Virginia Tech at Vanderbilt, Saturday, 12 p.m. ET (ESPN)
BetMGM College Football Odds: Virginia Tech by 13 1/2.
Series record: Virginia Tech leads 6-3.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
Not only is this a key Power Four showdown to kick off the season, both Virginia Tech and Vanderbilt desperately need a big victory. Virginia Tech is trying to build going into coach Brent Pry’s third season. The Hokies went 7-6 last season, capping the season with their first bowl win since 2016 by beating then-No. 23 Tulane in the Military Bowl. Vanderbilt coach Clark Lea took control of the defense going into his fourth season. With a 9-27 record at his alma mater, Lea has a handful of new coaches working for him along with 51 new Commodores.
KEY MATCHUP
Virginia Tech has all 11 starters back on offense and also carries a streak of scoring in 370 consecutive games. That’s not only fourth all-time, it’s also the fourth-best active streak. Lea has six starters back on defense and his experience coordinating very stingy defenses at Notre Dame to tap. Vanderbilt has lots of room for improvement after ranking 126th last season allowing 36.1 points per game.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Virginia Tech: QB Kyron Drones. He started 11 games last season throwing for 2,085 yards and 17 touchdowns with only three interceptions. He also ranked second on the team by rushing for 818 yards with five more scores. He threw 160 straight passes without an interception, the longest streak by a Hokies quarterback since at least 1987.
Vanderbilt: QB Diego Pavia. The graduate transfer was the Conference USA offensive player of the year at New Mexico State last season. He led the Aggies to 10 wins, including a rout of Auburn. Pavia ranked 36th in FBS throwing for 2,973 yards. He also threw for 26 TDs with nine interceptions. Better yet, Lea also hired Pavia’s offensive coordinator Tim Beck to take the same job and coach quarterbacks at Vanderbilt.
FACTS & FIGURES
Virginia Tech has won five straight in this series with the last meeting in 1989. … Virginia Tech last played a Southeastern Conference team in the 2019 Belk Bowl when the Hokies faced Kentucky. … Pry was co-defensive coordinator at Vanderbilt between 2011 and 2013. … Vanderbilt is opening the season against a nonconference team from a power conference for the first time since 2010 when the Commodores started against Northwestern. They opened both the 2019 and 2020 seasons against SEC teams. … FirstBank Stadium remains a construction site. The portable video board hanging from a crane is gone with the north end zone expected to be ready and open for this game. The south end zone will not be open until the 2025 season.
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