- Virginia Tech vs. Old Dominion: Saturday, Sept. 12, at noon ET (CW) from Lane Stadium in Blacksburg, Va.
- Betting line: Virginia Tech -19.5
- Roster cards: Click here
- Blacksburg weather: Click here
- Gameday information: Click here
With VMI out of the way, Virginia Tech (1-0) begins its 2026 season in earnest this Saturday when it hosts Old Dominion (1-0) for a noon ET kickoff in Lane Stadium.
This series began in 2017. The two teams have played seven times, with the Hokies holding a 4-3 advantage.
Things haven’t been quite as lopsided as most would have envisioned when the series was originally signed, though nearly every game has been lopsided, with only one being decided by single digits. From Tech’s perspective:
• 2017: 38-0 W
• 2018: 49-35 L
• 2019: 31-17 W
• 2022: 20-17 L
• 2023: 36-17 W
• 2024: 37-17 W
• 2025: 45-26 L
The Hokies’ margin of victory in their four wins is 22.8 points, while the Monarchs have beaten them by an average of 12 points. The season opener in 2022 remains the only game decided by single digits, with the next closest games being 14-point margins in 2018 and 2019. Only the Hokies have managed two consecutive wins in this series (in 2023 and 2024).
None of that will matter on Saturday afternoon. Tech will be on its third coach of the series, with nearly an entirely new coaching staff under James Franklin, as well as a rebuilt roster. ODU head coach Ricky Rahne is 31-33 in six seasons in Norfolk, though his overall record probably isn’t a good indicator of the job he’s done there.
Coming off a 10-3 season, the Monarchs lost starting quarterback Colton Joseph to Wisconsin, and Rahne’s roster features 40 transfers from either other four-year colleges or the JUCO ranks. The four-year schools range from as high as SEC programs in Ole Miss and Arkansas to as low as Division III Averett in Danville.
Old Dominion began its season with a 31-10 victory over Norfolk State last weekend, but it wasn’t quite as comfortable as it would have liked. It only led the FCS program 17-10 late in the third quarter.
The Monarch offense struggled to put the Spartans away until late, and it could have been even closer. Norfolk State fumbled on ODU’s 2-yard line after a 35-yard gain on its opening drive. The Spartans went 93 yards on 11 plays and took 7:31 off the clock, but turned it over just as they were about to take an early lead.
As far as ODU and VT go, Rahne and Franklin are very familiar with each other. The former served on the same staff as Franklin at Kansas State when they were assistants, and later at Vanderbilt and Penn State when Franklin was head coach.
When Franklin was fired by Penn State last season, one of the first things he did was head to Norfolk to watch an ODU game, where he tailgated and allowed himself to relax and have a beer. It wasn’t long after that tailgate that he took the Virginia Tech job, and I can guarantee you that he hasn’t done any relaxing since.
Let’s see what the Monarchs bring to the table in 2026.
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Quarterback Quinn Henicle
ODU quarterback Quinn Henicle (6-2, 215, 3rd) may be familiar to you. He got some experience behind former starter Colton Joseph, and he had a 65-yard touchdown run against Virginia Tech in 2024. He started that game for the Monarchs before giving way to the Joseph Era.
The book on Henicle is that he’s a strong runner but a not-so-gifted passer. Here are his career numbers:
• Rushing: 91 carries, 555 yards, 6.1 ypc, 7 TDs
• Passing: 40-of-77, 51.9%, 508 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs, 119.3 rating
His career completion percentage is very low, and the coaching staff didn’t seem to trust him in the passing game against lowly Norfolk State, as he attempted just 12 throws in that contest while he had 13 carries (two of which were sacks).
Henicle had 88 yards in rushing gains against the Spartans, though he also had 20 yards in losses for a net of 68, which led the team. He also paced the Monarchs with two rushing touchdowns, which accompanied two scores through the air.
As of now, the scouting report on Henicle is that he’s a good runner, but he’s limited if the Monarchs have to throw a lot. It will be important for the Hokies to stuff the run and put ODU in long-yardage situations.
