3 bold Virginia Tech predictions against Marshall

Going into their home opener against Marshall Saturday at Lane Stadium, the Virginia Tech football team will be looking for a bounce back effort on a number of levels. The Hokies will be looking to get the sour taste of last Saturday’s 34-27 overtime season-opening loss to Vanderbilt out of their mouth and also get a measure of revenge on the Thundering Hurd for last season's seven-point loss on the road.

All the returns out of Blacksburg have been positive this week from head coach Brent Pry to the players that last weekend’s loss is in the rearview mirror and they're onto Marshall. They are going to need a better effort if they want to get into the win column. Here are three bold predictions for Virginia Tech for Saturday.

Virginia Tech scored 38-plus points

Last week the Hokies offense started slow and expect them to start faster this week. They scored just three first-half points before exploding for 24 in the second half, looking more like the offense we expected from the start. 

Throwing the ball downfield early will open up the running game, which allowed Bhayshul Tuten and quarterback Kyron Drones to run the ball. It’s important that offensive coordinator Tyler Bowen gets the ball in his playmaker's hands early on the outside and the offensive line to have a better start blocking and protecting Drones. The gut feeling here is they will.

Virginia Tech doesn’t cover the spread

File this under here we go again. The Hokies went into Nashville as a double-digit favorite only to lose. This week, they opened as a double-digit favorite against Marshall and it quickly ballooned to 20 points from 16.5. The home opener at Lane Stadium in front of a fanbase that has been waiting for them to play in Blacksburg should be a simple cover, right? Maybe not.

This should be a number that they cover and a week ago you would have said that they would cover, but recent September struggles in the last couple of seasons have you thinking otherwise. It’s a big line and in the end, right now, it’s about getting a win and not worrying about the line.

Virginia Tech wins the turnover battle

Last week Virginia Tech lost the turnover battle with the Commodores and it proved very costly. A first-quarter interception led to a Vanderbilt touchdown to help build more first-half momentum on their way to a 17-3 halftime lead. In the end in a seven-point loss, those turned out to be a huge seven points off the turnover.

Virginia Tech’s defense should be better this weekend and expect some takeaways while the offense does a better job protecting the ball. We know how things went last season when Virginia Tech won the turnover battle.

Again, this is all about getting a win and getting some of the good feeling back for the Hokies who can’t afford to drop two straight out of the gate to begin the season.