By David Asbury
The Elevator Brawl Part 7
The 1-1 Old Dominion Monarchs travel to face the 0-2 Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday. The Monarchs are 2-4 against the Hokies, defeating them twice in Norfolk. However, the road has not been as kind, leading to an 0-3 record in Blacksburg. The series has been really fun, but for a myriad of reasons the two programs agreed to adapt the series and remove a handful of games previously agreed upon.
Under the new agreement the Monarchs will get paid to travel there this year, next year and in 2030 years but cancel the games in Norfolk. With each of the road games for Old Dominion being converted into guarantee games, Virginia Tech will now pay ODU $400k to play in 2025, $1.1 million in 2026 and $1.275 million in 2030. For this season, combined with the cash from Indiana, Old Dominion will net $1.7 million for its 2 road non-conference games. To make the deal even sweeter, the Monarchs potentially could get paid and still leave Blacksburg with a victory.
Seat Warmer
To put it mildly, the Hokies are having a rough start to the season. They played two tough SEC teams in South Carolina and Vanderbilt and lost both by multiple scores. Last week, the gobblers had a 20-10 lead against Vandy at halftime. However, VT's offense disappeared in the second half and the team imploded on their way to an embarrassing 44-20 loss. A large subsect of Tech fans are now calling for Brent Pry's head (16-23 record) and some are even rooting for Old Dominion to win this game to get the plug pulled on the Pry era.
Online searches for Pry's buyout number have skyrocketed. For those curious, Pry's buyout is $5.825 million. That would be an extremely tough amount to take on for a program like Old Dominion but it's relatively affordable for a program like Virginia Tech that is expected to spend $200 million on its' athletic budget in the 2025-2026 academic year. Pry desperately needs this game to be a get-right game, so he has a chance to turn the season around, win a bowl game and cool his seat down.
Quarterback Kyron Drones played well against the Monarchs last year and returns for the Hokies this year. Unfortunately, he has had a rough start to the season and the poor offensive play has been a major factor in their 0-2 record. Drones has completed just 50% of his passes and is averaging a meager 5.5 yards per attempt. He threw two interceptions against South Carolina, the first time he ever had multiple turnovers in a single game. And it appears that he just cannot find a rhythm with his receivers. Part of his struggles this season may be attributed to poor offensive line play causing pressure (he has taken five sacks in two games). The other reason could be that he is just facing strong SEC defenses. Drones hopes to bring back the magic when facing a G5 team like Old Dominion. ODU has struggled against running quarterbacks, so the magic could certainly return. But the truth is, he may have the athleticism to make plays as a dual-threat quarterback but his development as a passer seems to have stalled or even regressed under the new Offensive Coordinator at Tech.
Drones facing a sack against ODU at the Castle. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.
So what's wrong with the Hokies besides quarterback? Well the whole offense is the problem. The Hokie offense cannot run the ball. After two games, they are averaging only 3.4 yards per rushing attempt. No running back is standing out and their only rushing touchdown comes from Drones himself. The offensive line was supposedly rebuilt this offseason after the hiring of Matt Moore from WVU. However, his lines have been manhandled in the first 2 weeks.
As stated earlier, Drones is struggling with the passing game and is not getting a bunch of help from receivers. In two games, this offense scored two touchdowns. One through the air and one on the ground, both by Drones. That's it. Will the Hokies' offense fare better when not facing an SEC team? Can they fare well with Jason Henderson and (potentially) Koa Naotala off the field? It's anyone's guess until this weekend, because so far the Hokies offense looks really bad.
Now, to say the issues are all offensive in Blacksburg would be wrong. They have not fared much better on defense. They have allowed 34.0 points per game (last in ACC). They have been decent against the pass allowing 218 passing yards per game, but atrocious against the run. VT has allowed 190.5 rushing yards per game (16th in ACC). Against Vanderbilt, the Hokies allowed 7.1 yards per carry. They struggled against quarterback Diego Pavia who threw for 195 yards and ran for another 62 yards. The Hokies defense have generated two turnovers and four sacks in two games which is okay but overall, they just have not showed up well. ODU's running game is the strength of the offense and this might be a matchup nightmare for the Hokies.
Star linebacker Jason Keller (24) only has six tackles so far in the season. He needs to step up because he is underperforming. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.
On one hand, it is a little early to press the panic button on any team in 2025, especially Virginia Tech. Afterall, it's just been two games against solid SEC competition. They can absolutely use this game against ODU at home as a "get-right" game, gain some confidence and find their groove on both sides of the ball. On the other hand, they have not passed the eye test and looked mediocre at times to downright bad in others. Especially in the second half against Vandy. Woof! That was bad football. ACC play has not even started yet and many think they are already out of the ACC championship running this season. They have 10 games left and it looks like the best they can hope for is a 6-6 record to go bowling once again. But 4-8 and a coaching change is more likely in my honest opinion.
Preview and Prediction: VT 31, ODU 30
Last week, all of the Monarchists and Las Vegas predicted ODU would dominate. We were all right. The standings are now Vegas, Mike, Gary and I at 2-0, and Aaron is 1-1. On the pod, you heard Mike, Aaron, and our guest picker, former ODU punter (and ODU Sports Hall of Famer) Jonathan Plisco all pick the Monarchs. Well, Gary and I are going to balance out the predictions here a bit and pick Tech but we both have the Monarchs to cover Vegas' 7.5 point spread.
I want to pick the Monarchs. I really really do. Virginia Tech is just not a very good P4 team. Honestly, I just don't see any way for the Hokies to go bowling this year and Brent Pry keeps his job (unless Tech goes the cheap-route). I was kind of down on them in the preseason and I feel vindicated so far. On almost any other week and at a neutral site, I would probably pick Old Dominion. But here? Tech is desperate. They really cannot afford to start the season 0-3 before playing teams like FSU, Miami and Georgia Tech. I would have felt better about this game if VT played Vandy really close or even won it. The pressure would not be on Tech then, but it is now. If VT loses on Saturday then Pry might get fired on the field. The Hokies know what's at stake: the season. So they are going to be more focused than ever and leave everything on the field. They will not overlook the Monarchs like they have in years past. They also still have a lot of P4 talent, are playing at home and have an electric nighttime atmosphere. Expect the crowd to give them some added juice when Enter the Sandman plays.
Having said that, I suspect it will be close. This is a game Ol' Dirty can win if things align just right. Tech struggled against running quarterback Diego Pavia and I expect they will struggle just as much against Colton Joseph. The ODU running game should play very well. The real question is just how does the Hokie offense fare against the Monarchs defense without Jason Henderson? Against a defense not designed to rack up a bunch of sacks? The VT offense struggled mightily against SEC defenses but can it get its act together against the Monarchs? I sadly suspect it will and do just enough to secure their first victory.
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