College Football Playoff Top 25 Projections: Week 14
By Zach Bigalke
In a defensive showdown, Virginia Tech kept itself in the College Football Playoff Top 25 with a shutout victory over Virginia. The Hokies pushed itself to 9-3 and kept its hopes alive of a trip to one of the New Year’s Six bowl games as they retained the Commonwealth Cup in the 99th edition of the rivalry game.
The game was largely a story of divergent fortunes for the two teams’ running games. Virginia Tech held the Cavaliers to a net total of just five rushing yards on 20 carries. In the opposite direction, the Hokies finished with 202 rushing yards on 53 carries. Virginia quarterback Kurt Benkert outdueled VT passer Josh Jackson, but he got no relief from his backfield.
Justin Fuente has the Hokies in position for a second straight 10-win season since his arrival in Blacksburg. While they will not play for the ACC title game this season, it was another solid regular season for Virginia Tech in Fuente’s sophomore season as a Power Five head coach.