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https://athlonsports.com/college-footbal...tions-2017

Athlon Sports predicts ODU will play Colorado St. in the New Mexico Bowl. I like the opponent but not the destination. Although at least we get a game in the States!

By the way that is 6 C-USA teams projected to go to a bowl for the 2017 season.

Hopefully we are more competitive this season and win games we are not supposed to. Let's keep things in perspective guys, the 2016 schedule was full of cupcakes.

While it is very true that LY was a schedule on the easier side...we were breaking a rather unknown QB (with serious health concerns), a totally police line-up of an OL, and we won 10

This year could be another year where the breaks fall our way...
G1- Albany, middle of the road CAA team, very vanilla ODU Offense for Hoy/Williams
G2- @UMass, poorly coached, poor in talent, another good game to jell
G3- UNC, the one year to play them, lots of losses on O, QB and receivers (if you want to steal one, this is the one, they will have just played Cal and Louisville at home)
G4- @VT, another team with a new QB, could get ugly, but they may look past us after already playing WestVA and ECU
bye week (makes me think of JMU)
G5- FAU, the mess of Kiffen in town after our bye week and them playing Navy Wisconsin and MTSU without a break
G6- @Marshall, better QB wins the game (just hoping that's us)
G7- WKU, moving on
G8- @NoTexas, saw them 4 times last year, wildly inconsistent especially on D
G9- Charlotte, we play them well, home side wins
G10- @FIU- Davis as HC is far better than Turner, toss-up
G11- Rice- I see no problems
G12- @MTSU, I see lots of problems

overall 7-5
CUSA- 5-3

Projected Bowls from Athlon (July 5, 2017) CUSA 6 Tie-ins

New Orleans Dec. 16 ESPN C-USA vs. Sun Belt  Louisiana Tech vs. Troy 
New Mexico Dec. 16 ESPN C-USA vs.  MW  Old Dominion vs. Colorado State 
Boca Raton Dec. 19 ESPN American vs. C-USA  UCF vs. MTSU 
St. Petersburg Dec. 21 ESPN American vs. C-USA Temple vs. Southern Miss 
Bahamas Dec. 22 ESPN C-USA vs.  MAC  UTSA vs. Ohio 
Heart of Dallas Dec. 26 ESPN Big 12 vs. C-USA  TCU vs. WKU 

I personally think ODU would be a much better fit for the St. Petersburg Bowl. I understand the selection of Southern Miss, but ODU has always traveled well for big OOC games and I think with a good year ODU would represent very well in any Bowl that gives the fans a reasonable travel destination. My second choice would be the Boca Raton Bowl. IMO. if ODU is picked for the Boca Raton they would bring more fans than MTSU would.

(07-06-2017 04:56 PM)HeadsetGuy Wrote:  While it is very true that LY was a schedule on the easier side...we were breaking a rather unknown QB (with serious health concerns), a totally police line-up of an OL, and we won 10

This year could be another year where the breaks fall our way...
G1- Albany, middle of the road CAA team, very vanilla ODU Offense for Hoy/Williams
G2- @UMass, poorly coached, poor in talent, another good game to jell
G3- UNC, the one year to play them, lots of losses on O, QB and receivers (if you want to steal one, this is the one, they will have just played Cal and Louisville at home)
G4- @VT, another team with a new QB, could get ugly, but they may look past us after already playing WestVA and ECU
bye week (makes me think of JMU)
G5- FAU, the mess of Kiffen in town after our bye week and them playing Navy Wisconsin and MTSU without a break
G6- @Marshall, better QB wins the game (just hoping that's us)
G7- WKU, moving on
G8- @NoTexas, saw them 4 times last year, wildly inconsistent especially on D
G9- Charlotte, we play them well, home side wins
G10- @FIU- Davis as HC is far better than Turner, toss-up
G11- Rice- I see no problems
G12- @MTSU, I see lots of problems

