Virginia Tech Hokies vs South Carolina Gamecocks Prediction, Odds and Picks for Sunday, 08/31/25

One of the more fascinating games on the Week 1 card comes on Sunday in Atlanta between the Virginia Tech Hokies and South Carolina Gamecocks on Sunday. And while South Carolina enters into this season with a ton of hype and expectations following a magical campaign a year ago, I’ve got my eye on the underdog to keep things very close in this neutral site affair. After all, it would only be fitting if Virginia Tech fought tooth and nail against a team coached by Shane Beamer (son of all-time Hokies great Frank Beamer).

As I mentioned in my win totals article, I’m selling the hype around LaNorris Sellers and the Gamecocks this season, especially given the losses they’ve suffered on both sides of the ball. Yes, Sellers is certainly an electric, dual-threat weapon at quarterback, but he does have to work on some things in the passing game and he’ll be without 7 starters from last season’s offense, including running back Raheim Sanders and multiple pieces on the offensive line. On the other side of the ball, South Carolina’s defense should take a massive step back from where it was a season ago, as it lost a trip of excellent defensive tackles to the NFL, along with a pair of linebackers and defensive backs.

As for the Hokies, this might be the year after the year for Brent Pry’s squad in a spot where they have muted expectations compared to where things were a season ago. Kyron Drones is still a quarterback that I have faith in and the Hokies can be trusted to make a leap on offense with new offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery at the controls. More importantly, Virginia Tech brings over Sam Siefkes, who previously had a stint in the NFL with Arizona Cardinals, while also having a background of coaching at the collegiate level as defensive coordinator at Wofford. Siefkes is a coach that I’m very high on as a part of this staff, and he should instantly provide an upgrade to a unit that has talent and plenty of experience in the front seven. This is a game that should be close throughout, so I’ll gladly take over a touchdown with the Hokies in Atlanta.

Virginia Tech vs South Carolina prediction: Virginia Tech +7.5 available at time of publishing. Playable to +7.

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Given the fact that I’m lower on this South Carolina offense and higher on the Virginia Tech defense than the market, I’m naturally inclined to back the under in this contest. Even though this game is indoors, both offenses should play fairly slow and focus on establishing the line of scrimmage against an unfamiliar opponent. We can expect nearly 30 seconds per play for both units and there’s also something to be said for the fact that Virginia Tech is one of the best units in the nation on special teams, where the Hokies will bring back kicker John Love, who was named to the 2025 Lou Groza Award watch list and recorded the second-longest field goal in school history in 2024. Look for plenty of drives to end in field goals and punts in a game that ends up in the upper 40s.

Under 52.5 available at time of publishing. Playable to 52.