The No. 20 Virginia Tech Hokies are receiving eight points from oddsmakers as they get their 2018 campaign underway against their conference rival No. 19 Florida State Seminoles at Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium. The game kicks off at 8:00 p.m. ET and ESPN is in line to televise the action.
Betting Preview: Florida State Seminoles vs. Virginia Tech Hokies
Virginia Tech is a big road underdog in this early-edition ACC game and is currently receiving 8 points. The Hokies are also receiving +250 moneyline odds while the Seminoles are -330. There will likely be some decent live betting opportunities in this game, and Vegas has determined the over/under (O/U) to be 56.5 points.
Sharp bettors tend to be siding with both the Noles and the over. The line initially opened at -6 while the O/U was originally set at only 52.
The Hokies were 9-4 straight-up (SU) last season while the Noles could only manage a 7-6 SU record in 2017. Against conference competition, the Hokies were 5-3 SU while the Seminoles were 3-5 SU versus Atlantic Coast programs. The Hokies were 4-0 SU against non-conference teams and the Seminoles were 3-1 SU against non-conference competition.
On a per-matchup basis, the Hokies averaged 289.0 passing yards and 218.3 rushing yards against their four out-of-conference opponents last season. They managed to score 40.0 points per game versus those teams while giving up 10.3 per contest. When taking the field against Atlantic Coast competition, those figures regressed across the board, as they scored an average of 23.1 points and gave up 15.1 points per contest. When the dust had settled on the season, they had ultimately put up 210.9 pass yards per game and 141.6 rush yards per game.
Against out-of-conference foes, the Noles passed for 193.3 yards per game and ran for 169.8 per game on their way to 41.0 points per contest. When facing Atlantic Coast opponents, the offensive unit recorded 19.5 points per game by averaging 192.5 pass yards and 141.4 rushing yards. The Seminoles defense yielded 15.5 PPG to non-conference foes and 25.1 PPG to teams in conference.
These two conference adversaries did not get a chance to play each other in 2017.
Virginia Tech Hokies vs. Florida State Seminoles Betting Pick
SU Winner: Florida State, ATS Winner: Florida State, O/U: Over
Team Betting Notes
- The Hokies offensive line gave up 23 sacks last season. Their defense created 32 sacks.
- Florida State quarterbacks were sacked 32 times last season. Their defense forced 29 sacks,
- The Hokies created 19 rushing touchdowns last season.
- The Seminoles put up 18 rushing touchdowns last season.
- The Hokies put up 3.9 yards per carry last season while allowing 3.4 YPC to opponents.
- The Seminoles recorded 4.4 yards per carry last season and gave up 3.8 YPC to opponents.
- Both of these teams recorded exactly 21 passing touchdowns last season.
