After a gut-wrenching 35-33 loss to Pittsburgh on Friday night at Lane Stadium, James Franklin and the Virginia Tech football team will look ahead to a road trip to Northern California for an ACC contest with Cal on Saturday afternoon on the ACC Network.
All week long, leading into the contest, there will be talk about injuries, with Golden Bears quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele, who left Cal's non-conference loss to UNLV with an injury on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, the odds for the game were released, and the Hokies are an early double-digit favorite on the West Coast.
Virginia Tech opens as double-digit favorite against California
According to DraftKings, Virginia Tech opens as a 10.5-point favorite over the Golden Bears. That is an interesting line for a team coming off a loss the Hokies experienced against Pitt. However, expect it not to be the line as kickoff time approaches on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST, as Sagapolutele's health will have a say in where the line ends up.
This is a major trap game for Franklin and the Hokies. They are coming off a loss to a Pitt squad where they dominated the stats, but four turnovers and penalties cost them big time. The fact that they lined up for a 36-yard game-winning field goal attempt from John Love, which he hooked left was surprising.
Franklin will learn a lot about his club not only this week leading into the game, but also when they play California. A loss like the one they suffered is tough to bounce back from, and to have to do it flying cross-country is not an easy task. Furthermore, this is a revenge game for the Golden Bears after the Hokies pulled out an overtime win at Lane Stadium last fall.
Getting off to a fast start will be key for the Hokies, but expect the line to move in one direction, one way or the other by game time.
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