Virginia Tech vs Stanford: SP+ Predicts Final Score For Saturday's Game
The Hokies are back in action this week and they will be facing a program for only the second time in school history and the first time in ACC play. Virginia Tech goes on the road to play Stanford and while the Cardinal were picked to finish last in the ACC this season in the preseason poll, they have played well this year and are going to present some challenges to the Hokies. The Cardinal racked up 361 total yards against Clemson last weekend, including 236 on the ground, averaging 5.4 yards per carry. The other question is how does Virginia Tech rebound after a heartbreaking loss to Miami? Will Virginia Tech take the good things from that game and try to create momentum and get back to a bowl game or will they let it linger and affect how they play vs Stanford on Saturday?
When the sportsbooks opened on Sunday, the Hokies were a near touchdown favorite on the road vs Stanford and Bill Connelly's SP+ has them winning by nine points on Saturday. SP+ is projecting that Virginia Tech wins by a score of 32-23 and it gives the Hokies a 72% chance to win the game on Saturday.
😍🧐 WEEK 6 SP+ PICKS 🤩😼
— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) September 29, 2024
Mizzou 29, A&M 24
Ohio St 29, Iowa 12
Louisville 30, SMU 24
UGA 34, Auburn 20
Clemson 30, FSU 22
Miami 33, Cal 23
Ole Miss 32, S Caro 21
Huskies 24, Wolverines 23
Ducks 39, Spartans 11
Last 2 weeks: 55.7% ATS, 59.4% O/Uhttps://t.co/w7ALlZmRqT pic.twitter.com/rJD8fjMjo0
What exactly is SP+? Here is how Connelly himself describes it:
"As always, these are based on three primary factors: returning production (final rankings for which you can find at the bottom of this piece), recent recruiting and recent history. How good have you been recently? Whom do you have coming back? How good are the players replacing those you don't have coming back? That's loosely what we ask when we're setting expectations for a team; it's also what these projections attempt to do objectively.
As always: SP+ is a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measure of college football efficiency. It is a predictive measure of the most sustainable and predictable aspects of football, not a résumé ranking, and, along those same lines, these projections aren't intended to be a guess at what the AP Top 25 will look like at the end of the year. These are simply early offseason power rankings based on the information we have been able to gather to date."
What the Hokies have to try and do now is to take the good things they did against Miami and improve upon them while not letting the end of the game decision by the officials linger and affect them when they travel to Stanford next Saturday. This team could still have a nice season, even though the margin for error has shrunk pretty drastically over the first five weeks. They are favored against Stanford next week, then they have a much needed bye week before they take on Boston College and Georgia Tech at home. The game against Clemson will be tough, but Duke and Virginia are also winnable games. 8-4 is still on the table if they can play like they did on Friday night.
There is a reason this team is 2-3 though and part of that is inconsistency. The ending of the Miami could be a galvanizing moment for the team for the rest of the year or they could have it affect them the rest of the season and put a bowl game in jeopardy. That is the No.1 thing to watch with this team going forward the rest of the way.
Jackson Caudell has been covering Georgia Tech Athletics For On SI since March 2022 and the Atlanta Hawks for On SI since October 2023. Jackson is also the co-host of the Bleav in Georgia Tech podcast and he loves to bring thoughtful analysis and comprehensive coverage to everything that he does. Find him on X @jacksoncaudell