Last year, ODU walked into Lane Stadium and shocked Virginia Tech.

This year was different.

And honestly, I think we have to look at this Virginia Tech team for what it is: a completely different team, with a new coaching staff, a new system and a very different level of expectation.

ODU lost 44-21, and while the score is what it is, I don't think the biggest takeaway is that ODU can't compete with Virginia Tech.

For me, it's what this game showed ODU about itself.

Quinn Henicle's numbers don't look bad.

13-of-21, 187 passing yards, one passing touchdown, 83 rushing yards and another touchdown.

But when I look at this game, I'm not looking at the passing percentage.

I'm looking at seven sacks and three fumbles.

That's the story.

So yes, Henicle's individual numbers weren't bad.

But the offense never really found a rhythm.

And I think the biggest thing ODU has to take from this game is the offensive line has to do a better job protecting Quinn.

You can't ask a young quarterback to consistently create when he's dealing with that kind of pressure.

The 76-yard touchdown run was a great play. Henicle is clearly capable of making plays with his legs.

But ODU can't build its offense around Quinn having to make something happen every time the pocket breaks down.

Protect him. Get the offense into rhythm. Give him a chance to make decisions instead of constantly making him survive.

That's the biggest offensive takeaway for me.

Before you look at 44 points and say, “The defense got destroyed,” I'd pump the brakes a little bit.

The scoreboard doesn't really tell the entire story here either.

Giving up 44 points obviously isn't ideal, but the defense was put in some difficult positions.

Virginia Tech's defense put ODU's offense in a bad spot over and over again. Two of those early fumbles came on sacks, and Virginia Tech turned one of them into a defensive touchdown. Another ODU fumble gave the Hokies the ball at the ODU 20-yard line, which led directly to another touchdown.

Virginia Tech did, however, find a weakness.

The tight ends gave ODU problems.

There were too many times where it felt like ODU's defense simply wasn't in the right position to make a play. Virginia Tech was able to find space with its tight ends, and once they saw that matchup working, they kept going back to it.

That's the part that stands out to me.

It's not always about making a great defensive play. Sometimes it's about simply being in position to make one.

And I thought ODU was too often chasing the play instead of being in position to stop it.

That's something I would expect this staff to spend a lot of time on in film this week.

Was it a communication issue or an assignment issue?

What defensive scheme should we have run instead?

Because those are things you can fix.

Keep flying around. Keep being physical.

For me, this game was less about “Can ODU beat Virginia Tech?”

And more about “What does ODU need to clean up before Sun Belt play?”

When you're playing the better teams on your schedule, those small mistakes become big plays.

Now, from what we saw is ODU a Sun Belt championship team?

I don't know yet.

It's way too early.

But this game gave ODU something it needed: real film against a talented team.

Now the question is what they do with it.

Because last year, ODU came into Lane Stadium and showed Virginia Tech what ODU could be.

This year, Virginia Tech showed ODU what it still needs to fix.