The Rest Of ODU’s Running Game
The Monarchs ran it 42 times while throwing it just 13 against Norfolk State (including two sacks), so they’ll likely be run-heavy against the Hokies, as long as the score is close.
Offensive coordinator Kody Cook is in his first year as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach after serving as the wide receivers coach for the last two seasons. He replaces Kevin Decker, who is now Charles Huff’s OC at Memphis.
Cook is scheming to ODU’s personnel strengths and will try to spread the Hokies out and find gaps in the defense.
The Monarchs used three running backs against Norfolk State:
• Devin Roche (5-7, 172, 4th): 13 carries, 45 yards, 3.5 ypc
• Ja’Varien Salter (5-9, 190, 3rd): 7 carries, 40 yards, 5.7 ypc
• Trey Hall (5-11, 190, 4th): 6 carries, 27 yards, 4.5 ypc
Roche ran for 630 yards last season and had three 100-yard games in his last four contests. He has played for ODU his entire career. Against Tech last year, he had four carries for 25 yards, highlighted by a 15-yard touchdown.
Salter is a JUCO product who ran for 687 yards last season, while Hall redshirted at Ole Miss last season after rushing for 1,900 yards in two years at the JUCO level.
Overall, it’s not a big group of running backs, nor does there appear to be a standout. Roche was a Preseason All-Sun Belt selection, but that could be a reflection of running back depth in the conference more than anything else, as his past production doesn’t seem to merit first-team selection.
Maurki James (6-1, 210, 3rd) is listed on the depth chart. He rushed for 224 yards for the Monarchs a year ago, but he did not play last week against Norfolk State.
Stopping the run is something the Hokies haven’t been able to do in recent years against Old Dominion. The Monarchs have had some good ball carriers, but they’ve also managed to scheme Tech up quite a bit.
• 2023: 43 carries, 201 yards, 4.7 ypc
• 2024: 39 carries, 243 yards, 6.2 ypc
• 2025: 40 carries, 250 yards, 6.3 ypc
Yikes. Brent Pry now finds himself as the play-caller for Virginia Tech’s defense, and he’s got to find a way to slow down that running game.
The ODU Passing Game: Make Them Sleep, Then Beat Them Deep
Only four players — three wide receivers and a tight end — caught a pass for Old Dominion last week against Norfolk State. The Monarchs completed nine passes, but two of them went for 44 and 38 yards, respectively.
This offense is so run-heavy that defenders can be lulled to sleep defending the run and then beaten over the top.
We saw this last year in Blacksburg. Old Dominion ran it 40 times, and Colton Joseph only completed 16 passes, but he threw for 276 yards and had completions of 44, 38 and 36 yards. Henicle isn’t as talented a passer as Joseph, but the philosophy is the same, and the Hokies will have to be on their guard.
Though the offensive scheme is different, VMI has the same mentality, so the Hokies will have some experience playing against that philosophy.
This group of ODU receivers has very little collegiate experience. I’ll include the starting tight end in this analysis as well. Here are the four players who caught passes against Norfolk State and their career stats:
• WR JJ Harrell (6-0, 205, 3rd): 3 catches, 51 yards, 17 ypc
• TE Leon Haughton Jr. (6-4, 240, 5th): 9 catches, 125 yards, 13.9 ypc, 1 TD
• WR TJ Johnson (6-3, 191, 5th): 6 catches, 93 yards, 15.5 ypc, 2 TDs
• WR Josh Rodriguez (6-0, 193, 2nd): 2 catches, 21 yards, 10.5 ypc
That’s not a lot of production. Mercer transfer Kendall Harris (6-1, 200, 4th) is also a starter, and he caught 37 passes last season at the FCS level, but didn’t haul in a pass in the Monarchs’ opener.
These players are extremely unproven at this level, and combined with a quarterback who has never been a strong passer, it’s safe to say that the Hokies will see a heavy dose of the running game on Saturday afternoon. They’ve got to find a way to slow it down.
The Offensive Line: The Achilles’ Heel?
The general consensus seems to be that Old Dominion’s weakness on offense is up front. The Monarchs allowed seven tackles for loss against Norfolk State, an average that ranks No. 108 in the country early in the season, and they averaged only 4.2 yards per carry as a team. They also allowed two sacks.
