Virginia Tech is walking into Week 10 in a spot it hasn’t seen much this season: the Hokies are the underdog.
FanDuel Sportsbook has Virginia Tech listed as a 6.5-point underdog against SMU. It’s only the second time the Hokies have been in that role this year, and they handled the first one just fine.
That came on Oct. 24 at Clemson, where Virginia Tech punched its ticket to bowl eligibility with a 20-16 win. Ethan Grunkemeyer’s fourth-and-1 throw to Luke Reynolds put the Hokies in front with 1:44 remaining, and they never gave it back.
Virginia Tech enters the matchup with a 6-2 record and a 3-2 mark in ACC play. The season started fast, with four straight wins for the first time since 2017.
The Hokies rolled past VMI 73-3, then beat Old Dominion 44-21, Maryland 35-26 and Boston College 21-14 before the first setback arrived against Pitt on Oct. 2.
That loss was a wild one. Virginia Tech jumped out to a 14-0 lead, then watched Pitt answer with a 35-10 run that put the Hokies in an 11-point hole.
Virginia Tech still found a way to make it interesting, getting nine points from a Davion “FatRat” Brown touchdown catch and a Noah Chambers safety. Even then, fifth-year kicker John Love’s 36-yard attempt at the buzzer was ruled no good, and Pitt escaped with a 35-33 win.
The next week brought another close finish, this time in Berkeley. Virginia Tech fell to Cal after scoring a season-low 20 points, while the Hokies’ defense had trouble containing Golden Bears backup Jackson Brousseau, who threw for 321 yards. That total was the second-highest of Brousseau’s career.
Cal also put together a telling drive in the fourth quarter, going 14 plays and 79 yards in a little more than seven minutes to take a 19-14 lead. Virginia Tech answered with a go-ahead touchdown of its own with 1:15 left, but Cal responded in six plays and 75 yards, with 30 of those yards coming on penalties for roughing the passer and defensive pass interference. The Hokies still got one last chance, reaching Cal’s 7-yard line with three seconds left, but Grunkemeyer’s back-of-the-end-zone throw to Reynolds fell incomplete.
Virginia Tech and SMU are set for Friday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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