No. 14 Notre Dame vs. Virginia Tech picks and best bets for Week 6

It’s a Saturday night at Lane Stadium and we’ll have an ACC, well, pseudo-ACC matchup on hand as the No. 14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish travels to Blacksburg to meet the Virginia Tech Hokies. The game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on the ACC Network.

After a month of living on the edge, Notre Dame (4-1) finally tripped up last Saturday in falling 24-13 at home to Cincinnati. The Bearcats were able to gain leverage early with two first half interceptions in what turned into a low-scoring, program defining victory. The story coming out of the game on the Irish sideline is the sudden quarterback controversy that has emerged. Starter Jack Coan was benched midway through, paving the way for backups Drew Pyne and Tyler Buchner to get some reps. Head coach Brian Kelly has indicated that the team already knows who will start in Blacksburg, but the rest of the world will find out at kickoff.

Virginia Tech (3-1, 1-0 ACC) has had two weeks to prepare for Notre Dame and were last in action on September 25, a 21-10 victory over Richmond. The Virginia Tech offense this season has been decent at times and underwhelming at others, averaging 330.8 yards a game on 5.0 yards per play. The offense goes as starting QB Braxton Burmeister goes, who is completing over 60% of his passes this season and leads the team in carries on the ground. A win for Justin Fuente here would cool down some of the hot seat talk for now.

Here’s all the data you’ll want, and a pick for the game!

SP+ Rankings

Notre Dame: 20th overall, 41st offense, 17th defense
Virginia Tech: 33rd overall, 37th offense, 32nd defense

Injury update

Notre Dame

TE Michael Mayer Ques Sat – Undisclosed
OL Michael Carmody Ques Sat – Ankle
DL Kurt Hinish Ques Sat – Concussion
OL Tosh Baker Ques Sat – Undisclosed
WR Joe Wilkins Jr. Out For Season – Knee
RB Logan Diggs Out Indefinitely – Undisclosed
RB C Bo Flemister Out Indefinitely – Undisclosed

Virginia Tech

WR Jaylen Jones Ques Sat – Undisclosed
DL Emmanuel Belmar Ques Sat – Concussion

ATS/Total

Against The Spread

Notre Dame: 2-3 ATS
Virginia Tech: 2-2 ATS

Total

Notre Dame: Over 3-2
Virginia Tech: Over 0-4

Returning/Overall Talent from 247Sports

Notre Dame: 10th overall, 6th offense, 13th defense
Virginia Tech: 43rd overall, 45th offense, 38th defense

Current lines at DraftKings Sportsbook

Spread: Notre Dame -1
Total: 47
Moneyline: Notre Dame -115, Virginia Tech -105

Opening line: Notre Dame -3.5
Opening total: 47

Weather

56 degrees, 4 MPH winds NE, 24% chance of rain. Showers will come earlier that afternoon, so field may be wet.

The Pick

Under 47

This game is a virtual coin flip with Vegas switching back and forth between the Irish and the Hokies as the slight favorite all week long.

There’s no big variance for how Notre Dame performs after a loss under Brian Kelly, as they’re 17-16 ATS and 17-16 in O/U during his tenure in South Bend. Both offenses aren’t necessarily explosive and the combination of ND possibly breaking in a new starter and the wet conditions make the under here a solid play.

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