overall 7-5
CUSA- 5-3

MY Predictions, as I look through a slightly screwed perception of the 2017 season with a bold prediction - Hoy will mature fast and fit into the system very quickly and give ODU a better season than many of the prognosticators are predicting. My predictions are predicated off the assumption that Old Dominion will be stealer at the RB position and we will continue to see a defense that has improved over time. I know we lost a lot with Rashaad Coward DT, TJ Ricks LB, Shadow Williams, Aaron Young, all contributing members of the defense from last year. We will need to replace Zach Pascal, but I think we will have some very good players step up at WR. Finally the QB position. I think the competition will be some of the strongest that ODU has ever had at the QB position. 1st off Blake LaRussa, did a good job last year as the back up to Washington and he played well for the spring game. IMO, I think R-Fr Drayton Arnold, was also very impressive for the spring game. However I truly believe that the two game changers could be true Freshman Steven Williams and the JC transfer Hoy. Williams (6-3 200 lbs) is big, strong and plays very well on his feet with his elusiveness. His SR. year he progressed and got more confident and played very well leading his team to a 10-3 season losing the last game to eventual runner-up (DC Finals), Woodson a 10-2 team that lost in the finals. Williams started two years and had very impressive stats... 5384 Passing /TDs 73 / Passing Yards Game 215.4 / Pass Completions 305 / Pass Attempts 577 /Interceptions 17. He also rushed for (2016) 295 yards on 53 carries, averaging almost 6 yards every time he touched the ball. Finally Hoy, I have listed his accolades in other post. This will be a Aug camp that will prove to be very competitive at the QB position.

#1- Albany, A Top 25 FCS program and they will be a stronger test than many expect. I hope I am wrong. Hoy will not have the best game of the year but will shake off the 1st game jitters. The RB's will destroy Albany's defense in the second half. ODU 56 Albany 21 (W)

#2- @ UMass, Hoy will play a much better game and the team will play better as a unit ODU just more talented than Umass. ODU 38 Umass 14 (W)

#3- UNC, I agree with HeadsetGuy. If we are able to steal one, this is the one, and UNC will have played Cal and Louisville at home the two weeks before. ODU will need a heroic effort to shake off the vision of 4 years ago but I'm predicting the upset. ODU 35 UNC 31 (W)

#4- @ VT, VA Tech will be even better this year. If, the QB situation is resolved for them. like ODU they have a ? about a new QB. If it goes as planned they will be very good. When their star QB Jerod Evans’ unexpectedly declared for the NFL Draft it made true Freshman Josh Jackson the go to guy (R-Fr). He was pushing Evans for the starting spot in 2016. Now Jackson enters the spring as the No. 1 guy and he is being chased by junior college transfer A.J. Bush and even another Freshman Hendon Hooker a 6-4, - 3/4 star recruit that may be their future. Most likely he will red-shirt. ODU will have a hard time under the lights in Blacksburg VA Tech 56 ODU 31 (L)

#5- FAU, Always plays ODU tough and I see no difference for this game but ODU will be home and I think we will steal another in a close game ODU 42 FAU 35 (W)

#6- @ Marshall, I think Hoy will start to feel his stride and the RB's and defense will have a very good day. Old Dominion will start to feel more confident and beat Marshall in Huntington for the first time ODU 34 Marshall 28 (W)

#7 - WKU, ODU will be a much improved team by the time we play WKU, but the game will be against a team that has a QB that can make things happen. Mike White will single handily lead WKU to many wins this year and this game will not be any different. Their D will stifle our RB's as they have done in the past. A closer game than years past WKU 49 ODU 28 (L)

#8- @ No Texas, A team that will see huge improvements in 2017 and as it will become evident all CUSA games will be extremely competitive. ODU 35 North Texas 28 (W)

#9- Charlotte, Just a hunch but I think Charlotte will struggle this year and ODU is home. The crowd will be hungry and loud and this game should end up where the good guys continue to roll. ODU 56 Charlotte 24 (W)

#10- @ FIU- Davis will prove to be the coach that everyone expected. The home team will play well, but I hope ODU will edge another squeaker. ODU 31 FIU 28 (W)

