James Franklin's first game in Blacksburg went about as well as it possibly could have. Virginia Tech routed VMI 73-3, and transfer quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer looked the part in his Hokies debut, going 17-of-20 for 224 yards and 2 touchdowns. Running backs Marcellous Hawkins and Jeffrey Overton Jr. combined for 5 rushing touchdowns on the ground, giving the new staff every reason to feel good about Week 1.
Old Dominion, though, is the one team on this schedule that has already seen this program blink. Quinn Henicle, ODU's new starting quarterback after Colton Joseph left for Wisconsin, was plenty comfortable in his own debut — 137 yards and 2 touchdowns through the air, plus 68 yards and 2 more scores on the ground in a 31-10 win over Norfolk State. Tailback Impact James is back healthy after an injury cut his 2025 short, giving Henicle a real complementary weapon behind him. On paper, a Sun Belt team picked to finish second in its own division has no business being favored anywhere near Blacksburg, and the number reflects exactly that.
None of that changes what happened the last time these two played. Old Dominion walked into Lane Stadium last season, turned two Virginia Tech giveaways into points, built a 28-0 halftime lead and left with a 45-26 win — the program's first true road victory over a Power Four opponent and its third straight over this exact rival. That result belongs to a completely different Virginia Tech coaching staff now, but it's still the most recent data point anyone has on how these two teams actually play each other.
Both sides arrive with clean bills of health early in the season, at least publicly, with no notable game-status concerns out of either camp so far. That leaves this as two rebuilt units that have only been tested against very different levels of competition: Virginia Tech blew out an FCS opponent, Old Dominion beat a Sun Belt rival, and neither result says much yet about what a Power Four-versus-Group of Five clash actually looks like.
For Franklin, this is the first real measuring-stick game of his Blacksburg tenure — a chance to prove Week 1 wasn't just a formality against an overmatched opponent. For Ricky Rahne's Monarchs, it's a shot at extending history: Old Dominion is one win away from a fourth straight over this same Power Four program.
Whichever way this one breaks, it doubles as an early measuring stick for both programs — proof, one way or the other, of whether last year's result was a fluke or the start of a real problem for Virginia Tech.
