Virginia Tech at Wake Forest is the Champs Sports Bowl Game Of The Week

This season, pick who you think will win the Champs Sports Bowl Game of the Week and WIN! Answer the question on the Champs Sports Bowl Facebook page before Saturday’s game. If you pick correctly, you’ll be entered into a drawing to win two tickets to the Champs Sports Bowl on December 29, 2011!

Virginia Tech leads series 23-11-1 (last meeting: Oct. 16, 2010: Virginia Tech 52, Wake Forest 21)

Upstart Wake Forest welcomes No. 21 Virginia Tech to Winston-Salem this week in a pivotal ACC matchup of one-loss teams. The Demon Deacons are coming off of a stunning win against then-No. 23 Florida State, the team’s first victory against a ranked opponent in five tries. The Hokies squeezed by Miami last week when quarterback Logan Thomas scored with under a minute to play in the fourth quarter.

Thomas’ 19-yard game-winning run on fourth-and-1 saved the Hokies from collapse against the Hurricanes Saturday. Tech led Miami the entire way, until running back Lamar Miller exploded for a 30-yard score that gave the ‘Canes their first lead with under three minutes to play. Although the Hokies managed to pull out a victory, they did very little to help fans forget about a 20-point home loss to Clemson only a week before. Tailback David Wilson continues to shine for Virginia Tech, however, leading the league with 768 yards rushing.

After a finishing dismal 3-9 in 2010, the Demon Deacons are off to a 4-1 start this season. Much of the success can be attributed to the improved play of quarterback Tanner Price. Price’s eight touchdowns thus far are good enough to surpass his season total from a year ago, and his 1,342 passing yards are the second most of any Wake Forest QB through five games, behind only all-time leading passer Riley Skinner. Price was sidelined for the final 10 minutes of Wake’s lone defeat, a 36-29 overtime thriller at Syracuse. The Deacs’ remaining schedule will prove to be challenging, though. Besides Virginia Tech this weekend, Wake faces Notre Dame at home and goes on the road to square off with North Carolina and ACC-leader Clemson.

Extra points:

*Virginia Tech failed to score a touchdown at home for the first time since 1995 in its Oct. 1 loss to Clemson.

*Wake Forest is 3-0 in the ACC for the first time in school history, and its last win against the Hokies came in 1983.

Expert Picks

	Michel Champagne currently serves as Chairman of Florida Citrus Sports, where his duties include leading Team Selection Committee. He is the Vice President of Operations and General Manager, Orlando Region for Bright House Networks.
	Pick: Va. Tech Season Record: 6-2

	Greg Warmoth spent 11 years as the weekend sports anchor for WFTV Channel 9 in Orlando before switching to the news desk in 1997. He currently anchors Eyewitness News Daybreak, Eyewitness News This Morning on TV-27 and Eyewitness News at Noon.
	Pick: Va. Tech Season Record: 5-3

	Marc Daniels hosts The Beat Of Sports on ESPN 1080 AM in Orlando every weekday morning from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. Daniels has over 20 years of experience on the air and is most well known as “the Voice of the UCF Knights” for all football, men’s basketball and baseball games on the UCF ISP Sports Network.
	Pick: Va. Tech Season Record: 4-4

	Jerry Greene spent 33 years as a sportswriter at Florida Today, the Pensacola News Journal and the Orlando Sentinel before retiring in 2009. He now co-hosts The Beat of Sports with Daniels and contributes to ESPN.com’s Page 2 section.
	Pick: Va. Tech Season Record: 4-4