Virginia Tech vs. Georgia Tech: Hokies Take Next Step to ACC Championship

For one of the first times all season, a Thursday night game finally lived up to its billing. It was close and it was fun to watch, at least as long as you’re not a fan of Georgia Tech and Jeremiah Attaochu.

Virginia Tech won this game 37-26 and did so by dominating the time of possession and holding the Yellow Jackets to just 243 yards rushing, which was their second lowest output all season.

The loss statistically eliminates Georgia Tech from reaching the ACC Championship game since they lost to both Virginia and the Hokies. Each of those teams controls their own destiny in the division.

That said, the odds of the Cavaliers winning out the rest of the season are incredibly small. They have a three-game losing streak to Duke, they have to get by an underrated Florida State team and then have to get by their in-state rivals to finish the season.

Virginia Tech only has to beat UNC, who is 1-3 in road games this year, next Thursday and then UVA, but the Hokies have won the Commonwealth Cup every year since 2003. Virginia also lost to N.C. State and narrowly escaped 1-9 Indiana and 2-7 Idaho.

It is not a stretch that the winner of Thursday night’s game will represent the Coastal division for the seventh straight year.

Virginia Tech will in all likelihood have to face off against Clemson. The Tigers take on second place Wake Forest this week, but the game is at Clemson where they are really tough to beat. The Demon Deacons also just lost to Notre Dame.

This Hokie team is much better prepared to take on Clemson this time around because of the progression of Logan Thomas. Since that game, he has only thrown two interceptions as compared to the five he threw in the first five games and has increased his average passing yards from 177 to 251 in that same time span.

For Georgia Tech, the success of the season will ride on whether or not it can notch a win against in-state rival Georgia. The Jackets will likely be headed to one of the ACC’s lesser bowls like the Belk Bowl.

And it’s all over one exciting Thursday night game in Atlanta.