances, he’s the starter.” This was the assumption after Jackson cleared his potential academic hurdle. But junior QB Ryan Willis — a transfer from Kansas — and other quarterbacks were splitting first team reps with Jackson a couple weeks ago in an attempt to give everyone a fair chance. Jackson (6’1/215) threw for 2,991 yards and 20 touchdowns adding 324 yards and 6 touchdowns on the ground as a redshirt freshman. This is the first season Fuente has had an incumbent QB as his week 1 starter at Virginia Tech.
Florida State Seminoles
Florida State redshirt junior QB Deondre Francois will start at quarterback against Virginia Tech on Monday. Francois beats out James Blackman and Bailey Hockman for the starting gig against the Hokies. This isn’t a huge upset; the biggest concern was whether or not the junior signal-caller was going to be ready after his serious knee injury he suffered against Alabama in the season opener last year. He’ll have to play well to keep the job with both Blackman and Hockman offering some upside, but if Francois played like he did as a sophomore, he should keep the starting gig all year.
Betting Trends
Virginia Tech
The Hokies are 1-4 against the spread in their last five road games.
Florida State
The Seminoles are 4-0 against the spread in their last four games overall.
Prediction
Florida State has a brand new coaching staff led by Willie Taggart and also lost several key defensive pieces to the NFL back in April. While Virginia Tech didn’t change its head coach, the Hokies also lost several players to the NFL while others were lost to injury, eligibility or left the program. The key to me is Francois, who was a Heisman candidate heading into Week 1 a year ago when he was lost for the season due to a serious knee injury suffered against Alabama. Francois not only returns, but he returns to an up-tempo offense that could give Virginia Tech’s usually vaunted defense issues. This feels like a lot of points to lay but if FSU gets Taggart’s offense humming I like them to cover.
College Football Prediction: Florida State Seminoles -7