ODU played just five linemen last week, which indicates a lack of depth considering the starters didn’t play well. Here’s how the Monarchs line up, from left to right:
• LT Kendrick Hall (6-5, 295, 3rd): The JUCO transfer is in his first season of FBS football.
• LG Connor Drake (6-6, 333, 4th): First career start against NSU, 113 career snaps.
• C Brayden Walker (6-2, 295, 3rd): First career FBS starter after starting at Elon for two years.
• RG Logan Cox (6-8, 309, 4th): Former JUCO and Kansas State player with 201 career snaps.
• RT Raykwon Goldthwaite (6-8, 309, 5h): Transfer from North Alabama, where he was a part-time starter last year. No relation to Bobcat.
This ODU line might end up being better than it played last week, but for now, it’s a group of guys with limited experience at the FBS level. The unit hasn’t played together much, either.
With a fairly young front seven, there are certain matchups the Hokies’ defense will face this year that concern me; this is not one of them, in terms of personnel. Considering the Monarchs struggled to block an FCS front, they’ll have a tough time handling Virginia Tech’s athletes.
Misdirection concerns me, but overall, this is a battle the Hokies should win. The scheme worries me, but Tech should perform much better than it has over the last few years against this team.
The Old Dominion Defense: A Unique Scheme
The Monarchs run a 3-3-5 defense, which gives them the flexibility to play with three traditional safeties. They can also walk a couple of those defensive backs up into the box to create a numbers advantage against the run. Running a 3-3-5 makes it easier to disguise coverages and hide blitzes.
In other words, it’s the type of defense that is difficult for young quarterbacks and young offensive linemen, which is exactly what the Hokies have on the offensive side of the ball. Franklin mentioned that it was one of the most unique schemes in college football, and it will present a challenge for a youthful Virginia Tech offense.
Defensive coordinator Blake Seiler has been in Norfolk for the entirety of Rahne’s tenure, and he also doubles as the inside linebackers coach. He was a successful coach at Kansas State, where he worked with Franklin, before being promoted to defensive coordinator at Old Dominion.
With five defensive backs and only three defensive linemen on the field, speed is the name of the game with Seiler’s defense. That’s especially the case given one of the starting defensive ends weighs just 245 and one of the linebackers only tips the scales at 210.
Seiler has had a bunch of all-conference players during his tenure, especially at linebacker. The most notable name was Jason Henderson, who was a two-time All-American.
That appears to be the case this year as well with Jackson Forrest (6-0, 225, 2nd). He technically doesn’t start, but as a true freshman last year, he proved to be one of the best young linebackers in the country. He had 52 tackles, seven tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks on the season. Two of those TFLs came in Lane Stadium.
Forrest had an 84.7 grade on PFF as a true freshman. He was even better last week against Norfolk State, posting a 94.7 grade. He backs up Koa Naotala (5-11, 230), a fifth-year senior who missed all of last season with an injury. He was a second-team All-Sun Belt pick in 2024 and has plenty of experience.
Likewise, linebacker J’Mez Drummer (6-1, 242, 5th) played well last week. He began his career at ODU, but didn’t play much, so he moved to Towson last season to get playing time. He started and had a great year, and after transferring back, he’s now a starter for the Monarchs as a senior. Mario Thompson (6-0, 210, 4th) is another veteran linebacker with over 1,300 career snaps, and he’s always been a solid player for ODU.
Defensive lineman Chris Forbes (6-1, 295, 3rd) was a preseason second-team all-conference selection after racking up eight TFLs in 2025. He’s the type of disruptive player that Seiler values on his defense.
He’s also got a couple of good ones in the secondary. Cornerback Zion Frink (6-1, 190, 4th) broke into the starting lineup last season and played well, and like Forbes, he earned preseason second-team All-Sun Belt honors heading into 2026. So did safety Mario Easterly (6-0, 195, 5th), who has over 1,200 career snaps.
