What is the story about?
The Virginia Tech Hokies (1-0) face the Old Dominion Monarchs (1-0) on Saturday at Lane Stadium. After last week’s 73-3 win over VMI, the Hokies will now look to exact revenge on the Monarchs, almost one year to the day since ODU shocked Tech 45-26 in Blacksburg. That game will forever be remembered as not only Brent Pry’s last as head coach, but also the game that helped reshape the future of Virginia Tech football.
One year later, the Hokies have James Franklin as head coach, and Pry is back on
the sidelines as the defensive coordinator. The vibes are high in Blacksburg. The Hokies are much improved on both sides of the ball, have what looks like an enviable quarterback situation, and have several talented offensive playmakers. Pry’s defense is long and fast.
We looked at ODU by the numbers. Now, we dive into Saturday’s game further, including how you can watch, listen to, or stream the Hokies’ game against ODU.
3 ODU players to watch
- QB Quinn Henicle: The 6-foot-2, 215-pound sophomore QB led the Monarchs with 68 rushing yards and two touchdowns last week. He also passed for 143 yards and two touchdowns. Henicle is the type of quarterback who has given Virginia Tech problems over the years, dating back to Bud Foster’s time as defensive coordinator.
- RB Devin Roche: Roche didn’t have a big game against Norfolk State in Week 1, but he possesses the type of speed to take one to the house at any time. He ran for over 100 yards in three of ODU’s last four games in 2025. The Hokies don’t want to be the team Roche gets going against.
- S Mario Easterly: The fifth-year senior is the heart and soul of Old Dominion’s defense. Easterly was named to the Jim Thorpe Award watch list before the season. He finished with six tackles and an interception in last week’s season opener.
3 Hokies to watch
- QB Ethan Grunkemeyer: A wild stat from Week 1? Backup quarterback, redshirt freshman Bryce Baker, actually played more snaps than Grunkemeyer. That was obviously because the Hokies blew out VMI. Both quarterbacks looked good. Grunkemeyer had only three misses, and two were wide-open touchdowns to Que’Sean Brown. It will be interesting to see if Grunkemeyer’s timing is even better against Old Dominion.
- RB Jeffrey Overton Jr: The Hokies could end up with one of college football’s best backfields, with Overton and Marcellous Hawkins. Overton is a home run waiting to happen. He’s also good between the tackles, which is where Hawkins specializes. They complement one another perfectly. Overton had his first 100-yard game last week and did it in only nine attempts. Expect the Hokies to try to get him going early.
- DE Cortez Harris: Franklin shouted out Harris ahead of Week 1 for all of his hard work. It showed up last week, too. Several defensive players stood out against VMI, and Harris was no exception. The 6-foot-2, 253-pound Maryland native had 3 tackles, including 1.5 for loss and 1 sack. He was excellent against the run in Week 1, too. Last week was a good one for Virginia Tech’s defense, but ODU will present a more difficult challenge.
3 keys to victory
- Keep Henicle in the pocket: Henicle isn’t going to beat Virginia Tech throwing from the pocket 30 times. However, he can create headaches by finding running lanes and moving the chains. The Hokies must establish early that ODU, especially Henicle, will earn every yard. It’s simple: Keep Henicle in the pocket, and ODU’s offense will struggle to move the ball.
- Play mistake-free football: When one team has more talent than the other, mistakes and effort can always determine the outcome. That’s what happened last season. All because the Hokies are favored doesn’t mean it can’t happen again. Virginia Tech must not turn the ball over and must be efficient on third downs.
- Feed Overton and Hawkins: If Tech can get the running backs going early, Grunkemeyer will have a field day throwing to Brown, Luke Reynolds and others. It all starts with the running game.
How to watch, betting odds
- When: Saturday, September 12, 2026
- Where: Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, Virginia
- Time: Noon ET
- TV: CW
- Announcers: Thom Brennaman (play-by-play), Jason Cabinda (analyst) and Wes Bryant (sidelines)
- Radio: Virginia Tech Sports Network Radio. You can find a list of affiliates here.
- Streaming options: fuboTV [try it free], ESPN
- Series history: Virginia Tech leads the all-time series 4-3. The series didn’t begin until 2017, and ODU winning three has more to do with VT’s struggles than anything else. Interestingly, 6 of the 7 previous meetings were won by 14 points or more either way. The closest game came in 2022, when ODU again upset the Hokies, 20-17.
- Odds: Virginia Tech is an 18.5-point favorite, per FanDuel.
