Virginia Tech hasn't won a non-conference game against a Power 4 team since 2017's season-opening victory against West Virginia, a stat that you've heard tons of time by this point. Tonight, the Hokies have their best chance of this season to change that as they also look for redemption against a Vanderbilt team hungry for a sweep of the home-and-home series.
With kickoff just hours away, let’s get you ready for this showdown between Virginia Tech and Vanderbilt with our gameday preview followed by our picks.
Keys to the Game: Containing Diego Pavia is going to be a top priority for the Hokies this week. Pavia may not be the same level of athlete as LaNorris Sellers but he has just as many rushing ability though most of it comes off of designed runs and not scrambles unlike Sellers who is more balanced. Pavia has ran for over 850 non-sack yards over the past two seasons and the Hokies will have to make sure everyone maintains their assignments to both contain Pavia and not overfocus on him to where a RB could be forgotten about and make big plays like Sedrick Alexander who had 69 yards on 17 carries in last year’s upset.
Vanderbilt has an intriguing defensive front with talented returners like Miles Capers and Khordae Sydnor leading the way plus an intruging transfer in Keanu Koht from Alabama who could be a threat. Tech’s offensive line was poor this week and if they want to give Kyron Drones the chance to play better this week, they have to win the battle in the trenches and not allow him to be pressured on 17 of 37 dropbacks like he was last week.
Hokies to Watch: You can check out Josh Poslusny’s Hokies to Watch feature here. Michael Short has shaken up things in Virginia Tech’s linebacker room with the UNC transfer now being listed as co-starters with redshirt senior Jaden Keller. Diego Pavia’s dual-threat ability will provide a major test for Tech’s linebackers and could be another chance for Short to make his case to be the outright starter over Keller at some point this season.
Virginia Tech X-Factor: Ben Bell may not have had a spectacular debut last week, but he did show the game-changing pass rush potential he has with a tremendous swim move in the second half that set him up for an easy half sack thanks to Bell’s pressure rolling Sellers into another Tech defender. Bell is going to be a pass-rushing threat all year and if he can get Vanderbilt off schedule a couple times in this game, it could make the difference for the Hokies in this game.
Matchup to Watch: Eli Stowers is among the best tight ends in America and a crucial part of the Vanderbilt passing game. After having 49 catches for 638 yards and five touchdowns last season, Stowers started his 2025 season well with four catches for 86 yards and a touchdown last week. This is a matchup where Tech will need their bigger nickels/safeties like Isaiah Cash and Sherrod Covil to step up and try to take away the Commodores’ biggest playmaker in the passing attack. If they can do that, it could make Diego Pavia much more one-dimensional which would be a benefit for the Hokies even with Pavia’s tremendous rushing ability.
Injury Watch: Tucker Terry has the latest on Virginia Tech’s injury list, which you can read here. The most notable name to monitor is Bowling Green transfer RB Terion Stewart, who could certainly provide a spark for a rushing attack that wasn’t able to do a whole lot against South Carolina, averaging under four years per carry with the longest gain gong for only 11 yards.
Strong Visit List: Virginia Tech is also set to host a talented set of recruits including the likes of 2027 three-star QB commit Ben Musser out of Georgia and 2027 four-star OL Brody McNeel out of Richmond. There are also a host of 2026 recruits who could be intriguing late cycle targets and offers for the Hokies. You can check out the full running list with some insights here. Virginia Tech Men’s Basketball also has a pair of recruits visiting in five-star F Baba Oladotun and four-star combo guard Harris Reynolds while elite WBB recruit Aaaliah Spaight will also be on campus.
Picks
Tim Thomas
Brent Pry needs some sort of signature non-conference victory badly to try to at least cool the temperature a little bit in Blacksburg. When your best non-conference victory is over a Sun Belt champion Marshall, that's not saying a whole lot. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt has a lot of momentum coming into this game after a solid 2024 season where they reached a bowl game followed by Diego Pavia suing his way into an extra year of eligibility.
Pavia will undoubtedly be a threat in this matchup, but Sam Siefkes has shown he can be flexible in his defense with a depth chart that already matches it. Personally, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Hokies be able to limit Pavia more while their deep defensive line will certainly give a run-first Vanderbilt team issues.
Meanwhile, Tech's offense needs a bounce-back game after putting up only nine points and one red zone trip last week. I think Tech's offense will be better this week, but the offensive line is a long-term developmental rebuild that will give Tech problems against a good Vanderbilt front. However, I do think the Hokies will have enough sustained drives to give John Love the chances he needs to make the difference combined with a Siefkes defense that limits the scoring opportunities for Vanderbilt and helps the Hokies take down Vandy.
Prediction: Virginia Tech 19, Vanderbilt 17
Josh Poslusny
This game hinges on the Hokies rushing attack, led by Marcellous Hawkins. Hawkins will need to have a big game against Vandy’s run defense, which would allow Kyron Drones to exploit play-action and hitting big passes against their shaky secondary. The front seven should be able to put pressure on Pavia, forcing key turnovers or sacks to stall their drives. I expect Vanderbilt to lean on short passes and a limited run game that our defense will look to key in on. The 11-point margin comes from us pulling away late as Vandy fades. I’m convinced that the VT balance and physicality will seal a home opening win.