Overall, there is only one first-year player in the two-deep on defense for ODU, and only two second-year guys. This is a veteran group, and combined with the scheme’s uniqueness, the Monarchs should present challenges for a young Virginia Tech offense.
The Monarchs pride themselves on using their deception and their speed to force turnovers. Here are their forced turnover numbers since 2022:
• 2022: 19, No. 57
• 2023: 21, No. 34
• 2024: 17, No. 67
• 2025: 25, No. 9
• 2026: 3, No. 11
They also consistently play in the opponent’s backfield. Take a look at their tackles for loss since 2022:
• 2022: 75, No. 63
• 2023: 79, No. 43
• 2024: 76, No. 47
• 2025: 90, No. 13
• 2026: 12, No. 8
They’ve always finished in the top half, and they’ve gotten better and better the longer Seiler has been in Norfolk. That’s the sign of a good coach.
Old Dominion Special Teams
Alabama State transfer Nathanial Eichner handles the kicking duties for Old Dominion. He was 7-for-10 on his field goal attempts a year ago, but his long was only 32. He made a 37-yarder against Norfolk State last week, but it remains to be seen what he can do from beyond 40 yards.
State College (Pa.) native Ian Brandt handles the punting duties. He’s a veteran with 76 career punts. He was the primary punter for the Monarchs in 2023 and 2025, and they allowed a punt return for a touchdown in each of those seasons.
Brandt only punted seven times in 2024, and ODU was much better defending punt returns that year. Coincidence? Who knows. Either way, the Hokies surely have Brandt’s attention after blocking two punts against VMI last week.
Frink is listed as the top punt returner. He got the first taste of action in his career last week, returning three for 81 yards against Norfolk State.
Roche is also an option there, and he averaged 13.9 yards on 19 returns last season. Roche is listed as ODU’s primary kickoff returner, though he didn’t have a return last week against the Spartans.
Virginia Tech-ODU Game Prediction: Make Your Pick!
This year’s game prediction section has been updated with a twist: You can now make your own individual game score prediction (plus a tiebreaker) and compete against other Hokie fans to see who gets the closest!
It’s simple: Enter your score prediction and tiebreaker guess, then click submit. You can change your pick up until kickoff.
Last Week’s Results: Congratulations to HokiePower for being the only person to correctly predict last week’s score of 73-3! The weekly prize is six free months of TSL Pass, so we’ll hook you up with that soon.
Staff Rankings (out of 1,522 entries):
- David Cunningham: #136 (66-7)
- Nick Brown: #235 (59-3)
- Chris Coleman: #525 (58-7)
- Will Stewart: #590 (55-6)
- Andy Bitter: #608 (52-3)
Check out full results and rankings on our Game Predictions page.
Final Thoughts
Henicle is a good runner, but the ODU offensive line appears subpar. There’s also no standout running back, and if there is a big-time threat at wide receiver, he has yet to emerge.
I believe that the Monarchs are a well-coached offense, and their scheme concerns me, but their overall talent level does not. On paper, this should be a good day for a developing Virginia Tech defense. The Monarchs only return one starter on offense, so whatever experience issues the Hokies may have on defense shouldn’t be an issue this week.
On the other side of the ball, I think ODU’s scheme will give the Hokies trouble, particularly with Tech’s offensive line still developing. As Franklin pointed out in his press conference this week, their scheme is unique with a three-safety look. They can disguise their coverages, and it can be difficult to tell where the free hitter is coming from.
In a way, the Monarchs remind me of Virginia Tech back in the 1990s. They run a unique scheme that opponents don’t see very often, which makes it tough to prepare for, and they rely on quickness over size.
Overall, while I like their scheme on both sides of the ball, it’s the Monarch defense that concerns me more than their offensive counterparts. The Hokies essentially have a first-year starter at quarterback and an offensive line that still has plenty to work on. It would be a surprise if they weren’t challenged by ODU’s unique scheme.
The Hokies will win, but it won’t be a cakewalk like it was last week.
Chris’ Prediction: Virginia Tech 31, Old Dominion 14
Will Stewart (Founder): This series has been a fascinating one, to say the least. In 2018, when Virginia Tech and Old Dominion met in the third game of the season, Justin Fuente had a record of 21-8 in Blacksburg, and the Hokies were ranked No. 13 in the nation.
