Going into Week 1, there were a lot of very interesting non-conference matchups between SEC and ACC schools. It was expected that the SEC was going to roll through the ACC schools, and that was hardly the case.
Leading into the matchup between Florida State and Alabama in Tallahassee, Seminoles quarterback Thomas Castellanos talked the talk with Alabama. He talked so much smack that it was heard throughout the college football world. The Crimson Tide heard the noise, but in the end, didn't do anything about it, falling 31-17 in a game where FSU dominated at times.
LSU went into the "other death valley" and did something that not too many teams have done at Clemson: they shut out the Tigers in the second half and rallied for a 17-10 victory. The star on defense for Brian Kelly's team was former Hokies cornerback Mansoor Delane, who looked like a totally different player than the one who played at Virginia Tech last year. Clemson, however, kept it close, but LSU's defense confused Cade Klubnik at times and left South Carolina with the seven-point win.
Then, there was Tennessee rolling over Syracuse, 45-26, in Atlanta in the first of two Aflac Kickoff games this weekend. It wasn't the start Fran Brown was looking for in his second season in New York, but now, Virginia Tech has a chance to even things up for the ACC against the SEC this weekend.
Virginia Tech has a chance to make a statement against a Top 15 ACC team
Going into the 2025 season, it is a pivotal one for the Hokies and head coach Brent Pry. The same could be said for Mike Norvell and Florida State on Saturday, and look what the Seminoles did to Alabama. Now, in a standalone Sunday afternoon matchup against No. 13 South Carolina, the Hokies have a chance to seize the moment in their season opener.
The Gamecocks enter the game as a touchdown favorite, and that has been the common theme since the line came out. It has crept a little bit toward the Hokies at DraftKings, but a lot of the money you have to think is being dropped on South Carolina. However, I have said it before and will say it again, there are a lot of Virginia Tech-type vibes around the Gamecocks at this point, as there was for the Hokies exactly one year ago. We all remember what happened one year ago in the season opener in Nashville against Vanderbilt, right?
Now, like Florida State, Virginia Tech has a chance to pull off a major upset that not a lot of people think they can in what is going to be an emotional afternoon of football for Shane Beamer, his father Frank, Brent Pry, and the Hokies' fanbase. You can make the case that Virginia Tech really doesn't have a lot to lose in the game (say, maybe for a 30-point blowout) and absolutely everything to gain.
The narrative for Florida State's season changed with one result on Saturday, and now, the Hokies can do the same by seizing the moment on Sunday against South Carolina. This would be a major step and a signature win that Pry is still in search of since arriving in Blacksburg. Is today the day?