Virginia Tech vs Liberty Predictions

Republished from SportsJaw.com

4 min readNov 16, 2022

Virginia Tech is on the road playing Liberty at the Williams Stadium stadium on Saturday, 11/19/2022 @ 12:00pm EST. Liberty -9.25 was the opening favorite and current line is Liberty -10.

In college football action on Saturday afternoon, the Virginia Tech Hokies and the Liberty Flames meet at Williams Stadium.

It’s time for Liberty to rise to the occasion.

On offense, Liberty is averaging 416.1 yards per game (46th in the FBS) and giving up 339.4 yards per game (31st). Liberty ranks 52nd in the FBS with 30.3 points per game on offense. The team’s defense ranks 41st in points allowed (339.4 points per game). On offense, Liberty averages 224.0 passing yards per game (77th in FBS), and on defense, it allows 205.2 yards per game.

On offense, Liberty averages 192.1 rushing yards per game, ranking 32nd in the FBS. With 134.2 rushing yards allowed per game, the team’s defense places 44th. As a defense, Liberty ranks 12th in third-down conversions with a 30.3% third-down percentage. On third down, the team finished 88th (36.9%). Having forced 22 turnovers (third in the FBS) and committed 21 (124th in the FBS), Liberty is 60th in college football with a +1 turnover margin.

Virginia has been strong on defense.

In terms of total yards per game, Virginia Tech comes in 12th-worst with 313.8. The defense has been better, giving up 374.7 yards per game (62nd). Although Virginia Tech ranks ninth in points per game (18.9), it has been more effective defensively, ranking 54th with 25.0 points allowed per game. The Virginia Tech offense averages 208.4 passing yards per game this season (97th). The defense allows 237.9 passing yards per game (83rd).

Despite ranking 15th in rushing yards per game (105.4), Virginia Tech comes in 49th in rushing yards allowed per game (136.8). The Hokies’ third-down defense is the 15th most porous in the FBS with a 31.4% third-down conversion rate. With a 34.6% third-down rate conceded, it comes in 35th on defense. This season, Virginia Tech has forced seven turnovers (129th in the FBS) and committed 15 turnovers (75th in the FBS) for a turnover margin of -8, which ranks 100th in the FBS.

This season, Liberty is 5–5–0 against the spread. As 10-point favorites (0–4), Liberty has yet to cover the spread. Five Liberty games have been played this season. This season, the Flames have won 83.3% of their games when they are favored on the moneyline (5–1). As a moneyline favorite of -393 or less, the Flames are 1–1 (winning 75% of their games).

This year, Virginia Tech is 3–7–0 against the spread. As 10-point underdogs or more, the Hokies have an ATS record of 1–3. Virginia Tech has surpassed the point total in three games this season. Throughout this season, the Hokies have been underdogs and failed to win. Underdogs by at least +303 on the moneyline, the Hokies have won one of their three games this season.

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Despite Liberty losing its premier running back, the Flames are still the more explosive offense and can run circles around the Hokies. In this game, Liberty got caught with its pants down by UConn, and we expect a focused, concerted effort from them to cover the spread and win by a double-digit margin.

Virginia Tech Highlights

With a power ranking of 119, Virginia Tech is ranked #112 in offense (scoring an average of 20.22 per game), #60 in defense (allowing an average of 25.11 points to be scored against them per game) and are 2–8 (3–7 ATS) this season.

Liberty Highlights

Liberty Flames has a power ranking of 19 and are #58 for offense (scoring an average of 30.00 per game), #27 for defense (giving up an average of 25.11 points per game) and 8–2 (5–5 ATS) overall. Virginia Tech went 1–1 (2–0 ATS) in their last 3 matchups against Liberty.

Virginia Tech Injuries

DB Dorian Strong Is “?” Saturday vs Liberty, Hand
WR Dallan Wright Is out for season, Undisclosed
RB Malachi Thomas Is downgraded to doubtful Saturday vs Liberty, Ankle
TE Benji Gosnell Is out for season, Undisclosed

Liberty Injuries

QB Charlie Brewer Is “?” Saturday vs Virginia Tech, Hand
WR Brody Brumm Is “?” Saturday vs Virginia Tech, Undisclosed
WR Shedro Louis Is “?” Saturday vs Virginia Tech, Personal
DE Brayden Monday Is “?” Saturday vs Virginia Tech, Undisclosed
S Jerome Jolly Jr. Is “?” Saturday vs Virginia Tech, Undisclosed
WR Ed Ogle Is “?” Saturday vs Virginia Tech, Achilles
WR Jaivian Lofton Is “?” Saturday vs Virginia Tech, Undisclosed
RB Dae Dae Hunter Is out for season, Knee
QB Kaidon Salter Is out indefinitely, Ankle
LB Kaci Seegars Is “?” Saturday vs Virginia Tech, Undisclosed
DL Marquise Brunson Is “?” Saturday vs Virginia Tech, Undisclosed

Curated Picks & Predictions

Based on the current lines, Oddsmakers predict the score to be VTECH 33.5, LIBERT 13.5.
55% of SportsJaw players predict Liberty Flames to cover.
OddsShark’s prediction is Liberty will win, cover the spread, and the total will go under.
61% picked Liberty Flames on Covers.com
SportsJaw’s ScoreCaster prediction: Hokies 13 to Flames 40.