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Staff Predictions: Florida State Seminoles vs Virginia Tech Hokies

Florida State is a perfect 17-for-17 and lead the nation in points scored (107) in Red Zone trips this season

By FrankDNole, Tim_Alumbaugh, JonLoesche, LastNoleofKrypton, brianpellerin, evenflow58, Jordan_Silversmith, NoleThruandThru, Matt Minnick, Jon Marchant, and Perry Kostidakis Updated
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Charles Mays/Tomahawk Nation

The 5th-ranked Florida State Seminoles (4-0, 2-0 ACC) will be hosting the Virginia Tech Hokies (2-3, 1-0 ACC) Saturday afternoon at Bobby Bowden Field in Doak Campbell Stadium. The game is being televised on the ABC Network with the kickoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

The Seminoles are looking to remain undefeated and in the driver's seat of the ACC conference standings. The Hokies are also looking to remain undefeated in conference play after beating Pitt last week. Tech’s wins came against Old Dominion and Pittsburgh, and losses to Purdue, Rutgers and Marshall.

Florida State holds a 23-13-1 advantage in the series and has won six of the last seven matchups at home dating back to Bobby Bowden’s first season in 1976. However, the Hokies have won three of the last five meetings, and have won two of the last three contests in which the Seminoles were ranked, in a series that dates back to 1955.

FSU has won 19 consecutive games when the Noles are in the Top 5 against unranked teams, a streak that began during the 2013 National Championship season. FSU is ranked in the top-5 for the fifth consecutive week, the program’s longest streak since 2013-14 when Florida State was in the top-5 for 27 consecutive polls.

With its victory at Clemson last Saturday, Florida State extended its winning streak to ten games, the 4th-longest active streak in the nation. FSU also holds the 2nd-longest streak of 30-point games at ten, and the program’s longest 30-point stretch since the 2013 national championship season. FSU’s win also snapped Clemson’s 25-home-game winning streak against ACC opponents.

The Seminoles Jordan Travis is the only player in FSU history with more than 50 passing TDs and 12 rushing TDs, and one of only four active players nationally with at least 6,500 passing yards and 1,800 rushing yards in their career.

Virginia Tech’s starting quarterback Grant Wells was injured in the fourth quarter in Tech’s game against Purdue in early September. The injury ended Wells’ 36 consecutive game start at QB and he hasn’t played since.

Wells was replaced by Baylor transfer QB Kyron Drones, who picked up his first win as a starter last week against Pitt, completing 12-of-19 passes for 228 yards and three touchdowns. He also rushed 21 times for 41 yards and two scores. For his efforts against the Panthers, Drones was named the ACC Quarterback of the Week.

Drones is expected to start against FSU with starter Wells still recovering from his ankle injury. Drones struggled in his first 2 games as a starter, but may have found his mojo last week against a bad Pitt team.

Drones is more mobile than Wells and could give the Seminole defense problems containing him. Since replacing Wells, Drones has gone 41-of-75 passing for 389 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Drones has also rushed 62 times for 294 yards and 4 touchdowns on the season.

The Hokies’ 38 points scored against the Panthers marks the 362nd consecutive game during which Virginia Tech has scored, the third-longest active streak in the nation among FBS schools.

SOME GAME DAY TRIVIA

  • Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Chris Marve spent two seasons as the linebackers coach under Mike Norvell at Florida State during the 2020-2021 seasons.
  • Florida State’s starting right tackle, Jeremiah Byers, is the half-brother of Tech starting quarterback, Kyron Drones.

According to DraftKings, the Seminoles are a 24-point favorite against the Hokies, with the over/under set at 53.

  • Read what your TOMAHAWK NATION PROGNOSTICATORS think about this Saturday’s showdown.
  • Then look over and digest all of the FREE PREGAME CONTENT we’ve posted below.
  • We would love to hear your thoughts about how you feel about this game and your final score prediction in the comments.
  • Brian Pellerin (Season record: 3-1)

Florida State is coming out of a bye week at home and I’d expect some renewed energy and drive from the group. At times in that first month of the season, it felt like they were potentially a bit too comfortable (Boston College second half, hello), but the Clemson win was huge especially heading into the off week. Reset your mind. Adjust some of your schemes. Get healthy. Dominate a VT team that isn’t your caliber.

FSU 45, VT 13

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  • NoleThruandThru (Season record: 4-0)

I expect some rust coming off the bye week but l hope most of the players are back close to 100% health. It’s remarkable how all those minor injuries and ailments can add up quickly. The two main things I want to see in this game are some life at the slot receiver position and improvement among the defensive backs. It’s time to avenge the 2018 Swag Surfers.

FSU 45, Virginia Tech 20

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  • TimScribble (Season record: 3-1)

This one has the chance of looking like the Boston College game except for the epic comeback by the Eagles. There’s a lot I’d love to see the offense work out against the Hokies, which could lead to a decent amount of points. I still expect the run game to struggle with the line not healthy. FSU wins pretty easily though.