G11- Rice- Rice will also have improvement over last year and as I mentioned earlier no conference games are a sure thing. Another one for the good guys. ODU 38 Rice 24 (W)

G12- @ MTSU, Middle will have one of the most powerful offenses in all of college football for 2017. Stockstill will keep the curse alive as ODU will fall in the final game of the season to a very strong MTSU team that may, eventually be the East Champs MTSU 52 ODU 31 (L)

Final Regular Season Record, a very optimistic prediction of 9 -3

If we struggle at QB this may be a completely different outcome. Time will tell but I'm looking at this as the coming out season for Hoy. I have great confidence in the staff and they will prepare this young man to be a leader and confidently lead the team to a remarkable year. My other prediction is Hoy will be a star.

UNC #42 Preview for those interested.... https://athlonsports.com/college-footbal...prediction

ODU #90 Preview by the same writer... https://athlonsports.com/college-footbal...prediction

WKU #73 Preview... https://athlonsports.com/college-footbal...prediction

MTSU #75 Preview... https://athlonsports.com/college-footbal...prediction

VA Tech #25 Preview... https://athlonsports.com/college-footbal...prediction

Interesting predictions from last years early prediction post. Sirloin Burger predicted 10-2, but NO ONE else predicted close to 9-3 for the regular season record. So have at it, I hope that we are all surprised with terrific results that no one expected.

2016 Early ODU Football predictions and discussion thread LInk.... http://csnbbs.com/thread-776632.html

I think people are overlooking UMASS a little bit. I think we might end up being favored, but that could be a close game.

(07-06-2017 04:56 PM)HeadsetGuy Wrote:  While it is very true that LY was a schedule on the easier side...we were breaking a rather unknown QB (with serious health concerns), a totally police line-up of an OL, and we won 10

This year could be another year where the breaks fall our way...
G1- Albany, middle of the road CAA team, very vanilla ODU Offense for Hoy/Williams
G2- @UMass, poorly coached, poor in talent, another good game to jell
G3- UNC, the one year to play them, lots of losses on O, QB and receivers (if you want to steal one, this is the one, they will have just played Cal and Louisville at home)
G4- @VT, another team with a new QB, could get ugly, but they may look past us after already playing WestVA and ECU
bye week (makes me think of JMU)
G5- FAU, the mess of Kiffen in town after our bye week and them playing Navy Wisconsin and MTSU without a break
G6- @Marshall, better QB wins the game (just hoping that's us)
G7- WKU, moving on
G8- @NoTexas, saw them 4 times last year, wildly inconsistent especially on D
G9- Charlotte, we play them well, home side wins
G10- @FIU- Davis as HC is far better than Turner, toss-up
G11- Rice- I see no problems
G12- @MTSU, I see lots of problems

overall 7-5
CUSA- 5-3

I see 4 losses: UNC, VT, WKU, and MTSU
I see 1 win: Albany
I see 7 tossups

Could go anywhere from 1-11 to 8-4, depending on how competent we are or become at QB.

I'm going to go with 6-6, but it is going to start out ugly with potentially a very bad loss agains UMass and a couple of thrashings against the ACC. Eventually, our QB will start to get a littlw more comfortable and we will be good enough to beat most of the lower tier CUSA teams. Luckily there are 6 of them on the schedule after the VT game (tentatively including Marshall given how bad they were last year). I could see us going 5-1 in those 6.

I think Albany, Charlotte, and Rice should be fairly easy wins.
I think we lose to UNC, WKY, and VT for sure.

I think we will be a slight fav over UMASS, FAU, Marshall, North Texas, and FIU. I think we will be slight dog to MTSU.

So, if we win the games we should and lose the ones we should while splitting the tossups, it's exactly 6-6. With good QB play, I can see 8 wins pretty easily. With shotty QB play, I can see 4 wins. I wish I knew what we were going to get at QB, because it is impossible to predict until we see it.

(07-07-2017 09:05 AM)Gilesfan Wrote:  I think Albany, Charlotte, and Rice should be fairly easy wins.
I think we lose to UNC, WKY, and VT for sure.

