One year ago was the lowest of lows for Virginia Tech Football in the 21st Century as the Hokies lost to Old Dominion at home 45-26, with then head coach Brent Pry being fired one day later. Just one year later, that dark night for VT Football looks like a distant memory as the Hokies continued their dominant start under James Franklin with an even more impressive win this week.
Virginia Tech took care of business with a 44-21 victory over Old Dominion thanks in large to a dominant first half where the Hokies led 34-6 after 30 minutes of play. Tech is now 2-0 for the first time since 2021 while the combined 93-point margin for the first two games is the most for a VT head coach in his first two games since 1905 when Sally Miles led VT to an 86-0 win over Roanoke College and a 12-0 win over Cumberland (TN) University for a 98-point combined margin of victory.
This game was defined by a dominant first half where the Hokies were by far the best team, outgaining the Monarchs 249-109 while moving the ball at will through the air. Tech's defense was particularly impressive with eight tackles for loss including five sacks plus four forced fumbles during the first half.
Tech's passing game was the standout of this game as 327 of the Hokies' 416 yards through the air. Ethan Grunkemeyer was quite good in this game going 31-44 for 327 yards and two passing touchdowns while running for a third score. The stat line doesn't tell the full story as Grunkemeyer made some sharp downfield throws while did a very good at feeling pressure and moving through the pocket while keeping his eyes downfield to find an open receiver.
Grunkemeyer's 327 passing yards were the most since Ryan Willis threw for 344 yards in a 35-28 loss to Boston College on August 31st, 2019. His 31 completions are the most for a VT quarterback since Jerod Evans had 32 in a 30-20 loss to Georgia Tech on November 12, 2016. Grunkemeyer is at least the first Virginia Tech quarterback since 1987 to complete 30 or more passes in a winning effort, with the 1972 school record 34 of Don Strock coming in a 27-27 tie with Houston.
Grunkemeyer was sacked three times in this game on what was an up-and-down day for the Hokies' offensive line despite the high volume for the Hokies' offense.
Tech's dominant passing attack made up for the fact that the Hokies couldn't get the ground game going forward with Marcellous Hawkins and Jeffrey Overton Jr both being held under four yards per carry in this game as the Hokies as a whole ran for only 2.1 yards per carry.
Hawkins did have a 20-yard rushing touchdown, finishing this game with 43 rushing yards on 11 carries plus two catches for 18 yards. Overton had the better day overall with 47 rushing yards on 14 carries plus four catches for 32 yards.
Luke Reynolds set new career highs in the three major receiving stats as he had eight catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Reynolds showed why many view him as one of the best 2027 NFL Draft tight end prospects with a good amount of yards after the catch and a couple times where he did a good job moving into space when Ethan Grunkemeyer was on the move.
Que'Sean Brown had seven catches for 41 yards while Ayden Greene had a 44-yard reception and Davion Brown had two catches for 19 yards to round out the starting receivers. Ja'Ricous Hairston also had two catches for 35 yards. Que'Sean Brown also added a 79-yard punt return after a 32-yard punt return was wiped out by an illegal formation penalty.
Tech's defense was dominant overall with 14 tackles for loss including seven sacks plus four forced fumbles, three of which were recovered. The 21 total allowed points doesn't tell the full story as three of those points ended the first half the play after Ethan Grunkemeyer had a strip sack fumble while eight points came via a 76-yard Quinn Henicle touchdown run where VT had a mix of second and third stringers in, with ODU getting a 2-point conversion after. Tech's first team defense allowed 207 yards and only 10 total points when they truly had influence in this game, very good stats overall.
Virginia Tech's top 3 DE combination of Aycen Stevens, Cortez Harris, and Mylachi Williams were some of Tech's biggest defensive stars in this game. Williams led the way with 3.5 tackles for loss including two sacks plus two forced fumbles while Harris had four tackles including two sacks plus a QB hurry.
Stevens had the quietest day of the three but still had two tackles including a strip sack that Keon Wylie recovered for what was initially ruled a touchdown but which he fumbled just outside the endzone and became a touchback. That was then followed on the next play by a Williams strip sack with Tyson Flowers recovering it for the touchdown. In addition to the fumble return for a touchdown, Flowers had three tackles with one for loss and a QB hurry.
Kaleb Spencer also had a big game with four tackles including two tackles for loss with a strip sack plus a fumble recovery on a different play and a QB hurry. Noah Chambers had three tackles with one for loss including 0.5 sacks while Keon Wylie had 0.5 tackle for loss and the first of consecutive fumble recoveries off strip sack with Wylie bobbling it just before he reached the endzone.
For Old Dominion, Quinn Henicle went 13-21 for 187 yards and a touchdown while running for 126 yards including a 76-yard touchdown on nine non-sack carries. Josh Rodriguez had three very impressive catches for 89 yards while Devin Roche added 45 rushing yards on nine carries. Mario Thompson led ODU with 11 tackles while Jackson Forrest and Brandon Crutchfield each had matching stat lines of eight tackles with 1.5 TFLs including one sack.
One thing to note is that Montavious Cunningham was ejected for throwing a punch after Ethan Grunkemeyer's fourth quarter rushing touchdown. Cunningham will be suspended for the first half of the Maryland game with Brody Meadows set to start at right guard in his place.
Virginia Tech was largely dominant in this game with a first half performance that was one of the best halves of football for a VT team at least in this decade if not longer. The Hokies passed their first real test of any sort this week, but the next two weeks when VT is most likely favored at Maryland and Boston College will give us further insight if this is a team that can go beyond just being a 6-6 or 7-5 team in year 1 of James Franklin's tenure or not.
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