FSU 41, VT 17

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  • Jon Marchant (Season record: 4-0)

A chance for this coaching staff to show how well they self-evaluate and a chance for this team to re-establish the level of play we expected coming into the season vs an inferior opponent. I expect a mixed bag of improvement, and a late score by the Hokies.

VT 20, FSU 38

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  • FrankDNole (Season record: 4-0)

This will be a fun game, for the Seminoles fans at the Doak. The Noles are averaging 43.3 points per game, while allowing an average of 22.5.

Virginia Tech is averaging 222 yards passing and only 3.3 yards per rushing attempt. While averaging 24.5 points per game might seem decent, it has come against the likes of Old Dominion, Purdue, Rutgers, Marshall, and Pitt.

I expect FSU to pound the ball and rush for over 200 yards on Saturday. For the first time this season, the passing game will successfully open up opportunities for the running game.

The Hokies offense will have a couple of big plays and get a few points, but the Seminole defense has much better talent and will have their best game of the season.

I also expect this game to be in garbage time in the 3rd quarter and for Tate Rodemaker to improve on his 100% completion rate. AJ Duffy will also get to see some action in the 4th quarter.

FSU Seminoles 52, Virginia Tech 20

  • Jordan Silversmith (Season Record: 3-1)

Even against an opponent under .500, this game will tell college football plenty about the Seminoles. At the end of the game, we will know if FSU figured out their Achilles heel of running quarterbacks. Kyron Drones carried the ball 22 times against Pitt, and if he has as much success on the ground as Castellanos did 2 weeks ago, watch out. Further, in Virginia Tech wins, they were above 50% on third down on offense and held opponents below that figure on defense. The struggles of Florida State on their “cash downs” are well documented; hopefully, they will come out of the bye with schematic fixes.

In truth, Florida State should roll come 3:30 Saturday afternoon, but the Hokies will put up a fight. They are massive in the trenches on both sides of the ball, with their entire offensive line standing 6’3 or taller. On defense, they do not have a player in the secondary under 6’0, taking away some of the advantages FSU produces on the outside. Since VT matches up physically with FSU and their strong ability to run the ball, the game will be close early before the Seminoles pull away. Win, but no cover.

Florida State 42 Virginia Tech 21

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  • Jon Loesche (Season record: 3-0)

A terrible ACC team is strolling into Doak with FSU ranked in the Top 5 and in the national championship hunt. Time to party like it’s 1999 (or 93).

Florida State 52 Virginia Tech 10

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Evenflow58 (Season record: 3-0)

Virginia Tech is a bad team but they found some life last week against Pitt, who is also a bad team. Hopefully FSU has figured out some things over the bye week and can establish the run early, get a big lead and get the starters out of the game. I think they could do just that as VT is pretty bad against the run. The FSU defense will be tested by Kyron Drones but I don’t think it’ll be enough to keep the Hokies close unless he can get a lot of help.

FSU 42, VT 17

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  • LastNoleOfKrypton (Season record: 4-0)

I expect both teams to come out and try to establish running the ball. VT is not the same team that lost to Old Dominion as the quarterback change has given life to the Hokies. Is Pitt bad? Yes but you have to be encouraged by what you saw last week of you're a Hokies fan.

All that being said FSU is 26-point favorites for a reason and I ultimately expect the Hokies to be overwhelmed in this one. Surprise star of the game? Destyn Hill.

FSU 48, VT 13.

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  • Matt Minnick (Season record: 4-0; 3-1 ATS)

I don’t expect FSU to lose the game outright, but I’m not convinced it’s going to be the blowout that so many in the fan base and national media want to see. Two weeks ago I would have said something like 51-17, but I don’t believe Travis is fully healthy right now and the passing game seems to have become too reliant on Wilson and Coleman. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big proponent of “players, not plays.” But guys like Bell, Spann, Wright, Hill, Benson, etc. are players too. Add in the fact that, as others have noted, VT seems to have found a spark with their QB change (and we know that FSU struggles with strong runners at QB), and it just seems like another slog where possessions are limited. FSU wins, but doesn’t cover the 24.

Seminoles 37, Hokies 20

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  • Perry Kostidakis (Season record: 4-0)

The bye week came at a perfect time for Florida State, with the Seminoles having kicked off the season on a Sunday and heading right back into action that following Saturday — after which the squad had two down-to-the-wire (and then some, in the case of Clemson) wins. That 4-0 start showcased what Florida State was capable of — but also was evidence to the team about how quickly things can go wrong if the Seminoles stop playing their game and react rather than dictate.

Virginia Tech is a great test of what progress was made in the off week. Kyron Drones brings a major challenge with his dual threat abilities, while the Hokies’ weakness on defense is defending the run — something that Florida State is desperately looking to fully get going.

Give me a game that is never in doubt or low on highlights, from both teams. Virginia Tech gets a late touchdown to cover, and Florida State heads into October with its first 5-0 start under Mike Norvell.

FSU 41, Virginia Tech 23

Florida State Seminoles vs. Virginia Tech Hokies

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