If things go according to plan, Old Dominion will get Liberty’s best this weekend.
Flames quarterback Ethan Vasko, a former star at Oscar Smith High in Chesapeake who has been battling a recurring shoulder injury, said Thursday that he expects to play when the teams meet Saturday at S.B. Ballard Stadium.
Vasko, a redshirt junior who transferred from Coastal Carolina, aggravated the injury during the first half of last week’s 31-13 loss to James Madison. He’s been dealing with it since Liberty (1-3) fell 34-24 to Jacksonville State in the season’s second week.
“I’m recovering really well from Saturday,” Vasko said. “My shoulder’s feeling a lot better, being able to throw the ball and stuff. I’m recovering super-well, actually.”
Asked directly whether he planned to play, Vasko said: “Yeah, I think so. Yes, sir.”
A former ODU commit who began his college career at Kansas in 2022 before two seasons at Coastal, Vasko has passed for 763 yards, six touchdowns and three interceptions through four games this season.
A dual threat, Vasko is second on the team with 142 rushing yards.
Monarchs coach Ricky Rahne said his team looked forward to facing whichever quarterback Liberty decides to entrust with its spread-option scheme.
“You’re not necessarily preparing for the individual; you’re preparing for that offense at this point,” Rahne said. “Obviously, Ethan being a local kid, we hope he gets to play, because you don’t want to see anybody have any games taken away from them — particularly when we know it’s a big game for him and his family.”
Vasko, who has three sisters and a brother, said his entire immediate family had bought tickets for Saturday’s game.
Several of his former high school coaches, he said, also planned to attend.
ODU follows signature win over Virginia Tech with relative silence
The Monarchs (2-1) are coming off a bye week that followed their landmark 45-26 win at Virginia Tech, the program’s first road victory against a Power Four school.
As they always do, ODU’s players are preparing to face the next team on the schedule.
“Whether (Vasko) plays or he doesn’t, we’re just trying to play our best ball against them,” Monarchs junior safety Mario Easterly said. “He’s a good quarterback, but we can stop him if we play our good ball.”
Vasko passed for 2,889 yards and 21 touchdowns in two seasons at Coastal, adding 815 rushing yards and seven more scores.
Before appearing in one game at Kansas, Vasko led Oscar Smith to a pair of state titles and was named the 2021 Abe Goldblatt All-Tidewater Player of the Year.
The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Vasko last played at ODU on Nov. 4, 2023, when he threw a 14-yard touchdown pass with 23 seconds left to lift Coastal to a 28-24 win over the Monarchs.
That he’ll return in a different uniform hardly matters.
“It’s pretty much the same thing,” Vasko said.
“It’s cool, though, coming back home and having a lot of people I know at the game and all that kind of stuff. So I’m excited.”
David Hall, david.hall@pilotonline.com.
