Virginia Tech FPI continues to surge after blowout of Stanford

The Virginia Tech football team showed no hangover following their 38-34 loss at Miami on Sept. 27 when they traveled out to California to play Stanford. Instead of letting the loss linger and compound into another loss against Stanford, the Hokies played a good 60 minutes Saturday afternoon to roll to a 31-7 win over the Cardinal.

The Hokies shutout Stanford in the first half to take a 14-0 halftime lead, before scoring on the opening drive of the second half to take a commanding 21-0 lead. The defense bent a few times, but never broke like they had earlier in the season. After the win, Virginia Tech saw a massive jump in their FPI at ESPN to crack the Top 30.

Virginia Tech’s FPI soars after Stanford victory

The Hokies Football Power Index (FPI) at ESPN jumped 14 spots from No. 42 to 28 after the win over the Cardinal. It was the third-largest jump of any school over the weekend. West Virginia went up 18 spots to No. 33 after a 38-14 win over Oklahoma State, while Vanderbilt (remember them?) saw theirs jump 16 spots to No. 41 after they defeated top-ranked Alabama, 40-35, at home on Saturday afternoon. That season-opening loss for the Hokies in Nashville doesn’t look so bad now, does it?

I know a lot of people don’t put stock into this, but what does this mean? Not a lot really, however, it means that things are certainly going in the right direction for head coach Brent Pry and his team. Things could have gone off the rails heading into their first bye week of the season, but they were able to travel cross-country and post an impressive win. After their bye they get four of their final games at Lane Stadium, all ACC games, and need to at least split them to become bowl-eligible. It’s certainly doable.