FSU Seminoles (19) Host Va Tech Hokies (20) Monday Night

Seminoles and Hokies In Early Season ACC Play

The Virginia Tech Hokies and the Florida State Seminoles play their season openers on Monday. Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium has the Week 1 contest. This game could do a long way in determining who plays in the ACC Championship Game.

Oddsmakers opened the Seminoles as -6.5-point favorites versus the Hokies, while the game's total opened at 52. The line is now Florida State -7 and the total is at 54. ESPN will televise the game at 8 pm EST.

No. 19 Florida State begins the Willie Taggart era tonight. The 20th ranked Virginia Tech Hokies come to Tallahassee for an ACC showdown. Taggart coaches his third team in three years as he comes over from Oregon to replace Jimbo Fisher.

The Seminoles look to build off a four-game winning streak that ended 2017. They extended their streak of winning seasons to 41. Virginia Tech begins play after going 19-8 in the first two years under coach Justin Fuente.

Seminoles Have Lots of Question Marks

Taggart hands the quarterback reins to junior Deondre Francois. He beat out sophomore James Blackman for the job after missing most of 2017 with a knee injury.

Sophomore running back Cam Akers told reporters of the Seminoles' offense: "A lot of weapons, a lot of big plays, a lot of touchdowns, and a lot of points. That's all you can expect." Akers is back after rushing for 1,024 yards. That was the most ever by a Florida State freshman.

Akers also had seven touchdowns in 2017. The Seminoles are experienced along the offensive line as well. Francois threw for 210 yards against Alabama in last year's opener before going down with the injury.

He will look to senior receiver Nyqwan Murray who had 40 catches and 604 yards. Junior Keith Gavin chipped in 27 catches and 278 yards.

Hokies Return Some Key Starters

The Hokies will lean on talented quarterback Josh Jackson. He threw for a freshman school record 2,991 yards along with 20 touchdowns last year. They also boast a load of talent that they are excited to test on the big stage early on.

Jackson looks to take a step forward after registering 3,315 yards of total offense. He completed 59.6 percent of his passes last year. He will have plenty of weapons at his disposal.

Sophomore Deshawn McClease had 530 yards and  three TDs last season. He is the leading rusher that returns. Junior Eric Kumah and sophomore Sean Savoy combined for 67 catches for 778 yards in 2017.

Long-time defensive coordinator Bud Foster must introduce seven new starters on his unit. Senior defensive tackle Ricky Walker had 4.5 sacks last year. Junior defensive back Reggie Floyd had 72 tackles and three interceptions return to lead the way.

PREDICTION: Florida State 34, Virginia Tech 27

Recent Form

Name	Record	ATS	Offense	Defense	Diff	ATS Home	ATS Away	OU Record	OU Home	OU Away
Virginia Tech	9-4	6-7	40.00	14.77	25.23	4-3	2-4	3-9-1	1-5-1	2-4
Florida State	7-6	4-8-1	14.00	21.23	-7.23	3-4	1-4-1	6-7	4-3	2-4

Power Stats

Yards Per Point

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
VTECH	12.68	21.64	-8.96
FLAST	22.57	15.59	6.98

Yards Per Pass

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
VTECH	15.01	14.96	0.05
FLAST	11.90	10.46	1.44

Yards Per Rush

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
VTECH	4.55	3.39	1.16
FLAST	2.72	3.78	-1.06

Team Records

Virginia Tech Hokies

Name	Record	Home	Away	ATS	ATS Home	ATS Away	Offense	Defense	Diff
Overall	9-4	6-1	3-3	6-7	4-3	2-4	28.15	14.77	13.38
vs Conf	5-3	3-1	2-2	3-5	2-2	1-3	23.13	15.13	8.00
Last 3	2-1	1-0	1-1	1-2	0-1	1-1	17.00	14.67	2.33

Florida State Seminoles

Name	Record	Home	Away	ATS	ATS Home	ATS Away	Offense	Defense	Diff
Overall	7-6	4-3	3-3	4-8-1	3-4	1-4-1	27.85	21.23	6.62
vs Conf	3-5	1-3	2-2	0-7-1	0-4	0-3-1	19.50	25.13	-5.63
Last 3	3-0	2-0	1-0	3-0	2-0	1-0	40.67	15.00	25.67

