The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Surprised I'm the first to post. And yes, it did seem like a game. I'm suer others will have more insight than me, but let me just say I was totally impressed with both O and D. AND, Blake LaRussa can throw the ball!! 6-6 for sure 7-5 probable.

Beautiful day, LaRussa look solid and was really impressed with Washington. There were some good plays on both sides of the ball.

I liked what I saw today and I am sticking with my prediction of a 7-5 record this season. Everybody start saving up to go to our first ever bowl game this Fall.

Great crowd at the Spring Game. Lawry was his usual self, and I think we have a solid #2 rb in Jeremy Cox, he looks very good. Bentley is definitely going to be the starter at qb, but we have two solid looking backups in LaRussa and Verhaegh. Bentley checks down his receivers really well, and has good arm strength, and touch on his throws. LaRussa really impressed me as well. We are very well stocked at WR, DuHart, and Pascal had good games, and it was nice to see Blair Roberts out there again. Melvin Vaughn is going to cause some big-time match up problems this year at TE, and Adam Swann is another good looking TE.

On the defensive side I think they are improving, especially on the pass rush, tackling was pretty good for the most part. Stanton had a really good hit on Lawry. Good pressure on the qb at times, Barnwell had a great game with a couple of tipped balls.

All-in-all I feel pretty good about where the team is now. The only real negative was punting which could use a real dose of FLUBBER.

(04-11-2015 05:26 PM)paintedblue2 Wrote:  Great crowd at the Spring Game. Lawry was his usual self, and I think we have a solid #2 rb in Jeremy Cox, he looks very good. Bentley is definitely going to be the starter at qb, but we have two solid looking backups in LaRussa and Verhaegh. Bentley checks down his receivers really well, and has good arm strength, and touch on his throws. LaRussa really impressed me as well. We are very well stocked at WR, DuHart, and Pascal had good games, and it was nice to see Blair Roberts out there again. Melvin Vaughn is going to cause some big-time match up problems this year at TE, and Adam Swann is another good looking TE.

On the defensive side I think they are improving, especially on the pass rush, tackling was pretty good for the most part. Stanton had a really good hit on Lawry. Good pressure on the qb at times, Barnwell had a great game with a couple of tipped balls.

All-in-all I feel pretty good about where the team is now. The only real negative was punting which could use a real dose of FLUBBER.

Was an outstanding crowd..... was told 5 or 6k in attendance. We could not have order a better day to show case ODU Football. Lots of future recruits and along with High School players, coaches from all over Hampton Roads. The team look further along as a whole this year over what I remembered from last years spring game.

FANTASTIC DAY! Aim High * Go Monarchs

It was definitely a good day for the Monarchs today -- pretty much on both sides of the ball if that is possible -- with the Blue team coming from behind (with a little help from Coach Wilder), the game ended with a Blue win -- 27-24.

As the score indicates, the teams seemed to be divided pretty evenly with the Blue team having the first team offense and the White Team having the first team defense. The offenses seemed a little ahead early but then the defenses began to stiffen up.

PB2 hit the nail on the head on the punting. If we are not able to somehow improve that between now and September, it is going to bite us right on the arse.

Lawry ran wild on the first series, accounting for all yards on a three play, 70-yard drive with one reception and two runs.

The first team O-line did a pretty good job protecting Bentley. He did have one interception after the ball was tipped at the line. As the game progressed, the defensive ends on both teams were able to get some pressure on the QBs.

LaRusa looks very competent -- just wish he was a little taller than his listed 5'10". He had two or three passes knocked down at the line.

The receivers looked good as a group. Little had one or two drops, but for the most part everybody caught everything they got their hands on.

There was some great hitting, and the tackling looked good overall. The secondaries did a pretty good job. One Blue interception was negated by a penalty. White defense did a good job of defending and defeating an attempted two-point conversion.

Bentley looked pretty good, especially late. He had a pretty impressive 20-yard or so run on a read-option play that fooled almost everyone on the White defense.

Wilder gave the ball to the Blue team following their score with 1:15 left to see if they could complete a game winning drive. (Must have been a successful on-sides kick -- lol). Turned out -- they couldn't, but after Blue failed to convert on fourth down, White gave the ball back with an interception. This time Bentley hooked up with ??? for a long gainer and then Lawry (I think) ran it in for the game winner.

I left feeling good about our chances for a winning season this fall. This team seems to be coming together.

LaRussa is a diamond in the rough!!! Bentley's body language during warm ups didn't please me for someone who is leading a team.

(04-11-2015 07:21 PM)AimHigh Wrote:  LaRussa is a diamond in the rough!!! Bentley's body language during warm ups didn't please me for someone who is leading a team.

So what was his body language saying? Johnny Unitas wore 19 and had poor body language but in the game he could throw the ball.

(04-11-2015 07:21 PM)AimHigh Wrote:  LaRussa is a diamond in the rough!!! Bentley's body language during warm ups didn't please me for someone who is leading a team.

