The Hokies had an unexpected bye week after Hurricane Florence cancelled their game with East Carolina. While it was disappointing to not have a game played this past weekend, it does give the Hokies some needed rest and recovery headed into two consecutive road games, a Coastal division showdown with Duke and big-time matchup with Notre Dame.
This week the Hokies travel to the 757 for the first time since 1986 to take on Old Dominion. This game gives me some concern after the Hokies have been off for two weeks, they could come out rusty after a long layoff. The game is also on the road. Road games can always be tough. And this game is leading into big games against Duke and Notre Dame. The Hokies cannot be caught looking ahead.
Old Dominion has struggled so far this season. They were blown out in week 1 on the road against Liberty. They lost in week 2 to Florida International at home. And they lost this past Thursday to Charlotte on the road. Needless to say, it’s not the type of start ODU was looking for.
Looking at this team on paper, there isn’t a lot they do well through 3 games. They have a reasonably good red zone defense and they don’t take many penalties but that might be it. They have struggled on offense, defense and special teams. Keep an eye on a kid Virginia Tech was looking at in recruiting last year, running back LaLa Davis. He has some game breaking ability in ODU’s backfield. They also have a mobile quarterback in Steven Williams. Mobile quarterbacks have given the Hokies some trouble in the past.
The Monarchs should be better on defense. This is a defense that returned four seniors on the defensive line, and seven senior starters on the defense as a whole. Keep in mind that this is a team that finished ranked 92nd in total defense last season. They return a lot of pieces from a defense that was not very good last year. The leader of the defense is Lawrence Garner, their middle linebacker who leads the team with 42 tackles so far this season. Also keep an eye out for defensive end Oshane Ximines who can be disruptive coming off the edge.
This is a game where the Hokies need to bring their 1-0 mentality. They can’t get caught looking ahead to the Duke game. Especially on the road. This needs to be a take-care-of-business game against a team that has struggled through the first three weeks of the season. There should also be a sizable contingent of Hokies at Foreman Field. If the Hokies can bring their focus, this is a game they should be able to get past without too much trouble setting up a big division showdown with Duke.
Prediction: Virginia Tech 38, Old Dominion 10
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