I think we will be a slight fav over UMASS, FAU, Marshall, North Texas, and FIU. I think we will be slight dog to MTSU.

So, if we win the games we should and lose the ones we should while splitting the tossups, it's exactly 6-6. With good QB play, I can see 8 wins pretty easily. With shotty QB play, I can see 4 wins. I wish I knew what we were going to get at QB, because it is impossible to predict until we see it.

I know there's not a lot of activity to report right now (other than the police blotter) but i hope Ed Miller's coverage of August camp in regards to QB play and the all around team is better than spring practice. So far i have been very disappointed with the lack of reporting on the program since HM was moved off of the day to day beat. He always seemed to find something to report on in reference to recruiting or behind the scene activities even during the dead periods.

(07-06-2017 04:56 PM)HeadsetGuy Wrote:  While it is very true that LY was a schedule on the easier side...we were breaking a rather unknown QB (with serious health concerns), a totally police line-up of an OL, and we won 10

This year could be another year where the breaks fall our way...
G1- Albany, middle of the road CAA team, very vanilla ODU Offense for Hoy/Williams
G2- @UMass, poorly coached, poor in talent, another good game to jell
G3- UNC, the one year to play them, lots of losses on O, QB and receivers (if you want to steal one, this is the one, they will have just played Cal and Louisville at home)
G4- @VT, another team with a new QB, could get ugly, but they may look past us after already playing WestVA and ECU
bye week (makes me think of JMU)
G5- FAU, the mess of Kiffen in town after our bye week and them playing Navy Wisconsin and MTSU without a break
G6- @Marshall, better QB wins the game (just hoping that's us)
G7- WKU, moving on
G8- @NoTexas, saw them 4 times last year, wildly inconsistent especially on D
G9- Charlotte, we play them well, home side wins
G10- @FIU- Davis as HC is far better than Turner, toss-up
G11- Rice- I see no problems
G12- @MTSU, I see lots of problems

overall 7-5
CUSA- 5-3

W Albany should be a relatively easy win. Williams certainly doesn't lose his redshirt for this one.

W UMass showed signs of competitive play against us last year, but they lose a lot. I am not sure about them being poorly coached however

L UNC They lose a lot of players from last year on offense. The D might be better. In any event it will be better be better than the last time.

L VT ugh

Tossup FAU Florida State QB and more than adequate running will give them an offense. The question is can Kiffin improve a less than stellar defense.

W Marshall will have to completely regroup after Doc lost that team. I am not sure if he can get it back Plus a lot of new players including 3 on the OL

L WKU Only question here is a new coach

W North Texas is mediocre

W UNCC moving backwards

W FIU too many personnel issues to overcome

W Rice mediocre team

L MTSU could be closer as there are 3 new starters on the OL.

I know some here have said that we can compensate for inexperience at LB and yes we can. But, if we didn't have to compensate our defense would likely be scary. As it is, our D will dominate lesser teams, but struggle against good ones.

Even with our QB questions, we likely go either 7-5 or 8-4. MTSU could be an upset win for us as well.

Remember WKU also lost a lot at RB. They'll still be good, but not what they were last year.

(07-07-2017 09:51 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  

(07-06-2017 04:56 PM)HeadsetGuy Wrote:  While it is very true that LY was a schedule on the easier side...we were breaking a rather unknown QB (with serious health concerns), a totally police line-up of an OL, and we won 10

This year could be another year where the breaks fall our way...
G1- Albany, middle of the road CAA team, very vanilla ODU Offense for Hoy/Williams
G2- @UMass, poorly coached, poor in talent, another good game to jell
G3- UNC, the one year to play them, lots of losses on O, QB and receivers (if you want to steal one, this is the one, they will have just played Cal and Louisville at home)
G4- @VT, another team with a new QB, could get ugly, but they may look past us after already playing WestVA and ECU
bye week (makes me think of JMU)
G5- FAU, the mess of Kiffen in town after our bye week and them playing Navy Wisconsin and MTSU without a break
G6- @Marshall, better QB wins the game (just hoping that's us)
G7- WKU, moving on
G8- @NoTexas, saw them 4 times last year, wildly inconsistent especially on D
G9- Charlotte, we play them well, home side wins
G10- @FIU- Davis as HC is far better than Turner, toss-up
G11- Rice- I see no problems
G12- @MTSU, I see lots of problems

overall 7-5
CUSA- 5-3

W Albany should be a relatively easy win. Williams certainly doesn't lose his redshirt for this one.

