College Gameday Crew Makes Their Picks For Virginia Tech vs Rutgers

Who did everyone on College Gameday pick for today's matchup between Virginia Tech

Sep 7, 2024; Blacksburg, Virginia, USA; Virginia Tech Hokies quarterback Kyron Drones (1) run for a touchdown during the third quarter against Marshall Thundering Herd cornerback Jacobie Henderson (10) at Lane Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images / Peter Casey-Imagn Images

The College Gameday crew was in Norman, Oklahoma this morning for the big SEC matchup between the Sooners and the Volunteers. While that was the big game of the day, the Gameday crew made sure to give their thoughts on the matchup in Blacksburg today between Virginia Tech and Rutgers.

Guest picker Blake Shelton was on the side of the Hokies, picking Virginia Tech alongside Nick Saban, Pat McAfee, and Lee Corso.

However, Desmond Howard and Kirk Herbstreit both faired on the side of the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

Our own RJ Schafer had this to say about the matchup today:

"Yet again, the Virginia Tech Hokies are set to face off against an out-of-conference foe who plays in a seemingly better conference. First, it was the Vanderbilt Commodores, a team which took down the Hokies at home to hand Virginia Tech its first loss of the season, and now Virginia Tech is set to invite Rutgers into Lane Stadium, hoping to get revenge from last year’s matchup.

Rutgers and Virginia Tech both head into this game with some large non-conference streaks heading into the game, with one team on a more negative side than the other. Virginia Tech is looking to end an 11-game losing streak against Power Four non- conference foes, a streak that was thought to end in week one of this year, and Rutgers enters this game with a streak of nine non-conference wins, a much different story than how the Hokies have looked out of conference.

That’s one of the biggest storylines heading into this game, as Brent Pry hasn’t garnered a highlight win to his name yet, with the exception of the Military Bowl win against #23 Tulane. Besides that, Virginia Tech has struggled against tough out-of-conference opponents, but that could change today with a big game from Brent Pry’s squad.

As some may recall, these two teams used to play often, as in the days of the Big East in football, Rutgers and Virginia Tech would face off every year. That didn’t end well for the Scarlet Knights, as the Hokies won twelve games in a row from 1993 to 2012–also important to note that eleven of these games were conference games, with the last of these matchups being the Russell Athletic Bowl in 2012. Outside of that win streak though, Virginia Tech hasn’t won a game in this series, but still holds a record of 12-4 against the Scarlet Knights. Rutgers only wins have came at home, one in 2023, one in 1992, one in 1953, and one in 1920."