TheSpread.com

OC Dooley

Virginia Tech +13.5

It is easy to see why Florida State has been cast as a prohibitive favorite this evening even though host Virginia Tech has won seven of the most recent eight games played in front their own fans.  The Seminoles are the only squad with a Top-10 ranking in ten national categories and the only school with a top-eight ranking in both total offense and total defense.  A suffocating Seminoles stop-unit has held the opposition to a grand total of 60 different “three and out” possessions which is tops in Division I-A.  On the flipside the entire country in an ESPN Thursday telecast last week saw Virginia Tech lose a 30-12 final verdict on the road at Miami.  However it is worth mentioning that the contest was not that one-sided considering  that the Hokies WON the statistics in four different categories (first downs, third down efficiency, totals yards, time of possession).  It was a few weeks ago in a nationally televised Saturday telecast when Georgia’s defense responded to criticism by one of their players in what resulted in an outright upset versus Florida.  Earlier this week Virginia Tech wide receiver Marcus Davis was also vocal calling out his team for a lack of leadership.  A Washington Post interview quotes Davis as saying that the Hokies do not quote “have the same attitude as we used to have” which in my opinion should fire up the troops.  The last time these two schools met was in the 2010 ACC Conference championship game which was won by the Hokies whose offense responded in a 44-33 spread triumph.  I am aware that Virginia Tech is 1-4 straight up in the past five games and has their worst record this deep into the season since way back in 1992.  But dating back to that 1992 campaign Virginia Tech has always responded where it counts (15-5 ATS) when shaking off consecutive losses in part due to a veteran coaching staff that does not hit the panic button