Virginia Tech vs Middle Tennessee 9/11/21 College Football Picks, Odds, Predictions

The Virginia Tech Hokies meet the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in week 2 college football action from Lane Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders will look to build on their 50-15 rout over Monmouth in their last game. Bailey Hockman threw for 215 yards and 3 touchdowns on 17 of 22 passing while Frank Peasant and Brad Anderson had 27 and 25 rushing yards respectively. Chaton Mobley added 24 rushing yards with a touchdown and Martell Pettaway added a rushing score of his own. Jaylin Lane led the Raiders with 4 grabs for 91 yards and a touchdown while CJ Windham had 5 grabs for 46 yards and a score and DJ England-Chisolm added 42 receiving yards with a score. On defense, DQ Thomas had a team-high 9 total tackles while Decorian Patterson and Teldrick Ross each had 6 solo tackles with Ross logging a pick-six. Marley Cook, Tra Fluellen and Jordan Ferguson each had a sack as well for the Blue Raiders in the victory.

The Virginia Tech Hokies will look to build on their massive 16-10 season-opening win over North Carolina last time out. Braxton Burmeister threw for 169 yards, an interception and a touchdown on 12 of 19 passing while rushing for 42 yards and a touchdown as well. Jalen Holston had a team-high 49 rushing yards while Raheem Blackshear led Virginia Tech with 66 receiving yards and Tre Turner had 4 catches for 64 yards. James Mitchell added 3 catches for 36 yards and a touchdown. On defense, TyJuan Garbutt had a pair of sacks and Amare Barno had 1.5 sacks while Alan Tisdale and Mario Kendricks each had a sack. Chamarri Conner led the Hokies with 8 total tackles, including 6 solo tackles and an interception while Dax Hollifield and Jermaine Walker each added an INT to the win as well.

Middle Tennessee is 13-5 ATS in their last 18 week 2 matchups and 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games overall while the over is 4-1 in their last 5 road games. Virginia Tech is 2-4 ATS in their last 6 games overall and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games played on Saturday while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 home games.

Some are questioning if there’s a bit of a letdown here with the Hokies coming off of the win over UNC and with Virginia Tech having bigger fish to fry in the ACC down the road. However, I need to see more than a win over Monmouth before really trusting the Hawks in a step-up spot like this even with a large amount of points. I’ll lay it and play it with Virginia Tech as I think the Hokies keep the ball rolling.