For the second time in four years, Virginia Tech lost on the road to Old Dominion, falling Friday night 20-17.
Old Dominion fans stormed the field to celebrate their second win over Power 5. The first also came against the Hokies in 2018, with a 49-35 win.
That wasn’t how first-year Virginia Tech head coach Brent Bray wanted to start the season. The Hokies made five turnovers, resulting in 17 Old Dominion points. The most important came with 2:58 left in the match. Lead 17-13, quarterback Grant Wells Threw an interception that resulted in the game-winning score, 1 yard from touchdown Blake Watson With 33 seconds left.
The Hokies also committed 15 penalties for 121 yards. Wells started his first game with Virginia Tech, threw four interceptions and went 21 of 36 for 197 yards with a touchdown.
“They wanted to make plays, they wanted to play hard, but I definitely think they pushed and were sloppy,” Bray said. “You want to make people earn it, and we didn’t.”
Back added Dax Holyfield: “Embarrassing. Very embarrassing.”
Road matches against Group 5 did not work out well for ACC teams ending in their scheduling. With this loss, the league has now lost 20 losses on the road against the 5-team group teams of the college football era.
𝗣𝗨𝗧 𝗢𝗡 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗬!!!
1⃣-0⃣#ReignOn pic.twitter.com/OE5mRznZb6
– ODU Football (ODUFootball) September 3, 2022
The game was arduous from the start as neither attacker could find much rhythm. Old Dominion led 10-7 in the first half. Then, the start of the second half was delayed 15 minutes because members of the Virginia Tech coaching staff got stuck between floors in an elevator. In the end, the coaches were able to get off the elevator, but had to go up the six stairs to the coaches box.
This might be a good metaphor for what happened in the second half. But this isn’t the last time the schools have seen each other. They are currently scheduled to play every year until 2031, with four of those games at Old Dominion.
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