The Virginia Tech football schedule gets right back into the thick of things on Saturday against Nebraska after a relative speed bump last week in Marshall. Virginia Tech gets to return the great hospitally shown by the Huskers in Lincoln last year as Nebrasksa fans travel to Blacksburg, VA. I was lucky enough to attend last year's game and not only was it a great atmosphere, it was a big win for Virginia Tech as well.
There are still a lot of questions about both teams, but the experts in Vegas have set the betting line for the game at Virginia Tech -4 over Nebraska. Here's what I think about that spread and some others as well.
You really wonder how Vegas can set a point spread in a game like this, but they are usually pretty darn good at it and the 3, 3.5, or 4 points Nebraska is getting right now to me sounds about right. I won't go into all the stats and trends for both teams, there's a great write up by furrer over at Gobbler Country, and he has lots of stats on Virginia Tech's home OCC winning streak and how this year's Nebraska team compares to last years.
I just think its 2 fairly even teams and the Hokies are getting points for being at home. When I think back on last years game, besides getting a close up view of Erin Andrews, it was the play of Tyrod Taylor that stands out. I can assure you, it was a hostal place to play. For the most part the defense was solid (~330 yard given up to Nebraska) but the Hokies had several special teams lapses. Tyrod and the offense did their part, or to be cliche "did enough to win".
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Tyrod was efficient that night. Not stellar, but solid and efficient. Darren Evans and Kenny Lewis put up 120 yards or so rushing combined. Tyrod went 9-15 passing for 170 yards, and made some plays with his feet. He didn't have any interceptions. He converted several big 3rd downs. Tyrod didn't carry the team, but did just enough to win the game.
That's what I believe Tyrod needs to be this year. If our running game is truly cranked up like we think it is, we don't need Tyrod to carry the burden of the entire offense. We need him to just do his part: throw for 150-200 yards, makes some plays running the ball, and don't turn it over. Hopefully the offense can use play-action and get the ball spread around to the WRs and TEs. Ryan Williams, David Wilson, and Josh Ogelsby will carry the load of the offense, and the Hokies win. Simple.
Other lines that look interesting to me:
- Miami -4.5 over Georgia Tech. Respect for the Canes rising.
- UNC -7 over ECU. I can easily see Carolina losing to the Pirates this weekend.
- Maryland -5.5 over Middle Tennesee St. Ditto Maryland
- Florida -30 over UT. I know its Florida, but its also not Charleston. Wow, that is a big spread for that rivalry.
- BYU -7.5 over FSU. I would have thought that spread to be more like 10 or 12.
Should be another great weekend of football!! Go Hokies!
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