The Virginia Tech football team has headed west for an ACC game at California on Saturday afternoon at California Memorial Stadium. There are more unknowns than knowns for the Hokies leading up to kickoff, as both teams are dealing with injuries, and the availability of some players will be up in the air until kickoff.
Both teams are looking for a bounce-back win after the Hokies suffered a two-point loss at home last Friday night to Pittsburgh, while the Golden Bears dropped a non-conference game at UNLV and suffered a handful of injuries, including to quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. Here is a look at the final odds before kickoff and a prediction.
Virginia Tech vs. California: odds, spread, and total
Odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook
Moneyline
- Virginia Tech (-375)
- California (+295)
Spread
- Virginia Tech -10 (-110)
- California +105 (-110)
Total
- 53.5 (over -108/under -112)
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
Virginia Tech vs. California prediction
This is a classic bounce-back game for Virginia Tech. We'll learn a lot about James Franklin's club and how resilient they really are. Losing in the fashion they did to Pitt was a huge gut-punch for the Hokies. They turned the ball over four times; quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer threw for 434 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions, while the running game was nonexistent. Still, somehow, they had a chance to win the game, but John Love's 36-yard chip-shot field goal as time expired missed wide left.
A lot of how this game turns out will depend on Sagapolutele. Virginia Tech fans saw how good he was last season as a true freshman in Blacksburg in a double-overtime Hokies victory. He single-handedly nearly led Cal to a win. However, he was knocked out against UNLV with what was reported to be a concussion and was cleared to go back into the game, but head coach Tosh Lupoi decided to hold him out as a precaution.
For Virginia Tech, this game will come down to establishing a running game to take some of the pressure off of Grunkmeyer and whether or not Brent Pry's defense can force a turnover or two against the Golden Bears. Given what we have seen so far from the Hokies this season in terms of being resilient, we'll go with them to bounce back and pick up a third road win in 2026.
Prediction: Virginia Tech 34, California 24
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