#106 ASA PLAY ON Miami FL -17.5 over Virginia Tech, Friday at 7:30 PM ET - We’ll need to watch the weather closely here with Hurricane Helene on the gulf side Thursday night which could affect the weather here. Right now it looks like it should be OK with 10 to 15 MPH winds and not much, if any, rain during the game. Va Tech has been a disappointment so far this season. Tabbed as a team that could compete for the ACC title, they sit at just 2-2 with a road loss @ Vandy and home loss vs Rutgers. They are 1-3 ATS with their only cover coming vs a bad Old Dominion team that has yet to win a game. The Hokies are outside the top 65 in both total offense and total defense and their YPP margin is barely above water at +0.4. Tonight they face a Miami team that ranks in the top 10 in both total offense (2nd) and total defense (10th) on the season. The Canes YPP differential is 3rd best in the country at +4.4. They have won each of their games by at least 24 points and they are winning by an average of +39 PPG. That includes road wins @ Florida and @ USF. Last week @ South Florida, a game we thought was very dangerous for the Canes, Miami simply dominated in their 50-15 win with almost 600 yards on 9.4 YPP. That was vs a USF team that gave Alabama all they could handle on the road this year trailing just 13-12 in the 4th quarter before the Tide picked up some late TD’s. VT will have big time struggles on offense here as they rely fairly heavily on the run. They are not a great passing team ranking outside the top 90 in passing YPG, completions per game, and completion percentage. Problem is, the Miami defense has been a brick wall holding opponents to 64 YPG rushing on 2.5 YPC, top 10 in both stats. This line isn’t all that crazy as last year Miami was a 9 point favorite @ Va Tech and won. That would mean this season we’d expect Miami to be around a 15 to 17 point favorite which is where they are + the Canes are light years better this year than last season. We’re not sure that’s been factored in enough here. Lay it with Miami on Friday Night.