It’s nearly the first Game Day of the 2025 football season, and the Hokies are on the road in what is being fashioned as the Beamer Bowl. This one is difficult because of our feelings about Frank and Shane, but right now, this is business, and Tech needs to prove that it can play football this season. They might be tossing the Beamer Ball title around when talking about the No. 13 South Carolina Gamecocks, but the original Beamer and Beamer Ball are still Hokie territory. (Even though Frank’s under
family pressure to root for Shane.)
The First #25 Goes to Linebacker and Special Teams Player Will Johnson
Johnson gets the honor of being given the temporary lease on the #25 jersey for the Beamer Bowl.
It’s a Very Orange 2025 Debut
Look, luck isn’t real, but it certainly seems like it’s been lately, and Tech’s hasn’t been particularly good. The Orange uniforms haven’t been big luck items over the years. Yes, there have been one or two games that went well wearing the orange, but I don’t remember it being particularly good.
Let’s hope that the Orange Creamsicle look is a bit of a distraction because the Hokies are going to need every bit of anything they can muster to get past the Gamecocks. The point spread has been pretty stubborn at 7.5 and the Over/Under has been stuck at 52.5. That’s not a high scoring game and it’s pretty much a one score prediction. We’ll talk about it in the poll.
Another Watch List Takes Notice
The Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year watch list is pretty self-explanatory, but we don’t see many Hokies showing up on it anymore. This year Offensive Lineman Kyle Altuner has attracted attention.
It’s Time for the GC Staff to Go Out on a Limb
The table is set for the first predictions of the season. The last few years, it’s been really tough because there has been so much hope over lived experience happening that this season, at least John is looking at risking sounding brutally negative by putting away the optimum situations and going with the gut feel for what’s happened on the field.
That means that neither of us can claim anything more than a WAG on this first prediction. Before we get to our picks, let’s see what the oddsmakers are saying.
Per FanDuel Sportsbook, the Gamecocks are a 7.5-point favorite over the Hokies. Here are the odds for Sunday’s game. The money line has shifted since the start of the week, but the point spread remains unchanged.
- Point spread: Hokies +7.5 (-110) / Gamecocks -7.5 (-110)
- Money line: Hokies +230 / Gamecocks -285
- Over-under: 51.5 (O: -115 / U: -105)
Now, it’s time for our picks.
Bryan Manning
I don’t see how the Hokies can stop South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers. Perhaps it’s good to catch them in the first game of the season. After all, there are many unknowns surrounding the Hokies. Virginia Tech has a new offensive coordinator, new offensive line coach and a new defensive coordinator. While it’s likely the Hokies improved in all three spots, they’re also replacing a lot of talent.
Can QB Kyron Drones remain healthy? Will he resemble the player from the second half of 2023? Which running back takes over? I expect to see plenty of Ayden Greene and Benji Gosnell with the ball in their hands. It’s just so hard to know what we can expect with so much new. The Hokies have a ton of new players, too. The offensive line should improve as a unit, but will we see that improvement early in the year?
I don’t think the Gamecocks are some special team. I do think they have a terrific quarterback and he will prove to be the difference. South Carolina pulls away in the second half.
Pick: South Carolina 27, Virginia Tech 17
John Schneider
This might be really long. The game might be. It also might be really short, if you get my drift. We have to be honest, here. We always have been, but we’ve also been touched by too much optimism and allowed hopes to override real analysis. It’s not going to be the case for me, this season.
Folks, this is a real potential backbreaker. The Hokies are going to either look good enough to hang close and have enough offensive changes put into place where they have a better than even shot at winning a close game, or it’s going to be a very, very long season. Many football analysts say that the first game sets the tone for the remainder of the season. If it’s a mismatch favoring the opponent either pulling off and upset, or beating the spread and foiling the O/U happens then the season should be a positive. (There is no telling how positive, but it should be reasonably so.) If the Hokies fall apart, get buried in a hurry, make mistakes, and look like they should have stayed home and just taken the “L” on a forfeit then the season will be long, and the coaching staffs’ careers might look a bit different between 2025 and 2026. The truth is that this is a real hot seat year for Brent Pry. This change either works, or Babcock starts looking for an exit strategy that doesn’t run the program broke. (And it’s pretty much $60mil in the hole right now.) Replacing another coach might just break it for the foreseeable future. So, Pry has to win, and every single game will count.
That sets the table. Let’s see what could be taking the field and how the results might work. The offense is not complete. There are no two ways about it, the offensive line is patched together and operating with almost no depth. Kyron Drones is not physically durable enough to run a credible Read/Option (Power Spread) offense. The wide receiver room’s experienced players don’t have a ton under their belts, and the running back room is nearly brand spanking new – minus Jeremiah Coney. If Montgomery did not install an Air Raid or Run and Shoot offense that puts Drones under center a good deal of the time and keeps him on his feet and out of harm’s way, then this offense will go nowhere until Drones inevitably gets hurt enough to having him sitting out games. If he is running the ball on designed plays instead of throwing it for intermediate yardage the season might be over before it starts.
The Defense looks to be in a bit better shape. The Line is in super condition with a quality 3-deep in depth. The Defensive Backfield is pretty young but looks to be pretty solid unless they demonstrate otherwise. The problem is that the mid-field (Linebackers) are still problematic and very thin. There’s no telling if Woodson will play. Santiago is the only other listed Mike. None of the OLBs (either SAM or WILL) are big enough to really play a dominant MLB position. That situation could be a real problem tomorrow with South Carolina sporting a quality QB, and some hot receivers to go with him.
The end result? There is a possibility for Tech to ambush the Gamecocks and get a few scores up and hold on. I doubt it will happen. Unless Montgomery has a credible intermediate passing game, running back dominant ground game, and a two-minute offense Tech is, if it still plays well, in for another heartbreaking 1 score loss. I’ll stick pretty much what’s coming out from the wise guys except I think their spread (+7.5) is too close. It’ll be two score game.
35-21 Gamecocks
Now It’s Your Turn to Tell Us What You Think
That’s it for this week.
It’s going to be short 6-day prep for the Vanderbilt home opener. We have credentials and will be covering from Lane. But first, we have this one.
