- Virginia Tech vs. Wofford: Saturday, Sept. 20, at noon ET (ACC Network Extra) from Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va.
- Betting line: No line
- Roster cards: Click here
- Blacksburg weather: Click here
The Terriers’ losses have been slightly different than Virginia Tech’s, with three extremely close defeats to South Carolina State (16-15), Richmond (14-10) and Mercer (22-21). This is a team that has been sound defensively but has struggled to score.
Wofford is coached by Shaun Watson, a former offensive coordinator of Pat Narduzzi at Pitt. He also served as the Louisville offensive coordinator from 2011-13. Despite his offensive background, his team has struggled to move the football consistently this year.
The Terriers have put up the following records under Watson:
• 2022: 3-3 (interim)
• 2023: 2-9
• 2024: 5-7
• 2025: 0-3
Including three seasons as Southern Illinois’ head coach from 1994 through 1996, Watson has a career record of 21-43 and has never had a winning season.
This preview is going to be shorter than most. We’ve been drinking from a firehose this week so I’m later getting started on my research than usual. Plus, there’s not quite as much information available since we’re dealing with an FCS opponent. Therefore, this preview will be more general and more statistics-based than usual, with very few players getting mentioned.
Let’s get started by looking at the offensive side of the ball.
The Wofford Offense
The Terriers have struggled so far this season. They’ve only hit 20 points once and have not scored more than 21 points in any of their three games. It was a similar story for them last year when they only managed to reach 30 points on one occasion and were held below 20 in eight of their 12 games. As bad as Virginia Tech’s defense has looked the last two weeks, Wofford simply doesn’t bring much firepower to the table.
Here’s a look at the numbers the Terriers have put up so far this season (FCS rankings):
• Rushing: 62 yards per game, No. 113 out of 118
• Passing: 132.7 yards per game, No. 101 out of 118
• Passer Efficiency: 104.97, No. 94 out of 118
• Total Offense: 194.7 yards per game, No. 115 out of 118
• Scoring Offense: 15.3 points per game, No. 97 out of 118
There seem to be some really bad offenses in FCS ball this year, which is perhaps a reflection of the best players transferring up a level. For example, five teams are averaging fewer than 10 points per game. Saint Francis is only averaging 4.3 points per game over three contests. So, Wofford isn’t the worst offensive team at the FCS level, but it isn’t far from it.
The Terriers have played two quarterbacks through three games:
• Quarterback Ethan Drum: 19-of-42 (45.2%) for 287 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs
• Quarterback Jayden Whitaker: 9-of-26 (34.6%) for 118 yards, 0 TDs, 0 INTs
Drum appears to be the better passer. Whitaker seems to be the better runner, but that’s relative — he’s only lost five yards this season while Drum has lost 55.
The top running back is Ihson Jackson-Anderson, who has 151 yards on 24 carries. That’s 6.3 yards per carry, which is quite good. However, 68 yards of that came on one carry, and he’s lost 21 yards on his other 23 carries. As a team, Wofford is averaging just 2.2 yards per carry this season. That’s insane when you consider that one of its rushing plays went for 68 yards.
Ivory Aikens has been Wofford’s top receiver with 10 catches for 139 yards, but he’s tiny at 5-6, 145. He does have an 80-yard gain this season, which brings me to my final point: the Hokies must stop the big play in this game.
The Terriers have big plays of 80, 62 and 51 yards so far this season for a total of 193 big-play yards. They only have 586 yards of total offense on the year, which means a third of their yards in 2025 have come on big plays. This isn’t a team that is likely to drive the length of the field. If you prevent the big play, Wofford will struggle to score.
The Wofford Defense
The Wofford defense is a lot more capable than its offensive counterpart. Here’s a look at the unit’s numbers through three games:• Rushing: 123.3 yards per game, No. 24 out of 118
• Passing: 259.3 yards per game, No. 95 out of 118
• Passer efficiency: 123.3, No. 36 out of 118
• Total defense: 382.7 yards per game, No. 55 out of 118
• Scoring defense: 17.3 points per game, No. 16 out of 118
The Terriers have been good against the run. Their traditional passing defense makes their total defensive numbers look mediocre, but opposing quarterbacks have not been efficient at all against them and offenses have really struggled to score points. In short, this is a very capable FCS defense the Hokies will be facing.
Wofford has 25 tackles for loss through three games and can make plays in the backfield. Here are some of the top players to keep an eye on:
DL Brandon Maina: Undersized at 6-0, 275, Maina has 4.5 tackles for loss on the season. He’s had a terrific career for the Terriers with over 1,400 snaps. As a side note, he’s been listed at the exact same size all five years of his career, which shows you how interested football staffs and athletic departments are in providing accurate information these days.
LB Jalen Rambert: A sophomore with 23 tackles and four tackles for loss this year, Rambert has been good against the run.
S Eli Campbell: He not only leads the Terriers with two interceptions, but he’s also third on the team with 24 tackles. Wofford does a good job of getting its defensive backs around the ball in the running game, and Campbell is the perfect example.
S CJ Coombes: Like Campbell, Coombes is extremely active. He was a preseason first-team All-Southern Conference pick. Only a sophomore, he’s tied for the team lead with 27 tackles.
