After coming back to beat ACC-rival Florida State on Saturday night, the Cavaliers will turn their attention to the Commonwealth where in-state foe Old Dominion is next on the slate, as No. 21 UVa hosts the Monarchs tomorrow night (7 p.m., ESPN2).

The Hoos (3-0) go from facing a team they hadn’t played in five years to one they’ve never played period, as this will be the first time the two schools met on the gridiron. But Virginia fans are certainly aware of ODU’s program, especially after the Monarchs took care of Virginia Tech last season in an upset that may have changed the trajectory of that program given the losses the Hokies have suffered since.

Still, given the line for this game is hovering around 30 points, there’s really not much intrigue other than what the margin of victory is or if the Monarchs can do it again. As such, it’ll be up to UVa to handle its business once again if the Hoos want to move to 4-0 for the first time since 2004.

Old Dominion Monarchs (1-1)

Head coach: Bobby Wilder, 11th season (77-46 overall)

Series: This this the first meeting between the two schools.

-- Old Dominion’s offense has typically been the strength of Wilder’s teams since joining the FBS ranks. In their five seasons in college football’s top level, the Monarchs have averaged better than 30 points per game three times. This year, ODU has just 41 points through two games, but the sample size and quality of opponents don’t allow for definitive conclusions to be drawn. The Monarchs spread the field out of shotgun and use it to run the football, not unlike how Virginia’s first three opponents have lined up against the Hoos. ODU has been a run-heavy team so far this season, with 82 carries to just 54 pass attempts, in a pair of contests that they either trailed or were in a close game and didn’t exactly feature many “run out the clock” drives. The Monarchs have struggled on 3rd down, converting just 10 of their 28 attempts. Their 35.7 percent conversion ratio is 92nd-best in the 130 team FBS. Virginia has allowed just 15 conversions on 43 opponent 3rd-down attempts (34.9 percent), which doesn’t bode well for the Monarchs. ODU has converted seven of its nine red zone trips into points, with five touchdowns and a pair of field goals.

-- Behind center for the Monarchs is quarterback Stone Smartt, who will be starting his third game on Saturday night. A junior college transfer, Smartt has been more successful with his legs than his arm so far in the relatively young season. Through two games, he has rushed for 98 yards and three touchdowns, including two in the loss at Virginia Tech. Through the air Smartt has been pretty pedestrian against both the Hokies and Norfolk State. The Sacramento native has completed 33 of his 53 pass attempts for 280 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. Smartt was slightly more efficient against Norfolk State than he was against Tech, which held him to just 4.1 yards per attempt and 122 yards on 30 passes. Old Dominion will look for quality matchups against defenses that will sell out to stop the run and has several weapons at wide receiver to get the ball to outside. Most notable of that group is Virginia Tech transfer Eric Kumah, who leads the Monarchs with seven receptions for 89 yards.

-- On the ground, the Monarchs are led by a young back with a lot of potential. Redshirt freshman Lala Davis played four games last season but preserved the year of eligibility, and became the Monarchs’ lead back over the offseason. The Lynchburg native has shown flashes of talent early this season and has rushed for 143 yards on 27 carries with one touchdown. Davis is averaging 5.3 yards per carry and is a focal point in ODU’s spread offense. As the passing game has taken time to get going, Old Dominion could continue to lean on the ground game on Saturday against the Cavaliers. When Davis needs a break, the Monarchs will likely give the ball to senior back Kesean Strong, who carried the ball 106 times for 499 yards and nine scores last season. Strong has racked up 14 carries for 77 yards through the first two games of his senior season.

-- Old Dominion’s defense struggled last season and as a result Wilder made some changes on that side of the ball in the offseason. The Monarchs turned to David Blackwell to lead the defense after he served as defensive coordinator and eventually interim head coach in one short year at his alma mater, ECU. Wilder and the ODU program were surely familiar with Blackwell from their time competing against one another in C-USA, but the hire likely had a lot more to do with Blackwell’s long-term resume than his time at ECU. Blackwell was a very successful defensive coordinator at the FCS level during his time at Jacksonville State and will be looking to revive a defense that has allowed more than 27 points per game in each of their FBS seasons. So far this year, the Monarchs have allowed 26 points per game and had a respectable showing in Blacksburg, allowing 31 to the Hokies. The pass defense appears to be a work in progress, but ODU has done a nice job against the run, allowing just 2.9 yards per carry on 69 attempts.

-- The Monarchs run a 3-4 front but sometimes have just two defensive linemen down on the line of scrimmage, something that Virginia also does from time to time. Up front, ODU is led by sophomore end Keion White, who has shown flashes after moving over from tight end in the offseason. White was disruptive against Virginia Tech, recording eight tackles, including 2.5 for loss, and splitting a sack with a teammate. Tackle Jeremy Meiser is the only ODU defensive linemen that started a game last season, and like White, Derek Wilder also moved over from offense to help the Monarchs fill out the front. The son of his team's head coach, the younger Wilder is one of six players in FBS who play for their fathers.

--The strength of ODU’s defense seems to be at linebacker, where they have a couple of sure tacklers who can make plays in space. Junior linebacker Lawrence Garner recorded 100 tackles a year ago in just nine games, and led the Monarchs in tackles against Norfolk State with eight. Garner again recorded eight tackles against the Hokies and it was just the second time in the last two seasons that he didn’t lead the team in stops. Fellow linebacker Jordan Young did in fact lead the Monarchs in tackles in their last game out with 10 stops at Lane Stadium. Young is ODU’s most experienced defender with 25 starts heading into Saturday night’s contest. JUCO transfer Ryan Henry joined the ranks at linebacker this season and junior Marcus Haynes has pass rush potential, which was on display in last year’s win over Virginia Tech, when he recorded a pair of sacks.