Wasn't in attendance..... But can you expand on his body language? Is it possible that maybe he was nervous and was trying to hide it?

For the people who couldnt make it to the game today. https://youtu.be/nLvkwKdwo4E

Aim high, what about SB's body language didn't you like?

It was really good to get a small dose of football today to get me through the summer.
Hard to tell from today how we'll fare next year but it definitely seemed that our size had improved. Also great to see TH back on campus. What a class act he is. I wish him nothing but the best.

(04-11-2015 09:22 PM)Lion Pride Wrote:  It was really good to get a small dose of football today to get me through the summer.
Hard to tell from today how we'll fare next year but it definitely seemed that our size had improved. Also great to see TH back on campus. What a class act he is. I wish him nothing but the best.

Yes he is. I got there at 11:30 and had brought a mini-helmet for him to sign. He was very gracious with everyone, getting up to pose with most of us for photos after he had signed. I am glad I had them opportunity to thank him and wish him luck face-to-face.

My thoughts coming away from this spring game are as follows.

The Good:
1. RB's are really, really good! Cox is surprisingly versatile out of the backfield. He also has very good acceleration once he is through a hole.
2. Offensive Line play is very nice (of course against our Def that isn't to big a test)
3. Def Edge Rush is finally fast enough to do some damage.

The Mehhhh:
1. QBs. I wasn't impressed with SB. On the good side i thought his pocket presence was good, however at times he was drilling WRs on short throws. This left me wondering about his touch. However, the 2 min drill was well played. Overall, I felt he was outplayed by the combination of White Team's QBs
2. CB play was spotty at best IMO. Some good plays and some bad. With the depth we have at WR, I wonder why we don't convert a WR or two to CB.

The Bad:
It's going to be a long season again if our punters continue to punt shallow, low punts.

(04-11-2015 09:29 PM)paintedblue2 Wrote:  

(04-11-2015 09:22 PM)Lion Pride Wrote:  It was really good to get a small dose of football today to get me through the summer.
Hard to tell from today how we'll fare next year but it definitely seemed that our size had improved. Also great to see TH back on campus. What a class act he is. I wish him nothing but the best.

Yes he is. I got there at 11:30 and had brought a mini-helmet for him to sign. He was very gracious with everyone, getting up to pose with most of us for photos after he had signed. I am glad I had them opportunity to thank him and wish him luck face-to-face.

Good to see ya again in line. After you left my son got to meet him and when he stood on the table it turned into a media frenzy of cell phone photos like a political photo op with a baby for TH. It was pretty funny. But very gracious and polite. 3 years ago I would have said he wasn't much bigger than me now not so much. He's been putting in work and it shows. He's a great representative of the school.

(04-11-2015 10:19 PM)FTW ODU Wrote:  My thoughts coming away from this spring game are as follows.

The Mehhhh:
1. QBs. I wasn't impressed with SB. On the good side i thought his pocket presence was good, however at times he was drilling WRs on short throws. This left me wondering about his touch. However, the 2 min drill was well played.

Drilling receivers on short throws... not always a bad thing. LOL

but regarding the picture... Butler ends the season for the boys in blue. Sound familiar?

(04-12-2015 01:03 AM)Petey Hodge Wrote:  

(04-11-2015 10:19 PM)FTW ODU Wrote:  My thoughts coming away from this spring game are as follows.

The Mehhhh:
1. QBs. I wasn't impressed with SB. On the good side i thought his pocket presence was good, however at times he was drilling WRs on short throws. This left me wondering about his touch. However, the 2 min drill was well played.

Drilling receivers on short throws... not always a bad thing. LOL

but regarding the picture... Butler ends the season for the boys in blue. Sound familiar?

You went there...

I still am there...

JJ will take me outta there. (one day, the ghosts of Butler will be exorcised)

(04-11-2015 04:52 PM)Old Dominion Wrote:  Surprised I'm the first to post. And yes, it did seem like a game. I'm suer others will have more insight than me, but let me just say I was totally impressed with both O and D. AND, Blake LaRussa can throw the ball!! 6-6 for sure 7-5 probable.

Meanwhile, up in Richmond our rivals were doing a lot this

(04-11-2015 10:19 PM)FTW ODU Wrote:  I wasn't impressed with SB. On the good side i thought his pocket presence was good, however at times he was drilling WRs on short throws. This left me wondering about his touch. However, the 2 min drill was well played. Overall, I felt he was outplayed by the combination of White Team's QBs

It's going to be a long season again if our punters continue to punt shallow, low punts.

You have to remember, Bentley was the only quarterback going against the starting defense. I noted the same thing on the short passes, but that is certain to improve with a little coaching and emphasis. I was actually very pleased with his play and continue to believe we are in good hands at QB. He is a RS Freshman and will make some mistakes as he goes, but I truly like what I am seeing out of him.

I could not agree more on the punting. If we don't find a punter between now and September, I think we are going to see Bentley emerge as our No. 1 punter -- ala Heinicke.