Can the Hokies ride a little momentum into Doak Campbell Stadium to hand the Seminoles their first loss of the season on Saturday?
Virginia Tech is coming off a win over Pitt — their first in almost a month — and looks to upset Florida State at 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 7 at FSU.
Fans looking to watch this college football game can do so for free on fuboTV, which offers a free trial (as well as RedZone, for you NFL fans) or on DirecTV Stream, which also offers a free trial. SlingTV has promotional offers available, as well.
Who: Florida State Seminoles vs Virginia Tech Hokies
When: 3:30 PM ET, October 7, 2023
Where: Doak Campbell Stadium
Stream: fuboTV (free trial); or Sling; or DirecTV Stream
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Undefeated and unsatisfied, No. 5 Florida State using its bye week to get healthy
BOB FERRANTE Associated Press
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — No. 5 Florida State is undefeated and unsatisfied — even with victories against powerhouses LSU and Clemson on a resume that’s widely considered the most impressive in the country.
“One of the things I’m excited about is we’re 4-0 and we have yet to play our best game,” coach Mike Norvell said. “Opportunity for growth, opportunity for improvement.”
The Seminoles (4-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) are using their bye week to refresh and get healthy after a daunting September that included a neutral-site opener and two road games.
FSU has been without three starters — offensive tackle Robert Scott, center Maurice Smith and safety Akeem Dent at times — and star quarterback Jordan Travis has played through an arm/shoulder injury.
Travis landed awkwardly on his left side in the second quarter at Boston College, although the sixth-year senior returned to the game for the second half. He eventually returned to form the following week at Clemson. when he threw for 289 yards and two touchdowns against the Tigers and ran for a score.
Any concerns about Travis’ injury or his ability to play through it were seemingly quelled by him on the practice field Tuesday and Wednesday. The Seminoles also got receiver Ja’Khi Douglas back at practice after he missed the first four games.
“I’m glad the bye lined up when it was,” Norvell said. “We’ve battled. We’ve been without some starters. Guys have had to rise up, and they have. We’re in a good spot if we take advantage of the good spot. If we get better throughout this week, we’ll be where we need to be the next time we kick it off.”
The Seminoles host Virginia Tech on Oct. 7 in the first of three consecutive home games that ends with a visit from No. 17 Duke. Road trips to Wake Forest and Pitt follow, with No. 18 Miami and No. 22 Florida on tap in November.
Making it through that stretch of games unscathed would surely earn the Seminoles a spot in the College Football Playoff and cap an impressive turnaround in Norvell’s tenure that started with a 3-6 season in 2020 and an 0-4 start in 2021.
Florida State is 19-6 since, with the win at Clemson being a huge step toward the team’s potential return to the top of the ACC.
“To win at that place, that wasn’t just a game that we worked for that week to win,” defensive back Jarrian Jones said. “That’s been a four-year process. I’ve been here all four years. I’ve been here through the dirt, through the grind, through the work.
“That was a big win. I enjoyed every minute of it with my team. Now it’s back to work, on to the next opponent.”
The Seminoles hope to get healthy up front and improve a run game that ranks 11th in the conference and 77th in the nation at 148 yards a game — a number that’s inflated by a 306-yard performance against Southern Miss.
“We’re 4-0, but I feel like we have yet to play our best game,” Jones said. “If we play our best game, nobody can beat us.”
Assuming the Seminoles reach the postseason, they will get an extra body in the mix. Norvell said defensive tackle Darrell Jackson would be eligible to play in late December and January. Jackson, who attended Maryland and then Miami, was deemed ineligible by the NCAA in August because of rules involving two-time transfers.
“Postseason will be a reality for Darrell as we get to that point,” Norvell said. “He’s working. I’ve been really proud of him. He’s approaching every day the way we want him to approach it. He’s getting better. He’s continuing to push.”
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
Drones powers Virginia Tech to 38-21 victory over Pittsburgh
By JIMMY ROBERTSON Associated Press
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Kyron Drones threw three touchdowns passes and rushed for two more scores to lead Virginia Tech to a 38-21 victory over Pittsburgh on Saturday night.
Drones completed 12 of 19 passes for a career-high 228 yards and rushed for 41 yards for the Hokies (2-3, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who snapped a three-game losing streak and halted a three-game skid to the Panthers. Virginia Tech also ended a nine-game losing streak to Power 5 opponents.
“We’ve battled each and every week and fought back in games,” Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry said. “We’ve been there. It’s a group that understands. We talked a lot this week about making our plays in the moment and doing the job that we can do. It doesn’t have to be a magic show. Just do your job and the plays will come, and I think they did that tonight.”
The Hokies scored two touchdowns in the second quarter to break a 7-all tie and never trailed after that. Drones scored on a 2-yard run with 13:07 left in the first half and then threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Bhayshul Tuten with 21 seconds left in the half to give the Hokies a 21-7 lead.
Tuten rushed for 109 yards for Virginia Tech, which finished with 427 yards of offense.
Phil Jurkovec threw for 235 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Panthers (1-4, 0-2), who have lost four straight. He completed just 11 of 22 passes, was sacked four times, and fumbled.
“They made more plays than we did,” Pittsburgh coach Pat Narduzzi said. “We didn’t make enough plays today. … We’ll evaluate where we are. We’ve got an open week to check it out, but it’s not up to the Pitt standards, (or) my standards. Just extremely disappointed in the effort today.”
TAKEAWAYS
Pittsburgh: Missing three starters on the offensive line because of injuries, the Panthers couldn’t run the ball against one of the ACC’s worst rush defenses — the Hokies were 13th in the league, allowing 212.5 yards per game. The Panthers, who rushed for just 38 yards, need to find some answers on offense during an upcoming bye week, especially with a tough late-season schedule looming.
“Offensively, we didn’t do anything,” Narduzzi said. “We had two explosive plays, but other than that, I didn’t feel it at all. We’ll gather in the open week, do a major self-scout, figure out where we are and what we have to do to right the ship.”
Virginia Tech: The Hokies’ offense has been sputtering all season and for much of coach Brent Pry’s tenure but ran on all cylinders against Pittsburgh. The Hokies amassed more than 400 yards for just the third time in Pry’s 16 games as the coach.
TOUGH START
Pittsburgh had suffered just one losing season in Narduzzi’s prior eight seasons at the helm, but the Panthers are off to their worst start since he became the coach before the 2015 season. In 2017, they started the season 1-3 and finished 5-7. He said the team’s current situation marked the biggest challenge of his career.
“No question about it,” he said. “There’s no doubt about it. We haven’t been in this position. Every week is a challenge. We’ve just got to take it. It’s what we did. It’s how we’re playing right now.”
BIG PLAY JAY
Pittsburgh cut Virginia Tech’s lead to 28-21 late in the third quarter on a fumble return for a touchdown and had momentum, but the Hokies came up with their biggest play of the game when Drones found Jaylin Lane for a 53-yard touchdown with 3:27 left in the third. That pushed the Hokies’ lead to 35-21, and they never looked back.
“It was great to see Jay make that play,” Pry said. “And boy, that was timely. We had some adversity hit. Kyron stepped up and delivered the ball. I don’t know what the issue was with the coverage, but he (Lane) was pretty wide open, and he knew what to do with it. That was a big play in the game.”
UP NEXT
Pittsburgh: The Panthers host Louisville on Oct. 14.
Virginia Tech: The Hokies play at Florida State on Saturday.
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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
