NORFOLK, VA (WTKR)- Old Dominion has moved well past its historic win over Virginia Tech as the Monarchs have turned their attention to another in-state foe.
Liberty visits S.B. Ballard Stadium on Saturday for ODU's non-conference finale, where the silver and blue will be looking to reverse their fortunes against the program. The Flames are 3-0 against the Monarchs during Ricky Rahne's tenure at the head of the squad and 4-1 in the all-time series.
"I don't think we've played our best football against this team in the past," Rahne said Monday. "I would like to see us go out there and play our best game and see where it ends up because that, to me, is the most important thing. Let's go out there and play really good football and put our best foot forward."
"They're a good football team," added redshirt junior safety Mario Easterly. "They're well-coached, they're going to play hard. This is going to be my third time playing Liberty since I've been here, so I've never beaten them."
The match-ups since Rahne's arrival have not been particularly close. His first on-field season in 2021 saw the Flames roll, 45-17, in Lynchburg behind six total touchdowns from current Packers back-up quarterback Malik Willis. The following year, Old Dominion tied the game at 24 before two late scores by Liberty gave the Flames a 38-24 victory and they made it three wins in three seasons with a 38-10 triumph in 2023.
This year's Liberty squad is out to a slow start, entering Saturday's match-up with a 1-3 record and averaging just 19.5 points per game. A program that usually puts up a fair amount of points has been held to just 13 in each of its last two games, including this past Saturday's 31-13 loss to James Madison. Oscar Smith product and former Old Dominion commit Ethan Vasko suffered an injury in the contest, leaving his status for this weekend's return to the 757 unclear.
"We hope he gets to play because you don't want to see anybody have any games taken away from them, particularly when we know it's a big game for him and his family," Rahne said. "We hope he gets to play. If he doesn't, we know they have other guys who can execute their offense."
ODU has is averaging 37.7 points per game, good enough for 35th in the nation, and 461.3 yards per game, which ranks No. 30 among FBS programs nationally. The Monarchs have posted 54 and 45 in their last two games, respectively.
Saturday's game kicks off at 6 p.m.
