Complete Preview of Cal's Friday Road Game Against Virginia Tech

Cal will play a nationally televised road game against Virginia Tech on Friday.

The preview:

CAL (5-2, 2-1 ACC) vs. VIRGINIA TECH (2-5, 1-2 ACC)

SITE: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, Virginia

WHEN: Friday, 4:30 p.m. Pacific time (7:30 p.m.; Eastern time)

TV: ESPN -- Anish Shroff (Ply-By-Play), Andre Ware (Analyst), Paul Carcaterra (Sideline Reporter)

RADIO: KSFO (810 AM) -- Justin Allegri (Play-By-Play), Mike Pawlawski (Analyst), Ben Ross (Sideline Reporter)

BETTING LINE: Virginia Tech is favored by 6.5 points as of Friday afternoon. Virginia Tech opened the week as a 2.5-point favorite and the spread has grown through the week. Over/Under is 50.5 points.

WEATHER FORECAST: It’s going to be chilly Friday night in Blacksburg. The afternoon will be sunny with a high of 51 degrees, but the temperature will drop to about 40 degrees when the game starts Friday night will be down to about 32 degrees by the time the game is over. There is only a 6% chance of precipitation.

CAL-VIRGINIA TECH HISTORY: Cal and Virginia Tech have met only once on the football field, and that was in the 2003 Insight Bowl in Phoenix. Cal won that game 52-49 behind Aaron Rodgers, who threw for 394 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Virginia Tech and Cal have never met in Berkeley or in Blacksburg, Virginia, and this will be their first matchup in an ACC game.

CAL PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Running backs LJ Johnson Jr. and Brandon High Jr., who are second and third on the team in rushing, will not be available for Friday’s game. Kicker Abram Murray is questionable for the game. Murray has been used for Cal’s long field-goal attempts. If he cannot play, Chase Meyer will be used for all field-goal attempts.

VIRGINIA TECH PLAYER AVAILABILITY: Linebacker Jaden Keller, who is third on the team in tackles and has 2.5 tackles for loss, is questionable for Friday's game. Running back Terion Stewart, the team’s second-leading rusher who averages 7.9 yards per carry, is listed as “probable” for Friday’s game.

CAL STORYLINES:

---A Cal victory on Friday would improve Cal’s record to 6-2, which would be the Bears’ best eight-game record since 2009 when Cal also began the season 6-2 under Jeff Tedford.

---A win against Virginia Tech would give the Bears their sixth win, making them bowl-eligible for the third straight year. However, if the Bears lose Friday, none of their remaining four games offers a guaranteed win to get that sixth victory. Cal hosts 16th-ranked Virginia next week, plays a road game against 19th-ranked Louisville the following week, faces improving Stanford (2-2 in the ACC) on the road November 22 and hosts SMU (3-0 in the ACC) in their finale.

---Beating Virginia Tech would give Cal a 3-1 ACC record, moving the Bears within one win of achieving a final conference record of .500 or better for the first time since 2009.

---Cal is an underdog in Friday's game, but the Bears won three of the four previous games in which they were underdogs this season.

---Cal is coming off a 21-18 victory over North Carolina in which Bears cornerback Paco Austin preserved the victory by forcing a fumble by a North Carolina receiver at the half-yard line with less than four minutes remaining. It was the second time this season that a Bears player preserved a Cal victory with a defensive play late in the game. Against Boston College, Cal linebacker Luke Ferrelli intercepted a pass in the end zone with 15 seconds left in the Bears 28-24 triumph.

---Freshman running back Anthony League may get his first action of the season on Friday. Cal running backs LJ Johnson Jr. and Brandon High Jr. have been ruled out for this game, leaving no clear-cut backup for starting running back Kendrick Raphael. Cal typically plays two or three running backs in a game, so at least one running back besides Raphael is likely to get some carries. The 6-foot, 215-pound League could be the guy. It would give Cal an all-true freshman backfield for a few plays.

---This is the sixth time since Cal joined the ACC last year that the Bears are making a cross-country trip to play an ACC opponent on the East Coast. In the previous five trips, Cal has a 2-3 record, although it was close in all three losses. Last year on the road, Cal lost to Florida State 14-9, Pitt 17-15 and Syracuse 33-25, and it beat Wake Forest 46-36. In its only cross-country trip this year, Cal beat Boston College 28-24.

---Cal freshman quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele is hoping to regain the form he had in the first three games. He completed 67% of his passes with six touchdown passes and just one interception in the first three games. In the four games since then, Sagapolutele has completed 56.3% of his passes with four touchdowns and six interceptions.