ODU was a bad team that year. The Monarchs went 4-8 that season, but they beat the brakes off the Hokies, racking up 631 yards and running away from Virginia Tech at the end for a 49-35 win. That was ODU’s only win in their first seven games that year.
Including that game, Fuente went 22-23 from that point on. That ODU game was the canary in the coal mine, the first concrete piece of evidence that something was wrong in Blacksburg.
Ditto the opener for Brent Pry in 2022, when the Hokies clowned their way to a 20-17 loss, rolling up 15 penalties, five turnovers, and one stuck elevator. (I blame Tyler Bowen’s giant self.) That was the first signal that Pry didn’t have what it took, and in the third game of 2025, ODU provided the final signal that Pry didn’t have what it took.
None of that has anything to do with this game. Or does it? The dysfunction went deep with both Fuente and Pry at Virginia Tech. Fuente was a pure football coach but couldn’t manage a program or keep a roster together. Pry was a lot of things — some good, some bad — but none of it helped win football games.
James Franklin is an accomplished, organized, driven coach with a proven track record. He can run a program. Neither Fuente nor Pry could. I think ODU’s Ricky Rahne is a good coach, but he shouldn’t be a match for James Franklin.
Never mind Chris’ excellent breakdown of an ODU program that has had some success against the Hokies and appears to still have some rounds in the chamber, especially with its defense. I think this early matchup in James Franklin’s tenure is going to tell us some things about whether Virginia Tech is on the right track.
Will’s Prediction: Virginia Tech 34, Old Dominion 17
David Cunningham (Managing Editor): As weird as it sounds, the Hokies could consider thanking the Monarchs for the wake-up call they provided with last year’s thrashing in Blacksburg. It brought a bad era of football to a close and got the ball rolling on a much-needed replacement at head coach, which branched off into separate searches for an athletic director and a president.
Virginia Tech wouldn’t have gotten to this new era without Old Dominion’s humblings — in 2018, 2022 and 2025.
As for this matchup, I think Seiler and the ODU defense will give Tech some fits, which could keep the Monarchs in the game for a bit. The Hokies’ run defense will have its first real challenge of the year, but I feel confident about their matchup against the opposing offensive line. It’s really just how Old Dominion spreads teams out and makes them defend sideline to sideline.
Virginia Tech will get revenge in this one, but it might also get exposed in certain areas. This will be our first real opportunity to get a feel for how the Hokies respond to some adversity, and I think they’ll be fine in front of a sold-out crowd.
David’s Prediction: Virginia Tech 35, Old Dominion 17
Andy Bitter (Senior Staff Writer): It’s always dangerous to pick a team by a big margin in this series, or even to take the Hokies, since they’ve stumbled as big favorites against ODU on a couple of occasions. But here we are again.
Tech looked good in its opener against a team that posed little challenge, but there’s still something to being sharp like that. I think the Hokies carry that over to this week.
ODU, meanwhile, has to replace a lot on offense. And while the Monarchs’ defense will definitely pose more of a challenge, the revamped offense won’t be able to keep up.
Andy’s Prediction: Virginia Tech 33, Old Dominion 13
Nick Brown (Director of Media): Last week was a lot of fun. Although I have a ton of respect for VMI, it was a bad football team, but that hasn’t stopped Tech fans from telling me that they were disappointed that the Hokies weren’t ranked in the new AP Top 25. If Virginia Tech is 4-0 entering the Pitt game, you can start getting frustrated about the lack of a ranking, but until then, there’s no need to be upset.
Old Dominion came into Blacksburg last year and gave Brent Pry and the Hokies a good ol’ fashion butt-whuppin’. It was such a butt-whuppin’ that Brent Pry was relieved of his duties. However, that same ODU team isn’t walking back into Lane Stadium, and James Franklin is now the head coach of Virginia Tech.
To quote Ayden Greene after the VMI win, “There’s more a$$-whuppings to be handed out!”
Nick’s Prediction: Virginia Tech 38, Old Dominion 10
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