The Hokies have impressed early this season, but they are still underdogs as they head into the mountains to face West Virginia. Can Virginia Tech spring the upset?
A season-opening upset vaulted Virginia Tech into the country’s consciousness, but it may have been too much too quickly. West Virginia welcomes their interstate rival, and with the Mountaineers favored, the Hokies’ rapid rise may be short-lived.
Here are our free college football picks and predictions for Virginia Tech at West Virginia on Sept. 18, with kickoff set for 12:00 ET.
Virginia Tech vs West Virginia odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
Despite being the only ranked team here, this line never considered moving in the Hokies’ direction. After opening at -2.5, this spread spent some of the early part of the week at an even field goal before ticking back down to -2.5, while the total remained steady at 50.5.
Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full college football odds before placing your bets.
Virginia Tech vs West Virginia picks
Picks made on 9/16/2021 at 11:20 p.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Virginia Tech vs West Virginia game info
• Location: Milan Puskar Stadium, Morgantown, WV
• Date: Saturday, September 18, 2021
• Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
• TV: FS1
Virginia Tech vs West Virginia betting preview
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.
Key injuries
Virginia Tech: James Mitchell TE (Out), Changa Hodge WR (Out), Matt Johnson LB (Questionable), Emmanuel Belmar DL (Questionable), Keonta Jenkins DB (Probable)
West Virginia: Mike O’Laughlin TE (Probable)
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.
Betting trend to know
West Virginia is 6-0-1 ATS in its last seven home games and 9-1-1 ATS in the last 11 home games as a favorite. Find more NCAA betting trends for Virginia Tech vs. West Virginia.
Virginia Tech vs West Virginia predictions
West Virginia -2.5 (-110)
Milan Puskar Stadium will be rollicking to welcome the Hokies, and they have not played in front of an opposing crowd in nearly two years. The last few times Virginia Tech did face a competent opponent on the road, it fell short, losing to its biggest rival, Virginia, to end the 2019 season, and on a last-second touchdown at Notre Dame a month earlier.
Clutch wins have not been a Justin Fuente specialty, part of why his coaching seat remains heated.
Hokies quarterback Braxton Burmeister has never wowed with his aerial attack, averaging only 155.5 yards per game this season and 7.2 yards per attempt. Without tight end James Mitchell (16.7 yards per catch in 2020), Virginia Tech’s chances of using an explosive play to take the Mountaineers crowd out of the equation fall even further.
Under 50.5 (-110)
When the Hokies upset then-No. 10 North Carolina to open the season, they did so in a monotonous slog of a game. Virginia Tech enjoyed only two plays longer than 30 yards and just one run longer than 18 yards.
The Hokies still won, 17-10, because they disrupted the Tar Heels’ explosive offense. Doing so against West Virginia’s passing game — averaging 8.7 yards per attempt and 310.5 yards per game — should drop this total well below 50.5.
The Mountaineers may prefer to open up, but to pull off the upset, a conservative approach leaning into the crowd will slow down the game, and thus the scoring.
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