---Cal slot receiver Jacob De Jesus is coming off an outstanding game in which he caught 13 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown in the win over North Carolina. His 47 receptions for the season rank second in the ACC and are 20 more than anyone else on the Cal roster.

---Cal linebacker Cade Uluave ranks second in the ACC in tackles with 62, and he ranks fifth in the conference in tackles for loss with 7.5.

---The Bears rank 14th in the 17-team ACC in scoring offense (23.7 points per game) and are 15th in yards per play (5.1). They rank seventh in the ACC in scoring defense (21.9) and are eighth in yards allowed per play (5.3).

---Cal ranks last in the ACC in rushing offense, and the absence of two of its prime running backs (LJ Johnson Jr. and Brandon High Jr.) will not help. However, Virginia Tech’s rushing defense has been poor this season.

VIRGINIA TECH STORYLINES:

---Virginia Tech has a 2-2 record under interim head coach Philip Montgomery, who had been the Hokies offensive coordinator until he was promoted when Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry was fired following an 0-3 start, including a lopsided home loss to Old Dominion in the third game.

---In the four games under Montgomery, Virginia Tech beat Wofford (38-6) and North Carolina State (23-21), and it lost to Wake Forest (30-23) and Georgia Tech (35-20).

---Virginia Tech is coming off a bye, which is generally considered an advantage because it gives injured players time to recover and allows a team an extra week to prepare for its next opponent. However, the data do not show that having a bye the previous week leads to a significantly higher winning percentage in the next game.

---Fifth-year senior quarterback Kyron Drones is in his third year as a starter for Virginia Tech and offers a running threat that Cal has not seen from a quarterback this season. He rushed for 818 yards in 2023 and has gained 417 yards this season, although he has also lost 140 yards for a net rushing total of 277 yards this season, which is third on the team. His five rushing touchdowns lead the team; no one else has more than one rushing touchdown.

---Virginia Tech is negative-3 in turnover margin (8 turnovers and 5 takeaways).

---Hokies place-kicker John Love has kicked four field goals of 50 yards or more in his Virginia Tech career, including a 60-yarder in last year’s bowl game against Minnesota. His longest made field goal this season was a 56-yarder against South Carolina.

---Virginia Tech ranks low in the ACC both offensively and defensively. The Hokies are 15th in the ACC in both scoring (23.0 points) and scoring defense (29.3). The Hokies’ defense is giving up 4.3 yards per rushing attempt, and only one ACC team (Syracuse) is worse than that. Virginia Tech’s defense is yielding 8.4 yards per passing attempt, and only one ACC team (Duke) is allowing more than that.

---Virginia Tech is 1-3 at home this season, but The Athletic ranked Virginia Tech’s Lane Stadium 25th in its ranking of the 25 best college football stadiums. It has a tradition of blasting Metallica’s "Enter Sandman" as the Hokies take the field. Friday’s game will be the first time since Stanford and Cal joined the ACC last year that Virginia Tech will be hosting a West Coast team making the cross-country trip to the East Coast.

Enter Sandman at Virginia Tech is always perfect pic.twitter.com/Y3biVK9YRq
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 3, 2023

---Five questions to a Virginia Tech beat writer about the Hokies football team---

CAL PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele (10 TD passes, 7 interceptions); LB Cade Uluave (7.5 tackles for loss); RB Kendrick Raphael (495 rushing yards); WR Trond Grizzell (16.7 yards per reception); WR/PR Jacob De Jesus (47 catches, 11.2 yards per punt return); CB Hezekiah Masses (4 interceptions, nation-leading 13 passes defended); TE Mason Mini (27 receptions, 3 TDs).

VIRGINIA TECH PLAYERS TO WATCH: QB Kyron Drones (11 TD passes, 5 interceptions, 277 rushing yards); RB Terion Stewart (7.9 yards per carry); RB Marcellous Hawkins (team-leading 364 yards rushing, 9 receptions); WR Ayden Greene (21 receptions, 15.8 yards per catch); DT Kemari Copeland (3.0 tackles for loss, 1 interception); LB Noah Chambers (true freshman has 16 tackles over past three games); K John Love (60-yard field goal in last season’s bowl game)

CAL 2024 STATISTICS: Click here

CAL GAME NOTES, DEPTH CHART: Click here

VIRGINIA TECH STATISTICS: Click here

VIRGINIA TECH GAME NOTES: Click Here

JAKE'S PICK: Cal 28, Virginia Tech 21

JEFF'S PICK: Cal 21, Virginia Tech 17

ANDY BITTER’S PICK (Tech Sideline): Cal 24, Virginia Tech 23

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