If the Commonwealth Cup did not have enough at stake, both the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Virginia Cavaliers are playing for bowl game odds eligibility this week.
Virginia Tech would love nothing more than to end its season with a win at Lane Stadium, continue its three-game winning streak in this rivalry, and knock Virginia out of the postseason entirely.
Virginia Tech Hokies season to date
Virginia Tech failed to emphasize quarterback Kyron Drones’s dual-threat abilities early in the season. In the first two games of the year, he rushed for 81 yards on 23 attempts, 3.5 yards per carry (sacks adjusted). Not getting him into space played a key part in Virginia Tech losing at Vanderbilt in August.
Once he was cut loose, life got much easier. A four-game stretch averaging 8.2 yards per Drones carry was the best part of the Hokies’ season, a stretch that then played into a three-game winning streak to reach 5-3 before the junior suffered the first of a few injuries. He has been limited or sidelined in each of the last three games. By no coincidence, Virginia Tech has lost those three games, throwing their bowl eligibility into doubt.
Virginia Tech Hokies remaining schedule
vs. Virginia (Saturday, November 30): Without Drones, it is difficult to put a lot of faith in Virginia Tech. The quarterback is officially questionable, but it seems increasingly unlikely he will play again this season. The Hokies should still win because of a stout defense going against a lackluster Virginia Cavaliers offense, but a low-scoring affair could get tense in the final quarter in Blacksburg.
Virginia Tech Hokies bowl game projection
Fenway Bowl
First, win this weekend. Take home the Commonwealth Cup. Run this winning streak against Virginia to four games. Then worry about a bowl game.
The win would put Virginia Tech at 6-6 overall and 4-4 in the ACC, somewhere around No. 8 in the conference. Most pertinently, the Hokies would be within a game of No. 4, and bowls are allowed to reach beyond conference standings by one game in the ACC.
But Virginia Tech has been in both the Military Bowl (2023) and the Pinstripe Bowl (2021) recently enough to reduce the options for the Hokies in the ACC’s second tier, so I will project them to play in the Fenway Bowl against someone from the American Athletic Conference.
Fenway Bowl info
- Date: Saturday, December 28, 2024
- Time: 11:30 a.m. ET
- Location: Fenway Park, Boston, MA
- Network: ESPN
