BLACKSBURG, Va. -- Colton Joseph threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns to lead Old Dominion to a surprisingly easy 45-26 victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday, dropping the Hokies to 0-3 in a pivotal season for coach Brent Pry.
On a night when his team was booed loudly heading into the locker room for halftime, Pry's Hokies fell to 16-24 in his tenure, and have been especially abysmal the past two games, getting outscored 89-46 and allowing 1,017 yards.
"Obviously, we're incredibly disappointed," Pry said after his latest loss. "Not the direction I saw the team going tonight. We couldn't get stops."
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 an ACC opponent.
"We just couldn't get any momentum going," Pry said. "We turned the ball over in the red zone. We get a turnover and we can't cash in on it. There were flashes, in the game, of the ability to run the ball. There were flashes of the ability to throw the ball, but not near consistent enough."
The Monarchs, who entered the game as 6.5-point underdogs, converted two first-half Virginia Tech turnovers into touchdowns and took 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.
"Clearly, it starts with me," Pry said. "Coaches, players, everybody is accountable here. We've got to get back to the basics and find a way to be closer to the team we can be."
Trequan Jones added 101 yards rushing and a score for the Monarchs. Old Dominion finished with 527 total yards, including 250 on the ground.
Kyron Drones threw for 266 yards and three touchdowns for Virginia Tech, which fell to 0-3 for the first time since 1987. The Hokies have lost four straight dating to last season.
The Monarchs, who have beaten Virginia Tech three times in this series, played arguably their best game in coach Ricky Rahne's six seasons at Old Dominion.
"I give Old Dominion credit," Pry said. "They've got a nice team ... but we clearly didn't play well enough at all."
Virginia Tech will host Wofford on Sept. 20. ODU will host Liberty on Sept. 27.
"We feel confident pretty much every week," Rahne said. "Our guys are confident in their abilities. They're confident in who they are, and our guys played really well."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
