No. 13 Virginia Tech had itself an interesting road trip to take this Saturday, heading over to Norfolk, Va. to take on Old Dominion on its home turf. The Monarchs ended up pulling off a stunning 49-35 upset — getting the win as 28-point underdogs made this our biggest upset of the season so far!
Watch Old Dominion celebrate beating Virginia Tech, 2018’s biggest upset
The Monarchs entered this game 0-3 and as 28-point underdogs.
Photo by Michael Shroyer/Getty Images
In the fourth quarter, Old Dominion took a 42-35 lead with just under five minutes left on this gorgeous TD catch from Monarchs WR Jonathan Duhart.
The Monarchs followed that up with an exclamation point on the game with a rushing TD that put it away.
The scene after the victory at Old Dominion was pretty wild, as expected!
Coach Wilder got in a mosh pit!
ODU wasted no time showing up.
The game was close throughout, and the Monarchs kept things even through the fourth quarter, allowing VT to only lead by no more than seven for the whole game. Old Dominion outgained the Hokies by 200+ yards, too.
Early in the fourth quarter, Hokie starting quarterback Josh Jackson left the game with what appeared to be a left foot injury, and he was taken to the locker room for X-rays, and he didn’t return. His backup, Ryan Willis, filled in for him.
This wasn’t exactly a dominating Monarchs team, either — Virginia Tech was their first win of the 2018 season, after Ls to Liberty, FIU, and Charlotte.
In 2017, the Monarchs took a backslide and went 5-7, and the start of 2018 looked as if those same woes would continue.
But getting a win at home against No. 5 Virginia Tech makes the slow start just a bit more bearable. Not to mention for Old Dominion, this is the first win ever over a Power 5, ACC, and ranked opponent in program history.
It’s not like these two schools were unfamiliar with one another.
In fact, these two teams played each other almost a year ago today in Blacksburg — that game went quite differently, the Hokies winning 38-0. VT’s roadtrip to Norfolk was certainly different, given that ODU is just in its fifth season at the FBS level.
The home-and-home agreement was pretty unique, but it was smart of Old Dominion to be aggressively scheduling early on:
Landing a single home game against the Hokies was an accomplishment, back when a deal was reached in 2012. Extending the series home-and-home to bring the Hokies to Norfolk six times from 2018 to 2031 was a scheduling coup of the highest order.
Power 5 schools don’t often agree to such arrangements with their mid-major brethren. Tech’s willingness to make an exception boosted ODU’s credibility as it moved up to FBS.
Old Dominion has been trying to become a program on the rise with its FBS entrance, but it hasn’t all gone perfectly. Just two years ago, Old Dominion won its first-ever bowl game with a Bahamas Bowl victory over Eastern Michigan. The Monarchs had one of their best seasons under head coach Bobby Wilder that season, finishing 10-3. This win though, will certainly go down in history.
Congrats to Wilder and this ODU program for this thrilling upset victory!
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