Virginia Tech jumped out to a 14-0 lead on Saturday at ODU, and things seemed to be trending in the direction of a big blowout. Then, just like that, it was 14-10, and it remained 14-10 at halftime. It didn’t seem like the Monarchs were anywhere near as good as the Hokies, but the scoreboard suggested they were.

I wasn’t too happy at halftime, but I also didn’t think the Monarchs had a good chance to win. Despite the 10 second-quarter points, it was clear the ODU coaches were terrified to throw the ball downfield. They had a true freshman quarterback who didn’t know what to do, and he was playing behind an offensive line who couldn’t pass block. The talent level of their wide receivers was also questionable. The only team that could beat the Hokies on Saturday were the Hokies themselves.

Knowing what happened in Norfolk two years ago, if you thought that might happen again at halftime yesterday, I don’t blame you. But it was unlikely. Sure enough, Virginia Tech took the bull by the horns in the second half and won 37-17, leading by as much as 37-10 before ODU tacked on a late score against Hokie backups. It wasn’t exactly the four-quarter performance that we were hoping for. That said, a three-quarter performance was a step in the right direction because that’s more than the first two games.

In the end, a win is a win, and the Hokies won this one easily. It wasn’t always clean, but it was quite clear who the better team was throughout the course of the contest. The final score didn’t lie in this one.

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