SELECTION: VIRGINIA TECH -11 over Marshall

It's a border war on Thursday night between a pair of top-25 teams as 16th-ranked Marshall pays a visit to 11th-ranked Virginia Tech. Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, VA will be rocking and roaring this week as both the Thundering Herd and Hokies were idle a week ago but now have their sights set on remaining undefeated on the young season. There is some familiarity with the teams as old friends Bob Pruett and Frank Beamer square off. Pruett is 70-11 in his seventh season at his alma mater Marshall, while Beamer has tallied a 151-88-4 record in 22 seasons with his alma mater Virginia Tech. This will be the first meeting between these two teams on the gridiron, however, in nearly a half century. The Hokies have won five of the previous seven meetings, taking the last contest 7-0, in 1953.

Marshall won its lone game this year, its season-opener, way back on August 31st, routing Appalachian State 50-17. Meanwhile, this is the Hokies' third game of the 2002 campaign, as Tech crushed Arkansas State 63-7 to open the season, followed by an equally impressive dismantling of nationally-ranked LSU 26-8. The fact that Virginia Tech has played 2 games with one being against another national power, while Marshall has had but one game against 1-AA competition, is just the first of many factors that we see favoring the home team here. The Hokies have won 18 of the last 20 games at Lane Stadium and is 140-59-6 there all-time. This is the third straight home game for the Hokies, who will begin a three-game road swing following this contest, so they should be rested, healthy, and ready to go.

The Thundering Herd prefer to amass yardage through the air, as opposed to Tech, which prefers the ground. With an All-American and Heisman Trophy favorite under center, QB Byron Leftwich is the key to this offense, and Pruett certainly won't deviate from his pass-happy philosophy against the Hokies. The biggest question mark for Marshall is a suspect defense that ranked 106 in the nation last year. Putting eight or nine players defenders in the box this week will be a necessity with Virginia Tech's potent rushing attack, but that will expose them to getting burned through the air.

Starting Hokie QB Grant Noel recently had arthroscopic surgery on his damaged knee and is listed as probable for this week's action. Although Bryan Randall has been more than adequate in replacing Noel, it really hasn't mattered who has been under center in the early going. A passing attack that has accumulated just 82.0 yards per game will certainly need to improve as the season progresses; however, for now, the team is doing just fine with its one-dimensional attack, as the ground game has produced 227.0 yards per game. With a pair of All-American candidates in the backfield, Frank Beamer won't change the offensive philosophy until someone can stop either Lee Suggs or Kevin Jones. The pair has to be regarded as the most feared backfield in the nation.

Speaking of fear, the Virginia Tech stingy defense will be looking to make Marshall its next victim. Long known as an aggressive attack pack that makes plays, the Hokies' unit in 2002 has already showed a penchant for the same. The team has forced seven turnovers, recorded 13 TFLs and five sacks. A strong defense should get a little better in this contest, as All-American Ronyell Whitaker will return to his cornerback position, after sitting out the first two games with a suspension, just in time to beef up an already-talented secondary that will certainly be busy against the Herd. While Marshall has good offensive line for a MAC school, they will have a hard time keeping Leftwich upright against Hokie blitzes and stunts.

While Marshall's Leftwich is an absolute star, there are two sides of the football. The more balanced team is obviously Virginia Tech. He may put up some decent numbers, but not enough against a this Hokie defense. Look for the Hokies to control the clock and field position with a punishing running game, and keep Marshall's offense on the sidelines, keeping Leftwich from getting into a rhythm. Special teams should also come into play here and this is an area where Tech has another large advantage. While Tech has been blocking kicks and returning punts for touchdowns, the Herd's punter and place-kicker Curtis Head missed THREE extra points in the opener and had an abscess on his kicking foot lanced after that game. He is expected to be healed in time for the game, but you can bet the Hokies will be coming strong. Marshall also allowed Appalachian State to return a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown (nullified by penalty) and allowed an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown. Such mistakes by themselves will be fatal against V-Tech.

The Herd has never beaten a ranked opponent and has lost their last three games against teams from major conferences.
In last year's opener, then-No. 1 Florida played almost exclusively with seven defensive backs and a confused Leftwich mostly had to pick and poke his way downfield. The Gators devoured the Herd 49-14. Two years ago, he threw three interceptions and hurt his elbow from a barrage of hits in a loss against a mediocre Michigan State team and was sacked three times the following week in a loss at an average North Carolina squad.

Other than Grant Noel's injury, the Hokies are healthy, while the Herd are thin at a very important position - wide receiver. Darius Watts is coming off a separated shoulder for his first action of the season, while Demetrius Doss broke his left collarbone in the opener and will miss six weeks.

We definitely like Virginia Tech's chances of blowing this game open and surpassing the spread. Tech is 27-10 ATS when winning SU over the past 4 years, while Marshall is 0-8 ATS in their last 8 losses and 0-6 ATS in their last 6 roles as road dog over the past 4 years. This looks to be an extremely strong situation for Virginia Tech as they are 17-2 SU playing at night, 42-24-2 ATS off a SU win (Marshall 5-9 ATS of a SU win the past 2 years), 41-25 ATS as a favorite, 40-20 ATS on grass (Marshall 2-5 ATS on grass the past 2 Years), 38-21 ATS vs. non-conference team under head coach Beamer (2-0 ATS already this year; Marshall 0-3 ATS vs. non-conference the past 2 years), and 15-3 ATS over the past 7 years as a home dog or favorite of 14 points or less, including a sparkling 8-1 ATS the last 3 years. They also seem to enjoy these off-Saturday dates as they are 6-1-1 ATS playing on Thursdays and Fridays, and 2-0 ATS this year playing on Sundays making them 8-1-1 ATS in non-Saturday games. We look for them to shine in the national spotlight again.

PROJECTED FINAL SCORE: VIRGINIA TECH 38 MARSHALL 21