Three Players to Watch on Virginia Tech's Defense Against Old Dominion

Virginia Tech finished its opener with 18 tackles for loss, the most in a Hokies game since the school began organizing records in 1987. VMI ended the night with 83 total yards and -4 rushing yards. Pro Football Focus graded it the best team performance of Week 1 anywhere in the country.

Old Dominion beat the Hokies 45-26 in Blacksburg last September, led 28-0 at the half and ran for 250 yards. Brent Pry lost his job the next day. He's back at Lane Stadium as defensive coordinator under head coach James Franklin, calling the defense against the same program and the same head coach who ended his tenure. The Monarchs arrive 1-0 on a seven-game winning streak, tied for the third-longest in the country. Kickoff is at noon on The CW.

Here's who to watch.

Aycen Stevens, Defensive End

Stevens finished the VMI win with four tackles, 1.5 sacks, and a forced fumble. The best of them came in the third quarter, a strip sack that drove VMI 14 yards backward to its own 8. PFF graded him 97.8, the best number on the team, and he needed 13 snaps to get it. Thirteen snaps against an FCS opponent in a 70-point game is not a body of work. Saturday tells you whether the burst that wrecked VMI's pocket holds up against an FBS offensive line.

The Monarchs still run it more than they throw it, and Quinn Henicle is a real problem with his legs, but this is a spread offense, not VMI's triple option, so we will see if Stevens can get home against it.

Keon Wylie, Linebacker

Wylie followed Franklin from Penn State in January, one of a dozen Nittany Lions who made the trip. Against VMI, he had four tackles, two of them for loss, plus half a sack shared with Stevens.

He brought 47 career tackles, 8.0 tackles for loss, and 4.5 sacks with him from Happy Valley, built over 29 games and interrupted by an injury that wiped out his 2024 season.

The job on Saturday is to limit the running ability of Henicle. He led Old Dominion in rushing in the opener with 68 yards on 13 carries and scored twice. The Monarchs ran it 42 times against Norfolk State. When the quarterback is that involved in the run game, somebody has to account for him on every snap or the rest of the front ends up defending the wrong gap. Virginia Tech went into the portal for a linebacker who could do that, and Wylie was the first one it took.

Jaquez White, Cornerback

White's route to Blacksburg went through two seasons at Division II Washburn and one at Troy. Saturday is his second game in a Power Four uniform, and it comes against the conference he just left.

He was All-Sun Belt second team last fall with 67 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, 11 pass deflections, and three interceptions. One of those picks came off James Madison quarterback Alonza Barnett in the Sun Belt championship game in December.

Even though this is his first year at Virginia Tech, he has his own history with Old Dominion. Last November, the Monarchs shut out Troy 33-0 in Norfolk. White had six tackles and 0.5 tackles for loss in that game.

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