Colton Joseph's big day carries Old Dominion to 45-26 upset of Virginia Tech
BLACKSBURG, Va. -- — Colton Joseph threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns to lead Old Dominion to a 45-26 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday.Joseph completed 16 of 22 passes and also rushed for 63 yards and a score for the Monarchs (2-1), who registered the program's first road win over a Power 4 opponent.
“We feel confident pretty much every week,” Old Dominion coach Ricky Rahne said. “Our guys are confident in their abilities. They’re confident in who they are, and our guys played really well.”
The Monarchs, who entered the game as 6.5-point underdogs, converted two first-half Virginia Tech turnovers into touchdowns and jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead. They moved the ball at will against the Hokies defense in the first 30 minutes, amassing 334 yards and going on scoring drives of 93, 97, 88, and 77 yards.
“We stayed aggressive, kept the foot on their neck and didn’t let up,” Joseph said. “Teams that let up, that’s when big comebacks happen, so we just went out there and tried to execute every play. Even though we were up, we acted like the score was 0-0.”
Trequan Jones added 101 yards rushing and a score. Old Dominion finished with 527 total yards, including 250 on the ground.
Kyron Drones threw for 266 yards and three touchdowns for Virginia Tech (0-3), which fell to 0-3 to start a season for the first time since 1987. The Hokies have lost four straight dating to last season.
“Incredibly disappointed,” Virginia Tech coach Brent Pry said. “Not the direction I saw our team going tonight. … Clearly, it starts with me. Coaches and players are accountable here. We’ve got to get back to the basics and find a way to get closer to the team we can be.
“We clearly didn’t play well enough at all, not to even be in the game.”
Virginia Tech: Can Pry survive the season? That may be the biggest question in Blacksburg these days. The Hokies are now 16-24 under Pry and have been especially abysmal the past two games, getting outscored 89-46 and allowing 1,017 yards.
“Everyone was just doing their job,” Joseph said. “That’s all it takes. If everyone just does their job, then I feel like we’re unstoppable.”
“I get it. I’m frustrated, too, so I understand where they’re coming from,” Pry said. “The expectations at this place are to win. … We had a great crowd tonight -- and we let them down.”
Virginia Tech will host Wofford on Saturday.
------ AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