The Terriers have a scrappy, well-coached defense that seems to keep them in games. Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to overcome one of the worst offenses in the country thus far in 2025.
Virginia Tech-Wofford Prediction Poll
Before our staff makes their picks, tell us what you think will happen Saturday.Virginia Tech-Wofford Final Thoughts
On one side, we’ve got a team with a bad offense and a good defense. On the other side, we’ve got a team that has been bad at everything. However, the team that is bad at everything has a lot more talent and shouldn’t have trouble winning this game, even if it’s not very pretty.It’s not going to be a good season for Virginia Tech football, but that doesn’t mean the team can’t rally, play competitive football and take some pride in itself and the school. There are a lot of seniors on this team, but there are also plenty of underclassmen who should want to plant the seeds for a successful 2026 in Blacksburg or at least put some good film out there in case they want to transfer at the end of the season. Either way, we should see nothing but top effort between now and the end of the season.
This sounds like a low-scoring rock fight, which pretty much describes Virginia Tech’s 2022 meeting with the Terriers. What was the score to that game? (checks TSL’s past schedules page). It was 27-7. Yeah, that sounds good to me.
Chris’ Prediction: Virginia Tech 27, Wofford 7
Will Stewart (Founder and General Manager): What a week. The wheels fell off the bus as a really bad second half against Vanderbilt snowballed into a really bad first half against Old Dominion and then the end of Brent Pry’s Virginia Tech career. Justin Fuente had the luxury of being fired after a win. Pry was just fired, period.
This is going to be a seriously weird game. Three years ago, the Hokies played Wofford at 11 a.m. and a near-sellout crowd of 62,000 showed up for the whiteout. This video I shot (with my lousy phone camera) of Enter Sandman gives you an idea of how packed Lane Stadium was:
Three years later, the air is out of the balloon, and this will be perhaps the lightest-attended game in a long while at Virginia Tech. (We’ll crunch the numbers later.)
None of that is relevant to the game itself. As for that, I have no idea what to expect. Three years ago, VT beat the Terriers 27-7. Let’s go with that. (I swear, I did not read Chris’ prediction before making mine!)
Will’s Prediction: Virginia Tech 27, Wofford 7
David Cunningham (Managing Editor): This feels like a good bounce-back opportunity for the Hokies. It’s a weird time with an interim head coach in place after just three games, but I expect them to rally around each other at home against a team they’re much more talented than and get some confidence back.
David’s Prediction: Virginia Tech 31, Wofford 6
Andy Bitter (Senior Staff Writer): I don’t think you change the head coach and suddenly everything is all right with a team that’s got some major issues going into its Week 4 matchup. That said, this is an FCS team that the Hokies should simply out-talent. Wofford hasn’t been able to move the ball and I think it will have a tough time doing it Saturday. Tech hasn’t scored a lot either, but I feel like this is a game where it gets moving a bit (perhaps aided by a Tucker Holloway punt return, which seems to be how things snowball). Even with all the turmoil, I think the Hokies roll in this one. If they don’t, there are bigger problems in Blacksburg than just the coach.
Andy’s Prediction: Virginia Tech 34, Wofford 9
Nick Brown (Director of Media): All press is good press. Losing to Old Dominion as a fan sucked, but losing to Old Dominion as Director of Media was glorious. Our numbers have SKYROCKETED on YouTube. Please continue to watch/listen to all of our audio/video content on top of reading our articles. It is greatly appreciated, and I do not take it for granted whatsoever.
Anyways, let’s get to my pick. I think the Hokies roll to a big victory that leads to fans lying to themselves throughout next week about how much better Virginia Tech got this week.
I also wanted to give a quick shoutout to Pulaski native Dillon Porter, who starts at right tackle for the Terriers.
Nick’s Prediction: Virginia Tech 38, Wofford 6
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24-11 |
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44-20 |
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 45-26 |
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38-6 |
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23-21 |
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 30-23 |
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35-20 |
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42-34 (2 OT) |
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28-16 |
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34-14 |
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34-17 |
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| Fan Poll | Score | ||
| Gamecocks Win by 11+ (39%) |  |
Gamecocks 24, Hokies 11 | |
| Hokies Win by 1-10 (50%) |  |
Vanderbilt 44, Hokies 20 | |
| Hokies Win by 1-10 (36%) | |
ODU 45, VT 26 | |
| Hokies Win by 11+ (62%) | |
Hokies 38, Terriers 6 | |
| Wolfpack Wins by 11+ (59%) | |
Hokies 23, Wolfpack 21 | |
| Hokies Win by 1-10 (58%) | |
Deacs 30, Hokies 23 | |
| Jackets Win by 11+ (63%) | |
Jackets 35, Hokies 20 | |
| Hokies Win by 1-10 (52%) | |
Hokies 42, Golden Bears 34 (2 OT) | |
| Cardinals Win by 11+ (64%) | |
Cardinals 28, Hokies 16 | |
| Seminoles Win by 11+ (49%) | |
Seminoles 34, Hokies 14 | |
| Canes Win by 11+ (79%) | |
Hurricanes 34, Hokies 17 | |
| Hokies Win by 11+ (46%) | |
Hokies 37, Hoos 17 | |
| Gophers by 11+ (45%) | |
Gophers 24, Hokies 10 | |