W UMass showed signs of competitive play against us last year, but they lose a lot. I am not sure about them being poorly coached however

L UNC They lose a lot of players from last year on offense. The D might be better. In any event it will be better be better than the last time.

L VT ugh

Tossup FAU Florida State QB and more than adequate running will give them an offense. The question is can Kiffin improve a less than stellar defense.

W Marshall will have to completely regroup after Doc lost that team. I am not sure if he can get it back Plus a lot of new players including 3 on the OL

L WKU Only question here is a new coach

W North Texas is mediocre

W UNCC moving backwards

W FIU too many personnel issues to overcome

W Rice mediocre team

L MTSU could be closer as there are 3 new starters on the OL.

I know some here have said that we can compensate for inexperience at LB and yes we can. But, if we didn't have to compensate our defense would likely be scary. As it is, our D will dominate lesser teams, but struggle against good ones.

Even with our QB questions, we likely go either 7-5 or 8-4. MTSU could be an upset win for us as well.

By the 12th game they are no longer new starters.

I'll take 6 wins and be happy considering we have a new QB and tough schedule. Next year we need to step up big time (and we should be good), problem is, the schedule gets much harder too. These schedules were made thinking Shuler Bentley would be the next Payton Manning by now and we'd continue to be recruiting players the quality of Ray Lawry and Oshane Ximines. We could have the best Monarch team yet in 2018 and still not win 6.

That's a very real possibility.

#1- Albany, A Top 25 FCS program and they will be a stronger test than many expect. I hope I am wrong. Hoy will not have the best game of the year but will shake off the 1st game jitters. The RB's will destroy Albany's defense in the second half. ODU 56 Albany 21 (W)

#2- @ UMass, Hoy will play a much better game and the team will play better as a unit ODU just more talented than Umass. ODU 38 Umass 14 (W)

#3- UNC, I agree with HeadsetGuy. If we are able to steal one, this is the one, and UNC will have played Cal and Louisville at home the two weeks before. ODU will need a heroic effort to shake off the vision of 4 years ago but I'm predicting the upset. ODU 35 UNC 31 (W)

#4- @ VT, VA Tech will be even better this year. If, the QB situation is resolved for them. like ODU they have a ? about a new QB. If it goes as planned they will be very good. When their star QB Jerod Evans’ unexpectedly declared for the NFL Draft it made true Freshman Josh Jackson the go to guy (R-Fr). He was pushing Evans for the starting spot in 2016. Now Jackson enters the spring as the No. 1 guy and he is being chased by junior college transfer A.J. Bush and even another Freshman Hendon Hooker a 6-4, - 3/4 star recruit that may be their future. Most likely he will red-shirt. ODU will have a hard time under the lights in Blacksburg VA Tech 56 ODU 31 (L)

#5- FAU, Always plays ODU tough and I see no difference for this game but ODU will be home and I think we will steal another in a close game ODU 42 FAU 35 (W)

#6- @ Marshall, I think Hoy will start to feel his stride and the RB's and defense will have a very good day. Old Dominion will start to feel more confident and beat Marshall in Huntington for the first time ODU 34 Marshall 28 (W)

#7 - WKU, ODU will be a much improved team by the time we play WKU, but the game will be against a team that has a QB that can make things happen. Mike White will single handily lead WKU to many wins this year and this game will not be any different. Their D will stifle our RB's as they have done in the past. A closer game than years past WKU 49 ODU 28 (L)

