North Carolina vs. VA Tech Prediction
ACC rivals clash in Blacksburg, VA on Friday night when Virginia Tech hosts North Carolina at 6:00 p.m. ET. Will these two teams score enough to cash the over with the total sitting at 63.5?
Game Snapshot
147 North Carolina Tar Heels (-5.5) at 148 Virginia Tech Hokies (+5.5); o/u 63.5
6:00 p.m. ET, Friday, September 3, 2021
Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, VA
TV: ESPN
North Carolina Tar Heels Game Notes
North Carolina senior WR Beau Corrales (lower body) has been ruled out for Friday’s game against Virginia Tech. Corrales (6’3/210) missed a significant portion of the 2020 season due to a sports hernia, and his 2021 campaign isn’t off to the best start. The senior is expected to be a key figure in the passing game for the Tar Heels, but Corrales still hasn’t fully recovered from a lower body injury that limited him throughout fall camp. The good news for North Carolina is that two offensive players who were previously limited due to injury, sophomore WR Khafre Brown and senior C Brian Anderson, are expected to be available Friday night. Brown’s return should help the Tar Heels account for the absence of Corrales.
Virginia Tech Hokies Game Notes
Virginia Tech redshirt junior RB Raheem Blackshear is in a three-way competition for the starting running back job with Keshawn King and Jalen Holston. Blackshear (5’9/198) arrived on campus last season following a transfer for Rutgers and was yanked around by the NCAA before finally getting the eligibility waiver which allowed him to play last season. He backed up star running back Khalil Herbert, accruing 255 yards and two touchdowns on 68 carries. Blackshear has been rotating through the first-team with Keshawn King and Jalen Holston, with running backs coach Adam Lechtenberg indicating the team will utilize a committee approach which had been the norm for VT before Herbert took the RB room by storm last year. The Hokies open up on September 3 when they host ACC rival North Carolina.
North Carolina vs. Virginia Tech Betting Prediction
The over has cashed in 12 of North Carolina’s last 16 games on the road and is 8-2 in the Tar Heels’ last eight games overall. In the last two seasons, both of the meetings between these two teams have also cashed the over.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK 1 PREDICTION: NORTH CAROLINA/VIRGINIA TECH OVER 63.5