Virginia Tech vs Rutgers Odds, Prediction

Virginia Tech vs. Rutgers Odds

It’s an unsexy weekend of college football, so what better way to celebrate the moment than with a couple of unsexy teams?

Greg Schiano could have his best team yet in the fourth season of his second stint at Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are off to a 2-0 start and have dominated a couple of bad teams.

Virginia Tech hopes to have more success than a three-win season in 2022. It will likely need to win this game to keep its bowl-eligible hopes alive.

The Hokies have already lost one game in Big Ten competition this season (Purdue), but the Scarlet Knights probably won’t be on the same level as the Boilermakers. Will Virginia Tech’s fortunes change this week or will Rutgers remain perfect on the season?

Find a betting pick, preview and prediction for Virginia Tech vs. Rutgers next.

It’s been a lackluster start to Brent Pry’s second season at Virginia Tech, with the Hokies splitting their first pair of games and the offense failing to inspire confidence.

Quarterback Grant Wells hasn’t made a significant jump since 2022. While his yardage average is better (over 240 yards in both games), his overall completion percentage is just 53.2 percent and he threw two costly interceptions against Purdue last week.

The final score of last week’s game may only show a seven-point loss, but the Hokies scored all 17 of their points in a six-minute span of the second quarter. Their second-half drives ended in four punts, an interception and a turnover.

Worse yet, the Hokies only rushed for 11 yards on 22 carries throughout the game. They currently rank 129th and 130th, respectively, in rush success rate and line yards, so a Rutgers defense that has already limited one Big Ten team (Northwestern) to 12 yards in Week 1 is expected to have a feast.

Forcing Wells to be the focal point of the offense is not a recipe for success for Virginia Tech.

Is Rutgers playful this season? A 2-0 start with a pair of blowout wins suggests it may no longer be the doormat of the Big Ten East.

The Scarlet Knights’ offense was firing on all cylinders in Week 2 against a bad Temple Owls team, where they surpassed 400 yards against an FBS opponent for the fifth time since a 36-7 win over the Owls in 2016.

Quarterback Gavin Wimsatt has avoided shooting his team in the foot, completing just over 50% of his passes without turning the ball over. It allows the running game in Kirk Ciarrocca’s offense to do most of the work, with the Scarlet Knights running the ball 95 times in two games.

Rutgers’ defense has held up its end of the bargain, allowing just one touchdown and forcing two turnovers in each game. The brightest spot so far has been the season-opening performance against Northwestern, where the Wildcats gained just 201 yards, 189 of which came through the air.

Toggle the dropdown menus below to hide or show how Virginia Tech and Rutgers match up statistically:

Virginia Tech offense vs. Rutgers defense

Hasty success	129	51
Yards of line	130	27
Past events	75	28
Havoc	73	5
Finishing units	86	29
Quality units	109	4

Rutgers offense vs. Virginia Tech defense

Hasty success	85	107
Yards of line	91	111
Past events	64	Four. Five
Havoc	18	53
Finishing units	68	61
Quality units	76	57

Pace of play/Other

Approach to PFF	127	7
FFP coverage	124	3
SP+ Special Equipment	twenty-one	43
Medium 8	14	74
Seconds per play	24.7 (33)	30.0 (113)
Rush rate	48.2% (85)	65.8% (7)

If you like offensive firepower, this game probably isn’t for you, and the total reflects that with a number under 40.

The Hokies struggled to run the ball last week against a Big Ten defense, and even against Old Dominion, Virginia Tech averaged just 2.5 yards per carry on 43 attempts.

Meanwhile, Virginia Tech has struggled to stop the run, allowing 200 rushing yards to Old Dominion and 178 to Purdue on a sloppy field. Rutgers has avoided deadly mistakes this season and is comfortable running the ball 40-50 times per game if that’s what works.

I see the Hokies struggling to score more than 10 points in Piscataway, while the Scarlet Knights should have success by methodically moving down the field.

Rutgers opened as a 4.5-point favorite and has taken money to get to -6.5, but I’m comfortable backing the Scarlet Knights in this spot to a touchdown.

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