#8- @ No Texas, A team that will see huge improvements in 2017 and as it will become evident all CUSA games will be extremely competitive. ODU 35 North Texas 28 (W)

#9- Charlotte, Just a hunch but I think Charlotte will struggle this year and ODU is home. The crowd will be hungry and loud and this game should end up where the good guys continue to roll. ODU 56 Charlotte 24 (W)

#10- @ FIU- Davis will prove to be the coach that everyone expected. The home team will play well, but I hope ODU will edge another squeaker. ODU 31 FIU 28 (W)

G11- Rice- Rice will also have improvement over last year and as I mentioned earlier no conference games are a sure thing. Another one for the good guys. ODU 38 Rice 24 (W)

G12- @ MTSU, Middle will have one of the most powerful offenses in all of college football for 2017. Stockstill will keep the curse alive as ODU will fall in the final game of the season to a very strong MTSU team that may, eventually be the East Champs MTSU 52 ODU 31 (L)

Final Regular Season Record, a very optimistic prediction of 9 -3

I like the optimism but I really doubt we average 38 points/game. We will not score 31 against VT, I'd bet my farm on that.

(07-07-2017 10:21 AM)ODU True Blue Wrote:  

(07-07-2017 09:51 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  

(07-06-2017 04:56 PM)HeadsetGuy Wrote:  While it is very true that LY was a schedule on the easier side...we were breaking a rather unknown QB (with serious health concerns), a totally police line-up of an OL, and we won 10

This year could be another year where the breaks fall our way...
G1- Albany, middle of the road CAA team, very vanilla ODU Offense for Hoy/Williams
G2- @UMass, poorly coached, poor in talent, another good game to jell
G3- UNC, the one year to play them, lots of losses on O, QB and receivers (if you want to steal one, this is the one, they will have just played Cal and Louisville at home)
G4- @VT, another team with a new QB, could get ugly, but they may look past us after already playing WestVA and ECU
bye week (makes me think of JMU)
G5- FAU, the mess of Kiffen in town after our bye week and them playing Navy Wisconsin and MTSU without a break
G6- @Marshall, better QB wins the game (just hoping that's us)
G7- WKU, moving on
G8- @NoTexas, saw them 4 times last year, wildly inconsistent especially on D
G9- Charlotte, we play them well, home side wins
G10- @FIU- Davis as HC is far better than Turner, toss-up
G11- Rice- I see no problems
G12- @MTSU, I see lots of problems

overall 7-5
CUSA- 5-3

W Albany should be a relatively easy win. Williams certainly doesn't lose his redshirt for this one.

W UMass showed signs of competitive play against us last year, but they lose a lot. I am not sure about them being poorly coached however

L UNC They lose a lot of players from last year on offense. The D might be better. In any event it will be better be better than the last time.

L VT ugh

Tossup FAU Florida State QB and more than adequate running will give them an offense. The question is can Kiffin improve a less than stellar defense.

W Marshall will have to completely regroup after Doc lost that team. I am not sure if he can get it back Plus a lot of new players including 3 on the OL

L WKU Only question here is a new coach

W North Texas is mediocre

W UNCC moving backwards

W FIU too many personnel issues to overcome

W Rice mediocre team

L MTSU could be closer as there are 3 new starters on the OL.

I know some here have said that we can compensate for inexperience at LB and yes we can. But, if we didn't have to compensate our defense would likely be scary. As it is, our D will dominate lesser teams, but struggle against good ones.

Even with our QB questions, we likely go either 7-5 or 8-4. MTSU could be an upset win for us as well.

By the 12th game they are no longer new starters.

Good point.

I want to see tangible proof of us catching up with WKU and MT. By now we should be approaching them in quality. I'm optimistically calling for an upset over WKU since it's a home game.

