Wake Forest vs Virginia Tech Odds & Prediction: Why to Bet the Under

This is a great "how the mighty have fallen" matchup out of the ACC.

For the last two years, Wake Forest was an ACC darling and a popular dark horse to win the conference. Unfortunately for this iteration of the Demon Deacons, Sam Hartman is not walking through that door again.

Virginia Tech has been terrible recently, but was a powerhouse as recently as 2011. However, we've seen the Hokies slowly descend from powerhouse, to above average, to good, to below average, to now just not a good football program.

Someone has to bounce back in this matchup and change the course of their program. Just kidding, the winner of this game won't see their program change, so thank god we can gamble on Wake Forest vs. Virginia Tech.

When you look at this Wake Forest team, it's really hard to come away with any conclusion other than its offense is awful. The Demon Deacons rank in the bottom 15 in Offensive Explosiveness, Havoc Allowed and points per drive.

As we noted in the intro, Hartman is not walking through that door.

In that light, current signal caller Mitch Griffis must improve. Of quarterbacks with at least 50 dropbacks, Griffis has the third-highest Turnover Worthy Play rate (8.4%). This is reflected in his passing grade of 56.9 on the season.

However, despite having less than ideal quarterback play (Griffis ranks below 100th in qualifying QB PFF grade), this offense hasn't completely fallen apart around him. He's at least doing enough to give the Deacs an average Success Rate (73rd) and Explosiveness mark (74th) when passing the ball.

Griffis hasn't had a lot of help from the run game. While the Deacs' Rushing Success Rate is 53rd, their rushing Explosiveness is 131st.

Look for Tech to force Griffis to put the ball in the air once it establishes that it can stop the run.

I see a lot of field goals and punts in Wake's future.

I know I just outlined how bad Wake's offense is, but believe it or not, Virginia Tech's is bad as well.

The Hokies rank 97th in Offensive Success Rate, 91st in Havoc Allowed, 78th in Explosiveness and 78th in points per opportunity.

With those metrics, it's unsurprising that Tech struggles both running and passing the ball, ranking 87th in Rushing Success Rate and 100th in Passing Success Rate.

We outlined that Wake Forest had a decent PFF grade despite bad quarterback play, but the Hokies, unfortunately, are in an opposite spot.

QB Kyron Drones has the 68th-best PFF grade among quarterbacks with at least 50 dropbacks (73 offensive grade), but the Hokies rank 106th in total offensive PFF grade.

I know above I said I saw a lot of field goals and punts in Wake's future, so let's just say I see a similar future for the Hokies.

Toggle the dropdowns below to hide or show how Wake Forest and Virginia Tech match up statistically:

Wake Forest Offense vs. Virginia Tech Defense

	Offense	Defense	Edge
Rush Success	54	60
Line Yards	82	81
Pass Success	73	48
Havoc	120	95
Finishing Drives	120	109
Quality Drives	113	58

Virginia Tech Offense vs. Wake Forest Defense

	Offense	Defense	Edge
Rush Success	89	44
Line Yards	111	86
Pass Success	100	63
Havoc	89	55
Finishing Drives	78	44
Quality Drives	104	33

Pace of Play / Other

PFF Tackling	39	61
PFF Coverage	31	96
Special Teams SP+	73	44
Middle 8	29	29
Seconds per Play	25.7 (43)	27.1 (72)
Rush Rate	58.8% (36)	55.5% (55)

If you were awake for this article, I think you know where I'm going with this.

These are two awful offenses, and the defenses are decent. I grabbed under 49 with a little extra juice, but I would be more than comfortable betting this to 46.5.

Give me the under.