LaRussa and Old Dominion stun Va. Tech
NORFOLK, VA. » Blake LaRussa came off the bench to throw for
495 yards and four touchdowns to lead Old Dominion to a 4935 upset of No. 13 Virginia Tech on Saturday in the Hokies’ first game at the cross-state school that restarted its football program in 2009.
LaRussa, who entered the game on ODU’s second series, completed 30 of 49 and rushed for a touchdown to lead the
28½-point underdog Monarchs
(1-3) to a stunning win over the Hokies (2-1) from the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Jeremy Cox’s 40-yard touchdown run with 1:34 remaining sealed the biggest win in program history. After the game, the ODU faithful stormed the field.
Longtime ODU coach Bobby Wilder called it “one of the biggest moments in Hampton Roads sports history.”
The Hokies (2-1) led 28-21 after a 72-yard touchdown pass from Josh Jackson to Damon Hazelton with 32 seconds left in the third quarter, but ODU scored on its next two possessions, taking a 3528 lead on a 15-yard touchdown run by Cox with 9:57 to go — the Monarchs first lead of the game.
Things got worse for Virginia Tech, as Jackson went down with a lower leg injury on the first play of the ensuing drive. Backup quarterback Ryan Willis led the Hokies on a 75-yard march that ended with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Chris Cunningham with 7:15 remaining, tying the game at 35.
But the Hokies simply had no answer for ODU. LaRussa polished off a 75-yard drive with a beautiful 29-yard fade pattern to Jonathan Duhart for a touchdown with 5:11 left that was the
game winner.
“At night when you dream about this game, this is what you picture,” Monarchs wide receiver Travis Fulgham said.
Led by LaRussa and Cox, ODU finished with 632 yards of offense against a Virginia Tech team that has prided itself on defense for decades under coordinator Bud Foster. Cox rushed for
130 yards.
(1) ALABAMA 45, TEXAS A&M 23 » Tua Tagovailoa passed for 387 yards and four TDs and ran for another score to lead Alabama
(4-0, 2-0 SEC) over Texas A&M
(2-2, 0-1).
(2) GEORGIA 43, MISSOURI 29 » Jake Fromm threw three touchdown passes and Georgia (4-0,
2-0 SEC) had a defensive touchdown and returned a blocked punt for a score to beat Missouri
(3-1, 0-1).
(3) CLEMSON 49, GEORGIA TECH 21 » Freshman Trevor Lawrence took a leading role in Clemson’s quarterback rotation, coming off the bench to throw TD passes as the Tigers (4-0, 1-0ACC) beat Georgia Tech (1-3, 0-2).
(4) OHIO STATE 42, TULANE 6 » Dwayne Haskins Jr. threw for
304 yards and five touchdowns in the first half and Ohio State (40) routed Tulane in coach Urban Meyer’s return to the sideline following a three-game suspension.
(8) NOTRE DAME 56, WAKE FOREST 27 » Ian Book rushed for three touchdowns and threw for two more for Notre Dame (4-0) in a win over Wake Forest (2-2).
(12) WEST VIRGINIA 35, KANSAS STATE 6 » Will Grier threw five touchdown passes for the fifth time in his career and West Virginia (3-0, 1-0) shook off a sloppy start to rout Kansas State (2-2,
0-1) in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
Grier finished 25 of 35 for 356 yards and the five scores, three of them to David Sills.
TEXAS 31, (17) TCU 16 » Sam Ehlinger passed for two touchdowns and ran for a score, all in the second half, and Texas (31, 1-0) ended a four-game losing streak to TCU (2-2, 0-1) in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
(19) MICHIGAN 56, NEBRASKA 10 » Karan Higdon ran for 136 yards and a touchdown in the first half for Michigan (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten), and Nebraska (0-3, 0-1)stumbled to its worst start since 1945.
The Wolverines led 20-0 after the first quarter and 39-0 at halftime.
(21) MIAMI 31, FIU 17 » N’Kosi Perry came off the bench to throw three touchdown passes, and Miami’s defense was airtight for most of the day as the Hurricanes (3-1) beat Florida International (2-2).
PURDUE 30, (23) BOSTON COLLEGE 13 » Rondale Moore caught two touchdown passes and Purdue (1-3) picked off four passes to beat Boston College (3-1)..
The Eagles rolled in unbeaten and ranked for the first time in
10 years, but fell flat. Anthony Brown, coming off a career game with five touchdown passes, threw four interceptions.
(25) BYU 30, MCNEESE STATE 3 » Freshmen Lopini Katoa ran for two TDs, Skyler Southam kicked three field goals and BYU (3-1) took advantage of (3-1) McNeese State’s second-quarter mistakes in a victory.