(07-07-2017 10:41 AM)SettleDownFolks Wrote:  #1- Albany, A Top 25 FCS program and they will be a stronger test than many expect. I hope I am wrong. Hoy will not have the best game of the year but will shake off the 1st game jitters. The RB's will destroy Albany's defense in the second half. ODU 56 Albany 21 (W)

#2- @ UMass, Hoy will play a much better game and the team will play better as a unit ODU just more talented than Umass. ODU 38 Umass 14 (W)

#3- UNC, I agree with HeadsetGuy. If we are able to steal one, this is the one, and UNC will have played Cal and Louisville at home the two weeks before. ODU will need a heroic effort to shake off the vision of 4 years ago but I'm predicting the upset. ODU 35 UNC 31 (W)

#4- @ VT, VA Tech will be even better this year. If, the QB situation is resolved for them. like ODU they have a ? about a new QB. If it goes as planned they will be very good. When their star QB Jerod Evans’ unexpectedly declared for the NFL Draft it made true Freshman Josh Jackson the go to guy (R-Fr). He was pushing Evans for the starting spot in 2016. Now Jackson enters the spring as the No. 1 guy and he is being chased by junior college transfer A.J. Bush and even another Freshman Hendon Hooker a 6-4, - 3/4 star recruit that may be their future. Most likely he will red-shirt. ODU will have a hard time under the lights in Blacksburg VA Tech 56 ODU 31 (L)

#5- FAU, Always plays ODU tough and I see no difference for this game but ODU will be home and I think we will steal another in a close game ODU 42 FAU 35 (W)

#6- @ Marshall, I think Hoy will start to feel his stride and the RB's and defense will have a very good day. Old Dominion will start to feel more confident and beat Marshall in Huntington for the first time ODU 34 Marshall 28 (W)

#7 - WKU, ODU will be a much improved team by the time we play WKU, but the game will be against a team that has a QB that can make things happen. Mike White will single handily lead WKU to many wins this year and this game will not be any different. Their D will stifle our RB's as they have done in the past. A closer game than years past WKU 49 ODU 28 (L)

#8- @ No Texas, A team that will see huge improvements in 2017 and as it will become evident all CUSA games will be extremely competitive. ODU 35 North Texas 28 (W)

#9- Charlotte, Just a hunch but I think Charlotte will struggle this year and ODU is home. The crowd will be hungry and loud and this game should end up where the good guys continue to roll. ODU 56 Charlotte 24 (W)

#10- @ FIU- Davis will prove to be the coach that everyone expected. The home team will play well, but I hope ODU will edge another squeaker. ODU 31 FIU 28 (W)

G11- Rice- Rice will also have improvement over last year and as I mentioned earlier no conference games are a sure thing. Another one for the good guys. ODU 38 Rice 24 (W)

G12- @ MTSU, Middle will have one of the most powerful offenses in all of college football for 2017. Stockstill will keep the curse alive as ODU will fall in the final game of the season to a very strong MTSU team that may, eventually be the East Champs MTSU 52 ODU 31 (L)

Final Regular Season Record, a very optimistic prediction of 9 -3

I like the optimism but I really doubt we average 38 points/game. We will not score 31 against VT, I'd bet my farm on that.

Yes I have inflated my expectations, but last year most everyone under estimated what we would accomplished on the field and I think "IF" we are stronger at QB than anticipate, I do think we will out perform what most people are predicting. I also Agree 38 points is huge with the QB ?, but I'm assuming he (Hoy) will be a STAR and that is why I'm so optimistic. If my prediction is wrong.... well we will see. Last year we did average right at 33 per game, including the lack of offense at App state (7pts). VA Tech was really strong on defense last year and I do think that it will be really a big day if we score 31, I may have over inflated / estimated that one...........LOL

Tech 2016 scores... http://www.fbschedules.com/ncaa-16/2016-...hedule.php

Link 2016 scores ... http://www.odusports.com/SportSelect.dbm...EASON=2016

(07-07-2017 10:59 AM)ODUalum78 Wrote:  

(07-07-2017 10:21 AM)ODU True Blue Wrote:  By the 12th game they are no longer new starters.

Good point.

Very true. However, if that new group fails to protect Stockstill early, he may not make it to our game. And we saw how much they were affected by his loss last year.