It'll be a Friday night ACC opener for No. 7 Miami and Virginia Tech
Miami head coach Mario Cristobal calls a play against South Florida during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, Sept. 21, 2024, in Tampa, Fla. Credit: AP/Chris O'Meara
Virginia Tech (2-2, 0-0 ACC) at No. 7 Miami (4-0, 0-0), Friday, 7:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)
BetMGM College Football Odds: Miami by 19 1/2.
Series record: Miami, 25-15.
WHAT’S AT STAKE?
It's the ACC opener for both teams, as they enter their 21st year in the conference. Miami has a chance to open 5-0 and potentially move even higher in the AP Top 25, while Virginia Tech gets the opportunity to bounce back following a loss to Rutgers last week and possibly build some real momentum.
KEY MATCHUP
Miami QB Cam Ward vs. Virginia Tech's secondary. This one should be a very good battle. The Hokies have given up an average of 160 yards per game through the air thus far, while Ward has thrown for at least 300 yards in each of Miami's first four games and enters the week leading the nation with 14 touchdown throws.
Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry walks the sideline during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Vanderbilt, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. Credit: AP/George Walker IV
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Virginia Tech: RB Bhayshul Tuten has posted three consecutive 100-yard games (he's averaging 119 yards rushing per game in that span) and needed only 15 carries to pile up 122 yards last week against Rutgers.
Miami: The entire defense. Really, it's getting impossible to pick a defensive player of the week for the Hurricanes. Defensive coordinator Lance Guidry has the group flying, and that's even with star lineman Rueben Bain having missed all but a few plays of the opener against Florida. Bain is nearing a return.
FACTS & FIGURES
In ACC openers, Virginia Tech is 15-5 (with four straight wins) and Miami is just 10-10 (with three straight losses). ... Miami has won three in a row over the Hokies. The Hurricanes haven’t had a longer run of wins against Virginia Tech since going 12-0 to start the series from 1953 through 1994. ... Virginia Tech will try to avoid a third consecutive 2-3 start. In 31 seasons between 1991 and 2021, the Hokies were under .500 after five games only three times. ... Miami could be 5-0 at the end of September for the first time in program history. The Hurricanes have played at least five games before Oct. 1 on six other occasions (they went 4-2 in 1984; 4-1 in 2007, 2012 and 2018; 3-2 in 2014; and 2-3 in 2021). ... Miami’s Mario Cristobal — who celebrated his 54th birthday on Tuesday — is seeking what would be the first 5-0 start to a season in his 13 years as a head coach, counting his previous stops at FIU and Oregon.