Supergrid

Title	Stat	Rank	Stat	Rank
Away Team Overall Scoring vs Home Team Overall Defense	28.15	69	21.23	30
Awy Team Road Passing vs Home Team Home Passing Defense	245.50	44	221.00	75
Away Team Road Rushing vs Home Team Home Rushing Defense	175.50	44	117.00	28
Home Team Overall Scoring vs Away Team Overall Defense	27.85	71	14.77	4
Hme Team Home Passing vs Away Team Road Passing Defense	219.71	79	219.83	51
Home Team Home Rushing vs Away Team Road Rushing Defense	204.86	35	136.50	26

Head To Head Summary

Name	Record	ATS	OU	Score	Rush	YPR	PA	CP	PY	TY	TO +/-
Virginia Tech	2-5	3-4	6-1	27.71	128.29	3.10	30.43	54.46	251.14	379.43	1.86
Florida State	5-2	4-3	6-1	30.71	60.57	2.07	31.43	56.82	257.71	318.29	1.43

Head To Head Detail

Date	Away	Home	Score	Line	Total	OU Result	ARY	APY	ATY	ATT	HRY	HPY	HTY	HTT	Away Team Attempts	Home Team Attempts	Away Team Completions	Home Team Completions
Nov 8, 2012	FLAST	VTECH	28-22	-15	326	311	2	87	298	385	3
Dec 4, 2010	FLAST	VTECH	33-44	53	288	341	2	179	263	442	0
Oct 25, 2008	VTECH	FLAST	20-30	82	161	243	2	89	159	248	0
Nov 10, 2007	FLAST	VTECH	21-40	116	151	267	3	188	207	395	1
Dec 3, 2005	FLAST	VTECH	27-22	47	225	272	0	41	335	376	2
Jan 1, 2002	VTECH	FLAST	17-30	43	269	312	2	104	326	430	2
Jan 4, 2000	VTECH	FLAST	29-46	278	225	503	3	30	329	359	1

College Football Betting Odds & Trends

Virginia Tech Hokies
Virginia Tech is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
VTech is 18-7 SU in its last 25 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Virginia Tech's last 6 games
VTech is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Virginia Tech is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Virginia Tech's last 5 games on the road
Virginia Tech is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing Florida State
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Virginia Tech's last 5 games when playing Florida State

Florida State Seminoles
FState is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Florida State is 4-8-1 ATS in its last 13 games
FState is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Florida State is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
FState is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing Virginia Tech
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Florida State's last 5 games when playing Virginia Tech

Team Last 5 Games

Virginia Tech Hokies

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	ATS Result	offensive rush yards	offensive passing yards	offensive total yards	defensive rush yards	defensive passing yards	defensive total yards	turnovers	Location
Dec 28, 2017	OKLAST	21-30	L	6.5/60.5	L/U	248	270	518	141	351	492	2	A
Nv 24, 2017	VIRGNA	10-0	W	-6.5/48.5	W/U	202	143	345	5	186	191	0	A
Nov 18, 2017	PITT	20-14	W	-14/48.5	L/U	157	218	375	55	311	366	-1	H
Nv 11, 2017	GATECH	22-28	L	-3/47.5	L/O	105	153	258	261	140	401	-1	A
Nov 4, 2017	MI-FL	10-28	L	2.5/49.5	L/U	102	197	299	219	210	429	1	A

Florida State Seminoles

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	ATS Result	offensive rush yards	offensive passing yards	offensive total yards	defensive rush yards	defensive passing yards	defensive total yards	turnovers	Location
Dec 27, 2017	S.MISS	42-13	W	-11.5/48	W/O	214	238	452	131	129	260	-1	H
Dec 2, 2017	UL.MON	42-10	W	-25.5/63.5	W/U	305	199	504	38	262	300	2	H
Nov 25, 2017	FLA	38-22	W	-5/43.5	W/O	88	128	216	96	184	280	-3	A
Nv 18, 2017	DELAST	77-6	W	-51/		246	236	482	15	177	192	-2	H
Nov 11, 2017	CLEM	14-31	L	16/44.5	L/O	21	208	229	227	151	378	0	A

Next up:
Virginia Tech home to William & Mary Saturday, September 8
Florida State home to Samford Saturday, September 8

Get Your Early Bird Promo Bonus at BetPhoenix Online Sportsbook!!!