Virginia Tech Football: Virginia Tech vs. Old Dominion Preview

Coming off of a 64-17 thrashing of ECU, the No. 13 Hokies return to Lane Stadium to take on the shorthanded Old Dominion Monarchs.

When and Where: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, VA. 2:00 pm ET

How to Watch: ACC Network Extra

Line: VT -29 (via Sports Book Review)

Preview

At the end of the first quarter last week, I was panicking. I’ll be honest. Sitting in a 17-7 hole and having given up over 200 yards, I was feeling that this story was all too familiar.

During the end of the Frank Beamer era, let down games became all too common. Even last year, the Hokies suffered momentum killing losses to Syracuse and Georgia Tech.

Yet, something happened that was not so common over the last 10 years: the Hokies completely took over the game.

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In the final 3 quarters, Virginia Tech held ECU to 77 yards and scored 57 unanswered points. Granted, ECU is in a really tough place, but the resilience by this Hokies team was impressive.

This week, #13 Virginia Tech returns home to face Old Dominion. While the Monarchs program has been impressive in getting off the ground, they are facing some serious problems this year.

Chris Coleman of TechSideline reports that Old Dominion will be without their top RB and top WR for an extended amount of time.

WR Jonathan Duhart broke his foot in the Monarch’s game against UMass two weeks ago, while RB Ray Lawry injured his hamstring the week before.

What’s more, 17-year old QB Steven Williams Jr. will make his first career start. Even though Williams showed promise in the second half against North Carolina last week, anyone making their first start against Bud Foster is in for a long day.

This is especially true for a 17-year-old true freshman.

Prediction

The motto of this week, according to Coach Fuente, is “tunnel vision.” Virginia Tech is doing all they can to not look ahead to next week’s marquee matchup with Clemson.

No matter how much we say this, it will be very difficult for the Hokies to not look ahead a little bit. For that reason, I don’t expect another 60 point performance.

That being said, there is nothing I can see that would affect the outcome of this game. Even if the Hokies are having visions of Gameday and sugarplums dancing in their heads, ODU simply does not have enough talent to compete, and the talent they do have is on the sideline.

Final Score Prediction: VT 38, ODU 10

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