At home this season, Stanford is 4-1, scoring 28.4 points a game and allowing 26.8. The only loss came against Miami. On the road, the Cardinal are 0-4, scoring 10.3 points a game and allowing 50.5.

Saturday is the fifth road trip. Stanford (4-5, 2-4 ACC) visits Virginia Tech (6-3, 3-3) at 7:30 p.m. ET on ACC Network, eight days after SMU put 51 points on the Hokies in Dallas. It’s the third meeting between the programs and the first in Blacksburg. Stanford won the 2011 Orange Bowl 40-12, and the Hokies won 31-7 at Stanford Stadium in 2024.

Three storylines to watch:

1. Brent Pry’s defense has a week to answer for Dallas

SMU scored on each of its first eight drives Friday. Kevin Jennings threw for 350 yards and four touchdowns, and the 51 points were the most Virginia Tech has allowed since a 54-10 loss to Maryland in the 2021 Pinstripe Bowl. It was also the first time a James Franklin defense allowed 500 yards since Penn State’s Peach Bowl loss to Ole Miss at the end of the 2023 season.

Franklin called it “not anywhere near the standard” and said the blame was his.

On paper, Stanford is a softer place to start over. Quarterback Davis Warren has 2,203 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and three interceptions, but his three lowest yardage totals all came on the road: 151 at Duke, 136 at Wake Forest and 144 at Notre Dame. Running back Micah Ford has 751 yards and eight touchdowns. His two big days came at home, 179 yards against Elon and 150 against NC State. He hasn’t topped 76 in a road game.

That’s the catch. Holding this offense under 20 on Saturday won’t tell anyone much, because Stanford hasn’t scored more than 24 away from home all year. The number to watch is explosive plays. SMU’s two longest gains Friday were runs of 59 and 50 yards. Shutting those down is the real assignment before Miami, and a lopsided score could hide whether it happened.

2. Stanford’s bowl hopes ride on a trip it hasn’t solved

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None of the road losses have been close. Stanford lost 35-7 at Duke, 57-3 at Wake Forest, 58-7 at Notre Dame, and 52-24 at Louisville, an average margin of about 40 points.

There’s a clean split in their season, too. Stanford has allowed 28 points or fewer in all four wins and 35 or more in all five losses.

At 4-5, Stanford needs two wins in its last three to reach six. That run goes through Blacksburg, a Nov. 21 trip to Cal, and a Nov. 28 home game against SMU. Six would send the Cardinal to their first bowl since the 2018 Sun Bowl. A loss Saturday would leave them needing to win the Big Game in Berkeley and then beat an SMU team that is 7-2.

Coach Tavita Pritchard knows that 2018 team from the inside. He was Stanford’s offensive coordinator that season, his first in the job, and he spent 2023 through 2025 as the Washington Commanders’ quarterbacks coach before Stanford hired him last November. He has said he and general manager Andrew Luck aren’t measuring year one by bowl eligibility.

3. A seventh win starts with a cleaner pocket

SMU sacked Ethan Grunkemeyer four times Friday, the fourth straight game Virginia Tech has allowed at least three. The passing numbers have held up anyway. Grunkemeyer is 215 of 300 (71.7%) for 2,431 yards with 18 touchdowns and three interceptions.

Stanford doesn’t get home much. Linebacker Gabe Kaminski leads the Cardinal with two sacks. Virginia Tech defensive lineman Aycen Stevens has 8.5 by himself.

The easier fix might be in the backfield. Jeffrey Overton Jr. ran for 123 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries in Dallas, his third 100-yard game of the season. He’s at 762 yards on 126 carries, 6.0 a pop. Stanford allows 199.7 rushing yards a game, 127th in FBS.

Then comes Miami (8-1, 6-0 ACC), which took its first loss Saturday, 31-24 to Notre Dame. The last Virginia Tech team with seven regular-season wins was Justin Fuente’s 2019 group, which finished 8-4. This one can get there before it lands in Miami Gardens.