The Wolfpack have had some time off since their 24-9 loss at Syracuse on October 15th, and those additional days could prove invaluable with star QB Devin Leary lost for the season with a pectoral injury. Jack Chambers will make his second straight start at QB in the Virginia Tech at NC State betting matchup.
Another beneficial thing for NC State (5-2) is the fact that the Hokies (2-5) are in quite a down year. Virginia Tech has dropped four in a row, with their two road defeats during that span coming by a 23.5 point margin. The Wolfpack, who are 4-0 at home on the year, are a -13.5 favorite for Thursday night’s tilt.
Can VT Keep This Within Two TDs?
Virginia Tech is coming off their bye last weekend as well, so traveling on the short week won’t be as big of a deal. The Hokies did some good things last game despite a 20-14 loss to Miami as +9 point home underdogs. The Hurricanes had just 107 yards rushing and were held to 20 points or less for just the second time this season.
Of course there was still plenty of bad in the loss to the Hurricanes. Miami got out to a 20-0 lead and Virginia Tech didn’t score until the 4th quarter. The Hokies also gave up 351 pass yards to Tyler Van Dyke and managed just 257 total yards themselves. VT also couldn’t pull out a win despite UM being penalized 17 times for 159 yards.
There’s not much optimism for an outright VT win in Thursday’s Virginia Tech at NC State matchup, but +13.5 seems like a lot of points with this Wolfpack offense. The Hokies gave up 40+ points in each of their last two conference road games, but both the North Carolina and Pitt offenses are world’s better than NC State’s without Leary.
NC State In a Low Scoring Affair?
The Wolfpack have the second best scoring defense in the ACC giving up just 16.9 ppg and on Thursday night they get a Virginia Tech offense that has been held to 14 points or less in three of their last four games. The Wolfpack are also third in the conference vs. the run (122.4), and also third against the pass (188.4), numbers which are 34th and 21st best in the country respectively.
Holding Virginia Tech to very little offense isn’t a worry for Dave Doeren, it’s whether his own team can put up the points. The freshman Chambers has had an extra week to practice with the 1s following his 18/30, 160 yard day vs. Syracuse in week 7. The Hokies’ defense is right in the middle of the ACC vs. both the run and the pass so they’re not great – but also not horrible.
Free Virginia Tech at NC State Betting Pick
60% of the betting public is taking the points here – in a game that likely won’t see many points (O/U 39.5). NC State is likely going to have to hold Virginia Tech to 10 points or less to cover this number, and not that that’s impossible against this offense but that requires the Wolfpack to score at least 24 of their own which seems unlikely.
Free Pick: Virginia Tech +13.5
