Three Biggest Storylines for Virginia Tech vs. Old Dominion

Brent Pry lost his job the morning after Old Dominion walked out of Lane Stadium with a 45-26 win. Almost exactly a year later, he'll be back on that sideline in a headset, calling the defense that has to stop them.

Virginia Tech hosts Old Dominion at noon on Sept. 12 on The CW. Both teams are 1-0. The Hokies opened as 17.5-point favorites. Here are the biggest storylines for the game.

1. Brent Pry gets a chance at revenge

Virginia Tech fired Pry on Sept. 14, 2025, ending a four-year run that finished 16-24. The loss that triggered it wasn't close. Old Dominion led 28-0 at halftime, ran for 250 yards, and became the first Monarchs team to win a road game at a Power 4 opponent.

Then Virginia Tech hired James Franklin, and Franklin hired Pry to run his defense. Pry is the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, the same job he held under Franklin at Penn State from 2016 to 2021. Their relationship goes back to 1993 at East Stroudsburg, where Franklin was the quarterback and Pry coached outside linebackers and defensive backs. Pry's father, Jim, was the offensive coordinator.

There's no clear precedent in major college football for a head coach being fired and rehired at the same school as a coordinator months later. Pry has treated it lightly, joking that he should have negotiated access to the head coach's facility. "Now I'm down here with the common folk," he told CBS Sports.

Coaches almost never get to run back the game that cost them a job. Pry gets his almost to the day, from a different chair, against the same program. He said in February that he wasn't bitter about how it ended. Nothing about Saturday requires him to stay that way.

2. Old Dominion is not a tune up game

The Monarchs have won seven straight, the longest in program history. That covers the last six games of a 10-3 season, including a 24-10 Cure Bowl win over South Florida, and a 31-10 opener against Michael Vick's Norfolk State.

Rahne is in his seventh year at ODU and signed an extension in December. Last season was his first winning season with the program, and he entered this year 30-33 in Norfolk. The Sun Belt picked the Monarchs second in the East.

None of which means this is the same team. Colton Joseph, the Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year, transferred to Wisconsin. Offensive coordinator Kevin Decker left for Memphis after the bowl game. Rahne said at Sun Belt media day that the Monarchs had to fold in 54 new players over the offseason.

Virginia Tech leads the series 4-3. It's also winding down. The schools canceled four future meetings in July 2025, and after Saturday the two aren't scheduled again until 2030.

3. Franklin learns what his team is made of

Franklin took the job in November and still doesn't know much about his own team. Virginia Tech beat VMI 73-3, and a 70-point win over a team picked last in the Southern Conference teaches a coach almost nothing. The 73 points were the program's most since a 77-point game against Akron in 1995. That was the ceiling of what the night could tell him.

Some of the opener will travel. Ethan Grunkemeyer, the Penn State transfer who followed Franklin south and was named a captain last week, went 17 of 20 for 224 yards and two touchdowns in his first start for the Hokies. Duke transfer Que'Sean Brown caught six passes for 109 yards, including a 51-yard touchdown. The defense held VMI to 83 yards and -4 rushing on 43 carries, with five sacks and 18 tackles for loss.

So will the rest of it. Virginia Tech was flagged 11 times for 93 yards, and a muffed punt set up the only points VMI scored. That cannot happen against a much better opponent like Old Dominion.

The run defense will be tested heavily once again. The Monarchs ran it 42 times and threw it 13 times against Norfolk State, picking up 182 on the ground. Quarterback Quinn Henicle was the leading rusher, with 68 yards on 13 carries, scoring twice on the ground. He also had two passing touchdowns against Norfolk State.

None of this makes Virginia Tech likely to lose. The Hokies are favored by 17.5 points, and they're at home. But they were favored a year ago too, and Old Dominion left Blacksburg with a 19-point win and a head coach's job. Kickoff is noon Saturday on The CW.

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