The long wait until January 3 and the Duke Mayo's Bowl is almost over. The Minnesota Golden Gophers coming off a 7-5 regular season will look to take on the Virginia Tech Hokies (6-6) in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The bowl game marks the fourth straight season that the Gophers have made a bowl game and the sixth time in P.J. Fleck's eight years leading the program. The Gophers own a perfect 5-0 record under Fleck in bowl games and won their last seven straight dating back to the 2025 season under head coaches Jerry Kill and Tracy Claeyes.

As we begin to prepare for next Friday's matchup between the Gophers and Hokies, Gophers Nation takes a first look at Brent Pry's Virginia Tech squad.

The January 3 matchup will be the first time that the Gophers and Hokies have met on the gridiron. The Gophers are 20-14-1 all-time against the ACC while Virginia Tech is 32-28-0 all-time against the Big Ten.

Where: Charlotte, North Carolina

Stadium: Bank of America Stadium (74,867)

Date & Time: January 3, 2025 - 7:30 p.m. ET

Television: ESPN - Matt Barrie (PxP), Analyst TBD, Harry Lyles Jr (Sideline)

Odds: Minnesota is a -5.5 point favorite with the over/under set at 42.5.

Notably, Matt Barrie's analyst partner Dan Mullen took over the UNLV job earlier this month.

The Hokies enter the bowl game with a 6-6 record. Their offense and defense were both above average this season but neither side will blow you away. Their offense averaged 29.7 points per game, best for 53rd in the country while their defense allowed a solid 22.8 points per game, which ranked 42nd nationally.

Offensively, they're led by their ground attack which has averaged over 187 yards per game his season and 5.0 yards per carry. Their passing attack has been rather weak with just 2,300 total passing yards this season mostly from former Baylor quarterback Kyron Drones.

Defensively, their solid both against the pass and the run but teams re not afraid to run on them consistently, as they face 377 rushing attempts per game. They're allowing 145.4 yards per game this season on the ground but just 3.9 yards per carry. An aggressive defense, the Hokies are averaging just under two turnovers per game.

The Hokies by no means this season got off to a fast start. They were 2-3 at the end of September but an undefeated October put the Hokies in a position to finish strong with a 5-3 record. However, November was unkind to Brent Pry's program as they dropped three of four games with only a 37-17 win over the Virginia Cavaliers saving the final month of the regular season for them.

It has been an extremely tough transfer portal window for Virginia Tech as the Hokies have said goodbye to 16 scholarship players in the portal. The biggest losses in the transfer portal include; offensive lineman Braelin Moore who was the Hokies' starting center each of the last two years and multiple key defensive contributors in cornerback Mansoor Delane, linebacker Sam Brumfield, linebacker Keli Lawson, and safety Mose Phillips III.

The Hokies also fired three members of its coaching staff this month as Brent Pry dismissed defensive coordinator Chris Marve, offensive line coach Ron Crooke, and strength and conditioning coach Dwight Galt IV. Marve is the big one here, he was the Hokies' defensive coordinator each of the last three seasons under Brent Pry. It is unclear who will be the Hokies' defensive coordinator come January 3 but it wouldn't be surprising to see Pry take over the playcalling duties himself. Pry was a defensive coordinator for over a decade, spending time at Georgia Southern, Vanderbilt, and Penn State.

The Hokies are 6-6 against the spread this season while the over has gone over in eight of 12 games including four of their last six games. The Hokies have failed to cover the spread in three of their last four.

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