Virginia Tech will take on South Carolina in the first of 2 marquee matchups on Sunday afternoon.
This game will be played in a neutral-site venue — Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta. South Carolina is a preseason darling, while expectations are relatively low for Virginia Tech nationally, but the Gamecocks are favored by just 7.5 points according to most sportsbooks.
Virginia Tech vs. South Carolina full breakdown
Here’s what you need to know about the Gamecocks and Hokies before placing a bet on this game:
Virginia Tech Fact Sheet
- Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry enters this season on the hot seat. The Hokies had a lot of momentum this time last year, but sulked through another disappointing season that included losses to Vanderbilt and Rutgers.
- Kyron Drones is back for another season as Virginia Tech’s starting quarterback. Injuries limited him to 9 games a year ago and his efficiency saw an unexpected dip both as a passer and a runner.
- Virginia Tech has about 50 new players this year as the Hokies signed 20 high school recruits and 30 transfers in its 2025 recruiting class. Virginia Tech enters the year ranked 65th in ESPN’s returning production rankings.
- Philip Montgomery will be Virginia Tech’s OC this season, replacing Tyler Bowen. Montgomery was most recently a college offensive coordinator at Auburn. He was also the head coach at Tulsa from 2015-22. Despite having ties to the Air Raid, Montgomery’s offenses have often tilted toward run-heavy attacks.
- Virginia Tech also has a new defensive coordinator in Sam Skiefkes. This will seemingly be his first time calling plays for a major program. He was most recently the linebackers coach for the Arizona Cardinals. The 33-year-old did previously serve was Wofford’s defensive coordinator from 2018-20.
South Carolina fact sheet
- South Carolina has 2 of the biggest stars in the sport in quarterback LaNorris Sellers and pass rusher Dylan Stewart. That tandem, plus last year’s 9-win regular season, has the Gamecocks feeling the weight of College Football Playoff expectations entering the year.
- However, South Carolina suffered some big losses from last year’s team. Offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains left for the Appalachian State head coaching job and has been replaced by Mike Shula. Shula hasn’t been a coordinator at any level since he filled that role with the New York Giants back in 2019.
- South Carolina did get some good news this week as running back Rahsul Faison was deemed eligible by the NCAA. Faison rushed for over 1,100 yards last season at Utah State and should be the Gamecocks’ lead back this season.
- Defensively, Stewart will be the focal point. South Carolina had 5 defensive players get drafted this past spring so there’s plenty of production to replace on that side of the ball. Besides Sellers and Stewart, defensive back Jalon Kilgore was the only other South Carolina player to earn preseason All-SEC honors from the league’s coaches.
Virginia Tech vs. South Carolina best bets
I’m fading South Carolina’s defense until further notice. That’s based almost entirely on the fact that the Gamecocks lost 5 NFL Draft picks on that end plus a few more guys who were good enough to get invited to the NFL Combine. If South Carolina is suddenly developing talent at a high enough rate to replace those guys, then this is a bad bet but I’m skeptical that’s the case. Virginia Tech’s offense was pretty average last year but I like it enough to back the Hokies to put some points on the board.
Pick: Virginia Tech alt team total over 23.5 points (+118 on FanDuel)
I’m not sure I trust Virginia Tech enough to take the Hokies on the full-game spread, but I think they can and will cover +4.5 in the first half. South Carolina has a ton of moving parts on both sides of the ball and it could take awhile to adjust. I think South Carolina will probably win outright, but I expect Virginia Tech will at least get off to a good start while the Gamecocks are still feeling things out.
Pick: Virginia Tech +4.5 first half (-110 on BetMGM)
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
