Virginia Tech gets Old Dominion at the right time on the calendar, but not in the easiest conditions.
Saturday’s noon kickoff in Blacksburg comes with the Hokies wearing white for a Whiteout game, a smart move considering how brutal Lane Stadium can be in the midday summer sun. Virginia Tech is also trying to keep the home crowd rolling after officially selling out the game, its second sellout of the young season. For a non-conference matchup with a noon start, that stands out.
The bigger wrinkle is the weather. The forecast out of Weather Underground for Blacksburg calls for serious thunderstorms around the second quarter, with the threat growing later into the evening.
That brings back bad memories for anyone still thinking about the Purdue game. Nothing is official, but the possibility of this one getting wiped out and not made up is very much in the air.
On the field, this is a revenge spot for the Hokies. Old Dominion was supposed to be one of those easier wins in 2025, and instead it turned into a disaster.
Now Brent Pry and his staff are looking for payback against a Monarchs team that is not going to roll over. Ricky Rahne, James Franklin, and Brent Pry know each other well, and games like this can take on a little extra edge.
ODU already opened the year with a 31-10 win over Norfolk State, so it arrives with both an offense and a defense that can be taken seriously in the Sun Belt.
There is also some momentum around Virginia Tech after a strong Week 1 Pro Football Focus grade. Keeping that level up matters, especially for the seniors trying to put NFL tape together. The staff is clearly trying to keep the energy high, too, with the Hokie Sports hype video helping sell the moment.
The predictions leaned toward Virginia Tech, but not toward a runaway.
Bryan Manning pointed to the 18.5-point spread and liked it for the Hokies. He said he was more impressed that Virginia Tech finally did what it was supposed to do against an overmatched FCS opponent last week, calling for the kind of no-mercy mentality the program has needed.
He expects Ethan Grunkemeyer to keep delivering, with Que’Sean Brown, Jeffrey Overton, and Marcellous Hawkins helping carry the load. Manning also sees the Hokies shutting down Old Dominion quarterback Quinn Henicle’s legs, which would make life a lot harder for the Monarchs.
His pick: Hokies 38, Monarchs 13.
John Schneider liked what Virginia Tech showed offensively against VMI, especially the structure and execution. He pointed to the offense operating under center, the cleaner tempo, and the development of an intermediate passing game.
Defensively, he said the Hokies showed strong run defense and controlled the line of scrimmage, holding a triple-option attack to almost nothing on the ground. Still, he warned that penalties could be a problem here, and those pre-snap mistakes need to disappear.
Schneider expects Hawkins and Overton to work as the running back duo, with Que’Sean Brown, Greene, Reynolds, and Gosnell all getting involved through the air from Grunkemeyer. For him, the key is the offensive line, which he believes Coach Moore has finally gotten working as a functional two-deep. He also noted that the betting ranges have Virginia Tech around -17.5 to -19.5, with the over/under sitting between 50.5 and 52.5, and he expects a mix of touchdowns and field goals if the game plays out that way.
In Other News...
James Franklin Brings One Intriguing Trend Into Virginia Techs In-State Tests
James Franklin arrives in Blacksburg with a track record that should matter to anyone watching Virginia Techs in-state slate. As a head coach, he has gone 11-3 against opponents from his own state, and the last time one of those teams beat him came back in 2016 against Pittsburgh. That history includes some eye-opening results along the way, from his Vanderbilt days against Tennessee to repeated success against Penn States in-state rivals.
Now Franklin gets a new version of that challenge at Virginia Tech, where the schedule is quickly moving from a tune-up against VMI to a more relevant test against Old Dominion and, soon enough, the Commonwealth Clash with Virginia. For a coach still settling in with the Hokies, those games will say a lot about how quickly his formula translates to the kind of regional matchups that can define a season in Blacksburg. [Read more 🡒]
Cal Faces A Week 2 Quarterback Concern It Cant Ignore
Week 1 of the 2026 ACC quarterback watch gave Virginia Tech a little to file away, even as the conference spent much of the opening weekend sorting out who looked ready for the early grind and who still had work to do. The review of league passers leaned heavily on who had already been tested against Power Four defenses, which made the Hokies own signal-caller part of a broader conversation about how quickly the conference hierarchy can shift once real opponents show up.
The bigger intrigue now is Week 2, where several ACC quarterbacks are headed into matchups that should say more about where they stand than opening weekend ever could. With the top eight quarterbacks in the league already being sorted and upcoming opponents lined up across the conference, Virginia Tech has a close eye on whether its own passing game can climb with the rest of the pack before the schedule starts tightening up. [Read more 🡒]
Virginia Techs Offense Faces A Real Test Against Old Dominion
Virginia Techs offense opened the season with plenty to like, piling up 619 yards and showing a balanced attack that looked in sync from the start. Quarterback Grunkemeyer settled in quickly in his debut, moving the ball efficiently while running back Overton handled the early scoring burst with two rushing touchdowns in the first quarter. Wide receiver Brown also gave the Hokies a steady big-play target, finishing with six catches for 109 yards and a touchdown.
The challenge now gets more interesting with Old Dominion coming to town, because the Monarchs already showed they can make life uncomfortable for an opponent. Their opener featured a strong defensive performance and a knack for creating extra possessions, the kind of trait that can test how clean Virginia Tech really is when the game tightens up. For a Hokies offense that looked explosive out of the gate, this is a chance to find out whether that rhythm travels against a defense that has already shown it can force mistakes. [Read more 🡒]