Virginia Tech's Justin Terry and Thomas Williams near returns as Hokies prepare for Stanford

Virginia Tech may get two starters back for Saturday night's game against Stanford. James Franklin said Wednesday that left tackle Justin Terry and cornerback Thomas Williams are both trending toward a return, though he would not promise either one, Virginia Tech Hokies On SI reported.

Terry has been out since he was hurt against Maryland on Sept. 19. Wednesday was his first full practice since the injury. The Hokies had been bringing him back slowly through drills and one-on-ones, and Franklin said he is about a week ahead of the original recovery schedule. Even so, Franklin said Terry's status could come down to a game-time decision. Another possibility is that Terry is cleared but the staff decides he has not had enough practice reps to play.

Williams has practiced all week, and Franklin said the Hokies expect to have him. But Franklin has said that before. Williams was hurt making a tackle in the win over Georgia Tech, and 247Sports reported that he was ruled out against Clemson after taking full reps during the week. Terry also missed that game. After Williams sat out a second straight game in the loss at SMU, Virginia Tech fans have reason to wait for the availability report.

Franklin also spent part of his media session on the 51-28 loss in Dallas. He said the Hokies could have run the ball more early before the score forced them to throw. Jeff Overton Jr. still ran for 123 yards, his third 100-yard game of the season, and Franklin described him as now being the team's clear lead back. Asked about the College Football Playoff's expansion to 24 teams, Franklin said, "I'm just trying to beat Stanford, to be honest." He also praised Stanford quarterback Davis Warren for his command of the Cardinal's pro-style offense and his completion rate of better than 60 percent.

What it means for Saturday

Virginia Tech is 6-3 and 3-1 at Lane Stadium. Its only home loss was a 35-33 defeat to Pittsburgh. The SMU game ended a two-game winning streak that included wins over Georgia Tech and at Clemson. Getting Terry back would help a line that has been short-handed for weeks. Williams would help a secondary that gave up 51 points in its last game.

Stanford arrives at 4-5 and 0-4 on the road. The Cardinal have been outscored 202-41 in those road games, losing 52-24 at Louisville last week after giving up 57 at Wake Forest and 58 at Notre Dame. All four of their wins have come at home. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. ET on ACC Network, with cold weather and possibly snow in the forecast.

The board has Virginia Tech favored by a wide margin across 11 venues. Novig has the Hokies at -641 on the moneyline and Stanford at +590. On the spread, Novig lists Virginia Tech -15.5 at -100. Pinnacle's -14.5 at -111 is the best Hokies price anywhere, so the venues are about a point apart. The total is 58.5 at Novig, with the over at +104 and the under at -111. Fanatics has the over at 58, and FanDuel has the under at 58.5 for -110. Sportsbook hold runs from 3.3 percent to 7 percent across the markets.