It's almost game day in Piscataway as Rutgers Football will welcome Virginia Tech to town for week three of the college football season.
With that being said, our staff offers their predictions for Saturday afternoon's showdown between the Scarlet Knights and Hokies.
RICHIE SCHNYDERITE (Rutgers: 24|| Virginia Tech: 13)
"I think Rutgers continues to roll here both figuratively and literally since Kyle Monangai has basically become a bowling ball running through opposing defenses. Look for the Scarlet Knights to play this one just like the last two, establish the run and get a few scores while also grinding away at the clock. This Virginia Tech team is not the best in the world and when you factor in injuries on top of that, you should be able to walk out of this one with a solid win to start 3-0 on the year.
CRAIG EPSTEIN (Rutgers: 24 || Virginia Tech: 13)
“I have a feeling this will be Rutgers’ first true litmus test of the 2023 season. While Virginia Tech is dealing with a lot of injuries right now, the Hokies likely represent a bigger threat than both Northwestern and Temple as they will look to prevent going into ACC play 1-2. In the end, I think the Scarlet Knights have what it takes to get the job done and will once again be led to victory through their running game and defense.”
MIKE BROADBENT (Rutgers: 27 || Virginia Tech: 13)
“Rutgers run defense shuts down the anemic VT rushing attack and forces a young QB into relying on his arm. RU wins the TO battle by 2 and once again rushes for 200+ yards.”
ALEX GLEITMAN (Rutgers: 24 || Virginia Tech: 16)
“Rutgers has built up some confidence in their first two games and there’s definitely a different sense of “belief” in that building. Virginia Tech is going through a bit of a rebuilding stage and enters this game somewhat hobbled, not to mention they have to come to SHI Stadium to play it. All of things into consideration, I still think this ends up being a fairly close game, but the Scarlet Knights prevail and move to 3-0 with a 24-16 win.”
ALEC CROUTHAMEL (Rutgers: 23 || Virginia Tech: 6)
“The Scarlet Knights’ defense stifles again as the Hokies’ injury-ravaged offense can’t do anything against the front seven. Grant Wells, clearly hobbled, completes less than 50% of his passes and throws an interception, while on the ground the team combines for 25 net yards. On offense, Sam Brown and Kyle Monangai begin to see more of a 1A, 1B type workload with Monangai still seeing 40% of the carries with some Ja’shon Benjamin sprinkled in. They rush for over 100 yards and Gavin Wimsatt throws for 175 yards and a touchdown while not throwing an interception and completing over 50% of his passes."
HOKIE HAVEN PUBLISHER TIM SULLIVAN (Rutgers: 24 || Virginia Tech: 13)
"With a healthy Hokies team, I'd be feeling differently, but I really just don't think there's enough firepower here to overwhelm a Greg Schiano defense, and the Hokies' defense is just mistake-prone enough to give the Scarlet Knights the opportunities that they'll need.”
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