This is an extremely underrated aspect of bowl games, as home field advantage becomes much realer in teams’ final games of the season. As seen earlier in bowl season, like in the Birmingham Bowl featuring Georgia Tech and Vanderbilt, fans have a big effect on the game.

Bank of America Stadium is roughly a 3 hour drive from Blacksburg, with Apple Maps giving an estimate of 3 hours and 6 minutes for a drive from Lane Stadium to Bank of America Stadium. Huntington Bank Stadium, the home of the Gophers, is significantly farther from Bank of America Stadium than Lane. Apple Maps estimates the drive from Huntington Bank Stadium to Bank of America Stadium to be a 16 hour, 43 minute drive. Virginia Tech fans travel fairly well and Minnesota’s fans will likely have to catch flights if they want to see their team play in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.

I would not be shocked to see a stadium heavily dominated by Hokies fans which could swing the momentum if the game is as close as ESPN’s FPI projects it to be. ESPN’s FPI system predicts the Duke’s Mayo Bowl as a true toss-up, with the Virginia Tech Hokies receiving a 51.3% chance to win and the Minnesota Golden Gophers earning a 48.7% chance to win.

This seems like a cop-out especially when you consider P.J. Fleck’s bowl record and the fact that Brent Pry has only coached in one bowl game, but Virginia Tech absolutely dominated a ranked Tulane in the Military Bowl last year.

Pry has shown up in big games as a head coach and almost picked up another signature win this year against No. 7 Miami, although that game just slipped out of the Hokies hands, Pry now has a chance to prove himself. He’s fired his defensive coordinator and now would be the perfect time to prove he belongs with a signature win against a strong Big 10 team as an underdog.

Pop Watson was the Hokies’ best kept secret, but it’s no secret now. He is absolutely one of the best young quarterbacks in the conference and I think he has the potential to light up the Hokies’ secondary in the Mayo Bowl. Watson might be the best quarterback that plays in this game and he has the skills to take down a extremely strong Minnesota secondary.

I would not be shocked if there are plenty of plays designed just to showcase Watson’s skills. He is a dynamic play maker who can take control of the ball game at any time. He has the arm to take the top off of the defense, and if any receiver can get open, he can definitely make the right read. Similar to Brent Pry, this is a big ‘prove it’ game for Pop Watson, and I think he definitely has what it takes.

Virginia Tech Transfer Portal Commitments (9)

Safety Sherrod Covil Jr (Previous School: Clemson)

RB Terion Stewart (Bowling Green)

RB Marcellous Hawkins (Central Missouri)

DL Jahzari Priester (Hampton)

DB Isaiah Brown-Murray (ECU)

DB Tyson Flowers (Rice)

DB Joseph Reddish (Wingate)

DB Isaiah Cash (Sam Houston State)

OL Tomas Rimac (West Virginia)