The Virginia Tech Hokies hit the road in ACC college football action when they take on the Pittsburgh Panthers. The game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. start time and it will be televised nationally on ESPN. Currently the odds for the game have Virginia Tech favored in this one.
Both Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh have had seasons that were good at times, bad at others. The Hokies and Panthers are both 1-1 in ACC play to this point in the season, but are middle of the pack at best in the Coastal Division. Virginia and Georgia Tech have already picked up a pair of conference wins, with the Cavaliers holding an advantage at the top of the standings.
The Hokies looked pretty solid against Ohio State in Columbus, but backed it up with two straight losses, at home, to East Carolina and Georgia Tech. Since then, however, the Hokies have earned solid wins over Western Michigan and North Carolina. Virginia Tech is still a pretty solid defensive club, having not allowed an opponent to score more than 28 points in a game all season.
Michael Brewer will lead the offense in this one, but he's thrown more interceptions than touchdowns this season. That won't work on the road in conference play.
Pittsburgh opened the year with three straight games, but have fallen in each of their last three games. The Panthers were looked at early on as a solid club but they only had wins over Delaware, Boston College and Florida International.
Once the Panthers played better competition, they struggled. In this one, the Panthers are going to have to run the football. They rank inside the Top 25 nationally in rushing yards per game at just over 243 per contest as James Conner leads the way with almost 900 yards on the ground for the year.
The Panther defense has done fairly well, too. Crazy as it may sound, but Florida International's 25 points are the most scored on the Panthers all season. Even in their recent skid, 24 points by Iowa and Virginia were the most points the Panthers gave up.
Because Pitt is at home this one should be close. Each team has had 12 days off heading into this one, which should give this game a heightened state as each team should be sharp.
The Hokie defense is the difference in this one.
Free Pick: Virginia Tech 24, Pittsburgh 21
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