BLACKSBURG — As part of the halftime entertainment on Saturday night, Virginia Tech’s athletic department promised “an extraordinary drone show” for its near-capacity Lane Stadium crowd.
For many of the home fans, that was not enough reason to stick around — not after watching the Hokies get dominated by Old Dominion for two quarters.
The Monarchs jumped out to a four-touchdown lead and forced three turnovers in the first half on the way to a 45-26 stunner over the Hokies.
Stunner, that is to everyone except ODU, which outgained Virginia Tech 334-147 in total yards and beat its cross-state rival from the ACC for the third time in seven tries, and for the first time in Blacksburg, where the Hokies had not lost to a non-Power Five (now Power Four) opponent since 2020.
David Teel: Embarrassing loss to ODU should spell end for Hokies’ Brent Pry
The Monarchs (2-1) won their second consecutive game and handed Virginia Tech an 0-3 start.
After starting the game with a three-and-out on its first drive and a lost fumble on its second possession, ODU’s offense began a dominating run with 31 points on its next four drives, including four consecutive TD drives, all of which began inside the Monarchs’ own 25-yard line.
Quarterback Colton Joseph got the ball rolling for ODU, leading his team on a 93-yard drive that was highlighted by his 38-yard pass to Ja’Cory Thomas and capped with Joseph running 6 yards for the score.
On their next drive, the Monarchs went 97 yards in seven plays, including a 44-yard pass from Joseph to Na’eem Abdul-Rahim Gladding. Maurki James wrapped up that series with a 10-yard TD run to make the score 14-0.
The next scoring drive stretched 88 yards and was sparked by a 33-yard Joseph to Thomas connection. Trequan Jones, who led ODU in rushing in the first half with 54 yards on six carries, finished things off with an 11-yard run.
The Monarchs squeezed in one more touchdown late in the first half, putting together a 77-yard drive in just five plays and needing just 53 seconds. Joseph finished this one off by dropping 13-yard pass into the corner of the end zone and over two Hokies defenders to Tre Brown.
ODU added another field goal on its first drive of the second half to take a 31-0 lead. At that point, Virginia Tech had been outscored 65-0 since leading Vanderbilt 20-10 at halftime a week earlier.
Joseph completed 11 of 15 passes for 215 yards before halftime.
This is a developing story. Check back later for more, including postgame reaction.
