Virginia Tech Opens As Favorites For Week 5 Friday Fray With Pitt

Virginia Tech football will open its Friday night contest with Pitt as a favorite for the fifth straight week this season.

According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Virginia Tech (4-0, 1-0 ACC) is a 5.5-point favorite over the Panthers (4-0, 1-0 ACC), and the total is set at 52.5 points.

Pitt won its ACC opener over Syracuse 27-13. Through four games, Pitt quarterback Mason Heintschel has accumulated 1,191 passing yards, 13 touchdowns, and only one interception. Heintschel's 13 touchdowns were split between two games: Miami (OH) (seven TDs) and Bucknell (six TDs). In the other two games (UCF on Sept. 12 and Syracuse on Sept. 17), he was 28-of-51 for 335 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.

Virginia Tech is 4-0 for the first time since 2017, courtesy of wins over VMI (73-3), Old Dominion (44-21), Maryland (35-26), and Boston College (21-14).

The Hokies trailed for the first time all season when the Eagles pulled ahead 7-6 on Saturday and led by as many as eight. However, thanks to a receiving touchdown from wideout Marlion Jackson and a 76-yard house call from running back Jeffrey Overton Jr., Virginia Tech mounted a 15-point comeback for Franklin's first one-score win with the Hokies.

Overton amassed 209 rushing yards, including 140 in the final quarter. Those 209 yards were the most by a Virginia Tech player since Bhayshul Tuten set the school record for single-game rushing yardage in November 2024 against Boston College.

Overton collected 25 of the game's 42 Virginia Tech rush attempts, while Marcellous Hawkins, the starting tailback, took three. The Hokies' starting quarterback, junior Ethan Grunkemeyer, was 22-for-35 for 147 yards and a touchdown.

Through four games, Grunkemeyer is 101-for-136 (74.2% completion percentage) for 1,012 passing yards, eight touchdowns, and no interceptions. The Boston College game was the first time he had thrown for under 200 yards and logged fewer than two passing touchdowns.

The Hokies pushed past the Eagles despite conceding 138 rushing yards to Boston College signal-caller Mason McKenzie (111 passing yards). Virginia Tech stuffed McKenzie for three sacks, including one where the Eagles were at the Hokies' 22-yard line following a Hawkins fumble.

Defensive end Cortez Harris finished with two sacks, three tackles and a pair of quarterback hurries as a result, while fellow end Aycen Stevens recorded the team's other sack.

Virginia Tech's contest against the Panthers is set for a 7 p.m. ET kick on ESPN.

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