Virginia Tech heads into its Oct. 10 trip to Cal with the betting market firmly on its side.
FanDuel Sportsbook has the Hokies installed as 10.5-point favorites over the Golden Bears, with the over/under sitting at 52.5 points for the Saturday afternoon matchup in Berkeley.
That number comes on the heels of a frustrating 35-33 loss to Pitt, a game Virginia Tech nearly stole late. The Hokies chipped away at an 11-point deficit with a Noah Chambers safety and Davion "FatRat" Brown’s first receiving touchdown of his college career, but John Love’s 36-yard field goal try to win it drifted wide left.
“We had a chance, obviously, to win it at the end,” said Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin. “Everybody’s going to focus on the last play, and this isn’t coach-speak. We’re going to watch this tape and there’s going to be 20 plays that we could’ve made throughout the game to put us in a better position and not be in that situation at the end.”
Even in defeat, quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer turned in a huge statistical day. He threw for a career-high 434 yards, the second-most passing yards in a single Virginia Tech game dating back to at least 1987 and trailing only Bryan Randall’s 504-yard effort against Syracuse in 2002. The flip side was ugly, too: Grunkemeyer lost one of two fumbles and threw two interceptions, his first picks of the season.
For the year, Grunkemeyer has completed 131 of 177 passes for 1,446 yards, good for No. 7 in the FBS. He’s added 11 touchdown throws against four interceptions, and his 79.7 quarterback rating on ESPN ranks No. 23 nationally.
Virginia Tech’s 4-0 start was its first since 2017, built on wins over VMI, Old Dominion, Maryland and Boston College before the Pitt setback snapped the run.
Cal, meanwhile, enters this one with a different kind of pressure. The Golden Bears opened with a 45-24 loss to UCLA in Berkeley, then beat Syracuse 21-18 to start ACC play 1-0. Since then, though, they’ve taken a sharp turn, falling 49-7 to Wagner and then dropping back-to-back games to Clemson and UNLV.
The UNLV loss was especially costly. Jackson Arnold accounted for five scores against the Cal defense in a 39-31 game, and quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele left in the second quarter after taking a hit to the head and did not return. Sagapolutele has completed 107 of 164 passes this season for 1,180 yards, eight touchdowns and five interceptions.
Virginia Tech and Cal are set to kick at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 10, with ACC Network carrying the broadcast.
In Other News...
Virginia Fans Get A Fresh Homecomings Storyline On Tony Elliotts Show
Virginias Coachs Corner radio show is set to return Oct. 6, giving fans another chance to get a little closer to Tony Elliotts program as the Cavaliers head into a busy stretch. The show will broadcast from Dairy Market in Charlottesville from 7-8 p.m., with ticket and merchandise giveaways on the docket and fans invited to send in questions through social media.
The timing fits neatly with Virginias annual Homecomings game against Syracuse at Scott Stadium, so the program will have plenty to talk about as the weekend approaches. This weeks guest adds some fresh interest to the conversation, and it should give supporters another look at a newcomer who has already started making his presence felt in the Cavaliers defensive mix. [Read more 🡒]
Virginias ACC Hopes Now Ride On A Brutal Remaining Stretch
Virginias early-season position has made the rest of the schedule feel a lot heavier. At 3-2, the Cavaliers are still in the ACC conversation, but the margin for error is thin enough that every remaining Saturday starts to look like a tiebreaker in disguise. A recent look at the stretch ahead sorted the upcoming opponents by difficulty, giving a useful snapshot of where Virginia can afford to breathe and where the path gets much tighter.
There is at least one spot where the Cavaliers should like their chances, with Syracuse standing out as the most favorable matchup left. But the broader problem is the cluster of games around it, where North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest all present different kinds of stress points for a team trying to stay relevant deep into the league race. The race for the conference title is still alive, just not in a comfortable way, and the next few weeks will show whether Virginia can keep pace or start sliding into the pack. [Read more 🡒]
Virginias SMU Trip Just Got Much Bigger For The ACC Race
Virginias trip to SMU on Oct. 17 now carries a little more spotlight, with the Atlantic Coast Conference setting the kickoff for noon and putting the game on the CW Network. It arrives at an important point in the Cavaliers schedule, coming after a Homecoming date at home against Syracuse and before a road stretch that will help define where Virginia stands in the ACC picture.
The matchup has taken on added weight because both Virginia and SMU have already stumbled in league play, turning what might have looked like a solid midseason test into one with real conference consequences. With the ACC race already tightening, this meeting now feels like one of those October games that can reshape the path to Charlotte in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]