Florida State vs. Virginia Tech Odds
Written by Jack Jones - Google +
The Florida State Seminoles (9-3, 6-2) will head to the ACC Championship game Saturday at Lane Stadium, which is the home field of their opponent in the Virginia Tech Hokies (10-2, 8-0). The winner of this contest will go on to play in a BCS Bowl game in January. With these high stakes on the line, you can bet each team will be putting their best foot forward to achieve the goals they set out to start the season. Odds for this contest shows us a line of Virginia Tech -4 over Florida State with a total set of 52.5 points.
The Hokies have been the gold standard in the ACC, winning three conference championships since joining in 2004. They are favored to win a fourth Saturday and No. 12 Virginia Tech gets to play on their home turf, giving them an even bigger advantage. No. 20 Florida State beat the Hokies in 2000 to win the national championship, and also won the first ACC Championship game over Virginia Tech in 2005 by a final of 27-22. But things have changed here over the last few years.
Florida State finished ranked in the top five for 14 consecutive seasons from 1987-2000 under the guidance of Bobby Bowden. But their best finish since has been 11th in 2003, and Bowden has been eased out after last season. Jimbo Fisher has taken over and has done a very nice job already returning the Seminoles to contention for big-time postseason games. FSU hasn’t been to a BCS bowl since 2005 and would advance to the Orange Bowl with a victory Saturday.
Since losing to Boise State and James Madison for an 0-2 start to the season, the Hokies have reeled off 10 straight victories. Nine of those ten wins have come by double-digits, with Georgia Tech giving them their stiffest test in a 28-21 Hokies triumph. A big reason for their resurgence has been the play of QB Tyrod Taylor, who has thrown for 2,258 yards and 20 touchdowns to only 4 interceptions. Taylor has also rushed for 613 yards and 4 scores. He was injured on his first play from scrimmage in their last meeting with the Seminoles two years ago, and Florida State took advantage winning 30-20. Darren Evans has rushed for 748 yards and 10 touchdowns for Virginia Tech as well.
Florida State got into the title game thanks to some help from Maryland, who beat NC State 38-31 in their season-finale to knock the Wolfpack out of first place in the Atlantic Division. FSU was too busy beating their in-state rival in the Florida Gators 31-7 last Saturday to pay too much attention to what NC State was doing. Though they did lose to the Wolfpack in a heartbreaker 24-28, they’ll gladly accept this invitation for a chance to play in the Orange Bowl.
The Seminoles are led by fifth-year senior quarterback Christian Ponder, who is completing 62.2 percent of his passes for 2,038 yards and 20 touchdowns to 8 interceptions. They have a two-headed monster in the backfield as well. Chris Thompson has rushed for 686 yards and 5 touchdowns while averaging 6.8 yards per carry, while Ty Jones has compiled 496 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns on 6.4 yards per run. Perhaps the biggest difference in the 2010 Seminoles is their defense, which is much improved and ranks 35th in the country in total defense at 331.4 yards per game allowed. FSU has won two of three meetings with Virginia Tech since the ACC was formed.
BetUS Projected Score: Virginia Tech 28 – Florida State 24
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